Yalarnnga (also Jalarnnga, Jalanga, Yelina, Yellunga, Yellanga, Yalarrnnga, Yalanga or Yalluna) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan language family, that may be related to the Kalkatungu language. It was formerly spoken by the Yalarnnga people in areas near the Gulf of Carpentaria the towns of Dajarra and Cloncurry in far northwestern Queensland. The last native speaker died in 1980. It is a suffixing agglutinative language with no attested prefixes.
Classification Yalarnnga is sometimes grouped with Kalkatungu as the Kalkatungic (Galgadungic) branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. O'Grady et al., however, classify Kalkatungu as the sole member of the "Kalkatungic group" of the Pama-Nyungan family, and Dixon (2002) regards Kalkatungic as an areal group.
Phonology
Consonants +ConsonantsPeripheralLaminalApicalLabialVelarDentalAlveolo-palatalAlveolarRetroflexPlosiveNasalRhoticLateralApproximant
Vowels +VowelsFrontCentralBackCloseOpen Phoneme/SoundAllophonesNotesin unstressed or lax positionsas a realization of the sequence elsewherein unstressed or lax positionswhen within the position of palatal soundswhen stressed and preceded by peripheral consonantswhen stressed and preceded by elsewherewhen within the position of palatal soundsin unstressed or lax positionsoccasionally in word-final positionselsewhere
Vocabulary Some words from the Yalarnnga language, as spelt and written by Yalarnnga authors include: Kuyungu mungatha: good day Karlu / karlo: father Mernoo: mother Woothane: white man Kathirr: grass Karni: shoulder Katyimpa: two Kunyu: water Karrkuru: yellowbelly (fish) Monero: tame dog
References