Marrithiyel (Marithiel, also Maridhiel, Maridhiyel), also known as Berringen (Bringen, Brinken), is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
spoken by the
Marrithiyal people
The Marrithiyal, also written Marithiel, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory lay south of the Daly River in the Northern Territory. They were sometimes known derogatively as Berringen (Berinken, Brinken), a term use ...
.
Dialects besides Marrithiyel proper are Nganygit, Marri Amu (Marriammu, Mare-Ammu), Maridjabin (Maredyerbin, Maretyabin, Maridyerbin, Maritjabin), Marridan (Meradan), Marramanindjdji (Marramaninydyi, Marimanindji), and Mariyedi.
The Marri Amu dialect is part of a
language revival project to save critically endangered languages.
, Marri Amu is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the
Department of Communications and the Arts
The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts was a department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs.
In December 2019, prime minister Scott Morrison ...
. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".
Sounds
Consonants
* Retroflex sounds /ɳ É/ may have also been recorded.
*Alveolar sound /t/ may also be heard as
�
*A dental fricative /θ/ can also be heard as a stop
̪
Vowels
* An additional central vowel
�is also heard among dialects.
*/i u/ can also be heard as
� ʊ
*/u/ may also have an allophone of
�
*/a/ can have front and central allophones of
É’
References
External links
Marrithiyelat th
Dalylanguages.org website
Marri Tjevin(dialect of Marrithiyel) at th
Dalylanguages.org website
Marri Ammu(dialect of Marrithiyel) at th
Dalylanguages.org website
Marri Dan(dialect of Marrithiyel) at th
Dalylanguages.org website
Marramaninjsji(closely related to Marrithiyel) at th
Dalylanguages.org website
{{Australian Aboriginal languages
Western Daly languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in the Northern Territory