Name variations
There are a number of name variations for the Tiwi language. Some of the variations were established by local Australian residents who lived in geographical regions and territories with close proximity with the Tiwi speakers, or have had close interactions with them for research work purposes. Other name variations of the language were coined by neighboring indigenous communities. Tunuvivi ''Tunuvivi'' was the initial term coined by the Indigenous members of the Melville and Bathurst islands. It is the original name for the Tiwi language itself, and has the meaning of 'people' or 'we the only people'. Meanwhile, the widely recognized name, Tiwi, was originally established by an anthropologist C.W.M. Hart in 1930 in order to have a discernible tribal name that can represent the Melville and Bathurst indigenous members. The term Tiwi was later accepted by the Melville and Bathurst islanders, and they have subsequently incorporated this name as a constituting part of their social identities. Wongak This name variation, Wongak, was used by the Iwaidja community to describe the Tiwi language. The phonetic realization Wonga:kis also another variation that is termed by the Iwaidja community members themselves. Nimara The term ''Nimara'' was established by an Australian writer and author named William Edward Harney, who had adopted the pen name of Bill Harney at the time. This name variation has the meaning of 'to talk', or 'language'. Woranguwe/Worunguwe The name Woranguwe (or Worunguwe) was used by the Iwaidja community to specifically refer to the indigenous members of the Melville Islands. This name is a variation existing in the Iwaidja language.History
Phonology
Consonants
Like most Australian languages, Tiwi has four phonetically distinct series of coronal stops. (See Coronals in Indigenous Australian languages.) There are contrastingVowels
Tiwi has four phonemic vowels. The frequency of the open-back vowel is relatively low. It is neutralised with following , and does not occur initially or finally.Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...Morphology
Tiwi is characterized by its highly complex verb morphology. Tiwi is aVerb morphology
Osborne (1974) identifies elevenNominal morphology
Tiwi, like manyGender
Gender is sexually assigned for humans and animals, but semantically assigned for inanimate objects on the basis of shape. Things that are thin, small and straight are assigned to the masculine gender, and objects that are large round and ample are assigned to the feminine. As a result, nominals in Tiwi may take either gender depending on the context and reference. ''Grass'', for instance, is masculine when referring to a blade of grass, but feminine when referring to a patch or expanse of grass. Masculine nominals are marked either by the suffix ''-ni'' or ''-ti'', and feminine nominals by ''-ŋa'' or ''-ka''. Furthermore, many nominals are implicitly masculine or feminine and lack overt marking. However, as nominals denoting properties always take regular gender suffixes that agree with the object they modify, the covert gender of these nominals can be ascertained. The table below from Osborne (1974:52)Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...Number
Nominals in Tiwi can be marked for plural either by a plural suffix ''-wi'' or ''-pi''. The plural suffix fills the same morpheme slot as gender suffixes and as a result, plurals do not contrast for gender. Some nominals (Osborne counts nineteen) undergo partial reduplication of the stem when pluralised. The form of the reduplicant is always ''Ca-'' (where ''C'' becomes the initial consonant of the stem), thus 'white man' and 'white woman' pluralise to 'white people'.Human and Non-human
Osborne also identifies a distinction among Tiwi nominals as to whether they belong to a Human class or a Non-human class. However the category isModern Tiwi
Since contact with Europeans, Tiwi has been undergoing changes to its structure that have resulted in a modern version of the language that is quite typologically distinct from Traditional Tiwi. These changes have affected the verb morphology and lexicon of Tiwi, resulting in a language that is relatively isolating, compared with its polysynthetic predecessor. Modern Tiwi contains many loan words, verbs, and nouns borrowed from the English language. Contact with English has also resulted in a number of other varieties of Tiwi, such as Children's Tiwi and Tiwi-English, in which Tiwi people have varying levels of proficiency. In 1993, Traditional Tiwi was spoken only by people over 55, with Modern Tiwi being spoken by everyone up until the age of 30. In more informal speech acts and conversations, children and younger generation would use loan words that are similar to English pronunciations on a phonological level. They also used Modern Tiwi in different social domains, including classrooms, social institutions, social media, while their instances of speaking the Traditional Tiwi dialect are relatively limited to their interactions with older members such as the elderly and their parents. The main change that separates Traditional and Modern Tiwi is the level of complexity in the verb. Traditional Tiwi is a polysynthetic language while Modern Tiwi is isolating, with some inflection. The examples below show the difference between a sentence rendered in Traditional Tiwi and Modern Tiwi. :''She (the sun) is shining over there in the morning'' : (Lit. 'She is walking over there in the morning with a light') :Traditional Tiwi :Modern Tiwi In addition, Modern Tiwi has a less complex morphological structure that often omits object prefixes, while they are maintained in the traditional dialect. The exact and official number of Traditional Tiwi speakers remains uncertain. In the Language Activity Survey, a respondent of the survey responded that the traditional version of the Tiwi language had only up to 35 speakers, in which none of them can speak the language fully. There were approximately five speakers aged 60 and above who could speak the traditional version partially, and around ten speakers who can speak only some words and sentences in each of the age groups of 20 to 39, 40 to 59, as well as 60 and above.Vocabulary
See also
*Tiwi language and ethnomedicine
The concept ofSample text
''(All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.)'' : ''(Article 1 of theExternal links
*References
{{language families Language isolates of Australia Polysynthetic languages Tiwi Islands Indigenous Australian languages in the Northern Territory