Mingginda or Minkin is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
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 ...
, perhaps a
language isolate
A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...
, of northern Australia. It was spoken by the
Mingin people in the area around
Burketown
Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton, Queensland, Normanton on the Albert River (Gulf Sa ...
, on the southern coast of the
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...
, in an area that contains the headwaters of the
Leichhardt River
The Leichhardt River is a river in north-west Queensland, Australia.
Course
The source of the river is in the Selwyn Range under Rifle Creek Hill and fed by Rifle Creek approximately south of the mining town Mount Isa. It runs in a generally n ...
.
The classification of Minkin is uncertain, primarily due to a lack of data. It has been suggested that it may have been related to the
Yiwaidjan or
Tankic language families
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ana ...
. Evans (1990) believes it has been demonstrated to be a
Tankic language, more distant than the others are to each other; this is accepted in
Bowern (2011).
[Bowern, Claire. 2011.]
How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?
, ''Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web'', December 23, 2011
corrected
February 6, 2012)
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants in parentheses are unattested, but may have existed.
Vowels
It is not possible to tell if there was vowel length.
Vocabulary
Minkin data reconstituted by
Evans (1990):
:
Animals
* ''jaco-jaco'' (kangaroo)
* ''kallanarra'' (mosquito)
* ''karimbala'' (white cockatoo)
* ''koodoo'' (tame dog)
* ''koorina'' (fly)
* ''megilpurra'' (wild dog)
* ''ooabiba'' (egg)
* ''paganbaba'' (snake)
* ''piringooraa'' (wild turkey)
* ''piteldoo'' (pelican)
* ''poolunganna'' (emu)
* ''pooralga'' (native companion)
* ''wapoora'' (possum)
* ''wongoola'' (crow)
* ''worra'' (fish)
Body parts
*''bilba'' (thigh)
*''boormba'' (hair of the head)
*''changa'' (foot)
*''charn-nga'' (tongue)
*''dimira'' (bone)
*''kiwira'' (nose)
*''lia'' (teeth)
*''makola'' (breasts)
*''mara'' (ear)
* ''migilla'' (eye)
* ''na-nga-ra'' (hand)
* ''pagooroo'' (skin)
* ''paranga'' (fat)
* ''pardaga'' (stomach)
* ''parka'' (mouth)
* ''tangana'' (blood)
* ''turra'' (bowel and excrement)
* ''wedda'' (head)
* ''yarin-nga'' (beard)
Numbers
* ''choarng-ngo'' (one)
* ''tigina'' (two)
* ''tarngiltna'' (three)
People
* ''birgenkoora'' (brother-younger)
* ''churbooyo'' (God)
* ''kiagi'' (father)
* ''koo-ar-ee'' (being who taught them everything)
* ''koondoonoo'' (mother)
* ''magoo'' (black woman)
* ''nacile'' (brother-elder)
* ''nurka'' (aboriginal man)
* ''ooardigiri'' (old woman)
* ''ooroonda'' (a young man)
* ''parda'' (ghosts)
* ''pardingara'' (an old man)
* ''pelgincorra'' (a baby)
* ''takandana'' (a white man)
* ''tano ara mingoo?'' (where are black?)
* ''tyana'' (track of a foot)
* ''wompoora'' (the blacks)
* ''yillolunga'' (sister-elder)
Source:
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minkin Language
Tangkic languages
Extinct languages of Queensland
Language isolates of Australia