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Language Family

Mirndi

Australian Language Families

Mirndi, also spelled Mindi, is an Australian Aboriginal language family spoken across the Victoria River district and the Barkly Tableland of the Northern Territory, and is counted among the world's primary language families. It comprises two geographically separated branches, the Yirram (or Jaminjungan) languages and the Ngurlun languages together with the Jingulu isolate, roughly 200 kilometers to the southeast and divided from Yirram territory by the unrelated Ngumpin languages. The two branches also differ grammatically: the Yirram languages prefix like most non-Pama-Nyungan languages, while the Ngurlun languages instead suffix. The family's name comes from a dual inclusive pronoun, meaning roughly you and I, shared by every language in the family in the form mind- or mirnd-.

Facts
Region
Northern Territory of Australia (Victoria River district and Barkly Tableland) 1
Proto-Language Status
Reconstructed: proto-Mirndi has been reconstructed (Harvey 2008). 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mirndi Languages
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph
    The Mirndi or Mindi languages are an Australian language family spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia.
  • Classification section
    Nonetheless, as of 2008 proto-Mirndi has been reconstructed.
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