| Nativename | Goa |
|---|---|
| States | Australia |
| Region | "Karna–Mari fringe", Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Koa people |
| Extinct | ? |
| Familycolor | Australian |
| Fam 1 | Pama–Nyungan |
| Fam 2 | (unclassified, possibly Maric)[1][2] |
| Fam 3 | Guwa–Yanda |
| Iso 3 | xgw |
| Aiatsis | G9.1 |
| Glotto | guwa1242 |
| Glottorefname | Guwa |
Guwa, also spelt Goa, Koa, and other variants, is an extinct and nearly unattested Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland spoken by the Koa people. It was apparently close to Yanda.[3]
Dialects
Guwa had a western and eastern dialect differentiation.[4]
Phonology
Based on the available data and other languages of the region, the following phoneme inventory can be determined.
Consonants
| Peripheral | Apical | Laminal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Velar | Alveolar | Retroflex | Dental | Palatal | |
| Plosive | p | k | t | ʈ | t̪ | c |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | n | ɳ | n̪ | ɲ |
| Rhotic | ɾ ~ r | |||||
| Lateral | l | (ɭ) | (l̪) | ʎ | ||
| Approximant | w | ɻ | j | |||
- There is some doubt to the presence of laterals [l̪, ɭ].
Vowels
Guwa has a three-vowel system /i, a, u/.[4]
References
- ^ RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxiii
- ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, 23 December 2011 (corrected 6 February 2012)
- ^ AIATSIS
- ^ Blake, Barry J. & Breen, Gavan (1990). "Guwa". Salvage studies of Western Queensland Aboriginal languages. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 108–144.