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Marrgu
Yaako
Native to	Australia
Region	Croker Island, Northern Territory
Ethnicity	Yaako
Extinct	2003
Language family	Marrku–Wurrugu? Iwaidjan? Marrgu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mhg
Glottolog	marg1251
AIATSIS	N45
ELP	Marrgu
Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey)
Closeup

Marrgu (Marrku) is an extinct Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay, Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako).

Classification

Marrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate, with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu.

Phonology

Consonant inventory

Vowels

Marrgu has the three-vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).

References

1. ^ Marrgu at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
2. ^ N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
3. Christopher Moseley; Alexandre Nicolas (2010). "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". UNESCO. p. 209. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
4. Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.

• Marrku–Wurrugu languages
• Extinct languages of the Northern Territory