Two of its dialects, Uw Olkola (Olgolo) and Uw Oykangand (Koko Wanggara), are very close, being mutually intelligible and sharing 97% of their core vocabulary.[3]
Another two, Ogh-Undjan and Kawarrangg, are also close, but somewhat more distant from the first pair. Kokinj (Kokiny) is a subdialect of Ogh-Undjan. A fifth variety, Athima, is poorly attested.
Below is a table showing the mutual intelligibility in vocabulary between the Kunjen dialects, based on a list of 100 basic words.[4]
Uw Oykangand
97%
44%
38%
Uw Olkola
43%
38%
Ogh-Undjan
82%
Kawarrangg
A small dictionary of Kunjen has been compiled by Philip Hamilton.[5] A great majority of words begin with a vowel (>96%), similar to the situation in distantly-related Arrernte. Exceptions include kinship terms and loanwords. Syllable onsets are thought to be present in all languages, so their absence in native lexicon is highly notable.
Respect register
As in many other Australian languages, such as Dyirbal, Kunjen also has a respect register, which is a polite way of speaking with a potential mother-in-law and is called Olkel-Ilmbanhthi. Most of the vocabulary is replaced, while affixes and function words are kept.[6]
Normal Uw Oykangand:
Alka-nhdh
spear-INSTR
idu-rr
spear-PST
ay
I
Alka-nhdh idu-rr ay
spear-INSTR spear-PST I
"I speared it with a spear."
Equivalent in Olkel-Ilmbanhthi:
Udnga-nhdh
spear-INSTR
yanganyunyja-rr
spear-PST
ay
I
Udnga-nhdh yanganyunyja-rr ay
spear-INSTR spear-PST I
"I speared it with a spear."
Phonology
This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(June 2021)
Sommer, B. A. (2006). Speaking Kunjen : an ethnography of Oykangand kinship and communication / Bruce A. Sommer. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN0858835576.
^Sommer, Bruce A. (January 1970). "An Australian Language Without CV Syllables". International Journal of American Linguistics. 36: 57–58. doi:10.1086/465090. S2CID143977924.
^Evans, Nicholas (2006). "Warramurrungunji Undone: Australian Languages in the 51st Millennium". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language Diversity Endangered. pp. 354–355.
Sommer, Bruce A. 1969. Kunjen phonology: synchronic and diachronic. (Pacific Linguistics: Series B, Monographs, 11.) Canberra: Australian Natl. Univ. 76pp.