Ndjébbana language

The Ndjébbana language, also spelt Djeebbana and Ndjebanna and also known as Kunibidji (Gunavidji, Gunivugi, Gombudj), is a Burarran language spoken by the Gunavidji (Ndjebbana) people of North-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Ndjébbana
Djeebbana
Gunavidji
Region	Northern Territory
Ethnicity	Gunavidji
Native speakers	367 (2021 census)[1]
Language family	Arnhem Maningrida Ndjébbana
Language codes
ISO 639-3	djj
Glottolog	djee1236
AIATSIS[2]	N74
ELP	Ndjebbana

"Gunavidji" (and variant forms) is an exonym used by speakers of Kunbarlang, Kunwinjku and Maung languages.^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal	Apical
	Labial	Velar	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive	b~p	k	ɟ~c	d~t	ɖ~ʈ
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n	ɳ
Rhotic				ɾ~r	ɻ
Lateral				l	ɭ
Approximant	w		j

• Sounds /b, ɟ, d, ɖ/ may also be heard as voiceless [p, c, t, ʈ] when in word-final position or when preceding other stop consonants. They may also occur as geminated, where they are always pronounced as [pː, cː, tː, ʈː].
• /ɾ/ can be heard as either a flap [ɾ] or a trill [r].
• /k/ can be heard as [ɣ] in intervocalic position or when followed by a liquid sound.
• /b/ can be heard as [β] when in intervocalic position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		ʊ ʊː
Mid	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː

• Vowels /ɛ, a, ɔ, ʊ/ may have a [ɪ] vowel off-glide heard as [ɛᶦ, æᶦ, ɔᶦ, ʊᶦ], when preceding a laminal-palatal consonant.^[4]

Phoneme/Sound	Allophones	Notes
/i/ [i]	[ɪ]	Is heard when in lax or unstressed positions.
/ɛ/ [ɛ]	[e]	Can also be heard when before a laminal-palatal consonant or a semivowel.
/a/ [ä]	[æ]	May also be heard when following a laminal-palatal consonant.
/ɔ/ [ɔ]	[o]	Can also be heard when in stressed positions.
/ʊ/ [ʊ]	[u]	Is always heard when in word-final position.