Lamalama language

The Lamalama language, also known by the clan name Mbarrumbathama (Austlang) or Mba Rumbathama, formerly known as Lamu-Lamu or Lama-Lama, is a Paman language of Queensland, Australia. Lamalama is one of four languages once spoken by the Lamalama people, the others being Morrobolam (Umbuygamu), Mbariman-Gudinhma, and Umpithamu.^[3]

Lamalama
Mbarrumbathama, Mba Rumbathama
Native to	Australia
Region	Queensland
Ethnicity	Lamalama
Native speakers	3 (2016 census)[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Paman Lamalamic Lamalama
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lby
Glottolog	lamu1254
AIATSIS[2]	Y136
ELP	Lamalama

Naming and language relationships

In January 2019, the ISO database changed its reference name to Lamalama, from Lamu-Lamu.^[4] As of August 2020^[update], Glottolog calls it Lamalama,^[5] while AIATSIS' Austlang database thesaurus heading is Mbarrumbathama language.^[6]

Austlang says, quoting linguist Jean-Cristophe Verstraete (2018), that Lamalama, Rimanggudinhma (Mbariman-Gudhinma) and Morrobolam form a genetic subgroup of Paman known as Lamalamic, "defined by shared innovations in phonology and morphology". Within this subgroup, "Morrobolam and Lamalama form a phonologically innovative branch, while Rumanggudinhma forms a more conservative branch".^[7]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[8]

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t̪	t	c	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d̪	d	ɟ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿ̪d̪	ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Nasal		m	n̪	n	ɲ	ŋ
Fricative		ɸ	θ	r̝	ɕ		h
Lateral				l
Rhotic				r
Approximant		w		ɹ	j

• Voiceless fricative sounds /ɸ, θ, ɕ, h/ are heard as voiced [β, ð, ʑ, ɦ] when in consonant clusters and in intervocalic positions.^[9]
• Fricatives /θ, ɕ/ can be heard as laminal and alveolar fricatives [s̻, s] when in word-initial position in free variation among speakers.^[10]
• /h/ can be heard as [x] when in word-initial position in free variation among speakers.^[10]
• The fricative trill /r̝/ is also heard as voiceless [r̝̥] in free variation in initial positions.^[11]
• The trill sound /r/ can be heard as voiceless [r̥] when in word-final contexts.^[12]
• All labial consonants can also be labialized optionally within the onset of stressed syllables, or when after high-back vowel sounds.^[13]
• Consonant lengthening [Cː] can be heard within the onset of stressed syllables.^[14]

Vowels

Vowels^[15]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Open	a

Vowel allphones^[16]

Phoneme	Allophone	Notes
/i/	[ɪ]	in unstressed syllables
	[ɨ]	in stressed syllables
	[ʉ], [ɵ]	when following labial consonants
/a/	[ɐ]	in free variation with [a]
	[ə]	in unstressed syllables
	[æ]	when in the context of palatal sounds
	[ɛ]	realized within the diphthong /ia/
	[ɔ]	realized within the diphthong /ua/
/u/	[ʊ]	in unstressed positions

Lamalama's vowels do not show contrastive length.^[17] There are two diphthongs, /ia/ and /ua/.^[18] /ia/ can raise to [iɛ], and /ua/ can raise to [uɔ].^[19]

Further reading

• Verstraete, Jean-Cristophe (June 2018). "The Genetic Status of Lamalamic: Phonological and Morphological Evidence". Oceanic Linguistics. 57 (1): 1–30. doi:10.1353/ol.2018.0000. hdl:1885/255113. S2CID 149913795.