Alternative spellings: Ngalakan
Main Communities: Urapunga, Ngukurr
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | |
| Stops (short) | b / p | d / t | rd / rt | j / tj | g / k |
| Stops (long) | pb | td | rtd | tjj | kg |
| Nasals | m | n | rn | ny | ng |
| Laterals | l | rl | |||
| Rhotics | rr | r | |||
| Glides | w | y | |||
| also:Glottal stop | h |
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||
| High | i | u | ||
| Mid | e | o | ||
| Low | a |
Note on ‘n’’s and ‘g’’s:
- ng Velar nasal as in Ngalakganor English sing.
- nk Two sounds- ‘n’+’k’ as in gunku ‘the’ (GU-gender).
- ngg Two sounds- ‘ng’+’g’ as in rlangga‘billabong’ or English sound in finger
Note on ‘short’ stops:
‘Short’ stops are written differently, depending on whether they are at the start or end of a word or syllable. At the start of a word or syllable, we use b, d,rd, jand g. At the end of a word or syllable, we use p, t,rt, tjand k.
Previous spellings
Ngalakan Grammar, Texts and Vocabularyby Francesca Merlan uses an old spelling system that isn’t used anymore.
Ngalakgan Resources
- Merlan, F. (1983) Ngalakan Grammar, Texts and Vocabulary, Pacific Linguistics.
- Teaching and cultural resources – Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation.
Linguists who have worked on Ngalakgan
Francesca Merlan & Brett Baker
