# Proto-Pama–Nyungan language

Proto-Pama–Nyungan is a hypothetical ancestral language from which all Pama–Nyungan languages are supposed to have derived. It may have been spoken as recently as about 5,000 years ago, much more recently than Aboriginal Australian peoples are believed to have been inhabiting various parts of Australia.

## Evolution

How the Pama–Nyungan languages spread over most of the continent and displaced any pre-Pama–Nyungan languages is unknown; one possibility is that language could have been transferred from one group to another alongside culture and ritual. Given the relationship of cognates between groups, it seems that Pama-Nyungan has many of the characteristics of a sprachbund, indicating the antiquity of multiple waves of culture contact between groups. Dixon in particular has argued that the genealogical trees found with many language families do not fit in the Pama-Nyungan family.
Using computational phylogenetics, Bouckaert, et al. (2018) posit a mid-Holocene expansion of Pama-Nyungan from the Gulf Plains of northeastern Australia.

## Phonology

Proto-Pama–Nyungan's phonological inventory, as reconstructed by Barry Alpher (2004), is quite similar to those of most present-day Australian languages.

### Vowels

| | Front | Back |
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Low | a aː | a aː |
Vowel length is contrastive only in the first (i.e. stressed) syllable in a word.

### Consonants

| | Peripheral | Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | Apical |
| | Bilabial | Velar | Postalveolar | Alveolar | Retroflex |
| Plosive | p | k | c cʲ | t | ʈ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n | ɳ |
| Lateral | | | ʎ | l | ɭ |
| Rhotic | | | | r | ɽ |
| Semivowel | w | w | j | | |
Proto-Pama–Nyungan seems to have had only one set of laminal consonants; the two contrasting sets (lamino-dental and lamino-alveopalatal or "palatal") found in some present-day languages can largely be explained as innovations resulting from conditioned sound changes.
Nevertheless, there are a small number of words in which an alveolo-palatal stop is found where a dental would be expected, and these are written *cʲ. There is no convincing evidence, however, of an equivalent nasal *ɲʲ or lateral *ʎʲ.

## Pronouns

Reconstructed Proto-Pama–Nyungan pronouns from Alpher (2004):
    glossProto-Pama-Nyungan 1 Sg Dir. Object*ngañi, *ngaña 1 Sg Oblique*ngacu(+) 1 Sg Oblique*ngaca+ 2 Sg*ñuntu you SG OBL*ñuna we EXnonSg*ngana we INDU*ngali you PL*ñurra they DU*pula they PL*cana

## Vocabulary

Reconstructed Proto-Pama–Nyungan vocabulary and morphemes from Alpher (2004):
    glossProto-Pama-Nyungan (ablative, elative) suffix or postposition*nguru acacia (sp.)*wirlu alive*kunka all*muku anger*kuli ankle*nuka another*wiːya auntie*mayi away*yarra ~ *yirra back*mutu/a beard*ngarnka behind*kurri belly (inside)*walngka big*purlka bird sp: frogmouth*tawa ~ *tawu bite*paca- ~ *paca- black*ngulcu bone*muku bottom*mangka bream (sp.)*lipa- breast*ngamun by and by*ngula cavity*lumpu cheek*walu child (to woman), sister's child*cuwa ~ *cuway clean*taːrrkal cold*mica cook in earth oven*kaːmpa- cooked food*mucya cousin*maːri cry*rungka- damage*ruwa-/i- dig*paːnga- dig*paka- digging stick*kana drink*kuñcya- drink*luka- dry*lalka eat*mungka- excrement*kuna eye*kuru fall*kaːlka/i- fall*wanti- ~ *wanta- fast*kalmpa father's sister*piːmu fish*kuya/u flame*yalyu foot*cama foot*cina forehead*ngulu ghost*wangarr green pygmy goose*tiwa+ ground*taːku hand*mara having*+mirri heart*lulku here*ñaka hip*pirlu hit*paca- (?) hold together*karrpi- ~ *karrpa- I*ngayu ~ *ngayi ~ *ngaya later*ngaka laugh*cangkar(V) lay (egg), give birth to (young)*ngaːci- ~ *ngaːca- left hand*caku lick*pila- lick*pina louse*kulu/i moon*kakara moon (full)*pira mother*ngama mother's brother*ngami(r)ni mother's father*ngaci mother's mother*kami mother's older brother*mukur mouth*caː mouth*caːwa/u mud*curlpi nasal mucus*ngu(ː)rrci neck*manu nose*kuːwu nose*ngurru not*kari one*kuma pearlshell*piːrra pierce*ka(r)li- pigeon (sp.)*laparr pull*purra-/i- pus, matter*ci(ː)ci put*wanta- ~ *wanti- put*wunpa/i- rat*kalu rotten*puka saltpan*pacirri sand*curtu sandfly*lañirri scratch, scrape*wiːrrngka- seagull*cyarra see*ña(ː)- shade*malu shell, bivalve (sp.)*wirti shin*yangkara sickness*wanci singe it*wita- sister (older)*yapa sit*ñiːna- smell*ñuːma- some*wapu sore*wiːthi speak*wangka- (?) spear*kalka spear*laːma- ~ *raːma- ~ *taːma- spear*ra- stand it up*carra- stick*ci(ː)rni sting*raca- taboo*ngalñca tail*mulu take*maː- termite mound*tipa there*pala thigh*carra to wet (something)*kiñca- together*turnu tongue*calañ tongue*ngañcar tooth*rirra ~ *lirra turn*wirni- two*kucyarra ~ *kucarra urine*kañcyi urine*kumpu vegetable food*mayi water*nguku ~ *nguki what*miña what*ngaːni where*wañca who*waːri ~ *waːra wife's mother's brother*caːmi wind*waːrlpa wing*marra woman*kapi+ woman*yipi
In addition to Hale's 1982 list of words unique to Pama–Nyungan, and in addition to pronouns and case endings they reconstruct for the proto-language, Evans and McConvell report that while some of their roots are implausible, O'Grady and Tryon, nevertheless provide "hundreds of clear cognate sets with attestations throughout the Pama–Nyungan area and absent outside."