Select languages to compare:

Use base consonants only
Labial
Coronal
Dorsal
Radical
Laryngeal
Bilabial
Labio-dental
Dental
Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Epi-glottal
Glottal
Plosive
 p b         t d     ʈ ɖ     k ɡ    
 
 
 
 
  
 
Nasal
   m           n       ɳ       ŋ    
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trill
               r            
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
Tap, Flap
                       ɽ                        
Lateral flap
 
 
 
 
                    
 
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fricative
                                                
Lateral fricative
 
 
 
 
                            
 
 
 
 
 
 
Approximant
                           j   w                
Lateral approximant
 
 
 
 
       l       ɭ            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Front
Near-front
Central
Near-back
Back
 
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Selected languages: Murinhpatha
UPSID number: 8349
Alternate name(s): N/A
Classification: Australian, ungrouped
The languages has 25 segments
Frequency index: N/A
Sounds: [p] [b] [t̪] [d̪] [t] [d] [ʈ] [ɖ] [k] [ɡ] [ɽ] [r] [l] [ɭ] [w] [j] [m] [n̪] [n] [ɳ] [ŋ] [i] [ʊ] [ɛ] [ä]
Comments: Murinhpatha is still spoken by a substantial community mainly at Wadeye (Port Keats), Northern Territory, Australia. Street and Mollinjin's articulatory diagrams show that the dental series is interdental before non-front vowels /a,U/ but laminal post-alveolar (with tongue tip behind the lower teeth) before front vowels. This distribution seems to argue for this series being underlying dental, rather than being (lamino-)palatal as they suggest. The palatal variant is thus due to a front vowel position. However, this does not account for palatal variants occurring in syllable-final position. Retroflex consonants do not occur word-initially. /j/ occurs word-finally after vowels other than /i/. Primary stress is normally on the first syllable, with alternating stresses on subsequent syllables.
Sources: Street, C.S. and G.P. Mollinjin. 1981. "The phonology of Murinbata". Work Papers of SIL-AAB, Series A, No. 5: 183-244. (Summer Institute of Linguistics, Australian Aborigines Branch, Darwin).