Meriam language

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Meriam Mir (Meriam language)

Meriam Mir is the language of the Meriam people on Murray Island (Mer) and nearby eastern Torres Strait islands, including Waier, Dauar, Erub (Darnley Island), and Ugar (Stephens Island) off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is the only Papuan language found in Australian territory and is sometimes called the Eastern Torres Strait language.

Speakers and status
- In 2016, about 217 people were native speakers, a small increase from 2011.
- UNESCO lists Meriam Mir as an endangered language.

Classification
- Meriam Mir has been linked to the Eastern Trans-Fly group within the Trans-New Guinea family, but its exact connections are debated. Some linguists no longer classify it within Trans-New Guinea.
- About 40% of Meriam Mir’s vocabulary is shared with Kala Lagaw Ya, the Western Torres Strait language, though the two languages are not identical and have different grammar.

Dialects and sounds
- There used to be dialects on Erub and Ugar, but today Meriam Mir is generally considered dialectless.
- The language has undergone sound changes in the past, such as shifts involving ng, n, and g in certain word positions. Stress is important in Meriam Mir, and vowels can show variation among speakers.

Vocabulary and influence
- Much of the language’s lexicon comes from contact with other languages. The main sources of loanwords since the mid-1800s are Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) and English.
- There are also smaller borrowings from Lifu/Drehu, Samoan and Rotuman (Polynesian), Indonesian, Japanese, and other European languages due to historical contact.

Sign language
- Torres Strait Islanders have signed forms of their languages, including Meriam Mir, though these signed forms are not well documented.

Preservation efforts
- There are active efforts to preserve and revive Meriam Mir in North Queensland. For example, a group in the Mackay region is teaching traditional Meriam Mir hymns to help people learn the language and pass it on, with hopes of introducing hymn-based language programs in schools.