Mbabaram (Barbaram) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of north Queensland. It was the traditional language of the Mbabaram people. Known speakers were Albert Bennett, Alick Chalk, Jimmy Taylor and Mick Burns. Recordings of Bennett and Chalk are held in the Audiovisual Archive of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. R. M. W. Dixon described his hunt for a native speaker of Mbabaram in his book Searching for Aboriginal Languages: Memoirs of a Field Worker. Most of what is known of the language is from Dixon's field research with Bennett. Classification Until R. M. W. Dixon's work on the language, "Barbaram" (as it was then known) was thought to be too different from other languages to be part of the Pama–Nyungan language family. Dixon revealed it to have descended from a more typical form, that was obscured by subsequent changes. Dixon (2002) himself, however, still regards genetic relationships between Mbabaram and other languages as unproven. Albert Bennett identified Agwamin as the language most subjectively similar to Mbabaram. Geographic distribution Mbabaram was spoken by the Mbabaram tribe in Queensland, southwest of Cairns (). Nearby tribal dialects were Agwamin, Djangun (Kuku-Yalanji), Muluridji (Kuku-Yalanji), Djabugay, Yidiny, Ngadjan (Dyirbal), Mamu (Dyirbal), Jirrbal (Dyirbal), Girramay (Dyirbal), and Warungu. While these were often mutually intelligible, to varying degrees, with the speech of the adjacent tribes, none were even partially intelligible with Mbabaram. The Mbabaram would often learn the languages of other tribes rather than vice versa, because Mbabaram was found difficult. Phonology Vowels Consonants Phonological history Vowels Mbabaram would have originally had simply three vowels, , like most Australian languages, but several changes occurred to add to the system: developed from original in the second syllable of a word if the first syllable began with , , or . developed from original in the second syllable of a word if the first syllable began with . (It may have also occurred with or , but no examples are known.) developed from original in the second syllable of a word if the first syllable began with , , or . also developed from original in the second syllable of a word if the first syllable began with , , or . The first consonant of each word was then dropped, leaving the distribution of unpredictable. Word for "dog" Mbabaram is famous in linguistic circles for a striking coincidence in its vocabulary. When Dixon