The Ngiyambaa language, also spelt Ngiyampaa, Ngempa, Ngemba and other variants, is a
Pama–Nyungan language of the
Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the
Wangaibon and
Weilwan
The Weilwan (also known as Wayilwan, Wailwan, Ngiyampaa Wailwan and Ngemba Wailwan) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are a clan of the Ngiyampaa nation.
Name
The Weilwan ethnonym is derived from their wo ...
peoples
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia, but is now moribund; according to
Donaldson
Donaldson is a Scottish and Irish patronymic surname meaning "son of Donald". It is a simpler Anglicized variant for the name MacDonald. Notable people with the surname include:
__NOTOC__
A
* Alastair Donaldson (1955–2013), Scottish musician ...
by the 1970s there were only about ten people fluent in
Wangaibon, whilst there were only a couple of
Weilwan
The Weilwan (also known as Wayilwan, Wailwan, Ngiyampaa Wailwan and Ngemba Wailwan) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are a clan of the Ngiyampaa nation.
Name
The Weilwan ethnonym is derived from their wo ...
speakers left.
Ngiyambaa (meaning language), or Ngiyambaambuwali, was also used by the
Wangaibon and
Weilwan
The Weilwan (also known as Wayilwan, Wailwan, Ngiyampaa Wailwan and Ngemba Wailwan) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are a clan of the Ngiyampaa nation.
Name
The Weilwan ethnonym is derived from their wo ...
to describe themselves, whilst 'Wangaibon' and 'Weilwan' (meanining 'With Wangai/Weil' (for 'no') were used to distinguish both the language and the speakers from others who did not have ''wangai'' or ''weil'' for ''no''.
Other Names
Other names for Ngiyambaa are: Giamba, Narran, Noongaburrah, Ngampah, Ngemba, Ngeumba, Ngiamba, Ngjamba, Ngiyampaa and Ngumbarr; Wangaibon is also called Wangaaybuwan and Wongaibon, and Weilwan is also called Wailwan, Wayilwan or Wailwun.
References
*
Wiradhuric languages
Critically endangered languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales
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