The Ngarinyin language, also known as Ungarinjin and Eastern Worrorran, is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

of the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

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spoken by the Ngarinyin people.

Classification and naming

Ngarinyin is one of the Worrorran languages, along with Wunambal and (Western) Worrowan. It is itself a

dialect cluster A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...

, and may be considered more than a single language; Robert M. W. Dixon lists Guwidj (Orla), Waladja (Worla), Ngarnawu, Andadjin, Munumburru, Wolyamidi, and Waladjangarri (Waladjangari) as dialects. Claire Bowern (2011) lists Ngarinyin, Andajin, and Worla.Bowern, Claire. 2011.
How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?
, ''Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web'', December 23, 2011
corrected
February 6, 2012) According to Rumsey, Ngarinyin may be applied to either the language or the people who speak it, whereas Ungarinyin only refers to the language. McGregor reported that "Ngarinyin has been chosen as the preferred language name" by the community.

Usage

With only 38 people recorded as speaking the language at home in the

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, Ngarinyin is considered a critically endangered and currently moribund language, though there are efforts being made to documenting speech and grammar structures before it becomes extinct, including the specifics on the terms of the kinship system of the language. Ngarinyin is found only within the local region of Northern Kimberley, Australia, and other local languages are found in the surrounding region instead due to the small population of Ngarinyin speakers, including the Worrorran languages of Wunambal and Worrorra. Ngarinyin is found at the centre of the region, and the other Aboriginal languages in the area face similar levels of endangerment. Ngarinyin was previously one of the most prevalent of the Aboriginal languages in Northern Kimberley, but it has since become a language known only by a small number of the elderly. Kriol is often used by younger generations instead of Ngarinyin, though some knowledge of the language is still retained by these people.

Kinship terms

Ngarinyin places great emphasis on the classification of family members and is similar to the neighbouring Aboriginal languages of Worrorra and Wunambal to the point of being virtually identical, though it is still considered unusual among those that study kinship systems of Aboriginal languages. One of the most noticeable features of this system is the use of identical terms given to kin usually separated by generation level. For instance, the titles ''wife's brother'', ''wife's father'' and ''wife's father's father'' in English all share the same title of ''waiingi'' in Ngarinyin.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Notes

Sources

* * * * *McConvell, P., Keen, I., & Henderey, R. (2013). 7. The Evolution of Yolngu and Ngarinyin Kinship Terminologies. In, Kinship Systems: Change and Reconstruction (132). University of Utah Press. * *