Giimbiyu is an extinct
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...
once spoken by the
Giimbiyu people of northern Australia.
The name ''Giimbiyu'' is a Gaagudju word for 'of the stoney country'. It was introduced in Harvey (1992) as a cover term for the named dialects,
*Mangerr (Mengerrdji)
*Urningangga (Wuningak) and Erri (Arri)
In 1997
Nicholas Evans
Nicholas Benbow Evans (26 July 1950 – 9 August 2022) was a British journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist.
Biography
Nicholas Benbow Evans was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, son of Anthony Evans, director of ...
proposed an
Arnhem Land family that includes the Giimbiyu languages. However, they are not included in Bowern (2011).
Vocabulary
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:
[Capell, Arthur. 1941-1942, 1942-1943]
Languages of Arnhem Land, North Australia
''Oceania'' 12: 364-392, 13: 24-51.
:
References
* McConvell, Patrick and Nicholas Evans. (eds.) 1997. ''Archaeology and Linguistics: Global Perspectives on Ancient Australia.'' Melbourne: Oxford University Press
{{language families
Language isolates of Australia
Extinct languages of the Northern Territory