Bungandidj is a language of Australia, spoken by the

Bungandidj people The Bungandidj people are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Gambier region in south-eastern South Australia, and also in western Victoria. Their language is the Bungandidj language. Bungandidj was historically frequently rendered ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

s who lived in an area which is now in south-eastern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and in south-western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. According to Christina Smith and her book on the Buandig people, the Bungandidj called their language ''drualat-ngolonung'' (speech of man), or ''Booandik-ngolo'' (speech of the Booandik).Christina Smith,
The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends, and Language
', Spiller, 1880 As of 2017, there is a revival and maintenance programme under way for the language. Historical variants of the name include: ''Bunganditj'', ''Bungandaetch'', ''Bunga(n)daetcha'', ''Bungandity'', ''Bungandit'', ''Buganditch'', ''Bungaditj'', ''Pungantitj'', ''Pungatitj'', ''Booganitch'', ''Buanditj'', ''Buandik'', ''Booandik'', ''Boandiks'', ''Bangandidj'', ''Bungandidjk'', ''Pungandik'', ''Bak-on-date'', ''Barconedeet'', ''Booandik-ngolo'', ''Borandikngolo'', ''Bunganditjngolo'', and ''Burhwundeirtch.''

Phonology

Bungandidj phonology is typical of Australian languages generally, sharing characteristics such as a single series of stops (no voicing contrast) at six places of articulation, a full corresponding set of nasals, laminals at all four coronal places of articulation and two glides. Extrapolating from historical written sources and knowledge of surrounding languages, Blake posits the following consonant inventory:

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels