Nunggubuyu or Wubuy is an

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 ...

, the traditional language of the Nunggubuyu people ('Nunggubuyu' is nun- 'people of' + wubuy, the name of the language). It is the primary traditional language spoken in the community of

Numbulwar Numbulwar, formerly known as Rose River Mission, is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The major language group of the community is Nunggubuyu and their language, Wubuy, ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, although Numbulwar is traditionally associated with the Warndarrang language. The language is classified as severely endangered by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, with only 283 speakers according to the 2021 census. Most children in

can understand Nunggubuyu when spoken to, but cannot speak it themselves, having to reply in Kriol. To counter this, starting in 1990, the community has been embarking on a revitalisation programme for the language by bringing in elders to teach it to children at the local school.

Classification

The classification of Nunggubuyu is problematic. Heath (1997) postulates that Nunggubuyu is most closely related to Ngandi and Anindilyakwa. However, Evans (2003) believes that the similarities are shared retentions rather than shared innovations, and that Nunggubuyu is closest to the eastern

Gunwinyguan languages The Gunwinyguan languages (Gunwinjguan, Gunwingguan), also core Gunwinyguan or Gunwinyguan proper, are a possible branch of a large language family of Australian Aboriginal languages in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. The most populous language ...

. Brett Baker (2004) demonstrates that Ngandi and Wubuy form an "Eastern Gunwinyguan" subgroup as distinct from the "jala"/"Rembarngic" subgroup which includes

Rembarrnga The Rembarrnga people, also spelt Rembarunga and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as ...

and Ngalakgan.Baker, Brett. (2004). "Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan." In Koch, H. & Bowern, C. eds. ''Australian languages: Classification and the comparative method.'' Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 313-40, 669-79. Furthermore, Van Egmond's (2012) study of the genetic position of Anindilyakwa supports Heath's hypothesis that Ngandi, Anindilyakwa and Wubuy/Nunggubuyu do constitute one subgroup within Gunwinyguan.Van Egmond, M-E. (2012). "Enindhilyakwa phonology, morphosyntax and genetic position." Doctoral thesis. University of Sydney. pp. 314–70. Van Egmond and Baker (2020) expand Van Egmond's (2012) evidence with lexical comparison, demonstrating that Wubuy is related to both Ngandi and Anindilyakwa, but shares more sound changes and lexical items with the latter.

Phonology

Consonants

is rare. may optionally be pronounced as a

trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is a networking protocol for optimizing bandwidth and resilience in Ethernet networks, implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and ...

when it occurs in word-initial position, which is rare.

Vowels

Numbers

Nunggubuyu uses a

quinary Quinary (base 5 or pental) is a numeral system with five as the base. A possible origination of a quinary system is that there are five digits on either hand. In the quinary place system, five numerals, from 0 to 4, are used to represent any ...

number system.

Sample text

Ba-marang-dhayiyn Ba-marang-gagagiyn B a-marang-dhayiyn Ba-marang-jaljaliyn Ba-wan.ngang "hokey pokey" Badhawawa-rumiyn Aba dani-yung-bugij ''(the

Hokey Pokey The Hokey Pokey (also known as Hokey Cokey in the United Kingdom, Ireland, some parts of Australia, and the Caribbean) is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well-known in English-speaking countr ...

in Wubuy)''

Notes

References

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External links

Nunggubuyu language books
available in the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages Gunwinyguan languages {{ia-lang-stub