Walmajarri (many other names; see below) is a
Pama–Nyungan language spoken in the
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
region of
Western Australia by the
Walmadjari
The Walmadjari (Walmajarri) people, also known as Tjiwaling and Wanaseka, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Name
The two names reflect different Walmadjari preferences. Their western bands accept ...
and related peoples.
Walmajarri is declared a definitely endangered language by
UNESCO based on their scale of Language Vitality and Endangerment.
Names
Names for this language break down along the three dialects:
*Walmajarri, Walmatjarri, Walmatjari, Walmadjari, Walmatjiri, Walmajiri, Walmatjeri, Walmadjeri, Walmadyeri, Walmaharri, Wolmeri, Wolmera, Wulmari
*Bililuna, Pililuna
*Jiwarliny, Juwaliny, Tjiwaling, Tjiwarlin
Speakers
Communities with a Walmajarri population are:
*
Bayulu
*
Djugerari (
Cherrabun)
*
Junjuwa (
Fitzroy Crossing)
*
Looma
*
Kadjina (Millijidee)
*
Mindibungu (
Bililuna)
*
Mindi Rardi (
Fitzroy Crossing)
*
Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history.
According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...
*
Ngumpan
*
Wangkajungka (
Christmas Creek
The Christmas Creek, a perennial stream that is part of the Macleay River catchment, is located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
Course and features
Christmas Creek rises below Roses Knob, about east by north of the ...
)
*
Yakanarra
*
Yungngora
The Walmajarri people used to live in the
Great Sandy Desert
The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,[IBRA Version 6.1](_blank)
data . The effects of colonialism took them to the cattle stations, towns and missions in the North and scattered them over a wide area. The geographical distance accounts for the fact that there are several dialects, which have been further polarised by the lack of contact and further influenced by neighbouring languages.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
Consonants are allowed as the final sound of a word in most cases.
Morphology
Warlmajarri is a suffixing language. There are no prefixes.
At least one dictionary of Walmajarri is available online, compiled by Eirlys Richards and Joyce Hudson.
Syntax
Warlmajarri has four syntactic cases: nominative, ergative, dative and assessory case. The cases assign different meanings to the noun phrases of a sentence. Therefore, the word order can vary quite freely. Subject, Object or Verb can appear initial, final, medial in sentence.
However, the second position of a sentence is always reserved for the Verbal Auxiliary. Sometimes referred to as a Catalyst, the Verbal Auxiliary indicates the mood of a sentence (similar to the English auxiliaries), but also cross-references its noun phrases. The person and number of the noun phrases in their syntactic cases are shown in the Verbal Auxiliary.
Resources
Some resources of the language spoken can be found in various archives or databases, such as the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) catalogue.
[nickT. "Home". ''PARADISEC''. Retrieved 2020-12-04.]
See also
*
Ngurrara
The Ngurrara and Ngururrpa are overlapping groupings of Aboriginal Australian peoples of the Great Sandy Desert, in the central Pilbara and southern Kimberley regions of Western Australia. Both groups are represented by various Aboriginal corp ...
, a grouping of peoples of language groups including Walmajarri
References
* Hudson, Joyce. (1978). ''The Walmatjari: An Introduction to the Language and Culture''. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics
* Hudson, Joyce. (1978). ''The core of Walmatjari grammar''. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. New Jersey, U.S.A.: Humanities Press Inc.
* Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1969). ''The phonology of Walmatjari''.
* Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1990). ''Walmajarri–English Dictionary''. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics
External links
Handbook of Western Australian languages South of the Kimberly(Walmajarri)
{{Languages of Australia
Ngumbin languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in Western Australia