Worimi Languages
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Worimi is a small family of two to five mostly extinct
Australian Aboriginal languages 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
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. *
Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...
, spoken around
Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...
in New South Wales. Awabakal was studied by Reverend
Lancelot Threlkeld Lancelot Edward Threlkeld (20 October 1788 – 10 October 1859) was an English missionary, primarily based in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of ...
from 1825 until his death in 1859, assisted by Biraban, the tribal leader, and parts of the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
were translated into the language. For example, the ''
Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...
'' begins: "Kurrikuri ta unni Evanelia Jesu úmba Krist koba, Yenal ta noa Eloi úmba." The language is currently in early stages of revival. * Gadjang (Worimi), previously extinct, in the early stages of revitalisation, spoken by the
Worimi people The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens Council, Port Stephens and Great Lakes Council, Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their peo ...
, from the eastern Port Stephens and
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
regions of coastal New South Wales. The languages are close enough to be accepted as related in the conservative classification of Dixon. Bowern (2011) considers Gadjang, Worimi, and Birrpayi to be separate languages.


References

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