Traditional lands of the Australian aboriginal tribes around Cairns

Wamin (also known as '' Agwamin'' or ''Ewamian'') 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 ...

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

spoken by the Ewamian people. Wamin was traditionally spoken in the Etheridge region, in the areas around Einasliegh, Georgetown, and

Mount Surprise Mount Surprise is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mount Surprise had a population of 169 people. Geography The town is located in the Gulf Savannah in Far North Queensland ...

Alternative names and dialects

The language of Ewamian people, now undergoing revival, is variously known as Wamin or Agwamin. Elder Fred Fulford, as documented by Peter Sutton in the early 1970s, explained that Agwamin and Wamin were originally two mutually intelligible dialects, one 'heavy' and one 'light'. There was said to be one living speaker of the language alive in 1981. Dixon (2002) counts Wamin as an alternative name for Agwamin. The following is a list of alternative names for Wamin: * ''Wamin'' * ''Agwamin'' * ''E'wamin'' * ''Ewamin'' * ''Wimanja'' * ''Egwamin'' * ''Gwamin'' * ''Ak Waumin'' * ''Wamin'' * ''Wommin, Waumin, Wawmin'' * ''Walamin'' * ''Wommin'' * ''Walming'' * ''Wailoolo''

Vocabulary

Some words in Wamin language are: * ''twa'' (dog) * ''moa'' (man)

References

External links

Ewamian People Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia

Ethnologue - Wamin

Bibliography of Agwamin language resources
at the

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

{{Pama–Nyungan languages, Paman Southern Pama languages