The Nhanhagardi language, also written Nana karti, Nanakarti, Nanakarri, Nanakari, and Nanakati, and also known as Wilunyu, Wiri, Minangu, Barimaia and Jaburu (meaning "northern peoples"), is an
Aboriginal Australian language of the
Champion Bay area of
Western Australia.
No speakers of the language have been recorded since 1975 and through successive
Australian censuses up to 2016. According to Vaso Elefsiniotis of the Irra Wangga Language Centre, Nhanhagardi usually refers to the traditional language and people of Champion Bay.
[
There was some doubt about its existence and classification, but , its status is confirmed on AIATSIS.][
According to Clarrie Cameron, who is of Nhanhagardi descent, "Pulinya" (AIATSIS W43) is an old name for Nhanhagardi, but '']Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' equates it with the Yinggarda language. Cameron also says that Nhanhagardi is a Nhanda (S14) language.[
]
Language revival
, "Wilunyu (also known as Nhanhagardi)" is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts
The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts was a department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs.
In December 2019, prime minister Scott Morrison ...
. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".
References
{{Pama–Nyungan languages, West
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in Western Australia
Mid West (Western Australia)