Ngarla is a
Pama–Nyungan language of coastal
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It is possibly
mutually intelligible with
Panyjima and
Martuthunira, but the three are considered distinct languages.
Ngarla is a member of the
Ngayarda branch of the
Pama–Nyungan languages. Dench (1995) believed there was insufficient data to enable it to be confidently classified, but Bowern & Koch (2004) include it without proviso.
Ngarla is spoken near
Port Hedland
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
. The "Ngarla" on the
Ashburton River is a dialect of a different, though possibly related, language,
Yinhawangka.
According to the
Irra Wangga Language Centre, "Ngarla is no longer spoken today, although there remain some community members who know some words and phrases in the language".
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Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
The long vowels are rare.
Grammar
Tense markers
Ngarla tense markers for verbs:
Language revival
, Ngarla 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 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".
Research has been undertaken on the language at the Irra Wangga Language Centre, who have produced resources in Ngarla, including Ngarla Numbers and ''Jamie’s Bush Tucker Trip''.
Notes
References
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External links
Wangka Maya
Ngarla
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in Western Australia
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