Ngaanyatjarra (; also Ngaanyatjara, Ngaanjatjarra) 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 ...

. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the dialects of the Western Desert Language and is very similar to its close neighbour

Ngaatjatjarra The Ngaatjatjarra (otherwise spelt Ngadadjara) are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia, with communities located in the north eastern part of the Goldfields-Esperance region. Name The ethnonym Ngaatjatjarra, in line with a gener ...

, with which it is highly mutually intelligible. Most Ngaanyatjarra people live in one of the communities of Warburton,

Warakurna Warakurna is a large Aboriginal community, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku and is situated on the Great Central Road (part of the Outback Way ultimately connecting Perth t ...

, Tjukurla,

Papulankutja Papulankutja (also referred to as Blackstone) is a large Aboriginal community located in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku. History The community exists on the traditional lands of t ...

(Blackstone),

Mantamaru Mantamaru (also referred to as Jameson) is a medium-sized Aboriginal community, located in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku. Native title The community is located within the determ ...

(Jameson) or Kaltukatjara (Docker River). Some have moved to Cosmo Newbery and Laverton in the

Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the to ...

area of

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 t ...

Origin of the name

The name ''Ngaanyatjarra'' derives from the word 'this' which, combined with the

comitative suffix In grammar, the comitative case (; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case that denotes accompaniment. In English, the preposition "with", in the sense of "in company with" or "together with", plays a substantially similar role (other uses of "with", l ...

means 'having (as the word for 'this')'. This distinguishes it from its near neighbour Ngaatjatjarra, which has for 'this'.

Phonology

Vowels

* Before alveolar consonants, the three vowels are pronounced as . * Before velar consonants, the three vowels are pronounced as . * Vowel sounds are rhotacized when preceding retroflex consonants. *

Consonants

* Laminal stop sounds are different in the Ngaanyatjarra dialect, in that they are not palatal, but dental, yet they are still orthographically transcribed the same as the other dialects. *When occurring after nasal sounds, stop consonants become slightly voiced.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * *

External links

* ELAR archive o
Western Desert Special Speech Styles Project
{{Pama–Nyungan languages, Central Wati languages