Ngardi, also spelt Ngarti or Ngardilj, 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 ...

that is considered

moribund Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death. Moribund may refer to: * ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann * "Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun" ...

. It was previously thought to be an alternative name for the

Bunara language Ngardi, also spelt Ngarti or Ngardilj, is an Australian Aboriginal language that is considered moribund. It was previously thought to be an alternative name for the Bunara language, but these are now classified as separate languages. It was/i ...

, but these are now classified as separate languages. It was/is spoken by the

Ngarti The Ngardi, also spelled Ngarti, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Name and grouping Arthur Capell took the term ''Ngardi'' to refer, not to a distinct tribe, but to a branch of the Warlpiri, a ...

people of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and northern

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 ...

Classification

Capell (1962) considered Ngardi, Warlpiri, and

Warlmanpa The Warlmanpa are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. Name and people The Warlmanpa were long missing from the map of Australian aborigines, – there is no direct mention of them in Norman Tindale's survey of Australian tri ...

to be dialects of a single language.

R. M. W. Dixon Robert Malcolm Ward "Bob" Dixon (born 25 January 1939, in Gloucester, England) is a Professor of Linguistics in the College of Arts, Society, and Education and The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Queensland. He is also Deputy Director o ...

(2002) grouped Ngardi together with Warlpiri and Warlmanpa in the Yapa group, but admitted that this was based on limited data. McConvell and Laughren (2004) showed that it was in Ngumbin, a closely related group, and this was followed in Honeyman (2005). However, Bowern (2011) listed it as a more distant Wati language. Tindale shows Ngardi as an alternative name for Bunara language, but Lynette Oates and

Arthur Capell Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian linguist, who made major contributions to the study of Australian languages, Austronesian languages and Papuan languages. Early life Capell was born in Newtown, New South Wales ...

showed that Bunara was a separate language. The two languages have now been assigned separate code in

AIATSIS 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, ...

AUSTLANG 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, ...

database.

Waringari

Some old recordings and manuscripts refer to Waringari (or Waiangara) as a language related to Ngardi, but linguists have agreed that it is a geographical name and not the name of a language. Norman Tindale listed Waringari as a pejorative name for the Ngarti people, as well as for the Yeidji, the Worla and the

Warlpiri Warlpiri may refer to: * Warlpiri people, an indigenous people of the Tanami Desert, Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Au ...

, suggesting that they were cannibals.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

References

Sources

* * * *McConvell and Laughren (2004) "The Ngumpin-Yapa subgroup". In Claire Bowern & Harold Koch, ''Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method.'' Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. * Ngumbin languages Ngarrkic languages Wati languages {{ia-lang-stub