Walmajarri (many other names; see below) is a
Pama–Nyungan language spoken in the
Kimberley region 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 th ...
by the
Walmadjari and related peoples.
Walmajarri is declared a definitely endangered language by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
based on their scale of Language Vitality and Endangerment.
Names
Names for this language break down along the three dialects:
*Walmajarri, Walmatjarri, Walmatjari, Walmadjari, Walmatjiri, Walmajiri, Walmatjeri, Walmadjeri, Walmadyeri, Walmaharri, Wolmeri, Wolmera, Wulmari
*Bililuna, Pililuna
*Jiwarliny, Juwaliny, Tjiwaling, Tjiwarlin
Speakers
Communities with a Walmajarri population are:
*
Bayulu
*
Djugerari (
Cherrabun
Cherrabun or Cherrabun Station is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but presently operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
It is situated about south of the Bayulu Community and about west of Halls Creek in ...
)
*
Junjuwa (
Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Bea ...
)
*
Looma
*
Kadjina (Millijidee)
*
Mindibungu (
Bililuna)
*
Mindi Rardi (
Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Bea ...
)
*
Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history.
According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...
*
Ngumpan
*
Wangkajungka (
Christmas Creek)
*
Yakanarra
*
Yungngora
The Walmajarri people used to live in the
Great Sandy Desert. The effects of colonialism took them to the cattle stations, towns and missions in the North and scattered them over a wide area. The geographical distance accounts for the fact that there are several dialects, which have been further polarised by the lack of contact and further influenced by neighbouring languages.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
Consonants are allowed as the final sound of a word in most cases.
Morphology
Warlmajarri is a suffixing language. There are no prefixes.
At least one dictionary of Walmajarri is available online, compiled by Eirlys Richards and Joyce Hudson.
Syntax
Warlmajarri has four syntactic cases: nominative, ergative, dative and assessory case. The cases assign different meanings to the noun phrases of a sentence. Therefore, the word order can vary quite freely. Subject, Object or Verb can appear initial, final, medial in sentence.
However, the second position of a sentence is always reserved for the Verbal Auxiliary. Sometimes referred to as a Catalyst, the Verbal Auxiliary indicates the mood of a sentence (similar to the English auxiliaries), but also cross-references its noun phrases. The person and number of the noun phrases in their syntactic cases are shown in the Verbal Auxiliary.
Resources
Some resources of the language spoken can be found in various archives or databases, such as the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) catalogue.
[nickT. "Home". ''PARADISEC''. Retrieved 2020-12-04.]
See also
*
Ngurrara, a grouping of peoples of language groups including Walmajarri
References
* Hudson, Joyce. (1978). ''The Walmatjari: An Introduction to the Language and Culture''. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics
* Hudson, Joyce. (1978). ''The core of Walmatjari grammar''. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. New Jersey, U.S.A.: Humanities Press Inc.
* Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1969). ''The phonology of Walmatjari''.
* Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1990). ''Walmajarri–English Dictionary''. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics
External links
Handbook of Western Australian languages South of the Kimberly(Walmajarri)
{{Languages of Australia
Ngumbin languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in Western Australia