| Bilinarra | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Australia |
| Ethnicity | Bilinarra |
Native speakers | 1 (2013)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | bili1250 Bilinarra |
| ELP | Bilinarra |
  Bilinarra | |
| Coordinates: 14°56′50″S 129°33′15″E / 14.94722°S 129.55417°E | |
Bilingara, also known as the Bilinarra, is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Bilinarra people of the Northern Territory.
It is classified as an eastern variety of one of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages.[2] It is mutually intelligible with Gurindji and the neighbouring Ngarinyman. Bilinarra is considered a dialect of Ngarinyman, though it shares more vocabulary with Gurindji. There are no structural features that are unique to Bilinarra and linguists would consider all three languages to be dialects of a single language, but speakers of these languages consider them to be different. Elements of their tongue were first recorded by a police constable W. H. Willshire in 1896.[3] By 2013, only one person was alive who spoke it as their primary language though it inflects the variety of Kriol spoken by Bilinarra children.[2] Bilinarra is native to the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory of Australia.[2] The name of the language most likely refers to the surrounding country, as bili means 'rock' or 'hill', followed by an unknown suffix.[4]Massacres by early colonists, poor treatment on the cattle stations, and the blending of languages at these stations contributed to Bilinarra losing prominence, as more dominant languages took over. This led to the endangerment of Bilinarra.[5] According to Ethnologue, Bilinarra is rated an 8a (moribund) level of endangerment.[6]
- ^ The Bilinarra grammar found there to be only one native speaker in 2013.(Meakins & Nordlinger 2014)
- ^ a b c Meakins & Nordlinger 2014, p. 1.
- ^ Willshire 1896, pp. 95–97.
- ^ Meakins & Nordlinger 2014, p. 2.
- ^ Meakins & Nordlinger 2014, p. 11.
- ^ Ngarinyman.