Diyari language

Diyari
Dieri
[ɖijaɻi]
RegionSouth Australia
EthnicityDiyari, Dhirari, Pilatapa
Native speakers
34 (2021 census)[1]
Pama–Nyungan
Dialects
  • Diyari
  • Dhirari, or Northern Dhirari + Southern Dhirari (Austin)
  • Pilatapa(?)
Dieri sign language
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
dif – Diyari
bxi – Pirlatapa
Glottologdier1241
pirl1239  Dieric, incl. Ngamini
AIATSIS[2]L17 Diyari, L14 Dhirari, L69 Northern Dhirari, L70 Southern Dhirari, L11 Pirladapa
ELPDiyari
 Pirlatapa[3]
Diyari is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Diyari (/ˈdiːjɑːri/) or Dieri (/ˈdɪəri/)[4] is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Diyari people in the far north of South Australia, to the east of Lake Eyre. It was studied by German Lutheran missionaries who translated Christian works into the language in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so that it developed an extensive written form. Only a few fluent speakers of Diyari remained by the early 21st century, but a dictionary and grammar of the language was produced by linguist Peter K. Austin, and there is a project under way to teach it in schools.

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  2. ^ L17 Diyari at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  3. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Pirlatapa.
  4. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh