Ngarluma language

Ngarluma
Kariyarra
Native toWestern Australia
RegionRoebourne area
EthnicityNgarluma, Kariera, Jaburara
Native speakers
11 (2005)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
nrl – Ngarluma
vka – Kariyarra
Glottologngar1293
AIATSIS[1]W38 Ngarluma, W39 Kariyarra
ELPNgarluma
 Kariyarra[2]
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Ngarluma and Kariyarra are members of a dialect continuum, which is a part of the Ngayarda language group of Western Australia, in the Pama–Nyungan language family. Some sources suggest that an extinct dialect, Jaburara, was a third member of the continuum.[3] However, it is clear that Jaburara had a distinct identity that has been partly obscured by a collapse in the numbers of Jaburara speakers during the late 19th century, and there is some evidence that Jaburara may have instead been a dialect of Martuthunira (see below).

While Ngarluma and Kariyarra, as parts of a continuum, are mutually intelligible, they are considered distinct languages by their speakers, reflecting an ethnic division between the Ngarluma and Kariyarra peoples. As such they may be regarded as a single, pluricentric language.

Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification scheme, Ngarluma was classed as a "Coastal Ngayarda" (or Ngaryarta) language, but the separation of the group into "Coastal" and "Inland" groups is no longer considered valid.

  1. ^ a b W38 Ngarluma at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  2. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Kariyarra.
  3. ^ See, for example: Oates, Lynette F.; Oates, William J. (1970). Aboriginal Languages of Australia: A Revised Linguistic Survey of Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 0855750103. NLA 2163908.