Warlpiri language

Warlpiri
Pronunciation[waɭpiɻi]
Native toAustralia
RegionNorthern Territory
EthnicityWarlpiri, Ngalia
Native speakers
2,624 (2021 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Warlpiri
  • Ngaliya
  • Walmala
  • Ngardilpa
  • Eastern Warlpiri
Warlpiri Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3wbp
Glottologwarl1254
AIATSIS[2]C15
ELPWarlpiri
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The Warlpiri (/ˈwɑːrlbri/ or /ˈwɔːlpəri/)[3] (Warlpiri: Warlpiri Warlpiri pronunciation: [waɭpiɻi] > ['waɭbɪ̆ˌɻi])[4][5] language is spoken by close to 3,000 of the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert, northwest of Alice Springs, Central Australia. It is one of the Ngarrkic languages of the large Pama–Nyungan family and is one of the largest Aboriginal languages in Australia in terms of number of speakers. One of the most well-known terms for The Dreaming (an Aboriginal spiritual belief), Jukurrpa, derives from Warlpiri.[6][7]

Warnayaka (Wanayaga, Woneiga), Wawulya (Ngardilpa), and Ngalia are regarded as probable dialects of Warlpiri on the AUSTLANG database, although with potentially no data;[8][9][10] while Ngardilypa is confirmed.[11]

  1. ^ "SBS Australian Census Explorer". Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  2. ^ C15 Warlpiri at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
  4. ^ "Warlpiri audio: Wbp_word-list_1976_01". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Warlpiri Man - Protect Our Culture (Warlpiri)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Jukurrpa". Jukurrpa Designs. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  7. ^ Nicholls, Christine Judith (22 January 2014). "'Dreamtime' and 'The Dreaming' – an introduction". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. ^ C40 Warnayaka at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  9. ^ C39 Wawulya at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  10. ^ C43 Ngalia at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  11. ^ C38 Ngardilypa at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies