Ngawun (linguistics)

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Ngawun
Spoken in: Queensland, Australia
Language extinction: 1977 with the death of Cherry O'Keefe
Language family: Pama-Nyungan
 Paman
  Mayi
   Ngawun
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: aus
ISO 639-3: nxn
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Ngawun is an extinct Australian Aboriginal communalect that was spoken by the Ngawun people of Queensland. It was part of a dialect continuum with Mayi-Kulan, Mayi-Yapi, Mayi-Thakurti, and Wunumara.[1] The last speaker able to form sentences in Ngawun was Cherry O'Keefe (or Tjapun), who died of pneumonia on 24 August 1977.[2]

The etymology of the name "Ngawun" is unknown.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Breen (1981): p. 15.
  2. ^ Breen (1981): p. 13.
  3. ^ Breen (1981): p. 2.

[edit] References

  • Breen, Gavan (1981). The Mayi languages of the Queensland gulf country. Canberra: AIAS. ISBN 0-85575-124-X. 
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