Ngarluma language
| Ngarluma | |
|---|---|
| Kariyarra | |
| Native to | Western Australia |
| Region | Roebourne area |
Native speakers | 30 (2011)[1] |
|
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Either: nrl – Ngarluma vka – Kariyarra |
| AIATSIS[2] | W38, W39 |
Ngarluma and Kariyarra are members of a dialect continuum, which is a part of the Ngayarda language group of Western Australia. This continuum is one part of the larger Pama–Nyungan language family. Some sources suggest that an extinct dialect, Jaburara was a third member of the continuum.[3] However, while it is clear that Jaburara had a distinct identity – which has been obscured partly by a collapse in the numbers of Jaburara speakers during the late 19th century – it is generally regarded as a sub-dialect of Ngarluma. Conversely, there is also some evidence that Jaburara may have been a sub-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 the fact that most speakers are members of the Ngarluma and Kariyarra peoples. As such they may be regarded as a single, pluricentric language.
Under Carl 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.
Dialects
Apart from the division between Ngarluma and Kariyarra, there are either three or four sub-dialects within Ngarluma: East Ngarluma, Seaside Ngarluma, West Ngarluma and Jaburara (or Yaburrara).
However, the inclusion of Jaburara – which parallels a belief amongst Ngarluma people that the Jaburara people and their traditional land were a sub-group of the Ngarluma people and lands – is controversial. There are two reasons for this: the Jaburara dialect is sometimes be considered a dialect in its own right, or a dialect of Martuthunira. There is evidence for the latter theory in the word jaburara, which means "northerners" in the languages of the region:[4] the traditional lands of the Jaburara, on and around the Burrup Peninsula, are generally to the north of the Martuthunira lands (whereas the Jaburara are mostly west of the Ngarluma lands).
Linguistic area/boundaries
Kariyarra people, prior to European settlement occupied an area from the Yule River east to Port Hedland and south to the Hamersley Range.
The official Ngarluma Native Title Determination Area (including the Jaburara lands) covers the area southward from Point Samson, Cossack, Wickham, Roebourne, to the northern boundary of Millstream-Chichester National Park and; from the east side of the mouth of the Maitland River to the west side of the Peawah River near Whim Creek, including the towns of Dampier and Karratha.[5]
However, this boundary is controversial for two reasons: it includes areas also regarded as traditional country by many Martuthunira people and; for legal reasons, it does not include areas that many Ngarluma people consider to fall into their traditional country.
Footnotes
- ↑ Westerlund, T: När engelskan kom till Australien, page 51. Språktidningen, February 2010. (In Swedish)
- ↑ Ngarluma at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ↑ See, for example: Lynette F. Oates & William J. Oates, 1970, Aboriginal Languages of Australia: A Revised Linguistic Survey of Australia, Canberra, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
- ↑ Nicholas Thieberger, 1996, "4.4 North of the Gascoyne River to Port Hedland", Handbook of Western Australian Aboriginal languages south of the Kimberley. (12 October 2012)
- ↑ Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation, 2012, Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (12 October 2012).
| |||||