The Ngiyambaa language, also spelt Ngiyampaa, Ngempa, Ngemba and other variants, is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the Wangaibon and Weilwan peoples of New South Wales, Australia, but is now moribund; according to Donaldson by the 1970s there were only about ten people fluent in Wangaibon, whilst there were only a couple of Weilwan speakers left.
Ngiyambaa | |
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Native to | Australia |
Region | New South Wales |
Ethnicity | Ngiyambaa (Wangaibon, Weilwan) |
Native speakers | 0 (2005)[1] |
Language family | Pama–Nyungan
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Dialects |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | wyb |
Glottolog | wang1291 |
AIATSIS[1] | D22 |
ELP | Ngiyambaa |
![]() Ngiyambaa is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Ngiyambaa (meaning language), or Ngiyambaambuwali, was also used by the Wangaibon and Weilwan to describe themselves, whilst 'Wangaibon' and 'Weilwan' (meanining 'With Wangai/Weil' (for 'no') were used to distinguish both the language and the speakers from others who did not have wangai or weil for no.
Other names for Ngiyambaa are: Giamba, Narran, Noongaburrah, Ngampah, Ngemba, Ngeumba, Ngiamba, Ngjamba, Ngiyampaa and Ngumbarr; Wangaibon is also called Wangaaybuwan and Wongaibon, and Weilwan is also called Wailwan, Wayilwan or Wailwun.
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