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Walmajarri (many other names; see below) is a Pama–Nyungan language spoken in the Kimberley region of Western Australia by the Walmadjari and related peoples.

Walmajarri
Region	Western Australia
Ethnicity	Walmadjari
Native speakers	283 (2016 census)[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Ngumpin–Yapa Ngumbin Walmajarri
Dialects	Walmatjarri Djuwarliny (Tjuwalinj) Pililuna
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wmt
Glottolog	walm1241
AIATSIS[2]	A66
ELP	Walmajarri
	Djuwarliny[3]
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Walmajarri is declared a definitely endangered language by UNESCO[4] based on their scale of Language Vitality and Endangerment.[5]

Names

Names for this language break down along the three dialects:

• Walmajarri, Walmatjarri, Walmatjari, Walmadjari, Walmatjiri, Walmajiri, Walmatjeri, Walmadjeri, Walmadyeri, Walmaharri, Wolmeri, Wolmera, Wulmari
• Bililuna, Pililuna
• Jiwarliny, Juwaliny, Tjiwaling, Tjiwarlin

Speakers

Communities with a Walmajarri population are:

• Bayulu
• Djugerari (Cherrabun)
• Junjuwa (Fitzroy Crossing)
• Looma
• Kadjina (Millijidee)
• Mindibungu (Bililuna)
• Mindi Rardi (Fitzroy Crossing)
• Mulan
• Ngumpan
• Wangkajungka (Christmas Creek)
• Yakanarra
• Yungngora

The Walmajarri people used to live in the Great Sandy Desert. The effects of colonialism took them to the cattle stations, towns and missions in the North and scattered them over a wide area.[6] The geographical distance accounts for the fact that there are several dialects, which have been further polarised by the lack of contact and further influenced by neighbouring languages.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i, iː	u, uː
Low	a, aː

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal	Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Stop	p	k	c	t	ʈ
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n	ɳ
Lateral			ʎ	l	ɭ
Rhotic				r
Approximant	w		j		ɻ

Consonants are allowed as the final sound of a word in most cases.[7]

Morphology

Warlmajarri is a suffixing language. There are no prefixes.

At least one dictionary of Walmajarri is available online, compiled by Eirlys Richards and Joyce Hudson.[8]

Syntax

Warlmajarri has four syntactic cases: nominative, ergative, dative and assessory case. The cases assign different meanings to the noun phrases of a sentence. Therefore, the word order can vary quite freely. Subject, Object or Verb can appear initial, final, medial in sentence.

However, the second position of a sentence is always reserved for the Verbal Auxiliary. Sometimes referred to as a Catalyst, the Verbal Auxiliary indicates the mood of a sentence (similar to the English auxiliaries), but also cross-references its noun phrases. The person and number of the noun phrases in their syntactic cases are shown in the Verbal Auxiliary.

Resources

Some resources of the language spoken can be found in various archives or databases, such as the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) catalogue.[9]

See also

• Ngurrara, a grouping of peoples of language groups including Walmajarri

References

• Hudson, Joyce. (1978). The Walmatjari: An Introduction to the Language and Culture. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics
• Hudson, Joyce. (1978). The core of Walmatjari grammar. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. New Jersey, U.S.A.: Humanities Press Inc.
• Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1969). The phonology of Walmatjari.
• Hudson, Joyce & Richards, Eirlys. (1990). Walmajarri–English Dictionary. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics

External links

• Handbook of Western Australian languages South of the Kimberly (Walmajarri)

На других языках

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- [en] Walmajarri language

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[es] Idioma walmajarri

Walmajarri (muchos otros nombres; ver más abajo) es un idioma Pama-Ñúngano hablado en la región de Kimberley de Australia Occidental por el pueblo Walmadjari y pueblos afines.

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[fr] Walmajarri

Le walmajarri est une langue aborigène de la famille pama-nyungan, parlée dans l'ouest de l'Australie, dans la région de Kimberley, essentiellement au sud du fleuve Fitzroy et le long de la Christmas Creek[3].

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