Jiwarli dialect facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jiwarli |
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| Region | Western Australia | |||
| Ethnicity | Jiwarli | |||
| Extinct | April 1986 with the death of Jack Butler. | |||
| Language family |
Pama–Nyungan
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| AIATSIS | W28 | |||
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Jiwarli (also spelled Djiwarli or Tjiwarli) was an Aboriginal language from Western Australia. It was spoken in the Pilbara region. Jiwarli was part of the Mantharta language group. This group belongs to the very large Pama–Nyungan family of languages.
The Last Speaker of Jiwarli
Sadly, Jiwarli is now an extinct language. This means no one speaks it as their first language anymore. The last person who spoke Jiwarli fluently was a man named Jack Butler. He passed away in April 1986.
Studying the Jiwarli Language
Before Jiwarli became extinct, a language expert named Professor Peter K. Austin worked with Jack Butler. Professor Austin is from the Linguistics Department at SOAS. He spent time with Jack Butler from 1978 to 1985. During this time, he carefully wrote down and recorded as much of the Jiwarli language as he could.
Professor Austin later published books about Jiwarli. These included a collection of stories and conversations in the language. He also created a special dictionary. This dictionary helped people understand Jiwarli words by giving their English meanings. It also had an English-Jiwarli list to help find words. These books are no longer being printed, but they help us remember and learn about the Jiwarli language.
