Nunggubuyu language facts for kids

Nunggubuyu, also called Wubuy, is an Aboriginal language from Australia. It's the traditional language of the Nunggubuyu people and is mainly spoken in Numbulwar, a community in the Northern Territory.

Sadly, UNESCO says Nunggubuyu is severely endangered. In 2021, only 283 people spoke it. Most kids in Numbulwar can understand Nunggubuyu, but they often reply in Kriol because they can't speak it themselves. To help save the language, the community started a program in 1990. Elders now teach Nunggubuyu to children at the local school.

How Nunggubuyu is Grouped with Other Languages

Figuring out how Nunggubuyu is related to other languages can be tricky. One idea, from a researcher named Heath (1997), suggests that Nunggubuyu is most closely related to Ngandi and Anindilyakwa. These are all part of the larger Gunwinyguan language family.

However, another researcher, Evans (2003), thinks that the similarities between these languages are just old features they all kept, not new ones they developed together. He believes Nunggubuyu is actually closest to the eastern Gunwinyguan languages.

More recent studies support the idea that Nunggubuyu, Ngandi, and Anindilyakwa do form a special group within the Gunwinyguan family. For example, Brett Baker (2004) showed that Ngandi and Wubuy (Nunggubuyu) form an "Eastern Gunwinyguan" subgroup. A study by Van Egmond (2012) also agreed with Heath's idea.

The Sounds of Nunggubuyu

This section looks at the different sounds used in the Nunggubuyu language. These sounds are called phonemes.

Consonant Sounds

Consonants are sounds made by blocking air in your mouth, like 'p', 't', or 'm'. Here are the consonant sounds in Nunggubuyu:

The sound /n̪/ is not used very often. The sound /ɾ/ can sometimes be pronounced as a trill (like a rolled 'r') when it's at the beginning of a word, but this is also rare.

Vowel Sounds

Vowels are sounds made with an open mouth, like 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'. Nunggubuyu has three main vowel sounds, which can be short or long:

Numbers in Nunggubuyu

Nunggubuyu uses a quinary number system. This means it's based on groups of five, similar to how our number system is based on groups of ten.

Sample Text

Here is a fun example of Nunggubuyu, which is a translation of the popular song "The Hokey Pokey":

(This is "The Hokey Pokey" in Wubuy)