Wambaya language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wambaya |
|
|---|---|
| McArthur River | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Barkly Tableland, Northern Territory |
| Ethnicity | Wambaya, Gudanji, Binbinga |
| Native speakers | 43 (2021 census) (24 Wambaya; 19 Gudanji) |
| Language family | |
| Dialects |
Wambaya
Gudanji
Binbinka
|
| AIATSIS | C19 Wambaya, C26, N138 |
Wambaya is an Aboriginal language from Australia. It belongs to the Mirndi language family. People speak Wambaya in the Barkly Tableland area of the Northern Territory.
Wambaya is part of a group called West Barkly languages. These languages are special because they use suffixes. A suffix is a small part added to the end of a word to change its meaning. Most other Aboriginal languages add parts to the beginning of words (these are called prefixes).
How Many People Speak Wambaya?
In 1981, only 12 people were reported to speak Wambaya. Some thought the language might even disappear completely.
But things changed! In the 2011 Australian census, 56 people said they spoke Wambaya at home. This number grew to 61 people in the 2016 Census. This shows that efforts to keep the language alive are working.
Wambaya and Its Dialects
A language expert named Rachel Nordlinger has studied Wambaya. She noticed that the way the Wambaya, Gudanji, and Binbinka people speak is very similar. She calls these different ways of speaking "dialects" of one main language, which she sometimes calls "McArthur".
Another language, Ngarnga, is also closely related. However, experts usually consider Ngarnga to be its own separate language.
