Ngarluma language

Pidgin Ngarluma
Pidgin Ngarluma
Native speakers	None
Language family	Ngarluma-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	pidg1247
ELP	Ngarluma

Ngarluma
Ngarluma
Kariyarra
Native to	Western Australia
Region	Jaburara
Native speakers	11 (2005)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Ngayarda Ngarluma; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; nrl – Ngarluma; vka – Kariyarra
Glottolog	ngar1293
AIATSIS	W38 Ngarluma, W39 Kariyarra
ELP	Ngarluma
	Kariyarra
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Ngarluma and Kariyarra are members of a

collapse in the numbers of Jaburara speakers during the late 19th century, and there is some evidence that Jaburara may have instead been a dialect of Martuthunira

(see below).

While Ngarluma and Kariyarra, as parts of a continuum, are

Kariyarra peoples. As such they may be regarded as a single, pluricentric language

.

Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification scheme, Ngarluma was classed as a "Coastal Ngayarda" (or Ngaryarta) language, but the separation of the group into "Coastal" and "Inland" groups is no longer considered valid.

Dialects

Apart from the division between Ngarluma and Kariyarra, there are either three or four sub-dialects within Ngarluma. However, the inclusion of Jaburara – which parallels a belief amongst Ngarluma people that the

Martuthunira

lands (whereas the Jaburara are mostly west of the Ngarluma lands).

A pidginized form of Ngarluma was once used as a contact language in the area.^[5]

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Low	a

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Labial	Velar	Dental	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive	b	k/ɡ	t̪	ɟ	d	ɖ
Nasal	m	ŋ	n̪	ɲ	n	ɳ
Lateral			l̪	ʎ	l	ɭ
Rhotic					r
Approximant	w			j		ɻ

The trill /r/ can also be heard as a tap [ɾ].
Prenasal consonants also occur phonetically as [n̪t̪] [ɳɖ].^[6]

Linguistic area/boundaries

Kariyarra people, prior to European settlement occupied an area from the

Port Hedland and south to the Hamersley Range

.

The official Ngarluma

Whim Creek, including the towns of Dampier and Karratha.^[7]

However, this boundary is controversial for two reasons: it includes areas also regarded as traditional country by many Martuthunira people and; for legal reasons, it does not include areas that many Ngarluma people consider to fall into their traditional country.

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b W38 Ngarluma at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
^ Endangered Languages Project data for Kariyarra.
^ See, for example: Lynette F. Oates & William J. Oates, 1970, Aboriginal Languages of Australia: A Revised Linguistic Survey of Australia, Canberra, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
^ Nicholas Thieberger, 1996, "4.4 North of the Gascoyne River to Port Hedland", Handbook of Western Australian Aboriginal languages south of the Kimberley. (12 October 2012)
^ Alan Dench, 1998, "Pidgin Ngarluma: an indigenous contact language in North Western Australia", Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 13.1: 1--20.
^ Kohn, Allison (2012). A morphological description of Ngarluma. Port Hedland: Wangka Maya, Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre.
^ Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation, 2012, Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (12 October 2012).

[AIATSIS-1] W38 Ngarluma at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)

[ELP2-2] Endangered Languages Project data for Kariyarra.

[3] See, for example: Lynette F. Oates & William J. Oates, 1970, Aboriginal Languages of Australia: A Revised Linguistic Survey of Australia, Canberra, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.

[4] Nicholas Thieberger, 1996, "4.4 North of the Gascoyne River to Port Hedland", Handbook of Western Australian Aboriginal languages south of the Kimberley. (12 October 2012)

[5] Alan Dench, 1998, "Pidgin Ngarluma: an indigenous contact language in North Western Australia", Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 13.1: 1--20.

[6] Kohn, Allison (2012). A morphological description of Ngarluma. Port Hedland: Wangka Maya, Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre.

[7] Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation, 2012, Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (12 October 2012).

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