Ngiyambaa
Native toAustralia
RegionNew South Wales
EthnicityNgiyambaa (Wangaibon, Weilwan)
Native speakers
0 (2005)[1]
Dialects
  • Wangaaybuwan
  • Wayilwan (Wailwan)
Language codes
ISO 639-3wyb
Glottologwang1291
AIATSIS[1]D22
ELPNgiyambaa
Ngiyambaa is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Ngiyambaa language, also spelt Ngiyampaa, Ngempa, Ngemba and other variants, is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the Wangaibon and Weilwan peoples of New South Wales, Australia, but is now moribund; according to Donaldson by the 1970s there were only about ten people fluent in Wangaibon, whilst there were only a couple of Weilwan speakers left.

Ngiyambaa (meaning language), or Ngiyambaambuwali, was also used by the Wangaibon and Weilwan to describe themselves, whilst 'Wangaibon' and 'Weilwan' (meanining 'With Wangai/Weil' (for 'no') were used to distinguish both the language and the speakers from others who did not have wangai or weil for no.

Other Names

Other names for Ngiyambaa are: Giamba, Narran, Noongaburrah, Ngampah, Ngemba, Ngeumba, Ngiamba, Ngjamba, Ngiyampaa and Ngumbarr; Wangaibon is also called Wangaaybuwan and Wongaibon, and Weilwan is also called Wailwan, Wayilwan or Wailwun.

Phonology

Consonants

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive b ⟨p⟩ ɡ ⟨k⟩ d̪ ⟨th⟩ ɟ ⟨ty⟩ d ⟨t⟩
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩ n̪ ⟨nh⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Rhotic r ⟨rr⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ j ⟨y⟩ ɻ ⟨r⟩

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩ u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨aa⟩
Phonemes Allophones
/i/, /iː/ [i], [ɪ], [iː], [ɪː]
/a/ [ä], [ə], [ʌ], [e], [ɛ], [o], [ɔ]
/u/, /uː/ [u], [ʊ], [o], [uː], [ʊː], [oː]

References

  1. 1 2 D22 Ngiyambaa at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  • Donaldson, Tamsin (1980). Ngiyambaa: The language of the Wangaaybuwan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22524-8. ISSN 0068-676X.
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