Information concerning Daly languages

Where are Daly languages spoken ?

These are aboriginal languages spoken in Australia

Total number of speakers (estimates)

Roughly 1600 according to ethnologue.com, of which 1430 speak Murrinh-patha.

Classification

The Daly group includes 9 or 10 languages.

Patjtjamalah

Western Daly

Emmi (alternative name : Maranunggu) : 15 speakers according to SIL

Malak-Malak : 10 speakers according to UNESCO and SIL

Marin Garr : 20 speakers according to UNESCO

Marrithiyel : 25 speakers according to UNESCO

Eastern Daly

Kamu : probably extinct

Madngle : 10 speakers according to SIL

Southern Daly (2)

Murrinh-Patha (alternative names : Garama ; Murrinbata) : 1430 speakers according to SIL

Nangikurrunggurr : 275 speakers according to UNESCO and 60 according to SIL.

Comments on the classification of Daly languages :

The classification of this group is controversial, Dixon considers that these languages constitute 5 independent families. The uniqueness of the eastern and southern branch is currently uncertain ; the languages share some grammatical constructs but these may be due to some mutual borrowings related to geographical proximity. This group is perhaps more a geographical group rather than a linguistic one.

Are the Daly languages endangered?

Indeed, all the languages are in a « critical situation » according to UNESCO criteria with the exception of Murrinh-Patha.

References :

Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Evans, Nicholas (ed.). 2003. The non-Pama-Nyungan languages of northern Australia: comparative studies of the continent’s most linguistically complex region. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics