Data collected by Austlang

Data on the Ngaanyatjarra language

Alternatives names: Nganadjara, Ngaanjatjarra, Ngaanyatjara, Nyanganyatjara, Ngadadjara.

For a full list of alternative names and spelling, see Austlang.

Classification: Macro-Pama-Nyungan, South-west, Wati languages

Note: Pitjantjatjara belongs to the Western Desert dialect continuum, it is close to Pitjantjatjara.

Area: Australia, Western Australias.

In the times before the establishment of the Warburton Mission, Ngaanyatjarra was spoken around the area of present-day Warburton and perhaps as far east as Jamieson Range (Glass & Hackett 2003:1).

At Warburton Ranges, east to Fort Welcome, Blackstone Ranges, Murray Range, and Mount Hinckley; their southeasternmost water being Ero:tjo, just south of Wangalina; northeastward to Kudjuntari in the Schwerin Mural Crescent Range; at [‘Julia] (Giles) in the Rawlinson Ranges. North to Hopkins Lake and Carnegie Range and beyond Christopher Lake; west to Tekateka and Jalara and about Alfred Marie Ranges (Tindale 1974 for Ngadadjara).

Number of speakers: The 2005 National Indigenous Languages Survey Report estimated approximately 700 speakers of Ngaanyatjarra, whereas the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census counted 1000 speakers.

Language vitality & transmission: Austlang considers Ngaanyatjarra to be “critically endangered” (grade 1)

Bibliography

Glass, Amee. 1970. Pitjantjatjara grammar : a tagmemic view of the Ngaanyatjara (Warburton Ranges) dialect. Canberra: AIAS.

Glass, Amee, Hackett, Dorothy, and Newberry, Bernard (eds). 2003 Ngaanyatjarra-Ngaatjatjarra to English dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press.

Glass, Amee. (2006). Ngaanyatjarra learner’s guide. Alice Springs:IAD Press.

See Austlang website for a complete bibliography on Ngaanyatjarra

Maps

Tindale, Norman. 1974. Tribal Boundaries in Aboriginal Australia. Canberra: Division of National Mapping, Department of National Development

Institute for Aboriginal Development. 2002. Central Australian Aboriginal languages: current distribution. Alice Springs:IAD Press.

Links

Ngurra website on Coonana community

AUSTLANG website

Ethnologue entry for Ngaanyatjarra

Waru portal for Anangu Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, communities and organisations