Index compiled with data collected by AUSTLANG

Data on Yindjibarndi

Alternatives names: Yindjinbarndi, Indjibandi, Jindjibandi, Yinjtjipartnti

For additional names and alternative spellings, see the AUSTLANG website.

Main dialects:

According to WA Handbook, there are three dialects of Yindjibarndi:

–                     Burnugundi – source of Yule and Fortescue River,

–                     Mandanjingu – north of the Fortescue,

–                     Jaurnmalu – Western dialect

Classification: Pama-Nyungan language family, Ngayarta group

Area:

Yinjibarndi is an aboriginal language spoken in Western Australia (WA): on the lower Hamersley Range plateau South of the Peak Hill Range; in the valley of the Hamersley River from Pialin at the junction of Portland Creek with the Fortescue River; East along a line formed by the edge of the scarp facing the Eastern headwaters of Yule River; East along the Fortescue River to Marana Pool; about 10 miles (16 km.) West of Kudaidari (Goodiadarrie Hills on maps); South to the cliff-like north-facing scarp of the higher Hamersley Range plateau roughly along a line from Mount Elvire East-Southeast to Mount George. (Tindale 1974). Yindjibarndi occupied a central slab South of the Ngarluma and East, approaching the Yule River (Palmer in Sutton 1995:99).

Number of speakers:

The recent Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census estimated 318 speakers of Yindjibarndi.

Vitality & transmission:

Presently, Yindjibarndi is extinct (endangerment level 0), according to AUSTLANG.

Sources & bibliography

Wangka Maya PALC. c2003. Yindjibarndi – English dictionary, English – Yindjibarndi finderlist & topical wordlist. South Hedland, WA: Wangka Maya PALC.

Wordick, F. 1982. The Yindjibarndi language: Pacific Linguistics C71. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

Wordick, F. 2002. Yindjibarndi wordlist. South Hedland, WA.: Wangka Maya PALC.

Maps

Douglas, Wilfrid. 1981. Watjarri. In Handbook of Australian languages Vol. 2, eds. Dixon RMW and B Blake, 196-272. Canberra: ANU Press.

Dench, Alan. 1995. Martuthunira, a language of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

Sharp, Janet and Thieberger, Nick. 2001. Wangka Maya, the Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre. In Forty years on, eds. J Simpson et al, 325-335. Canberra Pacific Linguistics.

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

Wordick, F. 1982. The Yindjibarndi language. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

Links

Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation: http://www.juluwarlu.pilbara.net/

Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre website: http://www.wangkamaya.org.au/

AUSTLANG website: http://austlang.aiatsis.gov.au/main.php

Ethnologue webpage: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=yij