Oates (1975:06) lists Ngadawanga under Bidungu A40, but the identity of Bidungu is itself uncertain and may not refer to a specific language variety. According to Oates (1975), von Brandenstein reported Ngayawanga (A30) as an alternative name of Bidungu A40, a name which Daisy Bates equated with Ngadawanga. Oates says that Bates reported two dialects of Ngaiawonga (A30): a northern dialect, north of Wiluna, and a southern dialect associated with Lake Way, Wiluna, Mt Sir Samuel and Lawler's Range. Bates's analysis was informed by a body of some texts and a 100-word vocabulary she collected. Oates ventures that Bidungu A40 may be the cover term and Ngaiawanga and Ngadawanga the names of the dialects, though she also notes that Hudson believes Bidungu A40 to be only a geographical term. Note, though, that other dialects are reported for Birdungu. See A40 for details.
Meekatharra north to Gascoyne River; at Mount Maitland and Robinson Range; east to Wiluna and Lakes Way and King; at Peak Hill and Murchison West (Tindale 1974).
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Speaker numbers were measured differently across the censuses and various other sources listed in AUSTLANG. You are encouraged to refer to the sources.
Speaker numbers for ‘NILS 2004’ and ‘2005 estimate’ come from 'Table F.3: Numbers of speakers of Australian Indigenous languages (various surveys)' in 'Appendix F NILS endangerment and absolute number results' in McConvell, Marmion and McNicol 2005, pages 198-230 (PDF, 2.5MB).
