A66: Walmajarri | AIATSIS Collection

AIATSIS code:

A66

AIATSIS reference name:

Walmajarri

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Name

Thesaurus heading language	Walmajarri language A66
Thesaurus heading people	Walmajarri people A66
ABN name	Walmajarri language
ABS name	Walmajarri
Horton name	Walmatjarri
Ethnologue name	Walmajarri
ISO 639-3 code	wmt
Tindale name	Walmadjari
Tindale (1974)	Walmajari (valid eastern pronunciation), Walmad-jeri, Walmade're, Wolmadjari, Walmajeri, Wolmaijari, Wulumari, Wolmeri, Wolmera, Walmaharri, Walmaharry, Wolmaharry, Wari?ari Pundur ('cannibal men' name given by Kokatja), Walmajai (Njikena pronunciation), Wulumarai, Wanmadjari, Tjiwaling (Mangala name), Dju-alin, Tjiwali, Tjiwalindja, Djiwalinja, Djuwali, Djiwalinj, Ngadjukura (language name), Pitangu (derogatory Kokatja name), Wanaeka, Waneiga, Ngainan (Birdsell in 1954 obtained this from measured natives nos. R1535 and R1541 of Christmas Creek as name of 'light Walmadjari' who were said to belong to an area halfway between Christmas Creek and Billiluna), Nganang, Warmala (general term applied to several Western Desert tribes).
O'Grady et al (1966)	Walmadjari, Warmala, Wulumari, Wolmera, Walmaharri, Wolmaharry
Glottocode	walm1241
Other sources	-
Synonyms	Walmatjarri, Walmadjari, Wolmatjeri, Wolmeri, Bililuna dialect, Djiwalinj, Djiwalinja, Djualin, Djuwali, Jiwarliny, Juwaliny, Ngadjukura, Ngainan, Nganang, Pitangu, Tjiwali, Tjiwalindja, Tjiwaling, Tjiwarlin, Walmadere, Walmadjeri, Walmadyari, Walmadyeri, Walmaharri, Walmaharry, Walmajai, Walmajari, Walmajeri, Walmatjari, Walmatjeri, Walmatjiri, Walmeri, Wanaeka, Waneiga, Wanmadjari, Warinari Pundur, Warmala, Wolmadjari, Wolmaharry, Wolmaijari, Wolmera, Wulumarai, Wulumari, Walmad jeri, Wariari Pundur, Dju alin

Comment

Comments:

There have been different reports on dialects of Walmajarri and it is not certain how many Walmajarri dialects exist. Hudson and Richards (2007 p.c.), who did extensive research on Walmajarri, recognise at least one dialect, namely Juwaliny A88. In their 1990 work, they identified Noonkanbah, which has been influenced by Nyikina K3, as a separate dialect but more recently Hudson and Richards (2007 p.c.) say that if this is a genuine dialect, the people have no name for it.

Pililuna A89 is recognised as a dialect of Walmajarri by Dixon (2002) and SCAL (1981). Pililuna A89 is the name of a station/community and they refer to it as the eastern dialect of Walmajarri, but people from the area just call themselves Walmajarri (Hudson & Richards (2007 p.c.).

Terry says the Boonarra group inhabits the region surrounding Bililuna station (1926:193); Capell says that the eastern dialect of Wolmeri (A66), known sometimes as Buna:ra A69, was spoken about Bililuna (1940:423).

Walsh lists Nyanyany A90 (1981) and Oates lists Nyardi A91 as dialects of Walmajarri (1975).

Kolig says that Wolmadjeri (A66) has developed into a lingua franca in the southern Kimberley area and consequently many different varieties have developed with varying degrees of influence from other languages. He says that Wolmadjeri can be divided into 'light' Wolmadjeri or Djualin A88 spoken 'south of the lower Fitzroy River' (strongly mixed with Mangala A65), 'proper' Wolmadjeri 'south of Fitzroy Crossing, probably as far south as Godfrey's tank (Ganingara)', and 'heavy' or 'half' Wolmadjeri (or Njanjan A90) 'between the southeast of Bohemia Downs and Sturt Creek, with the southernmost point Gregory Salt Lake (Barugu)' (PMS 2255, p.2).

References:

Hudson, Joyce A. 1978. The core of Walmatjari grammar. Canberra AIAS/Atlantic Highlands NJ: Humanities Press.
Richards, Eirlys, and Joyce Hudson. 1990. Walmajarri-English dictionary: with English finder list. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Tindale, Norman B. 1974. Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names. Berkeley: University of California Press/Canberra: Australian National University Press.
Dixon, R. M. W. 2002. Australian languages: their nature and development: Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kolig, Erich. Report on first period of field research in the Fitzroy Crossing area, South Kimberleys, Western Australia. (PMS 2255).
Nash, David, and Kathleen Menning. 1981. Sourcebook for Central Australian Languages. Alice Springs: Institute for Aboriginal Development.
Walsh, Michael. 1981. Maps of Australia and Tasmania. In Language atlas of the Pacific area Pt 1, eds S. A. Wurm and Shirô Hattori. Canberra: Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Oates, Lynette F. 1975. The 1973 supplement to a revised linguistic survey of Australia. Armidale: Armidale Christian Book Centre.
Menning, Kathleen. 1981. Sourcebook for Central Australian Languages. Alice Springs, NT : Institute for Aboriginal Development.

Status:

Confirmed

Location

State / Territory:

Location information:

The original tribal territory of the Walmatjari is the northern part of the Great Sandy Desert. The eastern Walmatjari lived along the northern part of the Canning Stock Route south-west and west of Balgo Hills Mission and the Western Walmatjari lived in the area south of Noonkenbah station. Movement out of the desert took place to the north, east and west and Walmatjari speaking people are now to be found on cattle stations along the Fitzroy River and Christmas Creek, as far as Derby in the west and Halls Creek in the east (Hudson 1978:2).

Desert plateau south of the Fitzroy and Christmas Creek valleys from Noonkanbah, n.n. ['Kunkadea], east to Cummins Range; south on the line of the Canning Stock Route to Well 47, n.n. ['Kardalapuru], west from there to about 124°50'E; southwesternmost water used is Ngokanitjardu (unidentified but near 124°50'E x 20°30'S; see reference to this term also under Mangala tribe). In the south by traveling along tribal boundaries they met the Wanman at Munggakulu (perhaps the Adverse Well on maps). Their western boundary ran due north to Mount Fenton (Tindale 1974).

Contemporary location: In towns and communities from Mulan (Lake Gregory) in the east along the Fitzroy River valley and as far west as Bidyadanga (La Grange) on the coast (Richards & Hudson 1990:7).

Maps:

Tindale, Norman. 1974. Tribal boundaries in Aboriginal Australia. Canberra: Division of National Mapping, Department of National Development.
Tsunoda, Tasaku. 1981. The Djaru language of Kimberley, Western Australia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

Links

Search MURA people®

Search MURA language®

Handbook of Western Australian Aboriginal languages south of the Kimberley region

OLAC

SIL

Australian Society for Indigenous Languages

Awaye! Word Up: Annette Kogolo

Walmajarri online dictionary

Walmajarri seasons calendar

Sourcebook for Central Australian Languages (1981):

Wirdinya (A49 ) in Sourcebook for Central Australian Languages (1981).

Walmatjari

Names of the language and different spellings that have been used:

Walmadjari (AIAS, AC), Walmadyeri (N), Walmaharri (Matthews), Walmatjari (AC, Hudson), Walmatjeri (Worms), Walmatjiri (Douglas), Walmayari ) (probably Jaru name), Warmala, Wolmaharry ), Wolmatjeri (Kaberry), Wolmera, Wolmeri (O'G,RLS), Wulumari

Dialects: Jiwarliny (to west); Billiluna dialect (to south-east)

Classification of the language:

Northern Western Desert Type, Ngumbin subgroup

Identification codes:

Oates '73: 59.7b

AIAS: A.066

Capell: A35

Present number and distribution of speakers:

Between 800 and 1000 speakers. Fitzroy Crossing, Looma, Eastern Kimberleys. Traditionally Great Sandy Desert, Lat. 19-21 S, Long. 124-127 E

Black, 1979 --

People who have worked intensively on the language:

Joyce Hudon and Eirlys Richards, Fitzroy Crossing.

Practical orthography:

Yes: Hudson & Richards.

Word lists:

Hudson (1978).

Grammar or sketch grammar:

Hudson (1978).

Material available on the language:

Berndt, R.M. 1972. The Walmadjeri and Gugadja, in Hunters and gatherers today. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Fraser, J. & J. Hudson. 1975. A comparison and contrasting of the noun phrase of Walmatjari with the noun phrase of Fitzroy Crossing children's Pidgin.

Hudson, Joyce. 1970. Walmatjari paragraph types. ms. SIL-AAB. ---------- 1971. Some features of high level phonology in Walmatjari. 1st draft. March. 15p. SIL.

---------- Walmatjari: nominative-ergative or nominative-accusative? Pacific Linguistics A.42:1-30. (Papers in Australian Linguistics, 9)

---------- 1976. The derivational affix 'having'; 10: Walmadjari, p.205-8 in Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages, ed. by R.M.W. Dixon. AIAS.

---------- 1976. Simple and compound verbs: conjugation by auxiliaries in Australia verbal systems; 82: Walmatjari, p.653-67 in Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages, ed. by R.M.W.

Dixon. AIAS.

---------- 1978. The core of Walmatjari grammar. 115p. AIAS.

---------- 1980. A tentative analysis of illocutionary verbs in Walmatjari. 30p. ts. June. ANU.

---------- & Eirlys Richards. 1969. The phonology of Walmatjari. Oceanic Linguistics 8:171-189.

---------- & ---------- 1971. Walmatjari dictionary. (superseded)

---------- & ---------- 1973. Walmatjari word list. SIL

---------- & ---------- 1976. The Walmatjari: an introduction to the language and culture. Work Papers of SIL-AAB B.1. SIL.

---------- & ---------- 1978. Dictionary Walmatjari to English and English to Walmatjari, first draft. 200p. xerox ts. SIL. (under revision)

Richards, Eirlys. 1974. Tentative frequency count of clause types in written and oral narrative in Walmatjari. Nov.

---------- 1977. The Walmatjari noun phrase. (prepublication draft) Aug. 45p.

---------- & Joyce Hudson. 1973. Wangki 1-4. Word. SIL.

O'Grady, G.N. [1968?] Language material from W.A. 364p. ms. (comparative vocabularies)

Worms, E.A. 1950. Feuer und feuerzeuger in sage und brauch der Nordwest Australier. Anthropos 45:145-164. (includes list of words relating to fire-making in Mangala, Gogadja, Garadjeri,

Bidongo, Walmatjari)

Literacy material:

Richards & Hudson (see section 8, 9)

---------- & ---------- (a number of story books and scripture portions)

Kathy Menning (comp.) and David Nash (ed.) 1981. © IAD Press

AIATSIS gratefully acknowledges IAD Press for permission to use this material in AUSTLANG.

Handbook of Kimberley Languages (1988):

Ngaatjatjara (A43 ) in Handbook of Kimberley Languages (1988).

8.9 Walmajarri / Walmatjari / Walmadjari

Names of the language and different spellings that have been used:

Tjiwarliny (Black & Walsh), Jiwarliny (KLS), Tjiwarlin (Oates).Said to be a dialect of Walmajarri (Hudson 1978:2).

Classification of the language:

Pama-Nyungan family, Ngumbin subgroup

Identification codes:

AIAS: A66

Oates 1973: 59.7b

Capell: A35

Present number and distribution of speakers:

Between 800 and 1000 speakers, in Fitzroy Crossing, Looma, and Eastern Kimberleys. Traditionally from the northern part of the Great Sandy Desert.

Hudson (1978) - over a thousand (including second language speakers)

People who have worked intensively on the language:

Joyce Hudson and Eirlys Richards, since late 1960s, Fitzroy Crossing.

Practical orthography:

Hudson and Richards developed and implemented a practical orthography identical with the South Kimberley orthography (described in section 1.2 above). This has been used in all Walmajarri literacy and language programmes.

Word lists:

Hudson (1978)

Textual material:

Hudson (1970, 1978), Hudson & Richards et al (1976, 1978)

Grammar or sketch grammar:

Hudson (1978), Hudson & Richards et al (1976, 1978)

Material available on the language:

Berndt, R.M. 1972. The Walmadjeri and Gugadja. In Bicchieri, M.G. (ed.), Hunters and gatherers today. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 177-216.

Bieundurry, O. 1980a. The Aboriginal Development Commission Bill, [in] English/ Walmatjari. Ngali. 21-28.

_____ .1980b. Claiming a pension, [in] Walmatjari. Ngali. 13.

_____ .1980c. Mother-in-law in court, [in] Walmatjari/English. Ngali. 10-12.

Capell, A. 1940. The classification of languages in north and north-west Australia. Oceania 10. 241-272, 404-433.

Fraser, J. & Hudson, J. 1975. A comparison and contrasting of the noun phrase of Walmatjari with the noun phrase of Fitzroy Crossing children's Pidgin. manuscript.

Hudson, J. 1970. Walmatjari paragraph types. typescript. SIL.

_____ .1971. Some features of high level phonology in Walmatjari. first draft. 15p. typescript. AIAS pMs 3162. (A1;B2).

_____ .1976a. Walmatjari: nominative-ergative or nominative-accusative? Papers in Australian Linguistics 9. Canberra: PL. A-42. 1-30.

_____ .1976b. The derivational affix 'having': Walmatjari. In Dixon, R.M.W. (ed.), Grammatical categories in Australian languages. Canberra: AIAS. 205-8

_____ .1976c. Simple and compound verbs: conjugation by auxiliaries in Australia verbal systems: Walmatjari. In Dixon, R.M.W. (ed.), Grammatical categories in Australian languages. Canberra: AIAS. 653-667.

_____ .1978. The core of Walmatjari grammar. Canberra: AIAS.

_____ .1980. A tentative analysis of illocutionary verbs in Walmatjari. 30p. typescript. ANU.

_____ .1981a. Grammatical and semantic aspects of Fitzroy Valley Kriol. MA Thesis, Australian National University.

_____ .1981b. Some features of high level phonology in Walmatjari. In Waters, B. (ed.), Australian phonologies: collected papers. (Work Papers of SIL-AAB, A-5) Darwin: SIL. 245-257.

_____ .1983. Grammatical and semantic aspects of Fitzroy Valley Kriol. Darwin: SIL.

Hudson, J., Charles, J., Siddon, P., Skipper, P. & May, T. nd. Wangki votingpurru. Perth: Western Australian Education Department.

Hudson, J. & Richards, E. 1969. The phonology of Walmatjari. Oceanic Linguistics 8. 171-189.

_____ .1971. Walmatjari dictionary. (superseded)

_____ .1973. Walmatjari word list. SIL

_____ .1978. Dictionary Walmatjari to English and English to Walmatjari. First draft. 200pp. xerox typescript. SIL. (under revision).

Hudson, J. & Richards, E. et al. 1976. The Walmatjari: an introduction to the language and culture. (Work Papers of SIL-AAB, B-1) Darwin: SIL.

_____ et al. 1978. The Walmatjari: an introduction to the language and culture. (Revised edition) (Work Papers of SIL-AAB, B-1) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1978. Dictionary Walmajarri to English and English to Walmajarri. typescript. SIL.

Kaberry, P.M. 1937. Notes on the languages of east Kimberley, north-Australia. Oceania 8/1. 90-103.

Kolig, E. 1972. Bi:n and Gadeja. Oceania 43. 1-18.

Matthews, R.H. 1901. Some Aboriginal tribes of Western Australia. Royal Society of New South Wales. Journal and Proceedings 35. 217-222.

McConvell, P. 1985. The origin of subsections in northern Australia. Oceania 56. 1-33.

McKelson, K.R. 1983. Language spoken at La Grange, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome, Port Hedland areas of Western Australia. manuscript.

Merlan, F.C. 1979. On the prehistory of some Australian verbs. Oceanic Linguistics. 18. 33-112.

Menning, K. & Nash, D. 1981. Sourcebook for central Australian languages. Alice Springs: IAD.

Nash, D.G. 1982. Warlpiri verb roots and preverbs. In Swartz, S. (ed.), Papers in Warlpiri grammar: in memory of Lothar Jagst. (Work Papers of SIL-AAB, A-6) Darwin: SIL. 165-216.

Nekes, H. 1939. The pronoun in Nyol-Nyol (Nyul-Nyul) and related dialects. In Elkin, A.P. (ed.), Studies in Australian Linguistics. (Oceania Monograph, 3) Sydney: University of Sydney. 139-163.

O'Grady, G.N. 1968. Language material from Western Australia. 364pp manuscript. AIAS Ms 321. (A1;B2).

O'Grady, G.N., Voegelin, C.F. & Voegelin, F.M. 1966. Languages of the world: Indo-Pacific fascicle 6. Anthropological Linguistics 8. 1-197.

Peile, A.R. nd. Field notes Warayngari. 182pp. manuscript. AIAS Ms 322.

Richards, E. 1974. Tentative frequency count of clause types in written and oral narrative in Walmatjari. manuscript.

_____ .1979. The Walmatjari noun phrase. In Kilham, C.A. (ed.), Four grammatical sketches: from phrase to paragraph. (Work Papers of SIL-AAB, A-3) Darwin: SIL. 93-128.

Richards, E. & Hudson, J. nd. Wangki (Word). [Darwin]: SIL.

Summer Institute of Linguistics. Australian Aborigines Branch. 1969. Report...1961-1969. In Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Newsletter 2. 21-26.

Thieberger, N. 1987. Handbook of WA Aboriginal languages (south of the Kimberley region). first draft. typescript. Mt. Lawley: Institute of Applied Aboriginal Studies.

Tindale, N.B. 1952-1954. Field journal of Norman B. Tindale: 18th expedition under the auspices of Board for Anthropological Research. University of Adelaide and the University of California at Los Angeles. 1233 + 340pp. typescript and manuscript. South Australian Museum.

Tsunoda, T. 1975-1979. Djaru field notes. 24 pts. c.2564pp. manuscript. AIAS Ms 1381. (A1;B4)

Worms, E.A. 1938b. Onomatopoeia in some Kimberley tribes of North-West Australia. Oceania 8. 453-457.

_____ .1950. Feuer und feuerzeuger in sage und brauch der Nordwest Australier. Anthropos 45:145-164. (includes list of words relating to fire-making in Mangala, Gogadja, Garadjeri, Bidongo, Walmatjari).

_____ .1957. Australian mythical terms: their etymology and dispersion. Anthropos 52. 732-768.

Language programme:

Kulkarriya Community School (Noonkanbah) has run a language programme since 1978. Initially this was an oral programme; with the employment of a teacher linguist in 1980, the programme was extended to include literacy. Fitzroy Crossing State School has on a number of occasions (including 1982 and 1985) initiated a small segment of language learning, usually involving one short period per week for each class. These have not usually lasted for very long. Nulungu College in Broome has been running a language awareness programme in Walmajarri since 1986.

Language learning material:

Hudson, J. 1978. Walmatjari language learning drills. (drills prepared for literacy team).

Hudson, J. & Chuguna, M. 1977. Oral Walmatjari language learning course. (31 lessons). (1976, revised May 1977)

Hudson, J. & Richards, E. 1974. Some introductory drills for learning Walmatjari. Fitzroy Crossing. SIL.

_____ .1984. Walmatjari language learning drills. Darwin: SIL.

Hudson, J. & Richards, E., with Skipper, P., Wanagkara, A., Siddon, P. 1974. SIL. (retyped 1978). Some introductory drills for learning Walmatjari. (Not to be quoted)

Literacy material:

Bible O.T. 1973. Genesis. Selections. Walmatjari. Jawujap. Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

_____ .1974. Genesis. Selections. Walmatjari. Nawa. Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

_____ .1978a. Genesis I-IV. Walmatjari. Wangki purrurtu Ngarrangkarnijangka. (Translated by Wycliffe Bible Translators.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1978b. Jonah i-iv. Walmatjari. Jawuna. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1978c. Kings xvii-xviii. Walmatjari. Yilayijajaa ayap. Canberra: Bible Society.

Bible NT. 1971. Mark. Selections. Walmatjari. Wangkiwanti Mak-jangka. Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

_____ .1975a. John VIII, 2-11. Walmatjari. Marnin ngirtilykarra jularnujangka. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975b. Luke V, 12-14a. Walmatjari. Nganpayi mimijarti putjarti. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975c. Mark I, 4-13. Walmatjari. Nganpayi jun. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975d. Mark II, 1-12. Walmatjari. Nganpayi mimijarti. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975e. Mark IV, 35-41. Walmatjari. Walypa purlka. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975f. Mark IX, 14-26a. Walmatjari. Parri pirlajarti. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975g. Mark X, 13-16. Walmatjari. Yapawarnti. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975h. Mark XI, 1-9. Walmatjari. Jesus yani tangkiyijarti. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1975i. Mark XII, 41-4. Walmatjari. Pamarr kalkarrajangka. Canberra: Bible Society.

_____ .1978. John XI, 1-45. Walmatjari. Lajuras. Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1981. Selections. Walmatjari. Jesus rakarrarla turtangkanya wiikja. Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Bieundurry, O. 1974a. Kartiyawarnti ngayiwarnti. Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974b. Kartiyawarnti ngayiwarnti: Walmatjari. Darwin: SIL.

Charles, J. 1973. Kuyi murupal (The barramundi, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974a. Kalpiya (The raft, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974b. Kuyi murrupal (The barramundi, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974c. Nyiman. (The wild duck, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974d. Minaji. (The echidna, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974e. Wanyjirri kamparnuwu. (In Walmajarri). Darwin. SIL.

Charles, J. et al. 1973. Ruwa kuyingalyanu. (Going hunting, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

Charles, J. & Bieundurry, O. 1973a. Purlumanu mungkurrpungu. (Mustering cattle, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1973b. Purlumanu mungkurrpungu Walmatjari. Darwin: SIL.

Charles, J. & Siddon, P. 1973a. Wangkiwanti kutawanti Walmatjari. Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1973b. Wangkiwanti kutawanti. (Short stories, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974. Wangkiwarnti kutawarni. (Short stories, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

Charles, J. & Siddon, P. & Bieundurry, O. 1973. Kuyiwanti. (Animals, in Walmajarri). Darwin: SIL.

Hudson, J. Richards, E., Chuguna, M. & May, T. 1977a. Read Walmajarri 1: Wangki man Walmajarri Ririmmalku 1. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

_____ .1977b. Read Walmajarri 2: Wangki man Walmajarri Ririmmalku 2. Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1977c. Read Walmajarri 3: Wangki man Walmajarri Ririmmalku 3. Darwin: SIL.

King, F. 1973. Linykurrarula pa piyirn ngarni (Man-eating crocodile, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

Malapuka, L. & Charles, J. 1973. Manawanti ngatkpanujari. (In Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974. Manawarnti ngartakpanujangka. (Things we make, in Walmatjarri). Darwin: SIL.

May, T. 1976. Jawanti. Translated into Walmajarri by O. Bieundurry. Darwin: SIL.

_____ et al. 1982. Ngalimpakurra ngurra. Our Land. Ngali. 20-1.

Richards, E. 1979. Scripture cassettes (in Walmajarri). United Aborigines Messenger 48. 9-10, 15-16.

Richards, E. & Hudson, J. 1970. Mayaruwanti. (Houses, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1970. Pampita. (Lizards, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1971. Kuyi payipulajangka. (Animals of the Bible, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .(tr.). 1976. Linykurra. (The crocodile, in Walmatjari.) Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Siddon, P. 1978. Wangki jiljigangkajaa mayarujangka. (Stories of desert and town life.) Darwin: SIL.

Siddon, P. & Charles, J. 1973. Ruwa yanu. (Going hunting, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

Skipper, P. 1973. Yawatalu piyin tarapinya. (Thrown by a horse, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974a. Purlumanu parayyanany piyirntu. (The bullock riders, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1974b. Yawartarlu piyirn tarapinya. (Thrown by a horse, in Walmajarri.) Darwin. SIL.

_____ .1978. Nganpayi pujman. (The bushman, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1979. Wangkiwarnti jiljingajangkawarnti. (Stories of life in the desert, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

Skipper, P. & Siddon, P. 1975. Mirrijin. (Medicine). Darwin: SIL.

Summer Institute of Linguistics. nd a. Jiriki pinanguru. (The intelligent bird, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .nd b. Kurumpa jujujati. (Book of songs, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1971. Wangki ngarangkanijangka. Darwin: SIL.

_____ .1984. Kurumpa jujujati. Darwin: SIL.

United Aborigines Mission, Language Department. 1964. Kurumpa kayan. (Book one, in Walmajarri.) Kalgoorlie. 16p.

_____ .1965a. Kurumpa kuring (Book two in Walmatjiri.) Kalgoorlie. 9p.

_____ .1965b. Kurumpa kuring kuring. (Book four in Walmatjiri.) Kalgoorlie. 9p.

_____ .1965c. Ngatjukura kurumpa kutatjati wangki. (My book of short stories in Walmajarri.) Kalgoorlie. 17pp.

Vanbee, A. 1978. Manga yurrantinya. (The girl who nearly drowned, in Walmajarri.) Prepared by E. Richards, J. Hudson and M. Chunguna. Perth: Education Department.

Wanangini, A. 1978. Marnin pa lurrujarti yani. (The thirsty woman, in Walmajarri.) Perth: Education Department. Western Australia.

White, P.H.H. 1970. Mangki tatatwantinya. (Monkey in the bog, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

_____ .1972. Mangki pajanujuwal. (The chopping monkey, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

_____ .1971. Nguriji. (The thief, in Walmajarri.) Darwin: Wycliffe Bible Translators.

AIATSIS gratefully acknowledge William McGregor for permission to use his material in AUSTLANG.

Programs

Activities:

In 2003 Wesley College in Melbourne embarked on a collaborative curriculum development project with the Fitzroy Valley Community, producing units of study in Bunuba and Walmajarri langauge and culture. The program has been successful and further collaborations are underway. (Oscar and Anderson 2009)

People:

Eirlys Richards, Joyce Hudson, Kimberley Language Resource Centre

Indigenous organisations:

Speakers

Year	Source	Speaker numbers
1975	Oates	800-1000
1984	Senate	1300
1990	Schmidt	1000
1996	Census	853
2001	Census	596
2004	NILS1	1000
2005	Estimate	500
2006	Census	518
2011	Census	528
2014	NILS2
2016	Census	283
2018-2019	NILS3

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).

Documentation

Type	Documentation Status	Documentation Score
Word list	Large (more than 200 pages)	4
Text Collection	Small (20-100 pages)	2
Grammar	Sketch grammar (less than 100 pages)	2
Audio-visual	More than 10	3

Manuscript note:

tape transcription/field note available

Grammar:

Hudson, Joyce. 1978. The core of Walmatjari grammar. Canberra: AIAS.

Dictionary:

Richards, Eirlys and Hudson, Joyce. 1990. Walmajarri-English dictionary: with English finder list. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Classification

Source	Family	Group	Sub-group	Name	Relationship
Ethnologue (2005)	Pama-Nyungan	South-West	Ngumbin	Walmajarri	Walmajarri [dialects: Djuwarliny (Juwaliny, Tjuwalinj)]
Dixon (2002)		NORTHERN DESERT FRINGE SUBGROUP	Edgar Range to Victoria River subgroup*	Walmatjarri	Walmatjarri Hudson (1978) further dialects: Tjuwalinj, Pililuna
Wurm (1994)	Pama-Nyungan	South-West		Walmadjari
Walsh (1981)	Pama-Nyungan	South-West	Ngumbin	Walmadjari	Walmadjari [dialects: Walmadjari, Nyardi, Nyanyany]
Oates (1975)	Pama-Nyungan	Northern Western Desert Type	Ngumbin (Eastern Kimberleys)	Walmadjari
Wurm (1972)	Pama-Nyungan	Southwest (or Nyungic)	Ngumbin	Walmatjari (Wolmeri)
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)	Pama-Nyungan	Southwest	Ngumbin	Wolmeri