Much confusion surrounds the code D28. Its reference name is Wiriyaraay in the Thesaurus and ILDB. On the other hand, the reference name in Oates and Oates (1970:167), an older source, is Wiriwiri; they list Weraiari, Weri-ari, Wiraerai, Wirajarai, Wirraiarai and Wirri-Wirri as alternatives. Oates and Oates describe 'Gwydir River from Moree to Bingara, north to Warialda and Gilgil Creek, NSW' as its location. This location corresponds to that of Wiriyaraay given by Austin, Williams and Wurm (1980:169).
However, according to Wafer and Lissarrague (2008:216-221), Wirraay-Wirraay D66 (equivalent to Wirriwirri/Wirri-Wirri above) does not refer to the same language as Wiriyaraay, on the basis of location: Barlow (1873:174) places Wirriwirri in 'Balonne country', which is north of the location of Wiriyaraay D28. Wafer and Lissarrague also identify another language, Wirraayaraay D65, possibly equivalent to Wirraiarai and Wiraerai above, which is related to Wiradjuri D10, while they consider Wirraay-Wirraay to be related to Gamilaraay D23. Note that Wafer and Lissarrague also treat Mathew's 'Wirraiari' (1903:270) as Wirraay-Wirraay.
It is difficult to say which identity the code D28 originally referred to: Wiriyaraay, Wirraay-Wirraay or Wirraayaraay. Capell's (1963) 'D45 Wirajarai', which Oates and Oates (1970) link to 'A.I.A.S. D28', may be variously interpreted as equivalent to: 1) Wirraayaraay D65, by the name he provides (Wirajarai); 2) Wiriyaraay D28, by the location he provides (Gwydir River from Moree to Bingara, north to Warialda and Gilgil Creek); or 3) Wirraay-Wirraay (D66), by the reference he makes to Mathew's Wirraiari (1903:270).
Note that Wafer and Lissarrague (2008:216-221) argue that there is not enough evidence to support the existence of a language variety called Wiriyaraay, while Austin, Williams and Wurm (2008:169) say it is related to Gamilaraay. Tindale's Weraerai, Wiriwiri in Oates and Oates (1970:167) and Wiri-Wiri in Oates (1975:222) may refer to Wiriyaraay, Wirraay-Wirraay D66 or Wirraayaraay D65.
... between the Dumaresq and Gwydir Rivers and the Great Dividing Range (Austin, Williams and Wurm 1980:169).
North side of Gwydir River from Moree to Bingara; northward to Warialda and Gilgil Creek; west to Garah. At Yallaroi; on Macintyre River from Inverell to north of Wallangra (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).
