K27: Bemba

AIATSIS code: 
K27
AIATSIS reference name: 
Bemba

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Bemba language K27
Thesaurus heading people
Bemba people K27
ABN name
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ABS name
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Horton name
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Ethnologue name
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ISO 639-3 code
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Tindale name
Wenambal (Bemba)
Tindale (1974)
Wenambal (language term applied north and west of Forrest River Mission but excluding the Miwa), Wanum-baal, Wembria, Wemrade, Namula (horde upstream from Mission), Kulunggulu (a northern horde name), Bugai (a southern horde name), Jura (eastern horde name but may belong to Jeidji tribe), Marokorei (western horde name), Mirray-gona, Bemba (means north, hence Bembara), Jan-gala (a northeastern horde), Guragona (southeastern horde name but may belong to Jeidji), Guragoona, Waringnari [sic] (derogatory name reminding of the Waringari = cannibal term farther inland to the south), Kular (means 'northwest'; name applied by coastal people of Cambridge Gulf), Kulari, Mulngane (Berkeley River; perhaps a horde, applied also at Kalumburu to people who come from the northwest), Mulgane.
O'Grady et al (1966)
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Glottocode
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Other sources
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Synonyms
Bembar, Bimba, Forrest River Mission language, Wenambal, Wanum baal, Wembria, Wemrade, Namula, Kulunggulu, Bugai, Jura, Marokorei, Mirray gona, Jan gala, Guragona, Guragoona, Waringnari, Kular, Kulari, Mulngane, Mulgane
Comment
Comments: 

Nekes and Worms present language data for Bemba. McGregor edited and republished their work in 2006 and, though he does not include Bemba in his 2004 publication, he makes several comments that confirm the status of Bemba as a language, including it in his list of 'modern spellings' of 'languages mentioned in this book' (McGregor 2006:xix). He also comments, 'some languages Nekes and Worms investigated do show genders or noun classes...These include northern Kimberley languages Bemba and Ngarinyin.' (McGregor 2006:362, n.87). 

Oates (1975:370) deleted this from her listing of Indigenous languages. She reports that Vaszolyi says it is a Gunin place name, 'Bembar', while Capell says it is definitely not a language name but a compass point, 'bembar'.

 

References: 
  • Jones, Barbara. 2006. The Forrest River language: a book about the indigenous language of the Forrest River region. Halls Creek, WA: Kimberley Language Resource Centre.
  • McGregor, William. 2006. Australian languages / by Herman Nekes, Ernest A. Worms. Trends in Linguistics: Documentation 24. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Worms, Ernest A. 1949. An Australian migratory myth. Primitive Man, vol. 22, no. 1 & 2, pp. 33-38. (p WOR)
Status: 
Potential data
Location
State / Territory: 
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Location information: 

... spoken near the Forrest River and Cambridge Gulf, the estuary of the Ord River (McGregor 2006:42)

Maps: 
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Links

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PDF icon Oates_K27.pdf
Tindale 1974
Programs
Activities: 
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People: 
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Indigenous organisations: 
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Speakers
Year Source Speaker numbers
1975Oates-
1984Senate-
1990Schmidt-
1996Census-
2001Census-
2004NILS1-
2005Estimate-
2006Census-
2011Census-
2014NILS2
2016Census-
2018-2019NILS3

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 None 0
Text Collection None 0
Grammar None 0
Audio-visual None 0
Manuscript note: 
not available
Grammar: 
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Dictionary: 
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Classification
Source Family Group Sub-group Name Relationship
Ethnologue (2005)          
Dixon (2002)          
Wurm (1994)          
Walsh (1981)          
Oates (1975)       Bemba  
Wurm (1972)          
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)