Austin (1976:757) says that Dhirari and Diyari L17 are dialects of one language. Trefry (1984:171) remarks that Diari L17 is a dialect of an unnamed language, noting that the relationship between the languages of the area is uncertain. The diagram on page 171 suggests that there may be more members of this unnamed language than Tirari (L14) and Diari.
Austin (1981:5) reiterates his earlier observation of the close relationship between Dhirari and Diyari, but also identifies evidence of there being at least two dialects of Dhirari. He says the data in Reuther, collected at Killalpaninna (Northern Dhirari L69), differs from data originating in Muloorina (Southern Dhirari L70) in terms of vocabulary (69% common) but phonologically the two are nearly identical.
According to Breen (1976:745), Dhirari forms a dialect chain with Ngamini L22, Midhaga L34, Dieri L17, Yaluyandi L31 and Garwali L35. It forms part of the Karnic languages group (Hercus 1994: 10).
... immediately to the west of the Diyari, around the eastern shore of Lake Eyre (Austin 1981).
Eastern shore of Lake Eyre from Muloorina north to Warburton River; east to Killalapaninna; a small tribe now extinct (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).
Austin, Peter. 1981. A grammar of Diyari, South Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reuther, J.G. Reuther comparative 7, ASEDA 0379.
