Pungupungu is a non-Pama Nyungan language from the Daly River region of the Northern Territory.
Tryon compiled a sketch grammar and reports that Wadyiginy N31 and Pungupungu share approximately 79% cognates and would thus be normally treated as dialects of the same language. However, there exists serious morphological or morphologico-typological differences between them (1974:187). Tryon's early classification of Daly River languages as a single family has been revised and divided into five families; Reid and Harvey include an Anson Bay family consisting of Paccamalh N31 and Pungu-Pungu (N11) (in Evans, 2003:13).
Green says the term PunguPungu is used in the modern Daly to refer to a western MalakMalak N22 dialect (2007 p.c.). See also Tindale (1974:235) who includes an ambiguous reference to Mulukmuluk N22 regarding Pungupungu.
Pungu Pungu, also called Kandjerramalh, is a dialect closely related to Batjamalh, although there are some grammatical differences (according to Tryon 1974). It is placed in the Anson Bay group of Daly languages with Batjamalh N31 (Green & Nordlinger viewed November 2020).
... on the North bank of Daly River (Stanner 1933 as quoted by Tryon 1974). On both banks of the Daly River inland from the coastal Wogait (Tindale 1974). ... south of the Wogait, on the Daly river (Basedow 1907:2).
Traditional Pungu Pungu country was on the north bank of the Daly River, south of Batjamalh country (Green & Nordlinger, viewed November 2020).
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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).
