See also Warga Warga S21. Weki Weki and Warga Warga refer to the same language (Clark 1996, 2005); the community-preferred name is Weki Weki. The place name Piangil has been linked to both Weki Weki and Wadi Wadi D4.
Dixon (Working Papers) has suggested that Wadiwadi D4 was divided into two dialects, 'Piangil' and 'non-Piangil' (in Clark, 1990:404).
Blake and Reid (1998:4-5) note that 'there are two tongues that bear the name Wadi-Wadi, one centred around Swan Hill and the other around Piangil'. The 'Piangil' Wadi Wadi was previously listed as an alternative name for both Wadi Wadi D4 and Weki Weki (S33).
Blake, Hercus, Morey and Ryan comment, 'There is a possibility that what we call Wati Wati (Piangil) was in fact the language of the Weki Weki people, though this cannot be proven' (2011).
Based on this, a separate record for Wadi Wadi (Piangil) D67 has been created, while also noting that the two names may refer to the same language. Previously there were Thesaurus headings for Warga Warga (S21), Wadi Wadi (D4) and Biangil / Biyangil / Piangil (S33). Given the common identity of Weki Weki and Warga Warga, and the liklihood (but not certainty) of 'Piangil Wadi Wadi' being the language of the Weki Weki people, this database Thesaurus now has language headings for Weki Weki (S33), Wadi Wadi (D4) and Wadi Wadi (Piangil) (D67). However, given the uncertainty around the identity of Wadi Wadi (Piangil), documentation for Weki Weki and Wadi Wadi may also be relevant.
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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).
