W13: Watjanti | AIATSIS Collection

AIATSIS code:

W13

AIATSIS reference name:

Watjanti

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Name

Thesaurus heading language	Watjanti language W13
Thesaurus heading people	Watjanti people W13
ABN name	-
ABS name	-
Horton name	Nhanta (Watjanti), Kalaamaya (Watjanmay)
Ethnologue name	-
ISO 639-3 code	-
Tindale name	Nanda (Watjandi)
Tindale (1974)	Jau (['jo] = no), Yau, Eaw (J. Forrest, note in British Museum), Watjandi (['watju] = west), Watchandi, Watchandie, Buluguda (horde and place name), Bulgulu, Tamala (horde and place name), Daguda (horde).
O'Grady et al (1966)	Watchandi
Glottocode	-
Other sources	Watchandi, Wadjandi, Wadyandi, Watchandie, Watjandee, Watjanmay, Watjandi, Watjanti, Wattandee, Wattandi [Blevins 2001:2]
Synonyms	Watchandi, Nhanta, Kalaamaya, Watjanmay, Eaw, Galamaia, Jabururru, Jawan, Kalamaia, Kelamai, Natingero, Takalako, Yabro, Wadjandi, Watchandie, Watjandi, Nanda, Wadyandi, Watjandee, Wattandee, Wattandi, Jau, Yau, Buluguda, Bulgulu, Tamala, Daguda

Comment

Comments:

The identity of Watjanti is uncertain. It has been linked to Nhanda / Nanda W14, Malgana W18 and Wadjarri A39. According to Blevins (2001:3), this is the central dialect of Nhanda W14, while Tindale (1974) lists Watjandi / Watchandi / Watchandie (W13) as alternative names for Nhanda. O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966:37) link Watjanti with Malgana W18, Targuda W15, Buluguda W17 and Damala W16 as dialects/communalects. Douglas (MS 1369:2) says the data on Watjandi (W13) in Curr is obviously closely related to Watjarri A39. He says the name Watjandi is not known by Watjarri A39 speakers in the Murchison today; they call the people at the sea end of the Murchison River either 'Wirlunyu' (Wirlunju) or 'Tja Urra'. In a subsequent publication, Douglas (1981) uses Tja Urra as a language name.

References:

Blevins, Juliette. 2001. Nhanda: an Aboriginal language of Western Australia: Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, no. 30. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
Douglas, Wilfrid. 1979. Watjarri, a language spoken in the Murchison District of Western Australia: a brief description. (MS 1369)
Douglas, Wilfrid. 1981. Watjarri. In Handbook of Australian languages, Vol. 2, eds R. M. W. Dixon and B. J. Blake, 196-272. Canberra: ANU Press.
Gargett, Andrew. 2011. A salvage grammar of Malgana: the language of Shark Bay, Western Australia. Pacific Linguistics 624. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
O'Grady, G. N., C. F. Voegelin and F. M. Voegelin. 1966. Languages of the world: Indo-Pacific fascicle six. Anthropological Linguistics 8(2).
Tindale, Norman B. 1974. Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names. Berkeley: University of California Press/Canberra: Australian National University Press.

Status:

Confirmed

Location

State / Territory:

Location information:

... in and around present day Port Gregory and Northampton north to the lower Murchison (Blevins 2001:3).

Maps:

Links

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Handbook of Western Australian languages south of the Kimberley region

Programs

Activities:

People:

Indigenous organisations:

Speakers

Year	Source	Speaker numbers
1975	Oates	-
1984	Senate	-
1990	Schmidt	-
1996	Census	-
2001	Census	-
2004	NILS1	-
2005	Estimate	-
2006	Census	-
2011	Census	-
2014	NILS2
2016	Census	-
2018-2019	NILS3

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	Less than 20 pages	1
Text Collection	None	0
Grammar	Small grammar (100-200 pages)	3
Audio-visual	None	0

Manuscript note:

tape transcription/field note available (Bates)

Grammar:

Blevins, Juliette. 2001. Nhanda: an Aboriginal language of Western Australia. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, no. 30 Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Dictionary:

Classification

Source	Family	Group	Sub-group	Name	Relationship
Ethnologue (2005)
Dixon (2002)		MOORE RIVER TO GASCOYNE RIVER GROUP	Watjarri/Parti-maya subgroup*	Watchandi	Nhanta Blevins (2001) further dialects: Watchandi, Amangu
Wurm (1994)
Walsh (1981)
Oates (1975)	Pama-Nyungan	Pilbara-Nyungar (Southwest)	Kardu	Wadjandi
Wurm (1972)	Pama-Nyungan	Southwest (or Nyungic)	Kardu	Watjandi
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)	Pama-Nyungan	South-West	Kardu	Watjandi