D66: Wirraay-Wirraay

AIATSIS code: 
D66
AIATSIS reference name: 
Wirraay-Wirraay

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Wirraay-Wirraay language D66
Thesaurus heading people
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
Weraerai
Tindale (1974)
['wirai] = ['werai] = no, Wiraiarai, Weraiari, Wirri-Wirri, Wirra:arai, Warlarai, Wolroi, Wolleri, Waho-lari, Wolaroo, Walarai, Juwalarai, Walari, Wolaroi, Woo-laroi, Ginniebal (read g as dj), ? Mooran Mooran.
O'Grady et al (1966)
Glottocode
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Other sources
Wirraiarai [Mathews MS 299, notebook 3 page 35]
Synonyms
Wirayaraay, Wiriwiri, Wiri Wiri, Weraerai, Wirraiarai, Wiraiarai, Weraiari, Wirri Wirri, Wirraarai, Warlarai, Wolroi, Wolleri, Waho lari, Wolaroo, Walarai, Juwalarai, Walari, Wolaroi, Woo laroi, Ginniebal, Mooran Mooran
Comment
Comments: 
It seems Wirraay-Wirraay has been confused with Wiriyaraay D28. The reference name for D28 is Wiriyaraay in the Thesaurus and ILDB. On the other hand, the reference name in Oates and Oates (1970:167), an older source, is Wiriwiri; they list Weraiari, Weri-ari, Wiraerai, Wirajarai, Wirraiarai and Wirri-Wirri as alternatives. Oates and Oates describe 'Gwydir River from Moree to Bingara, north to Warialda and Gilgil Creek, NSW' as its location. This location corresponds to that of Wiriyaraay D28 given by Austin, Williams and Wurm (1980:169). However, according to Wafer and Lissarrague (2008:216-221), Wirraay-Wirraay (equivalent to Wirriwirri/Wirri-Wirri above) does not refer to the same language as Wiriyaraay, on the basis of location: Barlow (1873:174) places Wirriwirri in 'Balonne country', which is north of the location of Wiriyaraay D28. Wafer and Lissarrague identify another language, Wirraayaraay D65, possibly equivalent to Wirraiarai and Wiraerai above, which is related to Wiradjuri D10, while they consider Wirraay-Wirraay to be related to Gamilaraay D23. Note that Wafer and Lissarrague also treat Mathew's 'Wirraiari' (1903:270) as Wirraay-Wirraay. It is difficult to say which identity the code D28 originally referred to: Wiriyaraay, Wirraay-Wirraay or Wirraayaraay. Capell's (1963) 'D45 Wirajarai', which Oates and Oates (1970) link to 'A.I.A.S. D28', may be variously interpreted as equivalent to: 1) Wirraayaraay D65, by the name he provides (Wirajarai); 2) Wiriyaraay D28, by the location he provides (Gwydir River from Moree to Bingara, north to Warialda and Gilgil Creek); or 3) Wirraay-Wirraay (D66), by the reference he makes to Mathew's Wirraiari (1903:270). Tindale's Weraerai, Wiriwiri in Oates and Oates (1970:167) and Wiri-Wiri in Oates (1975:222) may refer to Wiriyaraay D28, Wirraay-Wirraay or Wirraayaraay D65.
References: 
  • Austin, Peter, Corinne J. Williams & Stephen Wurm. 1980. The linguistic situation in north central New South Wales. In Papers in Australian Linguistics 13, 167-180. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  • Barlow, Harriott. 1873. Vocabulary of Aboriginal dialects of Queensland. The Journal of Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 2:166-175.
  • Capell, Arthur. 1963. Linguistic survey of Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
  • Mathews, Robert Hamilton. 1903. Languages of the Kamilaroi and other Aboriginal tribes of NSW. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 33:259-283.
  • Oates, Lynette F. 1975. The 1973 supplement to a revised linguistic survey of Australia. Armidale: Armidale Christian Book Centre.
  • Oates, William J. & Lynette F. Oates. 1970. A revised linguistic survey of Australia: Australian Aboriginal Studies 33, Linguistic Series 12. Canberra: AIAS.
  • 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.
  • Wafer, Jim & Amanda Lissarrague. 2008. A handbook of Aboriginal languages of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Nambucca Heads: Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative.
Status: 
Potential data
Location
State / Territory: 
QLD
Location information: 
Balonne country (Barlow 1873:174 as quoted in Wafer and Lissarrague 2008:219).
Maps: 
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Programs
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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
TypeDocumentation StatusDocumentation Score
Word list
Text Collection
Grammar
Audio-visual
Manuscript note: 
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Grammar: 
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Dictionary: 
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Classification
SourceFamilyGroupSub-groupNameRelationship
Ethnologue (2005)
Dixon (2002)CENTRAL NEW SOUTH WALES GROUPCentral inland New South Wales subgroupWirayaraay (or Wiriwiri)Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) Williams (1980) further dialects: Yuwaalaraay, Yuwaaliyaay (Euahlayi), Gunjbaraay, Gawambaraay, Wirayaraay (or Wiriwiri), Walaraay
Wurm (1994)
Walsh (1981)
Oates (1975)Pama-NyunganWiradjuricMain WiradjuricWiri-Wiri
Wurm (1972)
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)