The Mantharta languages are a group of four Aboriginal languages traditionally spoken in the north-west of Western Australia. They are Jiwarli W28, Thiin W25, Warriyangka W22 and Tharrkari W21. The languages are closely related genetically, although they show some interesting structural and lexical differences (Austin, 2015: 5).
Tharrgari (W21) is a Pama Nyungan language of the Mantharta group, along with Jiwarli W28, Thiin W25 and Warriyangka W22 (Austin, 1991:20). Austin describes two dialects of Dhargari (W21) which are virtually identical, differing only in whether they have collapsed or retained the contrast between laterals and stops. Austin refers to them descriptively as the 'd-dialect' and the 'l-dialect' (1981:207).
Austin, Peter. 2015. A Reference Grammar of the Mantharta Languages, Western Australia. Draft version 3.7. Unpublished MS.
On Lyndon Station and the coastal plain south of the Lyndon River and west of Round Hill; east to Hill Springs and Minilya River headwaters; south to Middalya, Moogooree, and Kennedy Range. Post-European migration took them east to the Lyons River (Tindale 1974).
[Tharrkari's] western extent was to Lyndon and Williambury Stations and they were not north of Maroonah (Austin in Sutton 1995:97).
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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).
Klokeid, Terry. 1969. Thargari phonology and morphology: Pacific Linguistics B12. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Austin, Peter. 1992. A dictionary of Tharrgari, Western Australia. Bundoora: La Trobe University.
