Location: From Gairdener River east to Port Malcolm; inland to edge of coastal slope about 50 miles; at Kent, Ravensthorpe, Fanny Cove, Esperance and Cape Arid.
1. Names of the language and different spellings that have been used:
Irawadjari
Jakuru
Karkar
Ngokgurring
Njonga
Nonga
Nunga
Nyunga
Waramgle
Warngu
Warranger
Widgere
Wudjaarri (Brandenstein 1988)
Wudjarima
Yunga
2. Classification of the language:
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966): Nyungar
Identification codes:AIATSIS:W.08
Capell (1963):W.39
Oates (1975):54.2a
3. Dialects of the language:
Brandenstein (1988) says that Wudjaarri is the original dialect and founder of Nyungar.
4. Number and distribution of speakers:
Few or none
5. People who have worked intensively to record the language:
Carl-Georg von Brandenstein (late 1960s to the present)
6. Practical spelling system:
A system is in use by the Bunbury Nyungar group that is applicable to all Nyungar languages.
7. Word lists:
Brandenstein (1988)
Moore (1842)
8. Texts:
Brandenstein (1988)
9. Grammar or sketch grammar:
Douglas (1968b)
10. Language programmes:
The Bunbury Nyungar group is developing a Nyungar language programme that will be applicable to all Nyungar languages.
11. Language learning material:
See entry under 10, above.
12. Literature in the language:
Douglas (1982)
13. Material available:
(see section 5 (Bibliography) for annotations on the following works)
Bates, D.M. (n.d.42) Native vocabularies - Doubtful Bay to Israelite Bay, typescript copy of MS, Section 12, 2A, ANL-MS365-39/304-309.
Bates, D.M. (n.d.46) Native vocabularies - Esperance Magisterial District, typescript copy of MS, Section 12, 2B, ANL-MS365-40/7-27.
Bates, D.M. (n.d.47) Native vocabularies - Esperance, typescript copy of MS, Section 12, 2A, ANL-MS365-39/310-313.
Bates, D.M. (n.d.71) Native vocabularies - Miscellaneous, typescript copy of MS, Section 12, 2A, ANL-MS365-39/216-229 .
Bennett, E., P. Bindon and P. McKay (n.d.) Plants used by south-western Aboriginals, WA Museum leaflet.
Berndt, R.M. (1980a) 'Aborigines of the South-West', pp.39-53 in R.M. Berndt and C.H. Berndt, Aborigines of the West: their past and present, UWA Press, Perth.
Brandenstein, C.G. von (1970b) 'Linguistic salvage work on the Eastern Goldfields and the South Coast of Western Australia', pp.45-49 in Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research No.12.
Brandenstein, C.G. von (1970f) Report [to AIAS] on fieldwork conducted July- August 1970 as part of the 1969-70 project Western Desert Fringe study.
Brandenstein, C.G. von (1971b) Report to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies on fieldwork conducted September-December 1970 as part of the 1969-70 project Western Desert Fringe study, Nedlands, WA.
Brandenstein, C.G. von (1972a) Linguistic routine report, January 1972.
Brandenstein, C.G. von (1988) Nyungar Anew: phonology, text samples and etymological and historical 1500-word vocabulary of an artificially re-created Aboriginal language in the south-west of Australia, Pacific Linguistics, C-99, Canberra.
Colonial Secretary of Western Australia (1903a) 'Aboriginal placenames and meanings', p.133 in Science of Man, Vol.6, no.9.
Douglas, W.H. (1968b) The Aboriginal languages of South-West Australia: speech forms in current use and a technical description of Nyungar, Australian Aboriginal Studies no.14, Linguistic Series no.4, AIAS, Canberra.
Douglas, W.H. (1976b) The Aboriginal languages of the South-West of Australia, Australian Aboriginal Studies Research and Regional Studies no.9, AIAS, Canberra.
Douglas, W.H. (1982) Writing the South-West language, Mount Lawley College of Advanced Education, Perth.
Helms, R. (1896) 'Anthropology', pp.237-332 in Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. Vol.16.
Moore, G.F (1842) A descriptive vocabulary of the language in common use amongst the natives of Western Australia, W.S. Orr & Co., London.
Morphy, F. (1985) Working notes on Western Australian languages. Part of an ARGS project directed by R.M.W.Dixon.
Nelson, W. (1913) An Aboriginal life's story, Hocking and Co. Ltd. Printers, Kalgoorlie.
Tindale, N.B. (1939b) 'Vocabulary no.82, Nonga, at Thomas River', Australian vocabularies, MS.
Turner, J. (1969) The Swan River natives and the Walyunga site, MS.
Young, M. and N. Thieberger (1987) Transcripts and audiotapes from Norseman and Coolgardie (ts and audiotape).
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