Warndarang language
| Warndarang | |
|---|---|
| Region | Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Extinct | 1974 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | wand1263 |
| AIATSIS | N120 |
Warndarang (also spelled Wandarang, Wandaran) is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language in the Arnhem family, formerly spoken by the Warndarang people in southern Arnhem Land, along the Gulf of Carpentaria. The last speaker was Isaac Joshua, who died in 1974, while working with the linguist Jeffrey Heath.
Warndarang is characterized by an unusually simplified nominal case system but highly intricate pronominal and demonstrative systems. It is a primarily prefixing language with agglutinating verbal complexes and relatively straightforward syntax.
Warndarang is closely related to Mara, which was traditionally spoken to the south of Warndarang and today has a handful of speakers. The languages Alawa and Yugul, spoken to the west of Warndarang and both apparently extinct, are also related.
Heath's Warndarang grammar contains a 100-page grammatical description, a handful of texts, and a brief wordlist. A Warndarang story of the Hodgson Downs massacre is published separately, and both Margaret Sharpe and Arthur Capell collected material in the 1960s and 1940s, respectively, much of which is unpublished but was incorporated into Heath's grammar.
Warndarang is a member of the Gunwinyguan family, the second-largest Australian language family after Pama–Nyungan. Warndarang is an extinct language — the last speaker died in 1974 — but was traditionally spoken along the Gulf of Carpentaria, in Arnhem Land (Northern Territory, Australia) near the mouths of the Roper, Phelp, and Rose Rivers. The term ɳuŋguɭaŋur, meaning "corroboree people," was used by Warndarang speakers to refer to the people in the Roper River area, though waɳʈaraŋ was used to refer to speakers of Warndarang specifically.
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