Yan-nhangu
| Nhangu | |
|---|---|
| Yan-nhaŋu | |
| Jarnango | |
| Region | Crocodile Islands, Northern Territory, Australia |
|
Native speakers
|
15 (2008) 0 (2006 census) |
|
Pama–Nyungan languages
|
|
| Dialects |
|
| Yan-nhaŋu Sign Language | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: jay – Yan-nhangu lja – Golpa |
| Glottolog |
yann1237 (Yan-nhangu)
|
| AIATSIS | N211* |
Nhangu (Nhaŋu), also Yan-nhaŋu (Jarnango) is a possibly extinct indigenous Australian language spoken by the indigenous inhabitants of the Crocodile Islands, off the coast of the Northern Territory. The Yan-nhaŋu language belongs to the Yolŋu Matha language group of the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The varieties of the two moieties are (a) Gorlpa and (b) Yan-nhangu.
The Yan-nhaŋu Language Team, started in 1994 by Laurie Baymarrwangga consists of linguists and native speakers working to compile resources for the description of Yan-nhaŋu culture and the revitalization of Yan-nhaŋu language. Having started with a mere 250 words, this dictionary work has expanded to over three thousand forms. This work has also initiated a family of projects aimed at sustaining the linguistic, cultural and biological diversity of the Crocodile Islands. These include the Yan-nhangu Ecological Knowledge YEK data base, CII Cultural mapping project, Crocodile Islands Rangers, an ethnographic description of Yan-nhangu marine identity, learner's guide and an on-line dictionary project.
Yan-nhaŋu is a Yolŋu Matha (people's tongue) language belonging to the traditional owners of the seas and Islands of the Crocodile Group. Yan-nhaŋu is a Pama–Nyungan language family, the largest indigenous language family in Australia The majority of Yan-nhaŋu speakers reside in and around Maningrida and Milingimbi communities, and surrounding outstations such as Murruŋga. The Yan-nhaŋu speaking Yolŋu people are the traditional owners of the land and sea of the Castlereagh Bay area.
Yan-nhangu people own an area of the Arafura sea and thirty one islands of just under 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi). Sometime after 1600 the annual arrival of Maccassan sailors harvesting trepang (bech de mer) changed the timings and patterns of Yan-nhangu people's seasonal movements around the Crocodile Islands. The arrival of the Methodist mission to the island of Milingimbi in 1922 attracted large numbers of eastern of kin to settle permanently on the Yan-nhaŋu estate.
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