General Language Information:

Wik-Mungkan is a language spoken in and around Aurukun on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in the north of Queensland. There are also some speakers of Wik-Mungkan or closely related dialects living at Weipa, Edward River, Kowanyama and Coen.

There are approximately 400 speakers of Wik-Mungkan and a further 600 people who use it as a second language.

Wik-Mungkan is used in bilingual education in schools, a programme first introduced in 1973, then revived in 1993.

The term ‘Wik-Mungkan’ can be used to refer to the language as well as the ‘tribe’ speaking it. Dialect names throughout this region are commonly prefixed by the term ‘Wik’ meaning ‘language’ and the following term denoting the particular dialect. In this case Wik-Mungkan means ‘those who say mungkan to mean eating.’

The English language has adopted at least one Wik-Mungkan term ‘taipan’ as a term for a venomous snake.

The Wik-Mungkan New Testament ‘Wik Inangan Kan-Kanam God.antama‘ was printed in 1985 and contains the entire New Testament.

General Language Information:

The Worrorran language family consists of a large number of languages and dialects, historically spoken in the northern Kimberley region. Although critically endangered, it can be found in the areas from” Collier bay to Prince Regent river; Secure bay and Walcott inlet; northern boundary Rothsay Water, inland about 40–50 km along Princess May ranges to Mount Hann, Mount French and cliff base of the tablelands. (ethnologue.com)

Useful Links….

Handbook of Kimberley Languages by William McGregor

General Language Information:

Wubuy is the language of the approximately 500 Nunggubuyu people living in the area near Numbulwar on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory. In the past this language was known as ‘Nunggubuyu’, however it is more correctly the name of the people group meaning “people of Wubuy”.

It is used as a partial or second language by a further 400 people in the Numbulwar region. Speakers are bilingual in Kriol, and while they understand Wubuy children generally speak Kriol.

According to Dr Brett Baker (University of Newcastle) “Difficulties in deciphering Wubuy grammar has meant it has been relatively overlooked.” The Wubuy language is unique and complex.

Early Bible translation work in Wubuy began with CMS Missionary Len Harris (pictured right) when he realised one of the languages, Wubuy, was widely understood around the Arnhem Land coast because its speakers, the Nunggubuyu people, were great travellers by canoe or across country. It was a kind of “lingua franca” in those days, so Len decided that it would be the best language into which to translate the Bible.

A MiniBible was printed in the early 1990’s, containing 70% of the New Testament and a small selection of Old Testament portions (Genesis 1-11, Ruth & Jonah). Continuing work by the Wubuy translators with assistance from Michael & Margaret Hore saw the dedication of the New Testament (along with Old Testament portions) at Numbulwar in September 2010.

General Language Information:

Nhangu (Yan-nhaŋu)
Nhangu is part of the Yolŋu Matha branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family. It is spoken by the Yan-nhaŋu people in the Crocodile Islands off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, mainly in the Maningrida and Milingimbi communities. The language is also known as Nhaŋu, Nangu, Yanangu, Jarnango or Yan-nhaŋu. Varieties of Nhangu include Gamalaŋga, Gorryindi, Mäḻarra, Bindarra, Ngurruwulu and Walamangu

From https://www.omniglot.com/writing/nhangu.htm

General Language Information:

Yanyuwa is the language of the Yanyuwa people of the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria outside Borroloola (Yanyuwa: burrulula) in the Northern Territory, Australia. Yanyuwa, like many other Australian Aboriginal languages, is a highly agglutinative language with ergative-absolutive alignment, whose grammar is pervaded by a set of 16 noun classes whose agreements are complicated and numerous. Yanyuwa is unusual among languages of the world in that it has separate dialects for men and for women at the morphological level. The only time that men use the women’s dialect is if they are quoting someone of the opposite sex and vice versa. Yanyuwa is extremely unusual in having 7 places of articulation for stops, compared to 3 for English and 4–6 for most other Australian languages.  (from Wikipedia)

General Language Information:

Yindjibarndi is thought to be spoken by about 300 Aboriginal people living in and around Roebourne, Western Australia. The area is bordered by Kariyarra and Nyamal land to the north, Ngarluma to the west, Martuthunira and Kurrama land to the south and Nyiyaparli and Palyku land to the east and around the area of the Fortescue River. More information can be found at the wangkamaya site.

Projects underway:

Under construction

General Language Information:

Yumplatok (also known as Torres Strait Creole) is spoken by around 30,000 people in far north Queensland and the Torres Strait.

The Torres Strait Island Flag shows the influences within the culture of the people. The green panels at the top and bottom of the flag represent the land, the central blue panel represents the sea. The black lines dividing the panels represent the Torres Strait Islander people. The centre of the flag shows a white dhari (dancer’s headdress) and the five points of the star represent the five island groups in the Torres Strait. The white represents the place of Christianity and of the ‘Coming of the Light’ (the arrival of missionaries to the Torres Strait).

While Yumplatok is a sister language to many Melanesian languages (eg. Solomon Pijin, Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea and Bislama of Vanuatu) it is a distinct language in its own right.

Useful Links….

www.torresstraitheritage.com

Some word examples :

Welcome – ‘Mayem’
Thankyou – ‘Eso’
Good Morning – ‘Gud Moning’
Yes — ‘Wa’
Goodbye – ‘Yawo’