Narungga language

Narungga
Narungga
Narangga
Native to	Australia
Region	South Australia
Ethnicity	Narungga people
Extinct	c. 1936
Revival	1980s; 25 speakers (2016 census)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Thura-Yura Kadli Narungga; ; ;
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nnr
Linguist List	nnr
Glottolog	naru1238
AIATSIS	L1
ELP	Narungga

Last updated January 02, 2026

Narungga (also Narangga) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Narungga people in Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. As a result of the colonisation of Australia, the Narungga language fell into disuse within several generations. Nevertheless, Narungga continued to be documented into the 20th century, and the 1980s saw a community reclamation. As a result of revival efforts, the language along with Narungga culture is now being taught around the Yorke Peninsula, from Moonta and Maitland Area Schools to Point Pearce.

Phonology

Consonants

		Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
		Labial	Velar	Dental	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive		b	ɡ	d̪	ɟ	d	ɖ
Nasal	plain	m	ŋ	n̪	ɲ	n	ɳ
Nasal	pre-stopped			^d̪n̪	^ɟɲ	^dn	^ɖɳ
Tap/Trill						r	ɽ
Lateral	plain			l̪	ʎ	l	ɭ
Lateral	pre-stopped			^d̪l̪	^ɟʎ	^dl	^ɖɭ
Approximant		w			j		ɻ

The voiced stops /b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d, ɖ/ may be heard as voiceless, when geminated as [pː, kː, t̪ː, cː, tː, ʈː].

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i iː	u uː
Open	a aː

Notes

1 2 Wanganeen and Eira, pp. 4-5.
1 2 L1 Narungga at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

References

Wanganeen, Tania; Eira, Christina (2006). "Introduction". The Fragments of Budderer's Waddy: A New Narungga Grammar. Maitland, South Australia: Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association, Inc.
Nharangga Warra: Narungga Dictionary. Maitland, South Australia: Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association, Inc. 2006.

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[rev-1] 1 2 Wanganeen and Eira, pp. 4-5.

[AIATSIS-2] 1 2 L1 Narungga at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

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