| Banyjima | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Pilbara region of Western Australia |
| Ethnicity | Panyjima people |
Native speakers | 140 (2021 census) [1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pnw |
| Glottolog | pany1241 |
| AIATSIS [2] | A53 Banyjima (cover term) |
| ELP | Panyjima |
Panyjima is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Hamersley Range, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the traditional language of the Panyjima people. The name has also been spelled Bandjima, Banjima, Banyjima, Paanjima, Pandjima, Panjima, Panjtjima, and Panytyima.
Like most indigenous Australian languages, Panyjima is endangered. Younger generations have English as a first language and make little distinction between Panyjima and its closely related neighbouring languages. There is a formal language register known as padupadu.
Panyjima is classified as a member of the Ngayarta branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages. Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification, Martuthunira was classed as an Inland Ngayarda language, but the separation of the Ngayarda languages into Coastal and Inland groups is no longer considered valid.
Orthography in brackets when it differs from IPA.
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Stop | p | k | c ⟨ť⟩ | t̪ ⟨th⟩ | t | ʈ ⟨rt⟩ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ ⟨g⟩ | ɲ ⟨ň⟩ | n̪ ⟨nh⟩ | n | ɳ ⟨rn⟩ |
| Lateral | ʎ ⟨ľ⟩ | l̪ ⟨lh⟩ | l | ɭ ⟨rl⟩ | ||
| Rhotic | r ⟨ŕ⟩ | ɻ ⟨r⟩ | ||||
| Semivowel | w | j | ||||
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Low | a aː | |
The long vowels are rare.
Unlike most Australian languages, which exhibit ergativity, Panyjima and the other Ngayarta languages have an accusative alignment. That is, the subjects of transitive verbs are treated the same as the subjects of intransitive verbs, while the objects are treated differently.
The Pama–Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Australian Aboriginal languages, containing 306 out of 400 Aboriginal languages in Australia. The name "Pama–Nyungan" is a merism: it is derived from the two end-points of the range, the Pama languages of northeast Australia and the Nyungan languages of southwest Australia.
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