Wergaia | |
---|---|
Region | Victoria |
Ethnicity | Wergaia, Wotjobaluk |
Extinct | (date missing) |
Revival | 2020–2021 |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either: weg – Wergaia xwt – Wotjobaluk |
Glottolog | None |
AIATSIS [1] | S17 |
ELP | Wergaia |
![]() Map of Victorian Aborigines language territories |
Wergaia or Werrigia is an Australian Aboriginal language in the Wimmera region of north-Western Victoria. The Wergaia language consists of four distinct dialects: Wudjubalug/Wotjobaluk, Djadjala/Djadjali, Buibadjali, Biwadjali. [2] Wergaia is considered a dialect of the Wemba Wemba language, which belongs to the Kulinic branch of Pama–Nyungan. [3]
The Aboriginal people who speak Wergaia dialects include the Maligundidj or Wergaia people, which means the people belonging to the mali (mallee) eucalypt bushland which covers much of their territory, [4] [5] and the Wotjobaluk people. [6] [7]
In mid-2021, a language revival project was launched at the Wotjobaluk Knowledge Place in Dimboola, which had been established in December 2020. A Wergaia language program would run over 20 weeks. [8]
The following is the Djadjala dialect.
Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | b | d | ɖ | ɟ | ɡ |
Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ |
Rhotic | r | ɽ | |||
Lateral | l | ||||
Approximant | w | j |
Vowels given are /a e i u/. [9]