Wergaia language

Last updated

Wergaia
Region Victoria
Ethnicity Wergaia, Wotjobaluk
Extinct (date missing)
Revival 2020–2021
Dialects
  • Biwadjali
  • Wudjubalug
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
weg   Wergaia
xwt   Wotjobaluk
Glottolog None
AIATSIS [1] S17
ELP Wergaia
Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes (colourmap).jpg
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]

Contents

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]

Sounds

The following is the Djadjala dialect.

Consonant sounds
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Stop bdɖɟɡ
Nasal mnɳɲŋ
Rhotic rɽ
Lateral l
Approximant wj

Vowels given are /a e i u/. [9]

Some words

Notes and references

Notes

  1. S17 Wergaia at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. Clark 1990.
  3. Dixon 2002, p. xxxvi.
  4. Clark 1995, pp. 177–183.
  5. "Wooroonook Lakes". Charlton. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  6. "Rural Northwest Health service absorbs Aboriginal culture". Victorian Government Health Information: Health Victoria. Government of Victoria. July 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  7. "Cultural Awareness Training – Wimmera Primary Care Partnership Inc". Wimmera Primary Care Partnership. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  8. Kelso, Andrew (3 June 2021). "Dimboola to 'revive' Wergaia language, in Victorian first". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. Hercus 1969.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Mathews, R. H. (1902). "Aboriginal languages of Victoria". Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. 36: 71–106.

References