Native to Australia ISO 639-3 ntj | Ethnicity Ngaanyatjarra | |
Region Western Australia; Warburton Ranges. Native speakers 700 (2005) to 1,000 (2006 census) Language family Pama–Nyungan
Wati
Western Desert
Ngaanyatjarra | ||
Ngaanyatjarra (also Ngaanyatjara, Ngaanjatjarra) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the dialects of the Western Desert Language and is very similar to its close neighbour Ngaatjatjarra, with which it is highly mutually intelligible.
Most Ngaanyatjarra people live in one of the communities of Warburton, Warakurna, Tjukurla, Papulankutja (Blackstone), Mantamaru (Jameson) or Kaltukatjara (Docker River). Some have moved to Cosmo Newbery and Laverton in the Eastern Goldfields area of Western Australia.
Origin of the name
The name Ngaanyatjarra derives from the word ngaanya 'this' which, combined with the comitative suffix -tjarra means "having ngaanya (as the word for "this"). This distinguishes it from its near neighbour Ngaatjatjarra, which has ngaatja for 'this'.