Darwin Region languages

Last updated

Darwin Region
(proposed)
Geographic
distribution
from Darwin area to the West Alligator River
Linguistic classification Proposed language family.
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottolog None
lara1258  (Laragia)
limi1242  (Limilngan-Wulna)
umbu1235  (Umbugarla)
Darwin Region languages.png
Darwin Region languages (red), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey).
Darwin Region languages (closeup).png
Closeup. From west to east they are: Laragiya, Limilngan, and Umbugarlic.

The Darwin Region languages are a family of Australian Aboriginal languages of northern Australia proposed by linguist Mark Harvey[ citation needed ]. It unites the pair of Limilngan languages with two language isolates: [1]

Ngurmbur and Bugurnidja are poorly attested extinct languages, which are joined with Umbugarla to form the Umbugarlic branch.

Tryon (2007) lists the following varieties of Umbugarla–Ngumbur:

Ngunbudj (Gonbudj), Umbugarla, Bugunidja, Ngarduk, Ngumbur.

However, nothing is known of Ngunbudj or Ngarduk, which were extinct by World War II.

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References

  1. Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)