Ngaanyatjarra language
Encyclopedia
Ngaanyatjarra is an Australian Aboriginal language
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to the Australian Aborigines of Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding the languages of Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islanders...

. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Southwest branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the dialects of the Western Desert Language
Western Desert Language
Western Desert Language is the name used to refer to an otherwise un-named Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Southwest branch of the Pama–Nyungan family.-Location and list of communities:...

 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
Warburton, Western Australia
Warburton or Warburton Ranges is an Indigenous Australian community in Western Australia, just to the south of the Gibson Desert and located on the Great Central Road and Gunbarrel Highway...

, Warakurna, Tjukurla, Papulankutja (Blackstone), Mantamaru (Jameson
Jameson
Jameson may refer to:People with the surname JamesonIn places:* Jameson, California, former name of Jamesan, California* Jameson, Missouri, village* Jameson Islands, Nunavut, Canada* Jameson Land, GreenlandOther:...

) or Kaltukatjara (Docker River). Some have moved to Cosmo Newberry and Laverton
Laverton
There is more than one place named Laverton:In Australia:*Laverton, Victoria is a suburb of Melbourne*Laverton, Western Australia is a shire and townIn the United Kingdom*Laverton, Gloucestershire*Laverton, North Yorkshire*Laverton, Somerset...

 in the Eastern Goldfields
Eastern Goldfields
The Eastern Goldfields is a figurative area used in speech to describe a region of Western Australia.-Name:The name is derived in two parts from, Eastern in relation to its location from Perth and Goldfields as the name suggests comes from the mining of Gold in the region...

 area of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Origin of the name

The name Ngaanyatjarra derives from the word ngaanya 'this' which, combined with the comitative suffix -tjarra means something like ' ngaanya-having'. This distinguishes it from its near neighbour Ngaatjatjarra which has ngaatja for 'this'.

External links

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