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Worrorran languages

The Worrorran (Wororan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Western Australia.

The Worrorran languages fall into three dialect clusters:

  • Worrorran
  • the Northern Worrorran group, known as Wunambal and related dialects
  • the Eastern Worrorran group, known as Ngarinyin, Ungarinyin, and related dialects
  • the Western Worrorran group, known as Worrorra, and related dialects

In addition, Gulunggulu is unattested but presumably a Worrorran lect.

Validity

There has been debate over whether the Worrorran languages are demonstrably related to one another, or constitute a geographical language group.

Dixon (2002) considers them to be language isolates with no demonstrable relationship other than that of a Sprachbund.

However, more recent literature differs from Dixon:

  • Rumsey and McGregor (2009) demonstrate the cohesiveness of the family and its reconstructibility, and;
  • Bowern (2011) accepts the Worroorran languages as a family.

Vocabulary

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Worrorran languages:

References

Further reading