Nunggubuyu or Wubuy is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Nunggubuyu people ('Nunggubuyu' is nun- 'people of' + wubuy, the name of the language). It is the primary traditional language spoken in the community of Numbulwar in the Northern Territory, although Numbulwar is traditionally associated with the Warndarrang language.[3] The language is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO,[4] with only 283 speakers according to the 2021 census.[1] Most children in Numbulwar can understand Nunggubuyu when spoken to, but cannot speak it themselves, having to reply in Kriol. To counter this, starting in 1990, the community has been embarking on a revitalisation programme for the language by bringing in elders to teach it to children at the local school.[5]
Classification
The classification of Nunggubuyu is problematic. Heath (1997) postulates that Nunggubuyu is most closely related to Ngandi and Anindilyakwa. However, Evans (2003) believes that the similarities are shared retentions rather than shared innovations, and that Nunggubuyu is closest to the eastern Gunwinyguan languages.[6]
Brett Baker (2004) demonstrates that Ngandi and Wubuy form an "Eastern Gunwinyguan" subgroup as distinct from the "jala"/"Rembarngic" subgroup which includes Rembarrnga and Ngalakgan.[7] Furthermore, Van Egmond's (2012) study of the genetic position of Anindilyakwa supports Heath's hypothesis that Ngandi, Anindilyakwa and Wubuy/Nunggubuyu do constitute one subgroup within Gunwinyguan.[8] Van Egmond and Baker (2020) expand Van Egmond's (2012) evidence with lexical comparison, demonstrating that Wubuy is related to both Ngandi and Anindilyakwa, but shares more sound changes and lexical items with the latter.
^Numbulwar Numburindi Community Government Council (2007). "Numbulwar's Profile & Information". Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2007. The major language spoken in Numbulwar is Noongabuyu (Noon-ga-boy-you) along with creole. English is generally regarded as a third language in the community.
^Nicholas Evans, 2003, Bininj Gun-wok: a pan-dialectal grammar of Mayali, Kunwinjku and Kune, vol. 1
^Baker, Brett. (2004). "Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan." In Koch, H. & Bowern, C. eds. Australian languages: Classification and the comparative method. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 313-40, 669-79.
^Van Egmond, M-E. (2012). "Enindhilyakwa phonology, morphosyntax and genetic position." Doctoral thesis. University of Sydney. pp. 314–70.
^Capell, A. "A New Approach to Australian Linguistics", Oceania linguistic monographs1 (1956), Sydney: University of Sydney, p. 68. Cited in John Harris, "Facts and Fallacies of Aboriginal Number SystemsArchived 2007-08-31 at the Wayback Machine", SIL work paper series B, volume 8 (1982), p. 161.
