Panyjima language

language
name=Banyjima
familycolor=Australian
states=Australia
region=Pilbara region of Western Australia.
speakers=50 (as of|1991|lc=on)
fam2=Pama-Nyungan
fam3=Southwest
fam4=Ngayarda
iso2=aus|iso3=pnw

Panyjima is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Hamersley Range, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the traditional language of the Panyjima people. The name has also been spelled Bandjima, Banjima, Banyjima, Paanjima, Pandjima, Panjima, Panjtjima, and Panytyima.

Like most indigenous languages, Panyjima is endangered. Younger generations have English as a first language and make little distinction between Panyjima and its closely related neighbouring languages.

Classification

Panyjima is classified as a member of the Ngayarta or Ngayarda subgroup of the South-West Pama-Nyungan languages. Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification, Martuthunira was classed as an Inland Ngayarda language, but the separation of the Ngayarda languages into Coastal and Inland groups is no longer considered valid.clade | style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%
label1=South-West Pama-Nyungan
1=clade
label1=Ngayarta
1=clade
1=Palyku
2=Panyjima
3=Ngarla
4=Nyamal
5=Jurruru
6=Yinhawangka
7=Ngarluma
8=Kariyarra
9=Martuthunira
10=Nhuwala
11=Yindjibarndi
12=Kurrama
2=Kanyara languages
3=Mantharta languages
4=Kartu languages
5=Nyunga languages
6=Mirniny languages
7=Wati languages
8=Marrngu languages
9=Ngumpin languages
10=Nannga languages
11=Yura languages

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

The long vowels are rare.

Grammar

Accusative alignment

Unlike most Australian languages, which exhibit ergativity, Panyjima and the other Ngayarta languages have an accusative alignment. That is, the subjects of transitive verbs are treated the same as the subjects of intransitive verbs, while the objects are treated differently.

References

*cite book |last=Dench |first=Alan |year=1991 |chapter=Panyjima |editor=R.M.W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake |title=The Handbook of Australian Languages, Volume 4 |pages=125–244 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Oxford University Press Australia |isbn=0-19-553097-7

External links

* [http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLPages/AborigPages/LANG/WA/4_4_1.htm Handbook of Western Australian Languages South of the Kimberley Region — Banyjima]