Wergaia language

Wergaia or Werrigia is an Australian Aboriginal language in the Wimmera region of north-Western Victoria. The Wergaia language consisted of four distinct dialects: Wudjubalug/Wotjobaluk, Djadjala/Djadjali, Buibadjali, Biwadjali.^[2] Wergaia was in turn apparently a dialect of the Wemba Wemba language, a member of the Kulinic branch of Pama–Nyungan.^[3]

Wergaia
Region	Victoria
Ethnicity	Wergaia, Wotjobaluk
Extinct	(date missing)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Kulinic Kulin Wemba-Wemba Wergaia
Dialects	Biwadjali Wudjubalug
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: weg – Wergaia xwt – Wotjobaluk
Glottolog	None
AIATSIS[1]	S17
ELP	Wergaia
Map of Victorian Aborigines language territories

The Aboriginal people who speak Wergaia dialects include the Maligundidj or Wergaia people, which means the people belonging to the mali (mallee) eucalypt bushland which covers much of their territory,^[4][5] and the Wotjobaluk people.^[6][7]

In mid-2021 a language revival project started up at the Wotjobaluk Knowledge Place, established in December 2020 at Dimboola. A Wergaia language program would run over 20 weeks.^[8]

Sounds

The following is the Djadjala dialect.

Consonant sounds

	Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Stop	b	d	ɖ	ɟ	ɡ
Nasal	m	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ
Rhotic		r	ɽ
Lateral		l
Approximant	w			j

Vowels given are /a e i u/.^[9]

Some words

• dhallung (male or buck kangaroo)
• gal (dog)^[10]
• kulkun (a boy)
• laiaruk (a woman)
• lanangurk (a girl)^[10]
• mindyun (a kangaroo)
• muty (doer or female kangaroo)^[10]}
• winya nyua (Who is there?)^[10]
• wotjo (a man)

Notes and references

Notes

1. S17 Wergaia at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
2. Clark 1990.
3. Dixon 2002, p. xxxvi.
4. Clark 1995, pp. 177–183.
5. "Wooroonook Lakes". Charlton. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
6. "Rural Northwest Health service absorbs Aboriginal culture". Victorian Government Health Information: Health Victoria. Government of Victoria. July 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
7. "Cultural Awareness Training – Wimmera Primary Care Partnership Inc". Wimmera Primary Care Partnership. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
8. Kelso, Andrew (3 June 2021). "Dimboola to 'revive' Wergaia language, in Victorian first". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
9. Hercus 1969.
10. Mathews, R. H. (1902). "Aboriginal languages of Victoria". Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. 36: 71–106.

References

• Clark, Ian (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800-1900. Monash publications in geography, No.37. ISBN 978-0-909-68541-6.
• Clark, Ian (1995). Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria, 1803-1859. Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 978-0-855-75595-9.
• Dixon, Robert M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47378-1.