Yarli language

For the South Australian lake known as Yarli, see Lake Albert.

Yarli (Yardli) was a dialect cluster of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northwestern New South Wales and into Northeastern South Australia individually Malyangapa (Maljangapa), Yardliyawara, and Wadikali (Wardikali, Wadigali). Bowern (2002) notes Karenggapa as part of the area, but there is little data.

Yarli
Region	Northwestern New South Wales
Ethnicity	Malyangapa, Yardliyawara, Wadikali, Karenggapa
Native speakers	possibly extinct; 2 speakers in 1987 (2004)[1] Malyangapa extinct 1976 with the death of Laurie Quayle. Wadikali extinct before that.[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Yarli
Dialects	Malyangapa Yardliyawarra
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: yxl – Yardliyawarra yga – Malyangapa wdk – Wadikali (Malyangapa dialect)
Glottolog	yarl1236
AIATSIS[2]	L8 Malyangapa, L7 Yardliyawara
Yardli languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)

Tindale (1940) groups Wanjiwalku & Karenggapa together with Wadikali & Maljangapa as the only languages in NSW that are behind the 'Rite of Circumcision' border - which suggests Wanjiwalku to also be part of the Yarli area.

Classification

The three varieties are very close. Hercus & Austin (2004) classify them as the Yarli branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. Dixon (2002) regards the three as dialects of a single language. Bowern (2002) excludes them from the Karnic languages, where they had sometimes been classified.

References

1. Yardliyawarra at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Malyangapa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Wadikali (Malyangapa dialect) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. L8 Malyangapa at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)

• Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. xxxvii. ISBN 9780521473781.
• Hercus, Luise; Austin, Peter (2004). "The Yarli Languages". In Bowern, Claire; Koch, Harold (eds.). Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method. John Benjamins. pp. 207–222. ISBN 9781588115126.