Mantharta language
Nearly extinct dialect cluster of Western Australia
title: "Mantharta language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mantharta-languages", "extinct-languages-of-western-australia"] description: "Nearly extinct dialect cluster of Western Australia" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantharta_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Nearly extinct dialect cluster of Western Australia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mantharta |
| region | Western Australia |
| ethnicity | Tharrkari, Wariangga, Tenma, Jiwarli, ?Malgaru |
| speakers | 2 Dhargari |
| date | 2005 |
| speakers2 | 1 (2007) |
| ref | aiatsis |
| familycolor | Australian |
| fam1 | Pama–Nyungan |
| fam2 | Kanyara–Mantharta |
| dia1 | Dhargari |
| dia2 | Warriyangga |
| dia3 | Dhiin |
| dia4 | Jiwarli |
| lc1 | dhr |
| lc2 | wri |
| lc3 | iin |
| lc4 | dze |
| aiatsis | W21 |
| aiatsisname | Tharrkari |
| aiatsis2 | W22 |
| aiatsisname2 | Warriyangka |
| aiatsis3 | W25 |
| aiatsisname3 | Thiin |
| aiatsis4 | W28 |
| aiatsisname4 | Jiwarli |
| glotto | mant1266 |
| glottorefname | Mantharta |
| map | Mantharta languages.png |
| mapcaption | Mantharta languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan). |
| :: |
|name=Mantharta |altname= |region=Western Australia |ethnicity = Tharrkari, Wariangga, Tenma, Jiwarli, ?Malgaru |speakers=2 Dhargari |date=2005 |speakers2=1 (2007) |ref=aiatsis |familycolor=Australian |fam1=Pama–Nyungan |fam2=Kanyara–Mantharta |dia1=Dhargari |dia2=Warriyangga |dia3=Dhiin |dia4=Jiwarli |lc1=dhr|ld1=Dhargari |lc2=wri|ld2=Warriyangga |lc3=iin|ld3=Thiin |lc4=dze|ld4=Djiwarli |aiatsis=W21 |aiatsisname=Tharrkari |aiatsis2=W22 |aiatsisname2=Warriyangka |aiatsis3=W25 |aiatsisname3=Thiin |aiatsis4=W28 |aiatsisname4=Jiwarli |glotto=mant1266 |glottorefname=Mantharta |map=Mantharta languages.png |mapcaption=Mantharta languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan).
Mantharta is a partly extinct dialect cluster spoken in the southern Pilbara region of Western Australia. There were four varieties, which were distinct but largely mutually intelligible. The four were:
- Tharrgari (Tharrkari, Dhargari), still spoken
- Warriyangka (Wadiwangga), still spoken
- Thiin (Thiinma), still spoken
- Jiwarli (Tjiwarli), extinct 1986
The name mantharta comes from the word for "man" in all four varieties.
Phonology
The following is of the Thargari dialect:
Consonants
::data[format=table]
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | Labial | Velar | Dental | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | Plosive | Nasal | Rhotic | Lateral | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p/b | k/ɡ | t̪/d̪ | c/ɟ | t/d | ʈ/ɖ | ||||||||
| m | ŋ | n̪ | ɲ | n | ɳ | ||||||||
| ɾ | |||||||||||||
| l̪ | ʎ | l | ɭ | ||||||||||
| w | j | ɻ | |||||||||||
| :: |
- /d̪/ can also be lenited as a fricative [ð] in intervocalic positions.
- /ɾ/ can also be heard as a trill [r].
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Back | Close | Open |
|---|---|---|---|
| i, iː | u, uː | ||
| a, aː | |||
| :: |
Language revival
, the Warriyangga dialect is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".
References
References
- {{e18. dhr. Dhargari
- Dixon, R. M. W.. (2002). "Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development". Cambridge University Press.
- "Australian languages : classification and the comparative method". John Benjamins Pub.
- (2021-01-15). "Peter Salmon is the only known speaker of his language — he wants to change that before it's too late". ABC News.
- "Thargari phonology and morphology". Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.
- Austin, Peter K.. (2015). "A Reference Grammar of the Mantharta Languages, Western Australia".
- "Priority Languages Support Project".
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