The Kartu Languages

The Kartu languages are a historically ill-defined subfamily of the Pama-Nyungan language family native to the Midwest of Western Australia (when I say "Midwest", I mean that in a vague geographic sense, not in relation to any political/legal divisions that might exist). According to the Bundiyarra-Irra Wangga Language Centre (the foremost experts on Kartu languages), the Kartu languages are:
  • Badimaya (central & southern dialects) - Moribund: a handful of partial speakers as of 2024.
  • Wirdi (might have been a dialect of Badimaya) - Extinct. Not to be confused with the Wirdi language of Queensland.
  • Wajarri (southern, Mileura, Byro, Nharnu, Birdungu, & Ngunuru dialects) - Endangered: less than a dozen fluent speakers but many partial speakers as of 2011.
  • Malgana - Extinct.
  • Yinggarda (northern & southern dialects)- Likely moribund or extinct; a handful of partial speakers as of 1998.
  • Thaagurda - Extinct, both linguistically and ethnically.
  • Tharrily - Likely extinct.

    • The Kartu languages do NOT include:
  • Nhanda
  • Naaguja
  • Wilunyu (also known as Nhanhagardi)
  • Wattandee

    • These four are part of their own coastal subfamily.

    The most well-documented Kartu language is Wajarri, followed by Badimaya, then Malgana and Yinggarda, then Wirdi, then Thaagurda, and finally Tharrily. Wajarri still has fluent speakers; Badimaya had a fair few fluent speakers within recent memory; Malgana and Yinggarda had no fluent speakers left by the turn of the 21st century; Wirdi is only remembered by the records of colonial explorers and anthropologists; Thaagurda's existence is only known of from the memory of a few elderly Wajarri in the 1980's, who could remember a handful of sentences and phrases from the language; and I have not been able to find a single piece of evidence of the existence of the Tharrily language in all of my research. It must have existed, because the relevant authorities, the Irra Wangga Language Centre, say it did.


    Common features of Kartu languages include bound pronouns, a singular-dual-plural pronoun distinction, no contrastive voicing or aspiration, five or six places of articulation, and no phonemic fricatives.

    Maps

    Here are four maps of the vague locations of the above Kartu and Coastal languages. Please note that precolonial Aboriginal cultures did not have strict geographical borders, as many were partially or fully nomadic, especially the Kartu mobs. The first map is adapted from descriptions and maps from various specially-made resources on the relevant languages; the second map is adapted from descriptions of linguistic boundaries given in Thieberger (1993); the third map is adapted from descriptions of cultural boundaries given in Tindale (1974); the fourth map is a map sold by the Bundiyarra Irra Wangga Language Centre. Tharrily, Naaguja, Wilunyu, and Wattandee are not included on the first three maps.
    Legend: Badimaya, Wirdi, Wajarri, Malgana, Nhanda, Yinggarda, Thaagurda

    Badimaya from Dunn (1998); Wajarri from Irra Wangga (2011); Nhanda from descriptions given in Blevins (2001); Malgana from descriptions given in Gargett (2011); Yinggarda from Dench (1998). Does not include Wirdi or Thaagurda.

    From descriptions given in Thieberger (1993).

    From descriptions given in Tindale (1974). Does not include Thaagurda.

    Of these maps, the one from the Irra Wangga language centre should be considered the most accurate, as they are the organisation which has put, by far, the most time and effort into the study and preservation of these languages over the years.
    Another potentially useful map is the Australian National Native Title Tribunal's Spatial Data map, available online here, which should give some good (though often contested or controversial) information on where many of these nations are now considered by the legal system to have resided. If that link is broken, just google "Australia native title map" and it'll come up. These kinds of maps should be expected to change semi-regularly, but this one is up-do-date as of March 2024.



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