Pama–Nyungan languages
The Pama–Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Australian Aboriginal languages, containing 306 out of 400 Aboriginal languages in Australia. The name "Pama–Nyungan" is a merism: it is derived from the two end-points of the range, the Pama languages of northeast Australia (where the word for "man" is pama) and the Nyungan languages of southwest Australia (where the word for "man" is nyunga).
| Pama–Nyungan | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Most of mainland Australia, with the exception of northern parts of Northern Territory and Western Australia |
| Linguistic classification | Macro-Pama–Nyungan?
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Pama–Nyungan |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Linguasphere | 29-A to 29-X (provisional) |
| Glottolog | pama1250 |
Pama–Nyungan languages (yellow) Other Macro-Pama–Nyungan (green and orange) | |
The other language families indigenous to the continent of Australia are occasionally referred to, by exclusion, as non-Pama–Nyungan languages, though this is not a taxonomic term. The Pama–Nyungan family accounts for most of the geographic spread, most of the Aboriginal population, and the greatest number of languages. Most of the Pama–Nyungan languages are spoken by small ethnic groups of hundreds of speakers or fewer. Many languages, either due to disease or elimination of their speakers, have become extinct, and almost all remaining ones are endangered in some way. Only in the central inland portions of the continent do Pama–Nyungan languages remain spoken vigorously by the entire community.
The Pama–Nyungan family was identified and named by Kenneth L. Hale, in his work on the classification of Native Australian languages. Hale's research led him to the conclusion that of the Aboriginal Australian languages, one relatively closely interrelated family had spread and proliferated over most of the continent, while approximately a dozen other families were concentrated along the North coast.