Giimbiyu is an extinct Aboriginal language isolate that was once spoken by the Giimbiyu people of Australia's Northern Territory, dying out by the late twentieth century. It comprised at least three named varieties, Mangerr (also called Mengerrdji), Urningangga (Wuningak) and Erri (Arri), and carried no confirmed relationship to any other Australian language family. Its own name derives from a word in the neighboring Gaagudju language meaning of the stony country.
Facts
RegionNorthern Territory, Australia (extinct) 1 Speaker CountExtinct, 1980s-1990s; no living speakers. Proto-Language StatusNo proto-language is reconstructed. Giimbiyu (the Mangerr, Urningangg and Erre varieties) is treated as an isolate cluster; a 1997 proposal linking it into a larger Arnhem Land family is not followed by Claire Bowern's 2011 classification. 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Australia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Giimbiyu Languages
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, region field
Region: Northern Territory
Infobox, extinction date field
Extinct 1980s-1990s
Classification section
Giimbiyu is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language isolate
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