# Ngunnawal–Gundungurra language

Ngunnawal/Ngunawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages, and the traditional languages of the Ngunnawal and Gandangarra. Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are very closely related and the two were most likely highly mutually intelligible. As such they can be considered dialects of a single unnamed language, but this is the technical linguistic usage of these terms and Ngunnawal and Gundungurra peoples prefer to describe their individual varieties as separate languages in their own right.

## Classification

Gundungurra/Ngunawal is generally classified to fall within the tentative (and perhaps geographic) Yuin–Kuric group of the Pama–Nyungan family.

## Geographical distribution

The traditional country of the Ngunnawal people is generally thought to have extended east near Goulburn, North to Boorowa, south through Canberra, perhaps even to Queanbeyan, and extending west to around the Goodradigbee River.

## Current status

The language was extinct by 1994. Some recordings of the last native speakers exist, but they did not bring their children up to speak the language. The Ngunnawal community has for some years been engaged in work to revive the language, aiming to bring it back into daily use within the community. They have been working with AIATSIS linguists to assist them with this work, and with identifying historical records that can be used.

## Phonology

Ngunawal consonants :
| | Labial | Apico- alveolar | Lamino- dental | Lamino- palatal | Dorso- velar |
| Stop | b | d | d̪ | ɟ | g |
| Nasal | m | n | n̪ | ɲ | ŋ |
| Trill | | r | | | |
| Lateral | | l | | ʎ | |
| Approximant | w | ɹ | | j | |
* Retroflex sounds [ɖ, ɳ, ɭ] may have also been recorded in limited distribution.
* Stops /b, d, ɟ, ɡ/ may also be heard as voiceless [p, t, c, k] when in word-final or syllable-final positions.
* /ɹ/ may have also been heard as [ɻ].
Ngunawal vowels :
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i, iː | | u, uː |
| Low | | a, aː | |

## Vocabulary

Ngunawal words and phrases and English translations :
| Ngunawal | English |
| Balbo | Kangaroo rat |
| Bamir | Long |
| Bargang | Yellow box |
| Berra | Boomerang |
| Bimbi | Bird |
| Bimbiang | Shield |
| Bindugan | Mussel |
| Birrigai | To laugh |
| Budyan | Birds |
| Bunburung | Small lizard |
| Bunduluk | Rosella |
| Bunima | Blow (as wind) |
| Burrai | Quick |
| Burrum-bah | Where the kangaroo, the wallaby, bounces over the rocks |
| Bural | Day |
| Burin | Stringybark |
| Dhangarn | Food |
| Daramoolen | Dreaming |
| Darwa | A transition for ceremony |
| Dulwa | Casuarina trees |
| Dyindan | Ring-tail possum |
| Galu | Crane |
| Gamburra | Flowers |
| Gang-gang | Gang-gang cockatoo |
| Giliruk | pee wee |
| Ginninderra | Sparkling light |
| Ginin-ginin-derry | Sparkling, throwing out little rays of light (possibly a description of a waterfall) |
| Gubbity | Pipeclay |
| Gubur Dhaura | Red ochre ground |
| Gudali | To hunt |
| Guginya | Kookaburra |
| Gula | Koala |
| Gulwan | Younger sister |
| Gummiuk | Bulrushes |
| Gunyan | Slow |
| Jedbinbilla | A place where boys become men |
| Gurubun | Koala |
| Kubbadang | Moon |
| Karrugang | Magpie |
| Kudyera | Fighting club |
| Kanbarra | Meeting Place |
| Madi | Very |
| Mulleun | Eagle |
| Mulunggang | Platypus |
| Mundang | Canoe |
| Mundawari | Bandicoot |
| Munjuwa | Tracks, Foot |
| Mura | Pathway |
| Mura gadi | Pathways for searching |
| Murra Bidgee Mullangari | Keeping the pathway to our ancestors alive |
| Murrung | Lizard |
| Nangi | To see or look |
| Narragunnawali | Alive/well-being/coming together |
| Nengi Bamir | See far (view) |
| Ngadyung | Water |
| Ngunna yerrabi yanggu | You're welcome to leave your footprints on our land |
| Nguru | Camp |
| Pajong | Ngunnawal clan group |
| Tuggeranong | Cold place |
| Umbagong | Axe |
| Walga | Hawk |
| Wallabalooa | Ngunnawal clan group |
| Warabin | Curlew |
| Warrumbul | Youth |
| Weereewa | Lake George (translates roughly to "bad water") |
| Wimbaliri | Drink |
| Winnunga nimmityjah | Strong health |
| Winyu | Sun |
| Wirria | Tree goanna |
| Woggabaliri | Play |
| Wolway | Waterfall |
| Yarrh | Running water |
| Yeal-am-bid-gie | Molonglo River |
| Yerra | Swim, to fly like a bird |
| Yerrabi | To walk |
| Yerradhang | Eucalyptus Tree |
| Yukkumbruk | Black Crow |
| Yumba | Eel |
| Yuyu | Mopoke |
More words are compiled online in The Wiradyuri and Other Languages of New South Wales, an article by Robert H. Mathews first published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1904.