LANGUAGE PROGRAM
Ngirrma Nguma-wu (Language for Tomorrow)
Although Djabugay belongs to one of the oldest of the world’s facilities of language, today its existence is under threat. Few of its speakers remain to pass on their ancestral tongue to descendants of the Djabuganydji people. Djabugay, like any language in the world, is important to its speakers’ sense of identity, relatedness & wellbeing.
Language Group
The Djabuganydji, Bulwanydji, Nyagali, Yirrganydji and Gulunydji shared a common language (ngirrma). The Djabuganydji called it Djabugay. The Bulwanydji called it Bulway. The Yirrganydji on the coast called it Yirrgay etc. These were all dialects of one language and so were mutually intelligible. The groups speaking these dialects inhabited lands both on the coast and coastal range and on the tableland behind.
Our Language program provides several means of language (ngirrma) preservation and revitalisation within the community:
