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An Introductory Dictionary Of The Western Desert Language, Wilf Douglas
An Introductory Dictionary Of The Western Desert Language, Wilf Douglas
Research outputs pre 2011
THE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE is the most widely spoken Aboriginal language in Australia. Dialects of this language a.re spoken in the vast area between Kalgoorlie and Alice Springs, Ceduna (South Australia) and Wiluna (Western Australia).
Today, radio waves speeding across the Central Desert a.re bristling with two-way chatter in the speech sounds of Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Pintupi and other variants of the Western Desert language.
'YANAP' - short for the Yankuntjatjara-Ngaanyatjarra-Pitjantjatjara Air Service - carries speakers of these dialects from the Alice to Kalgoorlie, to the Aboriginal communities at such places as Docker River, Ernabella, Amata, Mt. Davies, Jameson, Blackstone, Warakurna, …