Anindilyakwa
Enindhilyakwa, Enindhilyagwa
Amamalya Ayakwa
Native to	Australia Northern Territory
Region	Groote Eylandt,Bickerton Island,Northern Territory,Australia
Ethnicity	Warnindhilyagwa
Native speakers	1,500 (2021 census)[1]
Language family	Macro-Pama–Nyungan? Macro-Gunwinyguan? East Arnhem? Anindilyakwa
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aoi
Glottolog	anin1240
AIATSIS[2]	N151
ELP	Anindilyakwa
A map highlighting Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island, where Anindilyakwa is spoken
Anindilyakwa is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Anindilyakwa (Amamalya Ayakwa) is anAustralian Aboriginal language spoken by theAnindilyakwa people onGroote Eylandt andBickerton Island in theGulf of Carpentaria in theNorthern Territory of Australia. Anindilyakwa is amultiple-classifying prefixing language in which all traditional nouns, adjectives, personal and demonstrative pronouns are prefixed for person, number and gender.^[3] According to the2021 Australian Census, Anindilyakwa was spoken natively by 1,516 people, an increase from 1,283 in 2006.^[4]

The localAnindilyakwa people refer to the language as Amamalya Ayakwa (Amamalya means 'true' andAyakwa means 'words'). However, Anindilyakwa is still commonly used.^[5]

Before a standardorthography was established, the nameAnindilyakwa had been spelt in multiple ways. These includedAndiljangwa,Andilyaugwa,Aninhdhilyagwa,Enindiljaugwa,Enindhilyagwa,Wanindilyaugwaz. The language was also known asIngura,Yingguru, andGroote Eylandt after its location.^[2]

Once considered a family level isolate, Van Egmond (2012) has demonstrated Anindilyakwa to be part of theEastern branch of the Gunwinyguan family, relating it toNunggubuyu and (more distantly)Ngandi, usingcorrespondences between core vocabulary, verbal morphological forms, phonemes, and verbal inflectional paradigms.^[6][7]

The analysis of Anindilyakwa's vowels is open to interpretation. Stokes^[8] analyses it as having 4 phonemic vowels,/ieau/. Leeding^[9] analyses it as having just 2,/ɨa/ with allophones [ i ɪ u ɯ ə o a ] and [ a æ aɪ æɪ e eɪ ɒ aʊ ], respectively.

Anindilyakwa words almost always end with a final vowel 'a'. Clusters of up to 3 consonants such as 'ngw' can occur within words.

Anindilyakwa has 5noun classes, or genders, each marked by a prefix:

For bound pronouns, instead of "human male" and "non-human male" classes there is a single "male" class.

All traditional Anindilyakwa nouns carry a class prefix, but someloanwords may lack them.

The language traditionally had numerals up to 20 but since the introduction of English, English words are now used almost exclusively for numbers above 5.^[10]

Anindilyakwa uses aquinary (base-5) number system, where numbers act like adjectives and must agree with the noun class of the word they describe. For example, 'one crocodile' isdawilyaba dingarrbiya, and 'two turtles' isyambilyuma yimenda, with the number prefix matching the noun class of the noun.

'Nothing' is expressed bynara ebina, 'not any'. There is no term for '"infinity", but the concept "innumerable" can be expressed by:yinguwurramur.dinama dakwulyingarrijanga 'there are too many stars to count.'^[11]

Size degrees is done in 2 grades the positive and a diminutive (warrngka), although reduplication of this word is possible for an intensifying effect.^[9]

Anindilyakwa features 5 grammatical numbers forpronouns: singular, feminine dual, masculine dual, trial, and plural.

The language has aclusivity distinction common in manyAboriginal Australian languages –ngakwurruwa 'inclusivewe' andyirruwa 'exclusive we'. 'Inclusive we' includes explicitly the addressee (that is, 'you and I, and possibly others'). 'Exclusive we' excludes explicitly the addressee (that is, 'he/she/they and I, but not you'), regardless of who else may be involved.

With the exception ofmy,possessive pronouns in Anindilyakwa replace the-uwa suffix from the singular or plural pronouns with-langwa 'belonging to'.

For kinship nouns, there are 7 possessive suffixes used that distinguish between first, second and thirds, singular or plural numbers, and third person genders.

The Groote Eylandt Language Centre (GELC) promotes, maintains, and preserves Anindilyakwa. They are based inAngurugu with offices inUmbakumba andBickerton Island. It hosts a significant collection of language and cultural resources relating to the Warnindilyakwa people. The Centre undertakes language projects both large and small and offers services such as language recording and resource development, language advice and expertise, and translation.^[12]

Previously known as Groote Eylandt Linguistics,Church Mission Society ran the department until 2006. The CMS created the orthography with theLatin script to translateBible texts into Anindilyakwa. The centre now operates under the "Preserving Culture" department of theAnindilyakwa Land Council.^[13]

GELC has compiled and published the Anindilyakwa dictionaryEningerriberra-langwa jurra "The Book about Everything",^[14] as well as producing an online dictionary,^[15] and a web app with the assistance of the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.^[16] They also run a YouTube channel with an expanding content of videos and resources in Anindilyakwa.^[17]

Makassar people from the region ofSulawesi (modern-dayIndonesia) began visiting the coast ofnorthern Australia sometime around the early to middle 1700s.^[18] This happened yearly until the introduction of theWhite Australia Policy in 1906.^[19] The Macassans visited Groote Eylandt for trade, particularly for highly prized trepang in the South China Sea. The Macassans also brought with them tamarinds (jamba), dugout canoes (malamukwa), tobacco (dambakwa) and beer (anija). Evan analyses that there are potentially 35Makassarese words, mostly nouns, that have entered the Anindilyakwa language, including many place names such asUmbakumba (Malay wordombak-ombak for 'lapping of waves') and Bartalumba Bay (Macassan wordbatu lompoa for 'the big rock').^[6]

• Emily Wurramara is anARIA-nominated Anindilyakwa singer and songwriter fromGroote Eylandt. She writes and sings songs in bothEnglish and Anindilyakwa.^[20]
• Yilila is a band fromNumbulwar. Lead vocalist Grant Nundhirribala is a master oftraditional music and a highly respected song man and dancer. The band performs their music inWubuy, Anindilyakwa,Maccassan language and English.^[21]
• Other noteworthy bands include Mambali from Numbulwar, Groote Eylandt Band fromAngurugu and Salt Lake Band fromUmbakumba.

• The Last Wave (released in the USA asBlack Rain) is a 1977 Australianmysterydrama film directed byPeter Weir where awhite lawyer represents a group of Aboriginal men accused of murder.^[22][23] Also starringYolngu manDavid Gulpilil, local Anindilyakwa men Nandjiwarra Amagula, Walter, Roy Bara, Cedrick Lalara, and Morris Lalara portray the men on trial.
• Bakala is a 2017 award-winning short film written and directed by Nikolas Lachajczak and told entirely in the Anindilyakwa language. It follows the story of Anindilyakwa man, Steve 'Bakala' Wurramara, who is afflicted withMachado-Joseph Disease (MJD), a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder that results in a lack ofmuscle control andcoordination of theupper andlower extremities.^[24]
• Anija is a 2011 award-winning short film written and directed by David Hansen. It is filmed mainly in the Anindilyakwa language and follows the experiences of one family dealing with the effects of alcohol addiction. The film won Best Indigenous Resource at theAustralian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards in 2011.
• Anindilyakwa was featured inSpread the Word, an Indigenous Australian languages show onThe Disney Channel. The show featured the Anindilyakwa wordNgarrarndirrarjena which translates to 'kicking a tree to get something off of it.'

• In 2019 theRoyal Australian Mint issued a 50 cent coin to celebrate theInternational Year of Indigenous Languages which features 14 different words for 'money' from Australian Indigenous languages includingawarnda for Anindilyakwa. The coin was designed by Aleksandra Stokic in consultation with Indigenous language custodian groups.^[25]

• Leeding, V. J. (1996). "Body parts and possession in Anindilyakwa". In Chappell, H.; McGregor, W. (eds.).The grammar of inalienability: a typological perspective on body part terms and the part-whole relation. Berlin: Mounton de Gruyter. pp. 193–249.

• Anindilyakwa in the Groote Eylandt Language Centre
• Entries for Enindhilyagwa from Rosetta Project, stored in the Internet Archive
• State of Indigenous Languages in Australia (2001).Department of the Environment and Heritage.

• Gunwinyguan languages
• Groote Eylandt
• Vulnerable languages

• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from July 2018
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• Use dmy dates from July 2018
• Articles containing Anindilyakwa-language text
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles containing Malay (macrolanguage)-language text
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