Gija
Kija
Region	FromHalls Creek toKununurra,Western Australia
Ethnicity	Gija
Native speakers	266 (2021 census)[1]
Language family	Jarrakan Gija
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gia
Glottolog	kitj1240
AIATSIS[2]	K20
ELP	Kija
Kija is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Gija (variously spelledKija, Kitja, Gidja^[3]) is anAustralian Aboriginal language today spoken by about 200 people, most of whom live in the region fromHalls Creek toKununurra and west to Lansdowne and Tableland Stations inWestern Australia. It is a member of theJarragan language family, a non-Pama-Nyungan family in the East Kimberley.^[3] TheArgyle Diamond Mine, on the south-western corner ofLake Argyle, is on the borders ofGija andMiriwoong country. ThePurnululu National Park (Gija orthography: 'Boornoolooloo'^[3]), which contains theBungle Bungle Range, is located mostly in Gija country.

Kuluwarrang and Walgi may have been dialects.

• Voiceless stops /p, k, t̪, c, t, ʈ/ can have voiced allophones [b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d, ɖ] when in intervocalic positions or when following nasals or liquid consonants. They can also be heard as unreleased when in word-final position.
• /p, k/ can also be heard as fricatives [β, ɣ] in intervocalic positions or when following liquid consonants.
• /t̪/ can freely be heard as an affricate [t̪θ] when in initial positions, and also be heard as either voiced fricative [ð] or affricate [d̪ð] sounds when in intervocalic positions.
• /t, ʈ/ can be heard as flap sounds [ɾ, ɽ] when in intervocalic positions.
• /r/ can have a voiced flap sound [ɾ] when in intervocalic positions. In word-final positions, it has a voiceless trill [r̥] allophone.

• Frances Kofod; Eileen Bray; Rusty Peters; Joe Blythe; Anna Crane et al. (2022).GijaDictionary. 1st edn. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.ISBN 9781922752109.
• Shirley Purdie; Peggy Patrick; Lena Nyadbi; et al. (2018).Gija Plants and Animals: Aboriginal Flora and Fauna Knowledge from the east Kimberley, north Australia. Northern Territory Botanical Bulletin. Vol. 47. Batchelor: Batchelor Press.ISBN 978-1-74350-130-6.OCLC 1066318745.S2CID 155990126.Wikidata Q109466091.

• Blythe, J.Yuwurriyangem Kijam (our Language Kija): a Phrasebook of the Kija Language. Halls Creek: Kimberley Language Resource Centre.
• Kofod, F. M. (1996).Introduction to the Kija Language. Halls Creek: Kimberley Language Resource Centre.
• Kofod, F. M. (2016).Gija~Kija-English Dictionary. Warmun: Warmun Arts.
• Taylor, P.; Taylor, J. (1971). "A tentative statement of Kitja phonology".Papers on the Languages of Australian Aboriginals:100–19.
• Taylor, P.; Hudson, J. (1976). "Metamorphosis and Process in Kija".Talanya.3:25–36.

• Bibliography of Kija people and language resources, at theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

ThisAustralian Aboriginal languages-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information.

• v
• t
• e

• Jarrakan languages
• Severely endangered languages
• Indigenous Australian language stubs

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from July 2018
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from July 2018
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
• All stub articles