| Worrorra | |
| Region: | Western Australia |
| Ethnicity: | Worrorra, Unggumi, Yawijibaya, Unggarranggu, Umiida |
| Speakers: | 8 |
| Date: | 2021 census |
| Ref: | [1] |
| Familycolor: | Australian |
| Fam1: | Wororan |
| Fam2: | (Western) |
| Dia1: | Worrorra |
| Dia2: | Unggumi |
| Dia3: | Yawidjibara |
| Dia4: | Windjarumi |
| Dia5: | Unggarrangu |
| Dia6: | Umiida[2] |
| Sign: | Worora Kinship Sign Language |
| Lc1: | wro |
| Ld1: | Worrorra |
| Lc2: | xgu |
| Ld2: | Unggumi |
| Lc3: | xud |
| Ld3: | Umiida |
| Lc4: | xun |
| Ld4: | Unggarranggu |
| Lc5: | jbw |
| Ld5: | Yawijibaya |
| Aiatsis: | K17 |
| Aiatsisname: | Worrorra |
| Aiatsis2: | K14 |
| Aiatsisname2: | Unggumi |
| Aiatsis3: | K49 |
| Aiatsisname3: | Umiida |
| Aiatsis4: | K55 |
| Aiatsisname4: | Unggarrangu |
| Aiatsis5: | K53 |
| Aiatsisname5: | Yawijibaya |
| Glotto: | west2435 |
| Glottorefname: | Western Worrorran |
| Map: | Worrorran map.svg |
Worrorra, also written Worora and other variants, and also known as Western Worrorran, is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language of northern Western Australia. It encompasses a number of dialects, which are spoken by a group of people known as the Worrorra people.
It is one of a group of Worrorran languages, the other two being Wunambal and Ngarinyin.
Worrorra is a dialect cluster; Bowern (2011) recognises five languages: Worrorra proper, Unggumi, Yawijibaya, Unggarranggu, and Umiida.[3] McGregor and Rumsey (2009) include the above dialects and also include Winyjarrumi (Winjarumi), describing Worrorra as a non-Pama-Nyungan language of the Worrorran group of languages known properly as western Worrorran.
Umiida, Unggarrangu, Unggumi, and Yawijibaya peoples are described in separate articles.
An alleged Maialnga language was a reported clan name of Worrorra proper that could not be confirmed with speakers.
Elkin Umbagai was a translator between English and Worrorra.[4]
| Stop | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
| Rhotic | pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ |
| High | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Low | pronounced as /ink/ |
| Phoneme | Allophones | |
|---|---|---|
| /i/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |
| /a/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |
| /u/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |
| /iː/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |
| /ɛː/ | pronounced as /[eɪ]/, pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | |
| /ɑː/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |
| /ɔː/ | pronounced as /[oʊ]/, pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | |
| /uː/ | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ |
The Worora have (or at one point had) a signed form of their language, used for speaking to kin in certain taboo relationships,[7] but it is not clear from records that it was particularly well developed compared to other Australian Aboriginal sign languages.[8]