Pama-Nyungan

Meaning

Proper Noun

• A proposed language family encompassing most Australian Aboriginal languages, including Pitjantjatjara and Warlpiri, but excluding those spoken in the northwest.

Origin

• From pama (in several northeast Australian Aboriginal languages) + nyungaa (in several southwestern Australian Aboriginal languages) -an. Apparently coined by American linguist Kenneth L. Hale (1934-2001), to show the vast geographical extent of the family.