Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Mirung, Merong, Miriwun, Miriwong, Mirriwong, Miriwu, Moreng, Mirong, Miriwung,
CLASSIFICATION		Jarrakan
ORTHOGRAPHY		Yes
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mep
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Revitalisation strategies for Miriwoong” ( ch. 12) . Knut Olawsky (2010)

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10-99
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"All fluent speakers who use Miriwoong as their first language are 60 years of age or older."

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"The first revitalisation efforts go back to the early 1970s when a group of Miriwoong elders formed the Mirima Council and started a number of initiatives, including working with a linguist."

"All fluent speakers who use Miriwoong as their first language are 60 years of age or older. There are only a handful of moderately fluent speakers in the 40–60 age group but Miriwoong is not their primary language and they do not have comprehensive grammatical proficiency."

"Based on the Language Endangerment Status Indicator from the National Indigenous
Languages Survey Report (Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies 2005), Miriwoong can be classified as severely to critically endangered."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Kimberley Kriol

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Dictionary created by Frances Kofod in 2009. Language classes geared toward children.

Scripts (Writing system)

Yes

PLACES: Kununurra area in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
50
Native speakers worldwide

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
50
Native speakers worldwide

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10-20
Native speakers worldwide
SEMI SPEAKERS
350
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"In 1990, 10 to 20 fluent speakers were reported, and 350 partial speakers in 1983."

DATE OF INFO: 1983, 1990

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"No literacy in it. ... The language is seriously endangered and is heading towards being moribund."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Kriol

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"Young people only use the English-based pidgin lingua franca Kriol today, and some old people still speak Miriwung. Most of them speak Kriol."

PLACES: Australia: Extreme northeastern corner of Western Australia, at Kununurra, southeast of Wyndham and north of lake Argyle.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Also at Turkey Creek further south."

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
15
Native speakers worldwide

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
210
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
census

DATE OF INFO: 2006

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Only older adults."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Kriol [rop]

PLACES: Australia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Western Australia, Kununurra, Turkey creek; extends into Northern Territory towards mouth of Victoria river."

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT: Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring language and culture centre
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
Scripts (Writing system): Roman
More on Orthography: Miriwoong people prefer not to have their language used off-country, but work is in progress in the Kununurra region, including language classes and activities to increase intergenerational transmission.

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10-20
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1990

			2007	Australasia and the Pacific	Atlas of the World's Languages	97-126		R. E. Asher and Christopher Moseley	Routledge			4		Darrell Tryon	Tryon, Darrell. 2007. "Australasia and the Pacific." In Atlas of the World's Languages, edited by R. E. Asher and Christopher Moseley. 97-126. Routledge.		10-20	1990	10-99							Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
													http://www.mirima.org.au/		http://www.mirima.org.au/							Kriol, English		Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring language and culture centre
			2010	Revitalisation strategies for Miriwoong	Re-Awakening Languages						Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre.	12	http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/6948/1/RAL-chapter-12.pdf	Knut Olawsky	Knut Olawsky. 2010. "Revitalisation Strategies For Miriwoong." In Re-Awakening Languages, Online: http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/6948/1/RAL-chapter-12.pdf.				10-99	"All fluent speakers who use Miriwoong as their first language are 60 years of age or older."		Kimberley Kriol	Dictionary created by Frances Kofod in 2009. Language classes geared toward children.			Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"The first revitalisation efforts go back to the early 1970s when a group of Miriwoong elders formed the Mirima Council and started a number of initiatives, including working with a linguist." "All fluent speakers who use Miriwoong as their first language are 60 years of age or older. There are only a handful of moderately fluent speakers in the 40–60 age group but Miriwoong is not their primary language and they do not have comprehensive grammatical proficiency." "Based on the Language Endangerment Status Indicator from the National Indigenous Languages Survey Report (Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies 2005), Miriwoong can be classified as severely to critically endangered."		15	Kununurra area in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia
				Austlang: Australian Indigenous Languages Database					AIATSIS	Canberra			http://austlang.aiatsis.gov.au		AUSTLANG: Australian Indigenous Languages Database. (19 October, 2009.)	ll_pub	50		10-99							Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger					UNESCO Publishing	Paris			http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub	50		10-99							Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
			2011	How many languages were spoken in Australia?			Also includes subsequent additions by CB directly into ElCat						http://anggarrgoon.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/austlangs-masterlanguagelist-dec2011.xlsx	Claire Bowern	Claire Bowern. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?" Online: http://anggarrgoon.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/austlangs-masterlanguagelist-dec2011.xlsx.																		-16.01698315,128.7965195
				World Oral Literature Project									http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		15		10-99							Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
		18th	2015	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th Edition				Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	SIL International	Dallas, Texas			http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.		210	2006	100-999	census		Kriol [rop]				Critically Endangered (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"Only older adults."			Australia	"Western Australia, Kununurra, Turkey creek; extends into Northern Territory towards mouth of Victoria river."
070071197X	3	1	2007	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages					Routledge	Abingdon				Christopher Moseley	Moseley, Christopher. 2007. Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub	10-20	1983, 1990	100-999	"In 1990, 10 to 20 fluent speakers were reported, and 350 partial speakers in 1983."	350	Kriol	"Young people only use the English-based pidgin lingua franca Kriol today, and some old people still speak Miriwung. Most of them speak Kriol."		Most	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"No literacy in it. ... The language is seriously endangered and is heading towards being moribund."	14	15	Australia: Extreme northeastern corner of Western Australia, at Kununurra, southeast of Wyndham and north of lake Argyle.	"Also at Turkey Creek further south."

Miriwoong

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-99

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-20

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

15

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

210

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-20

Discussion

Miriwoong

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-99

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-20

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

15

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

210

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10-20

Discussion

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