Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Tunuvivi, Diwi, Wonga:k, Wongak, Wunuk, Ni-mara, Woranguwe
CLASSIFICATION		Isolate
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		tiw
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (8)

Information from: “Australasia and the Pacific” (97-126 ch. 4) . Darrell Tryon (2007) , R. E. Asher and Christopher Moseley · Routledge

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,500
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1983

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "When I attended a Catholic mass on Bathurst Island, for example, much of the liturgy, but the sermon was delivered in the local Tiwi language...The hymns were also in Tiwi...Prayers are also sometimes said in Tiwi."
Scripts (Writing system): Yes

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,500
Native speakers worldwide

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<35
Native speakers worldwide
SEMI SPEAKERS
5
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"A [respondent] reported that Tiwi has up to 35 speakers, none on whom are full speakers."

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"There were four Tiwi respondents who participated in the Language Attitude Survey and three of them specifically indicated that they speak Modern/New Tiwi, which is very different from Old Tiwi- the language which used to be spoken- because of the influence of English; it has undergone rapid change since colonisation."

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,100
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,830
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Nonfluent speakers." Speaker number data is from a 1996 census.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

PLACES: Australia;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Northern Territory; Bathurst and Melville Islands; Nguiu;

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,100
Native speakers worldwide

0855752416		1993	New Uses for Old Languages	Language and Culture in Aboriginal Australia	207-223		Michael Walsh and Colin Yallop	Aboriginal Studies Press	Canberra	Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies	15		Paul Black	Paul Black. 1993. "New Uses For Old Languages." In Language and Culture in Aboriginal Australia, edited by Michael Walsh and Colin Yallop. 207-223. Aboriginal Studies Press.							Church services		"When I attended a Catholic mass on Bathurst Island, for example, much of the liturgy, but the sermon was delivered in the local Tiwi language...The hymns were also in Tiwi...Prayers are also sometimes said in Tiwi."
		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.		1,500	1983	1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
	16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)				M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX			http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	1,830		1000-9999	"Nonfluent speakers." Speaker number data is from a 1996 census.			English;		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Australia;	Northern Territory; Bathurst and Melville Islands; Nguiu;
		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.																-11.6788294, 130.8353696
			Austlang: Australian Indigenous Languages Database					AIATSIS	Canberra			http://austlang.aiatsis.gov.au		AUSTLANG: Australian Indigenous Languages Database. (19 October, 2009.)	ll_pub	2,100		1000-9999						Threatened (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	2,100		1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
978192210224		2014	Community, identity, wellbeing: The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey						Canberra, Australia	Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)			Doug Marmion and Kazuko Obata and Jakelin Troy	Doug Marmion, Kazuko Obata and Jakelin Troy. 2014. "Community, Identity, Wellbeing: the Report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey." Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.		<35		10-99	"A [respondent] reported that Tiwi has up to 35 speakers, none on whom are full speakers."	5				Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"There were four Tiwi respondents who participated in the Language Attitude Survey and three of them specifically indicated that they speak Modern/New Tiwi, which is very different from Old Tiwi- the language which used to be spoken- because of the influence of English; it has undergone rapid change since colonisation."	14
			World Oral Literature Project									http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		1,500		1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Tiwi

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<35

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,100

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,830

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,100

Discussion

Tiwi

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<35

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,100

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,830

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,100

Discussion

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