Dixon (2002) considers Punthamara to be a dialect of Wangkumara, Bowern (2001) as very close. Bowern says that Ngandangara also appears to have been "very close", although data is too poor for a proper classification.[4] Karenggapa is either a dialect or an alternative name.[5] (McDonald & Wurm 1979) note that Wilson River Galali, what they call "Waŋkumara (Gaḷali)", is very close to modern Waŋkumara and Bundamara.
Breen (1967) states that the (Karnic) speech of the groups along the Wilson River are essentially identical. These include Bundhamara, Gungadudji, 'Modern' Wanggumara and Ngandangura. For instance, that Gungadidji is 'almost identical to Punthamara and modern Wangkumara'. Nonetheless, these language varieties have been assigned individual ISO codes.
Mambangura (the language of the Thereila) may have belonged as well. At least, the Yandruwandha term Palpakunu covered it as well as the other Wilson River dialects.
A language labelled "Wonkomarra" in Myles (1886) is a different language from modern Wangkumara, and may be a variety of Kalali.
Features
Wangkumara is notable for being a language with a tripartite verbal alignment.[citation needed] Wurm's Wankamara (Galali) is entirely suffixing and morphologically fairly simple having the following word classes: nominal (noun and pronoun), verb, particle, and interjection. The word order is random and free. The phonemes consist of three vowels and 26 consonants.
The vowel sounds are a three-vowel system. Vowel length is not evenly distributed, but is mostly heard phonetically when preceding voiced consonants. Allophones may also occur.[6]
^Bowern, Claire (2001). "Karnic classification revisited". In J Simpson; et al. (eds.). Forty years on. Canberra Pacific Linguistics. pp. 245–260. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012.
^ abMcDonald, M.; Wurm, S. A. (1979). Basic Materials in Waŋkumara (Gaḷali): Grammar, Sentences and Vocabulary. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
