Wagiman Language

Wagiman Language

Wagiman (also spelled Wageman, Wakiman, Wogeman, Wakaman) is a near-extinct indigenous Australian language spoken by fewer than 10 people in and around Pine Creek, in the Katherine Region of the Northern Territory.

The Wagiman language is notable within linguistics for its complex system of verbal morphology, which remains under-investigated, its possession of a cross-linguistically rare part of speech called a coverb, its complex predicates and for its ability to productively verbalise coverbs.

Wagiman is expected to become extinct within the first half of the century, as the youngest generation of Wagiman people speak no Wagiman at all, and understand very little.