Ngaanyatjarra is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati branch of the Pama-Nyungan languages.
Ngaanya literally means “this” and -tjarra means “with” or “having”. The compound term means “those that use ‘ngaanya’ to say ‘this’”. (The neighbouring Ngaatjatjarra people use ‘ngaatja’ for “this”.)
The Wati or Western Desert language contains some 40 or more dialects, including Ngaanyatjarra, Ngaatjatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjarra, Manytjilytjarra, Kukatja, Luritja, Pintupi, Yulparitja and Kiyatjarra. The differences between these dialects are sometimes minor, as is the case between Pitjantjatjara and Ngaatjatjarra.
