Wik-Ngathan language

Wik-Ngathan, or Wik-Iinjtjenj (Wik-Iinychanya), is a Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Wik-Ngathan people. It is closely related to the other Wik-Ngathan language, Wik-Ngatharr and more distantly to the other Wik languages. In 1981 there were 130 speakers.

A dictionary of Wik-Ngathan has been compiled by Peter Sutton.

• Sounds /m, n̪, n, ŋ, l/ are heard as syllabic [m̩, n̩, n̪̩, ŋ̍, l̩] when following consonants. A schwa [ə] may also be heard between as well, and may be heard as [ʊ] within the context of bilabials and as [ɪ] within the context of palatal consonants.
• /j/ can also be heard as [ɟ] when under extreme emphasis.
• Nasals may also be pre-stopped when under extreme emphasis.
• /l, n/ may be heard as pre-ploded-syllabic [ᵈl̩, ᵈn̩], when following consonants.

• The high-fronted vowel sounds /y, yː/, may vary in position to [œ, œː].