Peramangk language
{{Short description|Pama–Nyungan language of South Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Peramangk
|altname=Merildakald
|nativename=
|region=South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges
|ethnicity=Peramangk
|extinct=?
|familycolor=Australian
|fam1=Pama–Nyungan
|fam2=Lower Murray? Thura-Yura?
|iso3=none
|aiatsis = S5
}}
Peramangk, also known as Merildekald, is an extinct Pama-Nyungan language of the Peramangk lands in South Australia. Like its congener the Kaurna language, it was previously listed as endangered.{{cite web|url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5871|title= Kaurna [aka Kaura, Coorna, Koornawarra] |website=Endangered Languages Project|access-date=27 April 2019}}
History
Many Peramangk place names, cultural practices and dreamtime character names are well known. A proportion of the vocabulary and grammatical elements of the language may potentially be shared{{cite web |url=http://orig12.deviantart.net/699a/f/2011/091/7/b/peramangk_second_edition_2011_by_phasai-d3cy0ez.pdf |title=Peramangk A Social History of the Aboriginal People of the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges (2011) |publisher=Phasai at Deviantart |access-date=29 March 2022}} with Kaurna language as well as Nganguruku language, and to some extent the Ngarrindjeri and Ngadjuri languages among others. Some elements of the Peramangk language may be considered distinctive from Kaurna. Peramangk language may be held dear by Peramangk elders, and hence it was cited that a Peramangk descendant is collecting and compiling language data.{{cite web |url=https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/s5#bootstrap-panel--2 |title=Austlag AIATSIS S5 - Peramangk |website=collection.aiatsis.gov.au |date=26 July 2019 |publisher= Director, Collection Development and Management, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, GPO Box 553, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia |access-date=30 September 2021 }} It is likely that Peramangk elders knew each of the surrounding languages, as surrounding tribes often met on Peramangk land at their invitation.{{Citation | title=The ochre warriors : Peramangk culture and rock art in the Mount Lofty Ranges / Robin Coles, Richard Hunter | author1=Coles, Robin | author2=Hunter, Richard | year=2010 | publisher=Axiom | language=English}}
A work compiled by The Lutheran Missionary Society within a short period after colonisation of mainland South Australia constitutes a reference manual for the Kaurna language and hence also for the Peramangk language, and the content of an available downloadable version is entirely searchable by text{{cite book|first=C. G. |last=Teichelmann |author2=C. W. Schürmann |title=Outlines of a grammar, vocabulary and phraseology of the Aboriginal language of South Australia spoken by the natives in and for some distance around Adelaide|publisher=Lutheran Missionary Society, Adelaide|year=1840 |url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/116578 }} so serving as a handy resource for all ages.