The Kartu languages are a group of Indigenous Australian languages spoken in the Murchison and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia. They are thought to be closely related and to form a low-level genealogical group.
The languages usually considered to be members of the Kartu group are, from north to south:
Yinggarda Malgana ? Nhanda (possibly also Nhanhagardi) Wajarri Badimaya
The inclusion of Nhanda is dubious. It was excluded in Bowern & Koch (2004),Bowern & Koch (2004) Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method but retained in Bowern (2011).Bowern, Claire. 2011. How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia? Thaagurda was apparently also a Kartu language.
The name kartu comes from the word for 'man' in one of the languages. In some earlier work the word 'kardu' was spelled.
The Kartu languages form a branch of the Pama–Nyungan family.
References
External links Handbook of WA Aboriginal Languages south of the Kimberley -- family tree