The Great Sandy Desert, located north-central Western Australia, is the second largest desert environment in Australia. It is typified by longitudinal sand ridges, chains of large salt lakes, occasional low rocky hills and swathes of spiky tussocks of Spinifex grass.

Linguistically, the people traditionally living in the Great Sandy Desert are speakers of multiple Western Desert Languages (of the Pama-Nyungan family). Field-based research is being undertaken with Manyjilyjarra people who belong to the socio-linguistic Martu group who reside on western-central area of the Desert (in The Pilbara region). Most Manyjilyjarra speakers nowadays live in the communities of Punmu, Kunawarritji and Parnngurr, within and nearby to their traditional lands.

Researchers: Clair Hill, Andrew Turk.