[1][2] They are spoken within the vicinity of the Daly River in the Northern Territory.

[3] Darrell Tryon combined these into a single family, with the exception of Murrinh-patha.

[4][5] However, such methodologies are less effective with languages with a long history of word borrowing.

Contemporary classifications may use Northern Daly to refer to Malak-Malak to the exclusion of the Wagaydyic languages (as Nordlinger does).

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for three Daly languages:[7]