Ngarrindjeri language
Ngarrindjeri | |
---|---|
Region | South Australia |
Ethnicity | Ngarrindjeri, Tanganekald, Ramindjeri, Yarilde, Meintangk, Portaulun, Warki |
Native speakers | 312 (2016 census)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
Dialects |
|
Jaralde Sign Language | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | nay |
Glottolog | narr1259 |
AIATSIS[2] | S69 |
ELP |
Ngarrindjeri, also written Narrinyeri, Ngarinyeri and other variants, is the language of the Ngarrindjeri and related peoples of southern South Australia. Five dialects have been distinguished by a 2002 study: Warki, Tanganekald, Ramindjeri, Portaulun and Yaraldi (or Yaralde Tingar).
Overview
Ngarrindjerri is
Tanganekald, also known as Thangal,[4] is now extinct.[5]
Status and revival
In 1864, the publication of the Ngarrindjerri
The last fluent speaker of Ngarrindjerri died in the 1960s, but there have been attempts to revive the language in the 21st century, including the release of a Ngarrindjeri dictionary in 2009.
There were 312 speakers of Ngarrindjerri recorded in the 2016 Australian census.[2]
A second edition of the dictionary was published in 2019, with 500 additional words, bringing the total to 4,200. Ngarrindjeri
The third, expanded edition of the dictionary, again compiled by Gale and Williams, was published by
In 2021 the first students of the first training course to be specially tailored to the teaching of
The musical group Deadly Nannas (Nragi Muthar) have been writing and singing songs in Ngarrindjerri and English, and using them to help teach the language in schools and other venues.[13][14]
Name
Linguist
Other names include Jarildekald, Jaralde, Yarilde, Yarrildie, Jaraldi, Lakalinyeri, Warawalde, Yalawarre, Yarildewallin (although as mentioned above, Yaraldi is regarded as a dialect[2]).
Berndt, Berndt & Stanton (1993) wrote: "The appropriate traditional categorisation of the whole group was Kukabrak: this term, as we mention again below, was used by these people to differentiate themselves from neighbours whom they regarded as being socio-culturally and linguistically dissimilar. However, the term Narrinyeri has been used consistently in the literature and by Aborigines today who recognise a common descent from original inhabitants of this region-- even though their traditional identifying labels have been lost.".[16]
Sign language
The Yaralde had the southernmost attested
Some words
The following words are from the Ngarrindjeri language:[18]
- kondoli – 'whale'
- korni/korne – 'man'
- kringkari, gringari – 'white man'
- muldarpi/mularpi – 'travelling spirit of sorcerers and strangers'
- yanun – 'speak, talk'
These are words for animals extinct since European colonisation:[19]
- maikari – Eastern hare-wallaby
- rtulatji – Toolache wallaby
- wi:kwai – Pig-footed bandicoot
Phonology
Consonants
Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
Plosive | p | k | c | t̪
|
t
|
ʈ |
Nasal
|
m | ŋ | ɲ | n̪
|
n
|
ɳ |
Lateral | ʎ | l̪
|
l
|
ɭ | ||
Rhotic | r
|
ɽ | ||||
Approximant | w | j |
- /r/ can be heard as a tap and approximant, as allophones [ɾ, ɹ].
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High
|
i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Low
|
a |
Vowel | Allophones |
---|---|
/i/ | [i], [ɪ], [ɨ] |
/e/ | [e], [ɛ], [æ] |
/a/ | [a], [ɐ], [ʌ], [ɑ] |
/o/ | [o], [ɔ], [ɒ] |
/u/ | [u], [ʊ], [ʉ] |
- /i/ when preceding retroflex consonant, can be heard as central [ɨ]
- /u/ when occurring after a trill consonant in closed syllables can be heard as central [ʉ]
- A mid sound /ə/ can also be heard in various syllabic positions.
References
- ^ ABS. "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". stat.data.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d S69 Ngarrindjeri at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
- Mobile Language Team. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ S11 Tanganekald at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Gale (1997), p. 71.
- ^ University of South Australia, "Preserving Indigenous culture through language", 16 May 2008,[1] Archived 5 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 15 January 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-646-92900-2.
- ^ "Ngarrindjeri Concise 2nd edition Dictionary launched". AIATSIS. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- )
- ISBN 978-0-9946336-4-4
- ^ a b Marchant, Gabriella (12 July 2021). "Aboriginal languages making comeback through new training program and dictionaries". ABC News. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ Skujins, Angela (13 August 2019). "Rhyme and reclamation with the Deadly Nannas". InDaily. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ Evins, Brittany (11 April 2021). "Aboriginal singers the Deadly Nannas are breathing new life into an ancient language". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780199812776
- ^ "A world that was: the Yaraldi of the Murray River and the lakes, South Australia" By Ronald Murray Berndt, Catherine Helen Berndt, John E. Stanton Chapter "1 The land and the people p19
- ^ Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ISBN 978-1-875-55971-8.
- ISBN 978-1-920-89955-4.
- Berndt, Ronald M. & Catherine H. (1993). A World That Was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0478-5.
- Berndt, R.M. (1940). "Notes on the sign-language of the Jaralde tribe of the Lower River Murray, South Australia", (pp. 397–402; reprinted (1978) in Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, vol. 2)
- Cerin, M. (1994). The pronominal system of Yaraldi. BA honours sub-thesis. University of Melbourne.
- Gale, Mary-Anne (1997). Dhanum Djorra'wuy Dhawu. Underdale: Aboriginal Research Institute.
- McDonald, Maryalyce (1977). A study of the phonetics and phonology of Yaraldi and associated dialects. Australian National University.
- Meyer, H. A. E. (1843). Vocabulary of the language spoken by the Aborigines of the southern and eastern portion of the settled districts of South Australia. Adelaide: James Allen.http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/15074/1/Meyer_voc.pdf
- Taplin, George (1879). The Folklore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the South Australian Aborigines. Adelaide: Government Printer.
- Taplin, George (1892). "Grammar of the language spoken by the Narrinyeri tribe in S. Australia". In Fraser, John (ed.). An Australian Language. Sydney: Government Printer. pp. 28–43 of appendix.
- Yallop, Colin & Grimwade, George (1975). "Narinjari: an outline of the language studied by George Taplin, with Taplin's notes and comparative table Part 2. George Taplin and his work on Aboriginal languages". University of Sydney.
Further reading
- "Aboriginal people of South Australia: Ngarrindjeri". LibGuides at State Library of South Australia.
- "Ngarrindjeri". Mobile Language Team.
- "Yaraldi". Mobile Language Team.