Yarning about Language — Dieri families workshop

On the weekend of 11-12th November 2023 Dieri families met in Broken Hill, New South Wales, for a workshop called Yarning about Language, to talk about Diyari language and to practice some words and expressions. This was the first time a language workshop had been organised in Broken Hill — it was arranged and paid for by the families themselves. Peter Austin (linguist) and Taryn Debney (archaeologist) were invited along to talk about their work, including the visit to Killalpaninna in December 2022, but the main focus was on language learning and use. Readers who are on Facebook can find out more on the https://www.facebook.com/dieri.language page.

The workshop was attended by about 60 enthusiastic participants over the two days, many of whom came on both days. They included elders from Port Augusta (South Australia) and Broken Hill, parents, teenagers, as well as children as young as seven. Everyone joined in the activities of learning words and expressions (such as parts of the body, and greetings), singing (especially mangathandra pilpiri pantya thina ‘head shoulders knees toes’), and playing lingo bingo, a game where players match picture cards with the Diyari word by listening to them said aloud. We concentrated on listening and saying skills, and did not worry about how to spell the words as the focus was on hearing and speaking the language, rather than reading and writing. Copies of the Diyari Reference Dictionary by Peter Austin were given to family groups so they can look up words and spelling themselves later — interested readers can download a PDF of the dictionary to their phone, iPad, or computer (or print it off) at http://www.peterkaustin.com/docs/Austin_2013_Diyari_Dictionary.pdf.

Everyone attending knew many of the words we practiced, including the younger children. When talking about parts of the body the children suggested thina puta ‘shoe’ (made up of thina ‘foot’ and puta ‘boot’, originally from English). When asked how they knew that word, they said their father always told them “don’t go out thina puta parlu“, that is, without any shoes on (the word parlu means ‘naked’). So families in Broken Hill are using Diyari language every day along with English.

The workshop was a great success and the two days were enjoyed by everyone who came along. In the final yarning sessions the Broken Hill families asked for more workshops in the future, especially trips to Killalpaninna where people can use the language on Dieri country.

Kararaya yawarra — pinarru

Today we look at the Diyari word pinarru, which means ‘old man’, and other related words for male people. There are some important cultural aspects related to these terms, and they are used in different ways from English terms. The discussion is based on the Reuther’s Diari dictionary (see here) and our own work with Diyari speakers. For discussion of the word widlhapina (also pronounced wilhapina) ‘old woman’ and other terms for females see here.

In Diyari, the word pinarru is used to refer to an ‘old man’, generally one who has grey hair (para warru) and has been through aspects of the Law. It is a positive term of respect and indicates that a person has lots of knowledge and life experience.

The following are the Diyari words used to refer to the various life stages of males (note that the different stages are not linked to exact ages but rather to biological and social development:

• thitharri ‘new-born baby’, before he or she has been given a name;
• kupa ‘child’, after naming and up to about seven years old. This term can be used for both boys and girls;
• kanku ‘boy’, a male child from seven up to puberty, when beard hairs (ngarnka ‘beard’) begin to sprout;
• karruwali ‘uninitiated male’, aged from around 12-15 years old. Traditionally, karruwali had an incised baler shell ornament (called a kuri) tied around their necks Immediately before initiation into the first stage of the Law. They were then called kuri mani ‘shell ornament carrier’;
• thari ‘youth who has been through the first stage of initiation’, which is usually after 15-16 years old;
• mathari ‘initiated man’ who has undertaken further aspects of the Law. Notice that the word mathari has a different use as the name of one of the two divisions that people inherit from their mother — it is contrasted with kararru. The two divisions are discussed here;
• nhuwamara ‘married person’ (made of of nhuwa ‘husband, wife’ and –mara ‘having’), used to refer to both men and women;
• mangawarru ‘widower, widow’, used to refer to someone whose wife or husband has died. Reuther reports that traditionally “a man’s beard is plucked out after a bereavement”;
• pinarru ‘old man’.

Note that the general term karna ‘Aboriginal person’ can be used for males and females at any stage of life. For non-Aboriginal people we say walpala, which comes from English ‘white fella’.

The podcast episode of this blog post is here.

Kararaya yawarra — words of the day: kararru ya mathari

Today we look at two Diyari words kararru and mathari, which are culturally very important. (Notice that Diyari has three ‘r-sounds’ written in the spelling system as r, r and rr, and they should all be pronounced differently in these words. You can listen to them in the podcast linked below.)

Dieri society is divided int two halves (called ‘moieties’, in technical terminology) which are inherited from a person’s mother — a kararru woman will have kararru children (male and female) while a mathari woman will have mathari children (male and female). Traditionally, kararru could only marry mathari, so husbands and wives must belong to the opposite group (there were other marriage preferences but the general rule is that your husband or wife cannot be in the same group as you). Notice that children will share the same group as their kadnhini ‘nanna, mother’s mother’ and kaka ‘uncle, mother’s brother’, and be different from both their ngapiri ‘father’ and other uncles, aunts, and grandparents. The word mathari has another use in Diyari, which we will discuss in the next blog post.

Every Dieri person has a mardu (which literally means ‘taste’) that is a plant, animal or natural feature that they have a special relationship with (and which they could not eat, traditionally). This also comes from a person’s mother and the list of mardu differs depending on whether you are mathari or kararru, as shown in the following table:

Mathari mardu		Kararru mardu
karrawara	eaglehawk	kawalka	crow
warrukathi	emu	purralku	brolga
malurra	cormorant	tyukurru	kangaroo
kinthala	dog	kadnungka	type of wallaby
yikawarra	native cat	karapana	marsupial mouse
mayarru	marsupial rat	kukula	stick nest rat
puntha	marsupial mouse	wama	carpet snake
kapirri	goanna	thidnamara	frog
kilapara	black bream fish	kanangara	seed of manyura
markara	yellow belly fish	malka	mulga tree (seed)
pardi	type of grub	kuntyirri	type of bush
manyura	type of seed	karku	red ochre
pityirri	pitchere tobacco	thalara	rain

Traditionally, to identify someone, rather than asking for their name, we would typically ask them:

minha mardu yini?

What is your mardu?

From the answer, you can work out whether that person is mathari or kararru. Anyone who belongs to the same mardu as me is considered close, and can be called palku ngakarni, literally ‘my body’.

If you memorise the words for mardu you will add to your vocabulary in Diyari and, hopefully, understand the culture better.

For the podcast episode of this blog post click here.