How to say “This is us” in Diyari

We saw in an earlier blog post that there are two ways in Diyari to say “This is me” — if you are female then you would say nhaniya nganhi and if you are male you would say nhawuya nganhi. This is because nhaniya means ‘this (female)’ and nhawuya means ‘this (not female)’.

When it comes to saying “This is us” then there are four ways to say this in Diyari. If there are just two people then we say:

pulaya ngaldra ‘These two are you and me’ (including the person you are talking to)

pulaya ngali ‘These two are someone else and me’ (excluding the person you are talking to)

If there are three or more people then we say:

thanaya ngayana ‘These three or more are you and us’ (including the person you are talking to)

thanaya ngayani ‘These three or more are someone else and me’ (excluding the person you are talking to)

For more information about pulaya and thanaya look at this blog post.

Advanced: more about “this” and “that” and “these” and “those” in Diyari

In the previous blog posts here and here, we learned that in the Diyari language there many ways to say “this” and “that” depending on what you are talking about or who you are talking to. These are the words we looked at:

nhaniya	‘this one (female)’
nhawuya	‘this one (not female)’
nhaniwa	‘that one (female)’
nhawuwa	‘that one (not female)’
pulaya	‘these two’
pulawa	‘those two’
thanaya	‘these three or more’
thanawa	‘those three or more’

Listed above are the basic terms that we use in sentences like ‘… is me’ or ‘… is going’. In other contexts, different terms are used, built upon these basic terms. Here is the full set that is found in Diyari (see my Grammar of Diyari for more details — it is free to download here).

For “this” and “these”:

Function	this one female	this one not female	these two	these three or more
active subject	nhandruya	nhuluya	pulaliya	thanaliya
object	nhanhaya	nhinhaya	pulanhaya	thananhaya
possessor	nhangkarniya	nhungkarniya	pularniya	thanarniya
with, to	nhangkanguya	nhungkanguya	pulanguya	thananguya
from	nhangkangundruya	nhungkangundruya	pulangundruya	thanangundruya

For “that” and “those”:

Function	that one female	that one not female	those two	those three or more
active subject	nhandruwa	nhuluwa	pulaliwa	thanaliwa
object	nhanhawa	nhinhawa	pulanhawa	thananhawa
possessor	nhangkarniwa	nhungkarniwa	pularniwa	thanarniwa
with, to	nhangkanguwa	nhungkanguwa	pulanguwa	thananguwa
from	nhangkangundruwa	nhungkangundruwa	pulangundruwa	thanangundruwa

Here are some examples of these various terms:

nhandruya mankarrali pulanhawa kanku nhayirna warayi This girl saw those two boys

nhaniwa widlha yathayi thananguya pinarranhi That woman is talking to these three or more old men

pulaya kupa thanarniwa walypalaya mindrirna warayi nhungkangundruwa ngurandru These two children belonging to those three or more white people ran away from that camp

This system might look complicated when we list out all the different terms, but with some practice you will be able to understand and use them all in their correct context.

How to say “these” and “those” in Diyari

In the previous blog post we learned that in the Diyari language there are basically two terms that are used to say “this” and two other terms that are used to say “that”, depending on whether we are talking about or talking to people or animals that are female and those which are not female (that is, they are male, or neutral or unknown, such as worms or ants). We use nhaniya for ‘this one (female)’ and nhawuya for ‘this one (not female)’, and nhaniwa ‘that one (female)’ and nhawuwa ‘that one (not female)’.

These are the words we use for one person, animal or thing — for two there is just one term and no difference between female and not female. So, we have pulaya ‘these two’ and pulawa ‘those two’, as in:

Pulaya mankarra wapayi nguraya These two girls are going to the camp

Pulaya kanku wapayi nguraya These two boys are going to the camp

Notice that in Diyari ordinary words do not have to change for one (singular) or more than one (plural), unlike English (‘boy’ –> ‘boys’, ‘child’ –> ‘children’ etc.). If you want to, you can add the ending –wurlu to indicate ‘two …’ or ‘a pair of …’ (e.g. mankarrawurlu ‘two girls, a pair of girls’ and kankuwurlu ‘two boys, a pair of boys’), but this is not necessary.

The same pattern applies when talking about things far away (“those”), so we say pulawa for ‘those two’ regardless of whether we are talking about females or others, as in:

Pulawa mankarra wapayi nguraya Those two girls are going to the camp

Pulawa kanku wapayi nguraya Those two boys are going to the camp

If we are talking about three or more people, animals or things then we use thanaya ‘these three or more’ and thanawa ‘those three or more’, as in:

Thanaya mankarra wapayi nguraya These three or more girls are going to the camp

Thanaya kanku wapayi nguraya These three or more boys are going to the camp

Thanawa mankarra wapayi nguraya Those three or more girls are going to the camp

Thanawa kanku wapayi nguraya Those three or more boys are going to the camp

Again, notice that in Diyari ordinary words do not have to change for one (singular) or more than one (plural), unlike English. If you want to, you can add the ending –wara to indicate ‘three or more …’ (e.g. mankarrawara ‘three or more girls’ and kankuwara ‘three or more boys’), but this is not necessary.

How to say “this” and “that” in Diyari

In the Diyari language, there are basically two terms that are used to say “this” and two other terms that are used to say “that”. Diyari makes a fundamental difference between talking about people or animals that are female and those which are not female (that is, they are male, or neutral or unknown, such as worms or ants). We use nhaniya for ‘this one (female)’ and nhawuya for ‘this one (not female)’, as in:

Nhaniya mankarra wapayi nguraya This girl is going to the camp

Nhawuya kanku wapayi nguraya This boy is going to the camp

The same difference applies when talking about things far away (“that”), so we use nhaniwa for ‘that one (female)’ and nhawuwa for ‘that one (not female)’, as in:

Nhaniwa mankarra wapayi nguraya That girl is going to the camp

Nhawuwa kanku wapayi nguraya That boy is going to the camp

It is important to remember this difference when describing or pointing to people, such as in a picture. To say “this is me” there are two different sentences, depending on whether the person speaking is male or female:

Nhaniya nganhi This is me (when a female is speaking)

Nhawuya nganhi This is me (when a male is speaking)

The same is true in the following:

Nhaniwa nganhi That is me (when a female is speaking)

Nhawuwa nganhi That is me (when a male is speaking)

When it comes to speaking to someone, then what we say will depend on whether that person is female or male, as in:

Nhaniya yidni This is you (when talking to a female)

Nhawuya yidni This is you (when talking to a male)

Nhaniwa yidni That is you (when talking to a female)

Nhawuwa yidni That is you (when talking to a male)

There are also different ways to say “this” and “that” if we are talking about or talking to more than one person — we will discuss this in the next blog post.

P.S. My thanks to Aunty Rene Warren for reminding me of the importance of nhaniya versus nhawuya in a Diyari language meeting in Port Augusta this week.

Kararaya Diyari yawarra: pardiyali tharlpa thayirna ngamayi

English translation: Today’s Diyari words pardiyali tharlpa thayirna ngamayi ‘The caterpillar is sitting down eathing’

This blog post follows on from the previous post about mawakantyi ‘greedy guts’ and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

In Diyari we can express the idea that an action is being done while sitting down by placing ngama-rna ‘to sit’ after the events being described. This is a common expression as many actions (like cooking, making things, weaving etc.) were traditionally carried out sitting on the ground. Here are some examples:

ngaldra yatharna ngamayi ‘We two talk sitting down’

kupali pipa dakarna ngamayi ‘The child writes sitting down’

Notice that you can express the time of such a situation by adding the relevant auxiliary after ngama-rna, as in:

ngandriyali puka wayirna ngamarna warayi ‘Mother sat down cooking bread’

ngathu nhinha kirringankarna ngamalha nganayi ‘I will sit down and teach him’

So, our words today are:

pardiyali ‘grub, caterpillar’ (the ending –yali indicates that pardi ‘grub, caterpillar’ is doing an action)

tharlpa ‘leaf’ (also used for ‘ears’ of a person or animal)

thayi-rna ‘to eat’

ngama-yi ‘is sitting’

Note: in his Diyari Dictionary Reuther gives many specialised expressions involving tharlpa, as in:

mingka tharlpa ‘a [small] opening leading upwards from inside a burrow’ (mingka ‘hole in the ground’)

yawarra tharlpa ‘message that has been sent out in this and that direction, [but only] a portion of which has reached a certain point’ (yawarra ‘word, language, message’)

marna tharlpa ‘upper and lower lips’ (marna ‘mouth’)

Kararaya Diyari yawarra: nganhi mawakantyi

English translation: “Today’s Diyari words: nganhi mawakantyi ‘I am a greedy guts'”

In a previous blog post we explained that in Diyari words for feelings or states of mind are nouns, like walkarra ‘sadness’, yapa ‘fear’, mawa ‘hunger’, thardi ‘thirst’. Today we are adding the ending –kantyi ‘someone habitually associated with’ to such words to derive other expressions, like the one used here for the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Examples of these words are:

mawakantyi ‘greedy guts, someone who is always hungry’

thardikantyi ‘someone who’s always thirsty’

yapakantyi ‘scardy cat, someone who’s always afraid’

walkarrakantyi ‘cry baby, someone who’s always sad’

Note: there is a separate word kantyi which means ‘real, true, proper’ and this can be combined with other words. This is not an ending but modifies the word it follows:

yawarra kantyi ‘real language, true words’

puka kantyi ‘proper bread’

mawa kantyi ‘real hunger, proper famine’

There is also another word kantyi which is a particle found at the beginning of sentences to indicate that something can or could happen, as in:

kantyi nganhi diyari yathayi ‘I can speak Diyari’

kantyi nhawu palirna warayi ‘He could have died’

kantyi nhandru yinanha nhayirna warrayi ‘She could have seen you’

Kararaya Diyari yawarra: nhani walkarrali nganayi

Translation: Today’s Diyari words: Nhani walkarrali nganayi ‘She is sad’

In Diyari, to talk about properties of people or things we mostly just use a single adjective word after the thing being described, without any linking ‘be’, ‘am’, ‘is’, or ‘are’ that we need in English. For example:

nganhi manyu ‘I am fine’

mutuka ngumu ‘The car is good’

nhawuya pirta madlhantyi ‘That wood is bad’

However, in Diyari, words for feelings or mental states are nouns (walkarra ‘sadness’, yapa ‘fear’, mawa ‘hunger’, thardi ‘thirst’) and to say someone feels that way you must use the frame X …-(ya)li nganayi. For example, nganhi mawali nganayi ‘I am hungry’, yini thardiyali nganayi? ‘Are you thirsty?’ Here we have: nhani walkarrali nganayi ‘She is sad’.

There are two choices of ending here:

–yali is used for words of two syllables that end in i or u, e.g. thardi ‘hunger’

–li is used for words ending in a (for words of three syllables that end in i or u the final vowel changes to a and –li is added)

Notice that -(ya)li is the same ending that we use to express a tool or instrument in an action sentence in Diyari, such as:

pinarru wapayi pirtali ‘The old man walks with a stick’ (pirta ‘stick’)

karnali nganthi damayi nhayipali ‘The man is cutting meat with a knife’ (nhayipa ‘knife’)

kanku pirkiyi katyiyali ‘The boy is playing with a spear’ (katyi ‘spear)

widlhali ngardu dakayi marda kuparrali ‘The woman is grinding nardoo with an upper grinding stone’ (marda kuparru ‘upper grinding stone’ — see here)

If you want to express who or what the feelings are directed towards we use the ending –ya ‘to’ for this:

kupa-kupa mawali nganayi nganthiya ‘The children are hungry for meat’

nganhi thardiyali nganayi ngapaya ‘I am thirsty for water’

nhani walkarrali nganayi ngandriya ‘She is sad for her mother’

Kararaya Diyari yawarra: marda kuparru

Today’s Diyari words: marda kuparru ‘upper grinding stone’

Grinding stones like this one were used by the Dieri people to grind seeds (like yawa ‘wild onions’ or ngardu ‘nardoo’ — see here) into flour that was then eaten raw or mixed with water and made into a kind of bread that was cooked in the ashes. Such puka ‘vegetable food’ was a staple of Dieri traditional diet.

The grinding stones are called marda for the lower stone and marda kuparru for the smaller upper stone (as discussed in a previous blog post, kuparru means the young or child of a non-human, so here the upper stone is named like the child of the lower stone). These grinding stones were highly treasured by Dieri people, as there are no large rocks or stones in the Dieri traditional country and marda and marda kuparru had to be traded with neighbours like the Arabana and Yandruwandha and transported hundreds of kilometers on men’s heads from the quarries where they were made. Grinding stones were traditionally passed from fathers to sons when a man died, and hence were employed year after year.

Kararaya Diyari yawarra: kurparu kuparru

Diyari: kurparu kuparru. Translation: young magpie

This expression is a bit of a tongue twister in Diyari as it contains the three r-sounds: rolled rr (like Scottish English r), flapped r (a short flap of the tongue behind the teeth, like a short d sound), and gliding r (like American English r in ‘car’). Unfortunately, it is not possible on Facebook or in blog headings to display the underlining we use for the gliding r.

Note that kuparru is the term used for the young or offspring of a non-human (baby bird, baby kangaroo etc. — see also the next post). Human children are called kupa.

Facebook posts

Since 20th November 2023 I have been posting each day on my account on Facebook a picture and a short description in Diyari, to show learners that it is easy to speak in language about anything they might want to. The stimulus for most posts has been current events or other posts. In this and following blog entries I expand on the Facebook materials and explain some of the words and expressions they contain.

“Ngakarni ngurrulharlu pirna? Diyari yawarra yatharna“

Translation: “My superpower? Speaking Diyari language”

Here we have two simple expressions made up as follows:

ngakarni ‘my’

ngurrulharlu ‘power’ (composed of ngurru ‘strong, powerful’, –lha ‘associated with’, –rlu ‘still, yet’)

pirna ‘big’ (this is how we translate “super-…”)

followed by:

Diyari ‘Diyari, Dieri’

yawarra ‘language’

yatharna ‘to speak’ (composed of yatha– ‘to speak, say’ and –rna ‘to …’)

Notice that we use the –rna form of the verb to indicate a timeless situation that does not relate to any particular occasion (compare yatha-yi ‘is speaking’, yatha-rna warayi ‘spoke earlier’, yatha-lha nganayi ‘will speak’). So we could also say, for example, nhurru mindrirna ‘running quickly’, pipa dakarna ‘writing’, mawali thayirna ‘eating hungrily’, and so on.

Note: a challenge for new language learners is to go beyond memorising words and fixed expressions and to start creating new sentences to talk about what they see around them. We hope that these examples show how easy this is by building on existing knowledge.