NAIDOC 2017 — Diyari yawarra mara warra

This week, 2nd to 9th July 2017 is National NAIDOC Week. The theme this year is “Our Languages Matter”. Around Australia, there will be national celebrations of the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

On the Dieri Yawarra blog this week we present a traditional story in the Dieri language — this is the only traditional story that was able to be recorded in the 1970s from the language teachers who grew up in Dieri country. All other Dieri stories have been lost because of the impact of Christian missionaries from the 1860s onwards.

Here is Part Five and the end of the story (click to see Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four). First we give the words in Dieri and then a translation into English. If you want to study the structure of each sentence in this part of the story you can download a PDF that gives the word-by-word translation and grammatical structure.

Dieri Story — Part Five

Mayi, yini matyamatha yini?
Kawu, matya nganhi.
Ngurrungurrulha.
Wardayari yundru nhayirna warayi?
Nhungkanguwa ngathu nhayinhayiyi, thurru yarkiyarkitharrirnanhi.
Ngayana wapayi nhungkangu.
Warrangantyunhi ngathu nhaka nhinha nhayinhayiyi, thurrutha yarkirnanhi.
Ngardanhi thana wapayi, dityi parlpa thuraralha.
Nhingkiyamatha ngathu nhayiyatha.
Pani nhawuya.
Pakurnatha nhinha mitha.
Warulha nhawuya.
Thurararna, yirtyilha.
Ngardanhi, mitha thurruthurruku nhawuya.
Dityi kurnulha nhawuya kanya thurruthurru.
Waparna again, thurararna parlkarna.
Matyaku nhawuya.
Thurruthurru ngalyi kanya thurruthurru.
Thinali waparna again.
Matyaku nhawuya.
Thurruthurru marla.
Pirla nhawuya matya marramarratharriyilhaku.
Matyatha yarkiyilhaku nhawu thurru.
Matya thana waparna.
Nhawuyaku nguratha.
Nhawuyaku nguratha warrithandru nhayingarna.
Waparnarlu, nguraya waparnarlu, thurru manirnanhi kakuyali kardiyali, ngura kurralha, thuraralha.
Matya thana wakararna parlkayi nguranhi, kardiyalitha thurrutha ngankarnanhi, katulha ngankarnanhi.
Mayi, minhanhi wakarayi.
Warararnakuyi yula nhinhaya kanku, marlarlu yula pardakarna nhinha, yula warararna.
Minhandrulha?
Nhaka pulanha nandrayi then, nhiyi mandruyali kakutha ngathatatha nandrarna nhaka ngathatatha karditha.
Nharingankarna kurrayi.
Matya murdayi.

English Translation

“Well, are you alright?” (the older brothers asked the younger brother)
“Yes, I am alright.” (the younger brother replied)
“(I’m) strong now.”
“Where did you see (them)?” (they asked him)
“Over that way I saw the fire burning.”
“Let’s go over there.”
“On the left there I saw the fire burning.” (said the younger brother)
Then they went (along) and slept for some days.
“It’s here that I saw them.” (said the younger brother)
“There is nothing here.” (they said)
(They) dug the ground (where the fire had been).
“This (campsite) is old.”
(They) slept and got up.
Then, “This is hot ground” (they said)
“These hot ashes are one day old.”
(They) went on again, sleeping as they went along.
“This is it here!”
“These hot ashes are a little hotter.”
(They) went on foot again.
“This is it here!” (they shouted)
“It’s very hot.”
“These coals are glowing alright.”
“This fire has just been burning.”
So they went on.
“This is the camp!”
“(I) saw this camp from far away.” (said the younger brother)
(They) kept going, going to the camp where the sister and brother-in-law were getting wood to make a camp to sleep.
So they came to the camp as the brother-in-law was making a fire (and) making a windbreak.
“Well, why have (you) come?” (he asked them)
“You left this boy, bringing him along (and) leaving him.” (said the older brothers)
“Why?” (they asked)
Then (they) hit them two there, the two elder brothers hit the sister and the young one, young brother-in-law.
(They) killed (both of them).
That’s the finish.

NAIDOC 2017 — Diyari yawarra mandru-mandru

This week, 2nd to 9th July 2017 is National NAIDOC Week. The theme this year is “Our Languages Matter”. Around Australia, there will be national celebrations of the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

On the Dieri Yawarra blog this week we present a traditional story in the Dieri language — this is the only traditional story that was able to be recorded in the 1970s from the language teachers who grew up in Dieri country. All other Dieri stories have been lost because of the impact of Christian missionaries from the 1860s onwards.

Here is Part Four of the story (click to see Part One, Part Two and Part Three). First we give the words in Dieri and then a translation into English. If you want to study the structure of each sentence in this part of the story you can download a PDF that gives the word-by-word translation and grammatical structure.

Dieri Story — Part Four

Thurararna, thangkuthangkuparna wapalha, dityitha yarlawa nhawu durnkarnanthu, waparnanhilha.
Pula wapayi.
Dityi parlpa thurararna parlkayi.
Ngardanhi nhayiyi.
Minha nhawuparrawu?
Ngathata nhawumatha.
Kardiyali kakuyali warararna wanthiyi.
Nhawuwa ngathangathata ngaldrarniyi.
Minhangankalha nganayi ngaldra nhinha?
Warrurirna tharriyi nhawu.
Payali nhinha kunalkarna warrayi.
Warrulha nhawu ngamangamayi pirta miri.
Minhangankalha nganayi ngaldra?
Mirimiri marla nhawuparra.
Minha yini?
Nganhi warrangantyu.
Nganhi ngarla ngunyari.
Kurnutha yatharna wanthiyi.
Mayi, ngaldra nhinha yinkamatha minhayangankalha.
Nhinha payirringankalha ngaldra.
Ngardanhi pulali warayi yinka, wararna nhungkangu kankunhi.
Nhulu ngardanhi pardayi yinka.
Ngardanhi nhawu ngariyi yinkanhi, warrulha warrulha ngarirna, pulali parrumarna ngarirnanhi.
Mayi, kiralha manirna wanthiyi pulali, nandranandralhatha nhinha.
Warru, kuna, paya kuna.
Minhangankarna wanthiyi kakuyali kardiyali yinha?
Kunali thuriparna wanthiyi yinanha, pardakarna wanthirna yinanha, warararna thikalha.
Ngardanhi marniyali wirripayi pulali.
Ngardanhi thurarayi, thangkuthangkuparna wapalha.

English Translation

(They) slept to go in the morning, going before the sun had come up over there
They went.
(They) slept on their journey for some days.
Then (they) saw (something).
“What’s that?”
“That’s (our) younger brother”
“(Our) brother-in-law and sister left (him) long ago.”
“He’s our little younger brother!”
“What shall we do with him?”
“He has become all white.”
“The birds have shat on him.”
“He is sitting all white at the top of the tree.”
“What shall we do?”
“He is right at the very top.”
“What are you?”
“I am left-handed.”
“But I am right-handed.”
One of them said.
“Well, let’s make this string something or other.”
“Let’s make it long.”
Then the two of them threw the string, throwing (it) to the boy.
Then he caught the string.
Then he came down on the string, all white, white coming down as the two of them pulled (him) down.
Well, they got a boomerang and hit him all over.
White, faeces, bird faeces (came flying off).
“What did (our) elder sister and brother-in-law do to you?”
“They poured shit all over you, having brought you (here) to leave you as they went back.”
Then they painted (him) with fat.
Then (they) slept to go in the morning.

<To be continued …>

NAIDOC Diyari yawarra parkulu

This week, 2nd to 9th July 2017 is National NAIDOC Week. The theme this year is “Our Languages Matter”. Around Australia, there will be national celebrations of the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

On the Dieri Yawarra blog this week we present a traditional story in the Dieri language — this is the only traditional story that was able to be recorded in the 1970s from the language teachers who grew up in Dieri country. All other Dieri stories have been lost because of the impact of Christian missionaries from the 1860s onwards.

Here is Part Three of the story (click to see Part One and Part Two). First we give the words in Dieri and then a translation into English. If you want to study the structure of each sentence in this part of the story you can download a PDF that gives the word-by-word translation and grammatical structure.

Dieri Story — Part Three

Kanku yindrayi, pula warritharlu waparnanhi, nhayirna nhulu pulanha pirta mirindru warritha.
Ngardanhi nhulu nhayiyi.
Aa nhawuwaku thurru yarkiyarkitharriyi warritha.
Thinkanhi nhulu nhayiyi paratyi, thurru yarkiyarkitharrirnanhi.
Thangkuthangkuparna nhayirna thupu.
Kakuya kardiya thurru yarkiyi nhawuka warritha.
Nhayirna karakara first thurru nhulu pularni, wardayari pula thurararna parlkarnanhi, thupu nhayirna thangkuthangkuparna.
Ngarda nhulu pulurlu nhayiyi then thurru, warrithalha pula waparnanhi, dityi marapu ngamarna nhaka nhawu.
Ngardanhi payali nhinha kunali thuripayi pirta miri, karrawarali kawalka-li thuriparna, warrulha ngamangamatharrirnanthu nhawu.
Ngardanhi pulurlu nhayiyi.
Ngardanhi kankuya nhiyi mandru pula wapayi.
Mandra malhantyi nganayi.
Kurnu yathayi.
Minhariyiku ngaldrarni ngathata.
Ngaldra mayi wapayi thangkuparna, nhayilha.
Yundru ngantyayi, wapalha, waninthilha ngaldra?.
Kawu.
Yathayi pula.

English Translation

The boy cried as they went further and further, watching them in the distance from the top of the tree.
Then he saw.
“Oh, that must be the fire burning far off.”
In the night he saw the light of the fire burning.
In the morning (he) saw the smoke.
“That is my sister and brother-in-law’s fire burning far off.”
At first (he) saw their fire close by where they were sleeping as they went along, watching the smoke in the morning.
Then he could not see the fire any longer, because they had gone too far away as he sat there for many days.
The birds poured shit all over him at the top of the tree, the eaglehawk and crow pouring it over him, so that he sat all white now.
Then (he) couldn’t see any more.
Then the boy’s two elder brothers were walking about.
“(My) stomach is upset”
One said.
“Something must have happened to our younger brother?”
“Let’s go tomorrow to see (him).”
“Do you want to go so we can follow after (him)?”
“Yes”
They said.

<To be continued …>

NAIDOC 2017 Dieri yawarra mandru

This week, 2nd to 9th July 2017 is National NAIDOC Week. The theme this year is “Our Languages Matter”. Around Australia, there will be national celebrations of the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

On the Dieri Yawarra blog this week we present a traditional story in the Dieri language — this is the only traditional story that was able to be recorded in the 1970s from the language teachers who grew up in Dieri country. All other Dieri stories have been lost because of the impact of Christian missionaries from the 1860s onwards.

Here is Part Two of the story (click to see Part One). First we give the words in Dieri and then a translation into English. If you want to study the structure of each sentence in this part of the story you can download a PDF that gives the word-by-word translation and grammatical structure.

Dieri Story — Part Two

Kardiyali wama dukarayi.
Ya malthingankarna.
Nhungkarni nhuwa yathayi.
Ngali kankuyali mawali nganayi.
Thariyali kalapayi.
Walya karlkalumayi, nganthi malthirirnanthu.
Pula kuthariyi.
Thariyali nganthi wardungankarna, thariyali waniyi, thayilha.
Ngardanhi yingkiyi, nhuwa nhungkarnali thayirnanthu.
Kakuyali kanku yingkiyi nganthi, nhinha thayirnanthu.
Ngardanhi nhungkarni kardi mara wirriyi, dukaralha nhungkangundru marnandru.
Yaruya nhawu kanku mawali nganayi.
Kakuyali ngardanhi kurukuru yingkiyi nhinha nhangkarni ngathata kanku.
Kardiyali marla dukarayi.
Ngardanhi thana yirtyiyi, wapalha.
Ngardanhi thana paya kuparru nhayiyi.
Kardi yathayi kankunhi, patharanhi karirnanthu.
Miri kariyamayi warlaya, kapi manilha.
Ngarda nhawu kanku kathiyi, pirta ngarla miririrna thararnanhi.
Nhawu miritha tharingarna tharriyi.
Ngarda pula waparna kurrayi.

English Translation

The brother-in-law took out some carpet snake (from the fire).
And cooled (it).
His wife said.
“We two are hungry, the boy and I.”
The young man answered (her).
“You two wait a while for the meat to cool down!”
Breaking up the meat, the young man began to eat (it).
Then he gave (some meat) to his wife to eat.
The elder sister gave the boy meat to eat.
Then his brother-in-law’s hand went in and took (it) out of his mouth.
Thus the boy was hungry.
Then the elder sister secretly gave (some meat) to her younger brother.
The brother-in-law took more (meat) out (of the boy’s mouth).
Then they got up to go.
Then they saw some young birds (in a nest in a box tree).
The brother-in-law told the boy to climb the box tree.
“Climb up above to the nest to get the eggs!”
Then the boy climbed but the tree went up and up (at the same time).
He went up and up at the top (of the tree).
Then the other two went away.

<To be continued …>

NAIDOC 2017 Dieri yawarra kurnu

This week, 2nd to 9th July 2017 is National NAIDOC Week. The theme this year is “Our Languages Matter”. Around Australia, there will be national celebrations of the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. As the NAIDOC website states:

The 2017 theme – Our Languages Matter – aims to emphasise and celebrate the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, linking people to their land and water and in the transmission of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.

On the Dieri Yawarra blog this week we present a traditional story in the Dieri language — this is the only traditional story that was able to be recorded in the 1970s from the language teachers who grew up in Dieri country. All other Dieri stories have been lost because of the impact of Christian missionaries from the 1860s onwards.

This story was recorded by Peter Austin with Leslie Russell and Rosa Warren at Maree in 1974 and checked with Rosa Warren in 1976. The first version we have of it is Story VIII that was written down by Sam Dintibana and published by H. K. Fry with the assistance of Ted Vogelsang in 1937 (in the journal Folklore volume 48).

We will publish the story in parts over the coming days this week. Here is Part One. First we give the words in Dieri and then a translation into English. If you want to study the structure of each sentence in this part of the story you can download a PDF that gives the word-by-word translation and grammatical structure.

Dieri Story — Part One

Thari ya mankarra pula nganarna wanthiyi nhuwamara.
Pula wapayi.
Ya kankuyali pakarna ngantyayi wapalha kakunhi yarla kakunhi kardinhi.
Kaku yathayi.
Yini ngamamayi ngaldrarni ngandrinhi.
Yaruya pakarna nhungkarni kardi yathayi.
Nhulu kankuyali wata ngantyayi ngamalha.
Nhawu dalkiyi pulangu ya nhungkarni ngandrinhi.
Nhawu kanku ngupara mindrirna.
Ya waparna ngupara.
Ngardanhi thana yarla wapayi.
Ya kardiyali wama ya kapirri ya kadni nandrayi.
Ngarla kankuyali windri nandrayi kartiwarru.
Kardiyali partyarna nganthi wayiyi.
Ya pakarna kankuyali wayiyi kartiwarru.
Kankuyali kartiwarru thayiyi.
Ya kardi yathayi.
Wata thayiyamayi.
Malhantyi.
Kardi mara wirrirna kankuya marnanhi.
Ya kartiwarru partyarna mandrandru dukararna.
Kankuyali wata yaniya thayirnanthu nganthi waka.
Kardi yathayi.
Walya karlkamayi, karari wama thayilha.
kankuyali wata ngantyayi.
Kanku yindrayi.
Ya mawali nganayi.

English Translation

A young man and a girl were married long ago.
They went.
And there was a boy who also wanted to go together with his elder sister and brother-in-law.
The elder sister said.
“You stay with our mother!”
His brother-in-law said the same thing.
The boy didn’t want to stay.
His disobeyed them and his mother.
The boy ran ahead.
And went ahead.
Then they all went together.
And the brother-in-law killed carpet snake, and goanna, and stumpy tail lizard.
But the boy only killed a kartiwarru lizard. [The kartiwarru is a small lizard that is not normally eaten. In his Dieri vocabulary Samuel Gason describes it as “a red-backed lizard, about 3 inches long”.]
The brother-in-law cooked all the meat.
And the boy cooked the kartiwarru lizard also.
The boy ate the kartiwarru lizard.
And the brother-in-law said.
“Don’t eat (that)!”
“(It’s) bad.”
The brother-in-law’s hand went into the boy’s mouth.
And took all the kartiwarru lizard out of (his) stomach.
“Boys shouldn’t eat small animals like this.”
The brother-in-law said.
“Wait a while to eat carpet snake (later) today.”
The boy didn’t want (to wait).
The boy cried.
And was hungry.

<To be continued …>

Yawarra warulha

Did you try the challenge at the end of the previous blog post? Did you try to translate into English the Dieri title nhawu dalkiyi nhungkarni ngandrinhi?

Well, it means ‘He disobeys his mother’, and is made up of these words:

• nhawu ‘he, this’ — this is the intransitive subject form
• dalkiyi ‘disobeys’ consists of the extended intransitive verb root dalki ‘to disobey’ and the ending -yi which marks present tense (something happening now)
• nhungkarni ‘his’ — this is the possessive form
• ngandrinhi ‘with/at mother’ consists of the root ngandri ‘mother’ and the locative ending -nhi ‘with, at’ which marks the second participant of an extended intransitive verb.

This sentence is based on a line from a traditional Dieri story that was written down by Dieri man Sam Dintibana and published in the journal Folklore in 1937 by the Adelaide-based anthropologist Henry Kenneth Fry, with translations by Theodor “Ted” Vogelsang, the son of a mission helper Hermann Vogelsang. Ted Vogelsang was born and grew up at the Killalpaninna mission near Cooper Creek and spoke Dieri fluently (see this previous blog post for discussion of letters in Dieri sent to Ted Vogelsang in Adelaide). Look at the material in the box in the following picture:

Sam Dintibana wrote using the spelling developed by the missionaries which unfortunately does not capture Dieri pronunciation well, however we can clearly recognise this Dieri sentence:

nhawu dalkirna wanthiyi pulangu ya nhungkarni ngandrinhi ‘He disobeyed them two and his mother’

The extra words here are:

• wanthiyi follows the verb and indicates something that happened a long time ago in the past
• pulangu is the locative form meaning ‘them two’
• ya means ‘and’.

The main character in the story is a boy, who is told by his older sister (kaku) and brother-in-law (kardi) to stay at home with his mother (ngandri) while they go off somewhere else. He disobeyed them and his mother, and followed along behind his older sister and her husband. Various adventures follow, including the boy being told to climb a tree which is then magically sung by the brother-in-law so that it grows and grows and the boy is trapped high up at the top. He is eventually rescued by his two older brothers (nhiyiwurlu); one of them is left-handed (ngunyari) and the other is right-handed (warrangantyu). Eventually, the three brothers catch up to the evil brother-in-law and finish him off.

Fry published a number of Dieri traditional stories from Dintibana in two issues of the journal. The only one Peter Austin was able to check with Dieri speakers in the 1970s was this one.

Reference:
Fry, H. K. 1937. Dieri Legends, Part II. Folklore, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 269-287.

Waru pula warapamalirna wanthiyi

Luise Anna Hercus

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Luise Hercus (now a Research Associate at the Australian National University in Canberra) began recording and studying the Aboriginal languages spoken to the west of Lake Eyre, especially Arabana and Wangkanguru.

At Umeewara Old People’s home on Davenport Reserve just outside Port Augusta in 1968 Luise met Alec Edwards, a Dieri man who was born in the 19th century and had lived on the Bethesda Mission at Killalpaninna. He retired to Port Augusta with his wife Catharina Edwards, and when he saw Luise interviewing speakers of Arabana and Wangkanguru he asked her to record his language too, starting in 1971. The result of this is about 12 hours interviews and conversations between Luise Hercus and Alec Edwards recorded on reel-to-reel tapes. Alec Edwards passed away before Peter Austin began his studies of Dieri in 1974.

With the help of Paul Sidwell of the University Phonetics Laboratory we have now digitised all these recordings and Luise Hercus has made them available for the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation members to use in their language revitalisation project. This is a very valuable addition to the sound recordings of the Dieri language we now have available, especially as they come from the last generation of people to have lived at Bethesda and spoken Dieri as their main daily language.

Note: The title of this blog means ‘They told one another things long ago’. It is made up of the following words:

waru means ‘long ago’

pula means ‘they two’ (for three or more we use thana)

warapamalirna means ‘told one another things’. It consists of the action word (verb) root warapa ‘tell someone a story’ and the endings -mali ‘one another’ and -rna ‘to do’

wanthiyi means ‘did long ago’. It is a helping word (auxiliary) that follows the verb to indicate action done in the distant past.