Ngarrindjeri language

Last updated

Ngarrindjeri
Region South Australia
Ethnicity Ngarrindjeri, Tanganekald, Ramindjeri, Yarilde, Meintangk, Portaulun, Warki
Native speakers
312 (2016 census) [1]
Dialects
  • Yaralde (Ngarrindjeri)
  • Tangane (Tanganekald)†
  • Ramindjeri
  • Portaulun
  • Warki
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).

Contents

Ngarrindjerri is Pama–Nyungan. McDonald (2002) distinguishes five dialects: Warki, Tanganekald, Ramindjeri, Portaulun and Yaraldi. [2] Bowern (2011) lists the Yaraldi, Ngarrindjeri, and Ramindjeri varieties as separate languages. [3]

Tanganekald, also known as Thangal, [4] is now extinct. [5]

Name

Linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann suggests that the original pronunciation of Ngarrindjeri had two distinct rhotic consonants: the first was rr (as in Italian) and the second was r (as in English). [6] : 198  However, in revitalized Ngarrindjeri, both rhotics "are pronounced unlike English". [6] : 198  Zuckermann analyses this phenomenon as over-applied, hypercorrect "emblematicity" due to Othering: the Ngarrindjeri revivalists are trying to define themselves vis-à-vis the "Other", distancing themselves from "the colonizers' mother tongue, Australian English" (even at the expense of losing one of their own original rhotics). [6] : 198 

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." [7]

Status and revival

In 1864, the publication of the Ngarrindjerri Bible was the first time portions of the Bible were translated into an Aboriginal language. 8 Genesis 2:8 follows in Ngarrindjerri from the 1864 translation and a literal English translation. [8] "Jehovah winmin gardenowe Edenald, kile yuppun ityan korn gardenungai." "Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, toward the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed."

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. [9] The work of Lutheran missionaries Christian Teichelmann and Clamor Schürmann in the early days of the colonisation of South Australia have contributed enormously to the revival of both Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna. [10]

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 elder Phyllis Williams has been collaborating with linguist Mary-Anne Gale for many years, teaching the language to adults and developing resources to aid language revival. [11] [12]

The third, expanded edition of the dictionary, again compiled by Gale and Williams, was published by AIATSIS in 2020. [13] Hundreds of new words have been added, including words for items which did not exist in the 19th century, such as "solar panel". [14]

In 2021 the first students of the first training course to be specially tailored to the teaching of Aboriginal language, run by Tauondi Aboriginal College in Port Adelaide, graduated, and are now able to pass on their skills to the community. University of Adelaide linguist Robert Amery and his wife, Mary-Anne Gale, have helped to drive the project. [14]

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. [15] [16]

Sign language

The Yaralde had the southernmost attested Australian Aboriginal sign language. [17]

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

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a
VowelAllophones
/i/[ i ], [ ɪ ], [ ɨ ]
/e/[ e ], [ ɛ ], [ æ ]
/a/[ a ], [ ɐ ], [ ʌ ], [ ɑ ]
/o/[ o ], [ ɔ ], [ ɒ ]
/u/[ u ], [ ʊ ], [ ʉ ]

Vocabulary

The following words are from the Ngarrindjeri language: [18]

These are words for animals extinct since European colonisation: [19]

Related Research Articles

The Kaurna people are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna culture and language were almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the British colonisation of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture. The phrase Kaurna meyunna means "Kaurna people".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Unaipon</span> Australian preacher, inventor & author

David Ngunaitponi, known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian preacher, inventor, and author. A Ngarrindjeri man, his contribution to Australian society helped to break many stereotypes of Aboriginal people, and he is featured on the Australian $50 note in commemoration of his work. He was the son of preacher and writer James Unaipon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngarrindjeri</span> Australian Aboriginal group

The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term Ngarrindjeri means "belonging to men", and refers to a "tribal constellation". The Ngarrindjeri actually comprised several distinct if closely related tribal groups, including the Jarildekald, Tanganekald, Meintangk and Ramindjeri, who began to form a unified cultural bloc after remnants of each separate community congregated at Raukkan, South Australia.

Australian Aboriginal English is a cover term used for the complex, rule-governed varieties of English used by a large section of the Indigenous Australian population as a result of colonisation. It is made up of a number of varieties which developed differently in different parts of Australia, and grammar and pronunciation differs from that of standard Australian English, along a continuum. Some of its words have also been adopted into standard or colloquial Australian English.

The Ramindjeri or Raminjeri people were an Aboriginal Australian people forming part of the Kukabrak grouping now otherwise known as the Ngarrindjeri people. They were the most westerly Ngarrindjeri, living in the area around Encounter Bay and Goolwa in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot. In modern native title actions a much more extensive territory has been claimed.

The Warki are a lakalinyeri (tribe) of the Ngarrindjeri Australian Aboriginal people of southern Australia.

Kaurna is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own parnkarra district of land and local dialect. These dialects were historically spoken in the area bounded by Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, Cape Jervis in the south, and just over the Mount Lofty Ranges. Kaurna ceased to be spoken on an everyday basis in the 19th century and the last known native speaker, Ivaritji, died in 1929. Language revival efforts began in the 1980s, with the language now frequently used for ceremonial purposes, such as dual naming and welcome to country ceremonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Unaipon</span> Australian indigenous preacher

James Unaipon, born James Ngunaitponi, was an Australian Indigenous preacher of the Warrawaldie Lakalinyeri of the Ngarrindjeri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghil'ad Zuckermann</span> Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist

Ghil'ad Zuckermann is an Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barngarla language</span> Revived Aboriginal language of South Australia

Barngarla, formerly known as Parnkalla, is an Aboriginal language of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. It was formerly extinct, but has undergone a process of revival since 2012.

George Taplin was a Congregationalist minister who worked in Aboriginal missions in South Australia, and gained a reputation as an anthropologist as well, writing on Ngarrindjeri lore and customs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raukkan, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Raukkan is an Australian Aboriginal community situated on the south-eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina in the locality of Narrung, 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of the centre of South Australia's capital, Adelaide. Raukkan is "regarded as the home and heartland of Ngarrindjeri country."

The Aboriginal South Australians are the Indigenous people who lived in South Australia prior to the British colonisation of South Australia, and their descendants and their ancestors. There are difficulties in identifying the names, territorial boundaries, and language groups of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia, including poor record-keeping and deliberate obfuscation, so only a rough approximation can be given here.

The Erawirung people, also known as Yirau, Juju and other names, were an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory was located in what is today the Riverland of South Australia. They consisted of sub-groups or clans, including Jeraruk, Rankbirit and Wilu, and have been referred to as Meru people, which was a larger grouping which could also include the Ngawait and Ngaiawang peoples.

The Jarildekald people, also known as Yarilde or Yaralde, are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia originating on the eastern side of Lake Alexandrina and the Murray River.

The Tanganekald people were or are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia, today classed as part of the Ngarrindjeri nation.

The Bodaruwitj, also rendered Bedaruwidj or Potaruwutj, and referred to in some early sources as the Tatiara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. David Horton believed they were the group his sources referred to as the Bindjali people. Austlang refers to Bindjali / Bodaruwitj as alternative names for the same language.

The Ngarkat is a recorded title of a tribal group from South Australia. The Ngarkat lands had linked the mallee peoples of Victoria and South Australia to the river peoples of the Murray River Murraylands. Ngarkat language has been loosely grouped with Peramangk language though not by linguists, and the grouping was perhaps partly owed to the co-ownership of lands in both the Ninety Mile Desert and Echunga by John Barton Hack, and partly to the occasional meeting of tribes. The language of the Ngarkat was recorded as being Boraipur by Ryan in recent times though sources were not given, while it may yet be telling that the citing work concerns Mallee peoples to the east. The language may have been midway between that of mallee peoples to the east, and that of peoples to the west recorded by Teichelmann and Schurman. It is known that songlines linked the Coorong to the Mallee regions, hence went through Ngarkat land. It is also known that Ngarkat people did meet regularly with tribes to the east, at sites along the Murray.

Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann, also spelt Christian Gottlob Teichelmann, was a Lutheran missionary who worked among Australian Aboriginal people in South Australia. He was a pioneer in describing the Kaurna language, after his work begun at the Piltawodli Native Location in Adelaide, with fellow-missionary Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann.

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References

  1. ↑ ABS. "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". stat.data.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 S69 Ngarrindjeri at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ↑ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
  4. ↑ "Thangal/Tanganekald". Mobile Language Team . Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. ↑ S11 Tanganekald at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  6. 1 2 3 Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2020), Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond, Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199812790 / ISBN   9780199812776
  7. ↑ Berndt & Berndt (1993), p. 19.
  8. ↑ Gale (1997), p. 71.
  9. ↑ University of South Australia, "Preserving Indigenous culture through language", 16 May 2008, Archived 5 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 15 January 2010.
  10. ↑ Amery, Rob; Gale, Mary-Anne (2014). "They came, they heard, they documented: the Dresden missionaries as lexicographers" (PDF). In Zuckermann, Ghil'ad; Miller, Julia; Morley, Jasmin (eds.). Endangered Words, Signs of Revival. Papers presented at the conference Australex 2013: Endangered Words, and Signs of Revival at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, 25 to 28 July 2013. Australian Association for Lexicography (Australex). pp. 1–19. ISBN   978-0-646-92900-2.
  11. ↑ "Ngarrindjeri Concise 2nd edition Dictionary launched". AIATSIS. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Gale, Mary-Anne; Williams, Phyllis (2019). Ngarrindjeri dictionary (2nd (concise) ed.). Miwi-Inyeri Pelepi-Ambi Aboriginal Corporation (MIPAAC). ISBN   978-0-9946336-3-7.
  13. ↑ Gale, Mary-Anne; Williams, Phyllis (2020). Ngarrindjeri dictionary (3rd (complete) ed.). Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Press. ISBN   978-0-9946336-4-4.
  14. 1 2 Marchant, Gabriella (12 July 2021). "Aboriginal languages making comeback through new training program and dictionaries". ABC News. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Skujins, Angela (13 August 2019). "Rhyme and reclamation with the Deadly Nannas". InDaily. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  18. ↑ Bell, Diane (1998). Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A World that Is, Was, and Will be . Spinifex Press. pp. xiii–xiv. ISBN   978-1-875-55971-8.
  19. ↑ Hobson, John Robert (2010). Re-awakening Languages: Theory and Practice in the Revitalisation of Australia's Indigenous Languages. Sydney University Press. p. 398. ISBN   978-1-920-89955-4.

Further reading

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