Table Of Content

08 Fall 1 YY UULLPPAARRIIJJAA Y D ULPARIJA ICTIONARY E -Y W NGLISH ULPARIJA ORDLIST AND T W OPICAL ORDLISTS 2 0 0 9 E di t i o n 1 Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Microsoft Yulparija Dictionary 2009 Important Note on Taboo Words This production will contain words that are not spoken by present language speakers, as the word is taboo. This taboo is due to the word being the name of, or sounding like the name of, someone who has passed away. All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. No copy or transmissions may be made without written permission from Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre. First published in 2009 by Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre; a non- government organisation working towards the recording and preservation of Pilbara Indigenous languages. Wangka Maya received financial assistance from the Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts for the printing of this book. Dictionary cover designed by Sally Dixon Cover photographs by Michael Hutchinson Editor: Sally Dixon © Original research, analysis and associated writing held by original researchers, as acknowledged. © Linguistic content copyright remains with the Yulparija people. © Book production Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Designed by Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Printed by Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre ISBN: 978-1-921312-79-3 Bibliography Indigenous Languages 2. Languages 3. Pilbara 4. Australian Aboriginal People Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. ii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... iii The Yulparija Language and its Speakers ........................................................................... iii Classification of Yulparija ................................................................................................................... iv Yulparija Country .................................................................................................................................. iv The Present Situation ........................................................................................................................... v The Yulparija Social System................................................................................................................ v The Spelling System ............................................................................................................................. vi Word Classes .............................................................................................................................. vii Yulparija Verbs ........................................................................................................................... ix Yulparija Pronouns ..................................................................................................................... x A note on restricted usage....................................................................................................... xi Yulparija to English Dictionary ................................................................................................... 1 English to Yulparija Wordlist ..................................................................................................... 61 Topical Wordlists ....................................................................................................................... 113 Animals, Body Parts and Products ....................................................................................... 115 Aquatic Life .............................................................................................................................. 116 Artefacts, Constructions and Personal Objects .................................................................. 117 Birds ........................................................................................................................................... 120 Bodily Functions ...................................................................................................................... 121 Human Body Parts .................................................................................................................. 124 Ceremony and Dreaming ....................................................................................................... 127 Colour, Pattern and Texture.................................................................................................. 130 Direction and Location ........................................................................................................... 131 Elements .................................................................................................................................... 133 Food, Drink, Fire and Cooking ............................................................................................. 138 Healing and Sickness ............................................................................................................... 141 Holding and Transfer.............................................................................................................. 143 Impact and Violence ................................................................................................................ 144 Insects ........................................................................................................................................ 149 Interjections .............................................................................................................................. 150 Interrogatives ........................................................................................................................... 150 Manner and Posture ................................................................................................................ 150 Mood and Character ............................................................................................................... 152 Motion ....................................................................................................................................... 154 Names and Placenames ........................................................................................................... 157 Number and Quantity ............................................................................................................. 158 Particles and Clitics ................................................................................................................. 158 People and Kinship .................................................................................................................. 159 Phrases and Idioms ................................................................................................................. 162 Physical States .......................................................................................................................... 165 Plants ......................................................................................................................................... 167 Pronouns and Demonstratives ............................................................................................... 169 Reptiles and Snakes ................................................................................................................. 170 Size, Shape and Weight........................................................................................................... 172 Sounds ....................................................................................................................................... 172 Stative Verbs ............................................................................................................................ 174 Suffixes ...................................................................................................................................... 175 Time ........................................................................................................................................... 178 Value .......................................................................................................................................... 179 Vocalising and Thought .......................................................................................................... 179 Preface and Acknowledgements This publication marks the second revision of the Yulparija dictionary database. The document which formed the original basis of this Dictionary is Studies in Yulparija by Father Kevin McKelson and the Bidyadanga Community which was typed and printed with assistance from The Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre. In early 2005 Albert Burgman created the Yulparija database from the Studies in Yulparija publication. This database was then revised by Albert Burgman in October 2005, especially in regard to semantic domains and parts of speech. Revisons of the database by Father McKelson and Jacqui Wright were made from November 2005 to May 2006. Many entries were altered or, if considered not to be Yulparija, deleted. The changes were entered by Albert Burgman. There were 272 new entries created by Father McKelson and Jacqui Wright. Albert Burgman added 71 new records from words found only in the synonyms and cross-reference fields. In mid-2006 Wangka Maya contracted Sally Dixon to research with Yulparija speakers entries identified by Father McKelson as needing clarification. The Bidyadanga Yulparija Informants for this project were as follows: The ‘ladies group’ consisted of Agnes Frank, Alma Webou, Caroline Nuidoo, Jan Billycan, Liki (Sally) Nanii, Margaret Baragura, Mary Merabida and Weaver Jack. Some of their daughters, nieces and other relations acted as facilitators/translators at various sessions. These were Bambi Merabida, Charlene Bullen, Kathleen (Linda) Badal, and Purtunanga (Nancy) Bangu. Donald Moko, a senior man, also joined the 'ladies group' on Sally’s final day there. The ‘fellas’ were Vincent Thomas and Merridoo Walbidi. The results of this research has been added by Albert Burgman to the database. The first dictionary was published in 2006. Since that time Sally Dixon has continued to work with the above Yulparija speakers recording oral histories and stories. This has resulted in a text collection (held at Wangka Maya PALC) and sketch grammar. Further revisions have also been made to the dictionary database in light of this work, particularly with regards to the presentation of nominal and verbal morphology within the database. The verb table presented in this addition differs somewhat to the table that appeared in the 2006 edition. For justification of this revised presentation the reader is refered to the Yulparija Sketch Grammar. In addition to this Sally also entered and cross-checked information in the field notes of other researchers who have recorded Yulparija over the years. These include the published description of Geoffrey O’Grady (O’Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin, 1966), the fieldnotes of Brian Geytenbeek, survey work of Ken Hansen (Hansen 1984) and addional papers of Fr McKelson. There remain many inconsistencies in the data, particulary in terms of multiple variant forms and synonyms whose finer differences in meaning and usage could perhaps be further clarified. Any errors in transfering, rearranging, revising and adding to the original information are those of the researchers. Sally Dixon Linguist ii Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre, 2009 Introduction The Yulparija Language and its Speakers The introduction of Studies in Yulparija has the following background information: The essential pioneering work in Yulparija has been done by Dr O'Grady. His structural summary is in Anthropological Linguistics (Vol 8 No 2 p 150 et seq) Dr Capell calls Yulparija together with Wanman "one of the most interesting languages of the Western Desert Group" (New approach p 10). Dr O'Grady taught me the essentials of Yulparija. Without his help this study would not be possible. Yulparija is the strongest language at La Grange Mission. The language has been introduced here together with Juwaliny and Mangala through migration and the drift of station people to the mission. It is called one of the "kuka" languages. These have the word kuka for meat whereas the common word is kuwi. Yulparija has been linked with other southern languages such as Wangkajunga, Nyanitjara, Mantjiltjara, Titutjara, Kartutjara, Putitjara and Wanman. In Kartutjara for instance "I go" is Yaninparna whereas in Yulparija it is Yananyinparna or yanayinparna. Dr H. Petrie on page 268 of Australian Anthropology (ed. R. Berndt) says that Fr. Worms and Tindale claim that Yularija is a tribal unit, however he is inclined to the view that Yulparija is a "collective appellation for all strangers who have come in from the Warmala". Warmala is a generic name for southern tribes in relation to northern ones. Both views are correct. Yulparija speakers claim that their language is distinct from the other languages mentioned above. On the other hand some calling themselves Yulparija will admit on questioning they are of Wanman or Nyanithara origin. Two children here on holidays from Balgo mission were called Yulparija by the locals. The word for south in Pitjantjatjara is yulparira. Perhaps it is impossible to distil pure Yulparija from the mass of linguistic material available just as it is extremely difficult to discern the three Karajarri or the two Mangala dialects from one another. Bobby Badal has been my chief informant reinforced at times by Moko and Norman. Father Anthony Peile, a Pallotine Father at Balgo Mission south of Halls Creek, compared the verbal person markers and pronoun case suffixes in Yulparija and Kukatja and found they were identical save in one instance. Example: English Give me meat! Yulparija Kuka-ja yuwa! Kukatja Kuka-rni yuwa! - Father McKelson Introduction in Studies in Yulparija iii Classification of Yulparija O’Grady classified Yulparija as a Pama-Nyungan language of the Wati subgroup (O’Grady Voegelin & Voegelin, 1966). Similarly, Dixon (2002 p xxxvii) classifies Yulparija as a dialect of the Western Desert (WDb) language. The AIATSIS language number is: Yulparija language (A67) (WA SF51-07) Yulparija Country Yulparija country is located around the Percival Lakes area in the Western Desert of Western Australia. The current Yulparija speakers were born at waterholes called iv Kampaji, Kirriwirri, Lurnkurangu, Martakurlu, and Jarnawara. The main waterhole for Yulparija people is Wirnpa, which forms part of the Percival Lakes complex. Yulparija country is neighboured to the north by Juwaliny country, to the northwest by Nyangumarta and Mangala countries, and to the south by several other Western Desert Group languages: Wangkajunga, Manyjilyjarra and Warnman. The Present Situation Yulparija speakers now mainly live at Bidyadanga community, 160kms southwest of Broome, on the Pilbara/Kimberley coast. There are fewer than fifty full speakers left, although many middle-aged speakers have a good receptive knowledge of the language. It is now very hard for young people to learn Yulparija because it is also not the main language of the communities where the speakers live, so there is often not the chance to hear it spoken. In Bidyadanga Community it is taught in the school, and there is a strong desire for more efforts to make sure the children learn as much of the language as possible. The Yulparija Social System Yulparija people practise a 4 section skin system. The skin sections recorded by McKelson (1974) are presented below, although it appears that the Yulparija today often v use milangka (from Nyangumarta) instead of purrkulu. A correct marriage is formed with a person in the opposite horizontal skin to oneself. Children take the opposite vertical skin to their mother. Thus, a karimarra woman marries a panaka man and their children are purrkulu. Likewise, a purungu woman marries a purrkulu man and their children are panaka. This system repeats through the generations so that, for example, the skin of a woman’s maternal grandmother is the same as her own and her granddaughter’s (daughter’s daughter). In Yulparija these two relations are called yapayi. Thus, kin terms are best understood through the prism of the skin system, rather than the European family tree approach. Karimarra Panaka Purrkulu / Purungu Milangka The Spelling System a This is the same as the vowel sound in the English words cut, bud, and luck. aa This is the same sound as short a, but held a bit longer. It is about the same as the vowel sound in English words cart, start, and farm. i This is the same as the vowel sound in the English words pin, finish, and miss. u This is the same as the vowel sound in the English words put, cook, and foot. uu This is the same as short u, but held a bit longer. There is no real equivalent in Standard Australian English. Practise by saying the sound in put but holding it longer, as in the word pool. p This sound is about halfway between English sounds b as in the word bit, and p as in the word pit. Just a little bit of sound comes out. t This sound is about halfway between English sounds d as in the word dug, and t as in the word tug. Just a little bit of sound comes out. vi