Wiradjuri language

Wiradjuri
Wirraaydhuurray
Wirraayjuurray
Region New South Wales
Native speakers
 30 (2005) to 100  (2006 census)[1]
Dialects
Wirraayaraay (Wiraiari)
? Jeithi
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wrh
Glottolog wira1262[2]
AIATSIS[1] D10
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Wiradjuri (/wəˈrædʒəri/;[3] many other spellings, see Wiradjuri) is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the Wiradjuri people of Australia, but had become extinct as a native language by 2009. A progressive revival is underway, with the language being taught in schools. Wiraiari and Jeithi may have been dialects.[4][5]

Reclamation

The Wiradjuri language is taught in primary schools, secondary schools and at TAFE in the towns of Parkes and Forbes with the students being both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.[6]

Dictionary

The process of reclaiming the language was greatly assisted by the publication in 2005 of A First Wiradjuri Dictionary by elder Stan Grant Senior and consultant Dr John Rudder. John Rudder described the dictionary: "The Wiradjuri Dictionary has three main sections in just over 400 B5 pages. The first two sections, English to Wiradjuri, and Wiradjuri to English, have about 5,000 entries each. The third sections lists Names of Things grouped in categories such as animals, birds, plants, climate, body parts, colours. In addition to those main sections the dictionary contains an introduction to accurate pronunciation, a basic grammar of the language and a sample range of sentence types." A revised edition, holding over 8,000 words, was published in 2010 and launched in Wagga Wagga, with the launch described by the member for Riverina to the Australian Parliament.[7][8]

Sample vocabulary

'Wagga Wagga'

Route 41 Wagga Wagga sign (Mills St)

The Aboriginal inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri people and the term "Wagga" and derivatives of that word in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language is thought to mean crow. To create the plural, the Wiradjuri repeat a word, thus 'Wagga Wagga' translates to 'the place of many crows'.

Animals

Other

Ngawa: Yes (Pronounced ŋa-wa)
Wiray: No (Pronounced ɥi-ɾe)
Gunya: Home (Pronounced gu- ɲa)
Walang: Money/Pebbles (Pronounced wa-laŋ)

Family

Introductions

Widyu-ndhu yuwin ngulung? What’s your name?
Yuwin ngadhi James. My name is James.
Ngandhi nginha? Who’s this one?
Nginha gunhi. This is mother.

Greetings

Yamandhu marang? Are you well?
Ngawa baladhu marang. Yes I’m well.
Marang nganha. That’s good.

Numbers

Verbs

Body parts

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wiradjuri at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Wiradhuri". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ "Wiradjuri". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.
  4. ↑ Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. p. xxxiv.
  5. ↑ There is quite some confusion over the names Wirraayarray, Wiriyarray, and Wirray Wirray. See AIATSIS:Wirraayaraay.
  6. ↑ How a language transformed a town
  7. ↑ ABC news interview with Grant
  8. ↑ Hansart

External links

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