Ngarrindjeri language

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).Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2020), Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond, [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/revivalistics-9780199812790 Oxford University Press]. {{ISBN|9780199812790}} / {{ISBN|9780199812776}}{{rp|198}} However, in revitalized Ngarrindjeri, both rhotics "are pronounced unlike English".{{rp|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).{{rp|198}}

Other names include Jarildekald, Jaralde, Yarilde, Yarrildie, Jaraldi, Lakalinyeri, Warawalde, Yalawarre, Yarildewallin (although as mentioned above, Yaraldi is regarded as a dialect).

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."{{sfnp|Berndt|Berndt|1993|p=19}}

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.{{sfnp|Gale|1997|p=71}}

"{{Lang|nay|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.University of South Australia, "Preserving Indigenous culture through language", 16 May 2008,[http://www.unisa.edu.au/news/2008/160508.asp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705140154/http://www.unisa.edu.au/news/2008/160508.asp|date=5 July 2011}} Accessed 15 January 2010. 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.{{cite book | editor1-first=Ghil'ad | editor1-last=Zuckermann| editor2-first=Julia |editor2-last=Miller | editor3-first=Jasmin|editor3-last= Morley |title= Endangered Words, Signs of Revival| pages=1–19 |others=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| chapter = They came, they heard, they documented: the Dresden missionaries as lexicographers | last1 = Amery | first1 = Rob | last2 = Gale | first2 = Mary-Anne | publisher = Australian Association for Lexicography (Australex) | year = 2014 | url=https://www.adelaide.edu.au/australex/conferences/2013/ |isbn=978-0-646-92900-2 | chapter-url = https://www.adelaide.edu.au/australex/conferences/2013/amery_and_gale.pdf }}

There were 312 speakers of Ngarrindjerri recorded in the 2016 Australian census.

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.{{cite web | title=Ngarrindjeri Concise 2nd edition Dictionary launched | website=AIATSIS | date=6 September 2019 | url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/whats-new/news/ngarrindjeri-concise-2nd-edition-dictionary-launched | access-date=17 April 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Gale |first1=Mary-Anne |last2=Williams |first2=Phyllis |title=Ngarrindjeri dictionary |edition=2nd (concise) |year=2019 |publisher=Miwi-Inyeri Pelepi-Ambi Aboriginal Corporation (MIPAAC) |isbn=978-0-9946336-3-7}}

The third, expanded edition of the dictionary, again compiled by Gale and Williams, was published by AIATSIS in 2020.{{cite book |last1=Gale |first1=Mary-Anne |last2=Williams |first2=Phyllis |title=Ngarrindjeri dictionary |edition=3rd (complete) |year=2020 |publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Press |isbn=978-0-9946336-4-4}} Hundreds of new words have been added, including words for items which did not exist in the 19th century, such as "solar panel".

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.{{cite web | last=Marchant | first=Gabriella | website=ABC News | title=Aboriginal languages making comeback through new training program and dictionaries | date=12 July 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-11/aboriginal-languages-boosted-by-new-dictionaries-and-education/100275646 | access-date=14 July 2021}}

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.{{Cite web| url=https://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2019/08/14/rhyme-and-reclamation-with-the-deadly-nannas/|title=Rhyme and reclamation with the Deadly Nannas|date=2019-08-13|website=InDaily| access-date=17 April 2021| first=Angela |last=Skujins }}{{cite web | last=Evins | first=Brittany | title=Aboriginal singers the Deadly Nannas are breathing new life into an ancient language | website=ABC News| publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=11 April 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-11/aboriginal-women-singing-group-teaching-ngarrindjeri-language/100050788 | access-date=17 April 2021}}

The Yaralde had the southernmost attested Australian Aboriginal sign language.Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• /r/ can be heard as a tap and approximant, as allophones [ɾ, ɹ].

• /i/ when preceding retroflex consonant, can be heard as central [ɨ]
• /u/ when occurring after a trill consonant in closed syllables can be heard as central [ʉ]
• A mid sound /ə/ can also be heard in various syllabic positions.

The following words are from the Ngarrindjeri language:{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Diane |author-link=Diane Bell (anthropologist) |url=https://archive.org/details/ngarrindjeriwurr0000bell |title=Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A World that Is, Was, and Will be |publisher=Spinifex Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-875-55971-8 |pages=xiii-xiv |url-access=registration}}

• {{Lang|nay|kondoli}} – 'whale'
• {{Lang|nay|korni}}/{{Lang|nay|korne}} – 'man'
• {{Lang|nay|kringkari}}, {{Lang|nay|gringari}} – 'white man'
• {{Lang|nay|muldarpi}}/{{Lang|nay|mularpi}} – 'travelling spirit of sorcerers and strangers'
• {{Lang|nay|yanun}} – 'speak, talk'

These are words for animals extinct since European colonisation:{{Cite book |last=Hobson |first=John Robert |author-link=Alfred William Howitt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-ku44jjLEQC&pg=PA395 |title=Re-awakening Languages: Theory and Practice in the Revitalisation of Australia's Indigenous Languages |publisher=Sydney University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-920-89955-4 |page=398}}

• {{Lang|nay|maikari}} – Eastern hare-wallaby
• {{Lang|nay|rtulatji}} – Toolache wallaby
• {{Lang|nay|wi:kwai}} – Pig-footed bandicoot

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Berndt |first1=Ronald M. |author1-link=Ronald Berndt

|last2=Berndt |first2=Catherine H. |author2-link=Catherine Berndt

|year=1993

|title=A World That Was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia

|publisher=UBC Press

|location=Vancouver, Canada

|isbn=0-7748-0478-5

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/worldthatwasyara0000bern

}}

• {{cite journal

|first=R. M. |last=Berndt |author-link=Ronald Berndt

|year=1940

|title=Notes on the sign-language of the Jaralde tribe of the Lower River Murray, South Australia

|journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia

|volume=64

|pages=267-272

|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/129844#page/301/mode/1up

}}

• {{cite thesis

|last=Cerin |first=Mark

|year=1994

|title=The pronominal system of Yaraldi

|degree=BA honours

|publisher=University of Melbourne

|hdl=11343/285608 |hdl-access=free

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Gale |first=Mary-Anne

|year=1997

|title=Dhanum Djorra'wuy Dhawu: A history of writing in Aboriginal languages

|location=Underdale

|publisher=Aboriginal Research Institute

|doi=10.1017/S031058220000612X

|id={{NLA|180661}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=McDonald |first=Maryalyce

|year=1977

|title=A study of the phonetics and phonology of Yaraldi and associated dialects

|publisher=Australian National University

|id={{ProQuest|2598642936}}. {{NLA|2555049}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Meyer |first=H. A. E. |author-link=Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer

|year=1843

|title=Vocabulary of the language spoken by the Aborigines of the southern and eastern portion of the settled districts of South Australia

|location=Adelaide

|publisher=James Allen

|hdl=2440/15074

|id={{NLA|1207234}}

|url=http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/15074/1/Meyer_voc.pdf

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Taplin |first=George |author-link=George Taplin

|year=1879

|title=The Folklore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the South Australian Aborigines

|location=Adelaide

|publisher=Government Printer

|id={{NLA|223327}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Taplin |first=George |author-link=George Taplin

|year=1892

|chapter=Grammar of the language spoken by the Narrinyeri tribe in S. Australia

|editor=Fraser, John

|title=An Australian Language

|pages=28–43 of appendix

|location=Sydney

|publisher=Government Printer

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Yallop |first1=Colin

|last2=Grimwade |first2=Gordon

|year=1975

|title=Narinjari: an outline of the language studied by George Taplin, with Taplin's notes and comparative table

|volume=2

|publisher=University of Sydney

}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite web | title=Aboriginal people of South Australia: Ngarrindjeri | website=LibGuides at State Library of South Australia | url=https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/Aboriginal_peopleSA/Ngarrindjeri}}
• {{cite web | title=Ngarrindjeri | website=Mobile Language Team | url=https://mobilelanguageteam.com.au/languages/ngarrindjeri/ }}
• {{cite web | title=Yaraldi | website=Mobile Language Team | url=https://mobilelanguageteam.com.au/languages/yaraldi/}}

{{Aboriginal South Australians}}

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|South}}

Category:Lower Murray languages

Category:Ngarrindjeri

Category:Language revival