Language

YOLNGU MATHA - THE LANGUAGE

Yolngu Matha means Yolngu Special Characters SOME COMMON YOLNGU TERMS language. It refers to Yolngu languages in general. There B^pi Snake |^nitji or Manha Alcohol \ or | ng as with song are over 40 Yolngu languages. B^ru Crocodile |apaki Non-Yolngu person, Most Yolngu speak multiple [ or { tongue curled back white person. Yolngu languages. The Bathi Dilly bag ^ or % long a, as with father |arali Tobacco, cigarette following explanation may help Bay\u None, I don’t have any you to pronounce the words. ] or } tongue curled back |atha Food Bilma Rhythm sticks (clap sticks) Yolngu languages are written ` or ~ tongue curled back Nh^mirri nhe How are you? Bu\gawa Boss, leader (can be a using special characters. For ’ glottal stop derogatory term) Nhulunbuy The hill around technical reasons we have not which the township is located. used them throughout this Bu\gul Dance not necessarily booklet. At right is a description Traditional ceremony (corroboree) Rrupiya Money (Macassan of the special characters and on introduced word) Bu\gul dj^ma Ceremony the far right the Yolngu words business or work is considered W^wa Brother appear in orange with these important work in Yolngu society special characters. Yaka No Dhuwa, Yirritja Everything in Vowels the world belongs to one of these Yaka manymak I am not good There are three pairs of vowels. two named social moieties or Yalala Later categories. Yolngu marry into their opposite moiety. Yapa Sister (it’s common to refer SHORT VOWELS LONG VOWELS to a female you don’t know as {irramu Man, male a as in about ä as in father yapa) Work, business i as in bin e no equivalent in English – try Dj^ma Yatj Bad lengthening the i in bin Ga’ Give it here! Yi[aki Didgeridoo (The Miwatj u as in put o as in pore Galpu Spear launcher region is recognised as the home of Yidaki. You are on yidaki Gara Spear country) Consonants Gapa] White clay used for Yol\u The peoples of the north- ceremony purposes, dancing and east Arnhem Land region call painting. themselves Yolngu. Different from b, g, k, l, p, m, n, t, w, y — are like the English equivalents other tribes around Australia dh, th, nh — pronounced with the tongue between the teeth Gapu Water Koori, Noongah, and Murri for example d, t, n, l, r — pronounced with the tongue curled back Gurtha Fire, lighter, match, firewood dj — as with jug Yo Yes tj — somewhat similar to the ch in church Ma Okay! Do it! Yo manymak Yes, good, Manymak Good, okay thanks. A positive response/ ny — as with news acknowledgement ng — as in song Miyalk Female Yol\u matha A general term for You are in the many Yolngu languages If you want to learn more about Yolngu language and culture, Miwatj Region Miwatj or sunrise country of north-east Arnhem Land go to www.learnline.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies