An Introductory Dictionary of the Western Desert Language

Edith Cowan University Research Online ECU Publications Pre. 2011 1988 An introductory dictionary of the Western Desert language Wilf Douglas Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks Part of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons Douglas, W.H. (1988). An introductory dictionary of the Western Desert language. Perth, Australia: Institute of Applied Language Studies, Western Australian College of Advanced Education. This Book is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/7116 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. Youe ar reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. ,,.J.tf- BY WILF DOUGLAS : ,.,.;.:.. .\ ' AN INTRODUCTORY DICTIONARY OF 11IE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE BY W.H.OOUGLAS A THREE-PART DICTIONARY BASED ON FIELD NOTES COLLECTED OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS AT WARBURTON RANGES AND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE AREA. Where possible, definitive meanings have been given to words and Western Desert language terms, but in other instances a field note simply gives some indication as to the possible meaning of an item. Here and there, also, alternative spellings are given. Some of these spellings are based on dialect variations, others are probably idiolectal, and there are others about which the author had uncertainty. It is hoped that the dictionary in its present three-part form will stimulate others to more exhaustive studies in this rich field. Readers will find that the third part - arranged in semantic categories - has fuller meanings supplied for many of the items. Copyright (C) W.H.Douglas 1988 Page i. UBRAR'l Publisher's page The Western Australian Aboriginal Languages Association is privileged to be associated with the printing of this Dictionary. I am not unmindful of the efforts, insights, and disappointments Mr Wilf Douglas and many Aboriginal people have had to endure to achieve this publication. Our wish and prayer is that as you open these pages you will begin to experience the richness of one of our Aboriginal languages. Keith Truscott Chairperson, Western Australian Aboriginal Languages Association Published by The Institute of Applied Language Studies, Western Australian College of Advanced Education ISBN o-7298-0067-9 An Introductory Dictionary of the Western Desert Language Page ii AN INTRODUCTORY DICTIONARY OF THE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE page iv LIST OF SEMANTIC CATEGORIES page vi ABBREVIATIONS page x FURTHER HELP, REFERENCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY page xi THE ALPHABET OF THE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE p.xii PART 1 WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE - ENGLISH DICTIONARY p.1 PART 2 ENGLISH~ WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE p.130 PART 3 WESTERN DESERT DICTIONARY ORGANISED IN SEMANTIC CATEGORIES p.250 AN INTRODUCTORY DICTIONARY OF THE WESTERNDESERT LANGUAGE PREFACE THE WESTERN DESERT LANGUAGE is the most widely spoken Aboriginal language in Australia. Dialects of this language a.re spoken in the vast area between Kalgoorlie and Alice Springs, Ceduna (South Australia) and Wiluna (Western Australia). Today, radio waves speeding across the CentralDesert a.re bristling with tw<r-way chatter in the speech sounds of Pitjantjatja.ra, Ngaanyatjarra, Pintupi and other variants of the Western Desert language. 'YAN AP' - short for the Y a.nkuntjatjara-Ngaanyatjarra-Pitjantjatjara Air Service - carries speakers of these dialects from the Alice to Kalgoorlie, to the Aboriginal communities at such places as Docker lliver, Ernabella, Amata, Mt. Davies, Jameson, Blackstone, Warakurna, Kintore, Warburton, Laverton and Wiluna. This small dictionary of 2,400 basic vocabulary items is an introduction only to the richness of the speech of the Desert dwellers. Many thousands of different words are used in the life time of a tribal manor woman to express the totality of their Aboriginal world view. A student of the language eventually must touch on such subjects as human and animal anatomy, zoology, botany, music, meteorology, hunting techniques, and a host of other disciplines before coming to grips with the range of thought covered by just one dialect of the WesternDesert language. The ninety-nine cateiories into which the items in this dictionary are divided will give some idea of the multiplicity of concepts which any Aboriginal language covers. The numbers following the meaning of words indicate one or more of the semantic categories to which the item may be allocated. These numbers coincide with the numbers on the list of categories preceding the dictionary section. Most of the words in the dictionary are from the Ngaanyatjarra dialect, which is spoken at Warburton, Jameson and Blackstone Ranges. As the Desert people move from place to place, they bring their own forms of speech with them, so here and there throughout the dictionary variants from other areas will be included. The material has been collected in the Desert area since 1951; but I am indebted to Misses Amee Glass and Dorothy Hackett for allowing me to check the spelling of some of the doubtful items with their Ngaanyatjarra Word List (1975). I take responsibility, however, for any mistakes in spelling which may be found in the dictionary. I acknowledge with appreciation the generosity of Mr. Graeme Hollis MSc. MA. for allowing me to use his computer and the program he prepared for me to set up the dictionary in the first place. Then, Mr. Glenn Crouch BSc (Hons) and his wife, Karen, have done considerable work to transfer all the data to more sophisticated computers so as to produce a photo-ready printout suitable for publication. Many of the Desert people who have been my teachers over the years have now passed on. I would express special appreciation for the patient teaching of Mangkartikurnunya, Putjukurnunya. Nguntjimanya, Tjanilinya West and other members of the West family. Men, women and children in other well-known Warburton Ranges families supplied rich information on the Aboriginal world-view as did my old friends Wakannga, Kimarlinya and Muntjultjarranya. An Introductory Dictionary of the Western Desert Language Page iv. Reference should be made to the Pintupi Dic~iona._ry. produced by my colleagues, Ken and Lesley Hansen (1974) and for the help this dictionary was for tracing the cultural background to ~ome wor~. It is hoped t~a.t this present dictionary will help satisfy the needs of those involved m language learmng a.nd research or who are involved in direct service to Abor~gi~al people .. And it is to the. Aboriginal people of the Desert I owe a. special word of a.pprec1a.t1on. My life ha.s been ennched by contact with their personalities their language a.nd their culture generally. ' To the One Who sustained us through half a century of service in the Aboriginal field and to my wife who has patiently supported me throughout the years, I give thanks too. WILFRlD H. DOUGLAS 1988 lll)RD VARIANTS IN HE IIESTERN DESERT: The sketch above has been designed to illustrate the fact that there are true synonyms for many of the concepts of thought in the Western Desert. Because the desert people used to travel from water hole to water hole and from hunting ground to hunting ground in small family groups, dialect variants occurred in their speech which were not always shared with other family groups. For example, when a relative died, any word which sounded like the deceased' s name was substituted with another word out of deference to the bereaved. When the people met together in larger gatherings, these changes were noted and, again out of deference to the bereaved or in recognition of speech nuances which had developed within a particular group. The manner in which the dialect changes were noted was by naming the group according to the particular idiosyncrasy of their speech. For example, the people who used ngaanya, meanin'g 'this one', would call the people who used nyangatja the Wangka Nyangatjatjarra (that is, 'those who have the speech form nyangatja'). The sketch shows that there may be many labels for each concept so that, if one word becomes taboo through death or other choice, it can be put back into the 'pigeon hole' and another synonym can be brought into use. Older speakers know many of the labels which are available. For this reason, the dictionary shows a number of variants for some common concepts. While some of these variants may be described as "Eastern dialect" or "Southern", this means only that, at time of collecting the information, these were the choices from the totality of synonyms which were being used. An Introductory Dictionary of the Western Desert Language Page v. SEMANTIC (CONTENT) CATEGORIES: WE3TERN DESERT LANGUAGE DICTIONARY 1. kinship, relationship terms. 2. skin groups, intermarrying and offspring group terms. 3. mythological beings. 4. tracks of the great creation and other legendary beings.

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