Wiradjuri language

Wiradjuri (; many other spellings, see Wiradjuri) is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It is the traditional language of the Wiradjuri people, an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales, Australia. Wiraiari and Jeithi may have been dialects.

A revival is under way, with the language being taught in schools, TAFE college, and at Charles Sturt University.

Reclamation

Teaching

The Wiradjuri language has been taught in primary schools, secondary schools and at TAFE since before 2012 in the towns of Parkes and Forbes.Taylor, Suzi
How a language transformed a town
ABC, 4 July 2012. "The boundary of the Wiradjuri Nation extends from Gilgandra in the north, straddling the Great Dividing Range down to the Murray River and out to western NSW. It includes the townships of Dubbo, Condobolin, Orange, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Narrandera and Griffith." It is taught at Condobolin. Northern Wiradjuri schools such as Peak Hill, Dubbo, Narromine, Wellington, Gilgandra, Trangie, and Geurie by AECG language and culture educators. All lessons include both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. As of 2017 the language was also being taught in Young, having a positive impact on the number of pupils self-identifying as Aboriginal.

Charles Sturt University also offers a two-year course in Wiradjuri language, heritage, and culture, focusing on language reclamation. This course, which commenced in 2014, was developed by Wiradjuri Elder, Dr Stan Grant Senior, as part of their Wiradjuri Language and Cultural Heritage Recovery Project.

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 academic John Rudder. 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 Wagga Wagga to the New South Wales Parliament. A mobile app and web-based version based on the book is also available. A ''Grammar of Wiradjuri language'' was published in 2014.

Phonology

Consonants

In most Pama-Nyungan languages, sounds represented by ‘k’ or ‘g’ are interchangeable. The same applies to ‘b’ and ‘p’ as well as ‘t’ and ‘d’.

Vowels

The phonemes /ə/ and /aː/ tend to be considered as belonging to the same pair (refer to the orthography table below).

Vocabulary

"Wagga Wagga"

The Aboriginal inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri people and the term , with a central open vowel /aː/, means 'dances and celebrations', and has also been translated as 'reeling like a drunken man'. The Wiradjuri word means 'crow', which can be pluralised by reduplication.

Until 2019, it was claimed by the Wagga Wagga council and others that Wagga Wagga translates to “the place of many crows”. However, as Uncle Stan Grant Snr has stated, " does sound a bit like , but it’s not quite the same. If you say “,” you’re saying 'many crows'. And means dance celebrations… But the fact is, it’s my language, our language, and it’s got nothing to do with crows whatsoever.".

''Ngamadidj''

The term '' Ngamadidj'' ('ghost', or 'white people'), used in the Kuurn Kopan Noot language in Victoria, is also recorded as being used in Wellington, New South Wales by local Wiradjuri people about a missionary there.

Animals

Family

Numbers

Anatomy

Verbs

Other

Phrases

Introductions

Greetings

Love

Complex statements

Influence on English

The following English words come from Wiradjuri:
* ''kookaburra'', a species of kingfisher
* '' quandong'', a species of tree
* '' quarrion'' (or ''quarrien''), another name for the cockatiel''Oxford Dictionary of English'', p 1,452

Notes and references

Sources

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External links

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A New Wiradjuri dictionary




Wiradjuri language, alphabet and pronunciation

Materials for learning Wiradjuri

Peter Andren MP with material on the Wiradjuri

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Learn Wiradjuri at TAFE

{{Pama–Nyungan languages, East

Wiradhuric languages

Critically endangered languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales