NGAN'GI LANGUAGE

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Welcome a person, acknowledge someone's presence, make someone feel socially at ease.

Kurungurr Example:

Yenimbirr miwap, epe minde tye werrmi gugu warrani.

He camped with them, but they didn't welcome him.

gugulirr

Word Class:

wupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Stir something around.

Kurungurr Example:

Menyirr yu gugulirr!

Stir sugar into it!

dangim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Cut (eg. fence posts), make cuts in something.

Kurungurr Example:

Warring gugulirr warrim fityityuk mumba nide wibem.

They cut fence posts and left them lying along the road.

wirribem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Turn around, revolve, spin in circles.

gulgul

Word Class:

wupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Stir something round and round.

Kurungurr Example:

Yupun gulgul ti?

Have you stirred the tea?

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Stir something with your fingertips.

Kurungurr Example:

Wurrkerretyi yemi ket e fungguli nide yemi gulgul, e yiwi lalirr kana.

You cut the stalks of wurrkerentyi (Alloteropsis semialata) and stir them into wild honey and then eat it.

wupun

Word Class:

impersonal verb

Meaning:

Diahorrea, have the runs, have diahorrea stir your guts around.

Kurungurr Example:

Wupungngi gulgul magun.

I've got diarrhoea.

gulgulpurr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Showoff.

gulirr

Word Class:

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Turn something.

Kurungurr Example:

Yemi gulirr !

Turn it (the door handle)!

dangim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Saw something, cut something with a saw.

Kurungurr Example:

Yawul ngaring gulirr saw ninggi.

I sawed the spear in half.

dangim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Surround something, encircle something.

Kurungurr Example:

Dagum danginnin gulirr.

Fog has surrounded us.

daram

Word Class:

reflexive verb

Meaning:

Cut yourself.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngarang gulirr.

I cut myself.

yenim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Circle around something, travel in a circle.

guniguni

Wumirri Headword:

gunugunu

Word Class:

Meaning:

Old woman, old women.

gurrgurr

Word Class:

weyim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Misname, mistakenly address someone by the wrong name, say something incorrectly.

Kurungurr Example:

Piwari yengngi gurrgurr!

You've called me by the wrong name!

dangin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Miss, fail to make contact of the 'poking' or 'stabbing' type. Throw a spear at something, but miss.

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Miss, fail to make contact of the 'grabbing' type. Grasp at something, but miss.

wupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Miss, fail to make contact of the 'slapping' or 'swinging' type. Slap at something, but miss.

bengin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Miss, fail to make contact of the 'thumping' or 'shooting' type. Fire a gun at something, but miss.

nganan

Word Class:

Meaning:

Miss, fail to make contact of the 'kicking' type. Kick at something, but miss.

i

Word Class:

particle

Meaning:

And. This particle functions as a connector of nouns or clauses.

Kurungurr Example:

Peyik nide ngudini wirr, i dani tyerr batybity.

I put them (seeds) into bags, and then I sewed them up.

in'girriyerre

Word Class:

place noun

Meaning:

Back there.

ingga

Wumirri Headword:

yika

Word Class:

interjection

Meaning:

Take it!

ityi

Word Class:

mem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Do what?, do something.

Kurungurr Example:

Wananggal ityi membi?

What did the doctor do to you?

mem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Say what to someone?, say something to someone.

Kurungurr Example:

Wananggal ityi membi?

What did the doctor say to you?

mem

Word Class:

Meaning:

What happened?

Kurungurr Example:

Ityi mem nimbi?

What happened?

mem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Call someone what kinterm?

Kurungurr Example:

Ityi ngiminge?

What kinterm do I call her?

mem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Think what?

Kurungurr Example:

Ityi yim?

What do you think?

Kafamal

Word Class:

placename

Meaning:

Name for the MalakMalak place Ngulukmonet where the 'Coppermine' is situated.

kafit

Word Class:

Meaning:

Cupboard.

kagasyan

Word Class:

adjectival noun

Meaning:

Dependent, helpless, reliant.

Kurungurr Example:

Wurkagasyan deti! Minde gana yerri mengayim, gebi garritada bafun napa ngini yenim kayki.

She's completely helpless! Why doesn't she go and cut bark for ash herself, instead of always asking me.

kagulkagul

Word Class:

Meaning:

'Native grape' vine fruit.

Kurungurr Example:

Midamuy milalirr. Mibiny nimbi wiri tyikmadi. Minde bakuty yusi waty, detyerr nana kanyi tyerrda i demenytyi kanyi menytyisyisyirr.

These seeds are good to eat. They are ripe when they turn black. You shouldn't eat too many of them, they'll make your lips itchy and tickle your throat.

kak

Word Class:

Meaning:

Going, movement, travel.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya murriga menggem kana, mumba kak kana warra!

Hey the car's here, we're going now!

Kurungurr Example:

Ya murriga menygem nyine mumba kak nyine wurrmirri!

kal

Word Class:

menggin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Chase someone.

Kurungurr Example:

Walfaga ningi mengging kal.

He was chased by a buffalo.

kala

Wumirri Headword:

ala

Word Class:

kinterm

Meaning:

Mother.

Kurungurr Example:

Kala ngayi Tawun atypil gibeng nganmadi.

My mother is in Darwin hospital.

kala masyu

Word Class:

kinterm

Meaning:

Mother who is a small child.

kala nayin

Wumirri Headword:

ala nayin

Word Class:

proper noun

Meaning:

Virgin Mary, Our Lady, Mother of Christ.

kala yewirr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Tree species that provides a orange/brown dye.

Kurungurr Example:

Yerrdefirr perikut nide yine purrngpurrng kala filfilngini.

Boil up the roots of this tree in a billy to get an orange dye.

kalabang

Word Class:

Meaning:

Markings or coloured patches on the face, that are distinctive of some turtles and birds.

kalakala

Word Class:

Meaning:

Variegated, mixed colours, as found on clothing fabrics, or butterfly wings, etc.

kalamatyak

Word Class:

Meaning:

Kid's game of 'chasings'.

kalandurruta

Word Class:

placename

kalaninytyininytyi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Bark of a tree that provides a grey/black dye.

Kurungurr Example:

Kalaninytyininytyi yemi garritada i perikut ninggi yine purrngpurrng, yerrgi i merrepen ngini.

You peel kalaninytyininytyi bark from the tree and boil it up in a billy to get dye for sand palm and pandanus fibre.

kalawirang

Word Class:

Meaning:

Kid's game of 'cat 'n mouse'.

kalayi

Wumirri Headword:

alayi

Word Class:

kinterm

Meaning:

Mummy, my mum.

Kurungurr Example:

Kalayi daningngi fimityettit.

My mum taught me to speak it.

kalfanggarr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Raft made from a bamboo frame with paperbark sheets draped over the top.

Kurungurr Example:

Kalfanggarr ngerim wurity.

I've built a raft.

kalifelnguri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Grown up fast, growth spurt.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya, kalifelnguri kinyi wurr!

Hey, this grass has just shot up!

kambafin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Camp oven.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngebi tyul ngini wamanggal kambafin nide.

I'm going to roast this wallaby in the camp oven.

kanawarra

Word Class:

Meaning:

Black wattle.

Kurungurr Example:

Yerrdamuy kuri nide yudi tyurr. Tyanbalarrk wimi tyerr i yeme mepul ngani tyup. Yenggi yubu i bafun yubu yerrtyerrawu yudi mipit.

You wet these seeds, rub them hard, and they lather up like soap. The tree is good for firewood and provides good ash for mixing with tobacco to make kanggalang.

kanbaltyeny

Word Class: