NGAN'GI LANGUAGE

Meaning:

Term of address for a ngatya 'father' who is an old grey haired man.

ngatya malarra

Wumirri Headword:

ngatya ngulba

Word Class:

Meaning:

Term of address for someone who is your 'father', but who is only a young boy.

ngatya nayin

Wumirri Headword:

atya nayin

Word Class:

proper noun

Meaning:

God, Jesus, Lord.

ngatyayi

Wumirri Headword:

atyayi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Daddy, my dad.

ngatypirr

Word Class:

place noun

Meaning:

Far, distant, a long way.

Kurungurr Example:

Wurnety minbe merrendi gani lali ngatypirr, kinnapandi wiri pe mendi.

The nurse isn't allowed to go too far away from the community, she's got to stay close by.

ngayi

Word Class:

pronoun

Meaning:

I, me (1st person singular).

ngayim

Word Class:

pronoun

Meaning:

She, her (3rd person singular feminine).

ngayimma

Word Class:

Meaning:

General term used to call out to a woman if you don't know her name, or if you don't want to use her name.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya ngayimma!

Hey miss!

ngeguny

Word Class:

interjection

Meaning:

Sucked in!, I win you lose!, teasing refrain implying some advantage over someone else.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngeguny! Nyinyi minde mi, ngayi napa!

Sucked in! You got none - just me!

ngekin

Wumirri Headword:

ngikin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Tobacco, cigarrette.

Kurungurr Example:

Atya, ngikin fi ngumu pe.

Hey daddy, give me a puff of that 'shit'.

ngekin karri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Small intestine.

ngekin masapu

Word Class:

Meaning:

Large intestine.

ngekin ngamama

Word Class:

Meaning:

'Deaf shit'.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya! Ngekin ngamama!

Hey, you deaf shit!

ngekinmuy

Wumirri Headword:

ngikinmuy

Word Class:

Meaning:

Anus.

ngekinpiri

Wumirri Headword:

ngikinpiri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Shit done accidentally, 'skidmarks', leakage from your anus.

ngempurity

Word Class:

disen

Word Class:

Meaning:

Go missing, vanish into thin air.

Kurungurr Example:

Kinyi wityi dini tye, epe wakay diseng ngempurity.

He was here a while ago, but he's gone now.

ngenike

Wumirri Headword:

ngeningge

Word Class:

Meaning:

Sister, mother's sister's daughters, father's brother's daughters.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngenike nyinyi kide pirri.

Where's your sister gone to?

Kurungurr Example:

Ngenike ngayi wuni pirri Tawun gaganim.

My sister's gone on ahead to Darwin.

ngenikeyi

Wumirri Headword:

ngeninggeyi

Word Class:

Meaning:

My sister, my mother's sister's daughters, my father's brother's daughters.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngenikeyi kakpirri gaganim.

My sister's already gone on ahead.

ngerrem pelel CHECK aux and meaning

Word Class:

v

Meaning:

Located the eggs (croc eggs).

ngesengese

Word Class:

sound noun

Meaning:

Noise made by young animals (like cats or dogs) needing to be fed.

Kurungurr Example:

Wumibe ngesengese mem wayim minyirr.

The puppies are crying to be fed, they're thirsty.

ngete

Wumirri Headword:

syinbirr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Ground oven cooking using heated antbed.

ngga

Wumirri Headword:

yika

Word Class:

interjection

Meaning:

Take it!

ngidi muy

Word Class:

coverb + bodypart

wudupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Transfer things from one place to another, put things back where they were before, pour liquid back and forth (to cool it).

ngidiket

Word Class:

wudupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Beat someone to something, get there first.

Kurungurr Example:

Wirrim wuni wurrupungngi ngidiket.

That mob there, they beat me to it.

wudupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Wear someone down, overcome someone's resistance by being persistant.

Kurungurr Example:

Wurrupungngi ngidiket wurru.

They just wore me down.

ngili

Word Class:

wayim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Overcook meat, burn something (where the fire does the burning).

Kurungurr Example:

Gagu waying ngili kana.

The meat's burnt.

dinem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Overcook meat, burn something (where a person does the burning).

dinem

Word Class:

Meaning:

'Smoke' a newborn baby, expose newborn babies' bodies to smoke.

ngilmil

Word Class:

Meaning:

Semen.

ngilmil tyawuku

Word Class:

Meaning:

Kangaroo semen.

ngilmil wabuymem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Ghost semen.

ngini

Word Class:

bodypart as coverb

dangim

Word Class:

impersonal verb

Meaning:

Feel uncomfortable, feel 'out of place'.

Kurungurr Example:

Dangingngi ngini.

I felt out of place (like I wanted to be somewhere else).

bengin

Word Class:

Meaning:

Cluster around something (eg. of bees around a flower, or flies around meat).

Kurungurr Example:

Ya amu werrbengngi ngini!

Hey, these flies are hovering around me!

dinyinggin

Word Class:

Meaning:

See someone's body.

ngini baty

Word Class:

bodypart + coverb

wibem

Word Class:

verb intr

Meaning:

Feel a physical sensation, feel some sensation inside your body.

Kurungurr Example:

Wananggal: Yibe nginibaty?
Tyikpela: Yu, ngibem nginibaty.

Doctor: Can you feel that?
Patient: Yes, I can feel it.

ngini pup

Word Class:

coverb + bodypart

dinyinggin

Word Class:

impersonal verb

Meaning:

Become aware of something external as a physical sensation. Feel your body alert you to something unseen.

Kurungurr Example:

Dengini dinyingginngi nginipup.

My body alerted me to it.

nginifiny

Word Class:

Meaning:

True, truth, straight, right, properly.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngan'gi nginifiny yumumngiti?

Are you telling me the truth?

nginimem

Word Class:

particle

Meaning:

Already, still.

Kurungurr Example:

Ninggi detyengi dam fisul, epe nginimem bulbulfi.

Even though the sun's only just up, it's already hot.

Kurungurr Example:

Gagu ambirrendi ngudum bul, epe nginimem lirrmem nyine.

I've just cooked the meat, but it's already cooled off.

ngirkik

Word Class:

dim

Word Class:

verb intr

Meaning:

Breathe, pant.

ngirkngirk

Word Class:

Meaning:

Panting, 'shortwind', breathlessness.

ngirrgifiriny

Word Class:

Meaning:

Creek.

ngirri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Sugercane grass.

ngirritngirrit

Word Class:

sound noun

Meaning:

The sound of grinding (teeth).

ngirrk

Kurungurr Reduplication:

ngirrkngirrk

Word Class:

dim

Word Class:

verb intr

Meaning:

Growl, make a growling sound.

Kurungurr Example:

Wuwu dingngirr ngirrk.

This dog growled at us.

ngirrkngirrk

Word Class:

sound noun

Meaning:

Growling sound of a dog.

ngirrngirrmuy

Word Class:

adjectival noun

Meaning:

Sleepy-head, someone who's always sleeping.

ngirrwat

Word Class:

Meaning:

Namesake; a person sharing the same
name as someone else.

Kurungurr Example:

Nem wuni ngirrwat ngayi yenim, minde nana nganninggi tyerrakul.

That man over there is my namesake, we can't talk to each other.

ngityirr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Ground, dirt, earth.

Kurungurr Example:

Yimi bawa ngityirr nana kiwi lalirr.

Pick up that child, or he might eat dirt.

ngityirr abarri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Bog, soft swampy ground.

ngityirr derribi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Gravel.

ngityirr filfilngini

Word Class:

Meaning:

Red soil.

ngityirr firirri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Hollow under the ground (eg. where crocodiles built nests in riverbanks).

ngityirr kun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Substitute name for a recently deceased person.

ngityirr tyikmempi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Black soil.

ngityirr yin'gini

Word Class: