NGAN'GI LANGUAGE

wul muy

Word Class:

coverb + bodypart

dim

Word Class:

Meaning:

Watery-eyed, have your eyes water.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngirim wulmuy mitykuri.

My eyes have gone all watery.

wibem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Watery-eyed, have your eyes water.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngubu dada nimbi wibem didi ngini nayin gumu wibem wulmuy, mitykuru mengem tasat damuy nem nimbi.

If you shoot (a buffalo) he cries, his eyes water just like ours do, tears run out of his eyes.

Wulaya

Word Class:

wulek

Wumirri Headword:

wurek

Word Class:

Meaning:

Bad, broken, sick.

Kurungurr Example:

Kinyi wulek wurru.

This doesn't work.

Kurungurr Example:

Dege wurek ngaganim.

My tummy feels crook.

wulekwulek

Wumirri Headword:

wurekwurek

Word Class:

Meaning:

Alternatives, other options.

Kurungurr Example:

Wulekwulek ngirribem, minde nganganim, kinda ngirim.

I've got other plans, so I'm not going, I'll stay here.

wulgumen

Word Class:

Meaning:

Old woman, the elder women.

wuli

Word Class:

Meaning:

Dry mud.

wulil

Word Class:

wibem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Swim, lie in the water.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngindim wulil nime.

We all swam.

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Delay someone, distract someone from something important.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngayi ninggi warra ngemenyi wulil tye ngini, a wanninnyi pirr.

It was my fault that I delayed you, and they left you behind.

wulmen

Word Class:

Meaning:

Boy, 'little man'. This term is a loanword from English 'old man', used whimsically to address a very young boy.

wumibe

Word Class:

Meaning:

Puppy.

Kurungurr Example:

Wumibe kene nem kinyi?

Who owns this puppy?

wumirr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Boil, infected skin eruption.

wumtyinggilit

Word Class:

Meaning:

Jumper, 'sloppy joe', any kind of long sleeved top.

wuna

Word Class:

Meaning:

Further over there.

Wunbal

Word Class:

wunbi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Quick, fast, hurry.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya, wunbi pagu!

Hey, hurry up!

wundeyerre

Wumirri Headword:

wunendiyerre

Word Class:

Meaning:

Back there.

wung

Word Class:

Meaning:

Homesickness, longing for one's country.

Kurungurr Example:

Karra dede ngiti Lafuganying, gagu asyinme werrem dirrgatit. Wung dede ngiti Lafuganying.

My dear country Lafuganying, with the white cockatoos shrieking in the trees. How I long for my country Lafuganying.

wungilyeng

Word Class:

Meaning:

Small amount of tobacco, just enough to roll one cigarette.

Kurungurr Example:

Minde yewirr, wungilyeng napa nganyi fime ngini.

I haven't got much, I'll just give you enough for a small cigarette.

Kurungurr Example:

Minbe yawurr wungilyeng napa nganyi fime pe.

wuni

Wumirri Headword:

wunu

Word Class:

Meaning:

That.

Kurungurr Example:

Falmi wuni, anemuni ngayi ngannunggu.

That woman over there, she and I are lovers .

Kurungurr Example:

Mipurr wunu kene girribem?

Who is that man standing over there?

wuniyerre

Word Class:

Meaning:

Back there. In the place we were before.

wunninggi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Other side of X.

Kurungurr Example:

Minbe ngatypirr Amungal nimbi wunninggi nganniny du.

We camped at a place the other side of Adelaide River.

wunytyerr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Canegrass.

wunytyerrngini

Word Class:

Meaning:

Small catfish.

wupidirri

Wumirri Headword:

wunganiwurrnimbi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Dingo.

wupun

Word Class:

Meaning:

Spread, smear.

Kurungurr Example:

Lawa kinyi butter ngu ngini ngiwi.

I'll spread butter on this bread here.

wupung garriwaty

Word Class:

Meaning:

Season name: based on riverwater. That time when the creeks start drying up enough to be crossable, anywhere between May and August depending on the place referred to.

Kurungurr Example:

Kuri wupun garriwaty kana.

It's 'drying up time'.

wurapuderri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Teenage girl.

wurbuymenggarri

Word Class:

Meaning:

White woman, Anglo woman.

wurderribatybity

Word Class:

Meaning:

Midwife.

wurfalmi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Woman, female, baby girl.

Kurungurr Example:

Kene wurfalmi wuni?

Who is that woman?

wurgeninggu

Word Class:

Meaning:

Woman whose sibling has died.

wurguniguni

Word Class:

Meaning:

Old woman, old women.

wuri

Word Class:

Meaning:

Daughter's daughter.

wurirr

Word Class:

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Pull something upwards.

Kurungurr Example:

Yenim palak debi werri yaga, yemi ganggi!

Your pants are falling down - pull them up!

wurity

Word Class:

dem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Make something, fix or repair something by working it in your hands.

Kurungurr Example:

Wananggal ninggi dengngi wurity.

The doctor cured me.

webem

Word Class:

Meaning:

Repair something by exerting downwards pressure on it (as in straightening a bent spear).

Kurungurr Example:

Yawul garrityin made ngebem wurity ngiriny tyatma.

I made the bent spear straight.

wuritypi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Show-off, someone who loves themself, someone who preens themself a lot, an 'Elvis'.

Kurungurr Example:

Kene kinyi wawuritypi!

What a showoff!

wurmagurrerri

Wumirri Headword:

wurmanggurrfer

Word Class:

adjectival noun

Meaning:

Woman whose spouse has died (especially recently).

wurminde yedi

Wumirri Headword:

wurminbe mipurr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Woman without a husband.

wurmulurru

Word Class:

Meaning:

Cripple, crippled woman.

Kurungurr Example:

Ngenike ngayi wurmulurru.

My sister is a cripple.

wurmunyngerr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Elderly women.

wurngalanda

Word Class:

Meaning:

Barren woman, woman unable to have children.

wurnganimemi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Good food gatherer, a woman skilled at finding bush tucker.

wurpupuritymuy

Word Class:

Meaning:

Pretty, beautiful, vain.

wurr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Grass (generic term for all species).

wurr amatyi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Grass species.

wurr amimbi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Grass species.

wurr bengim miyerr

Word Class:

Meaning:

Season name: based on the speargrass cycle. That time of year when speargrass seeds, which are fully grown and have turned brown in colour, begin to fall from the seed heads.

wurr bengin derripal

Word Class:

Meaning:

Season name: based on the speargrass cycle. That time of year when all the seeds have fallen from the speargrass seed heads, and the speargrass stalks get knocked flat by winds and rain.

wurr bengin tyerrfal

Word Class:

Meaning:

Season name: based on the speargrass cycle. That time of the year when speargrass seeds begin to shoot.

wurr ferrmi

Word Class:

Meaning:

Bulrush.

wurr galangu

Word Class:

Meaning:

'Long grass', living rough, spending a night out in the bush without a swag.

Kurungurr Example:

Ya, wurrgalanggu yani wapup ngini?

Hey, are you 'living in the long grass' tonight?

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