Wiradjuri (; many other spellings, see
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...
) is a
Pama–Nyungan language of the
Wiradhuric subgroup. It is the traditional language of the
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...
people of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. A progressive revival is underway, with the language being taught in schools. Wiraiari and Jeithi may have been dialects.
Reclamation
The Wiradjuri language is taught in primary schools, secondary schools and at
TAFE
Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
in the towns of
Parkes and
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
& Condobolin. Northern Wiradjuri schools such as Peak Hill, Dubbo (several schools), Narromine, Wellington, Gilgandra, Trangie, Geurie are taught Wiradjuri by AECG Language & Culture Educators. All lessons include both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. As of 2017 the language is also being taught in
Young, where it has been observed as 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 Dr Stan Grant Senior and academic Dr
John Rudder
John Rudder, PhD, has studied the Australian Aboriginal languages, of Arnhem Land ( Gupapuyngu) in the Northern Territory and the state of New South Wales (Wiradjuri), Australia.
Work
In 1964, Rudder went to Arnhem Land as a teacher, and later ...
. 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
Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...
to the
New South Wales Parliament. A mobile app based on the book is also available fo
iOSAndroidand
web basedversion. A ''Grammar of Wiradjuri language'' was published in 2014.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
The phonemes /ə/ and /aː/ tend to be considered as belonging to the same pair (refer to the orthography table below).
Orthography
Consonants
Vowels
Sample vocabulary
"Wagga Wagga"
The Aboriginal inhabitants of the
Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...
region were the Wiradjuri people and the term and derivatives of that word in the Wiradjuri language are thought to mean 'crow'. To create the plural,
reduplication
In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change.
The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwa ...
is done, thus ''Wagga Wagga'' translates to 'the place of many crows'. It is also argued by some that the name means 'dances and celebrations', and others suggest the name means 'reeling like a drunken man'.
''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
Wellington is a city in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the local government area of Dubbo Regional Council. The city is northwest o ...
by local Wiradjuri people about a missionary there.
Animals
Family
Numbers
Anatomy
Verbs
Other
Phrases
Introductions
Greetings
Love
Influence on English
The following
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
words come from Wiradjuri:
* ''
kookaburra'', a species of kingfisher
* ''
quandong'', a species of tree
* ''
quarrion
The cockatiel (; ''Nymphicus hollandicus''), also known as weiro (also spelt weero), or quarrion, is a medium-sized parrot that is a member of its own branch of the cockatoo family endemic to Australia. They are prized as household pets and c ...
'' (or ''quarrien''), another name for the cockatiel
['']Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the titl ...
'', p 1,452
Notes and references
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
A New Wiradjuri dictionary
Wiradjuri language, alphabet and pronunciationMaterials for learning WiradjuriPeter Andren MP with material on the Wiradjuri
*
Learn Wiradjuri at TAFE
{{Pama–Nyungan languages, East
Wiradhuric languages
Critically endangered languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales