Lesson 10 – Language on Country (Animals)
There are many animals and insects living on Arabana country. This lesson has words and sentences for animals, snakes, reptiles, birds, fish and insects.
Check out these videos related to animals once you have finished this lesson:
Animals
Example sentences :
kungarra means kangaroo, puntyu means meat, ngurku means good and tharni– means eat
warrukathi means emu, kardi means seeds, tharni– means eat and yulku means usually
madla-yapa means dingo, wangali-nga means in the early morning and thudnhi– means howl
Reptiles
Example sentences:
kurkaṟi means king brown snake, yarirda means poison and the ending –purru means have
yurlkungangku means red bellied black snake, the ending –aku means of and thadlara-wanta means frightened
wadnangkani means carpet python and padniki means finished
maltyaki means don’t and nhanhi– means see
NOTE: The carpet python is no longer seen on Arabana country, but they do live in other areas of Australia in reduced numbers.
kapirri means goanna, paru-paru means yellow, malka means marks and the ending –purru means have
pirinthi means perentie, the ending –nga means at, yadla means near, athu means I (erg.) and nhanhi– means see
kalta means shingleback lizard, nyilka-nyilka means slowly and yuka– means go
kadni means frill-necked lizard, padlyi means wide, flat, the ending –nga means in and thangka– means being, existing
Birds
NOTE: the two kingfisher names parraka-thakali and parraka-ngarrili have really interesting meanings behind them. thaka– means ‘hit’ and refers to how the sacred kingfisher pecks out a nest for itself in the cliffs. ngarri- means ‘fly’ and refers to how the red-backed kingfisher is more often seen flying around over the flats rather than on the cliffs.
Example sentences:
kataṟangka means corella, irtya means noise and the ending –nhuka means a lot of
karraṟawaṟa means eagle, ararda means high, the ending –warra means direction and ngarri– means fly
thuwi-thuwi means seagull, tyalpa means food, anthunha means my and widnhi– means steal
Insects and Fish
Example sentences:
nguṟi-nguṟi means fly, nhuka means many, the ending –nga means in, maṟutya means summer
kapirri means goanna, thipa-thipa means insects and tharni– means eat