Lesson 2 – Practical Words and Sentences
Below are some words and sentences to help get you started speaking Lower Arrernte. Each section starts with a list of basic words for you to learn. Try saying them aloud. Below these, are examples of the words in sentences. Try comparing how the words look in the list to how they look in the sentences. Do some of them change? See if you can pick out as many words as possible in the sentences. All languages have words that change from the basic forms listed in a dictionary, and Lower Arrernte is the same. For now, try to say as much Lower Arrernte aloud as you can.
Greetings
There aren’t very many traditional greetings recorded for Lower Arrernte, but you might like to ask one of the following questions:
If you were asking someone if they’re good, you might say Unte alyerre? Unte means you and alyerre means good.
If you were asking someone if they’re ok, you might say Unte kele? Unte means you and kele means ok.
If you were asking someone where they are going, you might say thewerle lheme? thewerle means where and lheme means going.
If you were asking someone what are you hurrying for, you might say ilek athekirremay? ilek means what and athekirremay means hurying.
Coming and Going
If you were telling someone you’re going, you might say yenge lhemaw! Yenge means I’m and ilemaw means going.
If you were telling someone that you came to their country, you would say Unteke merekarle yenge petyeke, Unteke means your, mer- means country, -ekarle means to, yenge means I and petyeke means came.
If you wanted to tell someone you had just got back from the shop you could say Yenge shop-ekarle petyalpeke. Yenge means I, shop means shop, yenge means I, -ekarle means to and petyalpeke means come back.
If you wanted to tell someone you came to get some language, you could say yenge petyeke ngketye inenyele. Yenge means I, petyeke means came, inenyele means to get and ngketye means language.
Talking and Singing
If you wanted to tell someone you are talking in Arrernte, you could say yenge Arrernte ngkeme. Yenge means I, Arrernte means Arrernte and nkeme means talking.
If you wanted to tell someone you are telling them something in Arrernte, you could say yenge Arrerntenge arntileme untenhe. Yenge means I, Arrerntenge means in Arrernte, arntileme means am telling and untenhe means you.
If you wanted to ask someone what they are saying, you could say Ikngake ngkeme?. Ikngake means what and ngkeme means saying.
If you wanted to ask what someone is laughing for, you could say Ilekeke anthirrpeme. Ilekeke means what and anthirrpeme means laughing.
If you wanted to say that Arrernte is a good language, you could say Arrernte ngketye ikerne. Arrernte means Arrernte, ngketye means language and ikerne means good.
If you wanted to ask someone to get someone else’s attention you could say Arelhe nhake arlkay!. Arelhe nhake means that person and arlkay means sing out!
Food, Eating and Drinking
If you wanted to tell someone that you’re hungry, you can say yenge unernke. Yenge means I and unernke means am hungry.
If you wanted to tell someone that you’re thirsty, you can say yenge ankethele utnheme. Yenge means I and ankethele utnheme means am thirsty.
If you wanted to tell someone that you’re eating food, you can say Athe merne urlkeme. Anthe means I, merne means food and urlkeme means am eating.
If you wanted to say that you’re drinking water, you can say Athe kwatye untyeme. Anthe means I, kwatye means water and untyeme means am drinking.
If you wanted to tell someone to bring you some water, you might say Yengenhe kwatye nthay! Yengenhe means me, kwatye means water and nthay means bring.
If you wanted to tell someone to go and get meat, you could say kere inenyele lhay! Kere means meat, inenyele means get and lhay means go.
If you wanted to say give me that food so I can eat it! You could say Yengenhe merne alenhe nthay, yenge urlkenyele! Yengenhe means me, merne alenhe means that food, yenge means I, nthay means give and urlkenyele means eat it.
If you were telling someone you were going home to drink some water, you might want to say Yenge alpeme kwatye untyenyele. Yenge means I, alpeme means going home, kwatye means water and untyenyele means to drink.