Lesson 3 – Family
The words in this section for family relations were recorded in the 1960s and reflect the traditionally-used terms within Nukunu families. Enough words were recorded to give a snapshot of the kinship system. In this lesson we will learn these kin terms and other words that refer to people. Practice sentences are at the bottom of the page.
Two generations above you
First up, let’s look at those family members who are two generations above you, your grandparents on both sides of your family.
One generation above you
Let’s look at those one generation above you, these will be your parents and your aunties and uncles.
Same generation as you
Let’s take a look at those in the same generation as you. These will be your brothers and sisters. You may also refer to your cousins with the same terms.
One generation below you
Those who are a generation below you are your children. There aren’t specific words for son/daughter, but instead you would say ngatyu kunga my boy and ngatyu mankarra my girl. You can also say ngatyu kungapa my child when talking about your own children. Ngatyu means my.
Birth-order names
The use of birth-order names was a feature of traditional life for Nukunu and closely related groups such as Adnyamathanha, Barngarla and Ngadjuri. While the system was common to these languages and societies, the individual names vary among the groups.
Other family and people terms
Talking about family and people
Let’s look at a few sentences you might use while talking about your family or people in general.
One of the first Nukunu sentences you might say is Ngayi Nukunu thuṛa this means I’m a Nukunu man. Ngayi means I and thuṛa means man.
Likewise, you might say Ngayi Nukunu paarla which means I’m a Nukunu woman. Ngayi means I and paarla means woman.
You might want to ask Nhungku ngami ngana? which means Who is your mother? Nhungku means your, ngami means mother and ngana means who.
The answer to this might be Ngatyu ngami Beth. Ngatyu means my and ngami means mother.
Similarly, you might ask someone what their grandmother’s name is, you could ask Mangarti mityi wanhanga? Mangarti means grandmother, mityi means name and wanhanga means how. This sentence literally translates to how is your grandmother named?
Your answer to this might be something like Patnha mityi Parti. This translates to she is called Parti. Patnha means she, mityi means name and Parti is her name.
Let’s take a look at a few sentences that describe what people are doing or how they look.
If someone has a tall husband you might want to say Patnhu ngupa waraku. Patnhu means her/his/it’s, ngupa means husband and waraku means long/tall.
You could say nhungku kungunya milkapa which means your baby is small. Nhungku means your, kungunya means baby and milkapa means small.
Let’s say your sister is lying down and having a sleep, you might tell someone Ngatyu yaka miya wantatya. Ngatyu means my, yaka means older sister and miya wantatya means lying down and sleeping.
Maybe there is an old man fetching some water and you say purlkaṛi mangkutya kawi. Purlkaṛi means old man, mangkutya means fetching and kawi means water.
If there is a big mob of people where you are, you might want to say patnhi marnarta thuṛa. Patnhi means he/she/it, marnarta means a crowd/mob/many and thuṛa means people/Aboriginal people.
If you’re pointing to your friend, you could say Patnha ngatyu thuṛa. Patnha means he/she/it, ngatyu means my and thuṛa means man.
NOTE: when a woman says ngatyu thuṛa which translates to my man this is referring to her partner. If however she says ngatyu paarla which translates to my woman she is referring to her friend. This is also the same for a man referring to a man (being his friend) and a woman (being his partner).