Lesson 8 – Family and People

In this lesson we will learn some words for talking about your lakinyeri (family members). We will also learn words in Tanganekald ruminyeri (Tanganekald language) to talk about people in general.

Family terms

There are more terms for family members in Tanganekald than in English. In this lesson, we will just scratch the surface of this very complex kinship system.

Here are the terms for parents, grandparents and siblings. Make sure you pay attention to which side of the family you are talking about, for example if the relative is on your mothers side there is another mitji ‘name’ for that relative compared to your father’s side!

lakinyeri

family

nangar

mother

matjurunu

father

pakanu

grandmother (mother's mother)

mutha

grandfather (mother's father)

mutabal

grandmother (father's mother)

mayanawi

grandfather (father's father)

tarti

younger brother/sister

kilawi

older brother

maranu

older sister

Here are the terms for aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews.

nangar

auntie (mother's sister)

ngambanowi

auntie (father's sister)

ngoponowi

uncle (father's brother)

nangari

niece (sister's daughter), nephew (sister's son)

ngowali

niece (brother's daughter)

ngop

nephew (brother's son)

Here are some sentences using these family terms.

Yari ngomanyi maranu mitji?

What is your older sister's name?

Ananyi maranu mitji Jane.

My older sister's name is Jane.

Minyai tarti ngenta?

How many younger siblings do you have?

Ngenepal tartar.

Three younger siblings.

Ngomanyi matjurunu yuluki-ru.

Your dad is very tall.

Ananyi lakinyeri katjeri.

My family is beautiful.

Ngawirri, kinanyi ngoponowi luk korrpi.

The boy and his uncle have similar noses.

yari means ‘what’, ngomanyi means ‘your’, maranu means ‘older sister’, mitji means ‘name’, ananyi means ‘my’, minyai means ‘how many’, tarti means ‘younger sibling’, tartar means ‘three or more younger siblings’, ngenta means ‘you’, ngenepal means ‘three’, ngomanyi means ‘your’, matjurunu means ‘father’, yuluki means ‘tall’ and the ending -ru means ‘very’, lakinyeri means ‘family’, katjeri means ‘beautiful’, ngawirri means ‘boy’, kinanyi means ‘his’, ngoponowi means ‘uncle’, luk means ‘similar’ and korrpi means ‘nose’.

People words

Here are some words you can use when talking about people more generally.

wulu-meimini

old woman

meimini

woman

weyatuki

young woman

nganayeri

girl

yandi-orn

old man

nandurri

man

biti-manarrki

young man (whiskers are just starting to appear)

ngawirri

boy

porli

child

tjininyeri

baby (up to about 5 months old)

Here are some words for referring to groups of people.

meiminu

women (two)

meiminar

women (more than two)

nandurru

men (two)

nandurra

men (more than two)

porlu

children (two)

porlar

children (more than two)

the -i ending means ‘one’ so meimini means ‘one woman’, the -u ending means ‘two’ so meiminu means ‘two women’ and the -ar ending means ‘more than two’ so meiminar means ‘more than two women’.

You can add these endings to any of the people words that we’ve learned in this lesson.

Here are some sentences using these people words.

Meiminar-il karatparaki lakun.

The women are weaving baskets.

Nawi porli orni?

Whose child is that?

Orni ananyi porli.

That is my child.

Ngapa Tanganekald weyatuki.

I am a young Tanganekald woman.

Yari yandi-orn mitji?

What is that old man's name?

meiminar means ‘women’, the ending -il shows the women are doing the weaving, karatparaki means ‘basket (general term)’, lakun means ‘weaving’, nawi means ‘whose’, porli means ‘child’, orni means ‘that’, ananyi means ‘my’, ngapa means ‘I’, weyatuki means ‘young woman’, yari means ‘what’, yandi-orn means ‘old man’ and mitji means ‘name’.