Lesson 5 – Language at home

Let’s look at some useful Yankunytjatjara words and sentences that get used commonly around the home and the camp.

Using language around the home and amongst everyday life is a great way to move your language skills from the learning phase to the practicing stage. The use of language in the home and the camp will help build confidence in your ability to use language with common day to day speaking.

Here are some words to learn for around the home and camp:

IN THE MORNING

 

To get someone out of bed you might say something :

Yankunytjatjara
English
Pakala.
Get up.

If you wanted to get someone up a bit more quickly you might say:

Mapalku pakala.
Get up quickly.

 Mapalku means quickly or immediately, and pakala means get up.


You might even direct it at a specific member of your family. 

Katja mapalku pakala.
Get up quickly son.

Katja means sonmapalku means quickly or immediately and pakala means get up.


Let’s get some other family members up for school quickly.

Kuṯa mapalku pakala.
Get up quickly older brother.
Kangkuṟu mapalku pakala.
Get up quickly sister.

Kuṯa means older brother, Kangkuṟu means older sistermapalku means quickly or immediately and pakala means get up.

Ngayuku walytja mapalku pakala.
Get up quickly family.

Ngayuku means mywalytja means familymapalku means quickly or immediately and pakala means get up..


Now let’s focus a little more around the camp then the home.

Maybe you want to ask someone to chop some firewood, you might say: 

Nyuntu waṟu mara?
Can you get some firewood?

Nyuntu means you, waṟu means firewood and mara means to get.


Once you collect the firewood you might tell someone to light a fire. You could say: 

Waṟu kalala! Kapi pala ngalya-yananyi!
Light the fire! That rain is coming!

Waṟu means firekalala means light itkapi means water/rainpala means that and ngalya-yananyi means coming.


You might want to tell your family you are hungry. You might say: 

Ngayulu anymatjara, ka nyuntu?
I'm hungry, and you?

Ngayulu means I’manymatjara means hungry, ka means and, and nyuntu means you.


If you’re hungry you could say: 

Ngali maḻu wipu ngalkuṉi.
We two are eating kangaroo tail.

Ngali means us twomaḻu wipu means kangaroo tail and ngalkuṉi means eat.


After you’ve eaten some food you might ask someone to tell a story. You could say: 

Tjitji tjuṯakutu wapar watjala.
Tell the children an ancestral story.

Tjitji means children tjuṯakutu means to them,  wapar means ancestral story and watjala means tell it.


While sitting around the fire the smoke might be getting in your eyes. You might say Waṟungku puyutjunanyi. Waṟungku means the fire and puyutjunanyi means smoking me out. -ngku marks the subject of the sentence.

Waṟungku puyutjunanyi.
The fire is smoking me out.


As it gets later, it might be time for everyone to go to sleep. You might say: 

Ngayulu mantangka ngarinyi.
I'm lying down on the ground.

Ngayulu means Imanta means ground, the ending -ngka means at and ngarinyi means lying down.


Pointing at your Dad you might say:

Mamanya anku ngarinyi.
Dad is sleeping.

Mamanya means Dadanku means sleeping and ngarinyi means lying down.


Let’s recap the different words we’ve learnt.

pakala
get up
mapalku
quickly
walytja
family
tjiḻpi
old man
kangkuṟu
sister
ngura
camp
waṟu
firewood, fire
aṯuṉi
chop
kaḻala
light it
kapi
water/rain
pala
that
ngalya yananyi
coming
anymatjara
hungry
ngali
us two
maḻu wipu
kangaroo tail
ngalkuṉi
eat
tjitji tjuṯa
children
wapar
ancestral story
watjala
tell
puyu
smoke
kaḻpanyi
climb
ngayuku
my/mine
kuṟu
eyes
anku
asleep
palatja
that one
ngarinyi
lying down
manta
ground
ngayulu
I

That’s it for the first five lessons of Yankunytjatjara. We’ll be adding more over the next few months to help keep the learning going. Remember to keep going back over the material we’ve covered in the first five lessons to keep words and sentences fresh in your memory.

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