<translate> He saw the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree here.


<lexeme> want something but can't get it


<translate> Speak properly — I'm learning.


<translate> High in the dark sky the bright stars shine over the far blue mountains at night.

Jiri wujurr-ba wangkar-a dawar balbal bunda-l, manjal kalbay kudamundu.


<translate> The firewood lay on the ground.


<translate> I see the ironwood tree here.


<translate> You and I see the shellfish here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the sugar glider here.


<translate> The little children must never go near the big fire or touch the hot red coals.

Karrkay-karrkay-angka baya yalbay ngundu kari dunga-y, baya wumbul kari karrba-l.


<translate> The child did not open the bag.


<glossary> manu ; type=noun ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> You buy only sugar, no lollies

Yundu manu sugar buyim-bunga, lolly kari


<translate> You two see the king parrot here.


<glossary> nyarrmal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Snatch it quickly from his hand


<translate> You two see the black snake here.


<translate> We (not you) are the seaside people; you all are the scrub people.

Nganjin jalun-ji-warra; yurra maja-ji-warra.


<translate> You and I see the reef here.


<translate> The old man chose a big straight tree near the river to carve a new canoe.

Mukulungku dingkarangka juku yalbay manin wawubaja ngundu, marrakan jirakal yakanka.


<translate> That young man looks just like his father, tall and strong.

Yinya warru yala walu nyungu nganjan, kalbay junkurr.


<translate> I speared two fish and my elder brother caught three little crabs beside the reef.

Ngayu kuyu jambul daman, yaba-ngka minya kulur buban dulngku-ngu karrban.


<translate> Quiet anger is fishing with no hook: you sit by the water a long time and catch nothing.

Kuli wunbu nyulu kuyu-mani badur-kari: yundu bundal banaba kalbayku, yamba-kari manil.


<translate> The two of them see the running water there.


<translate> I will go fishing at dawn to get fish for my children.

Ngayu wunkuwingku wawubaja-ka dunga-y, kuyu mani-nka ngayku karrkay-nka.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the binju snake there.


<translate> The old woman sang softly to herself as she wove the strong dilly bag from the green lawyer cane.

Mukul-jalbu wulngku badi janka nyungu-nka, nyulu ngunyin junkurr bungal kaku birra-muny.


<translate> They see the jawurraji ant bed there.


<translate> They saw the jungka wild cherry tree there.


<translate> This is your older brother, yaba, who walks before you and clears the path; and this your younger brother, yabaju, who walks behind and for whom you must clear the path in turn.

Yinya yundu yaba, nyulu yundu ngundu jilbay jina yukil-manil; yinya yundu yabaju, nyulu kudamundu jilbay, yundu nyungunka jina yukil-manil baja.


<translate> With his sharp eyes the hunter saw the kangaroo far off in the scrub.

Balbi-bamangka miyil dandi-bu mayarriji nyajin madja kalbay-mba.


<glossary> kala-jalamal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> He jumped over (the mud) on the rocks


<glossary> nulu ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> She cooked damper in the ashes


<translate> The woman sees the loya cane there.


<translate> We two, not you, see the frill necked lizard there.


<translate> The seeds were ground into flour and made into little cakes cooked in the ashes, sweet and filling.

Diburr kuljibu nyurrban bulawu, mayi buban ngaran, nulungu wajun, jiba-wulay, jibar mumbanka.


<translate> They saw the black scrub goanna.


<translate> The two of them saw the flames here.


<translate> Grandmother went to the scrub with the baby.


<glossary> babarr ; type=noun ; domain=kinship <usage_example> The younger brothers went to their older sister for food


<translate> All people are the same deep inside, the old woman taught, though their faces are all different.

Bama wubulku yala dukurr-ba, mukul-jalbu-ngka milban, yamba jana walu wubulku walu-yindu.


<translate> That witchetty grub is there.


<translate> Are you coming with the hunters, or staying with the old people?

Yundu kaday balbi-bamanji yambada janay bama mukulanji?


<translate> The old man said before you follow anyone you should ask where are they leading and why, for a people that follows without questioning is a people that can be led anywhere, even off a cliff, and he taught the young that the duty to ask where are we going and is this right does not weaken a group but strengthens it, since a leader worth following welcomes the question and only a false one fears it.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan yundu bama nyubun wukurri ngadiku yundu babaji wanjabu jana jilbaman wanyurrinku, bama nyulu wukurril babaji-kari nyulu bama wanjabu jilbamanmuny, jina-jalkar-mundu baja, nyulu warru milbin ngadiku babajinka wanjabu ngana dungay yinya yukil nyulu kari bama-wubul buban-manil yambada junkurr-manil, kuku-bama yukil wukurrilmuny nyulu kuku yulmbarrilbu manil nganga bama kuku-kari nyulu yinil.


<translate> The two of them see the mayfly there.


<lexeme> {'english': 'That food is very good', 'translation': 'Yinya mayi ngulkurr bajaku'}


<translate> Grandmother dropped the stick on the child's back.

Babi-ngka juku daray-manin karrkay-anda muku-ngu.


<translate> I see the kurubarr mangrove there.


<translate> The people of Wujal Wujal are the river people, and the people of the sea live down by the coast.

Wujalwujal-warra bama wawubaja-mu, yamba jalun-warra bama bada jalun ngundu wunay.


<translate> The two found fish at the river.


<translate> The girls practiced folding the bark into water carriers.


<glossary> marra-warril ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The man was angry and throwing things around


<glossary> dalbarril ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the man scolded (him), (then left)


<translate> He saw the jimalili lizard here.


<translate> One boy asked the old man: Why does the scrub turkey build such a great mound, when the other birds are happy with a small nest in a tree?

Nyubun karrkayangka mukul dingkar babajin: Wanyurringku jarruka bubu yalbay ngaral, buyi yindu buban jukungu ngulkurr bundanay?


<glossary> wurril ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> Don't sit on the edge of the boat, sit right

Yundu wurril kari bunday boatbu. Junkayku bunday.


<translate> The young men watched and learned.


<translate> The two of them see the red bream there.


<translate> The hook is small but the fish is big — hold on!

Badur buban yambada kuyu yalbay, karrba dandi!


<translate> The man got tangled in the fishing line.


<glossary> walu karimal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=quantity-number <usage_example> There aren't many crocodiles any more

Nyiku-nyiku bilngkumu walu karimanijinkuda


<translate> The two of them saw the muya bird here.


<translate> The crescent perch is there.


<translate> My big brother made a boomerang.


<translate> The old woman set the fish-net across the narrow creek-mouth at high tide, and by low tide it was heavy with catfish and garfish.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku makarr kaja wawubaja ngandal buban-ba balar-a, ngajal-ba nyulu kulngkul julaji kalu-jirr.


<translate> In the cold season an old man of the camp fell sick and weak, and he could not get up, or eat, or keep himself warm.

Bulurijinga bayanmu mukul dingkar bambaymanda junkurr-kari, nyulu murruji wandil, nukal, nyulu-nyulu wumbuljinka.


<translate> You all saw the bamboo spear stick there.


<translate> You and I see the mukukanka tree here.


<translate> You all saw the banamu snake here.


<translate> The grub that lives in the big ant bed is good to eat when it is roasted on the fire.

Jambun jawurraji-ba wuna-l, mayi ngulkurr baya-nga wajun-nya.


<translate> The child asked elder brother about food.


<translate> You all saw the bajalji python there.


<translate> The fish are jumping in the river this morning.

Wunkuwingku kuyu-kuyu jalamal wawubajanga.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the spring here.


<translate> The children learned that the words 'more' and 'less' and 'bigger' and 'smaller' meant nothing on their own, but only ever in comparing one thing to another.

Karrkay-karrkayangka binalman kuku 'wubul-baja', 'buban-baja', 'yalbay-baja', 'buban-baja' nganga yamba-kari, yambada nyubun yamba yindumuny milbinya nganga.


<translate> You all saw the dijarr freshwater perch here.


<translate> They see the outrigger canoe there.


<lexeme> {'english': 'That food is very good', 'translation': 'Yinya mayi ngulkurr bajaku'}


<translate> You see the butcherbird here.


<translate> The turtle laid its eggs in the warm sand above the high-tide mark at night.

Yalnga diburr wunan jukar wumbul-a, balar wangkar-a wujurr-ba.


<translate> They saw the jabarrangkul ant there.


<translate> They two see the spear barb here.


<translate> I saw the jiwurrmal pheasant cuckoo there.


<translate> The father's sister came from the far camp carrying gifts of food for her brother's newborn baby, the old woman said, in the old way of kin.

Bimakay bayan kala-kalbay-muny kaday mayi daji-nka nyungu yaba-mu karrkay jirakal-nka, mukul-jalbu balkan, yalaku kalbay-muny-mu.


<translate> We all, not you, see the grass wallaby there.


<translate> The child sees the wild plum.


<translate> The camp is hot in the afternoon.


<translate> That azure kingfisher is there.


<glossary> jarmbil ; type=noun ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> The flood washed the tree away


<glossary> kala-balal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> Try out the log (to see if it will hold you)


<translate> We see the karraway snail here.


<glossary> nganya-burra ; type=adjective ; domain=ceremony-magic-song <usage_example> That man is on trial


<translate> You and I saw the birukay egg yolk here.


<glossary> majin ; type=adjective ; domain=texture <usage_example> Your hair is too oily


<glossary> warngku ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> Three days ago I left


<translate> The old man said you should never mock any creature, not the ugly grub or the biting fly or the slow blue-tongue, for each one has survived in the country far longer than any person's family line, and each holds a piece of knowledge about how to live here, and the person who watches humbly and learns from even the smallest is the one who grows truly wise.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan yundu kariku minya nyubun bikirr-manil, kari jambun mumbu kari waja-baykal kari bajabaja bada, minya nyubun wubulku wula-manin bubungu kala-kalbay-baja bama nyubun nyungu jawun-karra-jinamuny, minya nyubun karrbal buban binal yala wunayka yinya, bama nyulu janka-wawu-yukilbu nyajil binalman minya buban-buban baja nyulu nyubun binal yukil bajaku janay.


<translate> You two saw the wakuka bird there.


<translate> The two of them see the spring there.


<translate> I see the straw-necked ibis here.


<translate> The two of them saw the karrandal tree there.


<translate> They saw the bujabay tree there.


<translate> The boy stood over the wallaby, half proud and half sad, and did not know what he felt.

Karrkay darrba wuyar janan, wawu-mini baja walu-jirrbu baja, kari binal wanya nyulu wawu.


<glossary> nganku ; type=adjective ; domain=manner <usage_example> He went too quickly, I didn't finish my letter

Nyulu ngankuku dungan ngayu letter kariku kunbay-manin


<translate> We saw the kandal maggot here.


<translate> You all saw the jiwurrmal pheasant cuckoo there.


<translate> They saw the casuarina pine here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the bush fire here.


<translate> After the meal, grandmother stays at the camp.

Wawu-mayi-muny, babi bayan-ba bundanday.


<translate> Grandmother gave liver to the child.


<translate> We're going for food — we're hungry.


<translate> The tree stump is there on the ground.


<translate> The two of them see the humpy here.


<translate> You see the kaya-kaya dogs here.


<translate> You two see the ghost crab here.


<translate> The child saw the blue-tongue lizard on the ground.


<translate> We two, not you, see the jirimandi coconut tree there.


<lexeme> First bay south of Bloomfield River along coast


<translate> The two of them see the bandicoot here.


<translate> The young men built a new shelter on the high ground, and the old people sat in the shade and told them where the strong wood stands.

Warru-warrungku bayan jirakal ngaran wangkar bubungu, kamba-kamba wabarrba bundandan, jananda balkan juku junkurr wanjabu janay.


<glossary> nulngkun ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> That girl has big breasts


<glossary> nguwimal ; type=adverb ; domain=perception <usage_example> I saw him appear, a long ways off

Ngayu nyungun nguwimal nyajin, kala-kalbayku


<translate> The old woman said: Give without remembering, receive without forgetting — this is the whole art of exchange between people, and a person who masters it will never be poor, for they will always be owed more love than they can ever spend.

Wulbumanangka balkan: Daji kari binalku, mani kari milka-wula, yinya daji-waymu kuku wubulku bama nyubun-nyubunji, bama nyulu yinya kujil kari mumbu janay yabarrka, jana yabarrka nyungu wawu jirray wubul-baja nyulu wundilmuny.


<translate> Granny laughed and lifted the baby up high.


<translate> Grandad is happy — his grandchildren came to visit.


<translate> That old horse sleeps standing up under the big shady tree by the creek.

Yinya yarraman ngadiku janjana-nya warngku-wunay juku wabarr-ba wawubaja karangkal.


<translate> The young man did not come back to the camp last night, and his mother cried in the cold dark.

Warru bayan-ka kari nyunban wujurr-muny, nyungu ngamu badi ngiki ngungul-ba.


<translate> The little ones found new shells.


<translate> The old woman said that feelings, like animals, all had names, and a child who could name what they felt already held it well.

Wulbumanangka balkan: wawu, yala minya, wubulku burri-ji, karrkay nyulu nyungu wawu kunjal binalmal, nyulu yinya wawu ngulkurr karrbal.


<glossary> damal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> I made the dress


<translate> We two, not you, see the sugar glider here.


<glossary> wawu yungal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> Hank is wishing for a new outboard motor

Hankangka wawu yungal-yungal motorka jirakalka


<translate> What did you bring the fire-stick for? To start a fire, so we can cook the fish we caught.

Wanya yundu jimal wundin? Baya jakalambanka, ngali kuyu wajunku.


<lexeme> tree (this term is very rarely used for money)


<translate> We all, not you, see the rat there.


<glossary> dalkil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> I gave her the name Carol


<translate> All the little warning words are one big word, the old woman said at the end of the evening: look first. The fire, the river, the snake, the storm, the rotten branch — their word never hides itself, the country's word stands in the open, and the person who reads it lives, his hair turning clay-white while he reads.

Kuku-yinil buban wubulku nyulu kuku yalbay nyubun, wulbumanangka balkan miyil-wujurr-wujurrba badanga: nyaji ngadiku. Baya, wawubaja, jarba, jarramali, dakil kabu, kuku nyungu kariku ngakiji, kuku bubumuny janay ngalkalba, bama nyulu jana nyajil nyulu juran, mungka kambar-mal jana nyajinya.


<glossary> muja-muja ; type=adjective ; domain=texture <usage_example> You should dry out your tent; it might get rotten


<translate> You two saw the three-pronged spear here.


<translate> I saw the bajalji python there.


<translate> The old people rested in the shade during the hot part of the day.


<glossary> wawumal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> If you agree, we'll go


<glossary> dalngarri ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> I have to go to the toilet


<glossary> wuybubu kulbal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He whipped the horse


<translate> You see the wurarr-wurarr dragonfly here.


<translate> The men paint their own foreheads with white clay and put on the head-bands.

Dingkar wubul munju kambar-bu julngka-ji, jilngarr baja mani.


<translate> The child saw the paperbark at camp.


<translate> The old woman said every road you walk you walk twice: once with your feet, going out, and once in your memory, coming home in the evening firelight when you tell the children where you went and what you saw.

Wulbumanangka balkan: baral wubulku yundu jilbal yundu jambul jilbal: nyubun jinabu, wangkar dungay, nyubun milkanga, bayan-mundu kaday kunarangkalba bayanga yundu karrkay-karrkay milbil wanjabu yundu dungan wanya yundu nyajin.


<translate> You two see the bikarrakal fruit here.


<translate> Drink this — you'll get better.


<lexeme> the Aboriginal camp at Thompson Creek


<translate> When the eye closes, the body does not stop, the old man told the children at night: the breath walks all the time, the stomach cooks all the time, the ear stands all the time in the dark, and that is why a big sound wakes a person, so sleep is not a going-away, it is the body's quiet work-time.

Kaki miyil nandaji, bangkarr nyulu kari janay, mukulungku dingkarangka karrkay-karrkay milbin wujurrba: wawu yabarrka jilbal, jibar yabarrka wajul, milka yabarrka janay wujurrba, yinya wanyurrinku kuku yalbaybu bama wandi-bungal, warngku nyulu kari dungaymuny, nyulu bangkarrmuny murni-wungar wunbu.


<translate> They see the kurrija octopus here.


<translate> I saw the maral-maral young girls there.


<glossary> badi ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> They are wailing because their older brother died


<translate> Uncle told that story three times at the fire.

Kalngangka yinya kuku balkan kulur bayanga.


<translate> The families visited each other in the dry season and shared their food.

Jawun-karra nyaji-way dukurr-wungar-a, mayi daji-way.


<translate> The old people sent word to the other camps.

Kamba-kambangka kuku yungan bayanba yindu-yinduymba.


<translate> The young man got fish at the river.


<translate> The child saw the freshwater eel in the water.


<translate> The boy watched the old man's hands and came to understand that patience itself was a kind of tool.

Karrkayangka mukulmu mara nyajin, binalmanda: wunbu nyulu yamba yala.


<translate> We see the deep water there.


<translate> I see the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree there.


<translate> You and I see the death adder there.


<lexeme> nyulu present ngayku dajin, "he gave me a present"


<translate> Come on, let's sit down here!


<translate> Cut the paperbark! Chop the branch!


<translate> The grey kangaroo is on the ground.


<translate> He sees the juku-juku bronzewing dove there.


<translate> The straw-necked ibis is there.


<translate> The kingfisher and the rainbow bird both dig their homes in the same steep bank, but they never fight over it.

Milman biru-biru jambul bayan baka-l jukar-a nyubun, jana kari kuli-ma yinya-nka.


<translate> The right fire at the right time is a country-worker, the old man said on the burning day: the cool-season fire walks slow and low, eats the old rank grass, leaves the seed and the beetle, and calls up the green grass that brings the game, so the old people burned with the seasons, not with the temper, and the country paid them back in fat seasons.

Baya yukil wungara yukilba nyulu bubu-murni-bama, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan wungar wajunmuny: baya bulur-ijimuny jilbal buban-buban bada, jikan mukul nukal, diburr ngirran baja bawal, jikan jirakal kunjal minya kadanka, yalada bama mukulungku wajun wungar-jinanji, kari kulinji, bububu jana dayan baja wungar wandul-jibu.


<translate> The mountain lizard sits on the warm flat rock and warms itself in the middle of the day.

Jimalili kulji jirakal wumbul-ba bunda-l, wungar-a nyulu-nyulu wumbul-mani-ji.


<glossary> baja-burray ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> I'm tired after the walkabout


<lexeme> {'english': "He doesn't do bad things (but) does good things", 'translation': 'Nyulu kari buyun-damal; nyulu ngulkurrku bunday'}


<translate> They saw the bamboo spear stick here.


<translate> He saw the bayil jungle perch here.


<translate> You two see the mudcrab here.


<translate> You see the kubu-kubu tadpole here.


<translate> The girl watched her mother gathering the ripe figs from the tree, the old woman said, holding the dilly-bag open wide beneath the heavy branch.

Jalbu-ngku ngamu nyaji-l-nyaji-n, junda kulbul muja-l-muja-nya juku-muny, mukul-jalbu balkan, ngunyin ngamban karrba dakil kulngkul bada-ba.


<translate> The mosquitoes were bad by the swamp. We lit a fire.

Kamu-kamu buyun walngkanga. Ngana baya wajunda.


<translate> The old woman brought the boomerang from the house.

Wulbuman-angka wangal bayan-muny wundin.


<translate> The white crane is standing at camp.


<translate> The flying fox hung upside down in the tall tree all day and flew off to feed at dark.

Kambi juku kalbay-mba bada-bada wunay wungar wubulku, marra-warri nukal-nka wujurr-ba.


<translate> "Where does the sweet water lie in the dry season, when all the creeks and the waterholes are empty?"

Bana ngulkurr wanjabu wuna marral-wungar-a, wawubaja janku narmba kari-ma-nya?


<translate> The crab bit the child's stomach.


<translate> Where did you leave the digging-sticks yesterday, the old woman asked the girls, for we must dig the yams now before the day grows too hot.

Yurra baka-juku wanjabu bawan yilay? mukul-jalbu-ngku jalbu-jalbu nyajin, ngana bambayal baka-nka niji wungar wumbul-ma-nyjiku.


<translate> A flood is the river remembering its whole country, the old man said from the high ground: it walks out of its own bed and visits every low place that was ever its own, so never build the baby camp or the story camp on the flood's old roads, for the high ground keeps the long things.

Jalungkarr nyulu wawubaja milka-binalku bubu nyungu wubulku, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bubu wangkarmuny, nyulu jilbal bayanmuny nyungu-nyungumuny nyajil bubu bada nyubun-nyubun nyungu ngadikumuny, yalada kari bunga bayan ngawamuny bayan kuku-jangkarmuny baralba mukulba jalungkarrmuny, bubu wangkarbu karrbal yamba kalbay.


<translate> I saw the baliji people there.


<translate> The old man killed the black snake with one hard blow of the throwing-stick across its back, the old woman said, then buried its head deep so the dogs would not find it.

Mukul-dingkarangka bindimu kuni juku-bu nyubun-bu muku-ba junkurr, mukul-jalbu balkan, walu janku dajali-ba wandi, kaya kari mani.


<translate> Walk carefully — that path is snake-with in the hot season.

Jilba miyil-ji, baral yinya jarba-nji wangariji.


<translate> The man made rope from kuralbi bark.

Dingkar-angka karra balkan kuralbi-muny.


<translate> They saw the older brother here.


<translate> The small birds flew down to the waterhole to drink in the cool of the early morning.

Buyi-buyi buban janku-ka bada warri bana nuka-nka, wunkuwingku ngiki-ba.


<translate> You all see the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> The milbarakal tree is here.


<translate> The child saw the paperbark on the ground.


<lexeme> bad spirit in form of crocodile


<translate> He pointed to the evening star and said: that one is the old woman who first made fire for the people.

Nyulu dawar milbin yilay-yilaymu, balkan: yinya wulbuman, nyulu baya ngaranyarr bamaka.


<translate> They see the straw-necked ibis here.


<translate> Strength lives in the arm but it rises in the work, the old man taught the boys as they cut wood for the fire: no arm grows strong lying down for days, the axe teaches the shoulder, the big log teaches the back, the mountain teaches the legs, so do not ask for a body with strength, ask for work with strength, and the body will follow.

Junkurr wunay wakuymba yambada nyulu wandil murninga, mukulungku dingkarangka buban-buban milbin, jana juku bayaka yakanya: wakuy kariku junkurr-mal wunanya wungar wubulku, warrbibu milbil binda, juku yalbaynja milbil muku, manjaldu milbil jandal, yalada kari babaji bangkarr junkurr-jirrka, babaji murni junkurr-jirrka, bangkarr nyulu wukurril.


<translate> He sees the freshwater turtle here.


<translate> They saw the boundary there.


<glossary> muna ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> That man is not afraid of wild pigs


<glossary> jilba ; type=noun ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> The child can walk now


<translate> I see the dulmbi umbrella palm here.


<translate> Father saw the child's stomach.


<translate> Father took the rope from the ground.


<glossary> dalbarril ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the man scolded (him), (then left)


<translate> The old woman kept feeding the child a little and a little more until she had finished the whole small yam, and then the child slept.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku karrkay mayi daji buban, buban-baja, nyulu bambayal buban narmba kunbayn-nya, yinyamun karrkay warngku wuna.


<translate> We see the wurmbariji scrub tree here.


<translate> The clothing here is narrow.


<translate> You and I saw the ngumbul snake there.


<translate> The black snake and the brown snake both bite, and their bite makes you very sick.

Bindimu jinkalmu jambul baykal, nyungu jindal bama bambay-baja-bungal.


<translate> I feel very sorry for the poor blind old man, who has no family left with him now.

Ngayu jiba-badi bajaku dingkar mukul miyil-kari-nka, nyungu jawun-karra kari niji.


<translate> We are what we witnessed, half of what we were told, and a little of what we hope — speak carefully, you are building people.

Ngana yinya wanyu ngana nyajin, daji wanyu ngananka milbinmuny, buban wanyu ngana wawu-manil: balka miyil-ji, yundu bama bungal.


<translate> You and I see the red bream there.


<translate> If you see the crocodile, do not go down to the water.

Kaki yundu bilngkumu nyajil, yundu kari bana-ka bada dunga-y.


<glossary> nubiji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> What are you looking for?


<translate> You and I saw the fighting spear there.


<translate> Between the two camps runs a track worn deeper than either — the road is the third camp.

Dindarraba bayan-jambulmuny jina warril dukurr-baja jambulmunybu: baral nyulu bayan kulurku.


<translate> The old man whistled to the birds at dawn, and many small birds came flying down to the water.

Mukul-dingkar kuwimbur yirrkan buyi-nka wunkuwingku, buyi-buyi wubul warri bana-ka bada.


<translate> I see the older brother there.


<translate> I went by boat, but there was a strong wind.

Ngayu buwun-ji dungan, kari muyar junkuji.


<translate> The grey kangaroo is at the camp.


<translate> You and I see the board here.


<translate> We see the seashell headband here.


<translate> The children could not understand the old man's words, for he spoke the deep language of long ago.

Karrkay-karrkay kari binal mukul-dingkar-mu kuku, nyulu kuku kalbay kalbay-muny balka-nya.


<translate> The children were full of questions about the sky, and the old woman answered as many as she could: what is the moon and why does it change, where do the stars go in the daytime, how far away is the sun, why does the rainbow come only after rain, and what are those white paths of stars that cross the whole night sky?

Karrkay-karrkay babaji-mabi jiri-mundu, wulbumanangka balkan wanyu nyulu balkalmuny: wanyu kambi wanyurrinku nyulu yindu-manda, wanja dawar dungay wungara, wanjarrinya kala-kalbay jalbay, wanyurrinku ngamu-bulmba bana ngadiku nganga kadanya, wanyu yinya dawar-baral kambar jiri wubulku wujurr nyaji-way-mba?


<lexeme> {'english': 'I put out the food on the table', 'translation': 'Ngayu mayi wamban tablebu'}


<translate> The two of them saw the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish there.


<translate> Don't chase that horse; it will kick you hard with its two strong back legs!

Yarraman yinya kari kanga! Nyulu yununy jina-bu kuni-l junkurr-baja!


<translate> Grandmother saw the freshwater eel in the water.


<translate> You all see the spring here.


<translate> The child asked the song expert about the old song, and the expert sang the first line.

Karrkay-ngku mala-burri-nda babajin wulngku mukul-ku, mala-burri-ngku wulngku badin ngadiku.


<translate> They searched for that child.

Jana nubi-l-nubin yinyay-anka karrkay-anka.


<glossary> karangaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=hunting-fishing-gathering <usage_example> The man stalked the wallaby


<lexeme> want something but can't get it


<translate> The man came from there and turned back.


<translate> The old man ate the sweet fruit, and the child wanted the same one, so the old man split it and gave her half.

Mukul-dingkarangka mayi jiba-wulay nukan, karrkay-angka mayi nyubun wawu, mukul-dingkarangka dumbarri-l dajin jalbu-nka jambul-muny.


<translate> The young man saw the snake on the ground.


<translate> If the old people are telling the old stories by the fire, the children must sit quietly and listen and not run about.

Kaki mukul-bama buri-ngka balka-balka, karrkay-karrkay janka bunda milka-janay, kari wanarri.


<translate> A young man speared his own foot in the scrub, and the old man bound the sore with bark and string and told him: the blood will stop, the flesh will close, the bone was not hit, but walk slowly for many days and the foot itself will say when it is well, for the body speaks to the person who listens.

Warrungku jina nyungu-nyungu kalkabu bakan majanga, mukulungku dingkarangka baji kajan warrurbu karrabu, nyulu milbin: mula janay, bangkarr nandaji, bajibay kari kunin, yambada jilba buban-buban wungar wubulku, jina nyulu-nyulu balkal wanjawanja nyulu yukil-mal, bangkarr nyulu bamanda balkal nyulu milka-janay.


<glossary> murba ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> He built his house well


<translate> The hunter crept close through the long grass, held his spear up high, and struck the feeding kangaroo.

Balbi-bama janka jilba jikan kalbay-burr, kalka wangkar karrban, mayarriji nuka-nya daman.


<translate> What tree is standing there?


<translate> Brothers and sisters do not marry one another, the old man said, nor do cousins of the same moiety — that is the very first law of all the people.

Yaba babarr-jirr kari dunyu-mani, mukul-dingkar balkan, bangunji mandi nyubun-mu kari-baja — yinya yalaku nyubun-nya bama-mu wubulku.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jinkalmu snake here.


<translate> I see the spoon bill bird here.


<glossary> kayal ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> They eat raw meat


<translate> You all saw the jalil-jalil mudskipper there.


<translate> You see the small red ant there.


<translate> I saw the mawul freshwater eel there.


<translate> The woman came from down there.


<translate> You and I see the stomach there.


<translate> You two saw the lightning there.


<translate> The plate is there in the house.


<translate> The rats came into the camp at night and ate the seeds and good food the people had stored.

Kukur bayan-ka kadan wujurr-ba, mayi wukay ngulkurr bama-mu nukal nanda-nya.


<translate> She dug the deep hole for the ground oven with a strong, pointed digging stick in the morning.

Nyulu janku dajali bakan bubu-ngu, juwal junkurr-bu wunkuwingku.


<translate> The ground pigeon feeds quietly among the fallen leaves under the shady trees.

Munungkul birra dara-nya-nga nuka-l, juku bada wabarr-ba.


<translate> We should have buried the old songs in the young ones while there were still many who remembered, the old woman said, but we were busy staying alive, and each year an old singer died and took a hundred songs into the ground, and now we hold only pieces, and a song in pieces cannot be sung.

Ngana wangkarr ngadiku warru-manda wandi-nyaku wubul jana milkanga karrban janay-mba, wulbumanangka balkan, yambada ngana yabarrka janayka wawu-karrbalka, wungar wubulku mala-burri nyubun wulan wangkarr wubul bubungu jarrakulban, nyiku ngana nganga buban karrbal, wangkarr buban-mandanga murruji balkalmu.


<translate> You and I see the smouldering log there.


<translate> We see the sand whiting there.


<translate> The old man sat down by the fire and the old woman gathered the dry firewood.

Mukul-dingkar baya karangkal bundan, mukul-jalbu-ngka baya-juku marral bangkan.


<translate> The young woman tied a woven string headband around her forehead for the big dance.

Jalbu-buban-angka jilngarr karra-bu nyungu walu-ngu kajan, warrma yalbay-ka.


<lexeme> want something but can't get it


<translate> What did you take the dog into the shelter for? the old man asked, laughing, in the old words — you should have left it outside — and the boy did what the dog itself does, looked down and said nothing, so the whole camp laughed, and the dog too, hardest of all.

Wanyurrinku yundu kaya wundin bayanka? mukulungku dingkarangka babajin yajarr-ji kukubu mukulbu, yundu nyulu bawanyaku ngalkalba, buban murnin yala kaya nyungu-nyungu, nyajin bada, balkan yamba-kari, yalada bayan wubulku yajarr-man, kaya baja junkurr bajaku.


<translate> Then, in the old days, the country was full of game, and nobody in the camp went hungry at all.

Yinyamun, wungar mukul-ba, bubu minya wubul-jirr, bama kari dakwuy bayan-ba.


<translate> Dig the roots, and do not break the shoots!


<translate> Gather all the oysters and crabs you can before the tide turns and comes back fast over the flat reef, the old woman said.

Julul kiju-jirr wubulku bangka yira nyunba-nyjiku, yira bila dulngku ngalkal-burr kaday, mukul-jalbu balkan.


<translate> The old men hunt the big sea turtle from the reef with a long spear, the old man said, and one turtle feeds the whole camp for days.

Mukul-dingkar-dingkar ngawiya yalbay balbi dulngku-muny kalka kalbay-bu, mukul-dingkar balkan, ngawiya nyubun bayan narmba mayi dajil wungar wubul.


<translate> The children learned the language.


<translate> Some places are just the same.


<translate> You all see the blanket here.


<translate> What did you find in the deep hole under the big paperbark tree? — I found many fat grubs.

Wanyu yundu janku dukurr-ba juku yalbay bada-ba warrmba-bungan? Ngayu kurran wubul warrmba-bungan.


<lexeme> see and know someone before he sees and knows you


<translate> I saw the milbarkal tree here.


<translate> Everything has a front and a back, the old woman turned the basket: choose which one you show the wind.

Yamba nyubun-nyubun walu-ji muku-ji, wulbumanangka balji murnin: mana wanjaku yundu muyarka milbil.


<translate> We see the daughter's child here.


<translate> You see the tiger shark there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the diwalngku bird here.


<translate> You all saw the dalmbal flathead here.


<translate> That brother-in-law is there.


<translate> You and I see the rat there.


<lexeme> bad spirit in form of crocodile


<translate> At midday the children rested in the shade.

Wungar wangkar-wangkar, karrkay-karrkay wabarr-ba wunanan.


<translate> The baby's tooth is sore — it keeps crying.


<translate> The grandmother said: A person who does not know their kin is like a tree that does not know its own ground — it may stand for a while, but the first big wind will take it down.

Babingka balkan: bama nyulu nyungu jawun-karra murruji binal yala juku nyulu nyungu bubu murruji binal, nyulu janay kanbalka, yambada muyar yalbay ngadiku nyulu badaka manil.


<translate> Homesick in your own camp — that is longing for the people who sat here long ago.

Milka-bujar bayanba yundumunyba: yundu bama wawu-manil, jana yanyaba bundan mukulbu.


<translate> The Moreton Bay fig tree is standing at camp.


<translate> Grandfather saw the girl's eye.


<translate> You and I see the wurrbal fog there.


<glossary> balu ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> let the tea get cool


<translate> What is this thing in your hand? It is a spear point. And what did you eat this morning? I ate fish and a little honey.

Wanyu nyiku yunu mara-nga? Nyiku kurrajan. Wanyu yundu nyiku wunkun nukan? Ngayu kuyu, kawar buban nukan.


<glossary> yaral ; type=adjective ; domain=water <usage_example> You talk in the right way (not cheeky - talk as you should in a court case)


<translate> You see the straw hat there.


<translate> You see the barramundi here.


<translate> That long wild yam is there.


<glossary> dirrmbay ; type=noun ; domain=fauna-bird <usage_example> He will put the message in his ear


<translate> You see the wuymbariji scrub tree there.


<translate> The man put bark on the ground.


<translate> You all see the hillside here.


<translate> I want to see the cassowary.


<translate> The old man said there is a yam for every season and every kind of country: the long yam of the sandy ground, the round yam of the vine scrub, the bitter yam that must be soaked and soaked before it is safe, and a person who knows all the yams and their seasons and their places need never go hungry, whatever else fails.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: juwal nyubun wungar wubulku bubu yindu-yindu wubulku: juwal kalbay jukarmu, juwal jirakal majajimu, juwal ngambuy nyulu bananga wunay wunay ngadiku nyulu yukil, bama nyulu juwal wubulku wungar bubu baja binal nyulu kariku dakwuy, yamba yindu wubulku wulanya baja.


<translate> We see the bamboo stick here.


<translate> I brought the stick from the house.


<translate> The honey is deep in the tree; my elder brother chopped the wood to reach it.

Wunba juku dukurr-ba; ngayku yabangka juku nyandan, wunba mani-nka.


<glossary> kaka ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> The river is salty, not fresh water


<translate> The old man said: Do not measure yourself against your brother, for one of you runs better and one is stronger, and the country needs both kinds of man.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Kari yundu-yundu yabaji milbi-ji, nyubun warri ngulkurr-baja, nyubun junkurr-baja, bububu jambul dingkar wawu.


<translate> I see the turtle spear point here.


<translate> The black spotted dart is there.


<translate> The girl laughed at the woman.


<translate> They see the mawal bee here.


<translate> Grandmother left the billycan outside.


<translate> You two saw the banamu snake there.


<glossary> ngamba ; type=adjective ; domain=perception <usage_example> He's sitting not noticing


<translate> The mothers and fathers gathered to talk with each other about the children.

Ngamu-karra nganjan-karra bangkan, karrkay-mu balka-wa-nka.


<glossary> ngakil ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The old man stole the firewood


<translate> That black diver bird is there.


<translate> You saw the barramundi there.


<translate> The rain fell hard all night, and in the morning the creek was running fast.

Kaba daran junkurrku kunarangkal wubulku, wunkuwingku wawubaja warrin jinbalku.


<translate> The old man said the tree hollow is a home to half the creatures of the country, and a careful person reads which hollow holds what: the possum's warm dry den high up, the python's cool ledge, the bird's nesting hole, the bee's honey-store, the goanna's retreat, so that a single dead tree full of hollows is a whole village of animals, and worth more standing than fallen.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan juku-dimbirr nyulu bayan minya bubu jambulmuny, bama binal nyulu nyajil dimbirr wanyu wanya karrbal: yawa nyungu wumbul dandi bayan wangkar, bajalji nyungu kaka janka, buyi nyungu bayan-janku, dabu nyungu wunba-karrban, jadi nyungu buyan, juku nyubun wula-mabi dimbirr-mabi nyulu bayan-yalbay minyamu, ngulkurr-baja janan badanmuny.


<translate> Granny broke the damper and gave everyone a piece.

Babingka damba murrngan, dajin jananda wubulku.


<glossary> didal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=clothing-adornment <usage_example> I put my good clothes on


<translate> The two of them see the marril ti tree there.


<translate> I see the grandmother there.


<lexeme> see and know someone before he sees and knows you


<translate> The child asked father about a bone.

Karrkay nganjan-anda bajibay-ngka babajin.


<translate> They saw the bajabaja lizard here.


<translate> Grandfather said to grandmother: "I know."

Kami-ngka babi-nda balkan: "Ngayu binal."


<translate> I see the little wallaby here.


<translate> You saw the jangkan swift there.


<translate> We see the nganyil haze here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the kurruba freshwater fish here.


<translate> You see the clear water there.


<translate> The old man said if you are ever lost in the argument of two people you love, do not ask which one is right, ask instead what each one is afraid of, for under every angry word there is a frightened one, and if you can answer the fear the anger has nothing left to stand on.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: kaki yundu nganga bama jambul yundu wawu-jirray kuni-way-mba, kari babaji wanyu nyubun yukil, babaji wanya bama wubulku yinilmu, dukul-wuri kuku wubulku badanga kuku yinil janay, kaki yundu yinil kuku-yukilka dukul-wuri kari yamba janjilka.


<translate> You and I see the coral here.


<translate> They see the tree kangaroo there.


<translate> The old woman wove a strong dilly bag from the lawyer cane to carry the yams and the sweet fruit.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku ngunyin junkurr bungal kaku-muny, wukay mayi jiba-wulay wundi-nka.


<translate> You two see the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree here.


<glossary> ngaral ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> They spread out a blanket for the children to sleep

Jana blanket ngaran kaykay-kaykay wunanka


<translate> The old woman brought firewood from the scrub.


<glossary> nyarrmal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Snatch it quickly from his hand


<translate> Come and sit beside me here, on this side of the fire.

Kada, bunda nganya karangkal yaluy, baya yanyu ngundu.


<translate> The next morning the family broke camp, let the fire die, and walked up the river singing.

Wunkun wunkuwingku jawunkarra bayan bawan, baya wulan, wawubaja wangkar dungan wulngku badinya.


Nyiku kami murruji kalakalbay jilba dungay.


<glossary> mulkay-warri ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I watched them playing and I felt happy

Ngayu jananiin nyajin ngujurinya, ngayu mulkay-warrin


<translate> You and I saw the yuray snake here.


<translate> I saw the karrmbil parakeet here.


<translate> We two (not you) saw the shooting star there.


<translate> We two (not you) see the three-pronged spear here.


<translate> The echidna dug into the hard ground quickly with its strong claws when the dingo came near.

Ngangkin-angka bubu junkurr bakan buyun-buyun mara junkurr-bu, murramu ngundu kada-nya.


<translate> I saw the murral tree kangaroo here.


<translate> The old man's legs are weak now, and he leans on a strong wooden stick when he walks.

Mukul-dingkar jandal buban niji, nyulu juku junkurr-ba karrba jilba-nya.


<translate> You and I saw the jiwurrmal pheasant cuckoo here.


<translate> The old woman said: a mother-in-law and her son-in-law must keep apart, but a man and his cross-cousin may joke freely — these two rules hold the family in balance.

Mukulungku balkan: biwul ngalayin muru kari bundal, yambada dingkar kambanmu-ji yajarr-way; yinya jambul kuku mula-mula dandi karrbal.


<translate> Food walks a long road from the mouth to the stomach, the old woman taught the children: the teeth cut it small, the tongue turns it, the throat takes it down, and the stomach cooks it slowly like meat on a small fire, so eat slowly and leave each worker to its own work.

Mayi nyulu baral kalbay jilbal ngandalmuny jibaraka, wulbumanangka karrkay-karrkay milbin: dirrabu buban-buban yakal, nyabildu murnil, manubu bada manil, jibarabu wajul buban-buban yala minya baya-bubanba, nuka buban-buban, bawa murni-bama nyubun-nyubun murninka nyungu-nyungu.


<translate> They two saw the wooden sword there.


<glossary> baral ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> He was feeling for his torch in the dark


<translate> The Moreton Bay fig tree is good.


<translate> Two grubs from the antbed catch one big fish — the little jiljay is stronger than its weight.

Jiljay jambulbu kuyu yalbay nyubun manil: jiljay buban nyulu junkurr-baja dandimuny nyungumuny.


<translate> We see the spotted eagle ray there.


<translate> I feel sorry for the very sick child, so I will take some soft food to its camp tonight.

Ngayu jiba-badil karrkay bambay-baja-nka-ku, ngayu mayi kima bayan-ka wundil nyiku wujurr.


<glossary> wambaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> Share out the meat now


<translate> I see the black cockatoo there.


<translate> The bottlebrush tree is standing there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the bajal bower bird here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the squid here.


<translate> The father-in-law gave the young man a good hunting spear.

Ngalayin-angka warru kalka ngulkurr balbi-mu dajin.


<translate> Little by little the children began to understand, the old woman said, that everything in the country is tied to everything else, and nothing stands alone.

Buban-buban karrkay-karrkay binal-ma-l yudal, mukul-jalbu balkan, wubulku bubu-ba nyubun yindu-nka kaja-nya, yamba-kari nyubun-bu janjanay.


<translate> Who taught you the songs? My grandfather taught me; he learned them from his father; and now I will teach them to you.

Wanya yununy burri binal-bungan? Ngayku kami nganya binal-bungan; nyulu nyungu nganjan-dumuny binalman; ngayu yununy binal-bungal baja.


<translate> The old man said the whole of the law can be cooked down like fat over a slow fire until only the pure thing is left, and the pure thing is this: keep the fire, feed the people, waste nothing, share with the stranger, honor the old, teach the young, and remember the dead by cooking their dishes — do these, and you have done everything, and the fire your grandchildren light will still be warm from yours.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: kuku wubulku wandul yala baya buban-buban wajul dukul yamba-yukil nganga karrbal, yamba-yukil yinya: baya kuji, bama daya, yamba nyubun kari kudamundu, bama-yindu daji-way, mukul yukil-bunga, warru milbi, bama wula milkal jana mayi wajulbu — yinya bunga, yundu yamba wubulku bungan, baya nyungu jija-jija wandiman nyungumuny wumbul baja.


<lexeme> someone who is continually talking


<translate> They should have turned back when the sky went green in the west, the old man said, but they were close to good hunting and greed made them foolish, and the storm caught them in the open, and two did not come home, and that is why we teach: read the sky before the belly.

Jana nyunbanyaku jiri kuwa jirakal-mandanya, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, yambada jana ngundu minya ngulkurrbu jana ngujanbu binal-kari-manda, jarramali jana bubu yaralba manin, jambul kari dukul kadan, yinyabu ngana milbil: jiri nyaji ngadiku dandu ngadikumuny.


<translate> The kids found crab holes in the mud.

Karrkay-karrkayangka wurru-bulan nyajin kambal-kambalba.


<translate> We, not you, saw the dakwurr-dakwun hammer bird there.


<translate> Grandfather washed his hand.


<translate> When the moon is bright, the children play late into the night down by the water.

Kija balbal-ba, karrkay-karrkay kunarangkal-baja kinka-l bana karangkal.


<translate> She was so ashamed that she sat quietly at the meeting, covering her face from the people.

Nyulu murru-kaday baja, nyulu janka bundan malkarri-nga, walu nanda-l bama-muny.


<translate> The child put the stone on the road.


<translate> The children asked which was the biggest thing in the whole world, and the old man thought and said: The sky, for it holds everything else, even the greatest mountain and the widest sea.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin wanya yamba yalbay bajaku bubu wubulku, mukulungku dingkarangka milka-bu baykan, balkan: Jiri, nyulu yamba wubulku kujil, manjal yalbay bajaku, jalun yalbay bajaku baja.


<translate> The old woman said: the scrub is our food-country; it gives us food in every season.

Kambangka balkan: madja ngana-mu mayi-bubu; nyulu nganangan mayi daji-l wungar wubul-a.


<translate> The old man said the fire outlives the cook, and this is the comfort of the old: the fire I light tonight my grandchildren will feed when I am gone, the recipes I cook they will cook, the place at the fire I sit will hold another old one after me, and so a person does not really end but passes their place at the fire to the next, and the fire itself never goes out.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: baya waju-bama ngangan-baja janay, yinya mukulmu wawu-mini: baya ngayu nyiku kunarangkal wandiman ngayku jija-jija daya ngayu dunganya, mayi ngayu wajul jana wajul, bubu baya ngunduku ngayu bundal mukul yindu karrbal ngaymuny, yinyabu bama kari nganga dumban yambada nyungu bubu baya ngunduku nyubunku daji, baya nyulu-nyulu kariku wula.


<translate> The old woman said if you plant in the wet you will eat in the dry, if you plant nothing you will hunger, and if you eat your seed yams now because you are hungry now, you take food from the mouth of the person you will be next year.

Wulbumanangka balkan: kaki yundu bana-wungara jarra, yundu bubungu nukal, kaki yundu kari jarra, yundu dakwuy-manda, kaki yundu nyungu jarra-kuka nyiku nukal yundu nyiku dakwuy, yundu mayi manil bama yundu wungar yindungu janaymuny nyungu dayangamuny.


<translate> You saw the karranda tree there.


<translate> They camped there and the boys learned the water.

Jana bundandan yinyay, dabal binalman banaka.


<glossary> yulmbarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> The school children come from down south, all the people welcomed them

Jana school children nakamun kadarin, bamangka wubulduku jananin yulmbarrin


<translate> He pointed to the evening star and said: that one is the old woman who first made fire for the people.

Nyulu dawar milbin yilay-yilaymu, balkan: yinya wulbuman, nyulu baya ngaranyarr bamaka.


<translate> He sees the wankar tree here.


<translate> You all see the large mud clam there.


<glossary> kunjal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> They'll invite you to the wedding


<translate> We, not you, saw the kurmba-kurmba lizard here.


<translate> Two men quarrelled over a hunting ground, and their anger grew hot and fast like a grass fire, and hard words passed between them that could not be unsaid.

Dingkar jambul balbi-bubuka kuni-wan, jana dukul-wuri wumbulmanda junkurr yala baya jikanba, kuku junkurr jana ngundu dungan kari murnilnyjiku.


<glossary> milka-wulay ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I forgot about the dog


<translate> We two, not you, see the karrandal tree here.


<translate> The two of them see the juku-juku bronzewing dove here.


<translate> We see the straw-necked ibis there.


<translate> They stayed at the camp for a long time. The next day they went.

Ngadi-ngka jana bayan-ba bundan. Wunkuny jana dungan.


<translate> The old woman said the zamia taught patience above all things, for a hungry person who ate it too soon would be sick for days, and only the patient one ate well.

Wulbumanangka balkan: barka milbin wunbu yamba wubulmuny, bama dakwuy nyulu ngadiku nukan bambaymal wungar wubulku, bama wunbu nganga ngulkurr nukal.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the mayfly here.


<translate> We waited but the fish weren't biting.


<translate> You two saw the kurriyala snake here.


<translate> The young men waded into the shallows at first light to spear fish and stingray in the good clear water.

Warru-warru bana bubanba walan muduwajunyjiku, kuyu yawu damanka bana ngulkurrbu.


<translate> They saw the father's sister here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the barrbal black bream here.


<glossary> balibali ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> The house is leaky, the water is coming in


<translate> We all, not you, see the scrub goanna here.


<translate> Grandad went east to the mountain.


<translate> The frill-necked lizard opens its neck wide to frighten the dog away.

Binanjal nyungu kunkun yalbay-bungal, kaya yinil-bunga-nka.


<translate> The old man gave his grandson the last stone axe and said: this is older than any of us; it built the humpies of our grandfathers; keep it, and when you are old, put it in the hand of a child who will remember.

Mukul-dingkarangka nyungu kami-karrkay warrbi-kulji ngadiku-nyubun dayan, balkan: nyiku ngana wubul-ngadiku mukul; nyulu ngananga kami-karra-mu bayan ngaran; yundu karrba, yundu mukul-manya, karrkay-mu mara-nga wuna, nyulu milka-nga karrbal.


<translate> The old woman is sitting inside.


<translate> We learned our manners from the animals: patience from the ibis, sharing from the dogs, silence from the fish, and laughter from the kookaburra — the first teachers never left.

Ngana murni-jina minyamuny binalman: wawu-karrba birmbamuny, wambaji kayamuny, wunbu kuyumuny, yajarr kururrungkamuny: milbil-bama ngadiku kariku dungan.


<translate> You and I saw the karrmbil parakeet here.


<translate> You two saw the kurrmaja larvae here.


<translate> I see the kalburiji bee there.


<translate> The two of them saw the mawul freshwater eel here.


<translate> Uncle knows the deep water places — ask him.

Kalnga binal banaka — babajika nyungundu!


<translate> The young man sang a happy song as he walked the long track home with plenty of meat for his family.

Warru wulngku wawu-mini badin jilba-nya jina kalbay-burr, minya jirray nyungu jawun-karra-nka.


<translate> The old woman said if you would leave one thing to your grandchildren, do not leave them goods, which are stolen or spent or spoiled, but leave them a name kept clean, for a good name is the one inheritance that grows rather than shrinks in the passing, and it opens doors that no wealth could ever open.

Wulbumanangka balkan: kaki yundu nyubun yamba nyungu jija-jijanka bawanka, kari jananka yamba bawa, nyulu warmbi-manil kilba-manil mumbu-manil, yambada jananka burri yukil karrbanmu bawa, burri yukil nyubun bawanmu nyulu jarray kari buban badanga jarakay-mba, nyulu jina kilba nyulu yamba-wubul kariku kilbalmu.


<glossary> balnji ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> they are camping out


<translate> The woman kneaded the damper.


<translate> You and I see the wankar tree there.


<lexeme> want something but can't get it


<translate> You all see the yinkan ribs there.


<glossary> jakal ; type=noun ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> Fill the bucket up with water


<translate> They see the black snake there.


<translate> The ripe pineapple is very sweet, and the hungry children ate it by the fire.

Banabul kulbul jiba-wulay bajaku; karrkay-karrkay dakwuy nukan kunjinba.


<lexeme> upper reaches of the Bloomfield River


<translate> He saw the mirrku kidney bird there.


<lexeme> sharp corner in the upper reaches of Daintree River


<lexeme> {'english': 'That food is very good', 'translation': 'Yinya mayi ngulkurr bajaku'}


<translate> The candlenut tree is standing there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the kungkun snake here.


<translate> The right fire at the right time is a country-worker, the old man said on the burning day: the cool-season fire walks slow and low, eats the old rank grass, leaves the seed and the beetle, and calls up the green grass that brings the game, so the old people burned with the seasons, not with the temper, and the country paid them back in fat seasons.

Baya yukil wungara yukilba nyulu bubu-murni-bama, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan wungar wajunmuny: baya bulur-ijimuny jilbal buban-buban bada, jikan mukul nukal, diburr ngirran baja bawal, jikan jirakal kunjal minya kadanka, yalada bama mukulungku wajun wungar-jinanji, kari kulinji, bububu jana dayan baja wungar wandul-jibu.


<translate> The old woman said: know the plants, and the country will never leave you without food.

Wulbumanangka balkan: mayi-juku binalman, bubu-bu yununy kariku mayi-kari-bungal.


<translate> You all saw the grasshopper there.


<translate> You two saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko there.


<translate> The old woman's last teaching about kin was the simplest and the deepest: you did not earn your kin and you cannot resign them, you were born into them as into the air you breathe, they are yours and you are theirs before you do anything at all, and this, she said, is the first free gift every Kuku Yalanji child receives, a whole world of people already bound to love and hold and answer for them, and it should be received with thanks and passed on whole.

Wulbumanangka nyungu milbil bada karra-muny nyulu kima bajaku dukurr bajaku baja: yundu kari nyungu karra manin yundu kariku bawal, yundu ngunduku wandin yala ngumbu yundu ngaralmuny, jana yundunji yundu jananji ngadiku yundu yamba nyubun murninya ngadiku, yinya, nyulu balkan, daji jirray ngadiku bajaku karrkay Kuku Yalanji wubulku manil, bubu bama-mabi ngadiku karra-ji wawu-maninka karrbanka kuku-yukil-maninka, nyulu maninka yajarr-ji jilbanka wubulku baja.


<translate> You and I saw the junbirr lizard there.


<translate> They saw the tiger shark here.


<translate> They see the jellyfish there.


<translate> We see the bamboo stick here.


<translate> The old woman said a father teaches his son the man's work and a mother teaches her daughter the woman's work, but both parents love both children the same, and the father's spear and the mother's dilly-bag are not signs of who is greater but of two halves of one life, for the man's hunting fills the camp with meat and the woman's gathering fills it with everything else, and neither could feed a family alone.

Wulbumanangka balkan nganjanangka nyungu jija milbil dingkar nyungu janka ngamungku nyungu jalbu-karrkay milbil jalbu nyungu janka, yambada ngamu-nganjan jambul karrkay jambul wawu-jirray nyubun-baja, nganjan-amu kalka ngamu-mu balji nyulu kari dandi wanya yalbay yambada jambul-warra nyubun wawu-kalbaymuny, dingkar nyungu balbil bayan minyabu buwal jalbu nyungu bangkal yamba wubulku-baja buwal, jambul-warra nyubun kari jawun-karra dayal nganga.


<translate> The children sat on the big flat rock beside the cool clear mountain stream.

Karrkay-karrkay jalngarr yalbay-ba bundan, wawubaja ngiki manjal-mu karangkal.


<translate> The two of them saw the mawul freshwater eel there.


<glossary> jindi ; type=noun ; domain=fauna-fish <usage_example> We gathered the green ants in dishes


<translate> You all saw the dukul-mukul lizard here.


<translate> Every family knew the one waterhole that never went dry in the worst of the drought.

Jawun-karra wubul-angka janku nyubun binal, kariku marral-ma-nya wungar marral-baja.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the freshwater eel here.


<translate> The two of them see the kajarrbi clam shell there.


<translate> The old woman sat in the shade twisting long strands of bark into strong string for a new dilly bag.

Wulbumanangka wabarrba bundandan, dubal kalbay murnin karra junkurrku, ngunyin jirakalka.


<translate> Maybe the rain will come tomorrow.


<translate> The dog licked the baby's face and the baby laughed.

Kayangka ngawa walu bijan, ngawangka kaya yajarrinda.


<translate> You all see the cheek there.


<translate> The honey from this tree is the sweetest in all the country.

Wunba yala-muny juku-muny jiba-wula-wula-baja bubu wubul-a.


<glossary> dajay ; type=noun ; domain=spirit-mythical-being <usage_example> The woman died, that's why they want to find her spirit

Nyulu jalbu wulan, yinyayanka jana nyungu dajay warrmba-bunganka


<translate> Wash the hands before the food, and after the fish too, the old woman ordered the children, wash the sore, then tie it, and wash the little ones in the warm shallow water while the sun stands high, for water is the quiet healer, it asks for nothing.

Julurrika mara mayi ngadiku, kuyumuny yalada baja, julurrika baji, yalada kaja, julurrika karrkay-buban bana wumbul bubanba wungar wangkar jananya, bana nyulu yukil-bungal-bama wunbu, nyulu yamba-kari babajil.


<glossary> kuyu ; type=noun ; domain=fauna-fish <usage_example> I'm going fishing


<glossary> kukujida ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> news mouth


<translate> His heart is strong and good, but his liver is sick, and the old doctor cannot heal him.

Nyungu wubul junkurr ngulkurr, yamba nyungu jiba bambay, mukul murri-ngka nyulu kari ngulkurr-mani.


<translate> The old woman said a marriage in the old way was not simply two people choosing each other but two whole families being joined, and it had to be a right marriage, the partners from opposite moieties, for a child belongs to the father's moiety, and if the moieties were wrong the marriage was wrong, and though these rules have loosened now, the old people still say that a marriage that ignores them will carry a hidden trouble.

Wulbumanangka balkan dunyu-manil ngadiku-kuku nyulu kari jambul bama nyubun-nyubun maninka yambada jawun-karra jambul nyubun-maninka, nyulu junkurr dunyu-manil yukil, ngaybirr bama-jambul jambul yindu-yindumuny, karrkay nyulu nganjan nyungu bama-jambul karra, bama-jambul mumbu-manda dunyu-manil mumbu, kuku yinya bada-manda nganga, bama mukul nganga balkan dunyu-manil kuku yinya bawal nyulu mumbu buyan karrbal.


<translate> You all saw the deep water there.


<translate> Ahead is a direction, not a promise — pack for both.

Jakalba nyulu kuku-jina, kari kuku-dandi: yamba mana jambulka.


<translate> The little girl is minding the chickens.


<translate> We, not you, saw the balarri queenfish here.


<translate> You and I see the hook here.


<translate> You and I saw the kajimarra food here.


<translate> He saw the mali small bat here.


<translate> They saw the jayju kangaroo rat here.


<lexeme> Rattlesnake point - Fritz Creek


<translate> We two, not you, see the mudcrab here.


<translate> They came from the other side of the river; we did not know them; but they spoke our language, so we welcomed them and fed them.

Jana ngubar-muny kadan; ngana janangan kari binalman; yambada jana ngananga kuku balkan, ngana jananga ngulkurr-bungan, jana mayi dayan.


<translate> They saw the diwalngku bird here.


<translate> She filled her dilly bag with sweet ripe fruit and small roots and carried it home on her back.

Nyulu ngunyin mayi kulbul jiba-wulay wukay buban nanda, bayan-ka wundin kudamundu.


<translate> Grandfather asked the young woman: "When will you come?"

Kami warru-jalbu-ndu babajin: "Wanjawanja yundu kada-y?"


<translate> The camp slept, the fire glowed low, and the old country held them all in the dark, as it always had and always would.

Bayan warngku, baya buban wajun, bububu jana wubulku kujin wujurrbu, yala yabarrka ngadiku, yala yabarrka kadanyjiku.


<translate> The child badly hurt her foot on the sharp rock in the shallow running water.

Karrkay buban jina kaka-mani-n kulji jinbal-ba, bana buban warri-nya.


<translate> The two of them saw the flea there.


<translate> Her sadness had a season, like the rains, and the camp built it a shelter instead of an argument — walu-jirrbu-jirrbu, they said gently, and kept her fire fed.

Walu-jirrbu-jirrbu nyungumuny wungar-ji yala kaba, bayanbu nyunguka wabarr bungan, kari kuku-balka-way: 'walu-jirrbu-jirrbu', jana balkan kimabu, baya nyungu mayi-dayan yabarrka.


<translate> Grandmother takes a billycan; perhaps water is there.

Babi-ngka jungkalu wundil, nguba bana yinyay.


<lexeme> tree (this term is very rarely used for money)


<translate> The child tried to lift the big spear but it was too heavy, so his father held his hands and they threw it.

Karrkayangka kalka yalbay kulban, yambada yalbay bajaku; nganjanangka nyungu mara karrban, jana daman.


<translate> The child went to the scrub with a stick.


<translate> We see the black-tip shark here.


<translate> You and I saw the jinkalmu snake here.


<translate> The grandchild sat quietly at the grandfather's feet every single night, the old man said, learning the long songs of the country one line at a time.

Kaminjarr janka bunda kami-mu jina-ba wujurr nyubun-nyubun, mukul-dingkar balkan, bubu-mu wulngku marri binalman nyubun-nyubun kuku-bu.


<glossary> kumbir ; type=adjective ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> I'm better now, after being sick


<translate> The hickory tree gives hard heavy wood that is very good for making strong woomeras.

Dilbal juku junkurr kulngkul, balur junkurr ngulkurr bunga-nka.


<translate> They two saw the oyster there.


<translate> The woman washed her hands in the water before she kneaded the damper.

Jalbu-ngka mara julurrin bana-nga, mayi damba dingka-nyjiku.


<glossary> nyirray ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> That child is always crying


<translate> You two cook the fish — I'll light the fire.


<translate> The deep waterhole under the big fig tree is the best of all in the long dry season.

Janku dukurr baril-baril yalbay bada nyulu ngulkurr bajaku, marral-wungar kalbay-ba.


<translate> Take this food to the old people.


<glossary> bakal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Sister gave me a shot (pricked with a needle)


<glossary> wubaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> My feet are swollen


<translate> They saw the bajal bower bird there.


<glossary> kumurr ; type=noun ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> It's flower time now


<glossary> kinbal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> You got his attention to show him


<translate> He sees the kalbariji tree there.


<translate> That short cut over the hill is quick, the old man said, but the long track by the river is safer, and I take the long one.

Yinya jina buban jamba wangkar-burr bila, mukul-dingkar balkan, yamba jina kalbay wawubaja ngundu ngulkurr bajaku, ngayu jina kalbay mani-l.


<translate> The person there is careful.


<translate> The two of them see the oyster there.


<translate> They are expert hunters like Aboriginal people, but their country is different.

Jana mala-minya yala bama, yamba jananga bubu walu-yindu.


<translate> You all see the archerfish there.


<translate> The old woman said every road you walk you walk twice: once with your feet, going out, and once in your memory, coming home in the evening firelight when you tell the children where you went and what you saw.

Wulbumanangka balkan: baral wubulku yundu jilbal yundu jambul jilbal: nyubun jinabu, wangkar dungay, nyubun milkanga, bayan-mundu kaday kunarangkalba bayanga yundu karrkay-karrkay milbil wanjabu yundu dungan wanya yundu nyajin.


<translate> The old woman sang the old song quietly to the little children before they went to sleep at night.

Mukul-jalbu wulngku mukul janka badin karrkay-nka, jana warngku wuna-nka kariku wujurr-ba.


<glossary> ngulkurrijin ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> Yinya nganka ngulkurrijin


<translate> You and I saw the pumice stone there.


<lexeme> tree (this term is very rarely used for money)


<translate> The many-pronged fish spear is here.


<translate> You two saw the bayil jungle perch here.


<translate> The eagle builds its big home high in a dead tree and comes back to the same place every year.

Wandi bayan yalbay bungan juku-wulan jarra-jarra, yinya bubu-ngu baja kadan wungar-kadal wubulku.


<glossary> ngingal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> Don't taste that dog (he'll) bite (you)


<translate> You and I saw the running water there.


<translate> In the late afternoon the children hid and looked for each other among the trees and rocks near the camp.

Yilay-yilay karrkay-karrkay ngakijin madjanga, nyajilwan juku kulji ngundu bayanba.


<translate> You two saw the ngumbi bandicoot here.


<translate> A camp without a fire is a cold and cheerless place on a wet winter night.

Bayan baya-kari nyulu bubu ngiki buyun wujurr kaba-muny.


<translate> He sees the ngamu-murramu dingo there.


<translate> The old man said if you would test whether a thing is worth doing, imagine you have already done it and grown old, and ask whether the old you looks back with pride or with regret, for the young mind lies to get what it wants but the old mind you imagine tells only the truth.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: kaki yundu yamba nyaji nyulu bunganka yukil, milka yundu yabarrka bungan mukul-manda, babaji mukul yundu kurrka-nyaji-ji wawu-minibu dukul walu-jirrbu-jirrbubu, milka warru warmbil nyungu wawu maninka yambada milka mukul yundu milkanya kuku yukil nganga balkal.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the karrmbil parakeet here.


<translate> You see the clay pipe there.


<translate> The mother called you, but you did not hear her because a loud rustling came in the grass.

Ngamu-ngku yununy kunjan, yundu kari nyajin, jikan-ba yanja yalbay kadan.


<translate> They saw the didgeridoo here.


<translate> The two of them saw the yuray snake here.


<translate> The pig is on the open ground.


<translate> The two ate Leichhardt fruit.


<translate> We saw the kuran case-moth larva here.


<translate> People do not walk through long grass lest a snake bite them.

Bama kari jikan-ba kalbay-mba dunga-n-dungay, jarba-bu bayka-nyji.


<translate> You two see the grasshopper there.


<translate> That old man is deaf now; he no longer hears the words of the young people at all.

Yinya mukul-dingkar niji milka-kari, kuku warru-mu nyulu kari nyaji-l wubulku.


<translate> The man saw the axe in the shade.


<translate> They saw the binjurr-binjurr honeyeater there.


<translate> You saw the barka snake here.


<translate> They saw the spider shell there.


<translate> You see the kurubarr mangrove here.


<translate> We see the spear point there.


<translate> They see the kakaji mangrove tree there.


<translate> I got the rope from the sack.


<translate> Grandmother washed her stomach.


<translate> The old woman said: When strangers meet, watch how they treat each other in the first hour, for people show their true nature not in how they act alone but in how they act toward one another.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama yindu-yindu nyaji-wanya, nyaji yala jana nyubun-nyubun ngaral wungar ngadikungu, bama nyungu wawu yukil milbil kari jana nganga ngaralba, yambada jana nyubun-nyubunji ngaralba.


<translate> Hold the baby while I tie the bag, then we can go.

Ngawa karrba ngayu balji kajanya, yalada ngana dungay.


<translate> You and I saw the waterfall there.


<translate> You and I see the rat there.


<translate> That child keeps hitting at the dogs around here.


<translate> He said it with the fire watching, and the fire did not go out — the old people counted that.

Nyulu balkan baya nyajinya, baya kariku wunbu-man: bama mukulbu yinya kunjan.


<translate> You and I see the karranda tree here.


<translate> The little one fell asleep before the food was cooked.


<translate> Loneliness in a crowd is the deepest kind — go and sit beside it; you are the medicine that walks.

Jirrbu-jirrbu bama-wubulba nyulu dukurr bajaku: dungay bunda ngundu, yundu kalbal jilbalmuny.


<translate> You and I see the scrub goanna here.


<translate> The people of that place are coming this way for the big meeting.

Yinyay-arra kaday yaluy, malkarri yalbay-ka.


<translate> They saw the spear barb here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the leg there.


<translate> We two, not you, see the kakaji mangrove tree here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the swamp here.


<translate> Grandmother took the fish net from the ground.


<translate> The rain stopped for a while and then began again, harder than before, and the old man said the wet season was not yet finished.

Kaba wula buban-buban, yinyamun yudal-baja, kulngkul bajaku kalbay-muny, mukul-dingkar balkan kaba wungar-iji kunbayn kariku.


<translate> The two of them see the black-tip shark there.


<translate> They see the fighting spear here.


<translate> The old woman said the wet season is the hungry time, when the yams are watery and the fruit not yet ripe, and the people wait and are lean.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: kaba wungar-iji dakwuy-wungar, bambayal bana-jirr, mayi kulbul kariku, bama bunda buban-ma-l.


<translate> I see the small sticks here.


<translate> You and I see the mukukanka tree here.


<translate> The woman asked me for food.


<translate> All of you listen: the flood took the marker tree, so the old crossing is nobody's road now.

Yurra wubulku milka-janay: jalungkarrbu juku-milbil manin, yalada bana-baral mukul nyiku bama-karimuny baral.


<translate> I am going to the creek; you stay here and look after the fire.

Ngayu wawubaja-ka dunga-y; yundu yaluy bunda, baya kuji.


<translate> The young fellows threw stones into the water.


<translate> The knife was made of a sharp shell before the white man's knife came; with it the women cut fish, cut the meat, and split the pandanus for weaving.

Naybu warkal jalngkun-muny bungan, waybala-mu naybu ngadiku; naybu-bu jalbu-jalbu kuyu yakan, minya yakan, juku wukurril-nka yika-daman.


<translate> We two, not you, see the perch there.


<translate> You and I saw the yuray snake here.


<translate> You two see the diburr-miyil eyeball here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the black-tip shark there.


<translate> You two saw the murramu dingo here.


<translate> You see the wurrul shellfish there.


<translate> The old man showed the young how to grind the hard seeds and nuts between two stones, the big flat stone below and the round stone above, working with the weight of the whole body, not just the arm, until the seed becomes a fine flour that can be mixed with water and baked into bread on the coals.

Mukulungku dingkarangka warru milbin yala jarra-buyun kulji jambulba nyurrbanka, kulji yalbay yaral bada kulji jirakal wangkar, kirraji bangkarr wubulkubu, kari mara nyubunku, dukul jarra buban-buban buban-manda nyulu bananji buwal kawar bunganka ngunjilba.


<translate> That mountain is far higher than the hills around it, and the cloud sits on its top even in the dry.

Yinya jarra-jarra-baja bubu-yalbay yindu-ka, ngurrban nyungu dukul-bu wunay dukurr-wungar-a baja.


<translate> Tracking runs backwards through time, the old man taught the boys over one print: read first of all how old, then how fast, then how heavy, then which way, and walk only then, when all the words have spoken, for the track is a story already standing on its paper, and the tracker who runs at the first word finishes the story wrong.

Jina-wukurril nyulu warrin muku-jinabu wungarburr, mukulungku dingkarangka buban-buban milbin jinanga: nyaji-ngurr wanjarrinya mukul, yalada wanjarrinya warri, yalada wanjarrinya dandi, yalada wanjaburr, jilbanda kuku wubulku balkanya, jina nyulu kuku-jangkar kabanba janaymuny, jina-bama nyulu warril kuku ngadikungu nyulu kuku-jangkar badaku mumbu kunbay-manil.


<translate> The children are playing outside.


<translate> The men hunted the kangaroo on the plain and the women dug for yams in the scrub.

Dingkar-angka mayarriji bubu dubar-a balbin, jalbu-ngka wukay madja-nga bakan.


<translate> The two went right on west and came to the mountain top.

Bula kuwa dungan-arrku, kuwa dungan-arrku, wuburr-bu kadan.


<translate> I went into the scrub, dug the roots, gathered the ripe figs, carried them home, and then my mother cooked them for us.

Ngayu madjanga dungan, bangkan bakan, binanji kulbul munjan, bayanka wundin, ngamungku ngananda wajunda.


<translate> I have no money, no dog, and no camp; I am a poor man, with nothing at all in this world.

Ngayu mani-kari, kaya-kari, bayan-kari; ngayu dingkar buyun, yamba-kari narmba yala bubu-ngu.


<translate> The little ones splashed in the shallow water all afternoon.


<glossary> jarri ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> He hasn't come yet, is staying away


<translate> That azure kingfisher is here.


<translate> It took a whole day's work to make the nuts good to eat, but they were rich food for the cold season.

Wungar nyubun kirrajin barka ngulkurrmanka, yambada mayi junkurr ngulkurr buluriji.


<translate> Put the hook on the line, and wait quietly for the fish to bite.

Badur wukurr-ba wuna, janka bunda kuyu bayka-nyji.


<translate> The young man sat on the road.


<translate> The man asked mother about water.


<translate> You two saw the yiki owl here.


<translate> In the morning, rain stopped.


<translate> Grandad finished his tobacco by the fire.


<translate> The two of them saw the maral-maral young girls here.


<translate> The child asked the girl about the bag.


<glossary> baral ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> He was feeling for his torch in the dark


<translate> We see the marsupial native cat here.


<translate> They will not go in case the rain comes.


<translate> They see the wada tree there.


<translate> The man got meat, cooked it, and then ate it.

Dingkar-ngku minya manin, wajun, nukan-da.


<translate> The two of them saw the yikari hardened beeswax here.


<translate> When the old woman died at last, full of years, the girl she had taught became the new keeper of the plants.

Wulbuman wulanda ngadiku, wungar wubulji, maral nyulu binalbunganmuny mayimu kuji jirakalmanda.


<translate> The dog followed the hunter down the track to the water and came home again with him at dark.

Kaya balbi-bama wukurrin jina-burr bana-ka, ngundu nyunban bayan-ka wujurr-ba.


<translate> You and I saw the biru-biru rainbow bird there.


<translate> The cold clear water of the mountain stream is the sweetest water in all the country.

Bana ngiki manjal wawubaja-mu nyulu bana jiba-wulay bajaku bubu wubul-ba.


<translate> Many people gathered at the big meeting, more people than the old man had ever seen before.

Bama wubul malkarri yalbay-ka muru-ma-n, bama jarra-wubul mukul-dingkar nyaji-nya-muny.


<translate> We all, not you, see the mud here.


<translate> That witchetty grub is here.


<translate> The man paints himself with red ochre for the corroboree.

Dingkar julngka-ji ngala-ngala-bu warrma-ka.


<translate> The hunter threw his spear straight and true, and the big kangaroo fell dead on the open plain.

Balbi-bama kalka jinbal nguymal daman, mayarriji yalbay daran wula bubu ngalkal-ba.


<translate> The widow cut herself again and again with a sharp stone when her husband died.

Bunjil kulji jalngkun-bu yaka-n-yaka-jin, dunyu nyungu wula-nya.


<translate> You all see the river there.


<translate> Mother said to the child: "Eat the food!"

Ngamu-ngku karrkay-anda balkan: "Mayi nuka!"


<translate> Grandad said: that bird is telling us something.

Kamingka balkan: yinya buyingku ngananda balkal.


<translate> You and I saw the jungarr marsupial native cat there.


<glossary> mulkay-warri ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I watched them playing and I felt happy

Ngayu jananiin nyajin ngujurinya, ngayu mulkay-warrin


<translate> The women rolled up the blankets and tied the bundles.


<translate> The two boys keep eating at the yams near the fire.

Karrkay-bulal wukay-mba nuka-n-nuka-ji baya ngundu-ba.


<translate> You all saw the three-pronged spear here.


<translate> The two children cried for their mother; she came to them quickly; she fed them and held them until they slept.

Bula karrkay ngamu-nka badin; nyulu bulanda warri kadan; nyulu bulanka mayi dayan, bulangan karrban jana wuna-nyjiku.


<glossary> mambarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> You didn't let me go


<glossary> kana-baykal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I'm angry at you


<translate> The child took the grass from the ground.


<translate> The spears, the boomerangs, and the shields all belong to the men, and the dilly bags to the women.

Kalka, wangal, kunjuri, narmba dingkar-mu; ngunyin jalbu-mu.


<translate> When they were old themselves, they would teach their own children the same signs in the same sky, unchanged since the beginning.

Jana kambamanda baja, jana nyungu karrkay-karrkay milbil yala nyubun jiri nyubunba, kari murninmuny ngadikumuny.


<translate> Is that a snake there in the long grass, or is it only a stick?

Yanyu jarba bilanji kalbay-mba, juku-baja?


<translate> They saw the kuralbi tree there.


<translate> At whose place does the child sleep tonight? The child sleeps at its mother's; but when the mother goes hunting, the child stays with its grandmother.

Wanyanda karrkay nyiku wujurr wunay? Karrkay nyungu ngamu-nda wunay; yambada ngamu balbi-nga dungay, karrkay nyungu babi-ji wunay.


<translate> The sun is very hot in the middle of the day, so the old people rest in the shade of the big tree.

Wungar wumbul-baja-ku wungar-jarra-jarra, bama mukul mara-kunbay juku-yalbay ngurrban-ba.


<translate> The baby has no teeth yet in her little mouth, so her mother feeds her soft food.

Ngawa dirra kariku ngandal buban-ba, nyungu ngamu-ngka mayi kima daji nuka-nka.


<translate> We see the karraway snail here.


<translate> Mother took the grass from the ground.


<glossary> ngangkal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I found him here without expecting him


<translate> We two, not you, see the whip snake there.


<glossary> yala ; type=demonstrative ; domain=location-deixis <usage_example> he went from here


<glossary> kakawarri ; type=adverb ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> He sang well then


<translate> You two see the mirrku kidney bird here.


<translate> You all see the ngurrkul fig tree here.


<translate> The girls are grinding seeds for damper.

Maral-maralangka diburr nyurrbal dambaka.


<translate> Sweat ran down the hunter's back and chest as he carried the heavy pig up the steep hill.

Jila-warri balbi-bama muku damu-ngu bada warri, nyulu bikibiki kulngkul manjal wangkar-a wundin.


<translate> They saw the rhinoceros beetle there.


<translate> You two saw the balarri queenfish there.


<translate> I went hunting with that man, and we two caught two kangaroos.

Ngayu balbi-ka dungan yinya-nji dingkar-nji, ngali mayarriji jambul karrban.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jiwurrmal pheasant cuckoo here.


<translate> The two of them saw the sea there.


<glossary> kandarr ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> The child finished eating, then the mother burped him

Nyulu karrkaymayi kunban ngamungku kandarrda dakay-manin


<translate> I see the black cockatoo there.


<translate> The two of them saw the yarrka bee here.


<translate> You all see the mulawajarr star there.


<translate> They walked west toward the setting sun for two days, sleeping under the trees at night and rising before dawn, until they reached the country of the western people and were welcomed as travellers.

Jana kuwa-mundu jilban wungar wulanka jambul wungar, kunarangkalba jukungu wunan, muduwajungumuny wandin, jana kuwamu bamamu bubungu kadanya jana yulmbarrilman jilba-bama yala.


<translate> You and I see the dilly bag here.


<lexeme> the Aboriginal camp at Thompson Creek


<translate> They made a canoe from candlenut tree.


<translate> Carry a story the way you carry water, the old woman warned the young women, with both eyes on your own feet, lest the word that was given to one person alone go down and be lost on the road, for the camp that drinks that story wants more, but the carrier gets the bad name for the flood.

Kuku-jangkar wundi yala yundu bana wundil, wulbumanangka jalbu-buban milbin, miyil jambul jinanga nyungu-nyungunga, kuku dayanmuny bamanka nyubunku nganga bada dunganyji baralba, bayan nyulu kuku yinya nukal nyulu wawu-manil wubulku-baja, yambada wundil-bama nyulu kuku-mumbu manil bana-yalbaymuny.


<translate> Grandmother sees the freshwater turtle.


<translate> I see the ironwood tree here.


<translate> The old man said taste is a map of the country: a person who knows their food knows the land, for each plant grows only in its own place and season and tells you where you are and what time it is, and a traveller far from home who tastes a familiar food knows a piece of their own country has reached out to meet them in a strange place.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: nganja bubumu jina-yukil: bama nyulu nyungu mayi binal nyulu bubu binal, mayi nyubun wubulku nyulu-nyulu bubungu wungara nganga jarra yundunka balkal wanja yundu janay wanya wungar, jilba-bama bayanmuny kala-kalbay nyulu mayi binalbu nganja-kangal nyulu binal nyungu bubu buban nyulu ngundu-mundu nyaji-wa-nka bubu yindungu.


<translate> You two saw the dilly bag here.


<translate> You and I saw the jirimandi coconut tree here.


<translate> Mother put the knife in the bag.


<translate> The children swam in the water and laughed until the sun went down.

Karrkay-karrkay bananga maraji, jana yajarrin, wungar bada-nyjiku.


<translate> Leichhardt fruit on that tree is good to eat.

Mayi kabal yinya-nga juku-ngu ngulkurr nukaji.


<translate> The two of them see the murrkul tree here.


<translate> The old man said a small plain bird in the scrub can throw the calls of many other birds, so that you think a whole flock is there when it is only one.

Mukul-dingkar balkan: buyi buban madja-ba buyi yindu-yindu-mu yirrka wubul balka, yundu milka-ma-l buyi wubul yaluy, nyubun-bu.


<translate> Grandmother sees the deep water.


<glossary> jarra ; type=noun ; domain=quantity-number <usage_example> I am bigger than he is


<translate> You saw the small sticks there.


<translate> You two saw the creek there.


<translate> You two see the large mud clam here.


<translate> A tool unshared grows dull twice, the old man passed the axe along the line: once at the edge, once at the heart — the blade gets good on work, and the maker gets good on thanks.

Yamba-murni wambajin-kari mumbu-mal jambulku, mukulungku dingkarangka warrbi dayan baralburr: nyubun dirraba, nyubun wawuba, dirra yukil-mal murnibu, bunga-bama yukil-mal yulmbarrilbu.


<translate> They saw the pumice stone there.


<translate> You see the daughter's child.


<translate> The clothing here is not loose.


<translate> You all see the wubali yam there.


<translate> I saw the bulnja frogmouth there.


<translate> The man without a dog found no pigs at all, and came home with an empty dilly bag.

Dingkar kaya-kari-ngka bikibiki kari nyajin, bayan-ka kadan ngunyin mayi-kari.


<translate> You two see the grass wallaby there.


<translate> The grandfathers remembered the names of all those who had died long, long ago.

Kami-karra burri binal bama wula-nya-mu, bama narmba kalbay-muny wula-nya.


<glossary> nganjar ; type=adverb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The child come to have some icecream (he didn't ask for it, just stayed to see if he would get some)

Nyulu karrkay nganjar kadan ice cream nukanka


<translate> The two women gave food to the man.

Bula jalbu-bulal-angka mayi dingkar-anda dajin.


<translate> They saw the morning star there.


<translate> I spread the paperbark blanket on the ground so that we could all sit on it.

Ngayu kararr bubu-ngu ngaran, ngana wubul bunda-nka.


<translate> You two saw the bajabaja lizard here.


<translate> You all saw the jirimandi coconut tree here.


<translate> We saw the kalmbangarr black diver bird here.


<translate> The many-pronged fish spear is there.


<translate> In the middle of the night, rain fell.


<translate> The sand goanna is good hunting, the old man said, for it is fat and easy on the open ground, and the dogs run it down and hold it at a hollow log.

Jadi ngulkurr balbi-nka, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyulu wandul bubu ngalkal-ba, kaya-kaya warri mani walmba janku-ba karrba.


<translate> The fire was covered with sand before we left.


<translate> The old man spoke quietly and slowly, and all the young people sat still to hear his true words.

Mukul-dingkar balkan janka buban-buban, warru narmba janka bundan nyungu kuku yukil nyaji-nka.


<translate> He saw the bamboo stick there.


<translate> Go up the track to the hinterland camp, but do not go down to the sea where the crocodiles live.

Wangkar dunga-y jina-burr bayan jibarr-ka, kari bada dunga-y jalun-ka, bilngkumu yinya wunay.


<translate> They saw the headband there.


<translate> The old woman's hands had grown hard from a life of scraping seed and digging roots and twisting string, and a girl held them softly and said they were like river stones, and the old woman laughed: yes, like river stones, the water that shaped them has gone past, but put a seed under this hand and it still knows the whole work.

Wulbuman mara nyungu dandi-man wawumuny diburr yurrinmuny bangkan bakanmuny karra murninmuny, jalbu-bubanangka jana karrban kimabu balkan jana yala kulji wawubajamuny, wulbuman yajarr-man: yuwu, yala kulji wawubajamuny, bana jana murninmuny dungan, yambada bunga diburr badabada maranga, nyulu murni wubulku binal yabarrka.


<translate> The grandmother said a child is a new arrangement of old pieces: the nose comes from one line, the temper from another, the gift for song from a great-grandfather nobody now remembers, and yet there it is, singing again.

Babingka balkan: karrkay yamba ngadikumu jirakal yijarril: murru nyubun jawun-karramuny kadan, dukul-wuri yindumuny, kuku ngulkurr juwaymu nyulu bama kari nyiku binalku, yambada yinya janay, kuku ngulkurr baja.


<translate> The green ant bite made his whole arm swell, and the deep pain went right into the bone.

Munjurr baykal nyungu wakuy wubulku yalbay-ma-n, kaka bajibay dukurr-ka dungan.


<translate> They saw the Moreton Bay fig tree there.


<translate> In the hot season we sleep outside.

Wungariji ngana ngalkalba warngku wunay.


<glossary> dalkay ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> after 10 days the little ones hatch out


<translate> They saw the karranda tree there.


<glossary> damal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the pastor baptised him


<translate> He saw the maral-maral young girls there.


<translate> You and I saw the biyangkal yam here.


<glossary> nyumba-buyun ; type=noun ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I crab crab meat


<translate> The young man felt very ashamed when the old people saw that he had taken the food.

Warru murru-kaday bajaku, mukul-bama-ngka nyajin nyulu mayi manin.


<translate> They poured water into the bark.


<translate> I saw the julaji freshwater catfish there.


<translate> I saw the murramu dingo here.


<translate> The old woman washed the child's long hair in the cold water of the creek.

Wulbumanangka karrkay-mu mungka kalbay julurrin bana ngiki-nga wawubaja-nga.


<translate> Grandmother asked the child about a bone.


<lexeme> {'english': 'Yabaju kari diday-mana ngaykundu. Ngayu babarr', 'translation': "Don't say bad something bad about my younger brother to me. I'm his older sister."}


<translate> The two of them saw the scorpion here.


<glossary> dalngarri ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> I have to go to the toilet


<translate> You and I saw the dukul-mukul lizard here.


<translate> The old woman said reciprocity is not keeping score; the moment you begin to count what you have given and what you are owed, the web has already begun to tear, for true giving expects no return and true receiving carries no debt, only gratitude.

Wulbumanangka balkan: daji-way kari wubul nyajil; yundu wubul nyajil wandinya yundu yamba dajinmuny yamba yundunka wawunmuny, bama nyubun kaji kaka-manda ngadiku, dajil yukil kari kadan wawu, manil yukil kari yamba wundil, wawu-mini nganga.


<translate> When the family moved camp, the old woman carried a live coal from the old fire wrapped in green bark and paperbark, feeding it a breath of air now and then, so that the new camp was lit from the same fire that had warmed her mother and her mother's mother.

Jawun-karra bayan murninya, wulbumanangka ngunjil wula baya mukulmuny jarrakulban wawun-jinbal kambi-jukubu buwun, daya nyulu wangar buban wungar wubulku, bayan jirakal wandin baya nyubunmuny nyulu ngamu ngamumu ngamu baja wumbul-maninmu.


<lexeme> see and know someone before he sees and knows you


<translate> Push the little ones on ahead — the tide is coming.


<translate> We all, not you, see the small sticks here.


<translate> We two (not you) saw the spear point here.


<lexeme> the point between Kangkiji and Kaway


<lexeme> {'english': "He's well now after being sick", 'translation': 'Nyulu bambaymun ngulkurrda'}


<translate> He saw the jalkay salmon here.


<translate> That clothing there is not narrow.


<translate> They saw the jimalili lizard here.


<translate> The old man taught that the wing bones of the big birds make the best whistles, the cassowary and the brolga and the black cockatoo.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan buyi yalbay-mu nangki bajibay ngulkurr bajaku kuwimbur-nka, kurranji kulbal kadanji-jirr.


<translate> The young man hit himself on the arm by mistake.


<translate> The spotted eagle ray is here.


<translate> The whole family sat down together and shared plenty of good food between all of them.

Jawun-karra narmba muru bundan, mayi ngulkurr jirray jana wubulku nukan.


<translate> The old people carried the black bean nuts to lie soaking in the creek for many hours.

Mukul-bama-ngka baway diburr wawubaja-nga wunay-ka wundin, wungar kalbay-baja.


<glossary> jarmbil ; type=noun ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> The boat is drifting


<translate> He saw the jungka wild cherry tree here.


<glossary> bangkal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> When I went to Brisbane, I got (gathered) toys and clothing for my younger brothers

ngayu Brisbane dungan, toy, kambi bangkal-bangkan yabaju-karragna


<translate> The mother's father is there.


<translate> They saw the knight fish here.


<translate> They saw the bakay snake there.


<translate> They saw the walkarr goanna here.


<translate> They saw the kurrujuwa sentry bird here.


<translate> I saw the ngarkay waterhen here.


<translate> Grandmother washed the baby's mouth with water.

Babi-ngka ngawa ngandal julurrin bana-bu.


<glossary> kumbir ; type=adjective ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> I'm better now, after being sick


<translate> The woman lit a small fire, let it burn down to good coals, mixed the ground seed-flour with water into a firm dough, shaped it into a flat round loaf, raked a clean hollow in the hot ash, laid the damper in and covered it, turned it once, and then lifted it out golden and fed the whole family.

Jalbu baya buban wandiman, wula bada dungan ngunjil yukilku, jarra-nyurrban bananji murni-manin jarray-manda, damba jirakal-manda buban-buban, bajar wumbulba birra karra, damba daya wangkar-manin, murni-manin nyubun, yalada wangkar-manin jani jawun-karra wubulku dayanda.


<translate> Her sadness had a season, like the rains, and the camp built it a shelter instead of an argument — walu-jirrbu-jirrbu, they said gently, and kept her fire fed.

Walu-jirrbu-jirrbu nyungumuny wungar-ji yala kaba, bayanbu nyunguka wabarr bungan, kari kuku-balka-way: 'walu-jirrbu-jirrbu', jana balkan kimabu, baya nyungu mayi-dayan yabarrka.


<translate> The old woman smiled and said: they learned slowly and paid dearly, and every plant we know cost someone long ago.

Wulbumanangka yajarrin, balkan: jana buban-bubanku binalman, dandi bajaku manin, mayi wubulku ngana binal bama ngadiku dajinmuny.


<translate> The old man kept looking and looking at the tall tree that the big storm had struck.

Mukul-dingkar nyaji-l-nyaji-n juku kalbay, kaba yalbay-bu kuni-nya.


<glossary> baru ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> she is holding the child in her lap


<glossary> nubiji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> What are you looking for?


<translate> The children laughed and laughed when the old man told the story about the cheeky dog.

Karrkay-karrkay yajarrin yajarrin, mukul-dingkar-angka kuku balkan kaya-mu.


<translate> We saw the black scrub goanna on the open ground.


<translate> After that great flood, the old man said, the country was never quite the same again for the old people, and the river ran in a new course to the sea.

Wawu-yinya-muny jalungkarr yalbay, mukul-dingkar balkan, bubu kari yindu-baja mukul-bama-nka, bana-jandu jina jirakal-ba dunga jalun-ka.


<glossary> walngal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He took off his shoes


<translate> You and I saw the jabil lizard here.


<translate> The child had a good feed of fish and then sat quietly.

Karrkay kuyu-ngu nuka-jin, janka bundan.


<translate> The old man killed the black snake near the camp with a heavy digging stick.

Mukul-dingkar-angka bindimu bayan ngundu kunin, juku junkurr-bu.


<translate> Mother took the child to water.


<translate> Father saw the paperbark in the shade.


<translate> They wanted to go on; meanwhile they were no longer afraid.

Jana wawu dunga-nka, kari yinilman-kuda.


<translate> The man saw the grey kangaroo in the scrub.

Dingkar-angka julmbanu madja-nga nyajin.


<translate> They see the scrub goanna there.


<glossary> yalaymburr ; type=temporal ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> I'll go before the rain comes


<translate> I asked my elder brother to make me a new spear.

Ngayu yaba-nda babajin, kalka buban bunga-nka.


<translate> She carried the sleeping baby against her warm chest, holding it close and gentle.

Nyulu ngawa wuna-nya damu wumbul-ba karrban, ngundu-baja ngulkurr baja.


<translate> The man put the stone on the ground.


<translate> They saw the empty box here.


<translate> The black bean tree drops big heavy nuts that must be soaked long in the running water.

Baway diburr yalbay kulngkul daran, bana warri-nya-ba kalbay-baja wunay-ka.


<translate> The old man's face looked exactly like his dead brother's face, the old woman said quietly.

Mukul-dingkar walu yala nyungu yaba wula-nya-mu walu, mukul-jalbu-ngka janka balkan.


<glossary> wanjaburr ; type=interrogative ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> WHich way did you come?


<translate> The cold wind of the dry time makes the old people shiver by the morning fire.

Muyar kiway-angka mukul-bama kiway-mani-l, baya wunkuwingku karangkal.


<translate> The bronze wing pigeon is there.


<translate> Help each other carry the load, share the water between you, and do not leave anyone behind on the long walk!

Wubul mara-daji-way, bana daji-way, kari bama nyubun bawa jilbay yalbay-mba!


<translate> Climb the palm, cut the top, and bring the good food down to us!

Yawarrba daka, kaku yaka, ngananda mayi wundi!


<translate> The girls collected honey bread from the scrub.


<translate> He sees the jumper ant here.


<translate> I saw the kurrmaja larvae here.


<translate> Don't swim there — the crocodile is watching!

Kari yinyay marajika — bilngkumungku nyajil!


<translate> Never cry over a lost thing until you have looked everywhere, said the old woman, smiling.

Wulbumanangka balkan yajarrinya: kari badi yamba kilbanmuny, yundu yiringkurr nyajinyjiku.


<translate> When the moon is full and round and bright, the old people said, it is a good time to travel and to hunt at night.

Kija yalbaymanda balbajinya, kamba-kamba balkan, wungar ngulkurr jilba dungay, balbinka kunarangkalji.


<translate> You and I see the lightning here.