<translate> The old woman said a person truly came to know who they were only by knowing their kin, for the question who am I was answered in the old way not by looking inward at some private self but by looking outward at the whole web of relations, saying I am this woman's daughter and that man's niece and these children's grandmother, so that identity itself was woven from kinship, and a person with no kin was, in a deep sense, no one at all.

Wulbumanangka balkan bama nyulu bajaku binalman wanya nyulu nganga nyungu karra binalbu, kuku wanya ngayu nyulu kuku-yukil-manin ngadiku-kuku kari dukurr-bu nyaji nyungu-nyungu wawu-karra yambada nyaji jawun-karra wubulku, balkal ngayu jalbu yinya nyungu jalbu-karrkay dingkar yinya nyungu ngujurr karrkay yinya nyungu-nyungu babi, jarray-yukil nyulu-nyulu karra-ji murnin, bama karra-kari nyulu, dukurr bajaku, wanya-kari bajaku.


<glossary> kambal ; type=noun ; domain=location-deixis <usage_example> Get the food from the low (branch)


<glossary> badi ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> the dogs were howling because their master left them


<translate> Grandmother put the bark outside.


<translate> Mother saw the deep water there.


<translate> Light a fire lest the child be cold.

Baya waju, karrkay kiway-kiway jana-nyji.


<translate> We two (not you) see the wooden sword here.


<translate> You see the giant herring here.


<translate> The old man asked the child who had made all the tracks, the old woman said, but the little child did not know who it had been at all.

Mukul-dingkar-angka karrkay nyajin wanya-ngka jina wubulku bungan, mukul-jalbu balkan, yamba karrkay buban kari binal wanya nyulu.


<translate> The dragonfly hovering over a dry gully means there is water somewhere near, the old man taught, for it never strays far from the pools where its young grow, so a thirsty traveller who sees one should follow the direction it keeps returning to, and this small bright creature has saved the lives of people lost in the dry country more than once.

Wurarr-wurarr murninya bubu-jandu kiway-kiway ngunduku yala bana wanja ngundu, mukulungku dingkarangka milbin, nyulu kariku kala-kalbay dungay bana ngundumuny wanja nyungu buban jarray, jilba-bama bana-dakwuy nyulu nyajinya nyulu wukurri wanja-mundu nyulu nyunban-nyunban, minya buban yilbay yinya bama wula-manin kiway-kiway bubu-mundu jambulmuny baja.


<translate> The old woman said the seed pods and the dry husks of many plants make the rattles and the rhythm-things of the dances and the games, and she taught the children to gather and dry and string them, so that the plants gave not only food and tools but music too, and a child shaking a seed-pod rattle by the fire was already learning the beat that the great dances would one day need.

Wulbumanangka balkan diburr-jarrakay juku kiway-kiway wubulku nyubun-nyubun bungal kurr-kurr yulmbarril-jangkar yajarr-yamba baja, nyulu karrkay-karrkay milbin bangkanka wunanka karranyji baja, juku dayal kari nganga mayi kalka yambada wulngku baja, karrkay nyulu diburr-kurr-kurr jaba-manilnya baya ngunduku nyulu ngadiku binalman kuku-jina yulmbarril-yalbay wungar nyubun wawu-manilmuny.


<translate> That tall blue mountain in the north is the highest of all the mountains in this country.

Manjal kalbay kungkarr-a yinya nyulu manjal jarra-jarra bajaku, bubu yinya wubulku-ba.


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


<translate> They saw the kujuway pigeon here.


<translate> The little child said proudly: I did not swim, because the water was too deep, but I watched the fish and I minded the fire!

Karrkay bubanangka balkan wawu-yalbay: Ngayu kari marajin, bana bada bajaku, yambada ngayu kuyu nyajin, ngayu baya kujin!


<translate> They saw the milbarakal tree there.


<translate> In the wet season the river rose and covered the sand, so everyone moved camp up behind the big rocks.

Buluriji wawubaja yalbayman, jukar nandanda, jana wubulku jurrkijin wangkar kulji yalbaymba kudamundu.


<translate> You and I see the spear thrower here.


<lexeme> Nganjin dungan, ngingkirr nyajin


<translate> You see the bloodwood tree there.


<translate> I see the forest kingfisher.


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


<translate> They see the kakaji mangrove tree here.


<translate> The very big man's spear broke when he threw it at the running pig.

Dingkar yalbay-baja-mu-ku kalka dumbarrin, nyulu minya warri-nga bawan.


<translate> After washing, the young men rubbed fat on their skin to make it shine and to keep off the biting mosquitoes in the evening.

Julurri-jinmuny, warru-warrungka wandul bangkarra yijarrin balbajinka, kamu yilay-yilay kudamundu kujinka.


<translate> He saw the darrba grass wallaby here.


<translate> Those love handles are here.


<translate> We (not you) went far to the north; we hunted many days; the country was different to us; and we were glad to come back to our own place.

Nganjin kala-kalbay kuwa-mundu dungan; nganjin wungar wubul balbin; bubu nganjinanka yindu; nganjin ngananga bubu-mundu kada baja, ngulkurr-man.


<glossary> julbarr-warri ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> I slipped in the mud


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


<translate> The old man said: the country answers only those who ask. Ask the water where the fish are, ask the sky when the rain comes, ask the old ones who your people are — a person who never asks walks blind through a country full of knowledge.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: bubu-ngku babaji-bama nyubun balkal. Bana babaji wanjabu kuyu, jiri babaji wanja-wanja bana kaday, mukul-mukul babaji wanya yunu bama — bama kari babaji-l nyulu miyil-kari bubu binal-wubul-bu jilba.


<translate> The old man is staying outside with the baby.


<lexeme> bad spirit in form of crocodile


<translate> We climbed slowly up the steep mountain to the high rocky peak at the very top.

Ngana buban-buban manjal jarra-jarra dakan, kulji wangkar-a jalkaraburr-ka.


<translate> I see the ngalkarran tree there.


<translate> The baby's mother was glad and thanked the old people, and there was a big meal that night.

Ngawamu ngamu wawu-mini, kamba-kamba ngulkurr balkan, mayi yalbay yinya kunarangkal.


<translate> The baby slept in the shade.


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


<translate> You and I see the wooden sword there.


<translate> They saw that marngkil ti tree.


<glossary> wawurr-wawurrmal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I decided to go now


<lexeme> the point between Kangkiji and Kaway


<translate> Granny smiled and put the food out.


<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> We all, not you, see the door here.


<translate> The man sat down, had a good feed of meat, and then had a long rest in the cool shade.

Nyulu dingkar bundan, minya-nga nuka-jin, wunan-da wabarr ngiki-nga.


<translate> The child heard thunder at night.

Karrkay-ngku jarramali wujurr-bu nyajin.


<translate> That dog bit the child, so the men chased it away.

Yinya-ngka kaya-ngka karrkay baykan, dingkarangka kangan bada-ka.


<translate> Grandmother searched around in the bag for yams.


<translate> You two saw the walkarr goanna there.


<translate> Keep it for seeds, said granny.


<translate> The two of them saw the yarrkay-yarrka group of children here.


<translate> Dreams are the day's unfinished words, grandmother said — finish the ending awake.

Bijarr nyulu kuku wungarmuny kunbay-manil-kari, babingka balkan: bada kunbay-mani miyil ngalkal-ji.


<translate> They heard the grunt sound here.


<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> They saw the yalnga turtle there.


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


<translate> The child sees the saltwater crocodile.


<translate> The child was small yesterday, it seems, but now she is big and runs fast across the warm sand.

Karrkay buban yilayku yala, yamba niji nyulu yalbay warri bajaku jukar wumbul-burr.


<translate> I want to speak only to you.


<translate> We two, not you, see the ngadil hickory tree there.


<translate> You see the milbarkal tree there.


<translate> This man gave food to the child.

Yalu-ngku dingkar-angka mayi dajin karrkay-anka.


<translate> The house there is not huge.


<translate> Grandfather saw the axe on the ground.


<translate> The woman came out of the house.


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


<translate> You two see the freshwater eel here.


<translate> The old people sat in a circle, passed the food from hand to hand, told stories to one another, and laughed together late into the night.

Mukul-mukul muru bundan, mayi mara-burr daji-wan, kuku balka-wan, yajarr-wan wujurr yalbay-mba.


<translate> Has the water become cold enough to drink? Not yet — leave it in the shade a while, and when it is cool we will fill the coolamons.

Bana kiway-man nuka-nka? Kariku — wabarrba bawa nganga, bana kiway-ma-nya ngali dubal yajin-bunganka.


<translate> You and I saw the ngurrkul fig tree here.


<translate> I see the kuralbi tree here.


<translate> You see the tiger shark here.


<translate> The old woman said a community is not a place but a practice: it is the daily choice, made by everyone at once, to carry a little of each other's weight, and it dies the day people stop making that choice.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama nyubun kari bubu, yambada kirraji: wungar wubulku manil, bama wubulku nyubunku, nyubun-nyubunmu dandi buban jarrakulbanka, nyulu wula wungar bama nyulu yinya manil bawalnya.


<translate> The cassowary is a dangerous bird, taller than a man, killing with its strong leg, so hunters are very careful.

Kurranji buyi yinil, dingkarmuny kalbay bajaku, jina junkurrbu bama yarkin-bungal, yala balbibama wunbu bajaku.


<translate> The trees have no flowers in the cold season, and the small birds have no food in the dry hills.

Juku-juku nganka-kari ngiki-wungar-a, buyi-buyi buban mayi-kari jamba marral-ba.


<translate> You and I see the wubali yam there.


<translate> Three tellers, one river story: the first saw it, the second heard the first, the third dreamed loudly — sort your firewood before you burn it.

Balkal-bama kulur, kuku-jangkar wawubajamuny nyubun: ngadikubu nyajin, jambulkubu ngadiku milka-janan, kulurkubu bijarril junkurrbu: baya-juku nyaji wajunka ngadiku.


<translate> He saw the bujil-yiran ibis here.


<translate> You all saw the freshwater eel there.


<translate> Don't leave the fire — bank it with ash so it does not die by morning.

Kari baya bawa — bajar-bu nanda, nyulu kari wulay wunkuwingku-ka.


<translate> In the bag, mother put food.


<translate> Grandfather's body is tired.


<translate> We heard the tree fall in the scrub.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jungka wild cherry tree here.


<translate> That broad leaf lay in the bag.


<translate> The old man said there is a kind of walking that is really a kind of praying: you walk slowly through country that holds your dead, and at each place you speak their name aloud, and by the end of that walk the grief has walked itself out of you and left peace in its place.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: jilbal nyubun nyulu yala wawu-balkal: yundu buban-buban jilba bubungu nyulu yundu wula karrbal, kanban wubulku yundu nyungu burri junkurr balka, jilbal dumbaymuny walu-jirrbu-jirrbu jananmuny jilban dungan wunbu bawan yinyanga.


<translate> They saw that jinjajalka tree.


<translate> We, not you, saw the bilbil-bilbil gecko there.


<translate> Mother gave water to the sick child.

Ngamu-ngku bana dajin karrkay-anda bambay-nda.


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


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


<translate> We, not you, saw the bujil-yiran ibis there.


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


<translate> Grandmother said to grandfather: "I do not know."

Babi-ngka kami-nda balkan: "Ngayu kari binal."


<translate> Granny cooked the fish in the coals and gave it to everyone, but she kept the best piece for the old woman who lives alone.

Babingka kuyu wayjun nulungu, jananda dajin wubulku, yambada ngulkurr bajaku kujin wulbumananka nyulurrku bundanday.


<translate> A man must marry a woman of the opposite moiety, the old man said, and the children always belong to the same moiety as their own father.

Dingkar-angka jalbu mandi yindu-mu dunyu-mani, mukul-dingkar balkan, karrkay-karrkay marri nganjan-mu mandi nyubun-ba wuna.


<glossary> ngakil ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> I hid the spear in the grass


<translate> The old man led the boys on their first long hunting trip away from the camp: they walked out two days into new country, he taught them to make a dry camp with little water, they hunted the plains at dawn and rested in the heat, they smoked the meat to carry it, they read new country they had never seen, they turned for home when the food-bags were full, and then walked back proud with more meat than they had ever carried.

Mukulungku dingkarangka warru-warru balbil kalbay ngadiku jilbaman bayanmuny kala-kalbay: jana jambul wungar bubu jirakal-mundu jilban, nyulu milbin bayan-kiway bana buban bunganka, jana bubu-yaral muduwajungu balbin wumbulba mara-kunban, jana minya kubu-manin jarrakulbalka, jana bubu jirakal jana kariku nyajinmu nyajin, jana bayan-mundu murni mayi-balji buwanba, yalada wawu-junkurr nyunban minya wubul jana kariku jarrakulbanmuny.


<translate> You and I saw the sand there.


<translate> He quickly followed the kangaroo.


<translate> The dog bit grandfather's hand.


<translate> The flames rose high, and smoke went through the camp.

Wula wangkar-a wandin, kubu bayan-burr dungan.


<translate> We see the fighting stick there.


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


<translate> How many seasons does the year hold? a child asked, and the old woman spread her fingers: the white people count two, the old people name them by how the country works — the hot time, the storm time, the wet, the drying time, the cold dew time — so the year has as many rooms as you have learned to see, and each one keeps its own food and its own work.

Wanjarrinya wungar-jina wungarbu karrbal? karrkay babajin, wulbumanangka birri milbin: waybalangka jambul kunjal, bama mukulungku kunjal yala bubu murnil: wangariji, jarramali-wungar, bana-wungar, wungar marral-manya, bulur-iji, yalada wungar nyulu bayan-ji wubul-ji yala yundu binalman nyajinka, nyubun-nyubunbu mayi nyungu-nyungu murni nyungu-nyungu karrbal.


<glossary> baja ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> do you have more?


<translate> The two of them saw the karranda tree here.


<translate> The old people knew that strong bones come from plenty of good fat meat and marrow.

Mukul-bama-ngka binal, bajibay junkurr minya wandul ngulkurr wubul-muny kada-nya.


<translate> The old woman said foresight is the cheapest of all provisions and weighs nothing in the pack, so fill your mind before you fill your bag.

Wulbumanangka balkan: nyaji-ngarr yamba wubulmuny buban bajaku, baljinga kari dandi wundinka, milka nanda-ngarr balji nandanyjiku.


<translate> They saw the durral tree there.


<translate> The tree kangaroo is hard to see and hard to catch, high up in the dark rainforest canopy.

Murral nyaji-l buyun, mani buyun, wangkar-wangkar madja junkurr ngungul dukurr.


<translate> You two see the bandicoot there.


<translate> When do we say nyaku, and when do we say nyji? a sharp-eyed girl asked, and the old woman gave her the two roads: say nyaku for the thing that would have stood but did not stand, and say nyji for the thing whose road you shut, one of them looks back at a departed spirit, one of them looks ahead at a snake.

Wanjawanja ngana balkal 'nyaku', wanjawanja 'nyji'? jalbu-buban miyil-ji babajin, wulbumanangka maralanda baral jambul dayan: balka 'nyaku' yambaka, nyulu jananyaku yambada kari janan, balka 'nyji' yambaka, yundu baral nyungu nandal, nyubunbu nyajil bada wawuka dunganmuny, nyubunbu nyajil ngadiku jarbaka.


<translate> Father gave the bone to grandmother.


<translate> The old woman said a person truly came to know who they were only by knowing their kin, for the question who am I was answered in the old way not by looking inward at some private self but by looking outward at the whole web of relations, saying I am this woman's daughter and that man's niece and these children's grandmother, so that identity itself was woven from kinship, and a person with no kin was, in a deep sense, no one at all.

Wulbumanangka balkan bama nyulu bajaku binalman wanya nyulu nganga nyungu karra binalbu, kuku wanya ngayu nyulu kuku-yukil-manin ngadiku-kuku kari dukurr-bu nyaji nyungu-nyungu wawu-karra yambada nyaji jawun-karra wubulku, balkal ngayu jalbu yinya nyungu jalbu-karrkay dingkar yinya nyungu ngujurr karrkay yinya nyungu-nyungu babi, jarray-yukil nyulu-nyulu karra-ji murnin, bama karra-kari nyulu, dukurr bajaku, wanya-kari bajaku.


<translate> The wild bees make their honey in a hollow high up inside the old ironbark tree.

Dabu-ngka wunba juku mali dukurr-ba wangkar-a bunga-l.


<translate> We see the black stone here.


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


<translate> One cold morning a thick white fog lay over the whole river valley, so the children could not see the humpy next to their own.

Nyubun wunkuwingku kiway ngurrbal kalbay bubu wubulku wuyar dungay, karrkay-karrkay murruji wurun ngundu nyajil.


<glossary> muwul ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> That man is from Mossman, he's living secretly with his relation (so the Manager won't know)

Nyulu bama Mossmanmun, nyulu muwulku bundanday jawunyunji


<translate> You saw the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> The lightning struck the big paperbark tree.


<translate> That broad leaf lay in the bag.


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


<translate> They see the large mud clam here.


<translate> The storm came at night. Everyone stayed inside the house. In the morning the sun came out again.

Jarramali kadan kunarangkal. Jana wubulku kananga bundandan. Wunkuwingku wungar wandin baja.


<translate> A country with fresh water is a mother to its people, giving them everything they need to live, but a country without water, however beautiful, is only a beautiful grave, and the old people mapped every soak and spring and rock-hole across the whole land precisely because they knew that with-water means life and without-water means death.

Bubu bana-ji nyulu ngamu bama-nka, jananka yamba wubulku dayal wunayka, yambada bubu bana-kari, yilbay yala, nyulu nganga yilbay-jandu, bama mukul bana-janku wubulku binal-manin bubu wubulku ngunduka jana binalman bana-ji wunay yala bana-kari wulal yala.


<translate> You two saw the ngumbi bandicoot here.


<translate> I see the mungka-mungka tree here.


<translate> They saw that madu sea pine.


<translate> The dog sat outside the camp in the cold night, while the people slept warm inside by the fire.

Kaya bayan ngalkal bundan wujurr ngiki-ba, bama warngku wuna kana wumbul baya ngundu.


<translate> The boneless meat lay in the bag.


<translate> The sand crab is in the water.


<translate> I see the wurru-bulan small crab here.


<translate> During the night the child heard barking.

Wujurr-bu karrkay-ngku ngangkurr nyajin.


<translate> The old people shared out all the meat.


<translate> The old woman said the wild plum and the small fruits of the scrub are the children's own harvest, low enough to reach and safe to eat, and she sent the little ones out to gather them by the handful, both to feed them and to teach them, for a child who learns young to know the sweet fruit from the sour and the good from the sickening is a child already halfway to surviving alone.

Wulbumanangka balkan mayi-jirakal mayi buban majaji baja nyulu karrkay-karrkay nyungu bangkal, bada baja maninka jiba-wulay nukanka, nyulu buban-buban wangan bangkanka maramabi, jananka dayanka milbinka baja, karrkay nyulu buban binalman mayi jiba-wulay ngambuymuny yukil buyun-manilmuny nyulu karrkay ngadiku dukurr-baja nyulu-nyulu wunayka.


<translate> What is that bird calling out from the very top of the tall tree, the child asked, and the grandfather told him its name at once.

Wanyu buyi yinya juku kalbay wangkar-a yirrka-nya? karrkay nyajin, kami-ngku nyunguny nyungu burri nyiku-nyiku balkan.


<glossary> bajaku ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> They got very much food from the store


<translate> The old woman said the wild fig ripens dark and soft, but the flying-fox eats it in the night, so you must gather early in the morning.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: binanji kulbul ngumbu ngulkurr-ma-l, yamba jimbaru nuka wujurr-ba, yundu bangka wunkuwingku niji-niji.


<translate> The fire is rather small now; put some more dry wood on it before the cold night comes down.

Baya jarra-buban niji; juku marral yindu yijarri baya-ba, wujurr ngiki kada-nyjiku.


<translate> You and I see the mirrki kidney bird there.


<translate> The mosquitoes came out at sunset and bit everyone around the smoky camp fire.

Kamu wungar daray wandin, bama wubul baykan baya kubu karangkal.


<translate> The child ate food first and then drank water.

Karrkay mayi-ngarr nukan, bana nukan-da.


<translate> The greedy one took the last piece without asking.

Bamabu jumbunbu mayi-daji bada manin babaji-kari.


<translate> The old people came from the north, walking many days towards the big wide river.

Mukul-bama kungkarr-muny kadan, wungar wubul jilban maku wawubaja yalbay kalbay-ka.


<translate> He saw the murrkul tree here.


<translate> They saw the war spear here.


<translate> They saw the smouldering log here.


<translate> We see the black scrub goanna in the scrub.


<translate> He sees the marril ti tree here.


<translate> I see the shell back snail here.


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


<translate> That stringybark tree is here.


<translate> The children all went to sleep after they had eaten the sweet turtle meat.

Karrkay-karrkay wubul wunan, wawu-nuka-nya-muny yalnga minya jiba-wula-wula.


<translate> Uncle hooked a big fish with the hook spear.


<translate> You all see the rock python there.


<translate> The woman put a flower in the child's hand.

Jalbu-ngku nganka yijarrin karrkay-anda mara-nga.


<translate> The boys swam in the shallows while the men loaded the canoes.

Dabal marijin bananga bubanba, dingkar-dingkarangka marrakan mumbanya.


<translate> You and I see the bikarrakal fruit there.


<translate> We are born people-with and we leave story-with, and everything between is the slow trade of the one for the other.

Ngana wandil bama-nji, ngana dungay kuku-jangkar-ji, yamba wubulku jambulba nyulu daji-way buban-buban nyubunmuny yindunka.


<translate> They two saw the mudcrab there.


<translate> He saw the dukunjulu golden whistler there.


<translate> They see the jumper ant here.


<translate> Mother saw the cassowary in the scrub.


<glossary> yunu ; type=adjective ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> I got water for you


<translate> The old man said: Never fight a person you cannot afterward forgive, and never say in anger a thing you cannot later unsay, for the body heals but the word remembered festers, and a people that cannot forgive each other tears itself apart from within.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Kari bama kuni nyulu yundu kudamundu milka-wula murruji, kari dukul-wuringa balka kuku yundu kudamundu murni murruji, bangkarr kakawarri-manda yambada kuku binalkumu mumbu-baja-manda, bama nyulu murruji milka-wula-way nyulu-nyulu dukurrmuny kaka-manil.


<translate> Why do you always give the very first and best of the meat to the old people, the child asked her mother, and the mother told her it was the law.

Wanyurrimun yundu marri minya nyubun ngulkurr bajaku mukul-bama-nka daji? karrkay-angka nyungu ngamu nyajin, ngamu-ngku nyunguny balkan yinya yalaku.


<translate> He sees the yarrka bee there.


<translate> Kuku Yalanji has two we-twos, the old man taught the visitor: ngali is me-and-him — you stand outside it — and ngaliny is me-and-you, nobody outside; so listen for the little ny: it tells you whether you are inside the word or outside it.

Kuku Yalanjibu 'ngali' jambul karrbal, mukulungku dingkarangka ngarrbal milbin: 'ngali' nyulu ngayu-nyulu, yundu ngalkalba janay, 'ngaliny' nyulu ngayu-yundu, bama-kari ngalkalba, yalada milka-janay 'ny'-ka bubanka: nyulubu balkal yundu kuku dukurrba yambada ngalkalba.


<translate> The man caught a fish first, then dug some roots, gathered ripe fruit, and carried everything back to the camp.

Dingkar kuyu-ngurr manin, bangkan bakan, mayi kulbul munjan, wubul bayanka wundinda.


<translate> The child saw the mountain peak.


<translate> You and I see the murrabal barramundi there.


<translate> The young man was taken by a groper.


<translate> Grandfather made a boomerang for the boy, and the boy threw it away and it came back, threw it away and it came back — and grandfather said: remember this wood; some given things return, the good ones.

Kamingka wangal bungan bubanka, bubanbu yilban nyulu kadan baja, yilban baja nyulu kadan baja, kamingka balkan: milka-binal juku yanya, yamba dayanmuny nyubun-nyubun kaday baja, yamba yukil.


<translate> The white wattle is standing in the scrub.


<lexeme> The Daintree side of Rocky Point


<translate> I see the jungka wild cherry tree here.


<translate> If the big rain comes, the river floods, and the people carry all their things away from the water to the high ground.

Kaki kaba yalbay kaday, bana jalungkarr-ma-l, bama nyungu wubulku jarra-kulba bana-muny bubu jarra-jarra-ka.


<translate> You and I saw the diwalngku bird there.


<translate> The old people had seen big water before and nobody was afraid.

Kamba-kambangka bana yalbay nyajin ngadiku, jana yinil kari.


<translate> That black diver bird is there.


<glossary> milka-marri ; type=adjective ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> They have peace about that


<translate> You two saw the julaji freshwater catfish here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the mirrku kidney bird here.


<translate> The grandmother said choose your friends with care, for the friends you keep for life become family, and their children and yours will grow up as cousins, and the choosing you do now will shape a family tree you will never see the top of.

Babingka balkan: jawun nyaji-nyaji mani, jawun yundu wawu wubulku karrbal jawun-karra-manda, nyungu kangkal yundu kangkal bangunji yala kamba-mani, yundu nyiku manilbu jawun-karra juku yundu murru bajaku kari nyajilnya wandi-manil.


<lexeme> someone who is continually talking


<translate> You all saw the torch there.


<translate> Did you hear it yourself, or did the wind bring it? — The wind. — Then tie it loosely.

Yundu milka-janan nyubunji, yambada muyarbu wundin? Muyarbu. Yalada kaja kimabu.


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


<translate> You saw the yikari hardened beeswax here.


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


<translate> The old canoe was left on the beach for many years, the sun ruined the wood, and slowly it fell apart.

Marrakan jalun-ba bawan wungar wubul-muny, wungarangka juku buyun-bungan, murrnga-jin.


<translate> The old man told them not to laugh at a person who speaks a different language.

Mukul-dingkarangka jana-nka balkan, kari bama kuku yindu-mu yajarril.


<translate> The child came to camp, ate food, and then slept.

Karrkay bayan-ba kadan, mayi nukan, warngku wunan-da.


<translate> I left the fish net in the shade.


<translate> The child heard the thunder there.


<translate> When the strangers arrived the old man greeted them and asked the old questions of hospitality in the proper order: where have you come from, how long is your road, are your people well, do you need water and food and rest, and only much later, when they had eaten and rested, did he ask the last question, what has brought you all this way to us?

Bama-yindu kadanya mukulungku dingkarangka jana yulmbarrilbu babajin kuku ngadiku dayal-yamba yukil-dukurr: wanjamuny yundu kadan, wanja-wanja yundu baral, yundu bama yukil, yundu bana mayi wawu-manil, mara-kunbanka baja, ngadiku-baja bajaku, jana nukan mara-kunban, nyulu babajin kuku bada, wanyu yundu ngananka baral kalbay yinya wubulku kadanmuny?


<translate> My mother's older sister raised me when my own mother was sick.

Ngayku mukayangka nganya bungan, ngayku ngamu bambay-nya.


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


<translate> The gecko is a good friend to have in the shelter, the old woman said, for it eats the mosquitoes and the moths all night and asks for nothing in return.

Bilbil-bilbil jawun ngulkurr wurun-ba, mukul-jalbu balkan, nyulu kamu ngirran-jirr wujurr narmba nuka, yamba-kari wawu-ma-l.


<translate> That stinging vine is there.


<translate> We see the native cat there.


<translate> You see the wild grape here.


<translate> Where do the big sea-turtles come up to lay their eggs along this coast, the young man asked the old fisherman who knew the whole shore.

Ngawiya yalbay wanjabu jukar-a kaday karrkay wuna-nka jalun yinya-ba? warru-ngku mukul-dingkar kuyu-bama jalun narmba binal nyajin.


<glossary> walu-murumal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I'm annoyed, too much noise


<translate> We saw the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> They saw the rhinoceros beetle there.


<translate> I saw the jangkan swift here.


<translate> The cold is a quiet hunter, the old man said in the dark of the cold season: it never shouts like the storm, it comes in on soft feet while you sleep, and it takes the old and the small first, so cover the coals with sand, give the blanket to the other person, put the children between the grown sleepers, for warmth given away comes back doubled before dawn.

Kiway nyulu balbi-bama wunbu, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bulur-iji wujurrba: nyulu kariku yirrkay yala jarramali, nyulu kaday jina kimabu yundu wunanya, nyulu manil mukul buban ngadiku, yalada ngunjil jukarbu nanda, kararr daya bamanka yindunka, karrkay-buban bunga bama-yalbay wunanya jambulba, wumbul dayanmuny nyulu kaday baja jambul-mal muduwaju ngadiku.


<translate> We see the nyirribulu appendix here.


<translate> The child put liver in the bag.


<translate> You all must not go there; that place belongs to them.

Yurra kari dunga-y yinyay; yinya bubu jananga.


<translate> I saw the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish here.


<translate> Tomorrow the men will build the big shelter for the wet season.

Wunkun dingkar-dingkarangka bayan yalbay ngaral, kabaka.


<translate> You saw the darrba grass wallaby there.


<translate> I see the crescent perch here.


<translate> The woman with the bag sat in the camp.


<translate> You see the sand whiting there.


<translate> Every tool is a quiet teacher, the old woman handed down her grandmother's grinding stone: the hollow is her hand's memory, the smoothness is her patience, and when you work with it you are holding hands across four lifetimes.

Yamba-murni nyubun-nyubun milbil-bama wunbu, wulbumanangka kulji nyurrbalmuny babimuny dayan: dimbirr nyulu milka-binal maramuny nyungu, kima nyulu wawu-karrba nyungu, kaki yundu murnil yinyabu yundu mara karrbal wawu jambul-jambulburr.


<translate> The old man is much older than the young man standing quietly beside him in the shade.

Mukul-dingkar jarra-mukul warru nyungu ngundu janay-nka, wabarr-ba janka.


<translate> I saw the kurmba-kurmba lizard there.


<translate> The children asked how you tell healthy caution from cowardice, and the old man said: Caution asks what is the wise thing; cowardice asks what is the safe thing; and the two give the same answer only about half the time.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin yala yundu nyaji-ngarr yinil-bamamuny binal, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: nyaji-ngarrbu babajil wanya yamba binal, yinil-bamabu babajil wanya yamba yukil, jambulku kuku nyubun dajil wungar buban nganga.


<translate> We see the umbrella palm here.


<translate> The old woman kept sitting by the fire all day long, weaving her dilly bag from the lawyer cane.

Mukul-jalbu bundanday baya ngundu wungar wubulku, ngunyin bungal kaku-muny.


<translate> They see the pig before it runs away.

Jana bikibiki nyajin, nyulu warri-nyjiku.


<translate> The old woman kept calling and calling the child's name across the dark camp, and her voice kept coming back empty from the black trees.

Mukul-jalbu karrkay-mu burri yirrka-yirrka bayan ngumbu-burr, nyungu kuku kankaday yamba-jirr juku ngumbu-muny.


<translate> You see the jellyfish there.


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


<translate> We saw the jumper ant there.


<translate> I cook food before the children come.

Ngayu mayi wajul, karrkay-karrkay kada-nyjiku.


<translate> You see the water gum tree here.


<translate> The woman peeped around in the house but did not enter.

Jalbu bayan-ba nuri-nuri-ji, kari walan.


<translate> They see the scrub goanna there.


<translate> The children asked which was the smallest thing, and the old man said: The seed of the wild fig, so small you can barely see it, and yet a great tree sleeps inside it.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin wanya yamba buban bajaku, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Diburr mayimu, buban bajaku murruji nyajil, yambada juku yalbay dukurr warngku wunay.


<glossary> wuljil ; type=adjective ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> They emptied out (the bee's nest) into the bucket


<translate> Mother saw the fish spear on the open ground.


<translate> You all see the jungka wild cherry tree there.


<translate> I saw the kurrujuwa sentry bird here.


<translate> Grandmother went into the water with the baby.


<translate> The kingfisher and the dove both nest in a hole high in a dead tree, the old woman said, and they line the hollow with soft grass for their young.

Dabuy kuludu-jirr jambulu juku wula-nya bubu-mabi karrkan-ba wuna, mukul-jalbu balkan, jana jikan kima julbi-ba wandi karrkay-nka.


<translate> The women are bathing in the river.


<translate> You two see the freshwater eel here.


<translate> First gather the small dry twigs, then the bigger sticks, then the heavy logs, for a fire built the other way round dies before it grows.

Ngadiku juku kaykay marral bangka-ngarr, yindu juku yalbay-baja, yindu juku dandi, baya yala-yindubu bunganmuny kariku kambal wula.


<translate> You two saw the tongs there.


<translate> So the old man gave the boy the whole shape of thinking: if you do this, that follows; do this lest that happen; perhaps it will, perhaps not — but always leave enough behind.

Yala mukul-dingkarangka karrkay-nka milka narmba daji: kaki yundu yala-ku, yinya kaday; yala-ku, yinya kada-nyji; nguba, nguba kari — yamba kanbal wuna-baja wubulku.


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


<translate> You two see the straw-necked ibis here.


<translate> The child slept in the night.


<translate> The young man went to the sea with father.


<translate> Stay here with the old woman while I go and get the water.

Bunda yaluy wulbuman-ji, ngayu dunga-y bana mani-nka.


<translate> So the old man named the whole crawling world for the boy — snake and goanna and frog, ant and grub and sugarbag bee, spider and cicada and the biting fly — every one with its own place in the country.

Yala mukul-dingkarangka minya mara-warri-mu narmba karrkay-nka burri — jarba jadi yirku-yirku-jirr, munjurr mujurr kuja-jirr, malal kurrmbal marra-warri baykal-jirr — nyubun-nyubun nyungu bubu-ba nyubun.


<translate> Cover the fire over well with sand before you leave the camp, the old woman said, in case the hot wind carries a live spark to the dry grass and burns the country.

Buri jukar-bu ngulkurr baya-l bayan-muny dunga-nyjiku, mukul-jalbu balkan, kunka bulkiji wumbul-bu buri karrkay wundi-nya jikan marral-ka bubu waju-nka.


<glossary> nganga ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> I came for just a little bit, have to get back to cook

Ngayu nganga kadan. Ngayu dungay baja mayika wayjul


<translate> You all see the tree kangaroo here.


<translate> At daybreak grandmother got up.


<translate> The clothing here is not loose.


<translate> After a death the things walk known roads, the old man explained the quiet order: the tools to the brother, the songs into the sister's keeping, the name goes quiet and the people say ngalba for its season, and the country to all the children together, so that even grief moves along a track, and nobody has to invent a road while crying.

Wawu-wula-muny yamba jilbal baral binalmuny, mukulungku dingkarangka murni-jina wunbu milbin: yamba-murni yabanka, wulngku babarranka kujinka, kuku wunbu-mal bama 'ngalba' balkal bana-wungar nyubunku, bubu karrkay-karranka wubulkunka nyubunji, yalada wawu-mumbu baja jilbal jinaburr, bama nyubunbu kari baral murnil badinya.


<translate> Mother gave water to the young man with a cough.

Ngamu-ngku bana dajin warru-nda ngiki-ji-nda.


<translate> The girl came from the house.


<translate> The man saw the sand crab in the water.


<translate> The old man could tell every snake by its track in the dust, the old woman said, the broad mark of the python and the thin quick line of the whip snake.

Mukul-dingkar jarba wubulku-mu jina jukar-a binal, mukul-jalbu balkan, kabul-mu jina yalbay, jijirrbay-mu jina dumbi bila.


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


<translate> The old woman knew the name of every tree and plant in all her father's wide country.

Mukul-jalbu-ngka juku mayi wubul burri binal, nyungu nganjan bubu kalbay wubulku-ba.


<translate> The fruit on this tree is rather ripe now, but the old woman says we should wait two more days.

Mayi nyiku juku-ngu jarra-kulbul nyiku, yambada wulbuman balkan ngali wungar jambul baja karrbanka.


<translate> This is a good spear; take it and go hunting in the morning.

Yanyu kalka ngulkurr; mani yundu, balbi-ka dunga-y wunkuwingku.


<translate> The old man made many kinds of spear: the fish spear, the war spear, and the fighting spear; each spear carried its own barb and its own point.

Mukul-dingkarangka kalka wubul bungan: yinba, kuyan, murrangkal; kalka-mu jinil, kalka-mu kurrajan.


<translate> Tomorrow I will go to see grandmother.


<translate> Gather the mangrove worms for the fish, thread them on the line, throw it past the rocks, and wait for the bream to bite!

Nganjamu kajulmuny munja kuyu-nka, makarrbu yijarri, kuljimuny yilba, kuyu bayka-nya bunda!


<translate> The father's sister is there.


<translate> They saw the wangay vine here.


<translate> You two see the kookaburra there.


<translate> You see the ground lizard there.


<translate> I saw the smouldering log here.


<translate> The water rose in the river.


<translate> He saw the kalbali tall man there.


<translate> They see the death adder here.


<translate> He called and called his old dog all through the night, but it did not come back to the camp.

Nyulu kaya mukul nyungu yirrka-l-yirrka-n wujurr wubulku, yamba kaya kari kadan bayan-ka.


<translate> The stranger came at dusk and was fed before he was questioned, and years later he sent back a net full of gifts — and the old woman only said: we did not feed him for the return, we fed him because the fire was burning.

Ngarrbal kadan miyil-wujurr-wujurrba, mayi-dayan babajil ngadiku, wungar wubulkumuny nyulu yungan baja makarr daji-jirray-ji jakal, wulbuman balkan wunbu: ngana nyulu mayi-dayan kari kadanka bajaku, ngana mayi-dayan baya wajunya.


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


<glossary> wuljil ; type=adjective ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> They emptied out (the bee's nest) into the bucket


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> fast running water


<translate> Did the two families settle the quarrel? Yes — the elders sat together, the young men made peace, and a marriage between the cousins will bind the two groups forever.

Bama jambul kuku ngulkurr-man? Yuwu — mukul-mukul muru bundan, warru-warru ngulkurr-man, bangunji-mu manyarr-bunga jambul bama dandi karrbal ngadiku-ngadiku.


<glossary> wawu-darra ; type=noun ; domain=dimension-size <usage_example> The house is too small for all the people (just can't fit in)


<translate> You see the diri-diri sandfly here.


<glossary> mungkil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=hunting-fishing-gathering <usage_example> They speared lots of different kinds of fish

Bula minya wali-yindu walu-yindu kalkabu mungkin


<translate> He has no cold; he got well again.


<translate> You saw the kuran case-moth larva there.


<translate> The man put leaves on the ground.


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


<translate> You and I see the large mud clam here.


<translate> The old woman said foresight is the cheapest of all provisions and weighs nothing in the pack, so fill your mind before you fill your bag.

Wulbumanangka balkan: nyaji-ngarr yamba wubulmuny buban bajaku, baljinga kari dandi wundinka, milka nanda-ngarr balji nandanyjiku.


<translate> You all see the jellyfish here.


<translate> The two of them saw the kalkarrumbarr lizard here.


<translate> Don't push your little brother!


<translate> They saw the plum tree there.


<translate> You children go and get water.


<translate> She searched thoroughly through the whole camp, looking again and again for her lost dilly bag.

Nyulu bayan wubulku nyaji-l-nyaji-n nyungu ngunyin-ka, kari manin baja.


<translate> The old man said: There is no one best spear, for the best spear for fishing is not the best for wallabies, and the best for a strong man is not the best for a boy.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Kalka nyubun ngulkurr bajaku kari janay, kalka kuyuka ngulkurr kari darrbaka ngulkurr, kalka dingkar junkurrka ngulkurr kari karrkayka ngulkurr.


<translate> The old woman is sitting inside.


<translate> He sees the wooden sword there.


<glossary> ngukal-badi ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> Don't steal (it), just ask (for it)

Yundu kari wurrmay-bakamaka, ngukal-badiku


<translate> As the sun rose higher the fog thinned and lifted and burned away, and the green wet country appeared underneath, shining.

Wungar wangkar wandinya, ngurrbal bubanmanda, wandin, dungan, bubu yaru ngulkurr badil badabada, balbajinya.


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


<glossary> janbangaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The car is stuck in the mud


<translate> Grandmother took the axe from the ground.


<translate> That baringkan small bird is here.


<translate> All the feelings are old, the old woman closed the night: nobody angers a new anger or grieves a new grief — you walk on made roads, and others have walked them home again.

Wawu-yamba wubulku mukul, wulbumanangka wujurr kunbay-manin: bama nyubunbu kariku kuli jirakal kulil, kariku wawu-mumbu jirakal manil: yundu jilbal baral bunganmunyba, bama yindubu jana jilban bayanka baja.


<translate> You two see the frill necked lizard here.


<translate> They saw the bujabay tree there.


<translate> They saw the dalmbal flathead there.


<translate> He sees the deep water there.


<translate> Father took the rope from the ground.


<translate> Two hunters worked together, one driving the bird toward the other, who waited hidden behind a tree.

Balbibama jambul jambulku kirrajin, nyubun balbibamangku buyi kangan yindu bamaka, nyubun ngakijin juku kudamundu maku-janan.


<translate> The black bean walks the longest road of any food, the old woman counted it out beside the fire: gather first of all, then crack, then into the water for many days, then grind, then wash in the running water, then cook, and only then eat — many gates, she said, and the impatient walk through one less of them, exactly once.

Baway jilbal baral kalbay bajaku mayimuny wubulkumuny, wulbumanangka yinya milbin baya ngundu: mana-ngurr, yalada dumbarrika, yalada bananga yijarrika wungar wubulku, yalada yurrika, yalada julurrika bana warrinya, yalada wajuka, yalada nganga nuka, baral-ngandal wubul, nyulu balkan, bama wawu-karrba-kari jilbal nyubun-kari nganga, nyubunbu nganga.


<translate> The two of them see the small sticks there.


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


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


<translate> The dog went into the scrub.


<translate> Hate is heavy luggage for a walking people — set it down when each new season comes.

Wawu-kari-bajaku nyulu yamba dandi bajaku bama jilbalmunyka: yijarri nyulu bubungu, bana-wungar kadanya.


<translate> You and I see the oyster there.


<glossary> diburr ; type=noun ; domain=flora-plant <usage_example> Ngayu diburr manin Sisterandamun


<glossary> yala-yala ; type=temporal ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> During the thunderstorm, he hid

Yala-yalaku jarramali kadan, nyulu ngakijin


<translate> That wood there is not thick.


<translate> But a bigger whirlwind, a cyclone, is a different thing, he said, and when one comes you must lie low and hold the earth and wait.

Yambada jukar-warra yalbay, wadjal, yamba yindu, nyulu balkan, yinya kadanya yundu bada wuna, bubu karrba, maku-janay.


<translate> You saw the dawa-dawa magpie there.


<translate> The charcoal lay in the shade.


<translate> I will teach you the song after the food, not before it.

Ngayu yununy wulngku milbil wawu-mayi-muny, kari mayi ngadiku.


<translate> I see the wooden sword here.


<translate> The green ants build their nest of leaves high in the mango tree.

Munjurr nyungu bayan birra-bu bunga-l juku wangkar-a.


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


<translate> In the rotting log the old man also found fat white grubs, a special food the children love.

Juku kabungu mukulungku dingkarangka jambun wandul nyajin baja, mayi ngulkurr karrkay-karrkayangka wawu jirray.


<translate> The old man knows the best fishing places, the deep holes in the river where the big cod lie all day.

Mukul-dingkar binal kuyu-balbi bubu ngulkurr-baja-ku, wawubaja bana-dukurr wanja wara yalbay wungar wubulku wunay.


<translate> The children learned to choose well: not the biggest or the brightest thing, but the thing that would do the work best and last the longest.

Karrkay-karrkayangka binalman ngulkurr maninka: kari yamba yalbay bajaku, kari yamba balbajil bajaku, yambada yamba nyulu kirraji ngulkurr-baja ngaral, bundal kalbay-baja.


<translate> Say what you saw, not what you decided about it — the first is short, the second is long, and only the first is yours to give.

Balka wanyu yundu nyajin, kari wanyu yundu milkabu baykan yinyamuny: ngadiku buban, jambulku kalbay, ngadiku nganga yundumuny dayanka.


<translate> You all see the smooth rock here.


<translate> Meanwhile in the water, I saw fish.


<translate> I saw the kurkunbay butcherbird there.


<translate> The people ate hairy-yam food.


<glossary> jiyuy ; type=particle ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> He said "It's good", but (it was a trick), it isn't good

Nyulu yalaman, "Yinya ngulkurr", juyuy, yinya kari ngulkarr.


<translate> He saw the diwalngku bird there.


<translate> The echidna sat curled up in a ball on the hard ground when the dingo came sniffing near it.

Ngangkin murru bundan bubu-ngu junkurr-ba, murramu ngundu kada-nya nyaji-l-nyaji-l.


<translate> The man came from the river.


<glossary> mururr-mururr ; type=adjective ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> We came the same time


<translate> I asked my elder brother for meat, but he gave it to his own child, so I went to my uncle.

Ngayu yaba-nda minya babajin, nyulu nyungu kangkalka dayan, ngayu kalnga-nda dungan.


<translate> The two hunters tracked the wallaby together, speared it from both sides, and divided the meat between their families.

Balbi-bama jambul kadar muru wukurri-way, jambul-burr daman, minya nyungu bama-nka daji-wan.


<translate> You saw the murramu dingo there.


<translate> We see the warrabuka yam here.


<translate> One morning, many days later, the boy stood still and threw true, and a wallaby fell by his spear.

Nyubun wunkuwingku, wungar wubulku dunganmuny, karrkay janan wunbu, yilban yaral, darrba daran nyungu kalkabu.


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


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> a person in a hurry


<translate> The old man threw the spear and missed, and threw again, and missed again, and threw a third time, and this time the pig fell.

Mukul-dingkarangka kalka daman, kima-kari, daman-baja, kima-kari-baja, daman jambulumbul-mu, niji bikibiki daran.


<translate> He saw the fire stick there.


<glossary> kunbayn ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> Today is break-up day; school's finished now

Nyiku break-up day, kunbayn yundu school


<translate> The women dug for yams in the soft ground near the creek, following the thin vines down to the fat roots hidden deep in the earth.

Jalbu-jalbungka kawu bakan bubu bubanba wawubaja ngundu, kalal buban jirrkuman bada bangkan wandulka bubu badanga ngaki-jinya.


<translate> The old woman said: the kin who look after each other never go hungry.

Wulbumanangka balkan: jawun kuji-way-nya kariku mayi-kari.


<translate> He sees the kakaji mangrove tree there.


<translate> The old man said if a snake lies across your path do not step over it, for you cannot see what its tail is doing, but wait, and it will move, because it wants to meet you no more than you want to meet it, and most trouble passes if you only give it room.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: kaki jarba baral naka-naka wunay kari wangkar jilba, yundu murruji nyaji nyungu junkan wanya bungal, yambada kalka, nyulu dungay, nyulu wawu yundu nyaji-way kari junkurr-baja yundu nyulunka, dukul-yamba wubulku dungay kaki yundu nganga bubu daji.


<translate> Father washed the woman's ankle.


<translate> A snake came into the camp. The women shouted. The old man killed it with a stick.

Jarba bayanba kadan. Jalbu-jalbu yirrkarin. Mukulungku dingkarangka jarba kunin jukubu.


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


<translate> The two of them saw the dawa-dawa magpie here.


<translate> The child heard barking from down there.

Karrkay-ngku ngangkurr badabada-mundu nyajin.


<translate> You and I see the chin here.


<translate> The young men went out for pigs.


<translate> The man got a very big stone.


<translate> The boy learned to keep water always near the fire, in case a spark should jump and the grass catch, so that he could put it out before it spread far.

Karrkayangka binalman bana yabarrka baya ngundu kujinka, baya wanda-nyji, jikan kamba-nyji, nyulu wula-manka ngadiku kalakalbay dunganyjiku.


<glossary> kunukunu ; type=adjective ; domain=food <usage_example> That soup is too fatty


<translate> We see the spoon bill bird there.


<translate> The woman asked elder brother about the net.


<translate> The men used the sharp stone axe to cut the wild honey out of the hollow tree.

Dingkar-angka warrbi-bu wunba jiba-wulay juku dukurr-muny kulban.


<translate> We see the murrkul tree there.


<translate> They saw the walmbi-walmbiji left-handed person there.


<translate> The mother called the child from the house and told him the meat was cooked now.

Ngamu-ngku karrkay bayan-ba kunjan, minya wajun niji balkan.


<translate> You all saw the nakawarra bee here.


<translate> After the cyclone we mended the shelters first of all, and the nets after them.

Wawu-wadjal-muny ngana bayan-ngurr murnin, makarr badaku.


<translate> You all saw the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> The children danced outside.


<translate> You two saw the ngawurr-ngawun crocodile here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the bikarrakul ti tree here.


<glossary> kuku yaral ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> You go straighten him out / tell him straight


<glossary> baja ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> do you have more?


<translate> Nothing is wasted in the scrub, said the old man; the country feeds those who know how to look.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: madjanga yamba kari bawal, bububu jana nukamanil, jana nyajil binal.


<glossary> babal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> While I'm cooking the food I'll taste it for salt

ngayu mayi wayjul-wayjul, babal saltmunku


<translate> I saw the diwalngku bird here.


<translate> You all see the flathead here.


<translate> We see the dukul-mukul lizard there.


<translate> The always-angry person is there.


<translate> The young woman asked her mother: "What are you cooking in the hot coals there for the evening meal?"

Warru-jalbu-ngku nyungu ngamu babajin: Wanyu yundu waju-l ngunjil wumbul-ba, mayi wujurr-mu?


<translate> The wood there is not coarse.


<translate> You all see the spear thrower here.


<translate> They saw the dalmbal flathead here.


<translate> Grandad turned the canoe toward the island.


<translate> No moon tonight — go torch-with, or do not go at all.

Kija-kari wujurrba, dungay baya-juku-ji yambada kari dungay.


<translate> The wife is cooking the food while the husband looks after the baby.

Manyarr-dal-angka mayi wajul, dunyu-ngku ngawa kuji-l.


<translate> I saw the dawa-dawa magpie there.


<translate> You all saw the fighting spear here.


<translate> I took the charcoal from the ground.


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


<translate> Mother gave the clothes to my elder brother.


<translate> A thunderstorm came from the sea.


<translate> Grandmother gave mother's clothes to the child.

Babi-ngka kambi ngamu-ngu dajin karrkay-anda.


<translate> You two saw the jimalili lizard there.


<translate> You saw the kalburiji bee there.


<translate> How many children went with them to the corroboree last night?

Wanjarrinya karrkay jana-nji warrma-ka dungan wujurr-a?


<translate> The old man taught the boys: the honey bees live in a hollow tree; watch which way they fly at sundown, follow them, and you will find the honey.

Mukul-dingkarangka warru-warru binalbungan: dabu jukungu wunan, yundu nyaji wanjaburr jana dungay wungar bada-nya, jana wukurri, yundu wunba nyajinka.


<translate> Mother told the child to eat quietly.

Ngamu-ngku karrkay-nka balkan, janka nuka-nka.


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


<translate> Maybe-words keep the camp honest: say nguba when the track is old, and nobody falls in the water off your firm word.

Kuku-nguba bayan yukil karrbal: balka 'nguba' jina mukulnya, bama nyubun kariku daray bananga kuku-dandimuny yundumuny.


<translate> Follow the river track towards the sea, and you will come to the seaside camp before the dark night.

Wawubaja jina wukurri maku jalun-ka, yundu jalun-warra bayan-ka kadan wujurr ngungul kariku.


<translate> You saw the kira-kira black ant there.


<translate> The old man sang the song of his country at the corroboree.

Mukul dingkar wulngku badin warrmanga, nyungu bubuku.


<translate> This hair is light-coloured.


<translate> Someone took my spear in the night — do you know who it was?

Bama-ngka ngayku kalka wundin wujurr-ba; yundu binal wanya?


<translate> You saw the darrba grass wallaby there.


<translate> The hunter followed the wallaby's tracks all morning through the long grass.

Balbi-bama darrba-mu jina wukurrin wunkuwingku wubulku, bilanji kalbay-burr.


<translate> You all see the posterior there.


<translate> The turtle laid eggs in the sand.


<translate> I see the jalan sea urchin there.


<translate> He speaks the old language just like the very old people used to speak it long, long ago.

Nyulu kuku mukul balka-l yala-ku mukul-bama balkan kalbay-muny.


<translate> Don't go with that chatterbox — he talks all day and does no work.

Kari dunga-y yinya-nji kuku-baka-nji — nyulu balkal wungar wubulku, yukil kari bungal.


<translate> The hunter's ankle was hurt on the loose stones, and he could not walk fast.

Balbi-bama-mu wulu bambay-man kulji-nga, nyulu kari bila jilbal.


<translate> They saw the yalnga turtle here.


<translate> But tonight, everyone sleeps.

Yambada nyiku, jana wubulku warngku wunay.


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


<translate> Father sees the morning star there.


<translate> You two saw the barinkan scrub bird there.


<glossary> yala ; type=interrogative ; domain=interjection <usage_example> What about your older brother?


<translate> The woman with two little children walked down to the water, carrying a dilly bag full of yams.

Jalbu karrkay-jirr buban jambul bana-ka bada jilban, ngunyin wukay-jirr wundin.


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


<translate> You two saw the mirrku kidney bird there.


<translate> What do we say first when we come to another people's country? — We stand at the edge, we call out, and we stand to hear their word.

Wanyu ngana balkal ngadiku-ngurr kaki ngana kaday bubuku bama yindumuny? Ngana janay ngundu, yirrkay, ngana janay kuku janamuny milka-jananka.


<translate> We came to the river, ate food, and then lay down.

Nganjin wawubaja-nga kadan, mayi nukan, wunan-da.


<translate> We two (not you) see the sky there.


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


<translate> The man saw grandmother's shoulder.


<translate> The two of them see the ghost crab here.


<translate> They see the tree snake here.


<translate> We see the seashell headband here.


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


<lexeme> upper reaches of the Bloomfield River


<translate> Grandfather went with father.


<translate> Do not leave the food there lest the dog eat it.

Kari mayi yinyay bawa, kaya-ngka nuka-nyji.


<translate> The man put the spear on the road.


<translate> You and I see the small bat there.


<translate> The child watched the man making a spear.

Karrkay-ngku dingkar nyaji-l-nyaji-n, kalka bunga-l-bunga-nya.


<translate> Granny sang out to the children.


<glossary> kunbayn ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> Today is break-up day; school's finished now

Nyiku break-up day, kunbayn yundu school


<translate> They saw the mali small bat here.


<translate> The clever child copied the bird-call exactly like this, and the old man laughed, for it sounded just like the real bird.

Karrkay binal-angka buyi-mu yirrka yala-ku nganjin, mukul-dingkar yajarrin, yala-rrku yirrka buyi nguymal-mu.


<translate> Pour water into the billycan.


<translate> The young man asked grandmother about water.


<glossary> jiba-yararri ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> He's frightened because people are fighting


<translate> I saw the small sticks here.


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


<translate> He saw the diwalngku bird there.


<translate> The fish tail lay on the ground.


<translate> The young men pulled everyone out of the water.

Warru-warrungku janangan kulbanyarrku banamuny.


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


<translate> The duck is standing in the scrub.


<translate> The child took the dog's food.


<translate> The reef is full of life; fish, shellfish, and crabs all live there together.

Dulngku mayi-nji yajin; kuyu, mukirr, wurru-bulan baja, jana wubul yinyay muru wunay.


<translate> You and I saw the mountain there.


<translate> The children spent the whole afternoon making little spears from cane and throwing them at a soft mark.

Karrkay-karrkayangka kalka buban yakan yibuynju yilay-yilay wubulku, yilban jukungu bubanba.


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


<translate> Do not shout so loudly here; speak quietly, for the sick old man is trying to sleep by the fire.

Kari yirrka-l yalbay-bu yinya-nga, balka-y janka, dingkar mukul bambay warngku wuna-l baya ngundu.


<translate> The old man said: The smallest gift given with love is worth more than the biggest gift given without it, so weigh the heart and not the hand.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: dajil buban bajaku wawu-jirrayji ngulkurr-baja dajil yalbay bajaku wawu-jirray-karimuny, dandi nyaji wawu, kari mara.


<translate> You two saw the jayju kangaroo rat here.


<translate> One night in the cold season a hard wind came down from the hills and the cold crept into every humpy.

Nyubun kunarangkal bulurijinga muyar junkurr bada kadan manjalmuny, kiway walan wurun wubulku.


<translate> The children went to the waterhole to swim in the afternoon.

Karrkay-karrkay bana-ka dungan, maraji-nka wungar bada.


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


<translate> They see the barramundi here.


<translate> You and I saw the shield here.


<translate> The echidna rolled into a tight ball and pushed its sharp back up, so no dog could bite it.

Ngangkin jungkarrijin, muku wangkar yilban, kaya murruji nyungu baykanka.


<translate> The old woman knew every place where the best yams grew, deep under the vines in the soft black soil.

Wulbumanangka binal wanjawanja kawu ngulkurr bajaku wandin, badabada kalalmu bubu bubanba.


<translate> The old man said when you are truly lost the right questions are simple and few: where did I last know where I was, what has the sun done since then, which way is the water flowing and where does it lead, so that a calm person asking three clear questions will find their way home while a panicked person asking none, just running, will wander in circles until they drop.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan yundu bajaku wular-manda kuku yukil kima buban: wanja ngayu ngadiku binal wanja ngayu janan, wanyu kala-kalbay murninmuny ngadiku-mundu, wanjaburr bana dungay wanjabu nyulu dungay, bama dandi kuku kulur jirakal babajil nyulu nyungu baral bayan-mundu manil yambada bama yinil-ji kuku-kari, nganga warri, nyulu naka-naka jilbal dukul nyulu badanya.


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


<translate> The parents and the grandparents all sat down together and shared the big feed of turtle.

Ngamu-karra nganjan-karra kami-karra baja narmba muru bundan, ngawiya minya yalbay nukan.


<translate> The old woman said the sweetest food asks the most work: the black-bean must be soaked many days, the seed ground long, the deep yam dug with a sore back.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: mayi jiba-wulay bajaku yukil wubul wawu — baway bana-ba wuna wungar wubul, diburr murni kalbay, bambayal dajali baka muku bambay-jirr.


<translate> Mother's country is at the river.


<translate> You see the black bean tree here.


<translate> The old people and the young people taught each other, the old ones giving knowledge and the young ones giving strength, and both were richer for it.

Kamba-kamba warru-warru-ji milbi-wan, kamba-kambangka binal dajin, warru-warrungka junkurr dajin, jambulku ngulkurrman baja.


<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> I did not eat that little seed; I ate the other sweet ripe fruit instead.

Ngayu diburr yinya kari nukan, ngayu mayi jiba-wulay kulbul yindu nukan.


<translate> That mungari kaori pine is there.


<translate> I grew up in this country, I learned its stories and its plant names, and now I am becoming an old man myself.

Ngayu nyiku bubungu yalbay-man, ngayu kuku juku burri binalman, ngayu mukul-dingkar-mal.


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


<translate> Let the angry message sleep one night; send the survivor in the morning.

Bawa yimbal dukul-wuri-ji wunanka wujurr nyubun: yunga muduwajuny wanyu juran.


<translate> You saw the kalbali tall man here.


<translate> You all saw the dakwurr-dakwun hammer bird there.


<translate> We see the scrub wallaby there.


<translate> We see the older sister here.


<translate> The rain came down hard, but the people kept on walking towards the far camp.

Kaba junkurr daran, yamba bama wubul jilba-dungan bayan kalbay-ka.


<translate> The white crane is standing there.


<translate> That clothing there is not loose.


<translate> The big rain came from the north, and the whole hinterland country turned green in the wet season.

Kaba yalbay kungkarr-muny kadan, jibarr bubu wubulku balbal-ma-n kaba-wungar-a.


<translate> We see the kalburiji bee here.


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


<translate> The child's teeth are sharp.


<translate> They two see the prawn there.


<translate> You saw the barrbal black bream here.


<translate> The man sees the digging stick.


<translate> Mother left the rope in the bag.


<translate> The old man said each kind of wood has its own gift for fire: the bloodwood gives coals that last all night, the light dead branches give a fast flame to boil water, the green wood gives smoke to drive the flies or to signal, and the fragrant woods give a smoke that flavors the meat, so a person who truly knows the trees never makes a bad fire.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan juku nyubun-nyubun nyungu daji baya-nka: babajaka ngunjil dayal nyulu wujurr wubulku, dakil wula-mabi buban wula warri bana balamunka, juku jinbal-jirakal kubu dayal minya-baykal kala-kalbay yambada jibar, juku-nganja kubu dayal minya nganja-mandanka, bama nyulu juku bajaku binal nyulu kariku baya mumbu bungal.


<translate> The dog saw the possum and chased it.


<translate> The old man said the country is like a food-ground, if you keep it well.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan bubu yala mayi-bubu, kaki yundu ngulkurr karrbal.


<translate> When will the wet season come this year — the old people are watching the sky?

Wanjawanja bana-wungar kaday, mukul-bama-ngka ngurrban nyajil?


<glossary> wurmbu ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> The bird is right up at the top


<translate> You two see the sugar glider there.


<translate> I see the jirimandi coconut tree here.


<translate> Wait for all the words, and then pick up your anger.

Janay kukunka wubulkunka, kuli yalada mana.


<translate> The old man said the leaf tells the season: fresh and green means growing, yellow means ripe and ready, and fallen means the time is nearly gone.

Mukul-dingkar balkan: birra wungar-iji balka — jirakal balbal yalbay-ma-l, kulbul mayi warmba niji, dara-nya wungar wula kariku.


<translate> The old people came together from every country, walking many days to the big ceremony in the north.

Mukul-bama muru kadan bubu narmba-muny, wungar wubul jilban wungar yalbay kungkarr-ka.


<translate> The old man said a person should learn the trees the way they learn their kin, each with its name, its nature, its uses, its dangers, and its proper season, for the trees are the oldest inhabitants of the country and the people are the newcomers, so to walk respectfully among them, taking only what is given and harming as little as possible, is simply the good manners of a guest in an ancient house.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bama juku milbil yala jana jawun-karra milbil, nyubun-nyubun nyungu kuku, nyungu janka, nyungu yamba-yukil, nyungu yinil, nyungu wungar yukil baja, juku nyulu bama ngadiku bubumuny bama nyulu bama-jirakal, jana ngundu-mundu yulmbarrilbu jilbanka, nganga wanya dayanmuny manil buban-buban baja mumbu-bungalka, nyulu nganga bama-yindu kuku-yukil bayan mukul bajakungu.


<translate> You two saw the yarrka bee there.


<translate> The children listened to the dreamtime stories.


<translate> The children carried the little boy's new spear down to the sandy crossing on the creek.

Karrkay-karrkay warru buban-amu kalka wawubaja jukar-ka wundin.


<translate> We two (not you) see the dilly bag there.


<translate> I saw two big trees standing there: one growing by the track, and one down on the beach.

Ngayu juku yalbay jambul nyajin yinyay, nyubun jina karangkal nyubun jukar bada.


<translate> The old woman said one big earth oven feeds a whole camp better than twenty small cooking fires, not only because it saves wood and work, but because everyone eats from the one oven, and eating from the same oven makes people one, while twenty separate fires make twenty separate families who have forgotten they are one people.

Wulbumanangka balkan: kurrma yalbay nyubun bayan wubulku daya ngulkurr-baja waju-bayan buban wubulmuny, kari juku kirraji buban-manilmu nganga, yambada bama wubulku kurrma nyubunmuny nukal, kurrma nyubunmuny nukal bama nyubun-manil, waju-bayan wubul yindu-yindu jawun-karra wubul yindu-yindu bungal jana milka-wulan jana nyubun bama.


<translate> I saw the marril ti tree there.


<translate> The child's big head is sore.


<translate> The canoe is taking water again; pull it up on the sand and let it dry.

Marrakan bana manil baja, kulba wangkarku jukara, bawa marral-malka.


<translate> You see the fresh water snake there.


<translate> The children came home loud and hungry.


<translate> You see the small patch of scrub there.


<translate> We see the light bellied black snake here.


<translate> The old woman helped her look, and together they found the bag under a bush where it had fallen.

Wulbumanangka mara-dajin nyajinka, jana jambul nyajin ngunyin juku badanga, wanja daranya.


<translate> You all saw the bajal bower bird there.


<translate> We see the casuarina pine there.


<translate> The dry time comes after the wet, when the rains stop and the cold winds blow in from the sea.

Marral-wungar kaba-muny kaday, kaba wula, muyar ngiki jalun-muny wanarri.


<translate> We saw the julbal tree here.


<translate> They rested at midday in the shade of a big fig tree by a waterhole, and while the others slept the old woman sat watching the birds come down to drink, and she said this is the best part of any journey, the stopping, when the country comes to you instead of you going to it.

Jana wungar dukurrbu mara-kunban juku yalbay wabarrba bana ngundu, yindu jana wunanya wulbumanangka bundan jujubala nyajil bada kadan bana janganka, nyulu balkan: yinya jilbalmu yukil bajaku, mara-kunbay, bubu nyulu yundunka kaday kari yundu bubungu dungay.


<glossary> yanday-nyajil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> I overheard them


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


<translate> You and I saw the bujil-yiran ibis there.


<translate> Burn grass tree lest thunder come.


<glossary> yarangkay ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> He fell and sprained his ankle


<glossary> mambarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> He turned him over to the police


<translate> They killed the wallaby and shared the good meat out to all the people in the camp.

Jana kadar kunin, minya ngulkurr bama narmba-nka dajin bayan-ba.


<glossary> jiyuy ; type=particle ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> He said "It's good", but (it was a trick), it isn't good

Nyulu yalaman, "Yinya ngulkurr", juyuy, yinya kari ngulkarr.


<translate> The old woman asked the man: "Why did you shout?"

Mukul-jalbu dingkar-anda babajin: "Wanyurringku yundu yirrkan?"


<translate> Father sees the wallaby in the scrub.


<translate> He sees the archerfish there.


<translate> They saw the felt hat there.


<translate> The big kangaroo stood up tall, looked all around, and then hopped away down across the plain.

Mayarriji yalbay wandin janay, murru-murru nyaji-l, bada dungan bubu-burr.


<lexeme> mountain and river flowing from mountain


<translate> You two see the bush fire there.


<translate> Father asked the young man: "Are you hungry?" The young man said: "Yes."

Nganjan warru-nda babajin: "Yundu dakwuy?" Warru-ngku balkan: "Yuwu."


<translate> The two women walked out to the sandy ground where the long yams grow, dug all morning with their digging sticks, filled two dilly bags with the biggest yams, covered the holes again, and then walked slowly home in the heat of the middle of the day.

Jalbu jambul jukar bubu-mundu jilban wanja juwal kalbay jarray, muduwajungu wubulku jaba baja bakan, balji jambul juwal yalbaybu buwan, bubu-jandu baja kajan, yalada buban-buban bayan-mundu jilbanda wumbul wungar dukurr-bu.


<translate> This nut tree is poison; do not let the children eat its seeds.

Yanyu jalnji juku bambay; kari karrkay-karrkay nyungu diburr nuka-y.


<translate> The tide brought in a big log.


<translate> We rested before going for a walk.


<glossary> nganjar-nganjar ; type=adverb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> He came to find out where they got the grog from (didn't ask, just hinted to find out)

Nyulu nganjar-nganjar kadan, jana wanjamun kamukamu manin


<translate> The duck is standing outside.


<translate> He said never leave a living fire alone, lest it wander off like a child and rise into the dry grass and make trouble for everyone.

Nyulu balkan: kari yundu baya nganga bawa nyulu kariku wula, baya karrkay yala dunga-nyji, jikanba wanda-nyji, bama wubulku mumbu-manyji.


<translate> Maybe it will rain, maybe not — take the water bag both ways.

Nguba kaba kaday, nguba kari: bana-balji wundi baralbu jambulbu.


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> fast running water


<translate> You two saw the baringkan small bird there.


<translate> The paperbark tree stands there.


<translate> The women know how to weave dilly bags.


<translate> Granny laughed and said: everything the country gives is sweet when you are hungry and the fire is good.

Babingka yajarrin, balkan: bububu dajil yambayamba jiba-wulay, yundu dakwuymba, baya ngulkurrbu.


<translate> Grandmother sees the paperbark there.


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


<translate> You see the spotted eagle ray there.


<translate> That child is sitting there.


<translate> The old woman said the greatest medicine of all was not any plant but the care of the people, and that no one healed well who healed alone.

Wulbumanangka balkan mayi kakawarri yalbay bajaku kari mayi nyubun, yambada bamamu nyajil, bama kari ngulkurr kakawarrimal nyulu nganga kakawarrinya.


<translate> The old woman said: "Something is moving there in the long grass. Is it a snake, or a little bandicoot?"

Mukul-jalbu-ngku balkan: Junjuy jilba yinyay jikan kalbay-mba. Jarba yinya, kulngu buban yinya?


<translate> I see the marku species of oyster.


<translate> The old woman carried the heavy load on her back and her shoulder all the way to the camp.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku kulngkul muku binda-ba wundin bayan-ka wubulku.


<glossary> kanban ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> I was hit by the mistake by the child


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> a person in a hurry


<translate> They heard the whistle sound there.


<translate> The country itself speaks in withs, the old man swept his arm across it: flower-with means honey soon, cloud-with means look at the shelters, smoke-with means people, track-with means dinner — so a reader of withs is never startled twice.

Bubu nyulu-nyulu balkal '-ji'-bu, mukulungku dingkarangka wakuy milbin: nganka-ji balkal wunba ngundu, ngurrban-ji balkal bayan nyaji, kubu-ji balkal bama, jina-ji balkal mayi, yalada bama '-ji' nyajilmuny nyulu kariku yinil-mal jambulku.


<translate> The old man said water shows every kind of change at once and so was a great teacher to the old people, for it becomes ice-cold in the mountain and warm in the shallows, it becomes hard rain and soft mist, it becomes a still lagoon and a roaring flood, it becomes cloud and comes back as rain, and he said a person who truly watches water learns that a single thing can wear a hundred forms and change endlessly between them while remaining, always, itself.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bana yindu wubulku nyubunji milbil-bama yalbay bama mukulmuny, nyulu kiway-kiway-mal manjalba wumbul-mal bana-bubanba, nyulu bana dandi-mal ngurrbal kima-mal, nyulu daburri wunbu-mal bana-yalbay jarramali-mal, nyulu ngurrban-mal kaday baja bana-ji, nyulu balkan bama nyulu bana bajaku nyaji nyulu binalman yamba nyubun karrbal jina wubul yindu-mal bada-kari nyubunmuny nyubunku yambada janay, wungar wubulku, nyulu-nyulu.


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


<translate> The old woman said anger is a change that comes fast and passes fast if you let it, but that a person can foolishly make permanent by feeding it, for the hot flash of anger cools by itself within minutes like a coal pulled from the fire, but a person who broods, who keeps telling themselves the story of the wrong, makes the passing heat into a lasting cold hatred, changing a small storm into a permanent winter of the heart.

Wulbumanangka balkan kuli nyulu yindu kadan warri janay warri kaki yundu yindu-manilmuny, yambada bama nyulu kanban junkurr-bungal nukalnya, kuli wumbul nyulu nyulu-nyulu kiway-mal wungar buban-ba yala ngunjil baya-muny maninmuny, yambada bama nyulu milka-baykal, nyulu wawu-manil balkal nyulu-nyulunji kuku mumbumuny, nyulu wumbul warri janay yindu-bungal kuli kiway-kiway junkurrku, jarramali buban yindu-bungal bulur-ijirrku wawungu yabarrka janay.


<translate> You all see the scorpion here.


<translate> The fire is rather small now, so put more wood on it before the cold night comes.

Baya jarra-buban nyiku, juku baja bungan wujurr ngiki kada ngadiku.


<translate> Wet cane is good; dry cane breaks.

Yibuy duna ngulkurr; yibuy marral kadabal.


<translate> He kept thinking hard about the dead man all night, biting with his ear again and again.

Nyulu milka-bu bayka-l-bayka-n dingkar wula-nya-mu wujurr wubulku junkurr.


<translate> I see the ground lizard here.


<translate> The old woman told the children to gather plenty of firewood before dark, the old man said, for the night would be cold and long.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku karrkay-karrkay-nka balkan juku-buri wubul bangka-nka wujurr kada-nyjiku, mukul-dingkar balkan, wujurr ngiki marri-bu.


<lexeme> First bay south of Bloomfield River along coast


<translate> Take this food to the old people.


<translate> The old man said the bond between an older and younger brother is the model for all bonds in the world: the older leads and protects, the younger follows and honors, and each becomes, in the other, more than they could be alone.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: yaba yabaju jambulku kaji yala kaji wubulku bubungu: yaba ngundu jilbay kujil, yabaju kudamundu jilbay wawu-yukil, jambulku nyubun-nyubunba yalbay-manda nyubun jananmuny.


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


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


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


<translate> What kind of fish did they catch in the net down at the river mouth?

Kuyu wanyunguy jana karrban wawubaja-ngandal-ba?


<translate> While the moon was hiding, the old man took the boys night-fishing with firesticks, and the fish came to the light like children to a story, and he said as they walked home heavy: the moon keeps the fish wary, when she is away they believe every small fire, so the dark nights belong to the firestick and the moon nights to the net.

Kija ngakijinya mukulungku dingkarangka buban-buban wundin kuyuka wujurrba baya-juku-ji, kuyu kadan bayaka yala karrkay kuku-jangkarka, nyulu balkan, jana jilbanya bayanka dandi: kijabu kuyu miyil-ji karrbal, kaki nyulu dungay, kuyubu kuku-junkurr-manil baya buban nyubun-nyubun, yalada wujurr ngumbu nyulu baya-jukumuny, wujurr kija-ji nyulu makarrmuny.


<translate> The old people and the young people taught each other, the old ones giving knowledge and the young ones giving strength, and both were richer for it.

Kamba-kamba warru-warru-ji milbi-wan, kamba-kambangka binal dajin, warru-warrungka junkurr dajin, jambulku ngulkurrman baja.


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


<translate> The child ran to me crying; I held her, I spoke softly to her, and I carried her back to her mother.

Karrkay ngaykundu badil warrin; ngayu nyunguny karrban, ngayu nyungunku ngulkurr balkan, ngayu nyunguny nyungu ngamu-nka wundinda.


<translate> We see the small red ant there.


<translate> Many ducks swim quietly on the still water of the lagoon in the cool evening.

Nili-nili wubul bana-nga janji-l, wungar bada-nya ngiki-nga.


<translate> My camp is on this side of the creek, and yours is on the other side.

Ngayku bayan yanyu ngundu wawubaja-mu, yunu yindu-ngu ngundu.


<translate> You two see the kurruba freshwater fish here.


<translate> The parrot is standing at camp.


<translate> The man took the shield from the ground.


<translate> To find honey the old man watched a single bee drink at the water then followed the straight line of its heavy flight home to the tree, and he said the bee cannot lie about the way to its own nest, so a patient watcher is always led true, and this is the oldest kind of tracking, following the small one to the sweetness it guards.

Wunba maninka mukulungku dingkarangka dabu nyubun nyajin janga bananga yalada wukurrin nyungu marra-warri junkurr murni bayan-mundu juku-mundu, nyulu balkan dabu kariku balka-kari-bungal baral nyungu janku-mundu, bama maku-janal yabarrka murni jilbaman, yinya jina-binal ngadiku, minya buban wukurril jiba-wulay nyulu karrbalmuny.


<translate> Are you two coming with us? Yes, we two will follow you all to the mountain, and we will camp with you there.

Yubal ngalinji kada? Yuwu, ngali yurrangan bubu wangkara wukurril, ngali yurranji yinyabu bundal.


<translate> The rainbow bird digs a long home in the sandy bank and lays its young deep inside where the snake cannot reach.

Biru-biru jukar-a baka-l bayan kalbay, karrkay dukurr-ba wunan wanja jarba kari kadanka.


<translate> As the tide came back in, many fish swam into the net and could not get out again.

Jalun kadanya baja, kuyu wubul makarrba walan, murruji dungay baja.


<glossary> mulkal-mulkal ; type=noun ; domain=spirit-mythical-being <usage_example> They're fighting for no reason. Someone will have a baby.

Bula mulkal-mulkal; somebodyngka baby haveim-bungal


<glossary> dumbarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He broke the cassette because he was angry


<translate> The man's new spear is sharp.


<translate> The woman put the dog's food in the bag.

Jalbu-ngku mayi kaya-nga balji-nga yijarrin.


<translate> You two see the murrkul tree here.


<translate> First a little smoke came, then a small flame, and the boys watched with wide eyes.

Kubu buban kadanyarr, baya buban kadanda, dabalangka nyajin miyil yalbaymba.


<glossary> bajaku ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> I'm definitely not going


<translate> The man kept spearing around for wallabies all day.

Dingkar kadar-a dama-n-dama-ji wungar wubulku.


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


<translate> The two men stood on the high rock and looked down at the fish swimming in the clear water below.

Dingkar jambul janay kulji wangkar-a, bada nyaji-l kuyu janji-nya bana ngiki bada-bada.


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


<translate> The girl forgot the name, asked her grandmother, and the grandmother told it again.

Jalbu buban burri milka-wulan, babi-nda babajin, babi-ngka burri balkan baja.


<translate> They see the ngajay small crayfish here.


<translate> The meat in the ground oven was not burnt.


<translate> He saw the balarri queenfish there.


<translate> Before the dawn, in the coldest dark, the whole camp is silent and the fires burn low and red.

Wunkuwingku kariku, ngiki ngungul-ba, bayan narmba janka wuna, baya bada wajun kulbul.


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


<translate> You saw the yawa possum there.


<translate> The fire burned all night; nobody was cold.


<translate> You saw the bilu-warra spoonbill there.


<translate> You all see the yarrka bee here.


<translate> That blue spotted fantail ray is there.


<translate> The old woman said: When my legs finally stop, do not grieve that I can no longer travel, for I have already walked more country than most, and every step of it is still inside me; on the last night, sit me facing the road we came in on, and let me look down it one last time before I go.

Wulbumanangka balkan: Ngayku jadal dukul mara-kunbanya, kari walu-jirrbu-jirrbu ngayu kari jilbal, ngayu yabarrka bubu jilban wubul-baja bama wubulmuny, jina wubulku ngayku dukurrbu karrbal; wungar bada bajakungu, ngayu bunda baral nyaji-mundu ngana kadanmu, ngayu nyaji bada nyubun dumbay ngayu dunganka ngadiku.


<translate> They see the small bat here.


<translate> You two see the miral water scum here.


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


<translate> I saw the wurrbu hornet there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the mawal bee there.


<translate> The barking came from the house.


<translate> Carry the firestick carefully through the dark scrub, lest the small warm flame die out in the wind.

Jidi janka karrba madja ngungul-burr, baya buban wumbul muyar-bu wula-nyji.


<translate> We see the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> Watch those two at the corroboree — the old people live again in their legs for the length of one song.

Nyaji bula malkarriba: bama mukul juran-mal baja jandalba bulamunyba wulngku nyubun kalbayku.


<translate> We see the crescent perch there.


<glossary> dakumbar ; type=noun ; domain=flora-tree <usage_example> This wood is good for woomeras


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


<translate> They saw the jabil lizard here.


<translate> The women gathered the reeds at the lagoon, split them and laid them out to dry in the sun for two days, soaked them again to make them supple, wove them into sleeping mats over several evenings by the fire, trimmed the edges neatly, rolled the finished mats, and then gave one to each family that had a new baby coming.

Jalbu jikan bana-yalbay-mba bangkan, kakan wungara wunanka jambul wungar bawan, bana baja wunan jinbal-mandanka, kunarangkal wubulku baya ngunduku wuna-mundu wukurrin, miyil ngulkurr dakan, wuna dumban murnin, yalada jawun-karra wubulku ngawa jirakal kadalmu nyubun nyubun dayanda.


<translate> That mungka-mungka tree is there.


<translate> Everyone worked hard and the camp looked good.

Jana wubulku kirrajin, bayan ngulkurr nyajijin.


<glossary> karrul ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> He is drooling


<translate> You two see the windbreak there.


<translate> The boy told a lie by the fire, saying that the big dog had taken the good hunting spear.

Karrkay-angka jurrin baya ngundu, nyulu balkan kaya yalbay-ngku kalka balbi manin.


<glossary> binal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I want to know


<translate> The child heard barking from the house.

Karrkay-ngku ngangkurr bayan-muny nyajin.


<translate> The grass was wet and the walking was slow.


<translate> You two see the ngiwa moray eel here.


<translate> You and I saw the bububay blacktip shark there.


<translate> I hear the rattling sound here.


<lexeme> upper reaches of the Bloomfield River


<translate> The old man sent a message to the other camp with the fast young man and told him to come back before dark.

Mukul-dingkarangka kuku yungan bayan yindu-nka warru bila-anda, wujurr kada-nyjiku kada-nka balkan.


<translate> You and I see the flea there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the yirku-yirku frog here.


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


<translate> You and I see the fire there.


<translate> I light a fire so that you get warm.


<translate> The old people are cold — bring them blankets.

Kamba-kamba kiway-kiway — kararr wundi jananda!


<glossary> jururr-jururr ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> The policeman beat him repeatedly

Bulimanangka nyungun jururr-jururr kunin


<glossary> wawurr-wawurrmal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I decided to go now


<translate> They see the red bream here.


<glossary> dakal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> he climbed the tree


<translate> Father built the camp; meanwhile we gathered firewood.

Nganjan-angka bayan ngaran, ngana baya manin-kuda.


<translate> You all saw the yuray snake there.


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


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


<glossary> junkali ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> Nyulu junkali


<translate> Burn ironwood bark lest thunder come.

Jujabala dumbul waju, jarramali kada-nyji.


<translate> The children searched around for the dog in the grass.

Karrkay-karrkay kaya-nda nubi-nubi-ji jikan-ba.


<translate> They two saw the spear barb there.


<translate> They saw the turtle spear point here.


<translate> This good digging stick was once my old grandmother's, before she died long ago.

Juku yinya ngulkurr ngayku babi-mu-muny, nyulu wula-nyjiku kalbay-muny.


<translate> We ate fish and damper by the fire.


<translate> The old man said, cook the food well and give it to the children.

Mukul-dingkar balkan, mayi ngulkurr waju, karrkay-karrkay-nka daji.


<translate> The stony crossing is there.


<translate> The old woman said the grandparents and grandchildren often shared a special ease because they stood two steps apart, and the fierce responsibility that a parent felt for a child, with all its worry and correction, was softened across the extra generation into pure delight, so that a grandmother could simply enjoy a grandchild as a parent, weighed down by the daily duty of raising it, sometimes could not, and both the child and the old one were the richer for it.

Wulbumanangka balkan kami-babi jija-warra nganga karrbal wumbul-yamba jana janan jambul-jina jibarr, yamba-yukil junkurr ngamu-nganjan wawu-manin karrkaynka, nyungu wawu-mumbu murni-bungal baja, kima-manin wungar-kadal yindumuny yajarr nganga-nga, babi nganga yajarr jija-mundu yala ngamu-nganjan, wungar-daji junkurrbu kima-man, wungar nyubun kari, karrkay mukul jambul jana yamba-yukil-baja yinya-muny.


<translate> He saw the jalkay salmon there.


<glossary> yamba ; type=noun ; domain=shelter-dwelling <usage_example> I am going home


<translate> He sees the domestic turkey there.


<translate> The stones there are close together.


<translate> The clothes, they gave to the woman.


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


<translate> The dry time comes after the wet, when the rains stop and the cold winds blow in from the sea.

Marral-wungar kaba-muny kaday, kaba wula, muyar ngiki jalun-muny wanarri.


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


<translate> We gathered so many shellfish that we could not eat them all in one day.

Ngana mukirr wubul-baja bangkan, kari nuka-l wubul wungar nyubun-a.


<lexeme> child who has just learned to talk


<translate> The hunter followed the wallaby's tracks through the scrub, waited downwind behind a bush until it came close, threw his spear and hit it in the side, followed the blood a little way, found it fallen, and then carried it home on his shoulders.

Balbi-bama darrba jina wukurrin makarra dukurr-bu, muyar-mundu jina bawal juku ngundu bundan dukul nyulu ngundu kadanya, kalka yilban janka daman, mula wukurrin buban, nyajin nyulu badanmu, yalada nyulu jibi wangkar jarrakulbanda bayan-mundu.


<translate> They see the wankar tree there.


<translate> That satin bower bird is there.


<translate> The camp that reads the flood coming lives, he said, and the camp that waits to see the water dies; there is no third way.

Bayan nyulu jalungkarr kadanya nyajil wawuji, nyulu balkan, bayan nyulu bana nyajilnyjiku maku-janay wulay, kari kulur yala.


<translate> They see the grasshopper there.


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


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


<translate> The old man said: never kill the small fish or the young turtles; take only the big ones, put the little ones back, so the water will always give food to your children's children.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: kari kuyu buban kuni, ngujay warru-warru kari kuni; yalbay nganga mana, buban bananga bawa baja, bana mayi dayal yundu karrkay-karrkay-nka.


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


<translate> He saw the karkunbay stockwhip bird here.


<translate> They saw the fire stick there.


<translate> The old man's chest was broad and strong, and his song was loud.

Mukul-dingkar nyungu damu yalbay junkurr, nyungu burri yalbay-baja.


<translate> They see the freshwater turtle here.


<translate> A big branch broke off the old tree and fell down hard in the big storm wind.

Dakil yalbay juku mukul-muny bada dara-n, jarramali yalbay-ba jinbal-baja.


<translate> You two saw the darrba grass wallaby here.


<translate> He saw the juku-juku bronzewing dove here.


<translate> The girl came from the house.


<translate> Everywhere the child looked, someone was working — that is how a camp teaches without one lesson.

Yiringkurr karrkay nyajin, bama murnin: yalabu bayanbu milbil kuku-kari.


<translate> You all see the jadalangka animal leg there.


<translate> The little bird was snatched by the hawk from right beside the water hole.

Buyi buban kalin-kalin-anda nyarrma-jin, bana karangkal.


<translate> The witchetty grub is there.


<translate> If a big wind comes up while you are on the water, the old man warned, then go straight for the shore and do not fight it.

Kaki muyar yalbay wandil yurra bananga jananya, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, yurra yaral bungkarrka dungay, kari muyar kunil.


<translate> I saw the ngadil hickory tree here.


<translate> The old woman said the newborn's whole task is to change, faster than at any later time of life, for in a single year the helpless one that could not hold up its own head becomes a walking, babbling, laughing person who knows its mother's face and its own name, and she said this first great burst of change is why the old people watched a baby's first year with such joy and such care, for never again would a person change so fast or so far.

Wulbumanangka balkan ngawa nyungu murni wubulku yindu-mal, warri bajaku wungar bada wawumuny, wungar nyubunbu ngawa dukul-karrban-kari nyulu nyungu dukul wangkar-karrban-kari yindu-mal bama jilba-bama balkal-bama yajarr-bama binal nyungu ngamu miyil nyungu kuku baja, nyulu balkan yindu ngadiku yalbay yinya wanyurrinku bama mukul nyajin ngawa nyungu wungar ngadiku yajarr-ji wawu-karrba-ji baja, kariku baja bama yindu-mal warri bajaku kalbay bajaku baja.


<translate> The old man sat by the fire and told stories all night.

Mukul dingkar bayanga bundandan, kuku balkan.


<translate> The child's sore is not good.


<translate> We see the kalkurr yam here.


<translate> They caught the bandicoot, thanked the dogs, sat down in the shade, and the sun was high overhead.

Jana kulngu karrban, kaya-kaya ngulkurr balkan, wabarrba bundandan, wungar wangkar janan.


<translate> You two see the rock python there.


<translate> What did you put in the bag?


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


<translate> The old man said the great fig trees were the meeting places of the old country, chosen for gatherings because their shade held hundreds and their fruit fed the crowd, so the biggest were known by name across many days' walk, and to say you would meet someone at a named fig was to name a place as fixed and certain as any river-mouth or mountain.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan dukal-juku yalbay nyulu bama-bangkarr-bubu ngadiku-mundu, bangkarr-yamba-nka manin nyungu wabarr wubul karrbal nyungu mayi bama-wubul dayal, juku yalbay bajaku binal nyungu kuku wungar wubulku jilbalmuny, yundu balkanya yundu bama nyubun nyaji-way dukal-kuku-jinanga yundu bubu balkan janan yala junkurr wawubaja-julay yumal baja yala.


<translate> We named her for the rain that ended the hungry year, and the name kept its promise: wherever she sits, things grow.

Ngana nyulu burri dayan kabamuny wungar dakwuy kunbay-maninmuny, burribu kuku-dandi karrban: wanja nyulu bundal, yamba yalbay-mal.


<translate> I saw the crocodile in the water.


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> a person in a hurry


<translate> They saw the wurrbu hornet there.


<translate> You see the woomera butt here.


<glossary> duray ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> Sea turtles dig holes and cover them again without eggs; they trick people

Ngawiyangka bubu bakal, diburr kariku nandal baja; jana duraymal bamanka


<translate> The woman came from the sea.


<translate> You see the kurubarr mangrove here.


<glossary> kulay ; type=noun ; domain=human-generic-classifier <usage_example> Don't commit adultery


<glossary> bijal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=ingestion-consumption <usage_example> The child licked the icecream cone


<translate> Grandmother watched the child bathing.

Babi-ngka karrkay nyaji-l-nyaji-n, janji-janji-nya.


<translate> We see the wuymbariji scrub tree here.


<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> Everyone chased it but the dog was too fast.

Jana wubulku kangan, kaya jinbal bajaku.


<translate> The children asked why the old grow slow and forgetful, and the grandmother said: The mind is a dilly bag; when it is full of a whole long life, you must set some things down to pick up others, and we have simply gathered more than we can carry.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin wanya mukul buban-buban janay milka-wulay baja, babingka balkan: Milka balji yala; nyulu wawu kalbay wubulji nandanya, yundu yamba kanbal bada bunga yindu maninka, ngana wubul-baja bangkan ngana wundilmuny.


<translate> They saw the jinkalmu snake here.


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