<translate> You and I saw the kurrujuwa sentry bird here.


<translate> When they came out of the water, the mother dried the children with soft paperbark, and their skin was cool and clean and their eyes bright.

Jana banamuny badinda, ngamungka karrkay-karrkay marralbungan buyku bubanbu, jana bangkarr kiway dayirr, miyil balbajinya.


<translate> When you carry fire from one camp to another, hold the stick low and steady, lest the wind reach your hand or a coal fall on your dilly bag.

Yundu baya bayanmuny bayanka wundinya, baya juku bada yaral karrba, muyar maranga wanda-nyji, ngunjil baljinga wanda-nyji.


<translate> They see the frill necked lizard here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the bamboo spear stick here.


<translate> He saw the barka snake here.


<translate> I had a good rest in the cool shade after I had washed all the clothes in the creek.

Ngayu wabarr-ba wunanan, wawu-kambi-muny julurrin wubulku wawubaja-nga.


<translate> I take the fishing line before the fish bites.

Ngayu badur wundil, kuyu-ngku bayka-nyjiku.


<translate> You all see the frill necked lizard there.


<glossary> walngal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Don't wake up the baby


<translate> The wild storm came down on the camp like a great angry man throwing many spears.

Jarramali kuli bayan-ka bada kadan, yala dingkar kuli yalbay kalka wubul daman.


<translate> The old man distinguished a man with words from a wordless man: the man with words can talk his way into peace or into war, can teach and remember and carry the law, while the wordless man, however strong, is cut off from half of what makes a person, so the old ones worked hard to fill every child with words, songs, names, and stories.

Mukulungku dingkarangka dingkar kuku-ji buban-manin dingkar kuku-karimuny: kuku-ji bama balkan nyungu baral janka-yukilku yambada kuni-wayku, milbil karrbal kuku ngadiku jarrakulbal, kuku-kari dingkar junkurr yala, nyulu karra-manda yamba jarrba bama bungalmuny, bama mukul kirraji junkurr karrkay wubulku buwan kuku-bu, wulngku-badi burri jangkar baja.


<translate> We two, not you, see the dulmbi umbrella palm here.


<translate> You and I see the kookaburra here.


<translate> Grandmother left the paperbark in the shade.


<translate> You see the flat rock there.


<translate> They saw the hairy yam here.


<translate> The two of them see the wuli-wuli soldier crab there.


<translate> He saw the ngarkay waterhen there.


<translate> The child stands on the mountain.


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


<translate> Auntie's baby is growing big and strong.


<translate> You two see the squid 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.


<lexeme> the point between Kangkiji and Kaway


<translate> The children lay on their backs in the warm sand and learned the stars until their eyes closed and they slept.

Karrkay-karrkay muku wunan jukar wumbulba, dawar binalman miyil nandanyjiku warngku wunanyjiku.


<translate> I spent the whole day making a good digging stick for my grandmother: I found a length of the hardest heavy wood, cut it to the right length, sharpened one end to a strong point on the rough stone, fire-hardened the point over the coals, smoothed the whole shaft so it would not blister her hands, tested its weight and balance, and then gave it to her, and she used it happily for the rest of her days.

Ngayu wungar wubulku jaba yukil bungan ngayku babinka: ngayu juku junkurr dandi bajaku manin, murni kalbay yukilku dakan, nyubun jungku kulji-jiran-bu murni-manin junkurr-bu, ngunjil wangkar jungku wumbul-manin, juku wubulku jinbal-manin nyulu nyungu mara kari buyun-bungalka, dandi murni-nyajin, yalada nyulunka dayan, nyulu wawu-minibu kirrajin nyungu wungar wubulmuny.


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


<translate> The old woman gave food to the hungry child.

Mukul-jalbu-ngku mayi dajin karrkay dakwuy-nka.


<translate> The fruit from that tree is good.


<translate> I brought bark from the scrub.


<translate> You all saw the jinkalmu snake here.


<translate> You two saw the bamboo stick here.


<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 ground there is not flat.


<glossary> nulu ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> Pus is running from the sore


<translate> You two see the nakawarra bee here.


<translate> Deep inside every single person there is a strong heart and warm red blood, the old man taught.

Bama nyubun-nyubun dukurr-ba wubul junkurr mula wumbul, mukul-dingkar-angka milban.


<translate> Grandfather takes the child so that the child will be happy.

Kami-ngka karrkay wundi-l, wawurrwawurr-ma-nka.


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


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


<translate> The Leichhardt tree is standing there.


<translate> I did not really sleep last night; I only dozed a little by the fire.

Ngayu wujurr-ba karirrku warngku-wunan; ngayu buban-baja janka bundan baya karangkal.


<translate> We saw the saltwater crocodile in the water.


<translate> You and I saw the jingajalka tree here.


<translate> We see the kakaji mangrove tree here.


<translate> The little fish happened to get caught by the child down in the shallow water.

Kuyu buban karrkay-anda karrba-jin, bana buban-ba bada.


<translate> The tame one envies the bush one on calm days, and pities her in the storm.

Minya munabu ngura-nyajil minya bubumuny wungara wunbuba, dukul-kulnkul-mal jarramaliba.


<translate> The little sister ran crying to her elder brother when she was frightened, the old woman said, and he picked her up at once and carried her all the way home.

Jinkurr buban badi-badi-nya yaba-nka warri yararri-nya, mukul-jalbu balkan, nyulu nyiku-nyiku mani jarra-kulba bayan-ka narmba.


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


<translate> You see the spider shell here.


<translate> I saw the karrkil jumper ant there.


<translate> Hang the meat high in the tree, so a dog cannot reach it, lest you wake to find the night's catch gone and nothing but tracks and a full-bellied dog asleep in the cool.

Minya jukungu wangkar kaji, kaya kari wandanyjiku, yundu wandinya minya kunarangkalmu dungan nyaji-nyji, jina nganga, kaya jibar-mabu wawu-jankanga warngku wunay.


<translate> You all see the nganyil haze there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the ngurrkul fig tree there.


<translate> The young man carried a burning bark torch to light the dark path all the way home.

Warru-ngku jidi warrur-bu karrban, jina wujurr-ba balbal-mani-nka bayan-ka.


<translate> If the road is good, we will go tomorrow.

Kaki baral ngulkurr, ngana wunkuny dungay.


<translate> You saw the yalnga turtle here.


<translate> He sees the kajarrbi clam shell here.


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


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

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


<translate> The old woman knows every rock-pool and every oyster-bed on the whole reef, the people said, and her dilly-bag is never empty at low tide.

Mukul-jalbu binal bana-mabi kulji-jirr julul-bubu wubulku dulngku narmba-ba, bama balkan, nyungu ngunyin kari yamba ngajal-ba.


<translate> That person there is greedy.


<translate> The old man said the brolga stands on one leg in the shallow water for a long time, so still, watching for the small fish and the water insects.

Mukul-dingkar balkan: kulbal jina nyubun-bu bana buban-ba bunda marri, janka bajaku, kuyu buban minya bana-mu-jirr nyaji-nyaji.


<translate> You saw the ngurrkul fig tree here.


<translate> The Leichhardt tree is standing at camp.


<glossary> balbay ; type=noun ; domain=sky-weather <usage_example> Lighting might strike


<translate> The frill-necked lizard runs upright on its two back legs when it is frightened, the old man said, and spreads the great frill around its neck like an angry face.

Binanjal jina jambul muku-mu-bu janjanay warri yararri-nya, mukul-dingkar balkan, walu-ngarr yalbay ngamban murru-murru ngalkal-ma-l yala walu kuli.


<translate> The child sees the open ground.


<translate> After the big evening meal, the children ran down to the edge of the water in the last warm light of the day, the old woman said.

Wawu-mayi-muny wujurr-ma-nya, karrkay-karrkay bada warri bana ngandal-ba wungar wumbul kalbay-muny-a, mukul-jalbu balkan.


<translate> Go across at the wide shallow, not at the narrow deep — the river makes its short roads expensive.

Dungay naka-naka dubara yalbayba, kari dukurrba bubanba: wawubajabu baral buban dandi-bungal.


<translate> We two sing it once together, and then you sing it alone.

Ngali badi nyubunbu, yalada yundu badi nyubunji.


<translate> If the rain comes tomorrow, we will stay at the camp.

Kaki kaba kaday wunkuny, ngana bayan-ba bundanday.


<translate> The woman's back is sore from carrying the baby.


<translate> He ate all of the meat, and he wanted some more of the sweet fish as well.

Nyulu minya wubul nukan, nyulu kuyu jiba-wulay baja wawu nuka-nka baja.


<translate> The two boys hit each other, and then they were friends again.

Warru jambul kuni-way, yalada jana jawun baja.


<translate> Granny sang out to the children.


<translate> To make the earth oven the old woman first dug a pit as deep as her arm, then filled it with dry wood and a layer of stones, and lit the fire and let it burn down for a long time until the stones glowed and the wood was all red coals, for the stones must hold the heat, not the flame.

Kurrma bunganka wulbumanangka ngadiku bubu bakan bada mara kilba, yalada juku kiway-kiway kulji baja yijarrin, baya wandiman wula bada dungan kalbay dukul kulji ngala-ngala wula juku wubulku ngunjil mula-mula, kulji yabarrka wumbul karrbal, kari wula.


<translate> The young men stayed in the camp.


<translate> The seagulls follow the men who are fishing at the sea, and when a fish is thrown they drop down and take it.

Dirrmbay dingkar wukurrin kuyu-balbi jalun-ba, kuyu bawan jana bada daran manin.


<translate> The old man put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said: now you know the weight of meat, and you will never waste it.

Mukulungku dingkarangka mara yijarrin karrkaymu bindanga, balkan: nyiku yundu binal minyamu dandi, kari yundu bawal yabarrka.


<translate> You and I saw the kalngkan small mullet there.


<translate> When the candle nut tree flowers, the old people know that the big wet season is coming.

Bilar nganka-ma-nya, mukul-bama binal kaba-wungar yalbay kada-nya.


<translate> The families helped each other dig yams in the hard cold season.

Jawun-karra mara-daji-way, bambayal baka-nka ngiki-wungar-a.


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


<translate> Who came? A stranger came. Who speared the fish? The old man speared it, and he shared it with everyone.

Wanya kadan? Bama yindu kadan. Wanyangka kuyu daman? Mukul-dingkarangka daman, nyulu bama wubul-ku daji-way.


<translate> You two see the murrkul tree there.


<translate> You should never travel through the dry country without water and without fire.

Yundu kari jilba-dunga-y bubu marral-burr bana-mundu baya-mundu!


<translate> As the fire burned high, the old men began to sing the old songs and the young men came out to dance.

Baya wangkar wajunya, mukul dingkar-dingkar wulngku badin, warru-warru kadan wurinka.


<translate> A mosquito sang at my ear all night — tonight I sleep in the smoke.

Kamubu badin milkaba ngayku wujurr wubulku: wujurrba yanyaba ngayu wunay kubungu.


<translate> The reef opens and closes on the tide's order, the old woman drilled the children again and again: go out as the water falls, work the low, turn back when the water turns, be home before the channels fill — four words, always the same, and the sea forgives nobody who changes them, so walk this one exactly as the grandmothers walked it.

Jalun-bubu ngalkal-mal nandaji yira jinanji, wulbumanangka karrkay-karrkay milbin baja baja: dungay bana daraynya, murni ngajalba, murni baja bana murninya, bayanka bana-baral jakal-manyjiku, kuku jambul-jambul, yabarrka nyubun yala, jalunbu kariku bawal bama kuku yindu-bungalmuny, yalada jilba yinya yala babi-karrangka jilbanmuny.


<translate> They saw the lightning there.


<translate> You two see the black cockatoo there.


<translate> "Which way did the wallaby run when the dog chased it down across the creek in the dark?"

Kadar wanjarr warrin, kaya-ngka nyulu kangan bada naka-naka wawubaja-burr ngungul-ba?


<translate> The old woman put more firewood on the fire, and the flame grew big and bright.

Mukul-jalbu-ngka baya-juku baja wajun, baya yalbay-ma-l balbal-baja.


<translate> The food is better than the meat.


<translate> Mother came outside with clothes.


<translate> I am hungry! — Then dig, the yam ground is right there.

Ngayu dakwuy! Yalada baka, juwal-bubu yinya ngundu.


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


<translate> You two see the black-tip shark here.


<glossary> bama-ngaykunku ; type=interjection ; domain=interjection <usage_example> my word, I was almost hit


<translate> If the tide goes out, the women go onto the reef to gather shells.

Kaki yira dungay, jalbu kulji-ka dungay, milbar bangka-nka.


<translate> The old man read the tracks in the sand — the foot of the dingo, the foot of the goanna.

Mukul-dingkarangka jina ngaran jukar-a — murramu-mu jina, jadi-mu jina.


<translate> Mother went to the mountain with the baby.


<translate> The old man showed the boys how to make fire, spinning a hard stick fast between his hands on a soft log.

Mukulungku dingkarangka dabal milbin baya ngaranka, juku junkurr murnijin jinbalku maranga jukungu.


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


<glossary> nbuyun-birrku ; type=adverb ; domain=quantity-number <usage_example> I'll deliver it only once


<translate> If the road is bad, leave the billycan at the camp.

Kaki baral buyun, jungkalu bayan-ba bawa.


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


<translate> The young man asked father: "Did you come back?"

Warru nganjan-anda babajin: "Yundu kada-ny-baja?"


<translate> You and I see the door there.


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


<translate> The woman laughed at the girl.


<translate> The young man's stomach is painful.


<translate> Granny knows the good yam country.


<translate> We two made peace at the crossing: he took the deep side, I took the small side, and the fish fed both our fires.

Ngali kaka-kari murnin bana-baralba: nyulu dukurr manin, ngayu buban, kuyubu baya jambul mayi-dayan.


<translate> We two swam through the river.


<translate> I will not go without this one.


<translate> A pair of horses, a mother and her young foal, came slowly down the track to the water.

Yarraman-bulal kankadan, ngamu warru baja, jina-burr bada bana-ka buban-buban.


<translate> That frill necked lizard is here.


<translate> They saw the willie wagtail there.


<translate> The sweet potato grows near the creek, and the children dig them up after the rain.

Bangkamu wawubaja karangkal yalbay-mal, karrkay bakan kaba-muny.


<translate> The mother and daughter walked to the sea to gather food along the shore.

Ngamu-manda jalun-ka jilba dungan, mayi bangka-nka jalun-ngandal-ba.


<translate> He sees the wurrul shellfish here.


<translate> The kingfisher sits still on the low branch over the still water and watches for a long time without moving, then drops like a thrown stone and comes up with a small fish every time, and the old man told the boy to hunt the same way: sit still, watch long, waste no movement, and strike only once when you are certain.

Dabuy janka juku-mara bada bana janka dukurr-bu bundan nyaji maku-janal kari murninya, yalada badan kulji yilbanmabi yala bada kadan kuyu buban wungar wubulku, mukulungku dingkarangka buban balkan yala nyubun balbinka: janka bunda, nyaji maku-jana, kari murni bawa, daman nyubun nyundu binalnya.


<translate> You see the miyilabu mangrove tree here.


<translate> We see the clear water here.


<translate> He sees the kalburiji bee here.


<translate> You see the spoon bill bird there.


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


<translate> The wives said to the men: go now and get us some good fish from the deep river.

Manyarr-karra-ngka dingkar balkan, 'Dunga-y niji kuyu ngulkurr mani ngana-nka wawubaja dajali-muny.'


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


<translate> They saw the barka snake there.


<translate> I see the jajikal screw palm there.


<translate> You see the black beetle here.


<translate> In this country there is honey, yams, and fruit for everyone in the wet season.

Yanyu bubu-ngu wunba, bambayal, jidu wubul bama-ka bana-wungar-a.


<translate> Are you all coming to the ceremony? Yes, we will all come; bring your children with you; we will dance together through the night.

Yurra bubu-mundu kada? Yuwu, ngana wubul kada; yurranga karrkay-karrkay yurranji wundi; ngana muru wurin wujurr-burr.


<translate> The two young men pulled out bamboo, tied it, and went on.

Bula warru-ngku nambarr kulban, kajan, dungan-baja.


<translate> The dogs found an echidna under the log.

Kaya-kayangka ngangkin nyajin, juku bada-bada.


<translate> After that, we close the house.


<translate> The two young men went out with spears to spear a turtle.

Bula warru kalkaji dungan, ngawiya damanka.


<translate> We gave the old people the best fish.

Ngana kuyu ngulkurr bajaku dajin kamba-kambanda.


<translate> This hair is light-coloured.


<translate> When the crocodile makes its low roaring call in the night at the start of the wet, the old woman said, everyone knows the big rains are truly coming now.

Bilngkumu yirrka bada junkurr wujurr-ba kaba-wungar yudal-nya, mukul-jalbu balkan, bama wubulku binal kaba yalbay niji kada-nya nyawa.


<translate> The women gathered oysters from the rocks at the low tide in the cold morning.

Jalbu-jalbu-ngka julul bangkan kulji-muny ngajal-ba wunkuwingku ngiki-nga.


<translate> You all see the karrandal tree here.


<translate> The old man said that of all the creatures the little ones taught the most, for the ant showed the value of working together, the bee showed that sweetness is worth guarding and worth sharing, the spider showed patience and the making of fine things, and the small quiet bird showed that you do not need to be big or loud to know the whole country and sing your own true song in it.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan minya wubulmuny buban-buban milbin ngulkurr-baja, jabarrangkul milbin nyubun-nyubunji kirrajilmu yukil, dabu milbin jiba-wulay karrbalmu yukil dayalmu yukil, malal milbin maku-janal yamba yukil bungalmu, buyi buban dandi milbin yundu kari yalbay kuku-yalbay bubu wubulku binalka nyungu wulngku-badi ngadiku ngunduka badinka.


<translate> Grey clouds fill the sky now, and soon the heavy rain will fall down upon the dry country.

Ngurrban wulman jiri-ba niji, nyiku-nyiku kaba kulngkul bubu marral-ka bada dara-y.


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


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


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


<translate> You two saw the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish there.


<translate> You all saw the mali small bat there.


<translate> They saw the daughter's child.


<translate> The old people taught us the songs.

Kamba-kambangka nganangan binal-bungan, wulngku badinka.


<translate> He saw the bamboo stick here.


<translate> You two saw the grasshopper here.


<translate> You saw the bajabaja lizard here.


<translate> The little child washed himself carefully, scrubbing the dust from his arms and legs until his skin was clean and shining.

Karrkay bubanangka nyulu-nyulu julurri-jin wunbu, jukar mara jina yakan, nyungu bangkarr dayirrmanda balbajinya.


<translate> You all saw the julaji freshwater catfish there.


<translate> I am very hungry, for I have eaten nothing since the sun came up this morning.

Ngayu dakwuy-baja-ku, ngayu maru-maru nukan wungar dakan-muny nyiku wunkuwingku.


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


<translate> You see the dulmbi umbrella palm here.


<translate> The light-coloured clothing is here.


<translate> Grandfather saw the paperbark.


<translate> You hear the grunt sound there.


<translate> They two see the sea turtle there.


<lexeme> the point between Kangkiji and Kaway


<glossary> damal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> she washed clothes in the creek


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

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


<translate> You and I saw the mawul freshwater eel here.


<translate> A person who knows only two seasons is half blind, said the old man; the country speaks in many voices, and you must learn them all.

Bama nyulu jambul nganga binal ngamba buban, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan; bubu kuku wubulku balkal, yundu yabarrka binalmanka wubulku.


<translate> You all saw the jabil lizard here.


<translate> The children learned the names of the feelings as they had learned the names of the animals, and just as with the animals, once a feeling was named its fear grew small.

Karrkay-karrkayangka wawumu burri binalman yala jana minyamu burri binalmanmuny, yala minyaji, wawu kunjanmuny yinil buban-manda.


<translate> You two saw the mawul freshwater eel there.


<translate> You and I saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko here.


<translate> This is your older sister, babarr, and this your younger sister, jinkurr, and among the four of you — two brothers and two sisters — you will hold each other up all your lives.

Yinya yundu babarr, yinya yundu jinkurr, yurra jambul-jambul, yaba jambul babarr jambul, yurra nyubun-nyubunji mara-daji-way wawu wubulku.


<translate> The museum keeps the old weapons behind glass: the war spear, the shield, the woomera; but the grandmother says a weapon in a glass box is dead, for a spear is alive only in the hand that throws it.

Kilaja-bayanba mukul-jarrngkurr karrbal: kuyan, kunjuri, ngurmu; yambada babingka balkan: jarrngkurr kilaja-nga wulan, kalka mara-nga nyubun juran, yilba-mara-nga.


<translate> The man left the shield in the shade.


<translate> The two of them see the nakawarra bee there.


<translate> A man must never look at or speak directly to his mother-in-law, the old man said — that is the very strongest law of avoidance among all the people.

Dingkar-angka biwul kari nyaji kari nyunguny balka nyubun-bu, mukul-dingkar balkan — yinya yalaku junkurr bajaku bama-mu wubulku.


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

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


<translate> The old man gathered the children and said: the country talks to us in the clouds, the wind, and the birds.

Mukulungku dingkarangka karrkay-karrkay bangkan, balkan: bububu ngananda balkal ngurrbanji, muyarji, buyiji.


<translate> In the warm season the sea turtle comes up onto the sand at night to make her young, and the people watch the beach and wait.

Wungar-iji ngawiya jukar-ka daka wujurr-ba karrkay bunga-nka, bama jukar nyaji-nyaji bunda.


<translate> Sweep the ground clean, then set up the shelter, and light the fire just before the sun goes down.

Bubu kida, bayan ngara-nyjiku, baya jakalamba wungar bada dunga-nyjiku.


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


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


<glossary> walkandu ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> Don't talk in English


<translate> The turtle is big and heavy; four men carried it up onto the beach.

Yalnga yalbay kulngkul; dingkar jambul-jambul wundin jukar wangkar-ka.


<translate> Mother sent a message with grandmother.


<translate> Girl, give granny some water!


<translate> Today the men go hunting in a car, not on foot; they carry a gun instead of a spear, but the old man still takes his spear-thrower, saying the old way never fails.

Nyiku-wungar dingkar-dingkar mudaka-nga balbil, kari jina-bu; jana marrkin wundil, kari kalka; yambada mukul-dingkarangka nyungu balur wundil, balkan: mukul-yalaku kariku buyun-mal.


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


<translate> We'll sleep outside — the house is too hot.

Ngana ngalkalba warngku wunay — bayan wumbul bajaku.


<translate> The children laughed and told her all her questions one by one, and the whole family talked together late into the warm night.

Karrkay-karrkay yajarrin, ngamumu babaji wubulku balkan nyubun-nyubun, jawunkarra wubulku balka-wan kunarangkal wumbulba baja.


<translate> The two brothers would have been taken by the water at the narrow crossing, the old people still count it among the near things, but an uncle on the bank read the water fast and threw the long vine early, and both came home wet and alive, and the camp fed that uncle first for a whole wet season.

Yabaju jambul bana-maninyaku bana-baralba bubanba, bama mukulungku yinya yabarrka milka-binalku, yambada kalngangka jalkara bana nyajin warri, kalal kalbay yilban ngadiku, jambul kadan bayanka bana-ji juran baja, bayanda kalnga yinya mayi-dayan ngadiku bana-wungar nyubunku.


<glossary> ngumanji ; type=adjective ; domain=body-part <usage_example> That man has teeth missing


<translate> I see the dirrmbay seagull there.


<translate> The man put the bone in the bag.

Dingkar-angka bajibay balji-nga yijarrin.


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


<translate> The child swept the ground for camp.


<translate> The women showed the young girls how to weave the dilly bags from the strong lawyer cane.

Jalbu-ngku maral-maral balkan, ngunyin bunga-nka kaku junkurr-muny.


<translate> He caught a fish first, then speared a turtle.


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


<translate> Then the old man turned the game around and let the children ask him questions, and he answered each one as well and truly as he could.

Yalada mukulungku dingkarangka murnin, karrkay-karrkay nyungunka babajinya bawan, nyulu yala nyubun-nyubun balkan ngulkurr yukil.


<translate> The children gathered the fallen nuts and fruits under the big trees, filling their dilly bags, and the old woman showed them which to keep and which to leave.

Karrkay-karrkayangka barka mayi badanmuny bangkan juku yalbay badabada, ngunyin nandan, wulbumanangka milbin wanya kujinka wanya bawanka.


<translate> The men took firesticks and went into the dark scrub, calling the boy's name and searching for his tracks.

Dingkar-dingkarangka baya manin, madjanga walan wujurrbu, karrkaymu burri yirrkan, jina nyajil-nyajin.


<translate> That road there is not crooked.


<translate> You all saw the balarri queenfish here.


<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> The two mothers went to camp.


<glossary> jarra-jarra ; type=adjective ; domain=dimension-size <usage_example> She climbed up high


<translate> The two of them see the smouldering log there.


<translate> I saw a man with a spear and a woman with a dillybag going north.

Ngayu nyajin dingkar kalka-ji jalbu balji-ji, jana dungan kungkarrku.


<glossary> milka-dalkay-manil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> You remind me tomorrow about the monkey

Yundu nganya milka-dalkay-mana wunkun moneyka


<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> He sees the durral tree there.


<translate> I know that story — granny told it long ago.

Ngayu binal kukuku — ngadiku babingka balkan.


<glossary> walngkal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=posture-rest <usage_example> The log is floating on the water


<translate> Grandmother chopped bark for the coolamon.


<glossary> buban ; type=noun ; domain=quantity-number <usage_example> I have only a little bit of money


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


<translate> His hair is grey now like the old man's, but his eyes are still sharp and see far across the wide plain.

Nyungu mungka wulman niji mukul-dingkar-mu yala, yamba nyungu miyil junkurr, kala-kalbay nyaji-l bubu-burr.


<translate> Test the edge with a leaf, not with your finger.


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


<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.


<glossary> babal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> I want to go fishing to try the place out

ngayu baduriji dungaka, yinya bubu babanka


<glossary> walngal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Don't wake up the baby


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


<translate> The whole camp was quiet at last, and only the small night birds could be heard in the dark trees.

Bayan wubulku janka niji, buyi buban wujurr-mu nyubun-bu nyaji-nya juku ngungul-ba.


<translate> When the wattle flowered along the river, the people knew the cold season was ending and the fish were coming back.

Nganka wandinya wawubaja ngundu, bama binal buluriji dunganya, kuyu kadanya baja.


<glossary> ngiki ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> He got a big sickenss (pneumonia)


<glossary> yirmbal ; type=noun ; domain=ceremony-magic-song <usage_example> The taboo (thing) grabs you and holds you


<translate> You all see the dilly bag there.


<translate> Hold your sister's food-share — she is still at the water.

Mayi-daji jinkurrmuny karrba, nyulu bananga yabarrka.


<translate> You and I see the bamboo stick here.


<translate> The two of them saw the kira baby girl here.


<translate> Grandmother saw the swamp there.


<translate> Grandmother taught the child to cook food.

Babi-ngka karrkay binal-bungan mayi waju-nku.


<translate> The hunter watched the two brothers carrying the heavy turtle up the beach, the old man said, and he went down at once to help them lift it.

Balbi-bama-ngku yaba-jarra jambul nyaji-l-nyaji-n, ngawiya kulngkul jarra-kulba-nya jukar-a, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyulu bada kaday mara-dajil-nka.


<translate> The small conical shellfish is here.


<glossary> ngumanji ; type=adjective ; domain=body-part <usage_example> That man has teeth missing


<translate> Grandmother saw leaves on the ground.


<translate> The rain today is very cold, so everyone stays close to the fire in the camp.

Kaba nyiku wungar ngiki-baja-ku, bama wubul baya ngundu wunay bayan-ba.


<glossary> balu ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> I thought he came but he didn't


<translate> They made a net with tree bark.


<translate> You saw the bamboo spear stick here.


<translate> A wise camp does the right work in the right season, he said: tools in the wet, hunting in the dry, always looking ahead.

Bayan binal ngulkurr kirrajil yala wungara, nyulu balkan: yamba buluriji, balbi wangariji, yabarrka maku nyajil.


<translate> You see the deep water here.


<translate> Learn the lazy road last, the old man surprised them: first do it the long way many times, until the tool trusts you — then the short roads introduce themselves, and only then are they short roads and not waiting pain.

Binal-ma baral warri badaku, mukulungku dingkarangka jana yinil-man: murni-ngurr baral kalbaybu wubulkubu, yamba-murni yununka dandi-manyjiku, yalada baral buban nyulu-nyulu milbil, yalada nganga jana baral buban yukil, kari kaka janaynya.


<translate> The women straightened the tangles out of the children's long hair with their fingers and tied it back so it would not fall in their eyes.

Jalbu-jalbungka karrkay-karrkaymu mungka kalbay marabu yaralbungan, kajan kudamundu, mungka miyilba kari badanyji.


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


<translate> The old woman dug the roots at the fig tree, cooked them on the fire, and gave the food to the children.

Mukulungku jarrangkalba bangkan bakan, kunjinba wajun, mayi karrkay-karrkay dayan.


<glossary> yirri-damal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> My tank is leaking


<translate> You see the spiderlily here.


<translate> We two (not you) see the pumice stone here.


<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> I am not really hungry now; I ate the good meat and the sweet fruit a little while ago by the fire.

Ngayu kari-rrku dakwuy niji; ngayu minya ngulkurr mayi jiba-wulay nukan niji-muny baya ngundu.


<glossary> juru-kulbal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> He led his friend wrong


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


<glossary> jikal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> They straighten the spear out in the fire


<translate> In the morning a thunderstorm came.


<translate> I saw a grass tree and a fern beside the path, and I picked the flowers.

Ngayu nganjirr malari baja nyajin, nganka munjan.


<translate> You two saw the bububay blacktip shark here.


<glossary> bibi ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> The baby is crying, he wants to feed


<lexeme> the Aboriginal camp at Thompson Creek


<translate> We two, not you, saw the dukunjulu golden whistler here.


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


<translate> I brought paperbark from the house.


<translate> The old man said: the eagle sits high on the tree and watches the whole country; it sees the small animals far off, so it never goes hungry.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: yalngkurr juku wangkara bundan, bubu wubul nyajil; nyulu minya buban kala-kalbay nyajil, nyulu kariku dakwuy.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the bajabaja lizard there.


<translate> All of us belong to this country; the old ones taught us; the country feeds us; and we will keep it for our children.

Ngana wubul nyiku bubu-mu; mukul-mukulungku nganangan binal-bungan; bubu ngananka mayi dayal; ngana bubu ngananga karrkay-karrkayka karrbal.


<translate> The boys are building a little shelter to play in.

Dabalangka bayan buban ngaral, kinkanka.


<translate> The fish cooked well in the hot coals.


<translate> Grandmother washed the child's neck.


<translate> The young man asked the old hunter about the best way to make a straight, strong spear.

Warru-ngku balbi-bama mukul-da babajin, kalka jinbal junkurr bunga-nka ngulkurr-ka.


<translate> That kuji-kuji tree is there.


<translate> I saw the jalkay salmon there.


<translate> The hinterland is high and dry, but down by the sea the land is wet with the rising tides.

Jibarr wangkar marral, yamba jalun bada bubu duna bana-bu.


<glossary> kunil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He hit the dog with a stick


<translate> The child saw the paperbark tree.


<translate> We see the mulumu dove here.


<translate> They saw the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish there.


<translate> The old man showed him how to hold the spear and how to wait and how to move without a sound.

Mukulungku dingkarangka nyungu milbin: wanjabu kalka karrbal, wanjabu maku-janay, wanjabu jalamal kari kukuji.


<translate> The old man said the happiest people he had ever known were not the ones with the most, but the ones who wanted the least and gave the most away.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: bama wawu-mini bajaku nyulu binalmuny kari bama yamba wubul bajakuji, yambada bama nyulu wawu buban bajaku, dajil wubul bajaku baja.


<translate> The man went and threw curses everywhere.


<translate> You two see the ridge pole here.


<glossary> maru-maru ; type=adverb ; domain=quantity-number <usage_example> I came with nothing, having nothing


<translate> They saw the spoon bill bird here.


<translate> Grandfather saw the road there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jungarr marsupial native cat here.


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


<translate> You all saw the kurrujuwa sentry bird there.


<translate> You two saw the oyster here.


<translate> They saw the yarrka bee here.


<glossary> wurrmay ; type=noun ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> Don't steal


<translate> The old man taught the children to hide themselves well when danger came: Make yourself small, he said, be still as a stone, and let the danger pass you by.

Mukulungku dingkarangka karrkay-karrkay milbin ngaki-jinka ngulkurr yinil kadanya: Yundu-yundu buban-bunga, nyulu balkan, kulji yala janay, yinil yundunda bawa dungay.


<translate> The food here is not sticky.


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


<translate> I saw the kalkarrumbarr lizard here.


<translate> They saw the son or daughter here.


<glossary> ngarra-yilbal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He passed me (while driving along)


<translate> The young man got a fish, but it kept struggling.

Warru-ngku kuyu manin, kari burrki-n-burrki-n.


<glossary> balkaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> there are are flowers now


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


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


<translate> The children learned the signs one by one — the flowering, the fruiting, the winds, the movements of the birds and the fish.

Karrkay-karrkayangka yala nyubun-nyubun binalman: nganka wandinya, mayi kulbulmanda, muyar, buyi kuyu jalamanya.


<glossary> yungal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> The judge freed him (sent him back home)


<translate> The other rope is lying neatly.


<translate> They saw the hair belt there.


<translate> You see the seashell headband there.


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


<translate> You saw the karrmbil parakeet here.


<translate> Take the meat from the fire, put it on the big flat stone, and give some to the old people first.

Minya baya-muny mani, kulji yalbay-mba nanda, mukul-bama-nka daya ngadiku.


<translate> As a child I used to eat wallaby meat and echidna, cooked in the hot coals of the fire.

Ngayu karrkay-nyja-ku minya kadar ngangkin nuka-l-nuka-n, baya ngunjil wumbul-ba waju-nya.


<translate> The two of them see the scrub goanna there.


<translate> The vicious dog bit the child.


<translate> We saw the wooden sword there.


<translate> The children did not forget these lessons, for they were not taught in words alone but shown in the daily washing and healing and caring of the whole camp.

Karrkay-karrkay kari milka-wulan yinya kuku, jana kari kukubu nganga milbin, jana milbin julurri-jinga kakawarri-jinga nyajinga bayan wubulkumu wungar wubulku.


<translate> The old woman ground the seeds thoroughly between the two flat stones to make the good flour.

Mukul-jalbu mayi murni-l-murni-n kulji jambul-bu, mayi ngulkurr bunga-nka.


<translate> Father saw the saltwater crocodile in the water.

Nganjan-angka bilngkumu bana-nga nyajin.


<translate> The kingfisher of the mangroves is bigger than the creek kingfisher, the old man said, and it eats the little crabs and mudskippers on the tidal flats.

Dabuy kajul-mu yalbay dabuy bana-jandu-mu-muny, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyulu kiju buban minya jukar-mu-jirr ngajal-ba nuka.


<translate> You two see the charcoal there.


<translate> They saw the snake on the open ground.


<translate> Are you coming out with us to hunt the wallaby in the scrub today, the young man asked his younger brother by the morning fire.

Yundu ngananji kadar balbi-nka madja-ka niji? warru-ngku nyungu yabaju buri-ngka wunkuwingku-ba nyajin.


<translate> That person there is experienced.


<translate> Father saw the freshwater turtle in the water.


<translate> Before dawn, granny was already at the fire.

Babi bayanga bundandan, wungar wandinyjiku.


<translate> The old man was very angry with the young men, who had speared his best hunting dog.

Mukul-dingkar dukul-wuri bajaku warru-nka, warru-ngku nyungu kaya balbi ngulkurr daman.


<translate> One hot afternoon a brown snake came into the camp, and the children ran and called out to the old people.

Yilay-yilay wumbulba jinkalmu bayanba walan, karrkay-karrkay warrin, kamba-kambanka yirrkan.


<glossary> milka-burray ; type=adjective ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The kids are maing too much noise; I'm tired of it

Kaykay-kaykay nurra baka; ngayu milka-burray


<translate> They lit the ground oven and put the meat in it.

Jana kurrma wajun, minya kurrma-nga yijarrin.


<translate> You two saw the sandfly there.


<translate> We hear the whistle sound here.


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


<lexeme> First bay south of Bloomfield River along coast


<translate> The wet season has not come yet; the old people are still watching the clouds.

Bana-wungar kariku kadan; mukul-bama ngurrban nyajil baja.


<translate> You saw the mura tree there.


<glossary> jumbun ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> The baby is greedy for milk


<translate> You two see the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish here.


<translate> We see the marku species of oyster there.


<translate> The father asked the mother about food, and the mother said the yams were ready now.

Nganjan-angka ngamu-ndu babajin mayi-ka, ngamungku balkan, bambayal jani niji.


<glossary> ngurrbal ; type=noun ; domain=sky-weather <usage_example> I couldn't see, the heavy fog oblterated (the view)

Ngayu kari nyajin, ngurrbalda yalbaynja kanbin


<translate> Uncle tied the canoe to the big log.

Kalngangka marrakan kajan jukungu yalbayngu.


<translate> The young one wants to cook, the old woman smiled a little, but wanting is the younger brother of knowing how, so she stood beside the girl at the fire: he who knows how to spear learned it spearing, she who knows how to cook learns it cooking, and the first food burnt hard — that too is teaching.

Buban wawu-manil wajunku, wulbuman yajarr-man buban, yambada wawu-manil nyulu yabaju binalmuny, yalada nyulu janan ngundu jalbu-bubananda bayanga: nyulu binal damanka nyulu binalman damanya, nyulu binal wajunku nyulu binal-mal wajunya, mayi ngadiku wajun bajaku, yinya baja milbil.


<translate> The old woman kept crying quietly for her husband many days, and the people let her cry, for grief must run its course like water.

Mukul-jalbu banbadi janka wawubaja-nka wungar wubul, bama nyulu badi wuna, jiba-badi wanarri yala bana.


<translate> You two see the bujabay tree there.


<glossary> maku ; type=locational ; domain=location-deixis <usage_example> The boat was coming toward him


<translate> You and I see the kakaji mangrove tree here.


<translate> He saw the karrkurr frog here.


<translate> One old man sat alone by the fire, and two young men stood quietly beside him in the dark.

Mukul-dingkar nyubun baya ngundu nyubun-bu bundan, warru jambul nyungu ngundu janka janay.


<translate> You and I see the barracuda here.


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


<translate> You all saw the karrandal tree here.


<translate> When the first rains come, the dry creek beds fill up with running water again.

Kaba nyubun-baja kada-nya, wawubaja marral bana-bu yalbay-ma-l baja.


<translate> You sit first, and then I will sweep the ground.

Yundu-ngurr bunda-y, ngayu bubu kidal-da.


<translate> Mother sees the grass tree there.


<translate> In the hot season the whole camp went down to the big waterhole, the sun sinking, the children swimming and calling out big, the old people sitting in the shallow water like old logs going soft, and the old woman said: the body is a working thing, but in the water it remembers it was once only a small happy fish.

Jiri-wungara bayan wubulku dungan bada daburrika, wungar bada dunganya, karrkay-karrkay marajin kuku yalbay balkanya, bama mukul bundan bana bubanba yala juku mukul kima-manya, wulbumanangka balkan: bangkarr nyulu murni-yamba, yambada bananga nyulu milka-binalku nyulu ngadiku kuyu buban wawu-mini nganga.


<translate> You all saw the scorpion there.


<translate> The old woman said this is the deepest magic there is: that love, given to a child, does not disappear but flows onward through them into children not yet born, so that a grandmother's love reaches, unbroken, into a future she will never live to see.

Wulbumanangka balkan: yinya yamba dandi bajaku wubulmuny: wawu jirray, karrkayka dajinmuny, kari dungay, yambada nyulubu badaka dungay karrkay kariku kambanmuny, babimu wawu jirray kalakalbay dungay, kari kaka, wunkunka nyulu kari nyajilnya.


<translate> You two saw the jimalili lizard here.


<translate> We see the fingernail there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the murral tree kangaroo here.


<glossary> wadil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=sky-weather <usage_example> They hung a blanket up because the cold might come in

Jana blanket walngkan-daman buluruku wadinji


<translate> We brought fish from the sea.


<translate> The jellyfish drift in the warm water; do not touch them, for they sting.

Kulil bana wumbul-a wunay; kari janangan karrba, jana bayka-l.


<translate> They two see the spear point 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 baby sleeps without a blanket.


<translate> The two boys swam across the river.


<translate> The old man said: take what you need, leave the mother, and there will be turtles for your children's children.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: kanbal mana, ngamu bawa, ngawiya janay karrkaymu karrkayka.


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

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


<glossary> milka-daray ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The young man and girl did wrong in the bush

Bulu maral and warru milka-daran duduymbu


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

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


<translate> What did the old man say to the frightened children sitting around the warm fire?

Wanyu mukul-dingkar-angka karrkay-karrkay yinil-ka balkan, baya karangkal bunda-nya?


<translate> Wipe the sweat and the saliva from the sick child's hot face with a soft, wet cloth.

Jila-warri nyumba baja karrkay bambay walu wumbul-muny mani, kambi kima bana-jirr-bu.


<translate> The old man gave one good spear to each of his three strong young sons.

Mukul-dingkar-angka kalka ngulkurr nyubun warru kulur-ka nyubun-nyubun dajin.


<translate> Your back is sore from gathering firewood yesterday.


<translate> So the old man named for the boy the whole great web of kin, the old woman said — mother and father, brother and sister, grandparent and grandchild, uncle and aunt and cousin — and the two moieties that hold it all together, and he said: this is who you are.

Yala mukul-dingkarangka karrkay bama-mu narmba burri — ngamu nganjan, yaba babarr, kami jija, kalnga bimakay bangunji-jirr — mandi jambul-jirr wubulku karrba-nya, mukul-jalbu balkan, nyulu balkan: yinya yundu.


<translate> We see the mungka-dirka fur here.


<translate> When the dove calls quietly in the day the old people say a visitor is coming from far away.

Kuludu wungar-a yirrkan janka, bama mukul balkan bama-yindu kada kalbay-muny.


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


<translate> The stars are bright tonight — no clouds.


<translate> They judged the visitor wrongly: he arrived things-with and language-without, and by the wet season he was digging-with, sharing-with, and joke-with — the country reads more slowly than the eye, the old man said, let it finish.

Jana ngarrbal nyajin mumbu: nyulu kadan yamba-ji wubul-ji kuku-kari, bana-wungarbu nyulu bakal-ji, wambaji-ji, yajarr-ji, bubu nyajil buban-buban miyilmuny, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, bawa nyulu kunbay-manilka.


<lexeme> upper reaches of the Bloomfield River


<translate> Sun, moon, and stars, morning and night, the hot and the cold — this is how time turns in the country.

Wungar, kija, dawar, wunkuwingku wujurr-jirr, wungar-iji bulur-iji-jirr — yala wungar bubu-ba jurrki-l.


<lexeme> that's nonsense, take no notice


<translate> Keep the child in the house lest the dog bite him.

Karrkay bayan-ba kuji, kaya-ngka nyunguny bayka-nyji.


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


<translate> We two, not you, see the kalmnbagarr diver bird here.


<glossary> ngarra ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> Danny went to the store, Carol also went.

Danny storengy dungan, Carol ngarra dungan


<translate> You two see the dilly bag here.


<translate> They saw the spear thrower there.


<translate> What is the matter with the baby? It has a cold and will not feed; its breath is bad. Bring it to the old woman; she knows the right leaves.

Wanyurrinji ngawa bambay? Nyulu ngiki-ji bambay, mayi kari nukal; nyungu wawu buyun. Ngawa mukulungku-nda wundi; nyulu binal wanya birra ngulkurr.


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


<translate> The old woman said before you correct anyone you should ask yourself three questions: is it true, is it kind, and is it needed, for a thing may be all three and still be worth saying, or true but cruel and pointless, and she taught that the person who runs every criticism through these three questions before speaking will wound far fewer people and be heeded by far more.

Wulbumanangka balkan yundu bama nyubun murni-bungal ngadiku yundu nyulu-nyulu babaji kuku kulur: yinya kuku-yukil, yinya wawu-jirray, yinya wawu-manil, yamba nyulu kulur wubulku yambada yukil balkanka, yambada kuku-yukil yambada dukul-wuri kuku-daji-kari baja, nyulu milbin bama nyulu kuku-mumbu wubulku kuku kulur yinya-mundu balkal ngadiku nyulu buban-buban baja bama buyun-bungal ngulkurr wubulku ngaranmu.


<translate> You two see the crocodile here.


<translate> Which do we do first, the nets or the firewood? — The nets, the rain is close.

Wanjaku ngana murnil ngadiku-ngurr, makarr yambada baya-juku? Makarr, kaba ngundu.


<translate> We saw the spear barb there.


<translate> The man went to the river to spear fish.

Dingkar wawubaja-nga dungan kuyu dama-nka.


<glossary> balbay ; type=noun ; domain=sky-weather <usage_example> Lighting might strike


<translate> The water in the creek is rather cold this morning, so the children do not want to swim yet.

Bana wawubaja-nga jarra-ngiki nyiku wunkuwingku, karrkay kari maraji wawu.


<translate> That milbarakal tree is there.


<glossary> bibi ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> The baby is crying, he wants to feed


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


<translate> Where does that little creek run down to, away through the thick green scrub?

Wawubaja yinya wanjabu dunga-y, madja-nga bada?


<translate> We two, not you, saw the julbal tree there.


<translate> You two saw the scorpion there.


<translate> They saw the flat-tailed ray there.


<translate> The dog is not vicious, but its teeth are bad.


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


<translate> You all see the crocodile 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> We went along the road before wind came.

Ngana baral-darr dungan, muyar kada-nyjiku.


<translate> That mungari kaori pine is there.


<translate> That person there is clumsy.


<translate> He sees the grasshopper here.


<translate> That marsupial native cat is there.


<translate> The two of them saw the kira-kira black ant there.


<translate> You and I see the toadfish here.


<translate> The hunter waited quietly to spear the game at the waterhole.

Balbi-bama janka karrban, nyulu minya dama-nka bana karangkal.


<translate> You saw the milbarkal tree there.


<translate> You two see the jalil-jalil mudskipper here.


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


<translate> Elder sister is cooking the fish while younger sister watches the little sleeping baby.

Babarr-angka kuyu waju-l, jinkurr-ungku ngawa buban nyaji-l-nyaji-l.


<translate> They saw the seashell headband there.


<translate> The large round oyster is there.


<glossary> wadil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=sky-weather <usage_example> They hung a blanket up because the cold might come in

Jana blanket walngkan-daman buluruku wadinji


<translate> This spear is like that one, for the same old man made them both from the one straight tree.

Nyiku kalka yinya yala, mukul-dingkar nyubun-angka jambul bungan juku nyubun ngulkurr-muny.


<translate> The grass tree grows on the dry ground, and its flower is tall.

Nganjirr marral bubungu janay; nyungu nganka kalbay.


<translate> In the flowering season the whole scrub is bright with red and white and yellow blossoms.

Nganka-wungar-a madja wubulku balbal, nganka wubul yindu-yindu jarra-jarra.


<translate> The children laughed at the cheeky little dog that kept running around and around the big fire.

Karrkay-karrkay yajarrin kaya buban-ka, kaya wanarri baya ngundu murru-murru.


<translate> I see the father's sister there.


<translate> A lie is a bad loan, grandfather said: you borrow one and you pay back ten.

Jurril nyulu daji mumbu, kamibu balkan: yundu nyubun manil, yundu dayal baja wubulku.


<translate> You two saw the dijarr freshwater perch there.


<translate> The wallaby was feeding in the open place.


<translate> Uncle went out with his dog.


<translate> Shade is the tree's quiet giving, the old woman said at the high sun: it asks for no thanks, it moves slowly like a good person giving ground, and it holds a coolness that no single fire ever made, so when you eat at midday, thank the tree above you: do not dig at its roots, and leave its bark whole.

Wabarr nyulu daji-jirray wunbu jukumuny, wulbumanangka balkan wungar wangkara: nyulu kuku-yukil kari babajil, nyulu jilbal buban-buban yala bama yukil bubu dayanya, nyulu kiway karrbal baya nyubunbu kariku murnilmuny, yalada kaki yundu nukal wungar wangkara, juku wangkara yulmbarrika: bangkan nyungu kari baka, warrur nyungu bawa wubulku.


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


<glossary> milka-daray ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The young man and girl did wrong in the bush

Bulu maral and warru milka-daran duduymbu


<glossary> junkurr-murubuku ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> He talked earnestly


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


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


<translate> The mother and daughter walked to the sea to gather food along the shore.

Ngamu-manda jalun-ka jilba dungan, mayi bangka-nka jalun-ngandal-ba.


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


<translate> If the rain comes tomorrow, we will stay at the camp.

Kaki kaba kaday wunkuny, ngana bayan-ba bundanday.


<glossary> jimal damal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=fire <usage_example> The old man made a fire with a fire stick to cook food


<translate> So the old man taught the boy the whole shape of learning, the old woman said: want to know, try with your hands, ask the old people, remember it all, and never forget where you come from.

Yala mukul-dingkarangka karrkay binal-ma-l narmba binal-bungal, mukul-jalbu balkan: wawu binal-ma-nka, mara-bu babal, mukul-bama nyaji, narmba binalku, baluda milka-wula wanja-muny yundu kada-n.


<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> You all saw the bikarrakul ti tree there.


<translate> We see the light-coloured clothing here.


<translate> I gave clothes to the childless woman.

Ngayu kambi jalbu-ndu kangkal-kari-nda dajin.


<translate> Many bright stars fill the clear night sky high above the quiet sleeping camp.

Dawar wubul jiri-nga wangkar-a bunda-l wujurr-ba, bayan janka kudamundu.


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


<translate> That baringkan small bird is there.


<translate> The father asked the sick boy gently: "What are you ill with, and where does the pain sit in your body?"

Nganjan-angka karrkay bambay babajin janka: Yundu wanyurrinji bambay, kaka wanjabu wuna yunu bangkarr-ba?


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


<translate> You all see the pumice stone here.


<translate> The sand crab is in the water.


<translate> The worried mother counted the swimmers seven times, and the river forgave her all seven.

Ngamu wawu-buyunbu maraji-bama kunjan wubulkubu, wawubajabu nyulu bawan wubulku baja.


<translate> We saw the morning star there.


<translate> The woman shared out the food, and everyone ate.

Jalbu mayi-nga wambi-jin, bama wubulku nukan.


<glossary> badamal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=posture-rest <usage_example> You bend your head down


<translate> We see the marrku fruit here.


<translate> A lie is a bad loan, grandfather said: you borrow one and you pay back ten.


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

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


<translate> They two see the tongs there.


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


<translate> The two of them see the ngamu-murramu dingo here.


<translate> You all see the kawarr bloodwood tree there.


<translate> We speared the big cod on the reef where the water is deep and still.

Ngana kurrubal yalbay daman dulngku-ngu, wanja bana dukurr janka.


<translate> You see the father's sister.


<translate> He made the spear carefully.


<translate> He sees the rock python here.


<translate> The children love their grandmother the best of all, the old woman said, for she is gentle and kind and always has both food and a good story ready.

Karrkay-karrkay babi kuru wubulku-muny, mukul-jalbu balkan, nyulu ngulkurr janka, marri mayi kuku ngulkurr-jirr karrba.


<translate> The two of them saw the walmbaji peacemaker here.


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


<translate> The old man said: "Alright."


<translate> You all saw the balarri queenfish there.


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


<translate> I carried water for you; you carried wood for me; together we made the fire; and we cooked the fish we caught.

Ngayu yununku bana wundin; yundu ngaykunku juku wundin; ngaliny muru baya jakalamban; ngaliny kuyu karrban wajun.


<translate> Ask those two for the story; it lives only with those two.

Babaji bulanka kuku-jangkarka: nyulu bulanda janay nganga.


<translate> Greedy has three words and not one of them is hungry, the old man taught: durrbal the grabber, jumbun the never-full, waral-dandi the hard-stomach who eats alone — hunger is honest work, but greed is hunger that lost its manners.

Bama durrbal, bama jumbun, bama waral-dandi, kuku kulur jana, dakwuy kari nyubun janamuny, mukulungku dingkarangka milbin: dakwuy nyulu murni yukil, yambada jumbun nyulu dakwuy murni-yukil bada-maninmuny.


<translate> The girl laughed at the child.


<translate> The child muddied the water.


<translate> The old woman said the yams have many names because they have many natures: juwal is the long one, kawu the round one, bambayal the deep one that waits for the digging, and the one who knows the names digs no empty holes.

Wulbumanangka balkan juwal-jina kuku-ji wubul-ji, jana yamba-ji wubul-ji: juwal nyulu kalbay, kawu nyulu murru, bambayal nyulu dukurr nyulu janay bakanka, bama nyulu kuku binal nyulu kariku bubu nganga bakal.


<translate> The children caught the little soldier crabs and the periwinkles and the small fish in the shallows all afternoon, and the old woman let them, for she said this is how the hand and the eye learn the water, and the child who plays at catching the small easy things by the shore grows into the hunter who can take the big hard ones out on the open reef.

Karrkay-karrkay wuli-wuli kunkun kuyu buban baja bana-buban manin kunarangkal wubulku, wulbumanangka bawan jana, nyulu balkan yinya yala mara miyil baja bana binalman, karrkay nyulu marijil minya buban yukil jalun-ba maninka nyulu balbi-bama-manda nyulu minya yalbay junkurr manil jalun-ba yaralba.


<translate> The ants got into the honey!


<translate> The little girl gathered the sweet ripe fruit and put it into her small dilly bag by the tree.

Maral-angka mayi kulbul jiba-wulay bangkan, ngunyin buban-ba nanda juku ngundu.


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


<translate> The old woman said everyone brings food to the fire according to what they can do: the strong hunters bring the big meat, the sharp-eyed women bring the yams and the fruit and the honey, the children bring the small lizards and the eggs, and the very old bring the stories, and all of it goes into the one meal, and all of it is honoured equally.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama wubulku mayi bayangu daya yala nyulu wanya bungal: balbibama junkurr minya yalbay daya, jalbu miyil-warri juwal mayi wunba baja daya, karrkay-karrkay jarba buban diburr baja daya, mukul bajaku jangkar daya, yamba wubulku nyubun mayingu dungay, yamba wubulku nyubun yukil-bungal.


<translate> The husband and his wife built their humpy a little apart from all the others, the old woman said, at the quiet far edge of the big camp.

Dunyu biwar-jirr nyungu wurun bunga kanbal yindu-yindu-muny, mukul-jalbu balkan, bayan yalbay-mu ngandal janka kala-kalbay-mba.


<translate> You two see the marrka calm sea here.


<translate> That light-coloured hair is there.


<translate> I take water; perhaps the sun is hot.


<translate> The old people slept by the fire.


<translate> The old woman said the oak and the other hard-wood trees give the wood for everything that must be strong and last: the digging stick, the fighting club, the boomerang, the woomera, the good spear, and she taught the girls to know these trees too, not only the food plants, for a woman who can choose and shape hard wood is never dependent on a man to make her tools.

Wulbumanangka balkan dalban juku-junkurr yindu baja dayal juku yamba wubulku junkurr kalbay bajaku: jaba, durray, wangal, kalka-yamba, kalka yukil, nyulu jalbu-buban milbin juku yinya binalka baja, kari nganga mayi-juku, jalbu nyulu juku junkurr manil murnil nyulu kariku dingkarmuny nyungu kalka bunganka.


<translate> You and I see the creek here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the diburr-miyil eyeball here.


<translate> That tall tree with the bright white flowers marks the far edge of the old family country.

Juku kalbay nganka balbal-jirr yinya, bubu mukul-bama-mu karangkal milba-l.


<translate> The young man took the club to camp.


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


<translate> Cut the paperbark! Chop the branch!


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


<translate> His spear and his woomera lay ready beside him as he slept in the cool shade.

Nyungu kalka nyungu balur baja nyungu ngundu wunan, nyulu wabarr-ba wuna-nya.


<translate> Everything in this good country belongs to the people, to care for and keep forever.

Yamba wubulku bubu yinya-nga bama-mu, karrba-nka wungar wubulku.


<translate> That is what the old people give, the old man said: not cattle, not stone, but the knowing of the country.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: yanyu kamba-kambangka dajil, kari bulki kari kulji, yambada bubu binal.


<translate> Bind the stone head to the shaft while the sinew is still wet, so it dries tight, for a head bound dry will come loose at the worst moment and fly off when you throw.

Kulji murru jukungu kaji nyulu kariku marral, nyulu marral-manka junkurr, murru marralbu kajinmuny kilba-nyji yamba mumbungu, yilbanya dunga-nyji.


<translate> The old man taught the boys how to cut up the wallaby the right way, giving each part of the animal to the right person by the old law of sharing.

Mukulungku dingkarangka karrkay-karrkay milbin darrba yala yakanka ngulkurr, minyamu walu wubulku bama yukilka dajinka kuku ngadiku daji-waymu.


<translate> The children watched the little crabs fight over a dead fish on the sand, pulling it this way and that.

Karrkay ngalngal buban nyajin kuyu-wulan-ka kuli-mal jukar-a, jana yindu-yindu-ka wundil.


<translate> They see the small conical shellfish here.


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


<glossary> dalkiji ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the mother beat up the child


<translate> The man put the bark in the bag.

Dingkar-angka dumbul balji-nga yijarrin.


<translate> They made a canoe from cottontree.


<translate> You see the high bank there.


<translate> I saw the wuba red ochre there.


<translate> The old woman taught the cure for jealousy: when you feel ngujan rising, turn your eyes from what another has to what you have, and look at it slowly until the wanting quiets.

Wulbumanangka milbin ngujanmu kakawarri: yundu ngujan wandinya milkanya, yundu miyil murni bama yindumu yambamuny yundu nyungu yambaka, nyaji buban-buban wawu wunbu-manyjiku.


<translate> You see the cockatoo crest here.


<translate> The children asked what happens to the family when the last person who remembers the old ways dies, and the old man was quiet a long time and then said: That is why I am teaching you — so that day never comes.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin wanya jawun-karra janay bama bajaku nyulu kuku ngadiku binalku wulanya, mukulungku dingkarangka wunbu janay kalbay, balkan: Yinyamu ngayu yurra milbil, yinya wungar kari kadanyji yabarrka.


<translate> The old man took the grandson to learn the boundary of the country: they walked the whole boundary over four days, stopped at each named place, he told the story that fixed the boundary there, they refreshed the old marks on the rocks and trees, they met the neighbours at the shared corners and greeted them, they camped at the water each night, and then returned home with the boy now carrying the map in his memory.

Mukulungku dingkarangka jija bubu-jina binalka wangan: jana bubu-kunbayn wubulku jilban jambul-jambul wungar, kanban bubu burri-ji wubulku, nyulu jangkar balkan nyulu bubu-jina yinya kajanmu, jana burri mukul kuljinga jukungu jirakal-manin, jana ngundu-bama nyaji-wan bubu-dukurr daji-way-mba yulmbarril, jana bana ngunduku wunan wujurr wubulku, yalada bayan-mundu nyunban buban nyiku bubu-jina milkanga jarrakulban.


<translate> The old man's last teaching about the animals was the simplest and the deepest: we are one of the creatures too, not above them and not apart, we sleep and hunt and raise our young and die as they do, we read them and they read us, and the person who forgets this and thinks himself the master of the country soon finds the country does not agree, and takes him back.

Mukul nyungu milbil bada minyamuny yamba kima ngadiku bada bajaku: ngana minya nyubun baja, kari jana wangkar kari yindu, ngana wunay balbil buban warru-manil wulal jana yala, ngana jana ngaral jana ngana ngaral, bama nyulu yinya milka-wulan nyulu nyulu-nyulu balkan bubu-mukul nyulu buban-buban nyajil bubu kari nyubun-manil, nyulu murni manil baja.


<translate> He saw the bajalji python there.


<translate> That wurmbariji scrub tree is there.


<glossary> wawu-juljal ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> He is at the dead person's wharf

Nyulu bada wawu-juljalandamunbu wharfmunbu


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


<translate> You and I saw the oyster there.


<translate> The old woman washes her own hands and face well before she eats the food.

Mukul-jalbu mara, walu baja ngulkurr julurri-ji, mayi nuka-nyjiku.


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


<translate> We brought meat from the house.


<translate> You and I see the domestic turkey there.


<translate> I cook fish; perhaps the child is hungry.


<translate> We saw the bamboo spear stick here.


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


<translate> You saw the mawul freshwater eel there.


<translate> Those two old men argued for a whole lifetime about one fishing spot, and when one died the other stopped going there — the argument was the friendship.

Bula mukul balka-wan wawu wubulku bana-nyubunmuny, nyubun wulanya yindubu kariku dungan baja yinyaka: balka-way nyulu jawun jambulmuny.


<translate> The waterless country in the long dry gave the people no food and no water at all.

Bubu bana-kari marral-wungar kalbay-mba, bama-nka mayi-kari bana-kari narmba.


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


<translate> Grandfather saw the girl's eye.


<translate> You and I saw the water there.


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

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


<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> The children kept crying for food, so the old woman kept cooking the fish over the hot coals.

Karrkay-karrkay banbadi mayi-ka, mukul-jalbu kuyu waju-l-waju-l ngunjil wumbul-ba.


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


<translate> They saw the bamboo spear stick here.


<translate> The sky was cloudless and the country waterless; it was a long, hard, dry, and hungry time.

Jiri ngungul-kari, bubu bana-kari; wungar kalbay marral kaka, dakwuy.


<translate> You two see the nyirribulu appendix here.


<translate> They two saw the freshwater eel there.


<translate> Grandfather left the flower outside.


<translate> Grandmother saw the candlenut tree in the scrub.


<translate> You and I see the cheek here.


<translate> You all see the karrandal tree here.


<translate> The old woman said the inner life must be tended like a garden: pull the weeds of envy and anger while they are small, water the flowers of love and gratitude, and be patient, for nothing good grows overnight.

Wulbumanangka balkan: wawu bubu nyajinka yala mayi-bubu: ngujan dukul-wuri yala jikan buban jananya wandi, wawu jirray wawu-mini yala nganka banabu daji, wunbu janay, yamba ngulkurr kari kunarangkal nyubunba kambal.


<translate> The two of them saw the yiki owl there.


<translate> If the small child cries in the night, its mother comes at once and holds it close by the fire until it sleeps.

Kaki karrkay buban wujurr-ba banbadi, nyungu ngamu nyiku-nyiku kaday karrba buri-ngka, wuna-nyjiku.


<translate> The clothing there is not folded.


<translate> You and I see the fingernail here.


<translate> Grandmother sang a song in the morning.


<translate> We saw the kalburiji bee here.


<translate> The children came back to mother.


<translate> The blue-tongue lizard is slow and gentle and does no harm, and when it opens its wide blue mouth it is only bluffing, for it has no bite worth fearing, and the old woman used it to teach the children that a loud show is often the weakest thing, and the truly dangerous creature, like the quiet snake, gives no warning at all.

Bajabaja bada kima yamba nyubun kari mumbu-bungal, nyulu nyungu ngandal yalbay jarrba kajanya nyulu nganga kanban-balkal, nyulu baykal-kari yinilmanka, wulbumanangka yinya kirrajin karrkay-karrkay milbinka kuku-yalbay yabarrka minya buban-buban baja, minya yinil bajaku, jarba dandi yala, nyulu yamba nyubun kari milbil.


<glossary> yirri-damal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> My tank is leaking


<translate> The old woman said the simplest and most powerful question in the whole language is are you all right, asked with real attention and a willingness to hear a true answer, for it opens a door that a person in trouble is often desperate for someone to open, and she said a people where anyone will stop and truly ask this of anyone is a people that no sorrow can quietly swallow.

Wulbumanangka balkan kuku kima junkurr bajaku kuku wubulmuny yundu yukil, babajin milka-yukilbu wawu kuku-yukil yukil ngaralbu, nyulu bubu kajal bama mumbu-mundu nyulu nganga wawu-junkurr bama nyubun kajalmuny, nyulu balkan bama wanja bama nyubun janan kuku-yukil-bu babajil kuku yinya bama nyubunmuny nyulu bama wawu-mumbu nyubun kari dandi-bu nukalmuny.


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


<translate> Father saw the black scrub goanna in the scrub.


<translate> Father scolded the child hard because it had kicked the poor camp dog.

Nganjanangka kangkal murru-kangan junkurr-bu, kaya jabi-nya.


<translate> Many big trees are standing there.


<translate> We see the mukukana tree here.


<translate> The child asked father about the mango.

Karrkay nganjan-anda mayngku-ku babajin.


<translate> You and I see the hook there.


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


<translate> Grandmother drinks the green-ant juice every day in order to get well again.

Babingka yangka bana nuka-l wungar wubul-a, ngulkurr-ma-nka.


<glossary> ngaral ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The carpenters are building a house

Jana carpenter-carpenterangka bayan ngaral-ngaral


<translate> They saw the native cat here.


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


<translate> Throw the stone into the water!


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


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


<translate> The worried mother counted the swimmers seven times, and the river forgave her all seven.

Ngamu wawu-buyunbu maraji-bama kunjan wubulkubu, wawubajabu nyulu bawan wubulku baja.


<translate> The child washed the plate in the water.


<translate> The hunter's legs are strong from walking and running all day through the hills and the dark scrub.

Balbi-bama jandal junkurr jilba warri-muny wungar wubulku jamba madja-burr.


<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> The hunter with a spear and the hunter without one walk the same forest, but only one comes home with meat, and the old man used this to teach that the tool in the hand decides everything, so he made sure every boy could make his own weapons, for a person with skill is never truly a person without tools, since the skilled hands make the tools they need.

Balbi-bama kalka-ji balbi-bama kalka-kari nyubun majaji jilbal, nyubun nganga minya-ji bayan-mundu kadal, mukulungku dingkarangka yinya kirrajin milbil bangkarr maranga yamba wubulku kajal, nyulu murni-manin warru wubulku nyungu kalka bunganka, bama janka-yukil-ji nyulu kariku bajaku bangkarr-kari, janka-yukil bungan bangkarr jana wanya yukilmuny.


<translate> I saw the nakawarra bee there.


<translate> We see the wurrbal fog here.


<translate> The old man said the weather was the country's mood, and just as you learn a person's moods you learn the country's, so it never surprises you.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: wungar bubumu wawu, yala yundu bamamu wawu binal, bubumu wawu binal baja, kari yununda yinilbungalnyji.


<translate> The man bailed water from the boat.


<translate> The two of them saw the kalkamal locust here.


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


<translate> A boy and his brothers raced each other along the creek, and he came back with his breath run far away from him, and the old man laughed: the breath is a small shy creature, hold it softly, take breath slowly with a big chest and it comes back to the hand, but if you chase it, it runs further off.

Buban yaba-karra baja warriway wawubajanga, nyulu kadan baja, wawu nyungu warrin kala-kalbay, mukulungku dingkarangka yajarr-man: wawu nyulu minya buban yinil-ji, karrba nyulu kimabu, wawu mana buban-buban damu yalbaybu, nyulu maraku kaday baja, kaki yundu nyulu jurrngal, nyulu warri kala-kalbay.


<translate> Grandfather's shoulder is dry.


<translate> Barking came, the child cried, and then mother came.

Ngangkurr kadan, karrkay banbadi, ngamu kadan-da.


<translate> You all saw the biwul snake here.


<translate> When the pigeons come down in a great flock to the fruiting tree they are easy hunting, and the old man taught the boys to wait in cover and take only what the camp would eat that day, never firing into the whole flock in greed, for a flock hunted too hard learns to go elsewhere and never comes back to that country again.

Bakamu jana kadan bunda kanbal-yalbay juku mayi-mabi-mundu jana balbil yukil, mukulungku dingkarangka warru-warru milbin karra janka-mandanka mani nganga bayan nukalmuny yinya wungar, kariku janga wubulku ngujanbu, kanbal dandibu balbin nyulu binalman bubu yindu-mundu dungay kariku nyunban bubu ngundumuny baja.


<translate> The old woman said if the rains fail one year, tighten your belt and share what little there is, for a people that shares scarcity survives it together, but a people that hoards in the lean time tears itself apart, and the tearing kills more than the hunger ever would.

Wulbumanangka balkan: kaki bana wulan nyubun wungara, nyungu mudu karrba buban mayi daji-way, bama nyulu buban daji-way nyubunji kilban, yambada bama nyulu dakwuy wungara kambal nyulu-nyulu damil, damil bama wubul kaka-manil junkurr-baja dakwuymuny.


<translate> The old woman said: I should have listened to my mother when she warned me about that man, but I was young and my ears were full of my own wanting, and by the time I understood she was right, it was already too late to undo what was done.

Wulbumanangka balkan: Ngayu ngamu wukurrinyaku nyulu nganya yinya dingkarmuny milbinya, yambada ngayu warru ngayku milka wawubu buwun, ngayu binalnya nyulu yukil, yinya dukul kilba-baja yamba bunganmu mumbu-bungalka.


<glossary> balkaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> there are are flowers now


<translate> Thunder is the sky speaking big, the old woman told the child who hid at the first crack: the shout is not the spear, the light walks first and the sound comes behind, so take slow breaths between them, and when the breaths become few, leave the tall tree, for the storm is walking closer.

Jabulbina nyulu jiri kuku yalbay balkanya, wulbumanangka karrkaynka ngakijinka balkan jabulbina ngadikumuny: yirrkay nyulu kari kalka, balbay jilbal ngadiku kuku badaku kaday, yalada wawu mana buban-buban jambulba, kaki wawu buban-mal, bawa juku kalbay, jarramali nyulu jilbal ngunduku.


<translate> The bottlebrush tree is standing outside.


<translate> The two of them see the kurubarr mangrove here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the bayil jungle perch here.


<translate> Mother made the child happy.


<translate> The man cut up the meat with a sharp stone and cooked it in the hot coals of the fire.

Dingkar-angka minya yakan kulji-bu, wajun baya ngunjil wumbul-ba.


<translate> They saw the light-coloured clothing.


<translate> He saw the small sticks here.


<translate> The eel is fat — good for the earth oven.


<translate> Bitter is a teacher and sweet is a holiday, the old man sorted the tastes in a line: the bitter one says learn me slowly, the sweet one says celebrate, the fat one says the cold season is near — so the tongue is the oldest school.

Ngambuy nyulu milbil-bama, jiba-wulay nyulu yajarr-wungar, mukulungku dingkarangka nganja yijarrin jinanga: ngambuybu balkal binal-maka buban-buban, jiba-wulaybu balkal yulmbarrika, wandulbu balkal bulur-iji ngundu, yalada nyabil nyulu school mukul bajaku.


<translate> The children ran fast across the wide sand to the cool water, laughing and calling to each other.

Karrkay-karrkay warrin naka-naka jukar kalbay-burr bana ngiki-ka, yajarri-l yirrka-wa.


<translate> The kangaroos feed inland in the dry season, but come down to the river when the rain falls.

Mayarriji jibarr-ba nukal marral-wungar-a, yamba bada kadan wawubaja-ka kaba dara-nya.


<translate> You all see the coral there.


<translate> Maybe I will come back today, maybe tomorrow.

Nguba ngayu nyiku kaday-baja, nguba wunkuny.


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


<translate> The old man shamed the child.


<glossary> jinbal ; type=adjective ; domain=manner <usage_example> Karrkay jinbal-kanga, ngana dungankada


<translate> The children ran through the trees, across the sand, and down into the cool water of the creek.

Karrkay-karrkay juku-burr wanarrin, jukar naka-naka, bada bana ngiki wawubaja buban-ka.


<translate> What did you gather in the scrub? I gathered fern shoots and a mushroom.

Wanya yundu madjanga munjan? Ngayu malari jurrbu jumbay-jumbay baja munjan.


<translate> The children watched her fingers move and asked if they could learn to make a bag too.

Karrkay-karrkayangka nyungu mara nyajin jalamanya, babajin: ngana binalmal ngunyin ngaranka baja?


<translate> They saw the bayil jungle perch here.


<translate> Mother sees the paperbark here.


<glossary> milka ngabal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I reminded you yesterday


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


<translate> The old man said a river with fish and a river without fish look exactly the same from the bank, and only the one who reads the water, the ripples, the birds, the small signs, can tell which is which before wasting a whole day, so learning to read the empty water from the full is one of the first skills a young fisher must gain.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan wawubaja kuyu-ji wawubaja kuyu-kari nyubun yala jalkarmuny nyajil, nyubun nganga nyulu bana ngaral, bana-jarrba, buyi, wari buban baja, nyulu balkan wanya wanya wungar wubulku bawal ngadiku, bana kuyu-kari bana kuyu-jimuny ngaranka nyubun kalka ngadiku warru-kuyu-bama maninka.


<translate> Grandmother came from the house with the baby.


<translate> We see the spotted eagle ray there.


<translate> The rock python coils around the tree branch and waits quietly for the possum.

Kabul juku-dakil kaja-ji, yawa-ka janka karrban.


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


<translate> We, not you, saw the junbirr lizard there.


<translate> The girl saw the snake in the grass.


<translate> I see the casuarina pine here.


<translate> The children learned to know their own bodies — to feel when they were getting sick, too tired, hungry or cold — and to meet those needs before they grew into trouble.

Karrkay-karrkayangka binalman nyungu bangkarr binalka: jana milkabu nyajil bambaymananya, baja-burranya, dakwuynya kiwaynya, yinya wawu ngulkurr-bunganka yamba yalbaymanyjiku.


<translate> He saw the mawul freshwater eel there.


<translate> The young man laughed at father.


<translate> There's honey in that tree — get the axe!


<translate> The old woman said: A person who cannot name their feelings is like a hunter lost in the dark striking out at shadows, but a person who knows their own heart walks in the light.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama nyulu nyungu wawu murruji kunjal yala balbibama kilbaji wujurrbu wujurr kunil, yambada bama nyulu nyungu wawu binal wungara jilbay.


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


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


<glossary> yirrnga ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> When you have your labour pains, go to the hospital


<translate> The friend asked the girl about the mango.


<translate> You all see the kundurr-kundurr crescent perch there.


<translate> "No," the child said, "I do not know."

"Kari," karrkay-ngku balkan, "ngayu kari binal."


<translate> The men followed the bees to the hollow tree and took the sweet honey.

Dingkar-angka dabu wukurrin juku dimbirr-ka, wunba jiba-wula-wula manin.


<translate> The old people knew every part of their country and its right and proper name.

Mukul-bama-ngka bubu nyungu wubulku binal, nyungu burri ngulkurr baja.


<translate> Auntie is carrying the baby on her back.


<glossary> jinbal ; type=adjective ; domain=manner <usage_example> Karrkay jinbal-kanga, ngana dungankada


<translate> The old woman, now toothless, ate only the soft ripe fruit.

Wulbuman niji dirra-kari, nyulu mayi kima kulbul-baja nukan.


<translate> Sing it again — the little ones want to hear it!

Wulngku badi baja — ngawa-ngawa wawu nyajinka!


<translate> The man got mussels at the river.

Dingkar-angka mukirr wawubaja-nga manin.


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


<translate> You two saw the murraja stonefish here.


<translate> We see the wuymbariji scrub tree here.


<translate> The man killed the wallaby with one thorough throw of his long spear on the open plain.

Dingkar-angka kadar kunin nguymal, kalka kalbay-bu nyubun-bu bubu ngalkal-ba.


<translate> The white ant eggs are there.


<translate> Many trees are standing here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jingajalka tree there.


<translate> You all see the oyster there.


<translate> You and I saw the rope there.


<glossary> janbangaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> he'll keep the ball


<translate> The old woman said the hand is the first tool of all, for before the spear there was the hand that shaped the spear, and before the net there was the hand that tied the net, so every made thing in the camp is the own child of somebody's two hands.

Wulbumanangka balkan mara nyulu yamba-murni ngadiku bajaku, kalka ngadiku mara wunan kalka murninmuny, makarr ngadiku mara wunan makarr kajanmuny, yamba-murni wubulku bayanba nyulu kangkal mara jambulmuny bamamuny.


<translate> The sun went down over the mountain.


<translate> Father put the bark in the shade.

Nganjan-angka dumbul wabarr-ba yijarrin.


<translate> The woman found mussels there.

Jalbu-ngku mukirr yinyay-mba warrmba-bungan.


<translate> I am trying to see that person, but he is too far away.

Ngayu nyaji-nka yinya bama, kari kalakalbay-bajaku.


<glossary> dubal ; type=noun ; domain=artefact <usage_example> My child is sleeping in the coolamon


<translate> Who taught you to weave a dilly-bag as fine and tight as this one, the old woman asked the young girl, turning it over in her hands.

Wanya-ngka yununy binal-bungal ngunyin ngulkurr junkurr yinya yala jaba-nka? mukul-jalbu-ngku jalbu warru nyajin, mara-bu jurrki.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the bajalji python there.


<translate> You and I saw the river there.


<translate> How do you cook the freshwater eel so that it becomes soft and good?

Yurra wanjarr-ku minya kubarr wajul, nyulu kima-ma-nka ngulkurr?


<translate> You all see the bujabay tree there.


<translate> You and I saw the sandfly here.


<translate> The star fell — did you see it?


<translate> She is like her own mother in every way — the same face, the same walk, and the same laugh in the evening.

Nyulu yala nyungu ngamu wubulku-ba — walu nyubun, jilba nyubun, yajarri nyubun wujurr-ma-nya.


<translate> In time they knew the signs as well as the old people, and the country was no longer a stranger to them.

Wungar dunganya, jana binal yala kamba-kamba, bubu kari yindu jananka baja.


<glossary> nyangarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He spilled the sugar on the ground


<translate> The old man said: care well for your body, for the country made it and the country feeds it.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: nyungu bangkarr ngulkurr karrba, bubu-ngka bangkarr bungan, bubu-bu daji.


<translate> The old man said: A person who washes every morning keeps sickness away, for dirt on the skin lets the sickness in.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Bama nyulu wunkuwingku wubulku julurri-ji, bambay kudamundu kujil, mumbu bangkarra bambay walamanil.


<glossary> muyul-muyul ; type=adjective ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> He's got a block against snakes (doesn't want to touch them, doesn't like them)


<translate> Many pigeons rest together in the shade of the big fig tree in the heat of midday.

Bakamu wubul juku jilanji yalbay-ba wabarr-ba muru bunda-l, wungar kankur-a.


<translate> You and I see the outrigger canoe here.


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


<translate> I cannot speak for them; their tongue lives in their own mouths.

Ngayu kari balkal jananka: nyabil janamuny janay ngandalba.


<translate> It takes a lifetime to learn the country, the old woman said, and a lifetime is barely long enough.

Bubu binalmanka wungar wubulku manil, wulbumanangka balkan, wungar wubulku nganga kariku.


<translate> You see that milbarakal tree.


<glossary> wungka ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> She's swearing another woman (because she's wronged)


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


<translate> You see the bark belt there.


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


<translate> He sees the fire stick there.


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


<translate> You and I saw the jangkan swift there.


<translate> If the tide goes out, we walk on the reef and gather oysters and mussels for the evening meal.

Kaki bana dungay, ngali kulji-nga jilbay, nikar mukirr munjanka.


<translate> The old man knew all the country from the northern river down to the far sandy beach.

Mukul-dingkar bubu narmba binal, wawubaja kungkarr-muny bada jukar kala-kalbay-ka.


<translate> Mother put the fire stick in the bag.


<translate> The rainbow lorikeets come in a noisy screaming crowd to the flowering tree, the old woman said, and they drink the sweet nectar until they are full.

Birrbirr wubul juku nganka-jirr-ka yirrka junkurr muru kaday, mukul-jalbu balkan, jana ngamurr jiba-wulay nganka-mu nuka narmba.


<translate> We saw the birinjil centipede here.


<translate> The old woman said: The body heals itself if you help it and do not fight it; your only work is to keep it clean and let it rest.

Wulbumanangka balkan: Bangkarr nyulu-nyulu kakawarrimal, kaki yundu mara-dajil, kari kunil; yundu kirraji nyubun dayirr kujinka, mara-kunbanka bawanka.


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


<translate> I saw the dog on the ground.


<translate> You two see the julbal tree there.


<translate> Granny cooked damper in the ashes. The children smelled it and came running. She gave them all a piece.

Babingka damba wayjun nulungu. Karrkay-karrkayangka nyajin, warrin kadanda. Nyulu jananda dajinyarrku.


<translate> I found a lot of scrub-hen eggs there, under the big tree.

Ngayu diwan-mu diburr wubul milbin yinyay-mba, juku yalbay bada.


<translate> In the bag, mother put food.


<translate> You and I see the thigh there.


<translate> We keep that story for the right time.


<translate> You see the dingki tree here.


<translate> The bottlebrush tree is big.


<translate> Every animal has its own doctor, the old woman said: the dog eats grass, the pigeon bathes in the dry ground, the wallaby lies in the cool sand — watch what the sick ones choose.

Minya nyubun-nyubun kalbal-ji nyungu-nyungu-ji, wulbumanangka balkan: kayabu jikan nukal, bakamu janji-manil bubungu marralba, darrba wunay jukara kiway-kiwayba: nyaji wanyu bambaybu manil.


<translate> The tired child would have slept right through the night, the old woman said, but the camp dogs barked and barked at something out in the dark.

Karrkay baja-burray wujurr narmba wuna-nyaku, mukul-jalbu balkan, yamba kaya bayan-mu yirrka-yirrka ngumbu-ba yamba-nka.


<translate> That karraway snail is there.


<translate> You and I saw the jumper ant there.


<translate> The first big rain came in the night. Everyone heard it on the paperbark roof.

Kaba yalbay kadan kunarangkal. Jana wubulku nyajin buykungu.


<translate> Grandmother put water on the baby's back.

Babi-ngka bana yijarrin ngawa-nda muku-ngu.


<translate> The old man sat with the children and told them the names of the old people who had gone before.

Mukulungku dingkarangka karrkay-karrkay ngundu bundandan, jananda balkan kamba-kambamu burri, jana ngadiku dunganmuny.


<translate> The people hated the cruel wild man and did not want him to come near their quiet camp.

Bama wawu-kari bajaku dingkar kuli buyun-ka, jana kari wawu nyulu kadan bayan janka ngundu.


<translate> Which one is your camp? — The one with the big fire and the two dogs.

Wanjaku bayan yundumuny? Bayan baya yalbay-ji, kaya jambul-nji.


<translate> We two, not you, see the diburr-miyil eyeball here.


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

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


<translate> The dugong feeds on the sea grass in the shallow water of the bay, and the old people hunt it in the shallows.

Biwuy bilanji jalun-mu bana-buban-ba nukal, bama mukul nyulu bana-buban-ba balbil.


<translate> The old woman said no person stands alone, however much they believe they do: the strongest hunter depends on the woman who makes his gear, on the elder who taught him the country, on the child who will carry his name, and on a hundred others he never thinks of.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama nyubun kari nganga janay, nyulu wubul manu-baja-bungalmuny nyulu nganga: balbibama junkurr bajaku jalbungu kajil nyulu nyungu yamba balkal, mukulba nyulu bubu milbin, karrkay-anda nyulu nyungu burri wundil, bama wubul yindungu nyulu kariku milkal.


<translate> You two see the yinkan ribs here.


<translate> The younger brothers all went hunting, but the elder brother stayed in the camp.

Yabaju-karra balbi-ka dungan, yambada yaba bayan-ba bundan.


<translate> The old people chose this place long ago.

Kamba-kambangka yanyu bubu manin ngadiku.


<translate> Grandmother took the axe from the ground.


<translate> Take the bag lest the food fall.


<translate> The men carried the canoes down to the sea before dawn and paddled out to the island while the women slept.

Dingkar-dingkarangka marrakan wundin jalunba muduwajuny, burrira dungan, jalbu-jalbu warngku wunanya.


<translate> The old women cooked food and everyone ate.

Kamba-kambangka mayi wayjun, jana wubulku nukan.


<translate> Those stones are close together.


<translate> Grandmother saw the bird outside.


<translate> The grandmother said: the echidna digs into the ground when it is startled, so leave it alone and look for other food.

Babingka balkan: ngangkin bubungu bakal, yundu nyulu bawa, minya yindu nyaji.


<lexeme> Rattlesnake point - Fritz Creek


<translate> You two saw the bajalji python here.


<translate> You all see the jukar-warra whirlwind there.


<glossary> baykal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the dog bit the pig and held on


<translate> The dog ran down to the river.


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


<translate> The seaside people came inland to trade fish for the scrub people's spears.

Jalun-ji-warra bubu-ka kadan, kuyu kalka-ka daji-way madja-warra-nji.


<translate> The old woman said the bloodwood gives more than honey and shade: its red sap dries into a hard gum that seals a leaking canoe, glues a spearhead, and makes a strong medicine for a mouth-sore, so she gathered the sap in the season it flowed and stored it in a little bark cup, and it was one of the most valued small things a family kept.

Wulbumanangka balkan babajaka dayal ngulkurr-baja wunba wabarrmuny: nyungu mula-jurrbil kiway-manda junkurr-yikari nyulu marrakan bana-mundu karra, kalka-murru karra, ngandal-buyun kalbal junkurr baja, nyulu jurrbu bangkan wungar nyulu dungay-mba warrur-jibarrba karrban, nyulu yamba yukil bajaku buban jawun-karra karrbanmuny.


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


<translate> Grandfather saw the grass in the shade.


<translate> They saw the son's child here.


<translate> The old women help the young mother look after the new baby, the old man said, so that she can rest and gather her strength again.

Mukul-jalbu-jalbu-ngku jalbu warru-ngamu mara-dajil karrkay jirakal nyaji-nka, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyulu bundanday junkurr kada-baja-nka.


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


<translate> You and I see the blanket there.


<translate> The children carried the grandmother's teaching all their lives, and when they in turn became grandparents, they sat their own grandchildren beside them and taught the names of all their relatives, one by one, exactly as it had always been done.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babingkamu milbil wundin wawu wubulku, jana baja babi kami-mandanya, jana nyungu jija nyungu ngundu bundaman, nyungu jawun-karra wubulku burri milbin, nyubun-nyubun, yala yabarrka ngaranmuny.