Overview

Representing the collaborative efforts of Ngardi Elders and linguists over more than 40 years, this is the most comprehensive documentation ever of Ngardi, a language of the northern Western Desert of Western Australia. Ngardi is the language of the western regions of the Tanami Desert and the north-central region of the Great Sandy Desert. Ngardi country is known locally as 'Ngururrpa' or 'central country' and is situated between Ngumpin languages to the north and west (languages like Jaru and Walmajarri) and Western Desert languages to the south (like Kukatja and Pintupi). Though Ngardi speakers are few, Ngardi language and culture remain core components of Ngardi identity. Numerous Ngardi words are still in use by people of all ages and there is a strong enthusiasm to see the language revitalised. Traditional Ngardi beliefs and cultural practices are maintained in many of the modern-day communities in which Ngardi people live: Balgo, Mulan, Billiluna (Kururrungku) and Ringer's Soak. Prospectors, linguists and anthropologists started making short Ngardi word lists in the 1920s, 1940s and 1950s. From 1990 onwards, Lee Cataldi began systematically documenting the language with Peggy Rockman and then later intensively with Tjama Napanangka and other senior Ngardi women in Balgo. From their work, the first dictionary began to be compiled. The first Ngardi dictionary was released in 2011 and this dictionary builds on that pioneering work. It is a testament to the work of the many Ngardi Elders who have contributed to this new dictionary of Ngardi, the most comprehensive ever published. The Ngardi to English Dictionary is the 11th dictionary published by Aboriginal Studies Press and funded by the AIATSIS Dictionaries Program since 2018.

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9781922102850

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Reviews

“The Ngardi to English Dictionary … makes a most impressive contribution to the documentation of Australian languages, especially those of the Ngumbin-Yapa group to which Ngardi belongs.” -- Mary Laughren, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland

Author Information

Tom Ennever is a linguist whose research at the University of Queensland focused on documenting and analysing endangered Australian languages. He is now at the University of Surrey. Tom has been working with a number of Ngardi speakers since 2015 in the development of this dictionary. Marie Mudgedell is an Elder who is passionate about recording the Ngardi language for future generations. Together with her husband, Patrick Smith, Marie has been the driving force behind the documentation of the Ngardi language. 'Ngurnalu Ngardi yirrarnanta diksenarirla yaluku ngurraku, Ngardi ngurra, kujalu wangkanyani nyanyi, Ngardi.'/'We are recording the Ngardi language in this dictionary for that country, Ngardi country, on which the Ngardi language has been spoken for time immemorial.' (2020) Tjama Napanangka was one of the key contributors and champions of Ngardi linguistic documentation working with Lee Cataldi in the early development of the dictionary. Lee Cataldi is a celebrated linguist and poet. From 1990 onwards she started systematically documenting the Ngardi language and began compiling the first dictionary. Lee spent considerable time in the early 1990s in Balgo working closely with Ngardi women. The first edition of a Ngardi dictionary was published in 2011.

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