S69: NGARRINDJERI

AIATSIS code: 
S69
AIATSIS reference name: 
NGARRINDJERI

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Ngarrindjeri language S69
Thesaurus heading people
Ngarrindjeri people S69
ABN name
Ngarrindjeri language (Previously Narrinyeri language)
ABS name
Ngarrindjeri
Horton name
Ngarrindjeri
Ethnologue name
Narrinyeri
ISO 639-3 code
nay
Tindale name
-
Tindale (1974)
O'Grady et al (1966)
Glottocode
narr1259
Other sources
Narinyerrie, Narrin'yerree, Narinjari (Gale & French 2005:4)
Synonyms
Ngarrindjeri, Narrinyeri, Jarildukald, Meintangk, Pirtulun, Ramindjeri, Tanganukald, Warki, Alkaiyana, Koiyana, Kokkaiya, Korariga, Kororega, Kowrarega, Narrinjeri, Wathai yunu, Ngarinyeri, Narinyerrie, Narrinyerree, Narinjari, Yaralde
Comment
Comments: 

This is a widely accepted name for a language in South Australia, but Berndt and Berndt say the term Narrinyeri (S69) was introduced by Taplin; it was not a term used by speakers (1993:19).

McDonald (2002:11) notes that this term is now firmly established in the minds of the Ngarrindjeri people. Both Taplin (1879) and Berndt and Berndt (1993) list a number of Ngarrindjeri clans, each of which they believed had their own dialect. More recent studies distinguish fewer dialects. For example, McDonald (2002) distinguishes five dialects, these being: Warki S1, Tanganekald S11, Ramindjeri S2, Portaulun S3 and Yaraldi S8.

 

References: 
  • Berndt, Ronald, and Catherine Berndt. 1993. A world that was: the Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia. Carlton, VIC: Melbourne University Press at the Miegunyah Press.
  • Gale, Mary-Anne, and Dorothy French. 2005. Language overview & resource guide for Ngarrindjeri, the language of the Lower Murray, Lakes and Coorong region of South Australia (draft).
  • McDonald, Maryalyce. 2002. A study of the phonetics and phonology of Yaraldi and associated dialects. München: Lincom Europa.
  • Taplin, George. 1879. Grammar of the language spoken by the Narrinyeri tribe in South Australia. In The folklore, manners, customs, and languages of the South Australian Aborigines, ed. George Taplin. Adelaide: Government Printer.
Status: 
Confirmed
Location
State / Territory: 
SA
Location information: 

The Ngarrindjeri 'nation' and language is associated with the country on the Lower Murray River and in the Murray Lakes and Coorong region of South Australia. The community of Raukkan on the southern shores of Lake Alexandrina (formerly known as Point McLeay) is considered by many as a major hub of Ngarrindjeri country (Gale & French 2005).

... "a great triangle of land" extending from the western extremity of Cape Jervis on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, north to Swanport on the Murray River (about 5 kms south of Murray Bridge) and south around Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, and stretching further south along the Coorong to Kingston. (Taplin 1879, in Gale and French 2005:2).

Contemporary location : Murray Bridge and communities in the Riverland (Gale & French 2005:2).

 

Maps: 
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PDF icon Oates_S69.pdf
Awaye! Word Up: Georgina Trevorrow
Awaye! Word Up: Aunty Phyllis Williams
Programs
Activities: 

Ngarrindjeri, Narrunga and Kaurna Languages Project made a tape with songs (1990). Narungga People's Language Project has been running a language revival project. South Australia. Education Dept produced a teacher's guide in 1988. A group of Ngarrindjeri people are working on language revival activities (can be contacted by Mary-Anne Gale). The Mobile Language Team held a Ngarrindjeri language workshop for language teachers in Glossop, in June 2011.

People: 
George Taplin, Colin Yallop, Mary-Anne Gale (producing a dictionary and grammar, 2008), Heinrich Meyer, Cath Ellis, Luise Hercus, Maryalyce McDonald
Indigenous organisations: 

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Speakers
Year Source Speaker numbers
1975Oates-
1984Senate-
1990Schmidt-
1996Census-
2001Census-
2004NILS1few?
2005Estimate-
2006Census159
2011Census271
2014NILS2533
2016Census312
2018-2019NILS3

Speaker numbers were measured differently across the censuses and various other sources listed in AUSTLANG. You are encouraged to refer to the sources.

Speaker numbers for ‘NILS 2004’ and ‘2005 estimate’ come from 'Table F.3: Numbers of speakers of Australian Indigenous languages (various surveys)' in 'Appendix F NILS endangerment and absolute number results' in McConvell, Marmion and McNicol 2005, pages 198-230 (PDF, 2.5MB).

Documentation
Type Documentation Status Documentation Score
Word list Large (more than 200 pages) 4
Text Collection None 0
Grammar Small grammar (100-200 pages) 3
Audio-visual 1-10 2
Manuscript note: 
tape transcription/field note available (vocabulary)
Grammar: 

Yallop, Colin. 1975. Narinjari: an outline of the language studied by George Taplin, with Taplin's notes and comparative table. Part 1: The Narinjari language 1864-1964: Oceania Linguistic Monographs 17(1). Sydney: University of Sydney.

Gale, Mary-Anne. 2007. Ngarrindjeri learners' guide (trial edition). Adelaide: Raukkan Community Council on behalf of the Ngarrindjeri Community.
Gale, Mary-Anne, Williams, Phyllis.2019. Ngarrindjeri dictionary : (concise) second edition. Adelaide: Miwi-inyeri Pelepi-ambi Aboriginal Corporation (MIPAAC).

Gale, Mary-Anne, Williams, Phyllis.2019. Ngarrindjeri dictionary : third (complete) edition. Adelaide: Miwi-inyeri Pelepi-ambi Aboriginal Corporation (MIPAAC).

Bannister, Corinne. 2004. A Longitudinal Study of Ngarrindjeri, University of Sydney: BA (Hons).

Dictionary: 

Johnson, Steve. Ngarrindjeri wordlist, ASEDA 0038. A dictionary and a picture dictionary are currently under production.

Classification
Source Family Group Sub-group Name Relationship
Ethnologue (2005) Pama-Nyungan Ngarinyeric-Yithayithic   Narrinyeri Narrinyeri [dialects: Related to Ngayawung and Yuyu (Ngarrket)]
Dixon (2002)   LOWER MURRAY AREAL GROUP   Ngarrindjeri Yaralde (or Yaralde Tingar; or Ngarrindjeri or Narrinyeri) Meyer (1843), Cerin (1994) further dialects include: Tangane, Ramindjeri
Wurm (1994) Pama-Nyungan Ngarinyeric-Yithayithic   Ngarinyeri  
Walsh (1981) Pama-Nyungan Ngarinyeric-Yithayithic   Ngarinyeri (Narrinyeri) Ngarinyeri (Narrinyeri) [dialects: Warki, Tanganalun, Meinta:ngk, Raminyeri, Portawulun, Yaraldi]
Oates (1975) Unclassified     Narrinjeri  
Wurm (1972) Pama-Nyungan Narrinyeric Korni Yaralde (Narrinyeri)  
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966) Pama-Nyungan Narrinyeric Korni Narrinyeri