Throughout this publication, we use words from the language spoken by the An-barra community. Where possible, we have used the dictionary compiled by Kathleen Glasgow (1994) and advice from Margaret Carew (consultant linguist) to update some of the spellings of An-barra words.

However, where we have quoted from field notes or publications, we have maintained the spellings recorded by scholars who have worked with the An-barra community in the past, including Les Hiatt, Rhys Jones and Betty Meehan. None of these people were trained linguists but did their best to record words as close to the An-barra pronunciation as possible.

The people and their language

The An-barra are “a regional tribe at the mouth of the Blyth River, which speaks the Gun-nartpa dialect” (Glasgow 1994, 38).

An-barra is derived from the term for “mouth of the river” (lit., “base, rear end”) and, most interestingly, “ana-burra aburr-nirra – the people that live at the base of the river” (Glasgow 1994, 38). Gu-jingarliya is the “language name for the An-barra and Martay dialects”. See “Gidjingali” below (Glasgow 1994, 290).

It is interesting to note what Les Hiatt said about the same people in 1965: “Gidjingali is the term for the language spoken by people who, before the time of my fieldwork, lived south of Cape Stewart and around the mouth of the Blyth River [Map 1.1]. They referred to themselves collectively as ‘we’ and never by any name. I shall call them the Gidjingali for the sake of convenience.” (Hiatt 1965, 1, Map 1).

The Glasgow dictionary contains a long entry about “we” (1994, 877–88) and an equally long entry about “us” (1994, 874).

Site names

In this list of site names, the Glasgow and corrected spellings appear first. Other spellings used in field notes and publications are in brackets.

Agajang-guwa (Agadjang-guwa)

Anajerramiwa (Anadjerramiwa)

Anamanba (Anandamamba)

Ana-nganandak (Ananganandark)

An-gartcha Wana (Angatja Wana)

Aningarra

Bolgunirra-gaboiya Gulukula (Kula Kula)

Guna-jengga (Gunedjanga)

Gupanga (Kopanga)

Guyoyo

Ji-bena (Djibena)

Jilangga a-jirra (Djilangadjerra)

Jinawunya (Djunawunya, Djunawinia)

Jurnaka (Djunaka, Djinaka)

Lalarr gu-jirrapa (Lalar-gadjirrapa, Lalagidjiripa, Lalargedjiripa)

Lorrkon a-jirrapa (Larrakun-adjirrapa)

Madayjapa (Madaidjapa)

Malmilajerra (Malmiladjerra)

Minjambilamirra (Mindjambilamirra)

Mugamandija (Mugamandidja)

Mu-ganarra (Moganarra, Moganara)

Mu-garnbal (Maganbal)

Mu-lela (Milela)

Muyu a-jirrapa (Moiya-adjirripa)

Ngakunal-yorda

Nganyjuwa (Ngandjuwa)

Ngarli ji-bama (Ngalidjibama)

Yuluk a-jirrapa (Yuluk-adjirrapa)

Reference