Djinang language facts for kids

Djinang is an Aboriginal language from Australia. It belongs to the Yolngu language family. People speak Djinang in the north-east Arnhem Land area of the Northern Territory.

Djinang has different ways of speaking, called dialects. These dialects are linked to two main family groups, called moieties:

• Yirritjing – This group includes the Wurlaki, Djardiwitjibi, Mildjingi, and Balmbi dialects.
• Djuwing – This group includes the Marrangu, Murrungun, and Manyarring dialects.

One of these dialects, Wurlaki, is part of a special project to help bring it back to life. This is because it is one of many languages that are in danger of disappearing.

About the Djinang Language

Where Djinang Comes From

Djinang is spoken in Arnhem Land, a region in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is part of the Yolngu language family, which has 11 other languages. The Yolngu family is itself part of an even bigger group called the Pama-Nyungan language family. This huge family includes about 285 languages! Experts believe that Pama-Nyungan languages cover about 90% of Australia. This suggests that many Aboriginal people across the continent might share a very old common ancestor.

Djinang has several dialects, including Manyarring, Marrangu, Murrungun, Balmbi, Djaḏiwitjibi, Mildjingi, and Wuḻaki (Wurlaki). Djinang also has a "sister" language called Djinba. Only about 45 people speak Djinba, making it an endangered language.

The Djinang People

The people who speak Djinang are called the Djinang people. In 2006, there were about 220 Djinang speakers. Many Aboriginal people, including the Djinang, speak more than one language. This is very common in Australia for important reasons.

One reason is politeness. When visiting another clan that speaks a different language, it is respectful to speak their language. This also helps to please the ancient ancestors of the host clan. Another reason is family. Children often have a father from one clan and a mother from another. While the father's language is usually the child's main language, the child also learns and speaks the mother's language.

The Djinang people, like all Aboriginal people, deeply value their main language. They believe their language is directly connected to their land. Even though their land doesn't have strict borders, the Djinang and nearby clans know which areas belong to which language. Their land connects them to their ancestors. This strong link between land and language is why Australian languages often stay within specific regions.

How Djinang Sounds

The Djinang language uses 24 basic sounds, called phonemes. Only three of these sounds are vowels (like 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'). This means Djinang has many more consonant sounds than vowel sounds. This is different from most languages in the Pacific region, which usually have more vowel sounds and fewer consonant sounds.

Consonant Sounds

Djinang has 21 consonant sounds. Some letters are underlined in Djinang writing, like ṯ, ḏ, ṉ, ḻ, and rr. These are called retroflex sounds. To make a retroflex sound, you curl your tongue back in your mouth.

Many Australian languages have similar sound systems. They usually have very few "fricative" sounds (like 'f' or 's') and "sibilant" sounds (like 'sh' or 'z'). In some Aboriginal languages, sounds like /b/, /d/, and /g/ might sometimes sound like /p/, /t/, and /k/. However, in Djinang, there is a clear difference between these sounds.

Vowel Sounds

Out of Djinang's 24 basic sounds, only three are vowels: /a/, /i/, and /u/. Djinang does not have diphthongs, which are sounds made by combining two vowels (like the 'oi' in 'coin'). It also doesn't have "triphthongs" (three vowel sounds together). The length of a vowel sound doesn't change the meaning of a word in Djinang.

Word Structure

The way words are built in Djinang is moderately complex. Words are made up of syllables, which are small sound units. Djinang has three main syllable patterns:

• CV (Consonant-Vowel), like 'ba'
• CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant), like 'bat'
• CVCC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Consonant), like 'bank'

Because of these patterns, very few Djinang words start with a vowel or with a group of consonants (like 'str' in 'straight').

Djinang Grammar

Word Order

Djinang is a "suffixing language." This means it adds endings (suffixes) to words to change their meaning. Because of this, the order of words in a sentence is very flexible. It doesn't rely on word order to show meaning.

For nouns (words for people, places, or things), Djinang uses "cases." Cases are like labels that show what job a noun has in a sentence (for example, if it's the subject or the object). For verbs (action words), Djinang uses suffixes to show when something happened (past, present, future) or how it happened.

Even though word order is flexible, Djinang and most other Australian languages often follow a Subject-Object-Verb (S.O.V.) pattern. This means the person or thing doing the action comes first, then the thing the action is done to, and finally the action itself.

Verbs

Verbs are very important in Djinang because they carry most of the meaning in a sentence. Sometimes, the person doing the action (like "I" or "he") is not even said aloud; it's just understood from the verb. For example:

Djinang verbs are divided into three main groups (Class I, II, and III). Within each group, there are smaller categories based on how the verb stem ends. Each verb uses a specific suffix to show different tenses, or times, in Djinang. These tenses include: non-past, future, yesterday-past, imperative (commands), today-past, today-past-irrealis (something that might have happened today), and today-past-continuous (something that was happening today).

Many verb stems in Djinang also contain a noun related to the verb's meaning. For example, djama means 'work' (as a noun), and djamadjigi means 'to work' (as a verb). Often, the ending dji is added to a noun to create a verb stem.

Verb Tenses Chart

Here's a simple chart showing some of the suffixes used for different verb tenses:

Nouns

Nouns in Djinang also use suffixes, similar to verbs. But instead of showing when an action happened, nouns show who or what is doing the action, who or what the action is done to, or who something belongs to.

Nouns have different "cases" that tell us their job in a sentence. These cases mark if a noun is the subject (the one doing the action) or the object (the one receiving the action). They can also show implied prepositions, like 'to', 'for', or 'from'. For example, gurrbi means 'camp', and gurrbile means '(to) camp'.

In Australian languages, there are three very important grammatical roles for nouns:

• Transitive subject (ergative): The subject of a verb that has an object (e.g., He kicked the ball).
• Intransitive subject (nominative): The subject of a verb that doesn't have an object (e.g., He ran).
• Object (accusative): The thing that receives the action (e.g., He kicked the ball).

Because word order can change, these cases are very important for making sentences clear.

Noun Cases Chart

Here are some of the different noun cases in Djinang with their common endings:

Words for Pointing and Asking Questions

Djinang has special words called Deictics. These words use the same cases as nouns. They often show if something is singular or plural, and how far away it is (like 'this' or 'that', 'here' or 'there').

Here are some examples of how suffixes are added to deictic words:

• nguṉuginyi 'that one' (when it's the object)
• nguṉugirang 'that one's' (showing possession)
• nguṉugiranggima 'that one's' (a stronger way to show possession)

Words that ask questions, like wari 'who' or nyadji 'when', are called interrogative particles. In Djinang, these words usually come at the beginning of a question, just like in English.

Djinang Words

Native Djinang Words

Here are some words from the Djinang language:

• baḏayaladjidji 'be bright'
• galŋayngu 'king brown snake'
• ngagirrgi 'obscure' (hard to see or understand)
• yalpung 'peel'
• bumirḻiḻi 'bald'
• ḏanyḏanyi 'midday'
• mapatj 'short pipe'
• ganydjarr 'power'

Words from English

Like many languages, Djinang has borrowed some words from English. These are called loanwords:

• djakdjipin 'safety pin'
• djambaku 'tobacco'
• djandi 'Sunday'
• djatadi 'Saturday'
• gandin 'store (canteen)'
• garraktdji 'crosscut saw'
• kital 'cattle station'
• mitjigin 'mission'

Is Djinang in Danger?

Learning Materials

Not much has been written about the Djinang language or its people. Most of the important papers were written by one person, Bruce E. Waters. Some of his works include:

• "A Distinctive Features Approach to Djinang Phonology and Verb Morphology" (1979)
• "Djinang and Djinba: a grammatical and historical perspective" (1983)
• "A Grammar of Djinang" (1984)

Other researchers have also worked with the Djinang people. Anthropologist Ad Borsboom studied their rituals and songs in the 1970s. Another anthropologist, Craig Elliott, lived and worked with Djinang/Wurlaki people in the late 1980s and wrote about their beliefs and songs.

Teachers and literacy workers in Maningrida and Ramingining continue to create learning materials for Djinang in their schools and for the local community. Also, a dictionary and learner's guide for Djinang and Wurlaki were being prepared by linguist Anita Berghout and a Wurlaki woman named KB.

How Strong is the Language?

Even though there are only about 220 Djinang speakers and the language isn't used on TV, radio, or in texts, the language is considered "Vigorous." This means it is used for everyday communication by all generations and is likely to continue.

There are a few reasons why Djinang is still strong:

• Location: Djinang is spoken in Arnhem Land, which was made an Aboriginal Reserve in 1931. This area is still very traditional and is hard for most people to access.
• Traditional Ways: Because many Djinang people live much like their ancestors did, their customs, like exogamy (marrying outside their own group) and speaking many languages, are still common.
• Value of Language: The Djinang people truly value their language. This can be seen in their sacred songs and how they teach their children. Because of exogamy, children often learn both their father's and mother's languages equally. This helps pass the language from one generation to the next.

The traditional way of life both helps and sometimes makes it harder for the language to grow. Living a semi-nomadic and private life means large groups are not easily supported. However, their strong connection to traditional ways helps ensure that the language and culture are passed down through generations.

Language Revival Efforts

As of 2020, "Djinang/Wurlaki" is one of 20 languages chosen for the Priority Languages Support Project. This project is run by First Languages Australia and funded by the Australian government. The goal is to find and document languages that are in great danger of disappearing. This includes languages that have little or no written information or recordings, but still have people who speak them.