Gurindji Kriol language facts for kids

Gurindji Kriol is a special kind of mixed language spoken by the Gurindji people in the Northern Territory of Australia. It's mainly used in the Aboriginal communities of Kalkaringi and Daguragu. These places are on the traditional lands of the Gurindji people.

This language started to form in the 1970s. It combines words and grammar from two different languages: Gurindji and Kriol. Gurindji is an old Aboriginal language, but it's now in danger of disappearing. Kriol is a language that grew from English and is spoken by many Aboriginal people across northern Australia.

Gurindji Kriol is unique because it takes its noun (naming words) structure from Gurindji. This includes how nouns are marked for their role in a sentence. But it takes its verb (action words) structure from Kriol, including how it shows when something happened (past, present, future). Because of this, it's called a "verb-noun" mixed language. Keeping parts of Gurindji in the language helps the Gurindji people hold onto their Aboriginal identity and culture.

How Gurindji Kriol Started

Gurindji Kriol came about because of contact between the Gurindji people and non-Indigenous settlers. From 1855, settlers took over the Gurindji lands to create cattle farms. At first, they tried to remove the Gurindji people. But later, they forced the remaining Gurindji and other Aboriginal groups to work on these farms. The conditions were very unfair.

In 1966, the Gurindji people started a workers' strike to protest their poor working conditions. They also wanted to get their traditional lands back. This protest was called the Wave Hill walk-off. It lasted for nine years! In the end, it was a huge success. It was the first time an Aboriginal group in Australia successfully claimed their land back. Today, the Gurindji still live on their traditional lands in Kalkaringi and Daguragu.

The way the Gurindji people speak is closely connected to these events. Before settlers arrived, Gurindji people spoke many languages. They used the languages of nearby groups to connect with family and for ceremonies. When the cattle farms were set up, a new language called "cattle station pidgin" was introduced. Later, this changed into Kriol.

In the 1970s, experts noticed that Gurindji people often switched between Kriol and Gurindji. This mixing of languages helped Gurindji Kriol to form. While Kriol became the main language in many other parts of northern Australia, in Kalkaringi, a new mixed language was born. Some experts believe that keeping parts of Gurindji in this new language was a way for the Gurindji people to show their strong connection to their land and ancestors.

Gurindji Kriol Today

Gurindji Kriol is part of a rich mix of languages spoken in the community. Older people still speak Gurindji. People with Warlpiri family also use the Warlpiri language. Standard Australian English is used for things like government services and school, but not much outside of that. Kriol and Aboriginal English are used when people from other Aboriginal communities visit.

So, Gurindji Kriol is spoken alongside Gurindji and Kriol. It's like a "symbiotic" mixed language, meaning it lives together with its parent languages. People in Kalkaringi still often switch between Gurindji and Kriol, and even between Gurindji Kriol and its original languages.

Words in Gurindji Kriol

Gurindji Kriol has a mix of words from both Kriol and Gurindji. Even though the grammar for verbs and nouns comes from different languages, you'll find verbs and nouns from both Gurindji and Kriol in the language.

For example, about 36.6% of its words come from Kriol, and 35% come from Gurindji. The rest (28.4%) are words that have similar meanings in both languages. The choice of which word to use can depend on who is talking. For instance, people might use more Gurindji words when speaking to older Gurindji people or when outsiders are present.

Sometimes, words from one language get a more specific meaning in Gurindji Kriol. For example, the Gurindji word karnti means "branch," "stick," or "tree" in Gurindji. But in Gurindji Kriol, it usually just means "branch" or "stick." The Kriol word tri is used for "tree."

Sounds of Gurindji Kriol

The sounds in Gurindji Kriol come from both Gurindji and Kriol. It's like the language has kept two different sound systems.

For example, Gurindji words use three main vowel sounds. But Kriol words use five vowel sounds, plus some longer vowel sounds. This means that depending on whether a word comes from Gurindji or Kriol, it might use different vowel sounds.

The consonant sounds are also a mix. Words from Gurindji have certain types of "stop" sounds (like 'p', 't', 'k'). Words from Kriol, however, also have "fricative" sounds (like 'f', 's', 'sh'). So, Gurindji Kriol uses sounds from both its parent languages.

How Sentences Work

Gurindji Kriol combines grammar rules from both Gurindji and Kriol. For example, in sentences, the main noun (the "head") can have special endings from Gurindji. These endings show its role in the sentence. But other words that describe the noun don't get these endings.

When people put sentences together, they often just say them one after another without special linking words. The connection between the ideas is understood. For example, someone might say, "The dog is crying. He tied him up by the neck." The listener understands that the dog is crying because he was tied up.

However, Gurindji Kriol also uses linking words from Kriol, like "an" (and), "o" (or), "dumaji" (because), "bat" (but), and "ib" (if). These words help connect different parts of sentences or different sentences.