Pitjantjatjara dialect facts for kids

"No camping" sign in English and Pitjantjatjara, Adelaide

Pitjantjatjara is an Aboriginal language spoken in Central Australia. It is a dialect of the Western Desert language. This means it is very similar to other languages in the Western Desert group. People who speak Pitjantjatjara can usually understand people who speak Yankunytjatjara. The names of these two groups come from their different words for 'come/go'.

Pitjantjatjara is a strong Aboriginal language. Children are still learning it today. It is taught in some Aboriginal schools. About half of the people who speak Pitjantjatjara as their first language can read and write it. For those learning it as a second language, about 10-15% can read and write it. There is a Pitjantjatjara dictionary. Also, the New Testament part of the Bible has been translated into the language. This project started in the 1940s and finished in 2002. Work is still happening on the Old Testament.

How Pitjantjatjara Sounds and is Written

The way Pitjantjatjara is written down can be a little different. For example, in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, they might add letters like 'w' or 'y' between certain vowel sounds. But in South Australia, they don't usually do this.

The Pitjantjatjara language uses sounds that are similar to English. But it also has some special sounds. For example, it has "retroflex" sounds. These are made by curling your tongue back in your mouth. The letters for these sounds often have a line underneath them.

Pitjantjatjara has three main vowel sounds: 'a', 'i', and 'u'. These sounds can be short or long. When a vowel sound is long, it is written by doubling the letter. So, 'aa' means a long 'a' sound.

The letter 's' is not usually found in Pitjantjatjara words. But there is one important exception: the word Jesu, which means "Jesus". This word uses the letter 's'. Also, the letter 'j' is only used as part of the 'tj' sound.

How Pitjantjatjara Grammar Works

Pitjantjatjara grammar has some interesting features. One difference from other Western Desert languages is that Pitjantjatjara words often end with '-pa'. This happens even when other dialects just end with a consonant. Pitjantjatjara speakers generally prefer words not to end with a consonant. Also, words in Pitjantjatjara usually don't start with the letter 'y'.

Nouns and How They Change

In Pitjantjatjara, words like nouns (names of people, places, things) change their endings. This helps show their role in a sentence. For example, an ending might tell you if a noun is the one doing the action or the one receiving the action.

It's a bit like how in English we say "he" (doing the action) and "him" (receiving the action). Pitjantjatjara has different patterns for nouns and for pronouns (like 'I', 'you', 'he').

Verbs and Their Forms

Pitjantjatjara verbs (action words) also change their endings. This shows when the action happened, like in the past or present. There are four main groups of verbs in Pitjantjatjara. Each group uses slightly different endings.

Making New Words

Pitjantjatjara has clear ways to change words from one type to another. For example, you can change a verb into a noun, or a noun into a verb. However, sometimes the new word might have a slightly different meaning than you expect.

History of the Language Since Europeans Arrived

The Ernabella Mission was started in 1937 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was located at a place now called Pukatja. The mission wanted to help keep the Pitjantjatjara language and culture alive. The missionaries learned the language themselves. They taught it in the school and even gave sermons in Pitjantjatjara.

This was important because it meant Pitjantjatjara became a written language for the first time. The Pitjantjatjara people learned to read and write in their own language before they learned English.

Bible Translations

The first part of the New Testament to be translated was the Gospel of Mark. This was finished in 1945 and published in 1949. Work continued for many years. A shorter version of the New Testament was published in 1969.

In 1981, a group called the Pitjantjatjara Bible Translation Project was formed. They finished a new translation of the New Testament and some of the Old Testament. This was published in 2002. Since 2011, a new project has been working to translate the rest of the Old Testament. As of 2019, they are still working on different books. The Book of Daniel was published in 2015. You can even find the Pitjantjatjara New Testament online.

In 2017, people started recording the Pitjantjatjara New Testament with many different voices. By 2017, about half of it was recorded.

Government Policies and the Language

Schools in the APY lands used to teach in both Pitjantjatjara and English. But in the late 1980s, these programs lost their funding. Teaching then went back to only English.

However, in December 2018, the South Australian Government made a promise. They said they would teach in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, with English as an extra language, by 2029. This is a big step to support the language.

Words Borrowed from English

Like many languages, Pitjantjatjara has borrowed some words from English. These are called "loan words."

Pitjantjatjara Word of the Year 2019

The Pitjantjatjara word ngangkari was added to the Macquarie Dictionary in 2019. This word means an Indigenous person who practices traditional bush medicine. It was even chosen as a short-listed word for the 2019 Word of the Year. This shows how important and recognized the language is becoming.

Computer Support for Pitjantjatjara

If you use LibreOffice software, it has special features for Pitjantjatjara. It includes language information and a spellchecker. This helps people write correctly in Pitjantjatjara on computers.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma pitjantjatjara para niños