Waalubal dialect facts for kids

Waalubal (also called Wahlubal) is an Aboriginal language from Australia. It is also known as Western Bundjalung, Baryulgil, and Middle Clarence Bandjalang. People from the Western Bundjalung group used to speak it. They lived in the North-East New South Wales area.

What is Waalubal?

In the Western Bundjalung language, Wahlubal means "those who say Wahlu". Wahlu is a word for 'you'. It was used in the Tabulam area. Further along the river at Baryulgil, people spoke the Wehlubal dialect. In this dialect, Wehlu was their word for Wahlu.

To the east, near Rappville, people spoke the Birihn dialect. Birihn means 'southern'. A bit to the north was the Casino dialect. It was known simply as Bundjalung. These names were used by the people themselves and by others. The general name Bundjalung or Western Bundjalung is also often used.

Where Was Waalubal Spoken?

Wahlubal was spoken along the Clarence River. This was upstream from where the Yagir language was spoken.

How Waalubal Works

Words for Pointing Things Out

Western Bundjalung has special words called demonstratives. These words help you point out things. They are like saying 'this', 'that', or 'that over there'. The language has three ways to show how far away something is:

• Close by (like 'this')
• A bit further away (like 'that')
• Far away (like 'that over there')

There are also two main types of these words:

• Adjective words: These describe things, like "this book".
• Location words: These tell you where something is, like "here" or "there".

Adjective Words for Pointing

These words describe things you can see, things you can't see, or things that are no longer there.

You can add small endings to these words. This makes them act like full nouns. For example, Yanindeh galani wangahbaya! means 'Take this with you!'

Words for "not in sight" or "not here anymore" can also get endings. This helps them become words about time. For example, gunahgan means 'recently'.

Location Words for Pointing

These words tell you where something is. They also show if you can see the place or not.

See Also

You can find more information in Spanish here: Idioma wahlubal para niños