Noongar love poem
Bilya ban-dak
Barl dorrul ban-dak
Bali nana gnwirri bardip
Yogow yoor-ril ka unbangbut
Bali nana yuttok kni woon-yah nunda
Many words simply do not exist in the Noongar language, Ryan who is Whadjuk Menang, did his best to translate my poem. He used a combination of different dialects extracted from the Western Australian Museums Noongar Wordlist. Here is the literal meaning of its translation:
River in the open air
Her face in the open air
That is mine beautiful story
Be quick or lost
That is mine, last I love you.
→ French poem ←
Noongar Language
This is a new version of my little love poem, here in Noongar (Nyungar, Neo-Nyunga, Nyoongar, Yungar, Noong, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, Njungar, Nyunga, Njunga, Whadjuk (Wajuk, Wudjari, Witjari), Tjapanmay, Ngatjumay, Karlamay, Kwetjman, Pipelman (Pipalman, Pibelman, Bibbelman, Bibbulman), Kaniyang (Kaneang), Mirnong, Pindjarup (Pinjarup), Minang, Wardandi, Balardung (Ballardong, Tjapanmay, Djabanmaï , Yuat (Juat), Wiilman).
Noongar is the linguistic continuum of the language that speaks the Noongar community, the Aboriginal people living in southwest Australia.
Variants of the same language, and even different languages, spoken before the colonization, have been brought together to be called Noongar.
Today there are only a few hundred Noongar left, who speak Neo-Nyunga, which is a mix of English and Nyunga.
Noongar has been studied and the new and recent dictionary (2011) was mainly inspired by Yuat.
For forty years there is the whish to keep this Pama-Nyungan language alive. It is taught in community schools and at university, and today people understand the importance and the urgency of recording elders.
The Noongar
The Australian Aboriginal Noongar people (Nyungar, Nyoongar), have lived in the south-western part of Australia, on their ancestral lands (Noongar bodja, Ngulla boodjar), for 50,000 years . Today, most of them live around Perth.
The term Noongar means person.
Traditionally the Noongar, who are the gathering of around 15 groups, were mainly hunters (turtles, kangaroos, emus, wallabies, opossums, monitor lizards), gatherers (yams, nuts) etc., and fishermen when they were near these resources (Ocean and Swan River).
They lived in harmony with a nature which was full of plants and animals, and from which they knew many secrets.
Today, many of them still use these knowledges acquired over millennia to hunt, fish and gather sustainably.
What they take, is a significant contribution, to supplement the food that the community shares.
Like many other indigenous peoples, the arrival of Europeans with their violence, and the spread of their diseases, will decimate them. Today there are around fifteen thousand.