The local Anindilyakwa people refer to the language as Amamalya Ayakwa (Amamalya means 'true' and Ayakwa means 'words'). However, Anindilyakwa is still commonly used.[5]
Before a standard orthography was established, the name Anindilyakwa had been spelt in multiple ways. These included Andiljangwa, Andilyaugwa, Aninhdhilyagwa, Enindiljaugwa, Enindhilyagwa, Wanindilyaugwaz. The language was also known as Ingura, Yingguru, and Groote Eylandt after its location.[2]
Linguistic classification
Once considered a family level isolate, Van Egmond (2012) has demonstrated Anindilyakwa to be part of the Eastern branch of the Gunwinyguan family, relating it to Nunggubuyu and (more distantly) Ngandi, using correspondences between core vocabulary, verbal morphological forms, phonemes, and verbal inflectional paradigms.[6][7]
Phonology
Vowels
The analysis of Anindilyakwa's vowels is open to interpretation. Stokes[8] analyses it as having 4 phonemic vowels, /ieau/. Leeding[9] analyses it as having just 2, /ɨa/ with allophones [ i ɪ u ɯ ə o a ] and [ a æ aɪ æɪ e eɪ ɒ aʊ ], respectively.
Anindilyakwa words almost always end with a final vowel 'a'. Clusters of up to 3 consonants such as 'ngw' can occur within words.
Grammar
Noun classes
Anindilyakwa has 5 noun classes, or genders, each marked by a prefix:
Male
human
n-
non-human
y-
Female
human or non-human
d-
Inanimate
neuter
a-
vegetable
m-
For bound pronouns, instead of "human male" and "non-human male" classes there is a single "male" class.
All traditional Anindilyakwa nouns carry a class prefix, but some loanwords may lack them.
Numerals
The language traditionally had numerals up to 20 but since the introduction of English, English words are now used almost exclusively for numbers above 5.[10]
Anindilyakwa uses a quinary number system. The numbers are also adjectival and must be qualified with their corresponding noun class. 'One crocodile' becomes dawilyaba dingarrbiya, '2 turtles' becomes yambilyuma yimenda.
'Nothing' is expressed by nara ebina, 'not any'. There is no term for '"infinity", but the concept "innumerable" can be expressed by: yinguwurramur.dinama dakwulyingarrijanga 'there are too many stars to count.'[11]
1
Awilyaba
11
Ememberrkwa awilyaba
2
Ambilyuma
12
Ememberrkwa ambilyuma
3
Abiyakarbiya
13
Ememberrkwa abiyakarbiyia
4
Abiyarbuwa
14
Ememberrkwa abiyarbuwa
5
Amangbala
15
Amaburrkwakbala
6
Amangbala awilyaba
16
Amaburrkwakbala awilyaba
7
Amangbala ambilyuma
17
Amaburrkwakbala ambilyuma
8
Amangbala abiyakarbiya
18
Amaburrkwakbala abiyakarbiya
9
Amangbala abiyarbuwa
19
Amaburrkwakbala abiyarbuwa
10
Ememberrkwa
20
Wurrakiriyabulangwa
Adjectives
Size degrees is done in 2 grades the positive and a diminutive (warrngka), although reduplication of this word is possible for an intensifying effect.[9]
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Anindilyakwa features 5 grammatical numbers for pronouns: singular, feminine dual, masculine dual, trial, and plural.
The language has a clusivity distinction common in many Aboriginal Australian languages – ngakwurruwa 'inclusive we' and yirruwa 'exclusive we'. 'Inclusive we' includes explicitly the addressee (that is, 'you and I, and possibly others'). 'Exclusive we' excludes explicitly the addressee (that is, 'he/she/they and I, but not you'), regardless of who else may be involved.
ngarrubukwurruwa 'we three or four, including you'
ngakwurruwa 'we all, including you'
2nd person
nungkuwa 'you'
nungkwurnuwa 'you two men, or man and woman'
nungkwurruguwa 'you two women'
nungkwurrubukwurruwa 'you three or four people'
nungkwurruwa 'you, many people'
3rd person
enuwa'he'
aburnuwa 'they two men', or 'man and woman'
aburrunguwa 'they two women'
aburrubukwurruwa 'they three or four people'
aburruwa 'they all, them'
ngaluwa'she'
Possessive pronouns
With the exception of my, possessive pronouns in Anindilyakwa replace the -uwa suffix from the singular or plural pronouns with -langwa 'belonging to'.
English
Anindilyakwa
My
Nganyangwa
Yours (singular)
Nungkwa-langwa
Yours (plural)
Nungkwurra-langwa
Ours (exclusive)
Yirra-langwa
Ours (inclusive)
Ngakwurra-langwa
Theirs
Aburra-langwa
His
Ena-langwa
Hers
Ngala-langwa
Suffixes
Suffix
Gloss
-baba
because
-dangwa
the one that's better or best
-manja
by (beside), in, at, on, when, with (people)
-minjena
mother of child
-mubaba
because (on verbs)
-mulangwa
about, of, from (on verbs); after
-murra
from (by means of), with (by means of)
-murriya
etc., and the rest
-langwa
belonging to, from, of
-langwa-langwa
around, along
-langwiya
along, along and around, over (in the sense of travelling over an area), through
-ma
in (by means of); only, just (one); with (by means of)
-yada
for (for the purpose of), so (that), to make, used on time words
-wiya
all over, still (in sense of being the same), used on time words
-wa
to
For kinship nouns, there are 7 possessive suffixes used that distinguish between first, second and thirds, singular or plural numbers, and third person genders.
Suffixes for kinship possession
Singular
Non-singular
Suffix
Example
Suffix
Example
1st person
-arrka
Nganyanwa nungwarrka 'My father'
2nd person
-ena
Nungkwa-langwa nungwena 'Your father'
3rd person
Male
-enikba
Ena-langwa nungenikba 'His father'
-arringba
Aburra-langwa nungarringba 'Their father'
Female
-adukba
Ngala-langwa nungadukba 'Her father'
Language maintenance
Groote Eylandt Language Centre
The Groote Eylandt Language Centre (GELC) promotes, maintains, and preserves Anindilyakwa. They are based in Angurugu with offices in Umbakumba and Bickerton Island. It hosts a significant collection of language and cultural resources relating to the Warnindilyakwa people. The Centre undertakes language projects both large and small and offers services such as language recording and resource development, language advice and expertise, and translation.[12]
Previously known as Groote Eylandt Linguistics, Church Mission Society ran the department until 2006. The CMS created the orthography with the Latin script to translate Bible texts into Anindilyakwa. The centre now operates under the "Preserving Culture" department of the Anindilyakwa Land Council.[13]
GELC has compiled and published the Anindilyakwa dictionary Eningerriberra-langwa jurra "The Book about Everything",[14] as well as producing an online dictionary,[15] and a web app with the assistance of the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.[16] They also run a YouTube channel with an expanding content of videos and resources in Anindilyakwa.[17]
Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi (modern-day Indonesia) began visiting the coast of northern Australia sometime around the early to middle 1700s.[18] This happened yearly until the introduction of the White Australia Policy in 1906.[19] The Macassans visited Groote Eylandt for trade, particularly for highly prized trepang in the South China Sea. The Macassans also brought with them tamarinds (jamba), dugout canoes (malamukwa), tobacco (dambakwa) and beer (anija). Evan analyses that there are potentially 35 Makassarese words, mostly nouns, that have entered the Anindilyakwa language, including many place names such as Umbakumba (Malay word ombak-ombak for 'lapping of waves') and Bartalumba Bay (Macassan word batu lompoa for 'the big rock').[6]
Yilila is a band from Numbulwar. Lead vocalist Grant Nundhirribala is a master of traditional music and a highly respected song man and dancer. The band performs their music in Wubuy, Anindilyakwa, Maccassan language and English.[21]
Other noteworthy bands include Mambali from Numbulwar, Groote Eylandt Band from Angurugu and Salt Lake Band from Umbakumba.
Film and television
The Last Wave (released in the USA as Black Rain) is a 1977 Australian mysterydrama film directed by Peter Weir where a white lawyer represents a group of Aboriginal men accused of murder.[22][23] Also starring Yolngu man David Gulpilil, local Anindilyakwa men Nandjiwarra Amagula, Walter, Roy Bara, Cedrick Lalara, and Morris Lalara portray the men on trial.
Bakala is a 2017 award-winning short film written and directed by Nikolas Lachajczak and told entirely in the Anindilyakwa language. It follows the story of Anindilyakwa man, Steve 'Bakala' Wurramara, who is afflicted with Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD), a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder that results in a lack of muscle control and coordination of the upper and lower extremities.[24]
Anija is a 2011 award-winning short film written and directed by David Hansen. It is filmed mainly in the Anindilyakwa language and follows the experiences of one family dealing with the effects of alcohol addiction. The film won Best Indigenous Resource at the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards in 2011.
Anindilyakwa was featured in Spread the Word, an Indigenous Australian languages show on The Disney Channel. The show featured the Anindilyakwa word Ngarrarndirrarjena which translates to 'kicking a tree to get something off of it.'
Commemoration
In 2019 the Royal Australian Mint issued a 50 cent coin to celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Languages which features 14 different words for 'money' from Australian Indigenous languages including awarnda for Anindilyakwa. The coin was designed by Aleksandra Stokic in consultation with Indigenous language custodian groups.[25]
^Waddy, Julie (1988). Classification of Plants and Animals from a Groote Eylandt Aboriginal Point of View. Australian National University North Australia Research Unit Monograph.
^ abVan Egmond, M-E. (2012). "Enindhilyakwa phonology, morphosyntax and genetic position." Doctoral thesis. University of Sydney. pp. 314–70.
^Bowern, C. (2017). "Language isolates of Australia." in Campbell, L., ed. Language Isolates. Abingdon: Routledge: 323–43
^Stokes, J. (1981). "Anindilyakwa phonology from phoneme to syllable". In Waters, B. (ed.). Australian phonologies: collected papers. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Australian Aborigines Branch. pp. 138–81.
^Stokes, J. (1982). "A description of the mathematical concepts of Groote Eylandt Aborigines". In Hargrave, S. (ed.). Work Papers of SIL-AAB: Language and Culture. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Australian Aborigines Branch. pp. 33–152.
^"Anindilyakwa". mpi-lingweb.shh.mpg.de. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
Leeding, V. J. (1996). "Body parts and possession in Anindilyakwa". In Chappell, H.; McGregor, W. (eds.). The grammar of inalienability: a typological perspective on body part terms and the part-whole relation. Berlin: Mounton de Gruyter. pp. 193–249.
