Chapter 2: Wandhamundu yinda?
Yaru! Hello! Gudjal birraya ngali. Let's talk Gudjal together. In this lesson, we'll learn how to say where we come from. We'll also get our first taste of word endings in Gudjal.
Dialogue
Gudjal
(Or click on any line of dialogue to hear just that line.)
| Jane: | Yaru. Ngaygu riyala Jane. |
| William: | Yaru! Ngaya William. |
| Jane: | Wandhamundu yinda, William? |
| William: | Muralmundu ngaya. Wandhamundu yinda, Jane? |
| Jane: | Brisbanemundu yandjana ngaya. |
| William: | Ah, gulbilamundu yandjana yinda. |
| Jane: | Yuway! |
English
| Jane: | Hello. My name is Jane. |
| William: | Hello. I'm William. |
| Jane: | Where are you from, William? |
| William: | I'm from Mural (Charters Towers). Where are you from, Jane? |
| Jane: | I come from Brisbane. |
| William: | Ah, you come from down south! |
| Jane: | Yes! |
Word List
Click on a vocabulary item to hear how it's pronounced.
| Mural | Charters Towers |
| Wandha | Where |
| -mundu | From |
| Yandja- | To come |
| Yandjana ngaya | I come from / I came from |
| Gulbila | South |
| Gunggarri | North |
| Guwa | West |
| Wanggarri | East |
| Yuway | Yes |
| Manda | No |
Grammar
Word endings
English and Gudjal are very different languages, and they work in very different ways. Whereas English might use a separate word to explain something, Gudjal often just needs to use a word ending. English uses word endings, too. For example, in English, we can put the word ending -ly on words to talk about how we did something. Did we do something in a quick way? We did it quick-ly. Did we do something in a slow way? We did it slow-ly.
English uses word endings sometimes, but Gudjal uses them all the time! They're a very important part of Gudjal.
-mundu
This -mundu is our first taste of word endings in Gudjal! Its English meaning is "from". Just put it on the end of the word that something or someone is coming or comes from. It is always attached to the word in front of it. You never put a space between a word and its word ending. Here are some examples:
| From Brisbane | Brisbanemundu |
| From Charters Towers | Muralmundu |
| From the south | Gulbilamundu |
| From the north | Gunggarrimundu |
Vocabulary
Mural
Long before Charters Towers was called Charters Towers, it had another name: Mural. This name was given to the area by the Gudjal people. It originally referred to Towers Hill, but the name now applies to the whole town.
Gulbila
Do you know which direction you're facing right now? Is it north, south, east or west? How long did it take you to work that out? Could you work it out at all?
Gudjal speakers very often knew which direction they were facing. Many speakers of Aboriginal languages today still do. It is their superpower. Why is this?
Well, in Gudjal, there are no words for left and right. When Gudjal speakers talked about where things were located, they very often used the words for north, south, east and west, so it was very important to tell your east from your west very quickly! We don't use these words very much in English, but they're important to learn if you want to speak Gudjal in the traditional way.
Practice Activities
Classroom Activity
Grab a partner and talk about where you come from in Gudjal. Then talk about the way you came to school. Did you come from the north, south, east or west? Say it in Gudjal. Gudjal birraya ngali!
