Gaman guladha Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay, Yuwaalayaay, this online dictionary, was produced by John Giacon (Australian National University) and David Nathan. It is based on data originally developed for:
- Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Yuwaalayaay Dictionary, compiled and edited by Anna Ash, John Glacon and Amanda Lissarrague, published by Boraga Academic (also available at https://yuwaalaraay.com/). This volume includes material from Corinne Williams’ Grammar of Yuwaalaraay (1980), Peter Austin’s Gamilaraay dictionaries (1993, 1994), transcripts of Yuwaalaraay tapes (Arthur Dodd and Fred Reece speaking with Janet Mathews and Corinne Williams), and earlier written sources, the main ones being William Ridley and R H Mathews.
- Gayarragi Winangali, an interactive multimedia title by John Giacon and David Nathan, developed and extended from data collected for the Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Yuwaalayaay Dictionary.
The sentence examples are all drawn from tape recordings of speakers Fred Reece and Arthur Dodd (see below).
Word audio is from these speakers:
- Fred Reece:
Fred Reece (1890-1980) was born in 1890 on Bangate Station, between Goodooga and Lightning Ridge, when Katie Langloh-Parker and her husband were there. His birth was recorded by Parker. His mother was Muruwari, and it seems his father was non-Aboriginal. Reece’s pronunciation is generally better than Dodd’s, but his grammatical knowledge less. He made 30 tapes with JM from 1970-72, and they show his language knowledge improving over the years, perhaps as he thought about it more, or perhaps as he used Yuwaalaraay with others between JM's annual visits. Reece was a blacksmith, preparing materials for the opal miners at Lightning Ridge. Luise Hercus, who worked with JM, points out that JM at times worked the bellows of the forge while recording Reece, since he did not want to waste time. He was quite deaf by the time CW recorded him in 1976, and he made only one tape with her.
- Arthur Dodd:
Arthur Dodd is one of the most important sources of information about Yuwaalaraay, and so about Gamilaraay. He was born on Dungalear Station in 1890 and died in Walgett in the 1980s. Dungalear, between Walgett and Lightning Ridge, is Yuwaalaraay country, and he grew up with many Yuwaalaraay people and learnt the language. His mother was Wayilwan (Brad Steadman, pers. comm.) and his father a white man who died in the Boer war. He worked on stations in the Walgett area for most of his life. He was recorded at Gingie Mission in Walgett, by Janet Mathews between 1973 and 1977: (19 hours of tape) and by Corinne Williams (1976: nine hours of tape). Mathews also recorded many tapes of him speaking Wayilwan, and there is occasionally Wayilwan recorded as Yuwaalaraay and vice versa, though he generally corrects these mistakes. It is likely that Arthur Dodd is also on the Stephen Wurm tape from 1955.
- John Brown:
John Brown is a Gamilaraay man who has taught the language since 1996. He is a founding member of the Yuwaalaraay language team at St Joseph’s Walgett, where he still teaches today [2022]. John also teaches elsewhere and has been part of the Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay reference group.
- Karen Jane Flick:
Karen Jane Flick worked in the language program at St Joseph’s Walgett for a number of years. She completed her teaching degree and taught at Collarenebri, continuing her language teaching with students there, and helping other learners. She was a passionate advocate of Gamilaraay language and culture.
- Bernadette Duncan
Bernadette Duncan is a Gamilaraay woman who has worked in language for many years, mainly in the Toomelah-Boggabilla and Moree area. She completed a linguistics degree at Bachelor College.
- John Giacon:
Brother John Giacon was based at St Joseph’s Walgett from 1995 to 2005. He worked closely on Yuwaalaraay with Uncle Ted Fields and others there, and on Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay in other places including Goodooga, Lightning Ridge and Toomelah-Boggabilla. He has authored or co-authored a range of Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay materials - see https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/giacon-g. He taught Gamilaraay at the University of Sydney from 2006 to 2019 and at ANU from 2011 to 2023. He completed his PhD on Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay in 2014 and currently continues to research the language, do translations and work on Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay resources.
This dictionary contains information about the Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay and Yuwaalayaay languages. The word Yuwaalaraay is often used to refer to both Yuwaalaraay and Yuwaalayaay, and so the three languages may be referred to as Gamilaraay–Yuwaalaraay, or “GY” for short. Their approximate area is shown in the maps below:
These languages declined in use after colonisation, so most of the information is from historical sources, written from around 1850 onwards, and tapes, most made in the 1970s. For more information about these sources see Yaluu – a Grammar of Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay and Peter Austin’s chapter on research in Gamilaraay language (10.15144/PL-591). It also contains newly developed GY words, such as many of the number words.
The material for the original dictionary was compiled in a database, from which the dictionary entries were compiled. That material was later adapted by David Nathan into another database for use in Gayarragi Winangali, an interactive multimedia app. David further adapted that database for use in the Ma! Gamilaraay apps, and again later for the Gadjigadji apps and for this site.
We hope to expand this site to include more of the material in the original database, corrections and additions to the original entries, and the words which are regularly developed as part of GY’s use as a language of conversation.
This online dictionary has been named Gaman Guladha, which includes the recently developed word Gaman “dictionary” (see the Gamilaraay Facebook page). Guladha is from the traditional word gulay “net” and the place/Locative suffix, which for this word is -dha.
For more information about progress in these languages go to https://yuwaalaraay.com/ and to the Gamilaraay Facebook page. The first year university text, Wiidhaa, is also available online.
This site has 958 sentences that can be accessed from the dictonary or from the Sentences page. These sentences are from tapes of Arthur Dodd and Fred Reece, who were recorded by Janet Mathews and Corinne Williams at Walgett and Lightning Ridge in the 1970s. Arthur Dodd’s language is Yuwaalaraay and Fred Reece’s language is Yuwaalayaay.
The only differences between the two languages, as far as we know, are a small number of words. They are often regarded as dialects of Yuwaalaraay, rather than as separate languages.
The sentences were extracted from the tapes by the late Don Lillyman and then modified by him and John Giacon. The modifications included adjusting volume and removing pauses in the originals. As a consequence, while most sentences retain the original rhythm, others don’t. They are a very good resource for learning Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay, and for linking with good speakers.
The analysis of the sentences is from around 2005. While most of the analysis is accurate, in a few cases it does not incorporate new understanding we have of the languages. For instance what was transcribed as waama and given an English gloss [the word in the next line] of ‘so’ is now known to be nguwama (said casually and quickly) with a meaning something like ‘there‘, and used to join sentences or phrases.
This dictionary’s data is based on updated versions of the original printed dictionary. Here are contributors and acknowledgements for that dictionary:
Main Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay informants: Arthur Dodd, Greg Fields, Ted Fields, Peter Lang, Fred Reece, Ginny (Jenny) Rose.
Compilers: Anna Ash, John Giacon (co-ordinator), Amanda Lissarrague
Other Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay informants: the above people contributed information since around 1950. Unfortunately, most of the earlier records do not name the Gamilaraay or Yuwaalaraay person who provided the information.
Database: The original FileMaker Pro computer database was designed by Tim Scott.
Proofreading: Ian Sim, Moy Hitchen, Sylvia Haworth, Marlene Scrimgeour
Other assistance: Peter Austin, Brett Baker, John Brown, Therese Carr, Vic Chapman, R M Dixon, Libby Fitzgerald, Karen Flick, Helen Fraser, Cliff Goddard, Moy Hitchen, Emily Knight, Meg Leathart, David Nathan, Nick Reid, Ian Sim, Liz Smith, Priscilla Strasek, Peter Thompson, Corinne Williams
The Gadgigadji logo was created by Yuwaalaraay artist Lucy Simpson.
Support: School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at the University of New England; Murdi Paaki ATSIC region; NSW Department of Education and Training; Catholic Schools Office, Armidale; Christian Brothers, New South Wales; St Joseph’s Primary School, Walgett
Funding: The main source of funds was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Other funds were provided by NSW Department of Education and Training; Catholic Schools Office, Armidale; Walgett RSL Club; Walgett Sports Club; Lightning Ridge Bowling and Sports Club.
Protocol note: If you are not a Gamilaraay or Yuwaalaraay person and wish to use words or sentences from Gaman guladha it is respectful to contact the Language Nest at Lightning Ridge.
Comments and questions about this dictionary can be directed to jgiacon@ozemail.com.au.
Version 1.0 22-07-2023
©2023 John Giacon & David Nathan