Table Of ContentMinjerribah Moorgumpin
Elders-in -Council
Jandai Language Dictionary
A dictionary of language spoken on Stradbroke and Islands
~oreton
based on words remembered by all Elders and recorded
by interested visitors to our shores.
Dunwich, Stradbroke Island, Qld.
2011
We sincerely thank our sponsors without whom this project would not have been possible.
Australian Government
Department of Families,
Housing, Community Services
and Indigenous Affairs
Yugambeh Museum
Language & Heritage
Research Centre
© Copyright 2011 Minjerribah Moorgumpin Elders-in-Council Aboriginal Corporation
PO Box 106 Dunwich, Stradbroke Island, Qld. 4183
Phone: (07) 3409 9723 Email: [email protected]
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process whatsoever
without written permission.
First published 30 September 2011.
Language and culture consultants: Aunty Margaret Iselin, Fay Mabb, Richard Day, Lyn Shipway, Marlene
Kerr and Sandra Delaney.
Typeset in Times New Roman and Comic Sans.
Dictionary database program Lexique Pro provided free by the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Linguistic guidance by Colleen Hattersley, B.A (ANU)
Designed and Typeset by Ikaja.
Printed by GEON Print and Communications Solutions
ISBN 978-0-9870966-0-9
Permission has been sought to publish all images in this dictionary. Where required, acknowledgment is
given beneath images.
Cover design © Lyn Shipway 2011: the three totems of Minjerribah- kabool (carpet snake); quampi (pearl
shell) and dabobila (porpoise). ·
Inside cover: Merriginba Dance by Yulu-Burri-Ba Dancers.
Welcome
I would like to tell you what happened to our beautiful language on this island.
My early days were spent with two grannies who decided to teach us the language
when I was five years old. There were about five or six of us depending on how
many came to the lessons.
In the middle of 1935 the government sent out notices and people to tell the
grannies on Myora Mission that the language had to be stopped and by the time I
started school at six it definitely was stopped. We were told that if we were caught
speaking the language we would be sent away to the Barambah Mission (now
known as Cherbourg ). This was something that we were very frightened of because
to be sent away at our young age would have been a catastrophe, so the grannies
would not teach us the language at the Myora Mission any more.
Instead, in the afternoons after school we would go for walks with the grannies
through the bush where they taught us the bush tucker. They told us about the
different plants, the Aboriginal words for the different animals and the trees - but it
was said very softly in the language so no-one else would hear. Then, on returning
to the mission we spoke only English. Of course, I started to lose the language as
I grew older, but I still know words that come up. I'm 80 years old now and I think
this dictionary will give us the opportunity to recover our language which was
taught to us all those years ago by Granny Dungoo and Granny Parsons, two lovely
people who gave me the schooling on the culture of this island and I am ever so
grateful to them for that.
Margaret Iselin, President
Minjerribah Moorgumpin Elders-in-Council
Dunwich, Ql d September 20 11
The Lord's Prayer
Sanarree Bahbeeng
woonyal wahgannchiba
gniooba gniu maroomba
Bulka gnaluba
Yaganna guallu noonam tamanna.
Bay-ann, woodya gnalleegannoo binggin.
Wallu gnalleegnanna bammal,
Wallu gnalleegnanna waleemal,
Yandeegee gnalleegnanna walunjoo
Gnareeba nanarnrn cooroomba beera
Coobaggoolabbo
Our father
who stop up there
your name is good.
Come down to u.s.
We do here what they do up there.
Today, give us bread,
forgive us this time,
don't let us do wrong,
take us away from bad.
You are great, allis yours
CONTENTS
Page
Welcome
The Lord's Prayer by Archibald Meston
Acknowledgements
Location of our language and people ..................................................................... 1
Some stories from the Elders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Abbreviations and technical terms....................................................................... 4
How to use this dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The sounds of our language ................................................................................. 10
Pronunciation guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Jandai to English - alphabetical list . .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . . . .. .. . . . .. .. .. . . . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. . . . .. . 15
Themes - words arranged by categories .............................................................. 69
English to Jandai- alphabetical list .................................................................... 95
More information ............................................................................................... 109
Where did the information come from? ............................................................. 110
Elders dictionary team ....................................................................................... 114
Types of words and the roles they play .............................................................. 115
How to make sentences using this dictionary .................................................... 118
Feedback sheet ................................................................................................... 125
Acknowledgements
Minjerribah Moorgumpin Board of Directors and Members wish to express our thanks to
the following people for their support with this project:
Mr Paul Smith and Sibelco staff for your kindness and support over the years of knowing
your company. Many thanks for publishing our dictionary. We the Elders are ever so
grateful from the bottom of our hearts.
Mrs Pat O'Connor from Yugambeh Museum Language and Heritage Research Centre, your
kindness and encouragement is overwhelming.
Lyn, Richard, Marlene, Fay and Sandra, our sincere thanks for the long hours over the years.
Grandsons ofOodgeroo Noonuccal, Joshua Walker and his dance troupe the Yulu Burri-Ba
Dancers. Thank you for helping us to keep our culture alive and growing.
Colleen Hattersley, linguist, you have done the hard yards over the years. It was a pleasure
working with you.
Deb Olive, your understanding attitude has given us pleasure working with you.
Robert Ashdown, Susy Willsteed, Richard Day, David and Dian Ambrust, Craig Owens
(DERM) and Kathy Stephens (DERM), for generously sharing your photographs.
Lenore Kennedy for your attention to detail in proofreading the document for technical
accuracy.
Our office staff, Maria and Leigh-Amy for the many hours of your help.
Visitors to our island for taking enough interest to write down what they could hear.
And of course we must not forget the two old grannies Lillian Dungoo and Alison Parsons
who taught me and other young people the language when we were five years old.
Thank you one and all.
Aunty Marg and the Elders Board of Directors
1
Stradbroke Island, Minjerribah, lies off the
coast of Queensland opposite the capital Brisbane
city of Brisbane. Between the mainland
and Minjerribah is Moreton Bay. In the
early days there was much movement
CORAL
around the islands of Moreton Bay and the
Sf A
mainland. Most of the islands of Moreton
Bay were inhabited long before the white
people came. Our people had their own Mo1eton 8.1)'
cultures and languages within the overall
identity of Jandai.
Our languages were similar to each other
and to that of the nearby mainland. White
people have been writing down snippets
of our languages since about 1880 but
without any system or agreement on
how to accurately represent our words.
In this dictionary we have collected N
the information from six of these old
documents to find out what our words
might have been.
In recent years we have made some
publications using our language words.
With this dictionary we are looking in http://www.google.eom.au/imgres?imgurt=http://www.
more depth at what our words would have northstradbrokeisland.com
been and how they may be written in a
systematic and predictable way. There will therefore be some difference in spelling
from our early publications in this and future written work. This is to be expected
when we are writing a language that was not traditionally written and one which has
not been fluently spoken for a long time.
By encouraging people to use this dictionary we hope some of our language will
come back into use. It may sound different from how the old people spoke, but all
languages change over time and ours is no exception.
2
The old grannies at Myora used to tell the children stories that taught them about living on the
Island. Here are four of those stories re-told by Aunty Margaret Iselin.
Friends of the Aboriginal People
Many many years ago, when the Aboriginal people wanted to fish, they would wade
waist deep into the sea calling out in their language over the bay, clicking their
boomerangs and spears.
When the dolphins heard the people calling out in their language, they herded the fish
into the shallows where the Aboriginal people would take enough for their needs.
The rest would be left for the dolphins.
This is a true story and to this day our Aboriginal people have never killed the
dolphins. They are our friends.
Wail (Whale) Rock
Many years ago, an Aboriginal woman who was thought to bring misery and
misfortune to every tribe she lived with, was abandoned by her people to a rock on
the coastline.
This rock is now known as Whale Rock because it has a blow hole.
But Aboriginal people say it is Wail Rock because on a stormy and windy night the
s
Aboriginal woman cries can be heard, wanting to come back to her people.
3
Stories from the Elders
Mirrigimpa the Sea Eagle
Many years ago two sea eagles nested in a large gum tree on a hill at Myora.
With the approach of the mullet season, the eagles would soar high in the sky and
stay there, apparently motionless.
The eagles watched the fish. Aboriginal people watched the eagles.
As soon as the eagles flew seawards a roar would go up - Mirrigimpa!
This was the sign the mullet season had commenced. In a day or two the channel
near North Stradbroke Island would be blackened by thousands offish.
Observing Nature
Aboriginal people observe nature in detail.
For instance, we know that when the parrots are seen in extra large numbers it is a
sign of a good mullet season.
We know that there will be an abundance ofh oney when the ti trees are in full bloom.
Long lines of hairy caterpillars travelling are a sign of the fish moving up the coast to
their spawning grounds.
The old people taught us that if a certain wind is blowing the spore of the elkhorn will
be propagated.
4
ABBREVIATIONS AND TECHNICAL TERMS
The following shortcuts and technical terms have been used in this dictionary.
Shortcut or Term Meaning
Ablative A suffix that means coming from.
Allative A suffix that means going to or towards.
AMI&LS Aunty Margaret Iselin and Lyn Shipway
Bush Tucker book Plants: bush tucker, medicinal and other uses of Minjerriba, see p.114.
B. Birch
C&W Colliver & Woolston, see page 113.
cross reference Another word in the dictionary that has some connection with the entry you
are reading.
DERM Department of Environment and Resource Management.
ELW Elders Language Workshop -date of the workshop follows the initials.
finder word Words at the top of each page showing first and last entries for that page.
Flora ofNSI Theflora ofNorth Stradbroke Island, K Stephens and D Sharp see p114.
gloss The English equivalent of the word - may not always be one word.
H. Holmer
homonym When there is more than one word that sound the same but have different
meanings. Each separate word has a number after it for example: balga
1
Locative A suffix that means in, on or at.
M. Meston
Ngugi The language and people of Moreton Island. Meston and Watkins collected
some words of this language which are presented like this in the dictionary:
M.(Ngugi), Wa.(Ngugi).
SD Sandra Delaney.
See Direction to the main entry.
See also Direction to other words with similar meaning or showing application if the
entry is a suffix.
suffix An extra bit on the end of a word that gives more information.
verb A word that describes something we do -now, in the past or in the future.
Wa. Watkins
We. Welsby
