Ngardi to English Dictionary

(Hardback)

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Representing the collaborative efforts of Ngardi Elders and linguists over more than 40 years, this is the most comprehensive documentation ever of Ngardi, a language of the Western Desert of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Ngardi is the language of the western regions of the Tanami Desert and the north-central region of the Great Sandy Desert. Ngardi country is desert country in the Western Desert which crosses between Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Ngardi language and culture remain core components of Ngardi identity. Though Ngardi speakers are few, numerous Ngardi words are still in use by people of all ages. Traditional Ngardi beliefs and cultural practices are maintained in the modern-day communities in which Ngardi people live.

Prospectors, linguists and anthropologists started making short Ngardi word lists in the 1920s, 1940s and 1950s. From 1990 onwards, poet and linguist Lee Cataldi began systematically documenting the language with Peggy Rockman and the first dictionary began to be compiled. The first edition of a Ngardi dictionary was released in 2011 and this dictionary builds on that pioneering work. It is a testament to the work of the many Ngardi Elders who have contributed to this new dictionary of Ngardi, the most comprehensive ever published.

The Ngardi to English Dictionary is the 11th dictionary produced by Aboriginal Studies Press funded by the AIATSIS Indigenous Languages Dictionary Program since 2019.

Author Bio

Tom Ennever is a linguist whose research at the University of Queensland focused on documenting and analysing endangered Australian languages. He is now at the University of Surrey. Tom has been working with a number of Ngardi speakers since 2015 in the development of this dictionary.

Marie Mudgedell is an Elder who is passionate about recording the Ngardi language for future generations. 'Ngurnalu Ngardi yirrarnanta diksenarirla yaluku ngurraku, Ngardi ngurra, kujalu wangkanyani nyanyi, Ngardi.'/'We are recording the Ngardi language in this dictionary for that country, Ngardi country, on which the Ngardi language has been spoken for time immemorial.' (2020)

Tjama Napanangka was one of the key contributors and champions of Ngardi linguistic documentation working with Lee Cataldi in the early development of the dictionary.

Lee Cataldi is a celebrated linguist and poet. From 1990 onwards she started systematically documenting the Ngardi language and began compiling the first dictionary. Lee spent considerable time in the early 1990s in Balgo working closely with Ngardi women. The first edition of a Ngardi dictionary was published in 2011.