Explore words, phrases and pronunciations from Australian First Nations languages.
Bar width proportional to speaker count relative to YolΕu Matha (6,000)
Language of the Djab wurrung and Jardwadjali peoples of western Victoria. Spoken in the Gariwerd (Grampians) region and surrounding plains. One of the languages of Bunjil the eagle creator.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Cultural Context | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunjil | BUN-jil | Eagle / Creator Spirit | The creator spirit who made Country, the rivers, and all living things in Djab wurrung tradition. | |
| Gariwerd | GAR-ee-werd | The Grampians | The sacred mountain country of western Victoria β known to Europeans as the Grampians, but always Gariwerd to the Djab wurrung. | |
| Yuk | Yuk | Tree / Wood | Trees are sacred connectors to Country β they are ancestors, shelter, medicine, and memory. | |
| Murnong | MUR-nong | Yam Daisy | The staple food of the Djab wurrung people β a small native yam once so abundant the plains looked yellow with its flowers. | |
| Budj Bim | Budj-Bim | Head of Bunjil | The volcanic landscape of Mt Eccles β UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to one of the world's oldest aquaculture systems. | |
| Djab wurrung | Ja-WOOR-ung | Language of the west | The name of both the people and their language β the people and language of western Victoria, still spoken and being revived today. | |
| Birr | Bir | Wind / Breath | The wind carries messages between places and between the living and the ancestors. | |
| Kooramook | KOO-ra-mook | Possum | Possum skins were sewn into cloaks carrying maps of Country β the oldest form of written knowledge in this land. |
Language of the Yorta Yorta people of the Murray River region, straddling the Victoria/NSW border. A river people whose culture is inseparable from the water and wetlands they have tended for sixty thousand years.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Cultural Context | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cummeragunja | Cum-er-a-GUN-ja | Our home place | The Yorta Yorta homeland on the Murray River β a station reserve and the site of Australia's first Aboriginal civil rights walk-off in 1939. | |
| Moira | MOY-ra | River junction | Sacred meeting of waters β where rivers join is considered a place of power and significance in Yorta Yorta culture. | |
| Barrenguan | ba-RENG-wan | Pelican | The messenger bird of the Murray β pelicans travel the entire length of the river system and were watched as indicators of distant conditions. | |
| Dhungala | DUNG-a-la | Murray River | The great river itself β the lifeblood of Yorta Yorta Country, provider of food, pathway, and spiritual connection. | |
| Yorta Yorta | YOR-ta YOR-ta | River people | The name means "river people" β identity inseparable from the waterways they have cared for since time immemorial. | |
| Bangerang | BANG-er-ang | Related language group | Closely related language group of the Murray region β Bangerang and Yorta Yorta peoples share cultural and linguistic heritage. |
A macro-language of the Bininj and Mungguy peoples of western Arnhem Land, including the Kakadu region. One of the stronger surviving language groups β still spoken as a first language by many community members.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Cultural Context | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ngalyod | nga-LYOD | Rainbow Serpent | The great serpent creator who sleeps beneath the sacred waterholes and controls the wet season rains. | |
| Bininj | BIN-inj | Aboriginal person / human being | The word for Aboriginal person in this tradition β distinguishing the human beings of the land from others. | |
| Kunwok | KUN-wok | Language / Word / Voice | Language is not separate from identity β to speak your language is to be who you are on Country. | |
| Kakadu | KAK-a-doo | From Gaagudju language group | The national park name comes from Gaagudju, one of the language groups of the region β a place of extraordinary biodiversity and 65,000 years of continuous human culture. | |
| Manme | MAN-me | Food / Plant foods | Bininj people maintain extraordinary knowledge of seasonal foods β the calendar of what to eat and when is encoded in language and story. | |
| Dhuwe | DOO-we | This / Here | Spatial language in Bininj Kunwok is deeply connected to Country β directional terms reference landscape features rather than abstract compass points. |
A family of related languages spoken by the YolΕu people of northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. One of the most studied and documented of Australia's Indigenous languages, with a rich ceremonial and artistic tradition.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Cultural Context | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YolΕu | YOL-ngoo | Aboriginal person / human | The name of the people β YolΕu means "human being" and defines the relationship of the people to each other and to Country. | |
| Matha | MA-tha | Language / Tongue / Mouth | Language is the tongue β YolΕu Matha means "YolΕu language," and the word itself encodes the physical act of speaking. | |
| Baralku | ba-RAL-koo | Island of the dead | The spirit island to the northeast where the souls of the deceased travel β guided by the Morning Star ceremony. A place of rest and reunion. | |
| Yidaki | yi-DA-ki | Didgeridoo | The yidaki is much more than a musical instrument β it is a ceremonial object with deep spiritual significance, played in ceremony to communicate with ancestors. | |
| Gurrutu | gu-ROO-too | Kinship system | The YolΕu kinship system defines every relationship β not just family, but your relationship to land, animals, seasons, and ceremonies. Everything has a kin position. | |
| WaΕarr | WAN-garr | Ancestral being / Dreaming | The ancestral creative forces from the beginning of time β still active today, present in the land, the ceremonies, and the songlines. |
Each language is not just a communication system β it is a unique way of understanding time, place, kinship, and Country.