noongar
Nouns
Pronouns
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ngany | ngalak/ngala |
| 2 | noonook | noonook-adiny |
| 3 | baal | balap |
Possessive pronouns are indicated with the suffix -an. The first person plural is an exception, either ngalan/ngalang.
Sentence Structure
Noongar sentences are SOV.
- Maaman yongka ngardanginy
Men are hunting kangaroo
yongka:kangaroo
Negation
Add menditj after the verb, ex. Ngany menditj:I am not good.
Suffixes
- ak
- on; in
- iny
- present progressive
- Koolbardi boornak nyininy
The magpie is sitting in the tree
nyin:sit
Question Words
- naatj
- what
- windja/windj
- where
Numbers
Because traditional Noongar society was a non-monetary system, waangkaniny did not count beyond three. You will notice in the table below that after dambart (three) is the word boola (many). People would generally refer to amounts after three as 'boola boola' – adding on more of the word 'boola' to indicate many many!
The revival of the Noongar waangankiny now incorporates the counting of more numbers. This is based on the numbers 1-3, and then adding the word maar which means 'hand' or in the counting context, 5 as in 5 fingers.
– CurtinX CAS1x: Noongar Language and Culture, Module 1
- Keyen
- Koodjal
- Dambart
- Koodjal koodjal
- Maar (hand)
- Maar-keyen
- Maar-koodjal
- Maar-dambart
- Maar koodjal koodjal
- Maar maar
Dictionary
le flaneur's noongar dictionary
Bibliograpy
Last Updated: 2019-03-31 19:19:38