Spoken Language and Text Corpora
Alice Boehm tells the story of her life. Recorded by Nick Evans in Maningrida, July 1993.
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You bin puttem on already? |
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Ah, I wanna tell old story my turn now my name Alice |
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when I bin young |
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an I'm getting old |
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I'm really sick woman now |
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and I don't go anywhere |
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I'm just siddown one place |
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all my kid |
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they all sitting down |
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Maningrida, we bin come nother place |
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I never go back in my country anymore |
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but |
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because why |
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bin salas (jealous) gija one another for country |
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I (They?) didn't even get a chance for that |
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I like to go back now, like this time |
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might be I'm get (h)old now |
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and then |
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probably I'll gone back this time when I get old |
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but Idon't think so |
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because too much jealous |
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too much humbug |
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and all these young boys |
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drinking and all this get mad |
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I don't like this one |
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I like to sit down where I stay now |
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I don't like any drink |
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alright |
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I'll tell im from my language now |
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dijan yalah-yelûng-bong |
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We left there (from our country), |
yale-bong wulungmunguyh wurdurdngan |
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from there which we left forever as children |
yalah-nininj |
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we stayed there |
Walûm-be yalah-djalûng-mayahminj right up, karri, |
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From the south we just got lost (from our country), we headed west, |
right up karrikad walûngkad |
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we headed up west, south, |
Yalah-dudjminj walûngkad yalah-bong |
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we went back there south, |
karrikad yalah-bong |
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We went west, |
yalah-dudjminj |
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we came back |
nahdjarrû |
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this way |
djarra djihbi ngah-ni djoldwoda |
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I'm staying on the coast |
kurnh kinikinkah ngah-bong, wulungmunguyh |
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I've moved to another country for good. |
wirrimahkih kurnh-ngan ngah-bawong |
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because I've left my country |
kurnh-ngan-kih ngah-bawong |
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I've left my real country |
bulmun kaye-ni |
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which is at Bulman |
kurnh-ngan kaye-yaw-yunginj ngey kanihdja namarndi drimin |
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my country which gave birth to me, there where the devil country is my dreaming. |
Djalmakkan |
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(where) the black eagle |
kah-boninj kah-kûrl-djakminj |
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it travelled along crying out |
manjh barrah-boninj yawurral |
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and the snakes went along, the big brown snakes. |
alright, bûlah-wadda-ye-wodnang |
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alright, they chucked me out over country |
mak njel(ng) ngalkbon yalelng-ni, malkah-malkah yalah-ni. |
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So that we Ngalkbon live all by ourselves everywhere, scattered around. |
Ngey wulkûndjan-ngan ngey, njerr bûlah-bawong. |
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They left us two, me and my little sister. |
Wurdurd-yah njerr yirrah-ngong-yidjnjan |
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The two of us have only our many children (left). |
bulungan, bulungan balah-donj |
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My fathers have all died. |
nah-ngan balah-donj Nah-njerrng bulu-njerrng balah-wudjkarrinj, |
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My fmothers have all died. My mothers and fathers have all finished up. |
bad wurdurd-yah bulu yarrah-yidjnjanj |
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and the two of us have just got our children |
yalah-niii Anytime bulu ngah-bawoyan, wurdurd-yah balah-boniyan, |
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who are left. Later I can send the children to go off |
malkah bulng na balah-yelûng-boniyan, nah-dih-kûn, |
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on their own now, without their mother, |
bulu-dih-kûn balah-boniyan |
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they can go without their father |
Bonj, yabbûnh-ko ngey yabbûnh kûrdûkûrd-ko, bunu ngah-yidjnjan mah, |
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‘Well I’ve only got the two girls, |
yawurrinj-ngong bûlah-bawong rowk |
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‘the boys have all left home, |
ngey makmak-kih bulu ngah-yelûng-yidjnja-nj. |
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‘I don’t keep them anymore, |
and then |
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and then |
winjkundjankadjingan |
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my granddaughters |
winjkûnkadjingan |
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and grandsons |
bukmak |
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too |
too much kah-yaw-berehbun |
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children keep getting born |
kah-yaw-berehbun |
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children keep getting born, |
ngey |
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I |
wanjingh yibung yang kah-wonan, wanjing |
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One boy can understand language, |
kanh ngerrûngerrmiyi kah-yenjdjung |
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and that light-skinned girl (Joy) can talk (language) |
Nûnh-ma njerrh-ngurlmi-yih rangûm wolmud kah-dja-yelûng-yingkilidji-yah balah-yenjdjung mak bulabengkan |
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‘All those black-skinned boys and girls (of mine) just talk English, they don't know how to talk language |
derrhno yalah-boniyan |
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Sometimes when we travelled, we would just talk (language), |
yalah-djahlng-yenjdjungiyan |
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Maybe one can talk, one can get hold of the language, |
kardû wanjingh kah-yenjyenjdjungiyan |
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But the other boys and girls are without (Ngalkbon) language, |
wanjinghyih njel kah-yang-mang |
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one can get hold of the language |
Bad kinikinikûn rangûm wolmud kah-yang-dih, mak bulng bûlahlng-yang-mang |
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But the other boys and girls don't have the language, |
bulahlng-yang-rawahwang yang, mak dabengh bul kayinmiwoy mamam-bulng kakkak-bulng, |
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It must be they don’t understand language, because their grandparents didn’t teach them to talk language |
balahlng-wudjkarrinj rowk |
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Burrum djeya ngey ngah-djahng-bong djarra, ngah-dûrnikang kurnh kinikin-kah ngah-yenjdjung kunwinjku, |
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‘From there I came on to here. I’ve settled in a different country, and I talk Kunwinjku, |
and Dalabon-ngan bu mûdûk ngah-dje-yenjdjung. |
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and my Dalabon language I can still talk properly, |
ngah-dje-yenjdjung ngah-dja-bengkan mahkih, law, ngeykûn law ngah-dja-bengkan |
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I still talk (Dalabon) and I know other stuff too, I know my law, |
Mardayin, Yabburdurrwa |
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Mardayin, Yaburdurrwa, |
and whiteman law ngah-dja-bengkan |
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and whiteman’s law I know. |
wahrdiukûn |
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The whitefellers' (stuff) |
ngah-bengkan rowk |
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I know all that. |
bad mak ngey |
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But I don't |
mak ngey ngah.... ngah-kerninjhbi ngah-mayahmu, ngah-bengkan ngah-wurrhwurrungu ngah-wurrhwurrunguminj |
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I don't whatsit, I don't forget anyything, I know it, even though I've grown old. |
ba wurdurd-kûn ngah-njonjnjoo.... bulu-ngan mardayin rowk kah-larnimhminj, |
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when I was a child, my father taught me everything about Mardayin (ceremony) |
balay |
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long ago |
kah-yang-dulubong |
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He went right through the language |
kenbo |
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Later |
kardû |
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maybe |
ngaye-dudjmiyan-kuno, |
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if I go back (to Bulmun) |
kardû ngah-djalng-old, ngah-djalng-mu...., |
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I might be old by then, I'll |
burrminj |
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have grown old |
wurrhwurrungu kardû marrûhkûno |
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a really old woman, sometime |
yelekmanj |
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but not yet, |
bad moyhyih kah-bun |
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sickness hasn't killed me yet |
ngah-barlan-donj ngah-barlan-donj ngah-barlan-donj |
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Though I've nearly died a few times. |
bulungan kah-buyhwoninj |
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My dad used to teach me. |
nah-ngan kah-buyhwoninj |
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Mty mum used to teach me. |
ngeh-boninj mardayin ngeh-karnindjihminj |
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My father and I used to go travelling around on ceremony business, going around with the Mardayin ceremony. |
bulungan |
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My dad |
njonjo, wurdurd yayawkûn |
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When I was a little kid |
kah-yinmiwoy, "Nûnda djah-yin-miyan!" bulu-ngan, |
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He used to say: 'You've gotta do like that', my dad would. |
kah-buyhwong kurnhno kurnhno kurnhno |
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He showed me country, country, country |
korrh-kûn ngahlng-bengka-n. Kenbo wurdurd-ngan leda-kah or tape-kah, |
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I’ve known the country for a long time. Later, for my children, in the book or on tape, |
so |
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so |
so.. so everybody can listen langa tape, what I'm saying. |
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so everybody can listen to the tape, what I'm saying |
Like my kid no understand for English, |
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Like my kids don't understand (all Dalabon ideas) in English |
well jarran na like tape-kah, kenbo bulah-wo-nan bulah... ngah-marne-yenjdjungiyan yang-walûng. |
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well, like that on the tape, later they'll listen to me, when I talk in language |
I can just say and talk la olabat |
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I can just say and talk to everybody |
But when they listen to tape they must gettin this time, they get old now... |
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But when they listen to the tape, maybe they'll be getting to this age, old |
too late for them |
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It's too late for them |
They just talk English all the time. |
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They just talk English all the time |
Yeah |
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Yeah |
But anyway, next time one more tape bulu ngah-yang-marnû-yungiyan |
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Anyway, now I'll put some more on the tape for them |
ngah-yolkyolkmiyan. |
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I'll talk |
Bulu-ngan kah-buyhwoninj ngurrurdu |
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My dad used to show me emus |
djabbo |
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quolls |
bakkadji |
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black-footed tree rats |
munguhdjam kah-buyhwoninj |
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He showed me all sorts of things |
rongkûrr |
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quiet snakes |
yawurral dadbarrangkurl |
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cheeky snakes, king brown snakes |
ngurrurdu |
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emus |
kah-buyhwoninj kunj kalaba, namarrkondo, |
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he showed me kangaroos, big red kangaroos and brown rock kangaroos |
kah-buyhwoninj bulu-ngan njonjnjonj-njonjnjo.. yalah-boninj, |
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My father used to show them to me as a child, when we were travelling around |
kah-njerrh-buyhwoninj o kayi-yaminj yibung-walûngkûn kah-marne-yerrûh-ye-dudjminj bulu-ngan |
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He showed them what they looked like, yeah, the ones that he had speared himself, he'd bring them back for me, my dad did |
kahnûnh kah-njerrh-buyhwoninj nûnda nûnda nûnda nûnda, ngi-no kah-marne-yininj, |
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‘This is what this one is like', he'd show me, 'and this, and this, and this', he'd tell me its name. |
munguyh-djam manjh-wurd kah-buyhwoninj, |
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He used to show me every little thing. |
manjh-yayaw-no kah-buninj rongkûrrh kah-buyhwoninj, |
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Every little thing that he killed, such as a quiet snake, he would show me. |
mak nûnda rongkûrrh nawoydo, nawoydo bulah-buyhwoninj, |
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Not (just?) the quiet snake, they (my dads) used to show my dingos, |
nawoydo bûlah-buyhwoninj |
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They'd show me dingos. |
nawoydo nûnh yale-bon, yilah-wonaninj nûka nûka bale-dowhminj, |
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Dingos, as we travelled along, we heard them everywhere there as they howled, |
yilah-wonan mah yale-yu-kûno mahkih yale-yu budj-kah yilah-djal-wonan nûka nûka |
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we heard it when we were sleeping, as we would go along in the bush we kept hearing them, |
yilah-wonan |
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we'd hear them |
jamdaim buliki jamdaim dongki yilah-wonan |
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sometimes we'd hear cattle or donkeys |
makmak kabuwanjing-kah mak yilah-wonan, |
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We wouldn't just hear one, but lots |
kah-djalng-buliki dongki yilah-wona-wonan, |
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We just kept hearing bullocks and donkeys |
kah-djalng-nawoydo-duninj budjkûh-budj-kûn, yilah-yang-wona-wonan |
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They were real bush dingoes, we'd hear their howls |
yale-yuyu |
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as we were sleeping, before as we were sleeping |
warlakird yale-yoy kah-yelûng-kûrdminj, ngah-wehminj. |
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Kardû kahnûnda na bûlah-wonawoniyan wurdurd-ngan-kûn, bulu ngah-marne-tepimh-mûn bonj, |
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Maybe they’ll listen to this (tape) now, my children’s (children?), so that’s it, I’m making a tape for them, |
bulu ngah-marne-yang-yurruniyan, |
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I want to leave my words for them for ever, |
Anytime winjkûn-ngan, winjkindjan-ngan, wurdurd-ngan, wurd-ngan, |
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(For) my grandson, and granddaughter, my children and daughter |
ngah-dja-yidjnjaninj. |
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who I have |
Bûlah-marne-yunginj kahnûnda bulu-ngan-yih, nah-ngan-yih |
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The stories that they put for me, my father, my mother |
ngey yabbûnh bunu ngah-yidjnjaninj bulu-ngan, bulu-korroh-no-ngan, bulu-boyenj-ngan, |
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The two fathers that I had, my youngest father and my big father |
bunu ngah-yidjnjaninj |
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I had the two of them |
But ngey, malkah-ngan ngah-lûng-ni, Balah-karrah-donj balah-wudjkarrinj |
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But me, I sit down by myself now, they've all died, they're all finished |
balah-wudjkarrinj |
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they're finished |
ngey walûngkûn ngahni wulkûn-ngan kah-bong |
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I'm all on my own, my younger brother has gone, |
kah-donj |
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he's died. |
Bonj.... kah-djal-malkah-ngan ngah-ni. |
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Yes, I'm all on my own now. |
Mak nabikerninjh nidjarrakah yarrah-ni, yarrah-raworrûniyan |
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I don’t sit down with anybody, I’m don’t have a mate, there's noone for us to keep each other company. That’s all.’ |
bonj, balah-djahlng.. |
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That's all, they just |
mah |
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That's it |
Alice Boehm tells the story of her life. Recorded by Nick Evans in Maningrida, July 1993.
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