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'Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary': Developed by generations for generations to come

24 January 2023
Community Yuendumu
Culture and Capability
The arrival of the Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary in Yuendumu, Northern Territory. Five children and an adult are bent over the Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary. The cover of the dictionary has photos of people who have contributed to it.

After 60 years in the making and with the assistance of hundreds of contributors, Warlpiri speakers are celebrating the publication of the Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary: Warlpiri Yimi-Kirli Manu Jaru-kurlu.

Warlpiri is spoken from Willowra to Nyirrpi and Lajamanu in the Tanami Desert area of the Northern Territory, and in communities elsewhere. Around 3,000 people of all generations speak Warlpiri as their first, second or third language and Warlpiri is used as a language of instruction at Yuendumu and Nyirrpi schools.

The dictionary has been guided by generous, patient, and insightful input from hundreds of Warlpiri speakers, starting from those recorded by the linguist Kenneth Hale (1934-2001) during field trips in 1959-60 and again in 1966-67.

Major contributions were made by Mickey Jupurrurla Connell and Sam Japangardi Johnson (Yuendumu), Paddy Jupurrurla Stuart (Lander Warlpiri) and Stephen Japangardi Simpson (Hanson Warlpiri). Hale’s transcriptions of the Warlpiri speakers make up a large part of the language resources used for the elaboration of the dictionary entries.

Many of the Warlpiri definitions were written by Warlpiri co-compilers Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan (1947–2009) and Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala (c.1944–94).

Nungarrayi was a teacher, curriculum developer, researcher, and an award-winning painter who also taught generations of non-Indigenous people about Warlpiri language, culture, and Country. The audio recordings, books, posters and other teaching aids that Nungarrayi produced informed the development of this dictionary. 

Jangala was born and raised in the Tanami Desert area, worked tirelessly in bilingual education helping design modern Warlpiri spelling, and wrote hundreds of the succinct word and expression definitions and examples included in the dictionary.

Over 1,400 pages, the dictionary will keep Warlpiri language strong and flourishing. 

The dictionary includes the English translations for Warlpiri words, instructive example sentences that include Warlpiri history and cultural practices, detailed information about flora and fauna, more than 500 illustrations, maps of Warlpiri Country, a guide to Warlpiri grammar, and a guide to the complex vocabulary of family relationships.

The dictionary, used in communities and classrooms around the country, will help future generations of Warlpiri speakers share and learn language and culture. 

Find out more

The Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary is part of the AIATSIS Indigenous Languages Preservation Dictionaries Project, funded by the National Australian Indigenous Australians Agency.