Greetings
Submitted by lev_lafayette on Sun, 07/18/2021 - 08:53
It is traditional in the learning of languages, as with computer programming, that the first sentence learned is the equivalent of "Hello world". In this case it is "Kaya noonakoort!" ("Hello everyone!"), which is typically followed with "Wandjoo! Wandjoo! ("Welcome! Welcome!").
Some basic phrases, with their literal translations, follows. Note that the Noongar language follows a grammatical structure of Subject-Object-Verb, and that there is no verb "to be". Note that the word "Kaya" is also used for the affirmative "yes". The following examples are taken directly from the Curtin University course.
English Noongar What is your name? Naatj koorl? (You name?) My name is ... Nganyang koorl (Mine name) How are you? Noonook moorditj? (You well/great?) Yes, I'm great! Kaya ngany moorditj (Yes, I great) Yes, I'm good Kaya ngany kwob (Yes I good) No, I'm not good Yoowart ngany menditj (No I not good) Where are you from? Windja noonook boodja? (Where you country?) I am from Australia Ngany Australia boodja (I Australia country) Goodbye Boorda / boordawan (Later) I will see you later Ngany djinang noonook boorda (I see you later)