Word Up

For Word Up, Yankunytjatjara speakers Karina Lester and her daughter Larissa take you back to north west of South Australia to share the word for dog — tjutju.

Yankunytjatjara speakers Karina Lester and her daughter Larissa share a word that describes a precious commodity on their Country — water.

Meet Karina Lester and her daughter Larissa from Yankunytjatjara Country.

Karina is Co-Manager & Senior Aboriginal Language Worker at The University of Adelaide’s Mobile Language Team and Larissa has her own language series online.

They share the Yankunytjatjara word for meat, and explain the first language words they learnt.

Jane Edwards shares the Nyigina word for 'country'. 

The Kimberley region of Western Australia is the only place in the country where boab trees grow. Here, they are prolific.

Our language legend Jane Edwards has been sharing Nyigina from her home in Derby in the west Kimberley region. Today, she shares the Nyigina word for the boab tree. 

Jane Edwards is in Derby in the west Kimberley sharing some of her language: Nyigina. 

Last week, she shared the Nyigina word for a great-grandmother. This week, she’s focusing on a different family member.

Meet Jane Edwards in Derby in the west Kimberly. She’s our language legend this month.

Today, Jane shares a Nyigina word that can describe someone’s daughter. 

It’s also the word for a great-grandmother – who becomes a daughter to her great-grandchildren.

Kalkatungu is the language of the Mt Isa area, and Will Blackley has been working with a team to revitalise it.

For his final time on Word Up, Will shares the Kalkatungu words he uses when there’s a storm brewing. 

Will Blackley live in the Mount Isa area on Kalkatungu Country. 

But his life started on Palm Island. 

He describes how he got to know his language when he wasn’t on Country, and shares the Kalakatungu word for kangaroo.

Will Blackley shares the Kalkatungu word for ‘fire’ and explains how the pronunciation of the language has shifted over time.