Pronunciation:
Say: yiirr-ii yath-a-miny-uuk nyuuny-yah tyah-luung
Vowels: Standard - ‘i’ as in ‘hit’, 'a' as in ‘path’, 'u' as in 'put'.
Consonant combination: 'th' (dental plosive) combine 't' and 'h' with tongue right against the teeth (like 'd' in 'dad'), - 'ny' (palato-nasal) combine 'n' and 'y' while top of tongue touches hard palate plus nasal vibration. (Avoid the English 'nee' as in 'many'), - 'ng' (velar-nasal) combine 'n' and 'g' while back of tongue touches soft palate plus nasal vibration.
Lit. Very bad that brown snake
Shows:
Adverb head-word, Noun, Noun ending - his/her/its - uk (consonant), Pronoun
Explanation:
Simple sentence beginning with the adverb 'yirri' (very) followed by the pronoun 'yathaminyuk' (bad) which has the 'uk' possessive ending - ie 'his bad'. What has 'his bad' or 'badness'? - 'nyunya tyalung' (that brown snake over there).
Communication, Describing, Language Building
Learning Exercise:
Build - What else could be very bad? How would you say or write 'Very bad that bush fire.' or 'That bushfire looks a really bad one.' Look up, write down and practice saying 3 more 'yirri yathaminyuk' sentences.
Sentence
Words Associated:
nyunya - that one over there
tyalung - brown snake
yathaminyuk - bad, nasty, ugly, deformed
yirri - very
Topics:
Animals - Reptiles, Communication - Describing, Conversation, Country - Fire
Age Guides:
Advanced, Yr 10-12, Yr 7-9, Yr 4-6
Reference:
'How to say things in Wembawemba': L.Hercus, TAFE Class, Mar. 2005'