A new jointly-compiled dictionary is supporting the preservation of the language of the Ngardi people of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The culmination of almost 40 years of work by Ngardi Elders and the Ngardi-speaking community of Central Australia's Western Desert, the dictionary has been compiled by Marie Mudgedell, Tom Ennever, Lee Cataldi and the late Tjama Napanangka.
Ms Mudgedell has been a driving force behind the documentation of the Ngardi language. She said the new dictionary was important work which was started by old people who came before her, including Ms Napanangka, Ms Cataldi and many others.
"They brought this project halfway but didn't get to finish it off. But we didn't lose this language, and here we have finished their important work — me, Patrick (Smith), and Tjungurrayi (Tom Ennever) and others," she said.
"We are really happy to share the Ngardi language so that it isn't lost and so future generations can keep on holding and carrying it forward into the future."
Prior to Colonisation, Ngardi people lived in the desert country south of Balgo, an area known locally as Ngururrpa, which translates as 'central country'.
Nowdays Ngardi people reside in several different communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with many living close to their traditional lands in the community of Balgo.
Others reside in the Kutjungka communities of Mulan and Billiluna as well as further north at Halls Creek, Kundat Djaru (Ringers Soak), Kununurra and east across the Northern Territory border in the predominately Warlpiri community of Yuendumu.
The Ngardi to English Dictionary builds on previous Australian Research Council studies of the language documented in a first edition in the 1990s, with the 720-page new hardback text published to a high standard and including illustrations.
Featuring artwork by Ngardi Elders and including detailed entries and example sentences, alphabet, an English word finder, verb list, a grammar guide, kinship information and the history of Ngardi language, culture and Country, the dictionary also provides detailed information on climate and seasons, place names and the scientific names for Ngardi flora and fauna.
The dictionary's cover artwork features the late Kathleen Paddoon's 2007 painting, Nakarra Nakarra, courtesy of Warlayirti Artists. Nakarra Nakarra is the site of the Seven Sisters Dreaming. A group of pamarr (hills), in red, embody the sisters, surrounded by tali (sand dunes), in white.
University of Surrey linguist Mr Ennever, whose research at the University of Queensland focused on documenting and analysing endangered Australian languages, said producing the dictionary was an "extraordinary" effort by Ngardi people.
"This publication is the extraordinary outcome of a decades-long commitment by Ngardi people to document their language despite immense challenges," Mr Ennever said.
"Their multi-generational dedication has ensured that the voice of this unique part of Australia is not lost to time but can be learned, heard and passed on for generations to come."
Ngardi has been spoken in the western regions of the Tanami Desert and the north-central region of the Great Sandy Desert since time immemorial, yet is only spoken fluently by a small number of people today.
The University of Queensland Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Mary Laughren, said the dictionary "makes a most impressive contribution to the documentation of Australian languages".
"The introductory sections, which make for compelling reading, situate the speakers and their language and offer a detailed and sympathetic history of the Ngardi people from pre-contact days to the present," Ms Laughren said.
"The language reflects this history in the unique way in which it combines features drawn from both Ngumbin and Yapa languages."
The dictionary was distributed among community members in Western Australia last month, with last month's in-country launch at Balgo, 800 kilometres northwest of Mparntwe/Alice Springs, called off after heavy rains flooded roads and made the area inaccessible.
Mr Ennever had travelled from the UK for the event, however due to commitments at home, had to turn back to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) with the celebratory cake.
Balgo Arts Centre will launch the book at the next opportunity when relevant families are in town, with Mr Ennever planning to return to Balgo next year for a reunion of the project's contributors.
Funded by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Dictionaries Program with support from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), the dictionary is the 11th dictionary published by Aboriginal Studies Press since 2018.
The Ngardi to English Dictionary is now available from Aboriginal Studies Press and all good bookshops.