Ngatakurma
Sign Language
Sign language, or ngatakurma ‘we sign’, is an important part of how people at Warruwi communicate. Indigenous signs are used by everyone, not only people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They are usually used alongside speech, but are also used when speech is not possible or desirable, such as when hunting, communicating from a distance or in noisy situations.
Sign language at Warruwi Community has not been carefully documented but some of the signs used at Warruwi have similar meanings across Arnhem Land (Bauer 2014). See Green et al. (2020) for signs used in and around Maningrida.
A few dictionary entries describe a sign related to the headword, like the ones shown below.
kilakurma (-lakurma)
iv nk
use hand signs to communicate
See also: kinilakurma dance, imitate, act
◇ Ngatakurma. We make kinship hand signs.
◇ Kinyjakurma. She’s signing.
◇ Ngalakurma nuwu. I’m signing to you.
Human voice sounds
murrkarterte
noun MA
1. holding hands up stiffly towards a person with fingers and thumbs bent inwards. This is a ‘debildebil’ sign that someone has died or a spirit present.
◇ Nakapa ja arrarrkpi murrkarterte iminy ngartu la ngamurtpiny. That man did the ‘debildebil’ sign to me and I was frightened.
Supernatural, Human voice sounds
miwing
noun MA
hips
Note: in sign language hitting the hip refers to spouse
See also: wirtakurl hip joint
◇ La tuka miwing ngarru anyakut. And on our hips a bit too.
Organs and torso
katjukpun yurnu
bend finger, for example when making the handsign for dugong which is a loose fist with index finger pointing with bent finger.
When hunters returned in a canoe they’d make a handsign (for dugong) to show what they caught.
◇ Ngartukpun yurnu. I’m bending a finger.
◇ Oh awangkung, awangurrinykapa, apukpuning yurnu, aminy “Mm, marntingunyuny.”. They’d go along in the boat, they turn their hand, we’d think “Oh, dugong.”.
Hunting
© Dictionary compliation, Ruth Singer and Warruwi Community 2021. Mawng speakers own the Mawng language. They also own their knowledge of plants, animals, kinship, Mawng country, customs and history which is compiled in this dictionary.
© Dictionary compliation, Ruth Singer and Warruwi Community 2021. Mawng speakers own the Mawng language. They also own their knowledge of plants, animals, kinship, Mawng country, customs and history which is compiled in this dictionary.