August 2023 – Languages with Wilf

Deuteronomy 8:2

NJV: Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God led you for forty years in the desert, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not.

Wardaman: Warnwarnin jeme bu yijagaya diwulgmulu wulujujun Ñanayiyi Dalbirrmañi gajigaji yimburryaŋgiya jajayma yimburrbuyi, gala yimburrna yimburryerde yidumulyawarda bujun Murlgilidj warrab yiwunnawa.

remember = jeme bu

This has two components:

jeme = remember.
bu = hit or ford a river.

jeme is a Particle which needs the Auxiliary Verb bu in every circumstance. Here, it has zero Prefixes. Therefore it is a Positive Imperative, i.e. command.

the long road/all the way = warnwarnin

Wardaman does not have a strict distinction between Nouns and Adjectives. Thus, warnwarnin can mean both long and length.

This ambiguity is deliberate – the Israelites travelled a long distance over a long time. In addition, their social organisation underwent a lot of development. The original Hebrew is derek (דרך) is similarly ambiguous. It can mean way, road, distance, journey or manner.

Yahweh your God = Ñanayiyi Dalbirrmañi

Ñanayiyi is the Ergative form of Ñanayi, which is my translation of Yahweh.

The Hebrew Yhwh (יה׀ה) comes from the Verb havah, which seems to be a variant of the Verb hayah (היה), which means to become.

When God tells Moses in Exodus 3:14 that “I am who I am”, the Verb he uses is hayah.

Ñanayi has two components:

ña- = Actor Prefix.
nayi = to become or to make oneself.

By itself, the Prefix ña- means something like one who does X.

Dalbirrmañi is the Ergative form of dalbirrman, which is my translation for God or your God. The Hebrew word is eloheka, which comes from Elohim (אלהים), which has many translations. Another translation is mighty or strong, and this is where I found dalbirrman, which means strong or tough.

led you = gajigaji yimburryaŋgiya

gajigaji is a Particle which means walk. It requires the Auxiliary Verb ya, which means to go, and is irregular.

yimburryaŋgiya has three components:

yimburr- = 3>2SG
yaŋgi = He went
-ya = once upon a time.

Wardaman has a complex series of Prefixes that say who is doing what to whom. yimburr is both 3SG>2SG and 3NSG>2SG.

Thus, it means something like he/she does X to you or they do X to you.

This is fortuitous, because the word Elohim is plural, even though the original Verb was singular. Ancient Hebrew speakers used the Plural to mark Intensity.

yaŋgi means he/she/it went, and is an irregular form.

Officially, -ya is the Narrative Past Tense.

forty years in the desert = yijagaya diwulgmulu wulujujun

yijagaya means in the desert, and it comes from yijaga, which means mouth (or fishhook). I took inspiration from the original Hebrew word, which can also mean midbawr (מדבר), which also means mouth as well as desert.

diwulgmulu is my translation of forty.

Most Aboriginal languages do not have numbers above three. Wardaman is one of these languages. So how did I create forty?

In other Australian languages, they use their word for index finger in lieu of four. One example is Yidiñ, which I used for my translation of Numbers 21:4-9.

Wardaman has two words for index finger, these being wujurdbawun and wudiwulg. Both of these include the WU-class Prefix wu-. I chose the latter because it is shorter, and removed the initial Prefix, giving us diwulg.

The Hebrew word for forty is arbaweem (ארבעים). This comes from arba (ארבע), which means four.

Anyone with basic Hebrew knows that the Suffix –im/-eem is the Masculine Plural. Thus, arbaweem can translate as fours.

Thus, I add the Wardaman Plural Suffix –mulu, creating diwulgmulu. This means index fingers. It casts an image into your mind of a man counting the years on his hand, the skin browned by the sun, and criss-crossed with sand-scars.

My translation of years is wulujujun. The original Hebrew is shawneh (שנה). This comes from shawnah (שנא), which means change or alter.

I could not find any words for neither former nor latter. Instead, I chose the word wulujujun, which means end of the wet season. I chose this principally because I enjoy the irony thereof.

However, I can argue that this alludes to the purpose of the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert. After a short time in the desert, the Israelites begin to grumble and miss the days of their enslavement. Thus, before they could found a new nation, those with no memory of life in Egypt had to become mothers and fathers themselves.

40 years is time enough in which this process can take place. Therefore, anyone counting the ends of the wet season in the arid Sinai desert is one whose heart is still in Egypt.

In addition, the Egyptian wet season is not necessarily a period of rainfall, but rather the flooding of the Nile Delta. It was during this period of flood that, many centuries prior, they built the pyramids – that ultimate symbol of pharaonic power and submission to heathen gods.

to humble you, to test you = jajayma yimburrbuyi, gala yimburrna

In Hebrew, as in English, each Verb is in the Infinitive. Wardaman does not have an Infinitive. Instead, I have simply excluded any Tense Suffixes.

The 3>2SG Prefix yimburr appears twice in this little phrase. jajayma is a Particle which means get weak.

jajayma takes the Auxiliary Verb buyi, which means become.

The original Hebrew awnaw (ענה) means be bowed down or afflicted.

gala is a Particle which means try to or express uncertainty. It does not have a regular Auxiliary Verb, so I gave it na-, which means see.

to know what is in your heart = yimburryerde yidumulyawarda

yerde means know. (An alternative form is yarde.) yimburr- makes its third appearance this newsletter.

By itself, yimburr- means He does X to you. Thus, yimburryerde means He shows you.

yidumulyawarda has three components:

yidumul = heart.
-ya = in.
-warda = what?

-warda is the Indefinite Suffix, and it means something like what in the world? It is NOT a Question Suffix – Wardaman already has two thereof. It can be used to create a question, but it does not have to, and here it does not.

Along by itself, the best way to translate –warda is “somewhere/something-or-other”.

In addition, it often carries a tone of exasperation – no doubt a widespread feeling amongst the Israelites during this period, be it towards themselves, each other and (mutually) with the Lord Yahweh.

whether or not you keep his commandments = bujun Murlgilidj warrab yiwunnawa

bujun means if.

For commandments, I had to create a new word.

Murlgilidj has two components:

murl = blindfold an initiate.
gilidj =

murl is a shortened form of murlma, though both forms are acceptable. Typically, it takes the Auxiliary Verb me, which means get.

So why did I create this particular word?

A few months ago, I translated the story of Stephen’s Arrest (Acts 6:8-15) into Manambu. The Jewish collaborators with Rome accused Stephen on speaking against the Laws of Moses. This accusation was true. Stephen exhorted his listeners to Serve the Authority and Spirit behind the Laws of Moses, rather than the Laws themselves. The Sandstone is the Blindfold.

The Particle warrab means watch or keep a close eye on.

yiwunnawa has three components:

yiwun- = the 2SG>3NSG Prefix.
na = see.
-wa = will.

By itself, yiwun- means something like you (one person) do X to more than one thing.

KJV: And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee , and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

Deuteronomy 8:3

Due to the length of this verse, I must once again split it in twain. This will be amongst my dodgiest translations ever.

NJV: He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh.

Wardaman: Jajayma yimburbuyirriya, yinewerrnan yimburrgindiya, ŋuwu yiñaŋgurlaŋñi ŋamandaguñi yerdewagbawuñi yimburrwondiya, yiyalaŋ yimburrmarnbuyan: yibi yibiyangu mayinba woŋgo ñaŋan, yibi yijagawa Ñanayiwu ñaŋan.

He humbled you = jajayma yimburrbuyirriya

jajayma means get weak.

yimburrbuyirriya has four components:

yimburr- = He does to you (one person).
buyi = become.
-rri = did.
-ya = once upon a time.

-ya is the Narrative Past Tense Suffix. I use it throughout this section.

He made you feel hunger = yinewerrnan yimburrgindiya

yiwerrnan has two components:

yi- = the YI-Class Prefix.
newerrnan = hungry.

Wardaman has three Noun Classes, these being the yi-, ma- and wu- Classes, though many nouns do not belong to any of them. Most YI-Class nouns refer to humans, animals, meat/meat products and body parts. I use this more as a form of emphasis.

yimburrgindiya has four components:

yimburr- = He does to you.
gi = put.
-ndi = did.
-ya = once upon a time.

In this context, gi- acts as a Causative Verb.

Wardaman has two Past Tense Suffixes, these being –rri and –ndi. Most Verbs take –rri, while some of the most commonly used ones use –ndi. There is no difference in meaning between the two.

He fed you with manna = ŋuwu … ŋamandaguñi yimburrwondiya

ŋuwu has two components:

ŋu = eat.
-wu = in order to.

-wu is called the Purposive Suffix. It has a number of other uses, which we may discuss if we return to this language.

yimburrwondiya has four components:

yimburr- = He does to you.
wo = give.
-ndi = did.
-ya = once upon a time.

Taken together, the phrase ŋuwu yimburrwondiya means He gave to you in order that (you) eat (it).

ŋamandaguñi has two components:

ŋamandagun = manna.
-yi = with.

The Instrumental Suffix –yi indicates the tool (or instrument) with which an aim is achieved. If you attach it to an inanimate Noun, the most common translation is with. (The Instrumental Suffix is identical to the Ergative Suffix, but to discuss this would take far too long.)

More interesting, however, is the word ŋamandagun, which I have created myself. It has two components:

ŋamanda = what?
-gun = -ness.

-gun is simply a Suffix which means something like “pertaining to X”. It is also quite old, and rarely used by modern speakers when making new words. Thus, I use it to make the word seem more ancient.

I took inspiration from the original Hebrew mawn (מן), wherefrom we get the word manna. This, itself, comes from the Hebrew word mah (מה), which mean what. Thus, the original Hebrew word means something like a whatness, or from the asking about it.

What have I hidden in the Ellipsis?

which neither you nor your ancestors knew = yiñaŋgurlaŋñi yerdewagbawuñi

yerdewagbawuñi has three components:

yerde = know.
-wagbawun = without.
-yi = (with).

Here, and with the other word in this section, the Instrumental Case Suffix –yi and –ñi tie them back to ŋamandaguñi, which I explore in the previous part.

Here is where my translation meets the edge of its seat. yiñaŋgurlaŋñi has three components:

yiñaŋ = you.
-gurlaŋ = the Dyadic Kinship Suffix.
-ñi = (with).

First, the Pronoun yiñaŋ refers specifically to a single person. The original Hebrew uses the 2^nd Person Singular throughout the entire verse.

So what is –gurlaŋ?

-gurlaŋ and its reduced form –rlaŋ are Suffixes which attach exclusively to kinship terms. For example:

With a few exceptions, you use –rlaŋ after a vowel:

yiguyu = mother.

guyurlaŋ = mother and child.

After a consonant, you always use –gurlaŋ:

yinamun = sister.

namungurlaŋ = two sisters/one sister and one brother.

Most Kinship terms carry the YI-Class Prefix, and these disappear upon contact with the Dyadic Kinship Suffix. (Also, the meaning of yinamun changes depending on the sex of the speaker. From a man’s mouth, yinamun means sister, but from a woman’s mouth it means elder sister. Wardaman gives unique names to some very specific family members.

So what does yiñaŋgurlaŋ mean?

Roughly speaking, it means you and an unspecified family member. This is how I translate you and your ancestors. It is very much a cheat, and I am keeping it in there.

to make you understand = yiyalaŋ yimburrmarnbuyan:

yiyalaŋ is a Particle which means inform or let know. It comes with the Auxiliary Verb marnbu.

yimburrmarnbuyan has three components:

yimburr- = They/He do/does to you.
marnbu = make
-yan. = might.

The original Hebrew means something more like that he might make you know. -yan is the Potential Suffix, and its easiest translation in English is might or may.

I end this with a colon because this was easier than finding or creating a translation for the conjunction that. As soon as you leave Europe, that and which typically become the most difficult words to translate, and Australia is the poster child for this.

that human beings live not on bread alone = yibi yibiyangu mayinba woŋgo ñaŋan

yibi means alive or an alive thing, and here I use it to translate life.

yibiyangu means man’s or human being’s. It comes from yibiyan. (This has the alternate form yibiwan.)

Traditionally, this referred specifically to an Aborigine, with the word for white people being marnden, which also means ghost.

mayinba means from bread. It comes from mayin, which means vegetable food in general.

woŋgo means not and ñaŋan means he/she/it comes.

Altogether, my sentence has a literal translation more akin to a person’s life comes not from vegetable food. What does it mean?

To understand what the Old Testament Hebrews may have meant by this statement, let us consider two passages from the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 3:17-19 (Berean Standard):

And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground – because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 4:2b-5

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock.

And the LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry…

Here I conclude my translation of Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

If you have trouble understanding the Old Testament, here is my challenge to you.

Try to contemplate Deut. 8:2-3 with Gen. 3:17-19 & 4:2b-5 all at the same time.

Once you’ve spent enough time doing this, the deeper secrets of Yahweh may allow you to stand under its embrace. Then, if you practice enough humility, you may be granted a greater gift: you can speak these truths in a language that others can understand.

but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh = yibi yijagawa Ñanayiwu ñaŋan

yibi (life) and ñaŋan (it comes) both make a return from the previous section.

yijagawa means from the mouth.

It comes from yijaga, meaning mouth, and I use the same word to translate desert in Deuteronomy 8:2.

This is a departure from the original Hebrew peh (פה), which only means mouth.

Ñanayiwu means Yahweh’s.

It comes from Ñanayi, meaning Yahweh, which I explain in my translation of Deuteronomy 8:2.

KJV: And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord that man doth live.