Ngardi to English Dictionary

Representing the collaborative efforts of Ngardi Elders and linguists over more than 40 years, this is the most comprehensive documentation ever of Ngardi, a language of the northern Western Desert of Western Australia.

Ngardi is the language of the western regions of the Tanami Desert and the north-central region of the Great Sandy Desert. Ngardi country is known locally as ‘Ngururrpa’ or ‘central country’ and is situated between Ngumpin languages to the north and west (languages like Jaru and Walmajarri) and Western Desert languages to the south (like Kukatja and Pintupi).

Though Ngardi speakers are few, Ngardi language and culture remain core components of Ngardi identity. Numerous Ngardi words are still in use by people of all ages and there is a strong enthusiasm to see the language revitalised. Traditional Ngardi beliefs and cultural practices are maintained in many of the modern-day communities in which Ngardi people live: Balgo, Mulan, Billiluna (Kururrungku) and Ringer’s Soak.

Prospectors, linguists and anthropologists started making short Ngardi word lists in the 1920s, 1940s and 1950s. From 1990 onwards, Lee Cataldi began systematically documenting the language with Peggy Rockman and then later intensively with Tjama Napanangka and other senior Ngardi women in Balgo. From their work, the first dictionary began to be compiled. The first Ngardi dictionary was released in 2011 and this dictionary builds on that pioneering work. It is a testament to the work of the many Ngardi Elders who have contributed to this new dictionary of Ngardi, the most comprehensive ever published.

The Ngardi to English Dictionary is the 11th dictionary published by Aboriginal Studies Press and funded by the AIATSIS Dictionaries Program since 2018.