Yaru!
Gudjal learners guide and dictionary
Gudjal is the language of the people of the Mural (Charters Towers) region, in western inland north Queensland. The beginnings of this dictionary and learner’s guide were in the 1970s when Gudjal people began working with linguists to record their language. The first dictionary of Gudjal, by William Santo and Cassy Nancarrow, was published in 2006; and so, a language that had been sleeping started to awaken. In Yaru!, the dictionary has been expanded and the first-ever Gudjal grammar is included, as well as four songs and a Welcome to Country.
The book has been compiled by Gudjal elder William Santo and linguists Alex Anderson, Cassy Nancarrow and Myfany Turpin. It includes accompanying audio read by Keesha Gordon and Shakira Kelly. The audio is accessed through QR codes in the book and can be downloaded from the associated website. Yaru! will be essential to the Gudjal community and schools in the Charters Towers region to build a new generation of language speakers. It will also be of value to people interested in Australia’s first peoples, their languages and language revival.
Production details
- Paperback
- 240mm x 170mm
- 124 pp + 4 pp cover
- Released October 2023
- ISBN 9781922102447
About the author
William Santo is a Gudjal Elder who has been working on his father’s language for more than 30 years. He was a director of Girringun Aboriginal Corporation which represented the western inland language group in 2000s, and he was instrumental in founding the North Queensland Regional Aboriginal Corporation Language Centre. He is the author of Maggie and Charley Santo: the history of the Santo family of Charters Towers (2016). He is passionate about the revival of Gudjal language and hopes to see it spoken again.
Alex Anderson is a graduate of the Master of Linguistics program at the University of Sydney. He has previously worked alongside Indigenous communities in Mexico on educational and archival projects.
Cassy Nancarrow is a linguist and educator who has worked extensively with First Nations people across the north and far north of Queensland since 1997. She collaborated with William Santo on the first Gudjal Dictionary (2006), compiled the Gangalidda Dictionary (2014) and Mornington Island Story Books (2015), and works closely with schools and community groups on language and song revival.
Associate Professor Myfany Turpin is a linguist and musicologist at the University of Sydney. Her work with First Nations people, since 1994, has resulted in A Learner’s Guide to Kaytetye (2001), Kaytetye to English Dictionary (2013) and publications on
Aboriginal song-poetry, including Songs from the Stations: Wajarra as sung by Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpnga, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal and Dandy Danbayarri (2019).
About the cover
Mural (Charters Towers) and Gamu Munda (Water Serpent), Shakira Kelly, 2022, watercolour on paper.