Traditional country

The Macleay Valley forms the heartland of Dhanggati country, which extends from the eastern extremity at the coast to the Tablelands in the west. Around the Macksville area, Dhanggati and Buurrgati share a border with Gumbaynggirr country. The southern linguistic border is with Birrbay language. Dhanggati country includes the main towns of Bellbrook, Kempsey, South West Rocks and Walcha.

Dhanggati language

Dhanggati is the language of the Macleay Valley NSW and the surrounding high country which forms part of the Great Dividing Range. In 1925 at Kempsey Showground, James Linwood addressed in Dhanggati a meeting of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, to protest the actions of the Aborigines Protection Board. Dhanggati continued to be spoken “right through” until the 1960s. Its survival so far into the 20th century can be traced back to the working camps of men from Bellbrook and Lower Creek who escaped social control whilst clearing land for property owners in the western end of the valley. Dhanggati was the language of the camps and working life, away from the pressure to switch to English in the missions and towns.

Compared with many NSW languages, Dhanggati has a rich collection of historical sources, from written records in the late 19 th and early 20th centuries to recordings of those last speakers in the 1960s and 1970s. These records form the basis for language revival, because we can extract the grammatical information about sounds, words, word building and sentence building that they contain.

On linguistic criteria alone, it seems that Dhanggati is more closely related to Anaiwan (Nganyawana) and Yugambal on the Tablelands than any other language. There were at least two dialects, Dhanggati and Buurrgati, the latter is associated with the region around Macksville.

Aboriginal people were multi-lingual, speaking the languages of their neighbours as well as their own. There are significant social relationships amongst Dhanggati, Gumbaynggirr and Birrbay peoples, including a shared set of marriage sections, which is also a feature of Anaiwan cultural life.

Dhanggati has a unique “fricitivised rhotic” variant pronunciation of a trill or tap when it occurs between two vowels, as heard in mirri and yarri. This is an unusual sound in an Aboriginal language. Dhanggati has a complex word building strategies including inflectional and derivational suffixes on nouns, adjectives, demonstratives and pronouns. The pronouns include singular, dual and plural number and several cases. There are at least two classes of verbs based on transitivity, with complex word building patterns to express tense, aspect, mood, and to derive other verbs and nominal forms.

Alternative spellings include: Dangati, Thangatti, Dainggati, Djaingadi, Dang-getti, Danghetti, Danggadi, Tangetti, Tang-getti, Djangadi, Dhan-gadi, Dyangadi, Dunggudi, Dainggatti, Thungatti, Dunghutti and Thunghutti.

Welcome to Country

Listen to the Dhanggati – Welcome

Bimayi marrung. Barrung marrung.

Miyanggan dhanang?

Dhanggati guthun barri dhitiyn.

Nyinanhambu bitha, nyinanhambu warru, bukul, banduunggakayi mulumun.gu.

Dhanggati guthun barri dhitiyn.

Dhanggu barri dhitiyn.

Dhanang, marrungga barriya dhitiyndha!

Marrungbu.

 

Good evening. Good morning.

How are you (all)?

This is Dhanggati country.

Our (all) river, our plains and hills, from the mountain to the coast.

This is Dhanggati country.

This is my country.

You all, be well in this place!

 

Placenames

The Dhanggati Language Group with support from Muurrbay is currently engaged in researching Dhanggati placenames in the Macleay: those currently in use e.g. Yarrahappinni Mountain (a corruption of yarra yabani koala rolling); those not in use e.g. Baralbalayi (Anderson’s Sugarloaf Mountain); and developing new names for new infrastructure.

The Dhanggati Language Group with support from Muurrbay is currently engaged in researching Dhanggati placenames in the Macleay: those currently in use e.g. Yarrahappinni Mountain (a corruption of yarra yabani koala rolling); those not in use e.g. Baralbalayi (Anderson’s Sugarloaf Mountain); and developing new names for new infrastructure.

Proposed Dhanggati name for new bridge

The Dhanggati Language Group has made a submission to the NSW Minister for Roads and Maritime Services to name the new bypass currently under construction near Kempsey Yapang gurraarrbang gayandugayigu Very long track to the other side. The Dhanggati Language Group has had several consultations with the RMS and a site visit, where it became apparent that our proposed name is a very good fit for the bridge, which really is a very long track from one side to the other. It’s appropriate that the bridge, with its many feet snuggled firmly into the depths of the earth which is Traditional Country of the Dhanggati people, be named in the language of that Country. You can help the Dhanggati Language Group by writing to Minister Gay to express your support for this appropriate name.

The Hon. Duncan Gay, MLC
Level 35 Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Place
Sydney NSW 2000
office@gay.minister.nsw.gov.au

 

You can hear members of the Dhanggati Language Group singing a song to help you pronounce the Dhanggati words here:

 

Published resources

In 2007 Muurrbay published the Dhanggati grammar and dictionary with Dhanggati stories, compiled by Amanda Lissarrague and © Dhanggati Language Group. This is a descriptive grammar and dictionary. This book is now out-of-print and work has begun on a second edition.

In 2011 Muurrbay published Nganhima dhitiyn! Wanha nga’ang nganhimakayi! Do this! Don’t do that! compiled by Ray Kelly and Amanda Lissarrague and © Dhanggati Language Group. This is a learning resource teaching everyday instructions and comes with an audio CD.

 

Unpublished resources

The draft version of Guuyata Dhanggati Sets 1-10 is currently being developed and trialled. This consists of language lessons developed around language structures which occur in a simple sentence or question. There are both hard copy and electronic versions (Powerpoint) of this resource, the latter provides for voice files.

 

Other language resources and recordings

Several people recorded the language in the 1900s. In 1929, Gerhardt Laves spoke with many Dhanggati people and left field notes. William Hoddinott made recordings of Doug Scott and Frank Archibald in 1964. Janet Bolt recorded Doug Scott, Leeton Smith, Paddy Callaghan, Mrs Holten, Bessie Quinlan and Len Duckett in 1966. Nils Holmer made recordings in 1966, 1967 and 1969 with Len Duckett, Bertie Holten, May Holten, John Quinlan, Doug Scott, Victor Sheppard and Locky Vale. Steve Widders recorded John Quinlan, Ellen Davis and Jane Brown in 1979, and Steve Johnson and Amanda Lissarrague recorded Leeton Smith in 1990.

The main published texts are:

Holmer, N 1966. An attempt towards a comparative grammar of two Australian languages, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.

Holmer, N. 1967. An attempt towards a comparative grammar of two Australian languages, Part 2 Indices and vocabularies of Kattang and Thangatti, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.

Holmer, NM & Holmer, V, 1969. Stories from two native tribes of eastern Australia, Carl Bloms Boktryckeri, Lund.

 

Dhanggati grammar and dictionary

• Listen to the ABC NSW Statewide radio interview with Ray Kelly Jnr and Amanda Lissarague (WMA file).