p & b
t & d
k & g

Any difference you might discern between p and b , or t and d , or k and g is not significant. In general the sound is somewhere in between the two.

ng & ngk

As stated, ng spells a single sound ng , like the ng in singer, not like the ng in finger: that would be written ngk as in ‘mingku l pa’, (bush tobacco).

Vowels

There are just three significant vowels, written i, a, u, and pronounced with their ‘pure’ European sound values ( i as in pit, a as in father, u as in put), not the highly ad hoc and variable sound values that the letters i, a, and u can have in English

Arandic ‘e’

Arandic languages also use the letter e , which takes on the following vowel sounds: after w and before a consonant, it has the sound ‘u’ as in put; after y , and before a consonant, it has the vowel sound ‘ee’ as in speed;
otherwise it spells a neutral vowel, not unlike the e in the , or the u in but.

Digraphs & trigraphs

When trying to pronounce words in Aboriginal languages it is important to know that:
When pronouncing the consonant sounds represented by the digraphs (ie two letters or pairs of letters like tj, ly, ny, ng, pm, ty) or trigraphs (three letters like kng) they are pronounced as single sounds.

r
t/rt
l/rl
n/rn
These sounds are pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled upward and slightly further back along the roof of the mouth than the English r, t, l and n.

Stress

Stress falls on the first syllable of words (ie the first syllable is the ‘heaviest’ one), unlike English, where the position of stress varies from word to word, and is often not on the first syllable. In the Arandic languages stress falls on the first syllable that starts with a consonant. So it is A lya warr, but their non-Arandic neighbours call them Ya lyawarri or A lyawarri.

Information courtesy of: http://www.clc.org.au/People_Culture/language/language.html

Aboriginal Australia is one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world. At the time of European settlement, it was believed that there were approximately 200 to 250 languages spoken – with close to 700 dialects.

Traditionally, Australian languages (or aboriginal languages) are classified into around twelve families.

• Language isolates:
  • Enindhilyagwa (Andilyaugwa)
  • Laragiya
  • Ngurmbur
  • Tiwi
• Established families:
  • Bunaban
  • Daly
  • Limilngan
  • Djergan
  • Nyulnyulan
  • Wororan
• Newly proposed families:
  • Mindi, consisting of:
    • Djamindjungan
    • West Barkly
  • Arnhem Land macrofamily, consisting of
    • Burarran
    • Yiwaidjan
    • Giimbiyu
    • Kakadu(Gaagudju)
    • Umburarla
  • Macro-Pama Nyungan, consisting of
    • Ngurmbur
    • Gunwinyguan
    • Greater Pama-Nyungan:
      • Tankic
      • Garawa
      • Pama-Nyungan proper

Due to the lack of information to determine it’s family, Minkin language, an extinct and unverified language, is traditionally left as an isolate.

Information courtesy of: http://www.tntdownunder.com/article/2443127620.html

In the devout lives of the Aborigines today, the Dreamtime is continued as the “Dreaming”. The history of the time of creation is enacted in ceremonies and danced in mime form. The didgeridoo (or clap sticks) complement song chants retelling their history and emphasises on the power of the dreaming on life today.

THE SACRED WORLD

The Dreamtime is the Aborigines’ way of understanding the world, its creation and stories. Their rules of existence came from this, and for survival, these rules must be followed.

The Dreaming world was the old times of the Ancestor Beings, and they were born from the earth when the world was created. At the instant these mystical beings were “born out of their own Eternity”, time began in the world.

The Earth was flat, in darkness, and was dead and silent. Before the Ancestor Beings broke through the crust of the earth from below, unknown forms of life were asleep inside.

After they broke through the crust of the earth, the sun rose from the ground and light shone on the land for the first time.

Dreamtime painting by Norbett Lynch

The mystical beings, or Totemic Ancestors, looked like creatures or plants, and were part human. They moved across the barren surface of the world, travelling, hunting, fighting and changing the form of the land. On their journeys, the landscape was created. Descendants of the Dreamtime ancestors were made by the Totemic Ancestors, who made the Ant, Grasshopper, Emu, Eagle, Crow, Parrot, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Lizard, Snake and all food plants, as well as the natural elements (Water, Air and Fire), and all the celestial bodies (the Sun, Moon and Stars). Tired from their actions, they sank back into the earth and returned to their state of sleep.

At times, their sprits transformed into rocks or trees or a part of the landscape. These became sacred places with special qualities, to be seen only by initiated men.

THE PHYSICAL WORLD

” OUR LAND OUR LIFE.”
‘We don’t own the land, the land owns us.’
‘The Land is my mother, my mother is the land.’
‘Land is the starting point to where it all began. It is like picking up a piece of dirt and saying this is where I started and this is where I will go.’
‘The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity.’
‘We don’t have boundaries like fences, as farmers do. We have spiritual connections.’

To the Aborigines, land is not something that they have the right to sell as it has spiritual value.

THE HUMAN WORLD

Aboriginal people are the Indigenous people of Australia, also the traditional cultures and their lands lie on the mainland and most of the islands, including Tasmania, Fraser Island, Palm Island, Mornington Island, Groote Eylandt, Bathrust and Melville Islands.

An Aborigine is defined as a descendant of an Indigenous inhabitant of Australia, identifies as an Aboriginal, and is recognised as Aboriginal by members of the community in which he or she lives.

The above definition is the preferred one over the various definitions of the assimilation era. A certificate of Aboriginality issued by an incorporated Aboriginal body under its common seal is proof that the said person is an Aborigine.

The word “Aborigene” (from the latin ab, origin meaning “from the beginning”) to refer to themselves before the coming of non-Aborigines, and everyone was regarded as a person.

• The Australian Aboriginal culture is one of the world’s longest surviving culture.

• When the first British fleet arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788, there was approximately 300 000 to 1 000 000 Aborigines living in Australia, and they lived as many as 500 clan groups around Australia.

Music is a significant part of the Aboriginal culture. It is used from generation to generation to imbue the knowledge of their culture, of about their role in it, and about its role in the universe and beyond. From the moment they are born, the aboriginal is instructed to dance and sing about daily tasks. Upon reaching puberty, one begins to learn the first karma hymns – of the symbolic animals and plants of the clan and the past and the mythology of the group, which is intrinsic to their ancestry and have unique melodic tunes that differentiates them from other groups.

Of the Aboriginal music, several special and fascinating musical instruments have been invented. Amongst these are the gum-leaf, the bullroarer, and the didgeridoo. The most acclaimed instrument is the didgeridoo, an absolute wooden tube which is blown with the lips like a clarinet, and gains its sonorous dexterity from various intonations of the musician’s vocal chords.

With a frequency of around 70Hz, the didgeridoo releases a low-pitched drone – its pitch dependant on the instrument’s length and the degree of curvature of the bore. The didgeridoo is traditionally used with clap-sticks to emphasize the harmonics of both instruments. The didgeridoo is often an accompaniment to songs or used to delineate ancestral tales of their history. However, in recent times, it has joined the popular music scene and has gained influence from all around the world.

The bull-roarer is a basic strip of wood connected to a string and twirled around in circular motion about its center. It utilizes the forces of aerodynamics to emanate a low-pitched pulsating resonance, of around 80Hz – like that of a roaring bull. It is mainly used for the initiation ceremonies of Aborigines.

The gum-leaf consists of a single leaf plucked from a Eucalypt tree common throughout Australia, and is blown to generate a high-pitched tone. Using the gum-leaf requires a great deal of practice, and is extremely challenging of beginners. To produce a mere sound from the gum-leaf may take a beginner days to achieve, and it is mostly accomplished through trial and error. However, a skilled player can play easily play basic tunes by controlling the pitch efficiently to attain a range of more than one octave. The gum-leaf was originally used to mimic bird-calls but also can be used as a musical instrument.

Songlines, also known as Dreaming tracks by many Indigenous Australians, are an primordial cultural concept, meme and motif passed down through songs and storytelling mediums such as paintings and dance. Songlines consist of a succession of songs that pinpoints landmarks and act as illusive tracking techniques for exploration and navigation. The Aborigines believe that all land is holy and alive. Through perpetually singing, the land is kept “alive”. Life is given to the Aborigines through song, and the land/lore/dreaming of their ancestors can be preserved to reestablish it in the past, present and future.

This is an Aboriginal song played with the digeridoo, also known as the drone pipe.

This is a bullroarer.

Through a medium of coloured and textured soils and sands, Australian Aborigines have created multitudes of patterns and symbolism to illustrate the myths and stories of their ancestral totemic and cultural history – their Dreamtime.

The Dreamtime is the enshrined realm of the tribe’s Ancestral Beings, of whom the Aboriginals deeply honour as the maker of every beast and every entity that has roamed this land. The Dreamtime is also the Creation Period in Aboriginal belief, when the omnipotent Ancestral Beings crafted the earth and brought all living things into existence.

The Ancestral Beings are frequently portrayed in the Aboriginal art, and may be characterised as human, plant, animal or a collective embodiment. The Ancestral Beings also imparted to the people the legal rules and ceremonial observances that govern the land. Paintings of the Ancestral Beings represent the beliefs of the clans.

The naturalistic style, most prevalent in the Arnhem Land in Northern Australia, is often illustrated by “X-ray” art, in which animals’ internal organs are portrayed. This unique style originates from sacramental designs used in ceremonies. These designs were once utilized for ground paintings, carvings on holy stones and for body painting, but are currently painted on canvas.

Some of these dances are exclusive to either men or women only and are used to mark important milestones of their life like childbirth, initiation or marriage.

However, unlike the highly secret songs and dances of initiation ceremonies, there are other performances that Aborigines teach everyone in their group and even outsiders. All members of the tribe learn the songs, dance and instrumental playing by observing from a young age. These dances pass on information about The Dreaming (Aboriginal spiritual belief) during ceremonies. These dances and songs can be performed by both men and women.

As a part of these dances, members of the language would paint particular designs on their bodies to indicate the type of ceremony being held and the language group and family group performing. Special costumes were worn and special instruments were used.

Information source:

http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/culture/initiation-ceremonies.html

The elders in the group decide the time of the rite of passage, also called the right to pass from adolescence to maturity. The initiated are gradually taught their roles in the ceremony and instructed upon future responsibilities as an adult. The teachings happen over a period of a few years by celebrated members of the group who have had substantial experience.

The initiation ceremonies involve everyone in the group. The adolescents are decorated with body art and ornaments and a permanent mark is made on their body to signify the completed process of initiation. Removing a tooth, piercing the nose or ears or cutting the flesh with a sacred symbol are common ways of marking.

Members of the direct family also mark themselves to commemorate the event. Secret knowledge and life skills are also passed down from the older generations to the initiated and they allow the new adult to carry out their new role accordingly.

Information source:
http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/culture/initiation-ceremonies.html