Karri-borlbme Kun-wok

kunkodj

kunkodj

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English Translation
(Kun-balandaken)
head
Pronunciation
(Bale ka-yime karri-ngeybun?)

GOON-goj
If you know IPA ['gʊngoɟ]

The final consonant is a palatal stop. This is not the same as English [dʒ] (in English represented often by a letter j as in 'jump'). You can read more about it on Wikipedia if you like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_palatal_stop

In Bininj Kunwok this sound is written with a digraph (2 letters for one sound or phoneme). The designers of the Kunwinjku orthography chose 'dj'.

Morphology
(Karri-wokdjobdjobke)

kun- is the noun class prefix and -kodjis the stem. All body parts are incorporable into verbs as for many other nouns we have already discussed. Basically body parts and landscape/environmental terms are in the closed class of nouns that can be incorporated into verbs.

Notes
(Njalenjale)

Just as in English, 'head' can have quite a few different senses such as 'head waters' and many others. When it is in compounds with verbs there are many other meanings e.g.:

-kodjmukme 'forget' (Kune dialect)
-kodjdadjme 'become silent/sullen due to anger or insult'- literally "head-cut".

Usage
(Bale kabirri-yime?)

Ngakodjbabang (nga-kodj-babang)
I have a head ache.

The following text is about nawaran the Oenpelli python, a snake endemic to Western Arnhem Land.

Ngaleng wardi karrinan kahwi karridarrkidmang nawu nangale kelebuk kadarrkidmang. Bad nakka kandukkadukkan wardi nawaran kanngolekdjobke. Woh. Kandukkadukkan bu kunkodj ngarrmang.

When we see one, maybe you can just pick it up if you are not frightened, you can pick it up alive. But they can coil themselves around you and try to choke you to death. Yes. They coil themselves around us when we grab them by the head.

Date
(Balekeno)
28 Aug 2012