Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of an Aboriginal people of northeast Queensland, Australia.
- noun The Pama-Nyungan language of this people, now nearly extinct.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
ergative Australian Aboriginal language of the Dyirbalic branch of thePama-Nyungan family.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a language of Australian aborigines
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Dyirbal.
Examples
-
The book's title comes from an Australian aboriginal language called Dyirbal.
-
Chloe identified herself with the project, volunteered information and analysis, worked out principles of gender in Dyirbal (involving a knowledge of Dyirbal science), developed theories of language (not all of which would win wide approval), and was virtually a co-author of parts of Dixon's published account of the Dyirbal language.
-
Imagination accounts for the Dyirbal word maralu ` a shirt, 'a word originally meaning ` hollow log' because when the Dyirbal people first saw a European pulling on a starched shirt they were reminded of a bandicoot seeking shelter in a hollow log.
-
(Indonesia) Halo Jelai (Malaysia) Tabek Jèrriais (Jersey) Bouonjour [Jirrbal, see Dyirbal]
-
(Belgium) [informal by youth] Helaba Dutch (Belgium) [informal by youth] Yoe Dutch (Belgium) [informal by youth] Hiya [Dyerma, see Zarma] Dyirbal (NE Queensland Australia) Nginda wunydjangum Dyirbal (NE Queensland Australia) Nginda bayi wunydjangum?
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.