Inconsistencies In Kaurna Spelling & A Case Study of the Noarlunga Jetty Display

 

Inconsistencies In Kaurna Spelling

 

As discussed previously, there may be many reasons as to why words in Kaurna might be spelt in ways different to the current standard set by the KWP in 2010, and the following are but a few examples.

The early transcribers of the Kaurna language simply wrote individual words as they heard them, not caring for the minutia of a transcription system. This has resulted in a wide array of methods for spelling certain words.

It wasn’t until the arrival of German missionary groups that standardised transcriptions became common. Each transcriber had their own method, but, thankfully, our largest sources wrote down their methodology. While their works are far from perfect, the efforts of Teichelmann and Schürmann in the mid-1800s documented roughly 1500 Kaurna words in a rich, detailed explanation of the common pronunciation of the language, alongside definitions and notes on their theories and experiences. Their words are by far our largest sources on the language, and, it can be argued, are singly responsible for the success of the Kaurna language reclamation movement of the late 1990’s and 2000’s

Effect on the revival aside, their spelling systems were used for well over a century, resulting in most references to the language written post the death of Ivaritji (the last fluent Kaurna speaker) in 1929 utilising one of the variants of the T&S spelling system. This continues into the modern day, with many organisations and governments using this outdated system.

Another prominent spelling system is the Nukunu orthography, produced by Luise A. Hercus. It is not inaccurate to call Hercus one of (if not) the greatest influences in South Australian linguistics, as her work with Nukunu, Ngadjuri, Barngarla, Ngarrindjeri, Wirangu, and more, set the stage for the revival movements of the modern day. Her work with Nukunu resulted in, amongst many other things, a detailed alphabet and spelling system which could be used to describe nearly every sound in the Thura-Yura family of languages. This spelling system, altered by the local indigenous community to fit each language, has been the basis for all systems developed in the Thura-Yura revival movements so far. For roughly 20 years, (until the codification of the modern system in 2010, by the KWP) the Hercus spelling system was used as standard in Kaurna.

 

Due to the extended scope of the language compared to its historic (or rather, documented) self, many neologisms are required. This, for the most part, hasn’t been too difficult for the language to adapt to, with detailed guides to forming neologisms in Kaurna written by Rob Amery, and less detailed guides produced in the Kaurna Learners Guide and Kaurna dictionary (all guides detail the trends and views of the Kaurna community, rather than strict rules, as any community member may choose to break these rules). I will not detail all this here, but may go into elements of this in future.

One form of neologism that routinely breaks the rules of Kaurna orthography is endonyms. While in English, we have a set series of letters, which are used to represent, as close as possible, the endonym and exonym of a given people or person (i.e. names of people and groups), Kaurna’s sound inventory is far smaller, as is their alphabet. As such, when referring to a name, Kaurna defaults to the currently accepted name in English. So too does this occur in its spelling.

Examples of this can be seen in the name of the last Kaurna speaker, Ivaritji, and one of the most prominent members of the Kaurna community during the language’s revival movement, Jack Buckskin. Modern Kaurna contains no letter ‘j’, yet these names are not altered to account for this when written in Kaurna texts. The same is true for proper nouns within other indigenous groups. One of the most prominent indigenous communities within South Australia are the Pitjantjatjara people, whose endonym is not altered when written in Kaurna, neither are place names in non-Kaurna country, that do not have a Kaurna exonym.

As well as this there are many Kaurna names created before the spelling reforms that shaped modern Kaurna took place. These names continue to be passed on, and, though some have been altered to account for the KWP’s spelling reforms, many do not follow modern convention.

 

Perhaps the most infuriating reason as to why modern written Kaurna might be spelt in a different manner is attempts to make it “easier to understand”.  In fairness to certain individuals and organisations, I did not initially know that the Kaurna /th/ was intended to pronounced like a /t/ with the tip of the tongue between the teeth. Misspelling a word may make it more likely that someone says a word closer to its correct pronunciation, but takes away from the time and effort put into designing a well-rounded orthographic system, and ignores how the community chose to represent their language.

 

 

Case Study: Noarlunga Jetty History Display

As discussed previously, occasionally you may find examples of words in Kaurna with spelling systems different to the above described, there are multiple possible reasons as to why.

In the case of modern uses of the language, oftentimes councils will opt for a simplified spelling system in their plaques and posters, in order to allow for ease of pronunciation by the general public. This is the case with the Onkaparinga Council, when they placed a small word list by the Noarlunga Jetty (see below), showing beach related words (Img.1), alongside a history of the site (which I have not included here). I have included a table detailing the terms as shown on the Jetty Display, with comparison to the Kaurna Dictionary (table.1, below).

 

Img.1
A Display Detailing Kaurna Words

 

Table.1

Listed Word	Listed Meaning	Dictionary Word	Definition
Tarni	Sea Surf	tarni	sea; surf
Wauwa	Beach	wauwa	beach; seashore
Kauwe	Water	kauwi	water
Worra	Sand	wara	sand
Padendi	Swim	parinthi (var. pathinthi)	swim
Tirendi	To sit	tikanthi	sit
Tikkandi	Rest
Ngatpandi	To go diving	ngatpanthi	dip into; dive into
Tinoogadla	Sunshine	tirntu-karla	sunshine
Mukarendi	To play	mukanthi (var. mukarrinthi)	play

 

As can be seen, serious errors were made in the set-up of this display. Orthographically, the interdental stop is consistently represented by the English ‘d’, despite its closest common English equivalent being a common ‘t’. Perhaps this was done in order to separate Kaurna /th/ from Kaurna /t/ in this over simplified display. The display also fails to differentiate between the three rhotic sounds in Kaurna (or at least the two present within these 10 words).

Furthermore, there is a continuous use of the English ‘e’, not present in Kaurna. This is used to replace certain uses of the Kaurna /i/, as can be seen in such mis-spellings as ‘padendi’. I am uncertain as to why ‘e’ was not used to replace the /i/ exclusively. Potentially, transcribers misinterpreted the secondary stress located on the third syllable (‘thi’) as a different vowel sound. This is consistent in the above example, with all second syllable uses of /i/ being written with the English ‘e’, and all third syllable uses of /i/ using the letter ‘i'.

A notable mistake in the text is the use of “tikkandi” as a translation of ‘rest’. As of the most resent (2022) edition of the Kaurna Dictionary, Kaurna has no word for rest, but ‘tikanthi’ (the clear equivalent of “tikkandi’) is present in the dictionary, as a translation of ‘sit’. This mix-up might be understandable given the similarities between the practical meanings of ‘sit’ and ‘rest’, yet I can find no equivalent to “tirendi” in the dictionary. This word may have come from an unusual source, or perhaps stems from another indigenous language, and has been conflated with Kaurna by the local council.

I have attempted to contact the Onkaparinga Council regarding this, but, as of 4:16pm 23/04/2024, have received no response.