Anangu, more accurately "Aṉaŋu" or "Arnangu", IPA: [ˈaɳaŋʊ] is a word found in a number of eastern varieties of the Western Desert Language (WDL), an Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama-Nyungan family, spoken in the desert regions of western and central Australia. Before the arrival of non-Aboriginal people in Central Australia the core meaning of anangu was probably 'human being, man, person'. Now however it is used to mean 'Aboriginal human being, man, person' and is rarely applied to non-Aboriginal people. As such, and given that other languages have their own words for '(Aboriginal) person' the word anangu has come to be very closely associated with the WDL speaking people who use it to the extent that it is now commonly used to refer to them, mainly by non-Aboriginal people but also by the speakers themselves. Used in this way it seems never to be used to refer to any traditional grouping but rather to any collection of WDL people. It may also be used to refer to other Aboriginal people, especially where the speaker is uncertain who they are. Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Western Desert Language is the name used to refer to an otherwise un-named Australian Aboriginal language. ... The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding Tasmania. ... The Pama-Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Australian languages. ...

Anangu also has the meaning 'human body' and may be used to refer specifically to the physical body, or to a dead body.

Distribution and spelling

The following table shows the main WDL dialects in which it is used (left column) along with the word spelled according to the orthography of that dialect (right column).

The reasons for the spelling variations are: some WDL dialects do not allow vowel-initial words—in these varieties the word begins with y; some orthographies use underlining (e.g. ṉ) to indicate a retroflex consonant, while others use a digraph (e.g. rn). Pitjantjatjara seems to be the best-known source for the word, but the underlining of the consonant is often ignored (or not understood) by English speakers, and is difficult to type, so the word is very commonly seen as anangu. It is probably best in this article to continue using the word in the most familiar form (which is also the article title) despite the fact that it is an incorrect spelling. Pitjantjatjara is the name of both an Aboriginal people (or Anangu) of the Central Australian desert and their language. ... Luritja is both an Australian Aboriginal country, a group of people and a language. ... Luritja is both an Australian Aboriginal country, a group of people and a language. ... Ngaanyatjarra is an Aboriginal Australian dialectal group of the Western Desert cultural bloc. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ngaatjatjarra language. ... Yankunytjatjara (also Yankuntatjara, Jangkundjara, Kulpantja) is an Australian Aboriginal language. ... Sub-apical retroflex plosive In phonetics, retroflex consonants are consonant sounds used in some languages. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Usage

On occasion this word is used to refer to white people and non-natives. In some communities, when a white person is accepted in to their community, one of the ways that they know that they are accepted is to be referred to as an Anangu.

Equivalents in other languages/dialects

Other Western Desert Language dialects have different words with a similar meaning and range of uses. In the far west of the WDL (i.e. amongst Manyjilyjarra, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Warnman) the word martu is used, and in the central Western Desert (i.e. amongst the western Pintupi) the word purntu, although this seems to be rarely used now. Pintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. ...

A few of the equivalent terms used by some Aboriginal groups in other regions of Australia are Koori, Noongar, Nunga, Murri. Koori (also spelled Koorie) is a word which some Indigenous Australians in New South Wales and Victoria use to identify themselves, and has become a well established term to mean Indigenous Australians from south eastern Australia. Many Indigenous Australians dislike the terms Aborigine and Aboriginal because these terms have been... The Noongar (alternate spellings: Nyungar/Nyoongar/Nyoongah),[1] are an indigenous Australian people who live in the southwest corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. ... Nunga People have lived throughout Australia for MANY Tens of Thousands of years, despite the English defining Australia to be Terra Nullis and void of habitation by people. ... The Murri are the indigenous Australians that traditionally occupied most of modern-day Queensland. ...

Communities with a large Anangu population

• Alice Springs
• Alpara
• Amata
• Aparawilintja
• Aputula (Finke)
• Cave Hill
• Harry Creek
• Imanpa
• Irintata
• Irintata Homelands
• Irrunytju, Western Australia (Wingellina, Western Australia)
• Iwantja (Indulkana)
• Kalka
• Kaltjiti (Fregon)
• Kaltjiti Homelands
• Kaltukatjara, Western Australia (Docker River, Western Australia)
• Kanpi
• Makiri
• Mimili
• Mulga Bore
• Murputja
• Ngaanyatjarraku Shire, Western Australia
  • Blackstone
  • Giles - Weather Station (6)
  • Jameson
  • Patjarr
  • Tjirrkarli
  • Tjukurla
  • Wanarn
  • Warburton
  • Warakurna
  • Wingellina
• Mutitjulu, Northern Territory
• Number 12
• Nyapari
• Oak Valley
• Papulankutja (Blackstone)
• Pipalyatjara
• Pukatja (Ernabella)
• Pututja
• Tjurma Homelands
• Turkey Bore
• Umuwa
• Walalkara
• Walatatjara
• Watarru
• Watinuma
• West Bore
• Yalata
• Yunyarinyi (Kenmore Park)

See also WARU community directory

Aerial, Alice Springs Alice Springs Landsat image Alice Springs is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Aputula () is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Imanpa Community ( ) is in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Kalka Aboriginal Community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands of South Australia lies on Land administered under the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act 1981. ... The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku is a remote local government area in Western Australia near Northern Territory/South Australian border. ... Warburton (26°13′ S 126°39′ E or Warburton mission is a tiny settlement in Western Australia, just to the south of the Gibson Desert on the Great Central Road and Gunbarrel Highway. ... Mutitjulu is an Australian Aboriginal community located at Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) in Australia. ... Capital Darwin Government Const. ... The Maralinga Tjarutja is the Aboriginal people who inhabit the remote western area of South Australia. ... Ernabella or Pukatja (26. ... Yalata () [1] is the main settlement of the Yalata indigenous Australians. ...

See also

• Maralinga

Maralinga, South Australia in the remote western areas of South Australia was the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Indigenous Australian people. ...

External links

• Web portal for Anangu Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, communities and organisations
• Description of Tjukurpa - the foundation of Anangu life at Department of Environment and Heritage

References

• Glass, Amee and Dorothy Hackett. (2003). Ngaanyatjarra & Ngaatjatjarra to English Dictionary. IAD Press, Alice Springs Australia. (ISBN 1-86465-053-2)
• Goddard, Cliff. (1985). A Grammar of Yankunytjatjara. IAD Press, Alice Springs Australia.
• Eckert, Paul and Joyce Hudson. (1988). Wangka Wiru: A handbook for the Pitjantjatjara language learner. SACAE, Underdale SA. (ISBN 0-86803-230-1)
• Hansen, KC & LE Hansen. (1992). Pintupi/Luritja Dictionary 3rd Edition. IAD Press, Alice Springs, Australia. (ISBN 0-949659-63-0)
• Valiquette, Hilaire (ed.). (1993). A Basic Kukatja to English Dictionary. Luurnpa Catholic School, Balgo WA. (ISBN 0-646-12453-6)