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Spell it with a ‘g’ not with a ‘k’

by Howard Amery

"You're talking too light!" Janet tells me. "In Worrorra we talk a bit heavy, not light like some of the other languages around here. You say 'agu' not 'aku'. 'Agu' means water." Born during WWII, Janet Oobagooma is the driving force for the Mowanjum community's Worrorra Language Revival Project. As one of the few remaining speakers of her language she knows a lot rests on her shoulders, but she remains undaunted and optimistic.

During a recent phone conversation I advised that I had effected the changes to the growing Worrorra dictionary, from decisions made by her and Heather Umbagai at our Perth workshop in April.  "Did you change the spelling to 'g'?" was her immediate response.   "Yes I did Janet". "Good," she replied with an air of deep satisfaction and pride. "We can keep going forward now."