A great BIG YSL thankyou to the Laynha homelands teachers and Yirrkala Homelands School. Illustrating the living Yolŋu Sign Language of North East Arnhem Land.
Let’s celebrate the work of the homeland’s teachers of Yirrkala. It is the work of these dedicated people and their homelands communities that are keeping our Indigenous language alive. Yolŋu have always been generous with sharing their sacred knowledge with those who have the proper reverence for it. These are the people who know.
Yolŋu Sign Language (YSL) is a rare, endangered language. It took over 25 years on the homelands and in the communities of North East Arnhem Land to collect these five hundred signs and put them together for the children. This work is driven by the need for passing on this language to a new generation of Yolŋu children, a need to share YSL with all Australians. As each indigenous language disappears all our worlds are diminished. These signs of YSL collected from the east with the rising sun and to its setting in the west of Yolŋu Country, are the visible evidence of the language of the ancestors. This is something to celebrate.
Yolŋu Sign Language (YSL) recorded in this book, belongs the Yolŋu signers and speakers of this rare, endangered language.
The YSL Illustrated Handbook describes ‘HOW TO SIGN YSL’, it explains the grammar, vocabulary, structure and conventions of Yolŋu sign language in an easy-to-use, full-colour guide for everyone. Here we bring together some 500 signs of YSL collected from all across Yolŋu Country.
Baymarrwaŋa would always say“Limalanha gurrku mana maŋutjiguma limalama djäma märr dilak yanama dhuyugu Yolŋulu gurruku mana nhäma marŋgiyirri limalagara. Bilabilagumunu ŋanapuluma nhaŋ’kumunu dhäŋuny bulthuna nhapiyana mananha limalama dilak mittji nyenanha baman’ŋatjili”. We follow the way of the ancestors, the way of those who come before.
Baymarrwaŋa spent a lifetime promoting the intergenerational transmission of local language and knowledge to sustain authentic livelihoods on the homelands. Thanx to the generosity of many and the help of volunteers, we have realised this wonderful project. Get involved, buy a book.
Proceeds go towards our volunteer project to get this work online for school children in North East Arnhem Land. All the best from the YSL team.
Purchase here.
Adam Kendon, Professor of Sign languages at Cambridge says:
‘This is a noble project, and the magnificence of the book well serves to honour the Yolngu, their sign language and their culture… ‘(Kendon 2021: 310)
Furthermore he says, ‘it is very gratifying to see that the study of alternate sign languages is becoming an appropriate object of investigation for sign language linguists….and…this book, has the dimensions, weight and quality of a very fine art monograph or coffee-table book…’ ‘(Kendon 2021: 312)
And an interesting fact for those of you who know Adam, or have lived in Warlpiri country, or just like anecdote, he Prof Adam Kendon, is known by the title ‘rdaka-rdaka’ in the Tanami Desert, literally “hand-hand”, but the hand sign used to signify him was that of a helicopter, also incidentally the sign used to signify a butterfly. Thankyou to the wonderful Frank Baarda of Yuendumu for that little insight. Good luck with your hand signs. B
Bibliography.
Kendon, Adam, 2021 Review Essay on The Illustrated Handbook of Yolŋu Sign Language of North East Arnhem Land by Bentley James, A.C.D. Adone, and E.L. Maypliama (eds). (Australian Book Connection. 2020), Oceania, Vol. 91, Issue 2 (2021): 310–314 DOI:10.1002/ocea.5304,
James, B., A.C.D. Adone, and E.L. Maypliama (eds) 2020.The Illustrated Handbook of Yolŋu Sign Language of North East Arnhem Land, Australian Book Connection. Pp328.
Dr Bentley James 