The Gospel of Mark: Chapter 1:12-20
The Wardaman language comes from the top-end of the Northern Territory in Australia. You can find a fuller introduction in the previous post:
This is the end of the Wardaman section.
You can find the full passage in your own physical Bible. The full Wardaman passage will be at the end.
Mark 1:17
KJV. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Wardaman. Ñiñiwiyi wuŋguñanarriya: “Ŋanugomarla, ŋanunmarnbuwa yibarrun yibiyaŋu.”
Ñiñiwiyi = Jesus did
wuŋguñanarriya = and he said to them
Ŋanugomarla = all of you, follow me!
ŋanunmarnbuwa = I will make you
yibarrun = a fisher(man)
yibiyaŋu = of men
Wardaman makes a distinction between Singular, Dual and Plural.
Biblical Greek possesses only the Singular and Plural.
In the previous verse, I have Jesus use the Dual Suffix –wuya/-guya because he is addressing Simon and Andres.
The Bible is not just for reading in your head – you are supposed to read it out load in Church. As long as your congregation has at least three people, this will apply to all of them. If it only has two, it will point out the urgent need to cast their nets into the water.
I turned fishers of men into yibarrun yibiyaŋu. This has zero Plural Suffixes, it means fisher of man.
I attend Mass at the Church of England every Sunday. Before Communion, we say the words:
Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
I assume that most other branches of Christ’s Church on Earth have a similar saying.
The same yibarrun yibiyaŋu is the aforesaid “one body”.
The original Greek fishermen halieis (αλιεις) is Plural, and so too is of men anthropon (ανθρωπων).
The Greek for fisherman is haleeyoos’ (αλιευς), and is possibly a stretched out form of the word halce (αλς) salt. It can also mean a body of salt-water, and this is where the meaning fisherman comes from.
Mark 1:18
KJV. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
Wardaman. Yiwarna wuŋgunburrwajarriwuya gimarrunmulu wuŋguŋomarlarri.
Yiwarna = next thing
wuŋgunburrwajarriwuya = the two of them left them
ginarrunmulu = the nets
wuŋguŋomarlarri = they followed him.
Wardaman does not have a word for fishing net – they used fishhooks instead.
Thus, I created gimarrun.
I started with the word barrunin fish.
Several words inspired the initial gin-, these being:
1. ginan = dilly-bag (bag woven from grass/bark)
2. ginali = mosquito net.
As a result, we get the prosody of yibarrun fisherman/-woman gimarrun fishing net.
Mark 1:19
KJV. And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
Wardaman. Nanba gajiba wuŋgundarriwuya Yiljoŋgarrma Ñowondowunba Ñuŋgurrlu yiŋabawarrma - gorluña bidijbidij wuŋunburrmendiwuya.
after walking along he saw = nanba gajiba wuŋgundarriwuya
nanba = from there
gajiba = after walking
wuŋgundarriwuya = he saw the two of them
wuŋgundarriwuya has four components;
1. wuŋgun- = he does to them
2. da = see
3. -rri = did
4. -wuya = two.
We will discuss the names James and Zebedee here. The next section will be long enough.
The name James comes from Jacob, and this comes from the Hebrew Yakob, which means heel.
Yiljoŋ has two components:
1. yiwol = shadow
2. yijeŋ = foot.
Zebedee comes from the Hebrew Zebadyah, which means Yah has bestowed.
Ñowondo has two components;
1. Ñanayi = Yahweh
2. wondi = He gave.
Zebedee had two sons – which was the older?
James son of Zebedee and his brother John = Yiljoŋgarrma Ñowondowunba Ñuŋgurrlu yiŋabawarrma
Yiljoŋgarrma = Jacob the Greater
Ñowonowunba = from Zebedee
Ñuŋgurrlu = John
yiŋabawarrma = his (John’s) elder brother
Most Scholars assume that James was the elder brother. This is because the Bible always mentions him first, but it is not explicit.
With Andrew and his younger brother Simon, Jesus refers to Esau and his younger brother Jacob – the elder will serve the younger.
Here we have another Jacob, but his birth order is left ambiguous.
Only faith in the Lord can save us from our troubles – not faith in the House of Israel.
Yiljoŋ Jacob and yiŋaba elder brother both carry the Focal Member Suffix, which is –garrma after a consonant and –warrma after a vowel.
They wear the same suffix, therefore they are the same. It also brings attention to Jacob.
Wardaman has one word for older brother, one word for younger brother, and no word for brother in general.
I could have used yigeyu man’s child, but this solution is more elegant.
they were in the boat, fixing their nets = gorluña bidijbidij wuŋunburrmendiwuya
gorluña = in a boat
bidijbidij = twist string
wuŋunburrmendiwuya = they two were putting them
The original Greek includes the word for net, but I left it out.
In my translation, James and John are in a boat, twisting string together. Someone who understands fishing will know that they are mending their nets, while someone who does not may imagine them making scoobies.
Jesus calls us all to follow Him. He calls idle people and busy people alike.
Mark 1:20
KJV. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
Wardaman. Ŋarlgba wuŋguŋandiwuya – yibiwi Ñowondo wajawaj gorluña worlgbiyiwujbanmulu wurrgomarlarriwuya.
Ŋarlgba = call
wuŋguŋandiwuya = he went to the two of them
yibiwi = (their) father
Ñowondo = Zebedee
wajawaj = leaving
gorluña = in the boat
worlgbiyiwujbanmulu = (and) the hired servants
wurrgomarlarriwuya = the two of them followed him
ŋarlgba wuŋguñandiwuya means calling out, he went to the two of them. It has five components:
1. ŋarlgba = call out
…
2. wungun- = he does to them.
3. ya = go.
4. -ndi = did.
5. -wuya = two.
Most Wardaman verbs have two parts: a Particle and an Auxiliary.
Most explorations would probably say this near the start, but I have waited until the end.
wurrgomarlarriwuya means the two of them followed him. It has four components:
1. wurr- = they do to him.
2. gomarla = follow.
3. -rri = did.
4. -wuya = two.
-wuya is the Dual Suffix: it refers to two of something.
wuŋgun- has a Plural Object; wuŋgun-…-wuya = he does to the two of them.
wurr- has a Plural Agent; wurr-…-wuya = the two of them do to him.
I initially thought that hired servants would be difficult to translate. This was not the case.
worlgbiyiwujbanmulu has three components:
1. worlgbiyi = work for/make effort for.
2. -wujban = one who does X.
3. -mulu = [Plural].
The original Greek is misthotos’ (μισθωτός) hired servant.
This comes from misthos (μισθόσ), which means wages/salary, but it can also mean reward or punishment.
Mark 1 Appendix 2/4
I. Forty = Diwulgmulu
Wardaman does not have any numbers higher than four. How did I create diwulgmulu?
I looked to the original Hebrew.
The original Hebrew word for forty is arbaweem’ (ארבעים). The Hebrew word for four is arbah’ (ארבע).
If these words look similar, it is because they are.
The –eem (ים) in arbaweem’ (ארבעים) is the Masculine Plural Suffix. Thus, the Hebrew word for forty means fours.
The Wardaman Plural Suffix is –bulu/-mulu, and will take the former.
This takes care of the Ten – what about the Four? In many Australian languages, they use their word for index finger in place of the number 4.
Wardaman has two words for index finger: wudiwulg and wujurdbawun.
I chose wudiwulg, and removed the Prefix wu-. Both of these decisions are relatively arbitrary. Thus, diwulgmulu is my translation of the number 40.
What about the numbers 5 to 39? I will get to them when I need to, and not before.
II. Further comment on Mark 1:19
I wish to focus on this section:
James son of Zebedee and his brother John = Yiljoŋgarrma Ñowondowunba Ñuŋgurrlu yiŋabawarrma
Yiljoŋgarrma = Jacob the Greater
Ñowonowunba = from Zebedee
Ñuŋgurrlu = John
yiŋabawarrma = his (John’s) elder brother
Look at the placement of the words.
On two sides, we have Jacob-Israel.
In the middle, we have John Yah-has-been-Gracious from Zebedee Yah-has-Bestowed.
God sent to us Jesus as the gift of redemption.
The House of Israel rejected him. When he hung upon the cross, they looked at him. Many of them mocked him.
They sent him to his a tomb. On the third day, he walked out of the hill, the rock rolled away.
Many in the house of Israel, however, acknowledged Christ as their King and God, and chose to follow him. In this sense, they became the Elder Brother, bringing the light of Christ to the Gentiles.
The full passage in Wardaman:
12. Yiwarna Ñaŋewbayi yawudba bujguŋarr,
13. Diwulgbulu bujguña dalganmulu gala Maljirlŋñi yidoñmaŋurne marnburri. Layinbarra joy madiŋujbanmuluyi wurrwondi.
14. Dirrgba Ñuŋgurrlu wurrwoñga yaŋgi Ñiñiwi Buduwuluwarr. Yana madgu jewuyin Ñanayiwu,
15. janaya, “Worlorlmarri buduwun, jewele galuglan yaŋgi Ñanayiwu. Buljuŋma numerri madbi nugomarla.”
16. Gajiga laŋaña berlbawan Buduwuluwu, wuŋgudarriwuya Wojbawarrma Yaba yiŋaba - wuŋgunburrwudbarriwuya ŋurruwuŋuwarr, wuñjug yibarruŋuya,
17. Ñiñiwiyi wuŋguñanarriya: “Ŋanugomarla, ŋanunmarnbuwa yibarrun yibiyaŋu.”
18. Yiwarna wuŋgunburrwajarriwuya gimarrunmulu wuŋguŋomarlarri.
19. Nanba gajiba wuŋgundarriwuya Yiljoŋgarrma Ñowondowunba Ñuŋgurrlu yiŋabawarrma - gorluña bidijbidij wuŋunburrmendiwuya.
20. Ŋarlgba wuŋguñandiwuya – yibiwi Ñowondo wajawaj gorluña worlgbiyiwujbanmulu wurrgomarlarriwuya.
Sources:
Bible Hub Interlinear
Merlan, Francesca C. A Grammar of Wardaman: A Language of the Northern Territory of Australia (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter 1994)
Basic Google Searches