The Diyari language is spoken by the Dieri people, whose traditional lands are located to the east of Lake Eyre in the far north of South Australia. Today there are a number of Elders who can speak the language fluently, and quite a lot who have some command of it. Most Dieri community members know words and expressions, and people of all ages are very keen to learn more about the language and to revive its use. There is a technical description of the language in Austin (1981, 2021) (see References).
Neighbours
The Dieri’s neighbours were Thirrari and Arabana (to the west), Kuyani and Adnyamathanha (south), Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarka (east), and Ngamini and Wangkangurru (north). The Diyari language is quite similar to Thirrari and Ngamini — speakers could understand one another easily (based on the very limited information available, it seems that Pilardapa and Karangura were also similar to Diyari). These languages also are related to Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarka, with which they share much common vocabulary (see, e.g. the comparative wordlist and comparative sentences). The other languages to the north, west, and south are rather different. Today, apart from Arabana and Wangkangurru, no-one regularly speaks these neighbouring languages.
Missionaries and written Diyari
Unlike many Australian Aboriginal languages, Diyari has a long history of use as a written language (as described in this blog post). In 1869 German Lutheran pastors established a Christian mission among the Dieri at Lake Killalpaninna on Cooper Creek; the mission and associated sheep station flourished until its closure by the South Australian government in 1914. The missionaries studied the Diyari language and used it in their work and their daily lives, including preaching in Diyari and teaching it in the mission school. They prepared primers, schools books, and dictionaries and grammars of Diyari, and translated a large number of Christian works into the language, including hymns and the Old and New Testaments. The Dieri were taught to read and write, and we know from written records that they used the language in their letters from the turn of the century until about 1960. A number of stories in Diyari in the mission spelling were published by Berndt, Vogelsang, and Fry (see References).
Reuther
One of the most remarkable missionaries was the Rev. J.G. Reuther, who not only co-translated the New Testament into Diyari (with Rev. Carl Strehlow), but also compiled a 14-volume manuscript on Dieri language, culture, mythology, and history. This includes a massive 4-volume Diari-German dictionary amounting to 1,237 pages. This manuscript was translated into English by Rev. P. Scherer in 1981 and stands as a monument to Reuther’s dedication to learning about the language and culture of the Dieri. Digitised and edited versions of the English translation of Reuther’s dictionary are now available here.
Language researchers
Linguistic researchers have studied the Diyari language for over 60 years and we have audio recordings dating back to the work of Johannes and Ken Hale in 1959, and Alec Edwards and Luise Hercus in 1971.
David Trefry made recordings in Diyari in 1966-1968. According to Trefry (1984: 173) he collected wordlists, sentences translated from English, and narrative stories. Copies of Trefry’s tapes are held at AIATSIS in Canberra. Luise Hercus made recordings of a number of speakers in 1970-1971 during her research on Arabana-Wangkangurru and other Lake Eyre region languages. Her tapes are held at AIATSIS.
Peter Austin began learning Diyari as an undergraduate student in 1972, and worked extensively on it between 1974 and 1978 (see his list of publications in References). One of his main teachers was Ben (Benno) Murray (traditional name parlku-nguyu-thangkayiwarna), who was born in 1893 and was also the very last speaker of the Thirrari language. He passed away in 1994. His biography has been written by Philip Jones. Ben’s life history, including a series of stories told by him in Diyari and Thirrari was published by Austin, Hercus and Jones 1988 (see References). Austin’s tape recordings and notes are in AIATSIS archive.
Recent language work
Starting in 2009, Greg Wilson began work with the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation to prepare materials for teaching the Diyari language in school. He developed some teaching resources, including a multimedia CD-ROM, and a textbook (not yet published). In 2013 Greg Wilson and Peter Austin ran a series of language and culture workshops for the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation, funded by an Indigenous Languages Support grant from the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport. The Dieri Language blog Ngayana Diyari Yawarra Yathayilha ‘We are all speaking Diyari now’ began in 2013 as a result of the ILS workshops.
Since 2013 Peter Austin has continued to work with speakers of Diyari, especially members of the Warren and Kennedy families, to create various Diyari resource materials, many of which are available on this website.