On Friday morning I was fortunate to visit David and Ming Fang Strickland during their stay in Alice Springs. David, through the Finke River Mission of the Lutheran Church of Australia, has worked with Anmatyerr people for over two decades to translate parts of the bible into Ti Tree Anmatyerr. His wife, Ming Fang, assisted with many aspects of the production of the bible as well.
DS has worked with many of the people who have been teaching me Anmatyerr, and so I naturally had heard a lot about him and his work. We sat down in the sun for a cup of tea and chatted all morning about phonology, translation, lexicography, and fieldwork. I learnt something very interesting about the bible Anmatyerr-isation process, which is that the output text is written in the same register as ordinary speech. This makes it, in my opinion, a great resource for analysing Anmatyerr syntax and modality. The books themselves were translated from Western Arrarnta.
It was wonderful to catch them before they returned to their home in Perth. Thank you David and Ming Fang for having me over!