Word Detail

(N)

Such an omen is the appearance of a person's ancestral animal, parrəmbuk, in unusual surroundings, e.g. a kangaroo walking right up to the dogs of a person whose totem was a kangaroo; a possum coming in daytime into the camp of a person whose totem was a possum: 'nyanyimən kinya wile pirnin' - 'it is a bad omen that this possum came'; 'nyanyimən was also used as an exclamation', 'what's up?', 'what's wrong?'.

Belief, Communication