Between 1978-1985 Adam Kendon worked with Warlpiri signers at Yuendumu to make a record of the sign language used there. A synthesis of this work was edited into the Warlpiri Sign Language Dictionary, a video record presented in five parts and organized thematically in semantic domains. It comprises just over 4.5 hours of material, covering over 1000 signs. A RUIL project has made this valuable resource searchable by annotating it in a program called Elan to link the audio-visual and text records. The project has the full support of Adam Kendon who wrote “I am very pleased to hear that you are hoping to make my Warlpiri sign demonstrations more available and searchable.”
In November 2020 Eleanor Jorgensen, who has been doing the sign coding work, Jennifer Green, and other linguists from across Australia who work with Warlpiri communities, zoomed into the Warlpiri Jinta Jarrimi meeting at Nyirrpi community in the Northern Territory. The aim of the meeting was to consult with Warlpiri educators about developing educational resources for sign based on the rdaka-rdaka dictionary. Adam Kendon joined the meeting from his home in Cambridge, UK.
