In some Aboriginal languages there is a connection between words for ‘man’ and ‘kangaroo‘ — especially male kangaroos.

The by now fairly well-known word koori signifies Aboriginal people. It comes from the northward of Sydney.

TABLE 1 gari / guri: ‘man’ [Newcastle region, NSW]

From the same area come the following ‘kangaroo’ records:

TABLE 2 gari / guri: ‘kangaroo’ [Newcastle region, NSW]

Sydney word lists also provide corresponding examples for each of ‘man’ and ‘kangaroo’:

TABLE 3 gari / guri: ‘man’  and ‘kangaroo’ [Sydney region]

For the ‘old man’ idea, also from Sydney, are the following, the last three coming from the First Fleet days:

TABLE 4 gawal(gang): ‘older male’  and ‘older male kangaroo’ [Sydney region]

Perhaps the strongest links between words for ‘man’ and ‘kangaroo’ come from south-west Western Australia:

TABLE 5 yunga / yanga: ‘man’ [South-west WA]

TABLE 6 yunga / yanga: ‘kangaroo’ [South-west WA]

The following south-west WA example, in ‘Yongerloeelkerup’ exhibits a doubtful transcription:

TABLE 7 yunga / yanga: ‘kangaroo’ [South-west WA]

The second part of the word might really have been ‘boylgerup’ rather than ‘loeelkerup’ (as shown above), especially as words beginning with ‘l’ [ell] do not occur in most Aboriginal languages.

Finally, there is the WA place name Ongerup. As many Aboriginal languages also do not have words beginning with a vowel, the missing initial consonant might have been /w/, /y/ or /ng/. /y/ is assumed for this example.

TABLE 8 yunga / yanga: ‘kangaroo’ [South-west WA]

The ending -up [-ab], common in south-west WA place names, signifies ‘place of’.

Conclusion

Old Mans Valley in Hornsby might more properly have been named ‘Old-Man-Kangaroo Valley’.

JEREMY STEELE

Monday 16 May 2016

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