Category Archives: WA Nyungar

Old Mans Valley

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Just to the west of Hornsby, a northern suburb of Sydney, is Old Mans Valley. One might reasonably assume that the name was inspired by an old man once living there. It would have had its share of old men, as does anywhere else. In Old Mans Valley an occasional black wallaby is to be seen, and the name might actually relate to kangaroos.

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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NYUNGAR Words: ‘Tooth’ for a world view

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Reflecting on the wordlists from the Australian southwest, or no doubt from any area of the country, gives an occasional glimpse of the way the indigenous people perceived the world around them. This is sometimes termed ‘a world view’. For us English speakers. a ‘tooth’ is a ‘tooth’ more or less. We might say ‘toothless’ for someone without teeth; or figuratively for someone who is therefore harmless, because his bite without teeth is unthreatening. Someone might be ‘toothy’—having unusually prominent teeth. While ‘teething troubles’ might be applied to small children growing their teeth, or to new inventions that do not work as well as expected or hoped for in the beginning. There may be more ‘tooth’ associations in English, but they are not like those of the Indigenous Australians, as the following examples reveal. And there are others besides, somewhat more tenuous than those supplied here.

 

First, a ‘tooth’ pure and simple. This is basically ngalga or ngalag, with the ‘curious inversion’ process or metathesis operating (-lga or -lag).

 

TOOTH

“nalgo” nalga = “teeth” tooth: [3] Lyon 1833 [:405:40] [NYUNGAR]

“orl-ga” ngurlga = “tooth, a” tooth: [4 (e)] Grey V [: 419:31] [Wardandi]

“nalgo” nalga = “teeth” tooth: [8] Salvado 1851 [:405:46] [NYUNGAR]

“ghnalgo” ngalga = “teeth” tooth: [17] Markey 1942 [:57:31] [NYUNGAR]

 

“orlock” ngurla[a]g = “teeth” tooth: [1] King 1827 [:406:4] [Minang]

“nor-luk” nurla[a]g = “tooth, a” tooth: [4 (b)] Grey [: 419:33] [Minang]

“quorlock” ngurla[a]g = “teeth” tooth: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:406:11] [NYUNGAR]

“gnorluck” ngurla[a]g = “teeth” tooth: [22] Gray 1987 [:406:16] [NYUNGAR]

“knollak” ngula[a]g = “teeth” tooth: [10 (l)] Curr [:405:39] [Wardandi]

 

The first variation is the word for ‘tooth’ being applied to a facial feature near the tooth: the ‘cheek’:

“nga-luk” ngalu[u]g = “cheek, the” cheek: [4 (b)] Grey [:234:24] [Minang]

“Ngaluk” ngalu[u]g = “(K.G.S.) The cheek?” cheek: Moore 1842 [:89:11] [Minang]

 

In the evolution of animals surprising changes have occurred to the basic bodily components of head, torso, arms/legs, feet and so on. The backbone can have more or fewer components, and likewise the neck, as in a giraffe. Elephants have a long nose. A horse’s hoof is basically the nail on a single residual finger or toe, the other digits almost disappearing. We know where a nostril is supposed to be: except that on a whale it has become the blowhole on the top of its head. And for birds, the beak is a single remaining tooth of the upper and lower jaw.

 

While there are no examples showing that the Nyungar called a bird’s beak a ‘tooth’, there are many examples of birds as a hole being perceived by one of their predominant characteristics, their beak (or ‘tooth’).

 

BIRD

“ngala” ngala = “sea gull, large” gull: [3] Lyon 1833 [:369:6] [NYUNGAR]

“Ngulor” ngulur = “Eagle, sea; Haliaeëtus leucogaster” sea-eagle: Moore 1842 [:130:34] [NYUNGAR]

“Ngalganning” ngalganing = “Ibis; Nycticorax” ibis: Moore 1842 [:140:24] [NYUNGAR]

“gnular” ngula = “cockatoo, white-tailed black” cockatoo: [18 (v)] Serventy [:239:52] [Goreng]

“gnoolah” ngula = “cockatoo, black” cockatoo: [22] Gray 1987 [:238:41] [NYUNGAR]

“Nulargo” nulaga = “Graucalus; blue pigeon.” pigeon: Moore 1842 [:86:9] [NYUNGAR]

“nu-lar-go” nulaga = “cuckoo-shrike, black-faced” cuckoo-shrike: [18 (w)] Serventy [:248:19] [Wajuk]

 

“ngo-lak” ngala[a]g = “cockatoo, white tailed sp. of” cockatoo: [4] Grey 1840 [:239:46] [NYUNGAR]

“gnawlak” ngalag = “cockatoo, white-tailed” cockatoo: [13] Rae [:239:48] [NYUNGAR]

“ngoolark” ngula[a]g = “cockatoo, white-tailed black” cockatoo: [24] Hassell, Edney [:239:49] [NYUNGAR]

 

“Nolyang” nalya[a]ng = “Nol-yang; Gallinula” moorhen: Moore 1842 [:148:14] [NYUNGAR]

 

“ngalganning” ngalganing = “ibis, Nycticorax caledonicus (night heron)” night-heron: [9] Moore 1884 [:296:22] [NYUNGAR]

 

“knulumberry” ngalambiri = “pelican” pelican: [10 (b)] Curr [:347:34] [Amangu]

 

Other ‘toothy’ animals appear to have been so viewed also—at least native cats, and the ‘flathead’ fish.

 

ANIMAL

“ngoolarngeat” ngula[a]ngid = “cat, spotted marsupial” cat: [24] Hassell, Edney [:233:16] [NYUNGAR]

“ngoolgarngeat” ngulga[a]ngid = “wild cat (native, marsupial spotted)” cat: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 442:13] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

 

“no’lkah” nalga = “flathead” flathead: [15] Hammond [:268:6] [NYUNGAR]

“nol-ah” nala = “flathead” flathead: [16] Hammond [:268:5] [NYUNGAR]

 

What are ‘teeth’ primarily used for? Biting, chewing, eating. Perhaps not surprisingly, there are examples for words related to these functions, although Grey in the first example below took moral exception to this phenomenon.

 

EAT/DRINK

“nal-go” nalga = “teeth, the; improperly used for ‘to eat'” tooth: [4] Grey 1840 [:406:18] [NYUNGAR]

“nal-goo” nalgu = “eat, to” eat: [15] Hammond [:263:14] [NYUNGAR]

“Nalgo” nalga = “drink” drink: Symmons, Charles [:16:16] [NYUNGAR]

“{yowerinyy, narlong}” nala[a]ng = “{alcohol}” grog: [22] Gray 1987 [:200:15.2] [NYUNGAR]

 

“nalung” nala[a]ng = “grog” grog: [13] Rae 1913 [::] [NYUNGAR]

 

Finally, the ‘tooth’ concept led onto ‘belch’ (a result of work done by teeth perhaps), ‘sharp’ (as a knife, or, in the absence of knives, a ‘tooth’), and piercing, done by something ‘sharp’ such as a . . . ‘tooth’.

 

OTHER

“nor-luk-kool” nurlu[a]gul = “belch, to; to come through the teeth” tooth: [4 (b)] Grey [:214:1] [Minang]

“Nalgo” nalga = “Edge, sharp, as of a knife” sharp: Moore 1842 [:131:7] [NYUNGAR]

“Ngalladara” ngaladara = “A hole pierced completely through.” perforation: Moore 1842 [:89:6] [NYUNGAR]

NYUNGAR Words: bila—east and west, NSW and WA

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There are some transcontinental words, and bila is one of them. It means ‘stream’.

 
The following are from the Wiradhuri language, across the Blue Mountains from Sydney, stretching from Bathurst effectively to the Victorian border. It is the largest language area in New South Wales, and possibly the country.

“Billa” bila = “a river” stream: Günther WIRA (Fraser) [73:49] [WIRA]

“Beelah” bila = “a creek” stream: SofM 1896 09 12 [p.12.1: DDB-WIRA] [12.1:7] [WIRA]

“Billugh” bila = “River” stream: SofM 1899 10 21 [Kable/Coe] [154.2:2] [WIRA?]

“Billa” bila = “River” stream: SofM 1900 05 21 [Tibbetts] [63:179] [WIRA]

 

Gunther was one of the principal recorders of the Wiradhuri language. ‘SofM’ refers to the anthropological journal, Science of Man.

 

Variations of the Wiradhuri word for ‘stream’ follow.

 

“[Billaga ngunningura]” bilaga = “[the other side of the creek]” stream: Mathews WIRA 1904 [290:21.1] [WIRA]

“[Nilla ware maganne billaga]” bilaga = “[he was drowned in the river.]” stream in: Günther WIRA (Fraser) [114:2.3] [WIRA]

“[wimbu guyabu billaga warranna.]” bilaga = “[the fire, and the fish which are in the river;.]” stream in: Günther WIRA (Fraser) [117:24.3] [WIRA]

 

“Billabong” bilabang = “a side creek” ox-bow lake: SofM 1896 09 12 [JJB WIRA] [12.2:41] [WIRA]

“Billabong” bilabang = “Creek” stream: SofM 1896 08 10 [JM WIRA] [12.32:6] [WIRA]

“Billabang” bilabang = “the Milky Way” Milky Way: Günther WIRA (Fraser) [73:50] [WIRA]

 

It is interesting to note that the Milky Way was perceived as a ‘river’ in the sky.

It is even more interesting to note that the very same word for ‘stream’ was used in the south-west corner of the continent, about four thousand kilometres distant.

 

NYUNGAR

The following are Nyungar records for ‘stream’, first bil and then bila:

“beel” bil = “river, a” stream: [4 (b)] Grey [:362:2] [Minang]

“beil” bil = “river” stream: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:361:46] [NYUNGAR]

 

“be-lo” bila = “river, a; a stream” stream: [4] Grey 1840 [:362:5] [NYUNGAR]

“bi-lo” bila = “river, a” stream: [5] Symmons 1841 [:362:3] [Wajuk]

“Bilo” bila = “A stream; a river. No names are given to rivers as proper names, but the localities and resting-places on their banks are designated with great minuteness. ….” stream: Moore 1842 [:11:15] [NYUNGAR]

“bilo” bila = “river, a” stream: [6] Brady 1845 [:362:4] [NYUNGAR]

“billo” bila = “river; stream” stream: [8 (E)] Salvado [:362:8] [Balardung]

“Bila” bila = “river” stream: Bates Grammar [:82:10] [NYUNGAR]

“bee-la” bila = “river” stream: [19] Isaacs 1949 [:361:48] [NYUNGAR]

“beeler” bilir = “river” stream: [24] Hassell, Edney [:361:39] [NYUNGAR]

“pillyi” bilyi = “river” stream: [13] Rae 1913 [:361:40] [NYUNGAR]

 

There is also a record for bilabang, However, in the west the meaning is a little different:

“Bilorbang” bilabang = “A person living on the banks of a river.” stream dweller: Moore 1842 [:12:2] [NYUNGAR]

 

Two other meanings associated with water and derived from the stem bila are the following:

“beelagur” bilagur = “river people” stream people: [12] Bates 1913 [:362:12] [NYUNGAR]

“beladger” biladyir = “drown” drown: [23] Buller-Murphy [:258:52] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

NYUNGAR Words: Puzzle: gubal: belly, sleep, afternoon or river?

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Daisy Bates provided the following sentence, with general and literal translations:

 

dajä wâ gäbälä?

Any fish in the river (or water)?

(fish where water?)

 

The sentence was the starting point in an investigative trail.

 

1. daja

This is respelt as dadya, and from a search of the NYUNGAR database its meaning is confirmed:

“dad-ja” dadya = “animal fit to eat, any; the flesh of any animal fit to eat” meat: [4] Grey 1840 [:201:52] [NYUNGAR]

“Dadja” dadya = “Any animal fit to eat; or the flesh of any such animal; animal food, as contradistinguished from Maryn, vegetable food.” meat: Moore 1842 [:24:7] [NYUNGAR]

“dad-ja” dadya = “flesh of all sorts” meat: [5] Symmons 1841 [:268:12] [Wajuk]

 

Grey in 1840 set out the basic meaning. This was taken up and amplified by Moore. And Symmons confirmed the sense of the word as ‘meat food’. Fish are considered food, and are not vegetables, so dadya can mean ‘fish’.

 

2. wa

wa is either a word in its own right, or a locative (place) suffix. Bates stated its meaning as ‘where’.

“Yuŋ’ar wâ” yunga wa = “men where” man where: Bates Grammar [:67:31] [Wajuk]

“wânä wa” wana wa = “woman’s stick where” yamstick where: Bates Grammar [:67:33] [Wajuk]

 

Bates alone of the dozen or so wordlist compilers identified this usage.

 

3. gabala

Bates stated that the word gabala, in her example, meant ‘river (or water)’. The database supplied words for ‘stream’ beginning with ‘g-’:

“carlock” galag = “creek” stream: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:246:13] [NYUNGAR]

“gurr-jyte” gurdyad = “stream, a” stream: [4] Grey 1840 [:397:43] [NYUNGAR]

 

but not really close to gabala.

There are, however, plenty of example of gab, gaba and gabi meaning ‘water’:

“kyp” gab = “water” water: [3 (a)] Lyon [: 431:35] [Minang]

“kype” gab = “water” water: [4] Grey 1840 [: 431:43] [NYUNGAR]

“[gabbie, gabba, gabby]” gaba = “water” water: [24] Hassell, Edney [: 431:23.1] [NYUNGAR]

“gabbi” gabi = “water” water: [9] Moore 1884 [: 431:18] [NYUNGAR]

 

There was no gabala for water, although Moore provided gabilang:

“Gabbilang” gabilang = “Of or belonging to water. Spoken of fish and amphibious animals. From Gabbi, water; and ang, of, l being interposed for sound’s sake.” water: Moore 1842 [:38:1] [NYUNGAR]

 

FURTHER THOUGHTS

If gabala should not mean ‘stream’ or ‘water’, what might it mean instead, and expecially in the context of Bates’s sentence? A search for g@b@l* (where ‘@’ means any single letter, and ‘*’ any group or letters) resulted in two main lines of thought, ‘belly’ and ‘sleep’:

 

BELLY

“Cob-bull” gabul = “Belly” belly: King, P.P. (Nyungar) [:2:10.1] [Minang]

“corpul” gurbul = “belly” belly: [2] Nind 1831 [:214:11] [NYUNGAR]

“kabarla” gabala = “belly” belly: [3] Lyon 1833 [:214:20] [NYUNGAR]

“kob-ba-lo” gabala = “stomach” belly: [5] Symmons 1841 [:395:41] [Wajuk]

“kobbel” gabil = “belly” belly: [16] Hammond [:214:14] [NYUNGAR]

 

SLEEP

“copil” gabil = “sleep” sleep: [2] Nind 1831 [:381:32] [NYUNGAR]

“ko-bel-ya” gubilya = “sleep” sleep: [4 (e)] Grey V [:381:45] [Wardandi]

“ko-pil” gabil = “sleep” sleep: [4] Grey 1840 [:381:46] [NYUNGAR]

“kopil” gabil = “sleep, to” sleep: [9] Moore 1884 [:382:11] [NYUNGAR]

 

Could either ‘belly’ or ‘sleep’ be candidates for Bates’s sentence?

fish where belly

fish where sleep

 

If the sentence were read as: ‘Fish where? Belly’, then perhaps the Nyungar person was enquiring about ‘fish’ as a possibility in relation to his ‘belly’. No comparable plausible link comes to mind for ‘fish where’ and ‘sleep’. So perhaps the words for ‘belly’ and ‘sleep’ are somewhat alike by chance, although the second group of examples above does indicate a contrast in the second syllable of the Nyungar word, featuring ‘-il’ as opposed to predominantly ‘-al’ and ‘-ul’ in the first group.

 

If the ‘belly’ line of thought is pursued, this leads to the idea of ‘hunger’, or ‘hungry’—but first consider any other possibilities.

 

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

The database search also yielded another g@b@l possibility—‘afternoon’:

“gar-ba-la” gabala = “between 3 & 4 pm” afternoon: [4] Grey 1840 [:215:14] [NYUNGAR]

“Garbala” gabala = “The afternoon; the evening; towards sunset.” afternoon: Moore 1842 [:39:5] [NYUNGAR]

 

Maybe people got ‘hungry’ in the ‘afternoon’; maybe the morphologically similar (alike in ‘shape) word is just another coincidence.

So what about ‘hungry’? Should there be a similarity, it would suggest Bates’s sentence was about hunger (fill the ‘belly’) rather than about sleep.

 

HUNGRY

“cobolbut” gabal bad = “hunger; to be hungry” hunger (belly lacking): [8 (E)] Salvado [:292:37] [Balardung]

“koobar” guba = “hungry” hungry: [10 (j)] Curr [:292:51] [Pinjarup]

“goober” gubir = “hungry” hungry: [10 (n)] Curr [:292:49] [Kaniyang]

 

There is not much support, although there is some. And not through the more reliable worldlist compilers. Recourse has been necessary to Salvado, and to Curr. Even so, the above specimens tend to confirm a link between ‘belly’ and ‘hungry’, such that guba might be a root meaning ‘hunger’, and that with the suffix ‘-[a]l’ added it changed its significance to ‘belly’.

 

CONCLUSION

The above reasoning is speculation. Nevertheless it leads to a possible more realistic translation of the initial sentence than the interpretation Bates provided:

dadya wa gabala

fish where — hungry

Where (are the) fish? (I am) hungry

NYUNGAR Words: gurd: Have a heart

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The word for ‘heart’ is ‘gurd’.

“gurt” gurd = “heart” heart: [9] Moore 1884 [:285:52] [NYUNGAR]

“koort” gurd = “heart, the” heart: [4 (b)] Grey [:286:7] [Minang]

“Gurdu” gurdu = “The heart” heart: Moore 1842 [:45:12] []

“goor-doo” gurdu = “heart, the; desire” heart: [4] Grey 1840 [:286:9] [NYUNGAR]

By extension, ‘gurd’ is also used for someone loved:

“kord” gurd = “wife or husband” spouse: [14 (b) (cc)] Bates [: 442:2] [Barlardung]

“körd” gurd = “wife or husband” spouse: Bates Grammar [:77:72] [Balardung]

 

“Gurdar” gurda = “A pair; a couple.” pair: Moore 1842 [:45:10] [NYUNGAR]

“korda” gurda = “wife or husband” spouse: Bates Grammar [:77:45] [Wajuk]

“koor-da” gurda = “married person” spouse: [19] Isaacs 1949 [:320:48] [NYUNGAR]

 

“cordung” gurdang = “husband” husband: [24] Hassell, Edney [:293:44] [NYUNGAR]

“koordunger” gurdangir = “husband; lover” husband: [23] Buller-Murphy [:293:49] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

With the possessive suffix ‘-ag’ to yield ‘heart-of’, the meaning is ‘anxious for’, desirous of’, ‘wanting’:

“Gurdak” gurdag = “Anxious, for any thing” want: Moore 1842 [:121:2] [NYUNGAR]

 

The words for ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘having’ and ‘lacking’ are often combined with ‘gurd’. These words are:

GOOD

“quaup” gwab = “good” good: [2] Nind 1831 [:274:10] [NYUNGAR]

“guaba” gwaba = “good thing” good: [8 (E)] Salvado [:274:32] [Balardung]

“Gwab-ba” gwaba = “good” good: Symmons, Charles [:11:17] [NYUNGAR]

“Gwâba” gwaba = “good” good: Bates Grammar [:67:36] [Kaniyang / Wajuk / Wardandi]

Some of the several words for ‘bad’ follow. The subtleties of these have not so far been clarified:

BAD:

“wau-kyn” wagan = “bad; useless; no good” bad: [4 (b)] Grey [:208:32] [Minang]

“wockun” wagan = “bad, (unfit to eat)” bad: [2] Nind 1831 [:208:34] [NYUNGAR]

 

“war-ra” wara = “horrible (?)” bad: [24] Hassell, Edney [:173:40] [NYUNGAR]

“worra” wara = “bad” bad: [13] Rae [:208:2] [NYUNGAR]

“war-ra” wara = “bad” bad: [4] Grey 1840 [:208:26] [NYUNGAR]

 

“Djul” dyul = “Bad” bad: Symmons, Charles [:10:7] [NYUNGAR]

“Djul” dyul = “Bad.” bad: Moore 1842 [:31:15] [NYUNGAR]

 

HAVING

“cuttuck” gadag = “have” having: [24] Hassell, Edney [:283:11] [NYUNGAR]

“Ga-dak” gadag = “Having (possessing)” having: Moore 1842 [:138:27] [NYUNGAR]

 

LACKING

“bart” bad = “nothing, no” lacking: Bates Grammar [:79:27] [NYUNGAR]

“Bârt” bad = “Not” lacking: Symmons, Charles [:23:30] [NYUNGAR]

“but” bad = “no; none” lacking: [8 (E)] Salvado [:335:41] [Balardung]

EXPRESSIONS

Combining these words with ‘gurd’ yields a variety of often abstract concepts:

“cood cuttuck quab” gud gadag gwab = “fond” heart-having good: [24] Hassell, Edney [:35:1] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart good’

“Gurdugwabba” gurdu gwaba = “Compound of Gurdu, the heart, and Gwabba, good; pleased.” pleased: Moore 1842 [:46:1] [NYUNGAR]

“gürt gwâb öbin” gurd gwababin = “merry, heart “having good”” heart good becoming: Bates Grammar [:67:26] [Pinjarup]

 

‘heart bad’:

“koord wackine” gurd wagan = “sad …” sad: [23] Buller-Murphy [:366:1] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

 

 

“coord wackign” gurd wagan = “sad” sad: [24] Hassell, Edney [:365:47] [NYUNGAR]

“koord-warra” gurd wara = “sorrow; sorry …” sorry: [23] Buller-Murphy [:387:4] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

 

‘angry’, ‘disappointed’

“Gurdu djul” gurdu dyul = “Disappointed” heart bad: Moore 1842 [:129:22] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart-having’: ‘lover’, ‘marriage’:

“gurtgadàk” gurd gadag = “lover” heart-having: [9] Moore 1884 [:316:20] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart-lacking’: distress

“cotoropatpatan” guduru badbadan = “distress, to; to worry; agitate” heart-lacking: [8 (N)] Salvado [:255:23] [Balardung]

Australian indigenous languages are often thought to be deficient in abstract concepts. The rich variety of ideas deriving from ‘gurd’ suggests that perhaps there is no dearth of such abstracts but rather the difficulty in seeking and accurately obtaining them. How much easier it is to use sign language to seek the word for ‘ear’ than for ‘earnest’, for ‘leg’ than for ‘legendary’, for ‘toe’ than for ‘tone’.

 

Here are some examples:

‘heart one come’

“Gurdugyn-yul” gurdu gan yul = “Compound of Gurdu, the heart; Gyn, one; and Yul, to come; agreeing with; of one heart or mind; unanimous.” agreeing with: Moore 1842 [:46:2] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart liver good’

“kootamiara quab” guda miyara qwab = “health; healthy; well” heart liver good: [23] Buller-Murphy [:285:36] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“goort-an-gur” gurdanGur = “howl with fear, to” shriek: [4 (b)] Grey [:292:30] [Minang]

 

‘heart press’ [?]

“goort-boom-gur” gurd bumgur = “embrace, to; to press to the heart” embrace: [4 (b)] Grey [:263:35] [Minang]

 

‘heart twisted’

“goort-daluk” gurd dalag = “sorry, to be; not to have friendly feeling” heart twisted: [4] Grey 1840 [:387:6] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart one come’

“Gurdo-gyn-yul” gurdu gan yul = “Agreeing with” agreeing with: Moore 1842 [:120:8.1] [NYUNGAR]

“Gurdugyn-yul” gurdu gan yul = “Compound of Gurdu, the heart; Gyn, one; and Yul, to come; agreeing with; of one heart or mind; unanimous.” agreeing with: Moore 1842 [:46:2] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘heart agent’

“Gurdumit” gurdu mid = “Compound of Gurdu; the heart, and middi, the agent; the soul.” spirit: Moore 1842 [:46:3] [NYUNGAR]

 

And a complete sentence:

‘I / vegetarian-of / heart hurt stand-ing’

“Ngadjo marynak gurdu bakkanyugowin” ngadyu maranag gurdu bagan yugawuin = “To want … I want flour or food.” I want food: Moore 1842 [:45:13.1] [NYUNGAR]

 

Finally, to rejoice at this richness in the language:

‘every heart good’

“yennar koota quab” yina guda gwab = “rejoice” rejoice: [23] Buller-Murphy [:360:22] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

NYUNGAR Words: dyida or ‘Jetta’

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In 2010 a young indigenous AFL footballer from Western Australia began playing for the Sydney Swans. His name is Louis Jetta. Could his uncommon surname be a Nyungar word, and if so, what might it mean? A search of the database, after respelling it as ‘dyida’, revealed that ‘jetta’ is a Nyungar term, with several meanings.

 
The first of these is ‘bird’, or species of ‘bird’:

BIRD

“dyeeda” dyida = “bird (generic term)” bird: [3] Lyon 1833 [:216:4] [NYUNGAR]

“ji-da” dyida = “bird” bird: [5] Symmons 1841 [:216:1] [Wajuk]

“jee-da” dyida = “thornbill, yellow rumped” thornbill: [18 (w)] Serventy [: 411:39] [Wajuk]

“Jida” dyida = “Wren, yellow-tailed; Acanthiza Chrysorrhoea” wren: Moore 1842 [:170:17] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘dyida‘ combined with ‘maya‘, the word for ‘hut’ or ‘house’, yields the expression for ‘bird’s nest’ as found in the records:

“jee-da-mya” dyida maya = “bird’s nest, a” bird nest: [4] Grey 1840 [:216:23] [NYUNGAR]

“ji-da-my-a” dyida maya = “birds nest” bird nest: [5] Symmons 1841 [:216:21] [Wajuk]

“Jid-amy-a” dyida maya = “Bird’s nest.” bird nest: Moore 1842 [:49:14] [NYUNGAR]

 

A second meaning for ‘jetta’, and one seemingly unrelated to the first, is ‘(edible) root’:

ROOT

“jee-ta” dyida = “root of a sp. of rush – similar to Indian corn” root: [4] Grey 1840 [:363:18] [NYUNGAR]

“jitta” dyida = “root, edible” root: [5] Symmons 1841 [:363:37] [Wajuk]

“Jetta” dyida = “The root of a species of rush, eaten by the natives….” root: Moore 1842 [:49:11] [NYUNGAR]

“Jitta” dyida = “6. Haemadorum-a species of rush” root: Moore 1842 [:154:27] [NYUNGAR]

 

Two more meanings, possibly related to each other but not to the foregoing, are the following. They are to do with ‘light’, specifically the ‘light of day’ for the first, and ‘white’, or ‘light-coloured’, for the second:

DAYLIGHT

“je-dar” dyida = “morning; dawn” dawn: [4] Grey 1840 [:325:48] [NYUNGAR]

“je-dar” dyida = “morning; dawn” dawn: [4] Grey 1840 [:325:48] [NYUNGAR]

“jee-da” dyida = “daylight” daylight: [4] Grey 1840 [:251:47] [NYUNGAR]

“Djidar” dyida = “Dawn of morning; daylight.” dawn: Moore 1842 [:29:10] [NYUNGAR]

“djidar” dyida = “dawn” dawn: [9] Moore 1884 [:251:2] [NYUNGAR]

“Djidar” dyida = “Dawn of morning; daylight.” dawn: Moore 1842 [:29:10] []

 

WHITE

“Djitto” dyida = “Fair; light-coloured.” white: Moore 1842 [:31:4] [NYUNGAR]

“djit-to” dyida = “see djit-ting” white: [4] Grey 1840 [:370:22] [NYUNGAR]

“djee-dal” dyidal = “white or gray” white: [4] Grey 1840 [: 440:3] [NYUNGAR]

“djidal” dyidal = “white” white: [9] Moore 1884 [: 438:38] [NYUNGAR]

“jidaluk” dyidalag = “dark” dark: [10 (n)] Curr [:250:14] [Kaniyang]

 

The last example above, from Curr, combines ‘dyida‘ with two suffixes, ‘-al‘ (possibly ‘dative’ or ‘ablative’), and ‘-ag‘ (possessive). Perhaps these suffixes alter the meaning to the opposite of ‘light’, or perhaps the word can have both meanings, ‘light’ and ‘dark’, just as one word might be used for ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’.

 

This ‘white’ usage for ‘dyida‘ is featured in the expression for an elderly person:

“katta-dyeedal” gada dyidal = “grey-haired” head white: [3] Lyon 1833 [:276:48] [NYUNGAR]

“katta djee-dal” gada dyidal = “grey-headed” head white: [4] Grey 1840 [:276:49] [NYUNGAR]

“cattagigi” gada dyidyi = “hair” head white: [8 (E)] Salvado [:279:37] [Balardung]

 

Salvado, in the final example, identified the expression as meaning ‘hair’, but from the preceding collection there seems little doubt that his ‘cattagigi‘, rendered using Italian conventions, in reality meant ‘head white’, ‘gada‘ being the Nyungar word for ‘head’.

 

NYUNGAR Words: The ‘thunder’ trail

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The sky darkens. There is a heaviness in the air. It feels damp. The clouds are massing. Then the rumbling of thunder starts and it begins to rain, and lightning flashes. Then a deafening clash of thunder overhead. It is in the Australian south-west, and the people there had a word for it:

“koon-dur-nan-gur” gundur nanGur = “thunder or rend the clouds, to” thunder: [4 (b)] Grey [: 415:33] [Minang]

 

In fact they had two words, ‘gundur‘ and ‘nanGur‘, as recorded by Grey. Scott Nind, ten years earlier, made a fairly similar record:

“condernore” gundir nur = “thunder” thunder: [2] Nind 1831 [: 415:4] [NYUNGAR]

 

What exactly did the words mean? Consider:

“koondurt” gundur[a]d = “cloud” cloud: [3 (a)] Lyon [:237:36] [Minang]

“koon-durt” gundur[a]d = “cloud, a” cloud: [4 (b)] Grey [:237:44] [Minang]

“Kundart” gunda[a]d = “(K.G.S.) A cloud.” cloud: Moore 1842 [:62:14] [Minang]

 

From these records it may be taken that ‘gunda‘, perhaps with the suffix ‘-ad‘, meant ‘cloud’. So what about ‘nanGur‘?

“nan-gur” nanGur = “bite, to; to tear; to eat” tear: [4 (b)] Grey [:217:10] [Minang]

“nungoor” nangur = “ant, small” ant: [3] Lyon 1833 [:203:5] [NYUNGAR]

 

Grey claimed ‘nanGur‘ meant ‘bite’, ‘tear’ …, while when Lyon encountered the term he recorded ‘ant’. Lyon might have been right; on the other hand, one thing ants are noted for is ‘biting’, and given the use made of the word in relation to ‘thunder’, ‘bite’ seems a fair probability. There is a wide range of other words for ‘ant’, probably identifying different species of them.

 

 

The meaning of ‘gundur nanGur‘ seems therefore to be the graphically descriptive ‘cloud tear’.
Curr recorded that ‘gundir‘ meant ‘thunder’, but ‘cloud’ seems more probable:

“{konder, mulgar}” gundir = “{thunder}” thunder: [10 (k)] Curr [: 415:7.1] [Kaniyang]

“kondor” gundur = “thunder” thunder: [10 (s)] Curr [: 415:8] [Minang]

 

Another Curr record, apparently totally unrelated, is puzzling:

“goonda” gunda = “milk” milk: [10 (n)] Curr [:322:38] [Kaniyang]

 

Edney Hassell, howver, provided support for it (‘bibi‘ is ‘breast’):

“beeber coonder [[sic]]” bibir gundir = “milk” milk: [24] Hassell, Edney [:322:36] [NYUNGAR]

 

One thing often common to ‘clouds’ and ‘milk’ is the colour ‘white’. A search for ‘white’ provided many different word groupings, but the following collection seemed relevant here:

 

“tdon-dail” dunda[a]l = “fair; white; light-coloured” white: [4] Grey 1840 [:160:22] [NYUNGAR]

“Djundal” dyundal = “White.” white: Moore 1842 [:31:20] [NYUNGAR]

“dyoondal” dyundal = “white, fair hair” white: [3] Lyon 1833 [: 438:47] [NYUNGAR]

 

The consonant sounds ‘g’ and ‘j’ seem often to be mixed, or interchanged, and this might have been occurring here. There is also the suffix ‘-al‘ attached.

 

The next two examples appear to be quite similar, both beginning with a simple ‘d’, and the first also omitting the ‘n’—perhaps a recording or transcription error.

“tdo-dail” duda[a]l = “fair” white: [6] Brady 1845 [:265:23] [NYUNGAR]

“Tdun-dal” dunda[a]l = “(Northern dialect.) Fair; white; lightcoloured.” white: Moore 1842 [:96:7] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

Another pair of words closely similar to one another may have shaded the meaning of ‘whiteness’ somehow:

“tdoon-dil-yer” dundilyir = “fair; white; light-coloured” white: [4 (b)] Grey [:160:25] [NYUNGAR]

“torndiller” durndilir = “whites” white: [2] Nind 1831 [: 440:10] [NYUNGAR]

 

The final pair have a consonantal sequence of d-n-g:

“dongar” dunga = “thunder” thunder: [10 (j)] Curr [: 415:6] [Pinjarup]

“dornda” durnda = “light coloured” white: [12 (v) (aa) (bb)] Bates [:311:14] [NYUNGAR]

 

Some scholars have commented on a feature of the Nyungar group of languages, namely consonantal inversion, or ‘metathesis’. Given that the sequence in the opening example above (for ‘gundur‘) is g-n-d, perhaps this is at play here, strengthening the linking of the first and final forms of ‘white’ cited.

 

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: barang: effective auxiliary

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‘barang‘ crops up a lot. It seems to mean ‘carry’, ‘bring’ and the like.

“Bâr-rang” barang = “bring” carry: Symmons, Charles [:16:2] [NYUNGAR]

“burrung” barang = “get; take: and note jinbu, ranga” carry: [23] Buller-Murphy [:26:14] [NYUNGAR]

“baroŋ” barang = “to fetch, to bring, to pick up” carry: Bates Grammar [:66:13] [NYUNGAR]

“Barrang” barang = “Take in the hand” carry: Moore 1842 [:163:11] [NYUNGAR]

“barrang” barang = “bring, to” carry: [9] Moore 1884 [:226:2] [NYUNGAR]

“bi-rong” birang = “carry” carry: [16] Hammond [:232:29] [NYUNGAR]

“purrong” burang = “touch” touch: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [: 420:6] [NYUNGAR]

But is is also used in combinations, where it seems to have the significance of ‘carry out’, ‘achieve’, or ‘effect’:

“Barrangdedin” barang didin = “To shut up; to cover up.” shut: Moore 1842 [:8:14] [NYUNGAR]

“bur-rang-den-gur” burang dinGur = “cover, to; to close up” effect cover: [4 (b)] Grey [:244:33] [Minang]

“Barrang djinnang” barang dyinang = “Lift up, to” examine: Moore 1842 [:143:33] [NYUNGAR]

“kar-da-bur-rang” garda burang = “pierce, to; to pass clean through” part effect: [4] Grey 1840 [:349:23] [NYUNGAR]

“quadga-burrung” gwadaga burang = “took” PAST take: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 419:27] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“jinburranga” dyin baranga = “find; found: and see burning” find: [23] Buller-Murphy [:74:36] [NYUNGAR]

The additional items in the above verbal pairs may be assessed in the following examples:

“Di-din” didin = “close” shut: Symmons, Charles [:16:8] [NYUNGAR]

“dee-deen” didin = “close, to; to stop up” shut: [4] Grey 1840 [:237:24] [NYUNGAR]

—————-

“den-gur” dinGur = “cover up, to; to close” cover: [4 (b)] Grey [:244:34] [Minang]

—————

“Djin-nâng” dyinang = “see” see: Symmons, Charles [:16:42] [NYUNGAR]

“chinung” dyinang = “look” see: [22] Gray 1987 [:315:28] [NYUNGAR]

“gin-ung” dyinang = “see, to; to perceive” see: [4] Grey 1840 [:371:13] [NYUNGAR]

—————-

“kar-da” garda = “part or portion, a (generally half)” part: [4] Grey 1840 [:346:32] [NYUNGAR]

“Karda” garda = “Portion, or part of a thing” part: Moore 1842 [:151:32] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

 

 

——————–

“quadga” gwadaga = “past; in the past; back” PAST: [23] Buller-Murphy [:346:43] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“quagget” gwadyid = “yesterday” PAST: [10 (r)] Curr [: 450:49] [Balardung]

—————-

“{chenn, jinn}” dyin = “{foot}” foot: [13] Rae 1913 [:268:44] [NYUNGAR]

“Jin” dyin = “As; like.” like: Moore 1842 [:50:8] [NYUNGAR]

“jin” dyin = “stay; staying; stop; stopping: see yuckie” stay: [23] Buller-Murphy [:393:25] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

————–

Of the above, the ‘shut’ and cover’ examples are relatively straightforward.

‘examine’ is obtained from ‘lifting’ an object, and ‘see’.

‘part effect’, or ‘divide in two’ tenuously give the original translation of ‘pierce’ or ‘pass clean through’ some credibility, although ‘dan‘ is the more common word for ‘pierce’:

“taan” dan = “pierce, to; to penetrate; to make an openng” pierce: [4] Grey 1840 [:349:25] [NYUNGAR]

‘gwadaga‘, or words like it, seem to denote past time.

But the last, ‘dyin‘ is the most problematic, and none of the three examples (‘foot’, ‘like’, ‘stay’) seems appropriate. Most often ‘dyin‘ appears to be used as an intensifier, translatable as ‘very’, ‘much’. This, however, is no more likely either. For the time being it defies explanation.

 

There are numerous other examples of the use of the versatile ‘barang‘:

“kardo barrang” gadu barang = “abduct, to” spouse carry: [9] Moore 1884 [:198:5] [NYUNGAR]

“kardo burrang” gadu barang = “carry off a wife by violence, to [to marry]” spouse carry: [4] Grey 1840 [:232:52] [NYUNGAR]

“marh-rabarrang” mara barang = “handle, to” : [9] Moore 1884 [:282:13] [NYUNGAR]

“Ngagynbarrang” ngagan barang = “Purloin, to” theft effect: Moore 1842 [:152:22] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘gadu‘ is ‘spouse’; ‘mara‘ is ‘hand’ (and is so in languages in all mainland states); while ‘ngangan‘ is to do with ‘theft’.

 

There is something of a parallel to ‘barang‘ in the Sydney language (BB), in ‘banga‘:

“Búnga banga = ”To make”: Dawes [a:27:0.1] [BB]

“Bünga” banga = “: To make or do (faire in French)”: Dawes [b:3:29] [BB]

“Bungí” banga-yi = “Made”: Dawes [a:28:20] [BB]

 

“Ban´g-a” banga = “To paddle or row”: Dawes [b:3:1] [BB]

“Bongha” banga = “Oar or Paddle” (paddle, to): Paine, Daniel [42.2:9][BB]

 

“—bungngulliko” -ba-ngGa-li-gu = ‘… to force, to compel”: Tkld AWA Key 1850 [21:18] [AWA]

 

In BB, its sense is ‘to do’, or ‘to make’, thus also ‘to achieve’. It was the word Dawes noted the people used for ‘to row’ (their canoes).

The final example above suggests ‘banga‘ might have also played a similar part in Awabakal just north of the Hawkesbury River.

 

 

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: WIALKI: meaning ‘not known’

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WIALKI

“Latitude 30° 29′ S Longitude 118° 07′ E

The townsite of Wialki is … 341 km north east of Perth and 25 km east of Beacon. … Wialki was gazetted a townsite in 1933. The meaning of the name is not known.”

[http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/corporate.nsf/web/History+of+country+town+names]

 

The above is taken from the ‘Landgate’ website—as is the following:

“Landgate is the Agency responsible for Western Australia’s land and property information. Landgate’s transition from the Department of Land Information came into effect on 1 January 2007. As an Authority Landgate maintains the State’s official register of land ownership and survey information and is responsible for valuing the State’s land and property for government interest.”

 

The Landgate site includes a large number of WA placenames, of which ‘Wialki’ is one.

 

Although Landgate states the meaning of ‘Wialki’ is not known, there are some possibilities. An investigation begins with respelling the name, and continues with acceptance that the vowels in a word may be differently interpreted, and with the agreement to treat the suffix separately.

 

RESPELLING

‘Wialki’ may be respelt wiyal-gi, wayal-gi, wuyal-gi, and any mixture of the vowels ‘a’, ‘u’ and ‘i’ in the word stem.

 

MATCHES IN THE DATABASE

The following are some of the results when a search is undertaken for ‘w@y@l’, where ‘@’ stands for ‘any vowel’ (in fact for ‘any letter’):

 

THIN

Grey, and Moore, state ‘wiyul/wayul’ means ‘thin’ or similar.

“we-yool” wiyul = “thin; slight; wasted” thin: [4] Grey 1840 [410:24] [NYUNGAR]

 

“wy-yul” wayul = “slight” thin: [9] Moore 1884 [382:23] [NYUNGAR]

 

‘[10 (b)]’ is Curr. This source offered ‘fly’.

“weale” wiyal = “fly” fly: [10 (b)] [176:3] [NYUNGAR]

 

KANGAROO RAT

Hassell and Rae offer ‘Kangaroo rat’ for ‘wayal’. It is conceivable that such an animal, at the time the word was collected, was being described as ‘slight’ (compared with a full-sized kangaroo’), and the word was mistaken for ‘kangaroo rat’. However, given a considerable range of examples of somewhat similar words for ‘kangaroo rat’ this seems unlikely.

“woyle” wayal = “kangaroo rat” kangaroo rat: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [302:41] [NYUNGAR]

“woil” wayal = “kangaroo, rat” kangaroo rat: [13] Rae 1913 [302:19] [NYUNGAR]

“Woi-le?” wuyil = “(K.G.S.) A small species of kangaroo.” kangaroo: Moore 1842 [107:8] [Minang]

—————————

 

INVERSION or ‘METATHESIS’

The first three of the following display the inversion phenomenon, or ‘metathesis’, that has been noted in the Nyungar languages or dialects. The first group has ‘–l-y’ and the second ‘–y-l’

“Wal-yo” walyu = “Kangaroo rat” kangaroo rat: Symmons, Charles [6:30] [NYUNGAR]

“Wal-yo” walyu = “Rat, kangaroo rat” kangaroo rat: Moore 1842 [153:13] [NYUNGAR]

“uaglio” walyu = “kangaroo-rat” kangaroo rat: [8 (E)] Salvado [302:40] [Balardung]

 

“woil” wayal = “kangaroo, rat” kangaroo rat: [13] Rae 1913 [302:19] [NYUNGAR]

“woyle” wayal = “kangaroo rat” kangaroo rat: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [302:41] [NYUNGAR]

“woil” wayal = “kangaroo, rat” kangaroo rat: [13] Rae 1913 [302:19] [NYUNGAR]

————————

 

THREE

Words for numbers greater than two often give rise to speculation as to whether the concept was correctly interpreted at the time the record was made. There are many examples of words having the format m-d-n for ‘three’ (e.g. ‘madan‘, ‘mirding‘), but no back-up for ‘wayal‘ in the following example:

“wyal” wayal = “three” three: [3] Lyon 1833 [ 412:28] [NYUNGAR]

CONCLUSION

No conclusion can be drawn as to the meaning of ‘wayal‘, but it does seem that it might more probably have signified ‘kangaroo rat’ than ‘thin, slight, wasted’, or ‘fly’ or ‘three’.

 

SUFFIX -ki

As for the suffix -ki, even less can be proposed at present. A common word incorporated into English in the Australian southwest for a small crayfish today is ‘gilgie’, as indicated by the [www.fish.wa.gov.au] wedsite:

“Gilgies can be commonly found in most streams, rivers and irrigation …”

The same word was noted in 1842 by Moore, featuring the ‘-ki’ suffix:

“Tjil-ki“ dyilgi = “(K.G.S) A species of cray-fish.” crayfish: Moore 1842 [96:16] [NYUNGAR]

Grey, however, recorded the word without the suffix:

“dtjil” dyil = “crayfish, a sp. of” crayfish: [4 (b)] Grey [246:8] [Minang]

Perhaps a clearer picture may emerge when suffixes are looked at more specifically in a later post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: durda: dog / healthy (frisky)

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The most common Nyungar word for ‘dog’ is ‘durda’:

“door-da” durda = “dog, a” dog: [4] Grey 1840 [:256:10] [NYUNGAR]

“tdoor-da” durda = “dog, a” dog: [4] Grey 1840 [:256:12] [NYUNGAR]

“durda” durda = “dog” dog: [8 (E)] Salvado [:255:49] [Balardung]

“dur-da” durda = “dog” dog: [5] Symmons 1841 [:256:7] [Wajuk]

“door-da” durda = “dog, a” dog: [4] Grey 1840 [:256:10] [NYUNGAR]

 

There were various spellings:

“dorder” durdir = “dog” dog: [24] Hassell, Edney [:255:50] [NYUNGAR]

“toorrit” durdir = “dingo” dog: [22] Gray 1987 [:162:27] [NYUNGAR]

“doora [[sic]]” dura = “dog” dog: [3] Lyon 1833 [:256:8] [NYUNGAR]

“Toort” durd = “Dog” dog: Nind, Scott [:3:39] [NYUNGAR]

 
Some recorders did not hear, or note, the ‘r’ sound:

 

“dudah” duda = “dog, native” dog: [7] Stokes 1846 [:256:18] [NYUNGAR]

“tutto” dudu = “dog” dog: [8 (N)] Salvado [:255:52] [Balardung]

 

What emerges from the following is that perhaps the indigenous people did not have in mind ‘dog’ so much as ‘a frisky, alive, vital thing’:

“Dor-dâk” durda[a]g = “Alive” healthy: Symmons, Charles [:10:5] [NYUNGAR]

“toortock” durda[a]g = “well” healthy: [2] Nind 1831 [: 435:32] [NYUNGAR]

 

The ‘-ag‘ suffix denotes the possessive, hence a ‘dog’ was seen as ‘frisky-of’, ‘a frisky thing’.

 

The same idea of being ‘alive’ extended into plants, anything ‘alive’ or ‘healthy’ being seen as ‘green’ — here ‘durda‘ combined with the suffix ‘-ang‘:

“Durdong” durda[a]ng = “(K.G.S.) Green.” green: Moore 1842 [:36:2] [Minang]

“dur-dong” durda[a]ng = “green, colour” green: [9] Moore 1884 [:276:42] [NYUNGAR]

 

Moore, Brady and Symmons recorded the same concept with another word, ‘wangin‘, probably based on ‘wangi‘, ‘speak’:

“won-gin” wanGin = “living – applied to trees” healthy: [9] Moore 1884 [:313:30] [NYUNGAR]

“wang-en” wangin = “well” healthy: [6] Brady 1845 [: 435:34] [NYUNGAR]

“Won-gin” wangin = “Alive” healthy: Symmons, Charles [:10:4] [NYUNGAR]

 

Linking ‘healthiness’ (or ‘friskiness’, or ‘green-ness’) to plants was specifically indicated by Moore above. It can be assumed that the ‘green’ of ‘durdang‘, meant ‘healthy; as much as ‘green’.

 

A final example provided by Moore has ‘durda‘ + ‘-ag‘ possessive + ‘-abin‘ ‘inchoative’ (beginning) for ‘beginning to become frisky’, or ‘getting better’ (healthier):

“Durdakabbin” durda[a]gabin = “[Getting; becoming. … Durdakabbin, getting well, recovering from sickness.]” healthy: Moore 1842 [:1:4.2] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: manga connections

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What can ‘nest’, ‘barb’, ‘spear’, ‘leaf’, ‘hair’ and ‘shoulder’ have to do with one another? They all appear to be linked through ‘manga / munga’.

 

The basic idea appears to be ‘strand’, ‘thread’.

 

NEST

A nest is composed of many strands:

“munga” manga = “a nest” nest: [4] Grey 1840 [:120:45] [NYUNGAR]

“Mân-ga” manGa = “Bird, (nest of)” nest: Symmons, Charles [:7:55] [NYUNGAR]

 

BARB

Grey, below, links ‘barb’ and ‘hair’. A barb is a single point, and a hair a single strand.

“mun-gar” munGa = “barb, a; hair” barb: [4] Grey 1840 [:210:11] [NYUNGAR]

“Man-gar” manGa = “Barb of a spear …” barb: Moore 1842 [:68:21] [NYUNGAR]

 

SPEAR

Whether Hassell below was correct or not in stating ‘munga’ meant a type of ‘spear’ is not known. The reference could have been to ‘barb’, a feature of the spear concerned:

“mungar” munga = “hunting spears” spear: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:293:36] [NYUNGAR]

“mungay” manga = “fishing spears” spear: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [::] [NYUNGAR]

 

Salvado defines ‘reed spear’: ‘gidyi’ is a common word for ‘spear’; and ‘reed’ is yet another ‘strand’.

“mangarghichi” manga gidyi = “spear, reed” barb spear: [8] Salvado 1851 [:388:45] [NYUNGAR]

 

LEAF

Symmons in describing fig leaves uses ‘leaf’ (‘manga”) with a plural marker: ‘-ra’:

“Mân-ga-ra” manGara = “Hottentot fig (leaves of)” leaf: Symmons, Charles [:7:29] [NYUNGAR]

 

HAIR

The following examples indicate that ‘manga’ also stood for hair. ‘gada’ means ‘head:

“munga” munga = “hair” hair: [23] Buller-Murphy [:279:43] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“mungar” munga = “hair of the head” hair: [10 (n)] Curr [:280:23] [Kaniyang]

“karta munga” gada manga = “hair (on head)” hair: [23] Buller-Murphy [:280:5] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“katta mangara” gada mangara = “hair of the head” hair: [6] Brady 1845 [:280:11] [NYUNGAR]

 

SHOULDER

This last example would suggest that the wordlist compilers might have erred. ‘Hair’ might have reached the ‘shoulder’, giving rise to misunderstanding. But who is to say now whether they were right or wrong?

“monga” manga = “shoulder” shoulder: [3] Lyon 1833 [:375:28] [NYUNGAR]

“mongo” manga = “shoulder” shoulder: [8 (E)] Salvado [:375:29] [Balardung]

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: windu: old

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It often happens that a word appears in a list, with alongside it a simple translation, such as ‘windu’: ‘old’

“Win-do” windu = “Old” decrepit: Symmons, Charles [:10:31] [NYUNGAR]

“windo” windu = “man, an old” decrepit: [5] Symmons 1841 [:319:48] [Wajuk]

There being several additional examples in the wordlists of ‘windu’, an idea emerges that ‘windu’ is not so much ‘old’ as a characteristic of ageing — ‘bad’, ‘thin’, ‘useless’ or ‘worn out’:

“win-do” windu = “old; useless; worn out” decrepit: [4] Grey 1840 [:339:46] [NYUNGAR]

“windo” windu = “bad” bad: [9] Moore 1884 [:208:7] [NYUNGAR]

“uindo” windu = “thin” thin: [8 (N)] Salvado [:410:16] [Balardung]

“windo” windu = “useless” decrepit: [6] Brady 1845 [: 427:46] [NYUNGAR]

“windo” windu = “worn out” decrepit: [9] Moore 1884 [: 447:21] [NYUNGAR]

Investigation of the root ‘win’ yields additional insights:

“bal wenat” bal winad = “He is dead (he dead)” he dead: Bates Grammar [:71:23] [Wajuk]

“bal wenin” bal winin = “he is dead” he dead: [14 (n)] Bates [:284:12] [Kaniyang]

In the above examples, ’win’ is about ‘death’‘

bal is the pronoun ‘he’, ‘him’, while ‘-ad’ is a suffix attached to nouns, and ‘-in’ is another often attached to verbs.

 

Another example confirms the ‘death’ connotation:

“Winatding” winading = “(N. E. dialect.) Dead; derived from or connected in some way with Wynaga, dead.” dead: Moore 1842 [:106:8] [NYUNGAR]

Moore indicated in numerous other instances that the suffix –aga is the past tense marker. Two of these follow:

“Bimban” bimban = “Pres. part., Bimbanwin, or Bimbanan; past tense, Bimban-agga. To kiss.” kiss: Moore 1842 [:12:9] [NYUNGAR]

“Yilbin” yilbin = “Pres. part., Yilbinin; past tense, Yilbinagga, To glance off; to graze.” graze: Moore 1842 [:113:18] [NYUNGAR]

Consequently ‘ wanaga’ may be taken to mean ‘die did’ (did die, died):

“Wynaga” wanaga = “…dead.]” die did: Moore 1842 [:106:8.1] [NYUNGAR]

The root ‘win’ now appears to be ‘wan’. The following suggest it might be the same with an altered sound or spelling:

“wain” wan = “die” die: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:254:15] [NYUNGAR]

“wanign” wanan = “fear; fright; terror” fear: [23] Buller-Murphy [:171:46] [NYUNGAR]

“waininger” waningir = “coward” coward: [23] Buller-Murphy [:245:1] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“wanni” wani = “die, to” die: [6] Brady 1845 [:254:21] [NYUNGAR]

“waining” waning = “dead” dead: [10 (r)] Curr [:252:15] [Balardung]

“waining” waning = “thirsty” thirsty: [10 (p)] Curr [: 411:9] [Kaniyang]

So far all the associations with ‘win’, ‘wan’ have been negative. In the above examples, ‘die’, ‘fear’, ‘coward’ and ‘thirsty’,are all negative, the last perhaps representing ‘dying of thirst’.

 

In the next example the expression ‘wan yurdu’ continues the negative outlook. Its literal translation might be ‘bad forehead’ rather than the ‘indisposed’ Moore has offered:

“Wan-yur-du” wan yurdu = “Indisposed.” ill: Moore 1842 [:100:14] [NYUNGAR]

“yoordo” yurdu = “forehead” forehead: [3] Lyon 1833 [:268:52] [NYUNGAR]

“yurdo” yurdu = “forehead, the” forehead: [6] Brady 1845 [:269:2] [NYUNGAR]

However, ‘wan’ does not always have negative connotations:

“won-gin” wangin = “living; green – when applied to wood, leaves” green: [4] Grey 1840 [:313:31] [NYUNGAR]

“wang-en” wangin = “well” healthy: [6] Brady 1845 [: 435:34] [NYUNGAR]

“wanjin” wandyin = “sound” sound: [23] Buller-Murphy [:387:20] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

‘sound’ in the last example, would appear to have the meaning opposite to ‘rotten’. The last example, spelt ‘wanjin’ raises the recurring problem of how to transcribe ‘g’ of the wordlist compilers, notably in the two preceding examples, as in ‘gift’ and ‘gibbon’ —or sounding as ‘j’ as in ‘gist’? and ‘giblet’?

 

In summary, the root ‘win/wan’ seems to have the connotation of ‘languish’, different suffixes elaborating on the meanings. In the case of the suffix ‘gin/dyin’, it appears to have the opposite connotation: ‘flourish’.

NYUNGAR Words: gur / garu: ‘again’, ‘more’

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A large number of Nyungar words end in -gur but no common thread jumps out to suggest a meaning.
‘gur’ also occurs on its own, as does the similar ‘garu’:

“garoo” garu = “more, (beeliar)” more: [3] Lyon 1833 [:325:42] [NYUNGAR]

“kar-ro” garu = “again; more” again: [4] Grey 1840 [:199:41] [NYUNGAR]

“kor, kor” gur = “Again” again: Bates Grammar [:75:8] [NYUNGAR]

“Garro” garu = “Again; then.” again: Moore 1842 [:40:11] [NYUNGAR]

The meanings are ‘again’, and ‘more’, conveying a repetitive idea. Bates provided examples:

“benan kor jinan” binan gur dyinan = “tomorrow morning you will see me again” tomorrow again see: [14 (t) (v)] Bates [: 418:30] [Wajuk]

“ŋanya kor yenaga” nganya gur yinaga = “I went again” I again go did: Bates Grammar [:74:26] [NYUNGAR]

and Buller-Murphy noted a persisting difficulty with flies — ‘fly again’:

“nooduck koran” nudag guran = “again” fly again: [23] Buller-Murphy [:199:38] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

SYDNEY

However, what makes the word especially interesting is its link, or coincidence, with the Sydney language (‘Biyal Biyal, or BB):

“Gore gore” gura gura = “More more” more: Dawes (b) [b:8:8] [BB]

“Go-ray” gura = “More” more: Anon (c) [c:17:9] [BB]

“Curra” gura = “More” more: Southwell [148.1:19] [BB]

 

The surveyor Mathews, who recorded many languages, noted a Darkinyung use, just to the northward of Sydney

“gurai” gurai = “Several” several: Mathews DARK 1903 [274:33.3] [Dark]

 

 

William Dawes, the first and greatest recorder of the Sydney language, seemed pleased to note that ‘gur’ more or less rhymed with its English counterpart ‘more’:

 

“[Wéaling white man gore?]” gura = “[What does white man say for ‘gore’? Answer: More.]” more: Dawes (b) [b:26:7.3] [BB]

and he provided another sentence example, recording a moment when his young informant sought warmth in front of a winter fire, naked, before putting on the clothes he had provided:

“Goredyú tágarin” guradyu dagarin = “I more it (that is I take more of it) from cold …” more I cold from: Dawes (b) [b:28:1.1] [BB]

 
Still further examples establish ‘gur’ and its variants as meaning ‘more’, ‘again’, in Sydney:

 

“Wålumibámi góre badyü´lgo” walumibami gura badyalgu = “When will you be sick again” when thou more ill-towards: Dawes (b) [b:26:5.1] [BB]

““Curra-Bar-do”” gura badu = “More water” more water: Southwell [148.1:20] [BB]

 

“Brúwi kar˙adyuwi ngábüng” buruwi garadyuwi ngabang = “(All) three have large breasts—that is: They are all three women grown” three increase did they-all breast: Dawes (b) [b:35:3] [BB]

 

 

 

A particular puzzle remains — ‘did-yer-re-goor’:

“Did-yer-re-goor” diyi dyiri gur = “Enough or I am satisfied” enough: Anon (c) [c:17:10] [BB]

“Didgerry-goor” diyi dyiri gur = “Only a little bit more” enough: Anon (c) [c:19:7.1] [BB]

“Did-yerre-goor” diyi dyiri gur = “No more” enough: Anon (c) [c:11:2] [BB]

“Didgerry-goor” didyiri gur = “I thank you” enough: King MS [402:20] [BB]

“Didgerry-goor Wogul Banne” didyiri gur wagal bani = “I thank you for one bit” enough, one-lacking: King MS [402:21] [BB]

This expression was recorded several times, with estimates as to its meaning. These boil down to the idea of ‘enough’. But what were the component parts of the ‘enough’ concept?

 

 

 

 

 

The difficulties for ‘did-yer-re-goor’ are:
—it is not known how properly to transcribe it, and two versions are given in the above examples;
—it is not known what ‘dyiri’ might mean;
—did the opening syllable stand for ‘diyi’, meaning ‘this’?
—could ‘dyiri‘ have been the ‘proprietive’ suffix: ‘having’? It is not unlike the equivalents in the NSW language names ‘Wira-dhuri‘ and ‘Kamil-arai‘ — ‘wira’-having, ‘gamil’-having, ‘wira’ and ‘gamil’ being the words for ‘no’ in those languages, a distinctive word (often ‘no’) being a common way of naming a language. (While the complementary ‘privative’ or ‘lacking’ suffix was clear in BB (‘-buni’), the ‘having’ form was not indicated in any of the wordlists.)

 

 

 

Australian indigenous languages did not have the politeness terms (‘good morning’, ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘how do you do?’ of English and European languages) but for modern day purposes such terms are sought for. ‘did-yer-re-goor’ has been adopted by some in Sydney for ‘thank you’, but that is not what it meant.

Could the literal translation possibly have been ‘this-having more’?

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: through / pierce / intend

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On p. 283 of A Nyoongar Wordlist from the Southwest of Western Australia (Bindon and Chadwick, 1992) there is an entry of which the following is an adaptation:

“gur-rab-a-ra” gurabara = “[(wangurt yugow) having pierced through]” hole: [4] Grey 1840 [:283:21.1] [NYUNGAR]

This entry started off a trail of enquiry in which the following played a part:

—gurubara: hole

—wangurd: ???

—yugawu: stand

—pierce

—through

—hole

—intend

 

HOLE

“gur-rab” gurab = “hole, a; a hollow place” hole: [4] Grey 1840 [:290:35] [NYUNGAR]

“ka-ri-pa” gariba = “cave (or hole of any sort)” cave:[19] Isaacs 1949 [:233:30] [NYUNGAR]

“gãrrab” garab = “hole [cave; hollow]” hole: [9] Moore 1884 [:290:29] [NYUNGAR]

“karup” garab = “nostrils” hole: [3] Lyon 1833 [:337:20] [NYUNGAR]

“gur-rab” gurab = “hole, a; a hollow place” hole: [4] Grey 1840 [:290:35] [NYUNGAR]

From the above it seems clear that ‘garab’ and like forms convey the idea of ‘hole’. And from the following it seems there may be the possibility of a suffix denoting plurality:

“Garrabara” garabara = “Full of holes; pierced with holes.” hole: Moore 1842 [:40:4] [NYUNGAR]

“gur-rab-a-ra” gurabara = “[(wangurt yugow) having pierced through]” hole: [4] Grey 1840 [:283:21.1] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

 

 

 

yugawu: stand

According to Moore, ‘yugawu’ means roughly ‘stand’:

“Yugow” yugawu = “…To be; to stand; to exist.” stand: Moore 1842 [:114:24] [NYUNGAR]

“yugow” yugawu = “stand, to” stand: [9] Moore 1884 [:392:13] [NYUNGAR]

It is used in combinations such as the following:

“ira-yugow” yira yugawu = “stand up, to” high stand: [6] Brady 1845 [:392:18] [NYUNGAR]

“Gurdubakkan-yugow” gurdu bagan yugawu = “To want; as Ngadjo marynak gurdu bakkanyugowin, I want flour or food.” want [heart hurt stand]: Moore 1842 [:45:13] [NYUNGAR]

 

“Kobbalobakkan-yugow” gabalu bagan yugawu = “To want. To hunger for a thing.” want [belly hurt stand]: Moore 1842 [:58:20] [NYUNGAR]

 

“yu-gow-murrijo” yugawu muridyu = “run, to; (literally) stand & go” stand move: [4] Grey 1840 [:365:25] [NYUNGAR]

And in the present example, there is ‘wangurd yugawu’ indicated in the first example as meaning ‘having pierced through’.

 

PIERCE

Consider first the possibilities of ‘pierce’, and then ‘through’.

“dtan” dan = “pierce, to; penetrate; make an opening” pierce: [4] Grey 1840 [:349:24] [NYUNGAR]

“Dtan” dan = “pierce” pierce: Symmons, Charles [:16:36] [NYUNGAR]

“Dtan” dan = “Penetrate, to” pierce: Moore 1842 [:150:32] [NYUNGAR]

“dorn” durn = “pierce” pierce: [24] Hassell, Edney [:349:20] [NYUNGAR]

“dorn” durn = “pierce” pierce: [23] Buller-Murphy [:349:21] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

These records suggest ‘dan’ as a probability for ‘pierce’ rather than ‘wangurd’.

 

THROUGH?

Could ‘wangurd/wagurd/wagad’ mean ‘through’?

“wau-gurt” wagurd = “through; pierced through” through pierce [?]: [4] Grey 1840 [: 413:35] [NYUNGAR]

“wau-gurt” wagurd = “pierced through” through pierce [?]: [6] Brady 1845 [:349:27] [NYUNGAR]

“wau-gart” wagad = “through; pierced through” pierce: [9] Moore 1884 [: 413:34] [NYUNGAR]

“Waugard dtan” wagad dan = “To pierce through.” through pierce [?]: Moore 1842 [:103:8] [NYUNGAR]

As Australian indigenous languages use suffixes for meanings in place of the prepositions of English, and as ‘wangurd/wagad’ is not a suffix, and as ‘through’ is a preposition, then what is ‘wangurd/wagurd/wagad’?

 

INTENTION

Moore offers a suggestion of ‘intention’ in the following:

“Ordak” wurdag = “A particle affixed to verbs, signifying to intend; to purpose….” intend: Moore 1842 [:94:5] [NYUNGAR]

“Ordakbarrang” wurdag barang = “… to intend to take…: Moore 1842 [:94:5.2] [NYUNGAR]

“Ordak dtan” wurdag dan = “…to intend to pierce.” intend pierce: Moore 1842 [:94:5.1] [NYUNGAR]

ENDNOTES

Two matters remain for clarification:

—’wangurd’ or ‘wagurd/wagad’

—’wurdag’ or ‘wagurd/wagad’ (intention)

 

Note that the first record cited in this ‘post’ is Grey’s, of 1840—the earliest of these records:

“wangurt yugow” wangurd yugawu = “(wangurt yugow) having pierced through” pierce: [4] Grey 1840 [:283:21] [NYUNGAR]

Grey uses ‘wangurt’. Subsequent wordlists feature “wau-gurd” and variants, including by Grey. It would seem likely that the letter ‘n’ may have been misread as ‘u’, and the mistake thereafter compounded by copying (unless Grey’s original ‘wangurt’ were the mistake).

 

As for ‘wurdag’ (intention), in the Nyungar languages the phenomenon of inversion occurs, known as ‘metathesis’, where sounds or syllables within a word are transposed.

‘wurdag’ displays this feature with respect to ‘wagurd’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NYUNGAR Words: yuda

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‘yuda’ occurs in all the following expressions connected with flowering plants:

“beljie-ah-yootah-boolyah” bildyiya yuda bulya = “leschenaultia (blue flowering bush)” blue shrub flowering: [16] Hammond [:309:41] [NYUNGAR]

“beljie-yootah-kwiljee” bildyi yuda gwildyi = “runner, red (red flowering climber)” red runner: [16] Hammond [:365:31] [NYUNGAR]

“{beljie-yootah, boolyah}” bildyi yuda = “everlasting, red” red flower : [16] Hammond [:264:30.01] [NYUNGAR]

“beljie-yootah, bounuh” bildyi yuda buna = “gum, red-flowering” red flower tree: [16] Hammond [:279:2] [NYUNGAR]”bounuh-yootah” buna yuda = “kangaroo paw (stick bush)” kangaroo paw: [16] Hammond [:302:37] [NYUNGAR]

“kahta-ninda-yootah” gada ninda yuda = “orchid, spider (head & tail flower)” orchid: [16] Hammond [:342:15] [NYUNGAR]

“yallominee-yootah-bounuh” yalumini yuda buna = “bush, smoke” smoke bush: [16] Hammond [:229:46] [NYUNGAR]

“yooljee-ah-mun-gyt-yootah” yuldyiya mangad yuda = “banksia” banksia: [16] Hammond [:209:42] [NYUNGAR]

“yooljee-ah-mun-gyt-yootah” yuldyiya mangad yuda = “tree, banksia (yellow honey flower)” banksia: [16] Hammond [: 421:10] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

From this is would seem the best interpretation of ‘yuda’ is ‘flower’.

 

Other vocabulary that can be deduced:

bildyi: red/blood

bulya: [normally ‘magic/evil spirit; so possibly a transcription error for ‘buna’]

gwildyi: climber, creeper [?]

buna: wood, tree, stick

gada: head

ninda: tail

yalumini: white (bright?); moon, smoke (both being white/bright)

yuldyiya: yellow

mangad: sweet, honey, nectar, sugar — hence sweet things such as banksia flowers

 

Further support from the records:

“bil-jee” bildyi = “blood” blood: [16] Hammond [:219:43] [NYUNGAR]

“biljie” bildyi = “red (same as for blood)” red: [16] Hammond [:360:8] [NYUNGAR]

“boo-na” buna = “wood” wood: [4 (a)] Grey [: 446:42] [Wajuk]

“boona” buna = “tree; wood; stick” tree: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 420:42] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“cata” gada = “head” head: [8] Salvado 1851 [:284:38] [NYUNGAR]

“kat-ta” gada = “head” head: [5] Symmons 1841 [:284:51] [Wajuk]

“yallominee” yalumini = “moon” moon: [16] Hammond [:325:7] [NYUNGAR]

“yallominee” yalumini = “white (same as moon)” white: [16] Hammond [: 438:45] [NYUNGAR]

 

“Neent” nind = “Tail” tail: Nind, Scott [:4:44] [NYUNGAR]

“neent” nind = “tail” tail: [2] Nind 1831 [:403:34] [NYUNGAR]

“neander” niyandir = “tail” tail: [24] Hassell, Edney [:403:35] [NYUNGAR]

“neint” niyind = “tail” tail: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:403:38] [NYUNGAR]

“yool-jie-ah” yuldyiya = “yellow” yellow: [16] Hammond [: 449:29] [NYUNGAR]

 

“mungitch” mungidy = “honey, sweet, sugar” sweet: [24] Hassell, Edney [:291:1] [NYUNGAR]

“mungitch” mangidy = “banksia; honey; sweet; sweetly; sugar” nut: [23] Buller-Murphy [:210:8] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“mungyt” mangad = “sugar; honey; anything sweet” nectar: [15] Hammond [:399:3] [NYUNGAR]

Observations

—’yuda’ would seem to mean ‘flower’, not ‘bush/shrub’

—’bulya’ (3rd example) might be a transcription error, given that ‘buna’ appears in the example following, having the same form

—’mangad’ would seem to mean ‘sweet’. This word was considered in a previous post, where is was suggested it might really mean ‘ant’. Perhaps there is a connection in ‘sugar ant’, Australian ants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nyungar words: mangad: aunt / ant / any

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English commonly has specific words to express shades of meaning. It has, for example, endless words for colour names: not only ‘red’ but ‘scarlet’, ‘crimson’, ‘vermilion’, ‘pink’ and so on. Australian indigenous languages might have words for ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘red’, ‘green’ and perhaps ‘yellow’, with ‘black’, for example, being also the word for ‘night’, and the other colour words being terms for entities of the colour concerned.
Indigenous languages were specific about some matters of concern, notably family relationships: ‘son’, ‘father’, ‘father’s sister’, ‘father’s father’ and many more. English terms have been adopted to approximate this usage: ‘uncle’, ‘aunt’, ‘mother-in-law’ and the like. The European term ‘aunt’ does not distinguish between ‘father’s sister’ and ‘mother’s sister’, and likewise for ‘uncle’. For Europeans, this lack of precision does not much matter.

“mun-gat” manGad = “ant” aunt: [4] Grey 1840 [:202:32] [NYUNGAR]

“Mân-gat” manGad = “Aunt” aunt: Symmons, Charles [:4:4] [NYUNGAR]

“Man-gat” manGad = “Aunt; mother-in-law.” aunt: Moore 1842 [:69:3] [NYUNGAR]

“man-gat” manGad = “mother-in-law” mother-in-law: [5] Symmons 1841 [:327:35] [Wajuk]

 

In the database from which the above extracts are taken there are ten examples similar to the above entries. All of the ten are provided by Grey, Moore or Symmons, and of these, Grey (1840), is the earliest. As in much of the database, it seems that one source copied copiously from another.

 

As can be seen from the first record above, Grey stated that ‘manGad’ meant ‘ant’. Subsequently all family relationship interpretations of ‘mangad’ (for it had other quite different meanings too) were not ‘ant’ but ‘aunt’ or ‘mother-in-law’, i.e. senior female relatives. On the basis of 9 to 1, I opted for ‘aunt’ for Grey’s word, assuming he had made a recording error. But perhaps he was right, and the copyists were wrong in their transcriptions of his work. When once an error is made, further copying compounds a blunder.

 

Sydney is far away, but nevertheless there is at times some relationship among the indigenous languages. All the Pama-Nyungan languages of most of the continent had a common origin. Over immense time, as the peoples spread over the continent, separate languages evolved.

 

In the Sydney language (which I have termed Biyal Biyal, abbreviated to BB), one word for ‘ant’ is ‘mang’—close to ‘mangad’.

 

“Mong” mang = “Ant …” ant: Painters [:] [BB]

“Mong” mang = “Small brown ant” ant: Brown, Rbt: Georges R [264.72:2] [DgR]

“Mon” man = “Any” ant: Anon (c) [c:31:15] [BB]

“Mong” mang = “An ant” ant: King in Hunter [409.2:19] [BB]

“muun” mun = “ant (green)” ant: KAOL Ridley [KML] [20:18] [Kamilaroi]

“mu-un” mun = “Greenheaded ant” ant: Mathews KML/Dwl [278.5:9] [Kamilaroi]

“Moon” mun = “Small black ant” ant: SofM 1900 05 21 [Tibbetts] [63:38] [WIRA]

Similar words are found in the inland NSW languages Wiradhuri and Kamilaroi, as can be seen from the bottom three examples above.

 

Of course this might just be a coincidence: ‘mangad’ in Nyungar, ‘mang’ or ‘mun/man’ in certain NSW languages.

 

And finally there is another curiosity concerning ‘ant’. In the ‘Anon’ notebook record of BB vocabulary compiled around 1790 a transcription error was made in copying a rough note into the governor’s word list, as the middle item in the following extract shows:

 


It was not ‘Any’ but ‘Ant’ that should have been written.

NYUNGAR Words: murdu, murda: high/deep hard/firm bald rat young night

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There seem to be two distinct concepts here, one or the other possibly underlying several of the additional ideas presented below.
HIGH/DEEP

“mor-da” murda = “high; steep; deep” high: [4] Grey 1840 [:289:6] [NYUNGAR]

“moorda” murda = “blue mountains” high: [3] Lyon 1833 [:221:4] [NYUNGAR]

“marda” mada = “hill” hill: [10 (q)] Curr [:289:30] [Natingero]

“Mordo” murdu = “A mountain. …” hill: Moore 1842 [:77:5] [NYUNGAR]

“Mordak” murda[a]g = “Deep” deep: Moore 1842 [:129:8] [NYUNGAR]

“moodark” murda[a]g = “deep; depth” deep: [23] Buller-Murphy [:253:17] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“Mordak” murda[a]g = “Deep; steep, or high.” deep: Moore 1842 [:77:1] [NYUNGAR]

“mor-dak” murda[a]g = “hole in ground that by-yu is buried in” hole: [4] Grey 1840 [:290:36] [NYUNGAR]

“Murdong” murdang = “A mountaineer.” mountaineer: Moore 1842 [:79:11] [NYUNGAR]

“Murdar” murda = “(K.G.S.) A species of fish.” fish: Moore 1842 [:79:8] [Minang]

“[muda, murdo]” murdu = “whiting (fish)” whiting: [13] Rae [: 440:14.2] [NYUNGAR]

‘high’ suggests ‘hill’, and ‘mountaineer’;

‘deep’, which is another way of considering the vertical dimension, suggests a ‘hole in the ground’; and ‘fish’, insofar as the indigenous informant might have been pointing at one and said it was ‘deep’, this word having been mistaken for the word for ‘fish’.

 

“Mordakanan” murda[a]ganan = “Drown, to, active verb” drown: Moore 1842 [:130:14] [NYUNGAR]

“Mordakal-ap” murda[a]galab = “Drowned, to be drowned” drown: Moore 1842 [:130:15] [NYUNGAR]

 

 

To ‘drown’ is likewise associated with ‘deep’, the above ‘murda’ examples featuring the possessive suffix ‘-ag’, and the continuative ‘-an’ (in the first instance repeated as ‘-anan’.

 

HARD/FIRM

“murdoin” murduwin = “firm” firm: [9] Moore 1884 [::] [NYUNGAR]

“moor-doo-een, moordoo-een” murduwin = “hard; unpleasant to lie on” firm: [4] Grey 1840 [:282:43] [NYUNGAR]

“moor-doo-een” murduwin = “strong; powerful” firm: [4] Grey 1840 [:398:18] [NYUNGAR]

“murrt” murd = “penis” penis: [22] Gray 1987 [:348:16] [NYUNGAR]

While there are fewer sources for ‘hard/firm’, error nevertheless seems unlikely in view of the ‘expressions’ provided at the end of this post.

 

Linking ‘hard’firm’ to ‘penis’ is speculative, but might be apt under certain circumstances.

 

FURTHER EXTENSIONS TO THE ‘hard/firm’ CONCEPT

YOUNG

“mordie” murdi = “young” young: [24] Hassell, Edney [: 452:34] [NYUNGAR]

“mordie moragut” murdi muragad = “young man” young male: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 453:12] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“mordie boona” murdi buna = “sapling (young tree)” young stick: [23] Buller-Murphy [:367:2] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“mordie yorger” murdi yagir = “young woman” young woman: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 453:22] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“{marleet, mardung} ” madang = “{brother, younger}” brother: [10 (s)] Curr [:228:4.2] [Minang]

“mardial” madyal = “brother, younger” brother: [10 (k)] Curr [:228:5] [Kaniyang]

NUT

“Marda” mada = “Nut, York nut” nut: Moore 1842 [:148:29] [NYUNGAR]

BALD / BARE

“marda” mada = “bald” bald: [6] Brady 1845 [:209:5] [NYUNGAR]

“Marda” mada = “Bald …” bald: Moore 1842 [:70:8] [NYUNGAR]

“mardi” madi = “bald” bald: [9] Moore 1884 [:209:7] [NYUNGAR]

“mur-da” murda = “bald” bald: [4] Grey 1840 [:209:8] [NYUNGAR]

“moordu” murdu = “head, back of” head: [3] Lyon 1833 [:285:21] [NYUNGAR]

‘young’ things might be perceived as ‘firm’;

A ‘nut’ might be ‘hard’;

and a ‘bald’ head might be regarded, like a stone which it somewhat resembles, as ‘hard’ too; the same would apply to ‘the back of the head’.

 

MORPHOLOGICAL OBSCURITIES

The following resemble ‘murdu/murda’ but do not seem linked by meaning to the foregoing.

 

NIGHT / DARK [ERROR [?] ‘night’ words: mand…, mara…, maya…]

“moordong” murdang = “dark” night: [10 (e)] Curr [:250:24] [NYUNGAR]

“Mard-angwin” madangwin = “Hunting, by moonlight” hunt: Moore 1842 [:140:18] [NYUNGAR]

“mardangwin” madangwin = “hunting by the light of the moon” hunt: [6] Brady 1845 [:293:34] [NYUNGAR]

RAT / MOUSE

“mort” murd = “kangaroo rat, kind of” kangaroo rat: [11] Hassell AA 1894 [?] [:302:48] [NYUNGAR]

“moor-da” murda = “mouse, ground” rat: [19] Isaacs 1949 [:328:35] [NYUNGAR]

“mardo” madu = “mouse sp.” rat: [9] Moore 1884 [:328:28] [NYUNGAR]

“morder” murdir = “rat, marsupial” rat: [24] Hassell, Edney [:359:22] [NYUNGAR]

“Murdo” murdu = “In vain.” futile: Moore 1842 [:79:9] [NYUNGAR]

It is possible that the ‘night’ references were poorly recorded, as there are numerous examples in the word lists based on such stems as ‘mand…’, ‘mara…’ and ‘maya…’ So these ‘night’ instances, including ‘hunting’, might perhaps be disregarded in the present context.

 

In the case of ‘rat/mouse’, the only possible link would seem to be through ‘deep’, these animals perhaps making use of holes in the ground.

 

As for ‘in vain’, so far no support for this has arisen from the word lists.

 

EXPRESSIONS

It is intriguing to see how the indigenous people combined words to describe concepts.

 

“kattidj murdoinan” gadidy murduwinan = “fix the attention upon” hear firm-ing: [6] Brady 1845 [:267:49] [NYUNGAR]

“Kattidjmurdoinan” gadidy murduwinan = “To mind; to fix your attention upon.” hear firm-ing: Moore 1842 [:58:5] [NYUNGAR]

“Kattamordo” gada murdu = “…The mountains; the high head. The … Darling range of hills…” head high: Moore 1842 [:57:21] [Wajuk]

“Katta Marda” gada mada = “[Bald; as Katta Marda, bald-headed.]” bald: Moore 1842 [:70:8.1] [NYUNGAR]

“katta marda” gada mada = “bald headed” bald: [6] Brady 1845 [:209:11] [NYUNGAR]

 

“bidimurduin” bidi murdwin = “powerful” strong: [9] Moore 1884 [:354:46] [NYUNGAR]

“bidi-murduin” bidi murdwin = “strong” strong: [6] Brady 1845 [:398:15] [NYUNGAR]

“ngan-ga moor-doo-een” nganGa murduwin = “sun is powerful, the” sun firm: [4] Grey 1840 [:400:13] [NYUNGAR]

‘gadidy’ is of the ‘mind’: ‘hear’, ‘know’, ‘listen’, ‘understand’, ‘think’ and the like. So ‘hear firm-ing’ is ‘fixing the attention upon’.

 

‘gada murdu’ and ‘gada mada’ appear to be the same expression. ‘gada’ is ‘head’. So is the second word ‘high’ or ‘hard’. Were the Darling Ranges perceived as a ‘high head’ (or a ‘hard’ one?). If they were the same expression, then perhaps ‘hard’ is the better interpretation, for ‘bald’ could only realistically be linked to ‘hard’ (head).

 

Thursday 22 July 2010

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NYUNGAR Words: igan / yagan

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dog / wild / bad / turtle // arouse/ alarm /startle / disturb / drive / chase

“yockine” yagan = “bad” bad: [10 (p)] Curr [:208:23] [Kaniyang]

“yokine” yagan = “dingo” dog: [17] Markey 1942 [:191:50] [NYUNGAR]

“yuckine” yagan = “wild dogs” dog: [11 (a)] Hassell, A.A. [:195:24] [NYUNGAR]

“yakkine” yagan = “dog, wild” dog: [10 (m)] Curr [:257:1] [Kaniyang]

“yockine” yagan = “wild” wild: [23] Buller-Murphy [: 442:12] [Dordenup [Wardandi]]

“yekyn” yigan = “dog, wild” dog: [9] Moore 1884 [:257:11] [NYUNGAR]

“yek-kain” yigan = “wild dog” dog: [4] Grey 1840 [: 442:15] [NYUNGAR]

“yiee-kain” yigan = “wild dog” dog: [4] Grey 1840 [: 442:16] [NYUNGAR]

“yik-kan” yigan = “arouse, to; to awaken; to startle” arouse: [4] Grey 1840 [:204:39] [NYUNGAR]

“Yekan” yigan = “To drive; to chase; to tend cattle.” chase: Moore 1842 [:113:8] [NYUNGAR]

“yookin” yugin = “hungry” hungry: [10 (i)] Curr [:293:17] [Wajuk]

“yakkan” yagan = “turtle” turtle: [12 (b)] Bates [: 423:42] [Pinjarup]

“ye-kyn” yigan = “turtle, fresh-water” turtle: [5] Symmons 1841 [: 423:45] [Wajuk]

——————————–

“Igan” igan = “…To alarm; to disturb; to drive.” disturb: Moore 1842 [:47:23] [NYUNGAR]

“Igan” igan = “Disturb, to” disturb: Moore 1842 [:129:25] [NYUNGAR]

“igan” igan = “drive, to” drive: [9] Moore 1884 [:258:46] [NYUNGAR]

SPELLING

From the above record extracts it would seem that ‘yagan/yugan/yigan’ are effectively the same word.

Second, ‘igan’ is probably also the same word. In common with many Australian Indigenous languages, it is possible that there were no, or few, Nyungar words that began with a vowel. Words so recorded might have in reality begun with ‘y-‘, ‘w-‘ or ‘ng-‘: in this case, with ‘y-‘.

 

MEANING

Most of the quoted records, the nouns, relate to ‘dog’, specifically to ‘wild dog’.

Several of the other records, the verbs, relate to behaviour.

 

The behaviour in question is typical of dogs, especially in relation to game: dogs ‘startle’, ‘arouse’, ‘chase’ and ‘drive’ game (much as do sheep dogs in a European context).

 

APPARENT ANOMALIES

One of the records for ‘yagan’ is ‘bad’. Yet a dog doing such chasing might be classed ‘bad’.

Another, ‘hungry’: likewise a dog might chase game because it was ‘hungry’.

Not so readily explained are the two records for ‘turtle’. Perhaps they required some ‘chasing’ to catch them.

NYUNGAR Words: ‘bidya’ AND ‘bidyag’

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‘bidya’: ‘sleep’ AND ‘bidyag’: ‘sinking’ — is there a connection? and if so, what?

“bidjar” bidya = “a state of repose” sleep: [4] Grey 1840 [:13:35] [NYUNGAR]

“beedjar” bidya = “sleep” sleep: [3] Lyon 1833 [:381:25] [NYUNGAR]

“bidjar” bidya = “sleep” sleep: [6] Brady 1845 [:381:48] [NYUNGAR]

“bid-jak” bidya[a]g = “stinking; offensive” stinking: [4] Grey 1840 [:394:50] [NYUNGAR]

“Bidjak” bidya[a]g = “Stinking” stinking: Moore 1842 [:161:14] [NYUNGAR]

The suffix ‘-ak’ [-ag] is the possessive. Thus bidya-[a]g might be ‘sleep-of’.

Perhaps the connection is:

—a dead animal might be viewed as ‘sleeping’;

—a dead animal is often associated with an offensive smell.

 

In the above records extracts, original entries are given in double quotes (for the Australian, and for the English translation). These are followed in each case by a modern respelling and a modern standarsided translation. Each extract ends with source and language information. The main source for this post is Bindon, Peter and Ross Chadwick. 1992. “A Nyoongar wordlist from the south west of Western Australia / compiled and edited by Peter Bindon & Ross Chadwick.” Pp. xi, 454. Perth: Anthropology Dept., Western Australian Museum.

 

Nyungar: Introduction

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In 2010 I have been working on the Nyungar language area of south-west Western Australia. I used to live in Darlington not far from Perth, and in those days there used to be a train from Mundaring to Perth, passing through the siding of Boya. I would get off at East Guildford. Darlington is not that far from Kalamunda. I would go for holidays to Mooliabeenie. Indigenous names such as these meant nothing to me: they were just names.

It was intriguing to discover that Boya means ‘stone’; and that Kalamunda consists of the words ‘kalla’ meaning primarily ‘fire’, but also used for ‘camp’ (typified by having a ‘fire’); and ‘munda’, having several possible meanings such as ‘bush’, ‘dry’, ‘bracken’ and ‘fern’, and even ‘tiger shark’. So while the explanation given on the internet for Kalamunda is ‘home in the forest’ [‘camp’, ‘bush’], it might in fact mean ‘bush fire’.
Mundaring is a puzzle. It could be related to ‘munda’ (bush) already considered in ‘Kalamunda’. The explanations on the internet do not inspire confidence:
“Mundaring is thought to be named from an Aboriginal word meaning “a high place on a high place” or “the place of the grass tree leaves”.”
‘minda’ has the meaning ‘grass-tree leaf’ (or frond): but this is not ‘munda’; and the nearest ‘high, steep, deep’ word to ‘Mundaring’ that I can find is ‘morda’.
Mooliabeenie might be mulya+bini. ‘mulya’ means ‘nose’, while there are possible meanings for ‘bini’ including ‘pre-dawn’, and ‘to itch’. Could this have been ‘nose itch’? There is one record for ‘mool-ya-bin’, the recorded meaning for this being ‘sulky, offended’. Perhaps itchy nose was the way the concept of ‘sulky’ was expressed.
As children we used to use the word ‘wongy’ for having a chat with someone, and ‘wongi’ turns out to be the Nyungar verb ‘to speak’; and we talked about ‘gilgy’s, pronounced Jill-Gee, for a small crayfish. And the same word can be found in the records for this very creature, which I would now spell ‘dyilgi’.
My main initial source of information was:

Bindon, Peter and Ross Chadwick. 1992. “A Nyoongar wordlist from the south west of Western Australia / compiled and edited by Peter Bindon & Ross Chadwick.” Pp. xi, 454. Perth: Anthropology Dept., Western Australian Museum.

and subsequently, among other sources:

Moore, George Fletcher. 1842. A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia; with Copious Meanings, embodying much interesting information regarding the Habits, Manners, and Customs of the Natives, and the Natural History of the Country. London: Wm. S. Orr & Co., Paternoster Row.

Saturday 12 June 2010