Ngunnawal language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ngunnawal | |
|---|---|
| Onerwal | |
| Spoken in | New South Wales & ACT, Australia |
| Ethnicity | Ngunnawal people |
| Native speakers | ? (date missing) |
| Language family |
Pama–Nyungan
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| linguist List | 08t |
Ngunnawal or Ngunawal is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Ngunawal people.
Contents |
[edit] Classification
Ngunawal is currently classified as a sub-tribe of the larger Ngarigu/Ngarigo dialect area that covers the limestone plains of Monaro/Maneroo in NSW to ACT across the Monaro tableland through to the Australian Alps of NSW/VIC Snowy Mountains. It falls within the Yuin–Kuric group of the Pama–Nyungan family.[1]
[edit] Prominent place names
Some meanings for Ngunawal words:
- Kamberra - where the name Canberra may have come from, said to mean 'meeting place' for big Bogong moths
- Tuggeranong, a district of Canberra, comes from the Ngarigo/Ngarigu word
- Ginninderra - is also a Ngarigo
- Yeal-am-bid-gie is the name for the Molonglo River, recorded by C. THROSBY in 1820 [1]
- Murrumbidgee means "big river" (See Murrumbidgee River )
[edit] Other Ngarigo/Ngarigu words
 |
The embedded lists in this article may contain items that are not encyclopedic. Please help out by removing such elements and incorporating appropriate items into the main body of the article. (January 2008) |
- Mura Gadi means 'pathways for searching' [2]. Gadi by itself means 'searching for', [3] the Gadi Research Centre at the University of Canberra with this name.
- Bimbi - Bird
- Nengi Bamir - See far (View)
- Dulwa - Casuarina trees
- Bargang - Melliodora trees
- Yerra - swim
- Gummiuk - bulrushes
- Ngadyung - water
- Nguru - camp
- Mundang - canoe [4] [5] (pdf format)
- Weereewa - Lake George [6]
- Several Ngunawal sub-tribe words of Ngarigo/Ngarigu were used as street names in the suburb of Ngunnawal area [7] such as:
- Other explanations for street names in Ngunawal sub-tribe Ngarigo language listed by the ACT planning and land authority [10]:
- Bargang - yellow box
- Bimbiang - shield
- Birrigai - to laugh
- Budyan - birds
- Bunburung - small lizard
- Burin - stringy bark
- Burrai - quick
- Bunduluk - rosella
- Berra - boomerang
- Bamir - long
- Balbo - kangaroo rat
- Bural - day
- Gamburra - flowers
- Giliruk - pee wee
- Gunyan - slow
- Gurubun - koala
- Karrugang - magpie
- Kudyera - fighting club
- Mirrabei - the name for tribal elder Matilda Sissy Williams (died 1973)
- Mulleun - eagle
- Murrung - lizard
- Mundawari - bandicoot
- Nangi - see or look
- Walga - hawk
- Warabin - curlew
- Warrumbul - youth
- Wirria - tree goanna
- Yerra - to fly like a bird
- Yerrabi - to walk
- Yumba - eel
- Narragunnawali - means 'alive/well-being/ coming together' as used in the Peace Park near the National Library. [11]
[edit] Possible Ngunawal words
- gang-gang - name for a 'small black cockatoo' (possibly the only non-locality Ngunawal word in current use - for the Gang-gang Cockatoo, although the word is claimed as being of Wiradhuri origin by another source.) [14]
- Gungahlin - name for a district in Canberra, which gets its name from the homestead built in 1862 by Edward Crace called 'Goongarline' , which is said to be an aboriginal word for 'white man's house', or mean 'wonderful' or 'beautiful'. [15]
[edit] References
- ^ AIATSIS Language and Peoples Thesaurus, accessed 23 Jan 2010.
- Mathews, R. H. (Jul.–Dec. 1904). "The Wiradyuri and other languages of New South Wales". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland) 34: 284–305. doi:10.2307/2843103. JSTOR 2843103.
