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Woiwurrung–Taungurung language

{{Short description|Pama–Nyungan language spoken in Australia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Woiwurrung–Taungurung

| region = Victoria

| ethnicity = Woiwurrung, Wurundjeri, Taungurung, Boonwurrung, ?Ngurelban, etc.

| familycolor = Australian

| fam1 = Pama–Nyungan

| fam2 = Kulinic

| fam3 = Kulin

| dia1 = Woiwurrung

| dia2 = Taungurung

| dia3 = Boonwurrung{{Cite book |last=Dixon |first=R. M. W. |title=Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-47378-0 |location=Cambridge}}

| lc1 = wyi

| ld1 = Woiwurrung

| lc2 = dgw

| ld2 = Daungwurrung

| aiatsis = S35

| aiatsis2 = S36

| aiatsis3 = S37

| glotto = woiw1237

| glottorefname = Woiwurrung-Thagungwurrung

| map = Kulin Map.PNG

| mapcaption = The five Kulin nations. Woiwurrung proper is in yellow, Taungurung is in the northeast in green, Boonwurrung is in the southeast in cyan.

| notice = IPA

| states = Australia

| altname = Melbourne, Woiwurrung

| extinct = by 2004

| ref = aiatsis

| dia4 = Ngurai-illamwurrung?

| imagecaption = Wominjeka, meaning welcome, at the entrance of Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, within Melbourne Museum

| image = Wominjeka Bunjilaka.jpg

}}

File:Marn grook football.jpgWoiwurrung, Taungurung and BoonwurrungOther spellings and names include Boonerwrung, Boon Wurrung, Putnaroo, Thurung, Toturin, and Gippsland dialect ({{cite web|work=AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database|url=http://www.ausanthrop.net/resources/ausanthrop_db/detail.php?id_search=65|title=Detailed record of the Bunurong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707022245/http://www.ausanthrop.net/resources/ausanthrop_db/detail.php?id_search=65|archive-date=July 7, 2010|publisher=AusAnthrop anthropological research, resources and documentation on the Aborigines of Australia|access-date=May 30, 2012}}) are Aboriginal languages of the Kulin nation of Central Victoria. Woiwurrung was spoken by the Woiwurrung and related peoples in the Yarra River basin, Taungurung by the Taungurung people north of the Great Dividing Range in the Goulburn River Valley around Mansfield, Benalla and Heathcote, and Boonwurrung by the six clans which comprised the Boonwurrung people along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port Bay to Wilsons Promontory. They are often portrayed as distinct languages, but they were mutually intelligible.Barry Blake 1991: 31 Ngurai-illamwurrung (Ngurraiillam) may have been a clan name, a dialect, or a closely related language.

Classification and dialects

Boonwurrung is closely related to Woiwurrung, with which it shares 93% of its vocabulary, and to a lesser degree with Taungurung spoken north of the Great Dividing Range in the area of the Goulburn River, with which it shares 80%.{{Citation |title=Melbourne and Surrounds |url=https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/alcv/MelbourneAndSurrounds.pdf |mode=cs1 |via=vcaa.vic.edu.au}} Woiwurrung, Taungurong and Boonwurrung have been considered by linguists to be dialects of a single Central Victorian language, whose range stretched from almost Echuca in the north, to Wilsons Promontory in the south.{{Cite book |title=Wathawurrung and the Colac Languages of Southern Victoria |date=1998 |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |isbn=0-85883-498-7 |editor-last=Blake |editor-first=Barry J. |series=Pacific Linguistics, Series C |volume=147 |location=Canberra |doi=10.15144/PL-C147 |hdl=1885/146194 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |last1=Blake |first1=Barry (Ed.) |journal=C-147 }}

R. Brough Smyth wrote in 1878 that "The dialects of the Wooeewoorong or Wawoorong tribe (River Yarra) and the Boonoorong tribe (Coast) are the same. Twenty-three words out of thirty are, making allowances for differences of spelling and pronunciation, identical; five have evidently the same roots, and only two are widely different".{{Cite book |last=Smyth |first=R. Brough |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5c1AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13 |title=The Aborigines of Victoria, with Notes Relating to the Habits of the Natives of other Parts of Australia and Tasmania, compiled from various sources for the Government of Victoria |date=1878 |publisher=John Ferres |volume=2 |location=Melbourne |page=13 |via=Google Books}}

Woiwurrung

=Woiwurrung dialect phonology=

The following is the Woiwurrung dialect:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!rowspan=2|

!colspan=2| Peripheral

!colspan=2| Laminal

!colspan=2| Apical

Bilabial

! Velar

! Palatal

! Dental

! Alveolar

! Retroflex

Plosive

| {{IPAlink|b}}/{{IPAlink|p}}

| {{IPAlink|ɡ}}/{{IPAlink|k}}

| {{IPAlink|ɟ}}/{{IPAlink|c}}

| {{IPAlink|d̪}}/{{IPAlink|t̪}}

| {{IPAlink|d}}/{{IPAlink|t}}

| {{IPAlink|ɖ}}/{{IPAlink|ʈ}}

Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}}

| {{IPAlink|ŋ}}

| {{IPAlink|ɲ}}

| {{IPAlink|n̪}}

| {{IPAlink|n}}

| {{IPAlink|ɳ}}

Lateral

| colspan=2|

|

|

| {{IPAlink|l}}

| {{IPAlink|ɭ}}

Rhotic

| colspan=2|

|

|

| {{IPAlink|r}}

| {{IPAlink|ɽ}}

Glide

| colspan=2|{{IPAlink|w}}

| {{IPAlink|j}}

|

|

|

It is not clear if the two rhotics are trill and flap, or tap and approximant. Vowels in Woiwurrung are /a e i o u/.Hercus (1969).

=Pronouns=

In the case of the Woiwurrung pronouns, the stem seems to be the standard {{lang|wyi|ngali}} {{gloss|you and I}}, but the front was suffixed to {{lang|wyi|wa-}}, so {{lang|wyi|wa+ngal}} combines to form {{lang|wyi|wangal}} below.{{cite book |first=Barry J. |last=Blake |year=1991 |chapter=Woiwurrung |title=The Aboriginal Language of Melbourne and Other Sketches |editor-first=R. M. W. |editor-last=Dixon |editor-first2=Barry J. |editor-last2=Blake |pages=31–124 |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Handbook of Australian Languages |volume=4}} In Kulin languages there is no grammatical gender.{{cite web |last1=Blake |first1=Barry |title=Dialects of Western Kulin, Western Victoria Yartwatjali, Tjapwurrung, Djadjawurrung |url=https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/documents/alcv/dialectsofwesternkulin-westernvictoria.pdf |website=VCAA |access-date=2 March 2022 |ref=5}}

class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2"| Person

!colspan="3"| Singular

!colspan="3"| Dual

!colspan="3"| Plural

Woi.

! IPA

! Eng.

! Woi.

! IPA

! Eng.

! Woi.

! IPA

! Eng.

1st Inc.

|colspan="3" align="center"|

| {{lang|wyi|Wangal}}

| {{IPA|[wa.ŋal]}}

| We two (you)

| {{lang|wyi|Wanganyin}}

| {{IPA|[wa.ŋa.ɲin]}}

| We (& you)

1st Exc.

| {{lang|wyi|Wan}}

| {{IPA|[wan]}}

| I

| {{lang|wyi|Wangan}}

| {{IPA|[wa.ŋan]}}

| We two (not you)

| {{lang|wyi|Wanganyinyu}}

| {{IPA|[wa.ŋa.ɲi.ɲu]}}

| We (not you)

2nd

| {{lang|wyi|Warr}}

| {{IPA|[war]}}

| You

| {{lang|wyi|Wabul}}

| {{IPA|[wa.bul]}}

| You two

| {{lang|wyi|Wat gurrabil}}
{{lang|wyi|Wat gurrabilla}}
{{lang|wyi|Wat balak}}
{{lang|wyi|Wat wurdundhu}}

| {{IPA|[wat ɡu.ra.bil]}}
{{IPA|[wat ɡu.ra.bil.la]}}
{{IPA|[wat ba.lak]}}
{{IPA|[wat wu.ɖun.d̪u]}}

| You

3rd

| {{lang|wyi|Munyi}}

| {{IPA|[mu.ɲi]}}

| He/She/It

| {{lang|wyi|Munyi gurrabil}}

| {{IPA|[mu.ɲi ɡu.ra.bil]}}

| Those two

| {{lang|wyi|Malu gurrabila}}

| {{IPA|[ma.lu ɡu.ra.bi.la]}}

| They

=Other Woiwurrung vocabulary=

  • biik = land, country
  • boorondara = shade, darkness, night (origin of the name of the City of Boroondara)
  • nyilum biik = poor soil / hard land (origin of the name of Nillumbik Shire)
  • wominjeka = hello / welcome (womin = come, je [dji] = asking to come, ka = purpose)
  • yabber = to talk (this word, with the same meaning, has made its way into informal English)Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054.
  • yarra = flowing, (also means "hair"). It is thought to have been mistakenly given to the Yarra River (referred to as Birrarrung in the Woiwurrung language) by an early settler who asked a boy what it was called, who was confused and answered "it is flowing".

=Number and sign system=

A numbering system was used when Wurundjeri clans sent out messengers to advise neighbouring clans of upcoming events, such as a ceremony, corroboree, a challenge to fight or Marn grook ball game. Messengers carried a message stick with markings to indicate the number and type of people involved and a prop to indicate the type of event, such as a ball for a Marn grook event. The location of meeting was spoken, but neighbouring clans might not use the same language, so a sign language was used to indicate the number of days in the future when the people should assemble. The number was indicated by pointing to a location on the body from 1 to 16. After 16, at the top of the head, the count follows the equivalent locations across the other side of the body.{{cite wikisource|chapter=Chapter 11|wslink=Native Tribes of South-East Australia|plaintitle=Native Tribes of South-East Australia|last=|first=|year=1901|publisher=McMillan|page=701|wspage=|scan=|author=Howitt, Alfred William}}

class="wikitable"

! Numeral

! Spoken number

! Sign of the number

! Literal meaning

1

| bubupi-muningya

| little finger

| child of the hand

2

| bulato-ravel

| third finger

| little larger

3

| bulato

| middle finger

| larger

4

| urnung-meluk

| forefinger

| urnung means a direction, meluk means a large grub found in some eucalypti

5

| babungyi-muningya

| thumb

| the mother of the hand

6

| krauel

| wrist-joint

|

7

| ngurumbul

| the divergence of the radial tendons

| a fork

8

| jeraubil

| the swelling of the radial muscles

|

9

| thambur

| the inside of the elbow-joint

| a round place

10

| berbert

| biceps

| the ringtail possum and also the name of the armlet made from the pelt of that animal, worn on the bicep during festive occasions

11

| wulung

| shoulder-joint

|

12

| krakerap

| the collar-bone

| the place where the bag hangs by its band

13

| gurnbert

| the neck

| reed necklace, or place where the reed necklace is worn

14

| kurnagor

| the lobe of the ear

| the point or end of a hill, or of a spur or ridge

15

| ngarabul

| the side of the skull

| a range or the ridge of a hill

16

| bundial

| top of the head

| the cutting-place, the place where the mourner cuts himself with some sharp instrument, from budagra meaning to cut

17+

| colspan="3" | From the top of the head, the count follows the equivalent locations across the other side of the body. 17 is the other side of the skull.

Boonwurrung

= Placenames derived from Boonwurrung language terms =

{{Infobox language

| name = Boonwurrung

| states = Australia

| region = Victoria

| ethnicity = Boonwurrung (including Yalukit)

| familycolor = Australian

| fam1 = Pama–Nyungan

| fam2 = Kulinic

| fam3 = Kulin

| fam4 = Woiwurrung

| iso3 =

| aiatsis2 = S39

| glotto = boon1243

| extinct = early 20th century

| altname = Bunurong, Bun wurrung

| revived = {{Cite web |date=2020-03-17 |title=Boonwurrung Language Program |url=https://vaclang.org.au/languages/boonwurrung-language-program.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=vaclang.org.au}}

| ELP = 6677

| ELPname = Boonwurrung

}}

class="wikitable"
PlacenameOrigin
AllambeeReported to mean "to sit and wait for a while",{{Cite web |title=Allambee |url=https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/allambee |access-date=1 December 2022 |website=victorianplaces.com.au}} possibly from the verb ngalamba.
BarerarerungarCountry.
BeenakBasket.
Buln Buln"Lyrebird",{{Citation |last1=Dawson |first1=W. T. |title=Gippsland place names and vocabulary |date=1850 |url=https://howittandfison.org/document/hw0437/11 |page=11 |last2=Pettit |first2=H. W. |via=Howitt and Fison Archive |mode=cs1}} same origin as the name of the Melbourne suburb Bulleen and the Bolin Bolin Billabong.{{cite book |title=Aboriginal Resource Trail |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Education Service |url=https://nrg.org.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Aboriginal-Resource-RBG.pdf}}
BunyipFrom the mythical water-dwelling beast, the bunyip.
CorinellaUnclear, some sources state "Running Water"{{Citation |last=Bird |first=Eric |title=Place Names on the Coast of Victoria |date=12 October 2006 |url=http://www.bcs.asn.au/vic_coast.pdf |access-date=13 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219195853/http://bcs.asn.au/vic_coast.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 February 2017 |mode=cs1 |via=bcs.asn.au}} whereas others claim "Home of the kangaroo"{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitcorinella.com/|title=Corinella - Victoria's Best Kept Secret|website=www.visitcorinella.com|access-date=1 December 2022}}
DandenongPossibly derived from Tanjenong, the indigenous name of Dandenong Creek.{{Cite news |last=First |first=Jamie |date=7 January 2014 |title=The A-Z Story of Melbourne's Suburbs |work=Herald Sun |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-az-story-of-melbournes-suburbs/news-story/6f7611b7df20e55ad02f5e9615885e21 |access-date=1 December 2022}}
DarnumDebated, some sources claim "Parrot", referring specifically to the crimson rosella. However, other sources claim this to be folk etymology.{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Ian D. |title=Indigenous and Minority Placenames: Australian and International Perspectives |date=2014 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781925021639 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Ian D. |location=Canberra |pages=251–271 |chapter=Dissonance Surrounding the Aboriginal Origin of a Selection of Placenames in Victoria, Australia: Lessons in Lexical Ambiguity |doi=10.22459/IMP.04.2014.14 |editor-last2=Luise |editor-first2=Hercus |editor-last3=Kostanski |editor-first3=Laura |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p286811/html/ch14.xhtml?referer=258&page=17 |doi-access=free}} The name Datnum is recorded as the name of the parrot spirit who assisted Bunjil, one of six wirmums or shamans in Kulin mythology.
Dumbalk"Ice" or "Winter"
EumemmerringClaimed to be a word meaning "agreement", early settler reports recorded "um um" as a word for "yes".
KorumburraThought to mean "Blowfly",{{Cite web|url=http://profile.id.com.au/south-gippsland/about?WebID=100|title = About the profile areas | Fish Creek - Sandy Point - Wilsons Promontory | profile.id}} recorded as karrakarrak in related languages.
Koo Wee RupBlackfish
KoonwarraBlack swan
Lang LangUnclear, may be connected to Laang meaning stony, although other sources claim the name derives from a different word meaning a group of trees, or from an early European settler named Lang.
LeongathaFrom liang, meaning "teeth".
MeeniyanMoon
MoorabbinUnclear, possibly "woman's milk". Other sources state "resting place",{{Cite web |last=Whitehead |first=Graham J. |date=27 June 2018 |title=Moorabbin Becomes a City |url=https://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/articles/230 |access-date=1 December 2022 |website=Kingston Local History}} or "people of the flat country."[The Argus Newspaper, 12 Feb 1938, page 19]
MoorooducUnclear, some sources claim "flat swamp", others claim "dark" or "night".
MordiallocFrom Moordy Yallock. Yallock means creek or river, in reference to the Mordialloc Creek estuary. Some sources give "moordy" as meaning "small", whereas other sources have given it to mean "swamp".
MurrumbeenaUnclear, according to some sources named after a member of the native police. Identical with the word Murrumbeena recorded by Daniel Bunce in 1851 as meaning "you".[Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria and other Australian Districts, Daniel Bunce 1856]
Nar Nar GoonUnclear, said to be from a word for koala.
Narre WarrenUnclear, some sources allege connection to nier warreen meaning "no good water", although warreen usually refers to the sea. Other sources cite connection to narrworing, meaning "hot". Wathaurong sources refer to "warren" meaning 'towards the rising sun' or 'to the east' and "narre" meaning 'a long way' or 'far away'. Wathaurong from Ballarat and Geelong are known to have travelled to Narre Narre Warren for meetings of the Kulin Nation.
NayookFrom the word "ngayuk" meaning cockatoo.
NeerimHigh or long.
NoojeeOften described as "place of rest", apparently literally means "done", "finished" or "complete".
NyoraNative Cherry
TarwinFrom dharwin meaning "thirsty"
TonimbukFrom the verb meaning "to burn".
TooradinNamed from a Bunyip-like monster of local legend, which lived in the waters of Sawtell Inlet and Koo Wee Rup Swamp.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66182571 |title=The Bunyip |newspaper=South Bourke and Mornington Journal |volume=49 |issue=5 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=20 February 1913 |accessdate=7 August 2020 |page=2|via=National Library of Australia}}
WarneetOne of the words for "river".
WarragulA loanword originating from Dharug language around Sydney. Usually given as meaning "wild dog", although warragul was recorded as meaning "wild" for anything, including humans. Gippsland settlers used the word in derogatory way to describe Indigenous people.{{cite news |title=Angus McMillan |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65365232?searchTerm=warrigals |access-date=26 July 2020 |agency=Gippsland Times |page=1 |date=24 May 1865}}
WonthaggiThought to be from the verb wanthatji meaning "get", "bring" or "pull". Other sources claim it means "home".
YannathanA form of the verb yana meaning "to go" or "to walk".{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}
YarragonThought to be short for Yarragondock, meaning moustaches.{{Cite web|url=https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/yarragon|title=Yarragon | Victorian Places|website=www.victorianplaces.com.au|accessdate=1 December 2022}}

= Animals and plants =

Some Boonwurrung words for animals and plants include:{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Ian |url=https://www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/documents/community/arts-culture-amp-heritage/cultural-heritage/aboriginal-culture/yalukit_willam_booklet.pdf |title=The Yalukit-Willam: The First People of Hobsons Bay |last2=Briggs |first2=Carolyn |date=2011 |publisher=Hobsons Bay Council}}

== Plants ==

== Birds ==

== Aquatic animals ==

== Insects ==

See also

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |title=Taungurung : liwik-nganjin-al ngula-dhan yaawinbu yananinon |date=2011 |publisher=Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages |location=Melbourne |isbn=9780987133717}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Barry |title=Handbook of Australian languages |date=1979 |publisher=Australian National University Press |location=Canberra |isbn=0195530977}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=Edgar |title=The Loddon Aborigines: tales of old Jim Crow. |date=1981 |publisher=Daylesford and District Historical Society |location=Daylesford, Vic.}}

External links

{{Wiktionary|Woiwurrung}}

  • [https://www.vacl.org.au/ Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages]
  • [https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/ Wurundjeri Cultural Group]
  • [https://www.theage.com.au/national/elders-pass-on-songs-in-race-to-save-languages-20051207-ge1dqk.html Elders pass on songs in race to save languages]
  • [http://www.herringisland.org/seasons.htm Woiwurrung calendar]

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|South}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woiwurrung-Daungwurrung language}}

Category:Wurundjeri

Category:Kulin languages

Category:Extinct languages of Victoria (state)