Bunurong language
Extinct Aboriginal language of Victoria, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bunurong, also anglicised as Boonwurrung, Bun wurrung, and other variant spellings,[3] is an extinct and reviving[4] Aboriginal Australian language traditionally spoken by the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation of central Victoria prior to European settlement in the colony of Victoria. The last remaining traditional native speakers died in the early 20th century. A dictionary of the language has been produced.[4]
Geographic distribution
Bunurong was spoken by six clans along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port Bay to Wilsons Promontory.
Related languages
Bunurong is closely related to the Woiwurrung language, 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%.[5] 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.[6]
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".[7]
Placenames derived from Boonwurrung language terms
| Placename | Origin |
|---|---|
| Allambee | Reported to mean "to sit and wait for a while",[8] possibly from the verb ngalamba. |
| Barerarerungar | Country. |
| Beenak | Basket. |
| Buln Buln | "Lyrebird",[9] same origin as the name of the Melbourne suburb Bulleen and the Bolin Bolin Billabong.[10] |
| Bunyip | From the mythical water-dwelling beast, the bunyip. |
| Corinella | Unclear, some sources state "Running Water"[11] whereas others claim "Home of the kangaroo"[12] |
| Dandenong | Possibly derived from Tanjenong, the indigenous name of Dandenong Creek.[13] |
| Darnum | Debated, some sources claim "Parrot", referring specifically to the crimson rosella. However, other sources claim this to be folk etymology.[14] 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" |
| Eumemmerring | Claimed to be a word meaning "agreement",[13] early settler reports recorded "um um" as a word for "yes". |
| Korumburra | Thought to mean "Blowfly",[15] recorded as karrakarrak in related languages. |
| Koo Wee Rup | Blackfish |
| Koonwarra | Black swan |
| Lang Lang | Unclear, 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. |
| Leongatha | From liang, meaning "teeth". |
| Meeniyan | Moon |
| Moorabbin | Unclear, possibly "woman's milk". Other sources state "resting place",[16] or "people of the flat country."[17] |
| Moorooduc | Unclear, some sources claim "flat swamp", others claim "dark" or "night". |
| Mordialloc | From 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".[17] |
| Murrumbeena | Unclear, 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".[18] |
| Nar Nar Goon | Unclear, said to be from a word for koala. |
| Narre Warren | Unclear, 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. |
| Nayook | From the word "ngayuk" meaning cockatoo. |
| Neerim | High or long. |
| Noojee | Often described as "place of rest", apparently literally means "done", "finished" or "complete". |
| Nyora | Native Cherry |
| Tarwin | From dharwin meaning "thirsty" |
| Tonimbuk | From the verb meaning "to burn". |
| Tooradin | Named from a Bunyip-like monster of local legend, which lived in the waters of Sawtell Inlet and Koo Wee Rup Swamp.[19] |
| Warneet | One of the words for "river". |
| Warragul | A 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.[20] |
| Wonthaggi | Thought to be from the verb wanthatji meaning "get", "bring" or "pull". Other sources claim it means "home". |
| Yannathan | A form of the verb yana meaning "to go" or "to walk".[citation needed] |
| Yarragon | Thought to be short for Yarragondock, meaning moustaches.[21] |
Animals and plants
Some Boonwurrung words for animals and plants include:[22]
Plants
- Banksia (Honeysuckle): Warrak
- Buttercup: Gurm-burrut
- Clematis aristata: Minamberang
- Peppermint Tree: Wiyal
- Sarsaparilla: Wadimalin
- She-oak: Tur-run
- Wattle: Garron
- Woolly Tea-tree: Wulep
- Yellow Box: Dhagurn
- Yam Daisy: Murnong
Birds
- Black Cockatoo: Yanggai
- Black Duck: Toolum
- Black Swan: Gunuwarra
- Emu: Barraimal
- Ibis: Baibadjerruk
- Magpie lark: Dit-dit
- Nankeen Kestrel: Gawarn
- Pelican: Wadjil
- Quail: Tre-bin
- Water Fowl: Kor-rung-un-un
