Boonwurrung language

The Boonwurrung language, also anglicised as Bunurong, Bun wurrung, and other variant spellings,[3] is an 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.

Boonwurrung
Native toAustralia
RegionVictoria
EthnicityBoonwurrung (including Yalukit)
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologboon1243
AIATSIS[2]S35
ELPBoonwurrung

Geographic distribution

Boonwurrung was spoken by six clans along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port Bay to Wilsons Promontory.

Boonwurrung 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%.[4] 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.[5]

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".[6]

Placenames derived from Boonwurrung language terms
PlacenameOrigin
AllambeeReported to mean "to sit and wait for a while",[7] possibly from the verb ngalamba.
BarerarerungarCountry.
BeenakBasket.
Buln Buln"Lyrebird",[8] same origin as the name of the Melbourne suburb Bulleen and the Bolin Bolin Billabong.[9]
BunyipFrom the mythical water-dwelling beast, the bunyip.
CorinellaUnclear, some sources state "Running Water"[10] whereas others claim "Home of the kangaroo"[11]
DandenongPossibly derived from Tanjenong, the indigenous name of Dandenong Creek.[12]
DarnumDebated, some sources claim "Parrot", referring specifically to the crimson rosella. However, other sources claim this to be folk etymology.[13] 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",[12] early settler reports recorded "um um" as a word for "yes".
KorumburraThought to mean "Blowfly",[14] 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",[15] or "people of the flat country."[16]
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".[16]
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".[17]
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.[18]
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.[19]
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".
YarragonThought to be short for Yarragondock, meaning moustaches.[20]

Animals and plants

Some Boonwurrung words for animals and plants include:[21]

Plants

Birds

Mammals

Aquatic animals

Insects

References
  1. Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47378-0.
  2. S35 Boonwurrung at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. Other spellings and names include Boonerwrung, Boon Wurrung, Putnaroo, Thurung, Toturin, and Gippsland dialect ("Detailed record of the Bunurong". AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database. AusAnthrop anthropological research, resources and documentation on the Aborigines of Australia. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2012.)
  4. Melbourne and Surrounds (PDF) – via vcaa.vic.edu.au.
  5. Blake, Barry (Ed.) (1998). Blake, Barry J. (ed.). Wathawurrung and the Colac Languages of Southern Victoria. doi:10.15144/PL-C147. hdl:1885/146194. ISBN 0-85883-498-7. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  6. Smyth, R. Brough (1878). 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. Vol. 2. Melbourne: John Ferres. p. 13 – via Google Books.
  7. "Allambee". victorianplaces.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. Dawson, W. T.; Pettit, H. W. (1850). Gippsland place names and vocabulary. p. 11 – via Howitt and Fison Archive.
  9. Aboriginal Resource Trail (PDF). Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Education Service.
  10. Bird, Eric (12 October 2006). Place Names on the Coast of Victoria (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017 – via bcs.asn.au.
  11. "Corinella - Victoria's Best Kept Secret". www.visitcorinella.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z Story of Melbourne's Suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. Clark, Ian D. (2014). "Dissonance Surrounding the Aboriginal Origin of a Selection of Placenames in Victoria, Australia: Lessons in Lexical Ambiguity". In Clark, Ian D.; Luise, Hercus; Kostanski, Laura (eds.). Indigenous and Minority Placenames: Australian and International Perspectives. Canberra: ANU Press. pp. 251–271. doi:10.22459/IMP.04.2014.14. ISBN 9781925021639.
  14. "About the profile areas | Fish Creek - Sandy Point - Wilsons Promontory | profile.id".
  15. Whitehead, Graham J. (27 June 2018). "Moorabbin Becomes a City". Kingston Local History. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  16. [The Argus Newspaper, 12 Feb 1938, page 19]
  17. [Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria and other Australian Districts, Daniel Bunce 1856]
  18. "The Bunyip". South Bourke and Mornington Journal. Vol. 49, no. 5. Victoria, Australia. 20 February 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Angus McMillan". Gippsland Times. 24 May 1865. p. 1. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  20. "Yarragon | Victorian Places". www.victorianplaces.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  21. Clark, Ian; Briggs, Carolyn (2011). The Yalukit-Willam: The First People of Hobsons Bay (PDF). Hobsons Bay Council.


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