Noongar language
Encyclopedia
The FATSIL website states that out of thirteen dialects spoken by the Noongar people
at the time of European settlement, only five still remain. The word "Noongar" can be roughly translated into English as "human being".
There was no standard Nyungar language, but a number of dialects. A creolized form of the eastern dialect of Noongar, known as Neo-Nyungar, is spoken by about 8,000 people. Noongar was first written in 1801 by Mathew Flinders, who made a number of word lists. Since then a number of different spelling systems have been devised.
A number of small wordlists were recorded in the early days of the Swan River Colony
, for example Robert Lyon
's 1833 publication A Glance at the Manners and Language of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Western Australia. During August and October 1839 the Perth Gazette published Vocabulary of the Aboriginal people of Western Australia written by Lieutenant Grey of HM 83rd Regiment. Grey spent twelve months studying the languages of the Noongar people and came to the conclusion that there was much in common between them, just prior to the publication he received from Mr Bussel of the Vasse District a list 320 words from that region which was near identical to those he'd collect in the Swan river region. The work of Grey much to his disappointment was published in an unfinished list as he was leaving the swan river colony but believed that the publication would assist in communication between settlers and Noongar people. Also noted by Grey was that the Noongar language had no soft c sound, there was no use of f and that h was very rarely used and never at the start of a word.
Serious documentation of Noongar language began in 1842 with the publication of A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines
by George Fletcher Moore
, later republished in 1884 as part of Moore's Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia
. This work included a substantial wordlist of Noongar. The first modern linguistic research on Noongar was carried out by Gerhardt Laves
on the variety known as "Goreng", near Albany
in 1930, but this material was lost for many years and has only recently been recovered. Beginning in the 1930s and then more intensively in the 1960s Wilfrid Douglas
learned and studied Noongar, eventually producing a grammar, dictionary, and other materials. More recently Noongar people have taken a major role in this work as researchers, for example Rose Whitehurst who compiled the Noongar Dictionary in her work for the Noongar Language and Culture Centre.
Today the Noongar language is regarded as endangered, with few fluent speakers, although there has been a revival of interest in recent years. The Noongar Language and Culture Centre was set up by concerned individuals and has now grown to include offices in Bunbury, Northam and Perth. However, the language generally referred to as "Noongar" today, bears questionable resemblance to what was spoken by indigenous Australians before white settlement, and the original "Nyungar" language is listed by ISO 639-3
(code "nys") as extinct.
Ethnologue
treats Nyungar and Neo-Nyungar (a term coined by Wilf Douglas to refer to Nyungar people's English) as equivalent (see and), suggesting that Nyungar is a variety of English: this appears simply to be a misunderstanding of Douglas. For comparison, the opening remarks of this paper are presented in both Noongar and English, by self-described "Nyungar at research" Leonard Collard of the Kurongkul Katitijin School of Indigenous Australian Studies at Edith Cowan University
in Perth
.
Visitors to Western Australia invariably notice the many placenames ending in -up, such as Joondalup
, Nannup
and Manjimup
. This is because in the Noongar language, -up means "place of". For example the name Ongerup
means "place of the male kangaroo".
Many words vary in a regular way from dialect to dialect, depending on the area. For example: the words for bandicoot include quernt (south) and quenda(west); the word for water may be kep (south) or kapi (west).
Noongar words which have been adopted into West Australian English, or more widely in English, include the given name Kylie ("boomerang"), gilgie (or jilgie) a freshwater crayfish
similar to yabbies, and gidgie (or gidgee), meaning "spear".
Noongar
The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...
at the time of European settlement, only five still remain. The word "Noongar" can be roughly translated into English as "human being".
There was no standard Nyungar language, but a number of dialects. A creolized form of the eastern dialect of Noongar, known as Neo-Nyungar, is spoken by about 8,000 people. Noongar was first written in 1801 by Mathew Flinders, who made a number of word lists. Since then a number of different spelling systems have been devised.
A number of small wordlists were recorded in the early days of the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
, for example Robert Lyon
Robert Lyon (Australian settler)
Robert Menli Lyon was a pioneering Western Australian settler who became one of the earliest outspoken advocates for Indigenous Australian rights and welfare in the colony. He published the first information on the Aboriginal language of the Perth area.-Early life:Robert Menli Lyon was born Robert...
's 1833 publication A Glance at the Manners and Language of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Western Australia. During August and October 1839 the Perth Gazette published Vocabulary of the Aboriginal people of Western Australia written by Lieutenant Grey of HM 83rd Regiment. Grey spent twelve months studying the languages of the Noongar people and came to the conclusion that there was much in common between them, just prior to the publication he received from Mr Bussel of the Vasse District a list 320 words from that region which was near identical to those he'd collect in the Swan river region. The work of Grey much to his disappointment was published in an unfinished list as he was leaving the swan river colony but believed that the publication would assist in communication between settlers and Noongar people. Also noted by Grey was that the Noongar language had no soft c sound, there was no use of f and that h was very rarely used and never at the start of a word.
Serious documentation of Noongar language began in 1842 with the publication of A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines
A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines
A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia is a book by George Fletcher Moore. First published in 1842, it represents one of the earliest attempts to record the languages used by the Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia...
by George Fletcher Moore
George Fletcher Moore
George Fletcher Moore was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one [of] the key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite"...
, later republished in 1884 as part of Moore's Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia
Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia
The diary of George Fletcher Moore is considered an extremely important record of early colonial life in Western Australia, because it is one of a few records that were written from the point of view of an ordinary colonist, as opposed to the official correspondence of a salaried public official...
. This work included a substantial wordlist of Noongar. The first modern linguistic research on Noongar was carried out by Gerhardt Laves
Gerhardt Laves
Gerhardt Laves was a graduate student at the University of Chicago and Yale University who spent the years 1929 - 1931 doing fieldwork on Australian Aboriginal languages....
on the variety known as "Goreng", near Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
in 1930, but this material was lost for many years and has only recently been recovered. Beginning in the 1930s and then more intensively in the 1960s Wilfrid Douglas
Wilfrid Douglas
Wilfrid Henry Douglas was a missionary, linguist and translator, and carried out important early work on many indigenous Australian languages....
learned and studied Noongar, eventually producing a grammar, dictionary, and other materials. More recently Noongar people have taken a major role in this work as researchers, for example Rose Whitehurst who compiled the Noongar Dictionary in her work for the Noongar Language and Culture Centre.
Today the Noongar language is regarded as endangered, with few fluent speakers, although there has been a revival of interest in recent years. The Noongar Language and Culture Centre was set up by concerned individuals and has now grown to include offices in Bunbury, Northam and Perth. However, the language generally referred to as "Noongar" today, bears questionable resemblance to what was spoken by indigenous Australians before white settlement, and the original "Nyungar" language is listed by ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...
(code "nys") as extinct.
Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
treats Nyungar and Neo-Nyungar (a term coined by Wilf Douglas to refer to Nyungar people's English) as equivalent (see and), suggesting that Nyungar is a variety of English: this appears simply to be a misunderstanding of Douglas. For comparison, the opening remarks of this paper are presented in both Noongar and English, by self-described "Nyungar at research" Leonard Collard of the Kurongkul Katitijin School of Indigenous Australian Studies at Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University is located in Perth, Western Australia. It was named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman....
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
Visitors to Western Australia invariably notice the many placenames ending in -up, such as Joondalup
Joondalup, Western Australia
Joondalup is a regional metropolitan city within Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district.It acts as the primary urban centre in Perth's outer northern suburbs.-History:...
, Nannup
Nannup, Western Australia
Nannup is a town and shire in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the crossroads of Vasse Highway and Brockman Highway, linking Nannup to most of the Lower South West's regional centres...
and Manjimup
Manjimup, Western Australia
Manjimup is a town in Western Australia, south of the state capital, Perth. The town of Manjimup is a regional centre for the largest shire in the South West of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Manjimup had a population of 4,239.-History:...
. This is because in the Noongar language, -up means "place of". For example the name Ongerup
Ongerup, Western Australia
Ongerup is a town located 410 km south-east of Perth and 54 km east of Gnowangerup in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.- History :The name Ongerup means Place of the male kangaroo in the local Noongar language....
means "place of the male kangaroo".
Many words vary in a regular way from dialect to dialect, depending on the area. For example: the words for bandicoot include quernt (south) and quenda(west); the word for water may be kep (south) or kapi (west).
Noongar words which have been adopted into West Australian English, or more widely in English, include the given name Kylie ("boomerang"), gilgie (or jilgie) a freshwater crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
similar to yabbies, and gidgie (or gidgee), meaning "spear".