The local zoo was looking for guidance for a name for a walking tour of the zoo, and offered its preliminary ideas: 1 Burraga Nura … Zoo’s Aboriginal Discovery Tour Language words burraga : long nosed bandicoot;  nura : country;  2 Yana Nura … Zoo’s Aboriginal Discovery Tour Language words yana : walk; nura : country What follows is the reply sent to the zoo. ===================================== I would like to suggest a walking tour name such as : manyinyi guwalang I do

William Dawes of the First Fleet wrote, on page 35 of his notebook ‘b’: P. Mr Faddy yéla Mr Clark yenyában Norfolk Island Mr Faddy with Mr Clark went to Norfolk Island This sentence arose in relation to the following journey to Norfolk Island recorded at the time by others: March, 1790. [The Sirius ] was ordered, in concert with the Supply , to convey major Ross, with a large detachment of marines, and more than two hundred convicts, to Norfolk [39] Island: ……. She sailed on

One of the earliest recorded names for Sydney, or Sydney Cove, was provided by Philip Gidley King: Australian respelt English Eng JSM source “ Warrane ” waran “The tribe of Wallumede inhabit the north shore opposite Warrane, or Sydney-Cove, and are called Walumetta. [Sydney Cove]”   : King in Hunter 1968 [:275:11] [BB] This was derived from King’s 1790 manuscript: “ Warrane ” waran “The tribe of Wallumede inhabit the North shore opposite Warrane or Sydney Cove & called Walume

Maroubra is a beachside suburb of Sydney about 10km south-east of the Sydney CBD. Maroubra beach Morooberra One of the indigenous people encountered by the First Fleeters was Morooberra. The Judge-Advocate, David Collins, who wrote one of the principal accounts: Collins, David. 1975 [1798]. An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners. etc., of the Native Inhabitants of that Country : Volume I. Sydney: A.H. & A.W. Ree

The Rev. Lancelot Threlkeld ran a mission in the Newcastle, NSW, area in the period 1831-41, and while there studied the language that came to be known as Awabakal . He wrote copiously about it, in a manner that now appears opaque. Here is an example: kurraġtoanbuġgulliko : to cause by personal agency to foam This can be re-presented with simplified spelling and hyphens to separate component parts, together with source references, in the following manner: Australian respelt E

Sometime in 1791, William Dawes recorded the verb ‘to tear’, as in ‘tearing a piece of paper’: Australian respelt English EngJSM source “Tilbánga” dilbanga “To tear (as paper)” tear : Dawes (b) [b:19:15] [BB] This was to prove one of many instances of misunderstanding between an indigenous informant and the immigrant interlocutor. For the word did not mean ‘tear’ but rather the sound that tearing a piece of paper makes. Dawes himself provided an essential clue to the true mea

Bushland in Berowra, to the north of Sydney Everyone knows the bush call ‘cooee’. Not so many know that it is an Indigenous word, and that it means ‘come’. It was recorded by William Dawes in about April 1791: Australian respelt English Eng JSM source “Kaouwi´ Kaouwi´ …” gawi gawi … “Calling to come” come come : Dawes (b) [b:15:1] [BB] Dawes recorded a Biyal Biyal , Sydney language, remark made by the youngster Gunanguli: “Gon. Mama kaowi ngália bogía” mama GAWI ngaliya bugiy

On page 101 of the Rev. William Ridley's Kamilaroi and Other Languages (KAOL)* the following occurs in a list of 21 Dharawal words or expressions : *Ridley, William, Kamilaroi and other Australian Languages . [KAOL] (Sydney, Thomas Richards, Government Printer, 1875. The sixth from the bottom is: What do you want ? unijerunbi minku ? In attempting to analyse this, especially as the sentence is a question, it is tempting to consider that minku is related to common interrog

The Rev. William Ridley (1819-1878) wrote an article, ‘Australian languages and traditions’ (AL&T), published in the February 1878 issue of the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland . On p. 263 he reproduced some words and phrases provided by “Lizzie, a half-caste, whose mother was a Shoalhaven aboriginal, and who is now the wife of John Malone". He had already provided a listing of “specimens of the language of the extinct Sydney Tribe (from

barang crops up a lot. It seems to mean ‘carry’, ‘bring’ and the like. Australian respelt English Eng JSM source “Bâr-rang” barang “bring” carry: Symmons, Charles [:16:2] [NYUNGAR] “burrung” barang “get; take: and note jinbu, ranga” carry: [23] Buller-Murphy [:26:14] [NYUNGAR] “baroŋ” barang “to fetch, to bring, to pick up” carry: Bates Grammar [:66:13] [NYUNGAR] “Barrang” barang “Take in the hand” carry: Moore 1842 [:163:11] [NYUNGAR] “barrang” barang “bring, to” carry: [9]

A large number of Nyungar words end in -gur but no common thread jumps out to suggest a meaning. gur also occurs on its own, as does the similar garu : Australian respelt English EngJSM source “garoo” garu “more, (beeliar)” more [3] Lyon 1833 [:325:42] [NYUNGAR] “kar-ro” garu “again; more” again [4] Grey 1840 [:199:41] [NYUNGAR] “kor, kor” gur “Again” again Bates Grammar [:75:8] [NYUNGAR] “Garro” garu “Again; then.” again Moore 1842 [:40:11] [NYUNGAR] The meanings are ‘again’

English commonly has specific words to express shades of meaning. It has, for example, endless words for colour names: not only ‘red’ but ‘scarlet’, ‘crimson’, ‘vermilion’, ‘pink’ and so on. Australian indigenous languages might have words for ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘red’, ‘green’ and perhaps ‘yellow’, with ‘black’, for example, being also the word for ‘night’, and the other colour words being terms for entities of the colour concerned. Indigenous languages were specific about som

There are several words to express ‘bad’, but it is interesting to note one similarity between the Nyungar language of south-west Western Australia and the Sydney language, and elsewhere in New South Wales:  Australian respelt English EngJSM source “[Wiribü´ngadyémi]” wiribanga “[Thou didst wrong or badly.]” bad DO, to: Dawes (b) [b:24:18.11] [BB] “Wiribi´” wiribáyi “Worn out (as clothes etc.)” bad did: Dawes (b) [b:24:13] [BB] “we-ree no-rar” wiri ngura “a bad country” bad c

Not surprisingly, no-one has found the Naabawinya site so far, but perhaps this will change. I have put into modest circulation some language databases, which have been named the Bayala Databases . These include information on the Sydney Aboriginal Language, and on languages adjacent to Sydney to the north and south. There is also information on some languages across the Blue Mountains, notably Wiradhuri and Kamilaroi . The original data was compiled by people in the century

I have an interest in the Sydney Aboriginal Language. I wrote a 16-page ‘ Tourist’s Guide ’ to it [now on website Aboriginal Languages Australia, https://www.aboriginallanguages.com , link updated to 2026 edition]. I would like to put it here, but have not found out yet how to do so. ‘Tourist’s Guide.pdf’ is the title of the document, and if anyone wants to see it, send a request, and I will see what I can do.  In fact what I am looking at in a rectangular box for this blog