Aboriginal place names

[artme]

I love the melodic sounds of Aboriginal place names so let's see what everyone can come up with.
A few to start:
Nambucca, Buccrabendinni,Missaboti.Yarrahappini.

[glock40sw]

Jackies creek, Yamba, Ulmarra, Goon-sac.....

[Outbackrr]

Be even better associated with place name meanings, a few from around my area:

Maroochydore – Place of Black Swan
Mooloolaba – Snapper fish<o></o>
Ninderry – Leech<o></o>
Peregian – Emu<o></o>
Yaroomba – Surf on beach<o></o>
Diddilibah – Carpet snake<o></o>

[Steve Fryar]

Where I live;Mundulla,and that is in the District Council of "Tatiara",which means "good country"
Where I work in the cooper basin in South Australia;Moomba,Ballera,Eromanga,Innaminka,Tirrawarra,Daralingie,Dullingarie and as for the names of gas and oil wells,too many to type.

[Andy Mac]

It is fascinating stuff! Where I grew up: Bencubbin, and neighbouring Welbungin; Mukinbudin; Kununoppin; and our farm block, Malkana, which means light land.
Local knowledge always pointed to WA place names ending in -up meaning a place of water (like Pingerup, Yallingup), but must have meant a bit more as well. Gnowangerup apparently meant place of the mallee fowl (gnow), and could have had a waterhole too? Up north the -in suffix was talked about as the opposite, place of no water, but I always distrusted that, simply because why would anyone go to and name a place with no water?! Bencubbin was once called Bencubbing according to an old map I've seen, so how many places names have changed, when some places retain the -ing (Booralaming, Cowcowing) but others don't. Anyway, Bencubbin has a huge rock outcrop, with many seasonal waterholes on and around it. On my Grandparent's farm next door, which I can't spell correctly now, Bibbinning or something but had a j in it somewhere, there still is a gnamma hole in the rocky outcrop, which was an Aboriginal well covered with a rock slab. As that name ends in -in/ing, that would disprove the no water association! Maybe it meant seasonal water, or a specific more than a general water source...a well or soak, not a creek or lake.

Cheers from Cabarlah, place of possums!

[Christopha]

Worked at Bidyadanga', lived at Coonawarra near Kalangadoo which are all south of Mundulla and not far from Poolajeilo or Nanwarry. :)

[wheelinround]

Goonoo Goonoo said Gunna Ganoo

Wagga Wagga

Kadumba = Katoomba

Have a book of them

[Gingermick]

woy woy
Apparently it means big water or something and Spike milligan wanted to know which woy meant big and which meant water?

[Pat]

Grew up in Bellambi (local dialect = corruption of the aboriginal word 'Beelambi' meaning 'no') and now live in Towradgi (local Dialect = corruption of the aboriginal word "Kow-radgi" meaning "guardian of the sacred stones". )

[silentC]

Pambula - Pan Boola - place of one water hole
Merimbula - Merim Boola - place of two water holes

Guess what Boola means...

[prozac]

woy woy
Apparently it means big water or something and Spike milligan wanted to know which woy meant big and which meant water?


Spike also wanted to know why you could call Wagga Wagga Wagga, but you couldn't call Woy Woy Woy!

prozac

[artme]

My wife, who is Brazillian, loves the sound of Gundagai !
There are lots of melodic names in the Albury (not Aboriginal) Wagga Wagga area that I particularly like(:( pardon the spelling!) Yakandandah, Ettamogah, Barrandoodah, Doodlcooma, Tangambalanga, Magoplah, Coockadinia, Gumli Gumli, Book Book, Grong Grong (many stones - is a grong a stone?), Matong, Kapooka.
Further west are Narrandera,Beneerembah,Goolgowi.
How about Murrumbidgee (River)?
Far SW NSW and into SA we get Cal Lal, Ral Lal and Yal Lal, Cobdogla.
Western Vic: Berriwillock, Patchiwollock, Waraknobeel, Warnambool.

Fell free to correct the spelling! I just pull these from my cluttered mind.:o
One thing that annoys me is that very few of our rivers have retained their beautiful Aboriginal names. Murrimbidgee, Nambucca, Kalang, Mitta Mitta and Maroochy are the only few that come to mind.

[Sleeping Dog]

I live in Guanaba. (goo-ann-ah-bar)... don't know what it means

[AlexS]

I like the name of the football team in the Murrumbidgee. As the towns shrunk, they amalgamated the teams until they had the Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong cockatoos.

[Brickie]

Wallan Wallan
A very wet place,

Much like the jokes that come from Wallan Wallan

[funkychicken]

Meringandan - Fire Clay:?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I don't suppose any-one knows exactly which place means "your finger, you fool" or if that's an Aussie urban myth?

(Allegedly one of our more... "intelligent" explorers would point at landmarks, expecting the local natives to tell him what they called it... :roll:)

[bitingmidge]

Malibu (http://sunshinecoastdaily.blogspot.com/2008/03/malibu.html) :rolleyes:


Cheers,

P
(sorry, just a cheap link to my photo blog! :D:D:D)

[artme]

Got to wondering about tha Aboriginal way of dealing with plurals.
Seems common practice for a word to be repeated to denote the plural.
E.gs. Waga Wagga = crows
Grong Grong = stones
Walla Walla = ? Bungle Bungle = ? Mitta Mitta = ? Book Book = ? etc.

Would be interesting to do some direct English translations. For instance, would one be able to "Grong the Wagga Wagga" ?

[Squirrel]

The road I grew up on was called Carinya which apparently is translated as "Happy Home"...

Squirrel.

[dazzler]

We drove through "Cooma" much to the surprise of a northern aboriginal in the car who said in his language it meant "poo".

Seemed like a nice place to me and didnt smell at all. :)

[dazzler]

Got to wondering about tha Aboriginal way of dealing with plurals.
Seems common practice for a word to be repeated to denote the plural.
E.gs. Waga Wagga = crows
Grong Grong = stones
Walla Walla = ? Bungle Bungle = ? Mitta Mitta = ? Book Book = ? etc.





can I buy wheel wheel wheel wheel for car?

:U

[Koala-Man]

I have a theory that almost all aboriginal place name mean "Get off my land you white %$$#@*!!" or something similar.

Imagine the scene: the intrepid explorer comes across a group of indiginous folk as asks them "What is this place called?"

The tribal warrior points back the way the Europeans came and says "Wagga Wagga", which in his Wiradjuri means ""Get off my land you white %$$#@*!!"

Sturt, or whoever he is, looks in the direction the tribesman is pointing and noticed a flock of birds.

"Aha, Place of Many Crows!"

Anyway, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Gaz.

[dazzler]

Apparently Kangaroo means "dont know what your talking about" or similar when cook pointed at them. :D

[BernieP]

G'Day

Taree "wild fig"

Cheers
Bernie

[nine fingers]

I started school at GNOTUK. Nearby is Lake Gnotuk ,saltier than the sea,no fish or bird life , hence no tucker.:o
regards nine fingers.

[spokeshave]

Got a few around here,

Tarrawingee, Mudgegonga, Dandongadale, Tawonga, Bogong, Whorouly, Howlong, Wangaratta........

As mentioned earlier, i've always thought Tangambalanga was a cracker of a name.

Steven.

[AlexS]

Tumut = 'River runs both ways':D

[astrid]

was told at school in 1970's
Mordiyalluc- deep water
moorabin- resting place

dont know how accurate this is.

Astrid

[Incoming!]

Kooralbyn - Place of copperhead snakes

[artme]

Mate taught at Bongongo Public School, Adjungbilly, via Tumut.
How about Congarinni, Bellambopinni,Euangai,Gumma, Wai Wai.