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Going Native on a Rugged Trail
ABORIGINAL WORDS

Aboriginal Australians are groups of Indigenous people of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands and Groote Eylandt. They comprise many distinct peoples who have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years.

  • In the late 18th century, there were more than 250 distinct Aboriginal social groups with 360 Aboriginal dialects in this country.
  • Many of the languages are already extinct, and some are spoken by only dwindling numbers of elderly people, but a few are still vigorous.
  • At the start of the 21st century only 150 Aboriginal languages remain in daily use, and all except 13 are highly endangered.
  • While the exact number of Indigenous languages are unknown, estimates suggest that less than 60 of them are alive today.
  • ​ As of 2016 Aboriginal Australians comprised 3.1% of Australia's population.

There is no single Aboriginal word for any term. In 2016 the Australian National Dictionary listed around 500 words which were in common usage coming from 100 different Aboriginal languages up from 400 words from 80 languages in 2008 and 250 words from 60 languages in 1988. Most of these words are used to describe flora and fauna, a trend that is continuing with the increasing interest in bush food.

GROUP NAMES
  • Koori: Represents Aboriginal people from the South East of the Australian mainland (south of Kempsey to Melbourne).
  • Noongar: Noongars (Nungas/Nungahs) are Aboriginal people from the South West of the Australian mainland. See Below
  • Murri: Murri’s (or Murry) are Aboriginal people from Queensland & Far Northern NSW.
  • Palawa: Aboriginal people of Tasmania.
  • Yolngu: Yolngu people are one of many Indigenous groups in Northern Australia. They include prominent people in Australian television & music like David Gulpilil, Magnolia Maymuru and the band Yothu Yindi.

WORDS AND MEANINGS
Mixture of dialects

  • ADINA - pleasant, good
  • AKUNA - flowing water
  • ALKINA - Moonlight
  • ALKIRA - Bright, sunny
  • AMAROO - lovely or beautiful place
  • ARUMA - happy
  • BAAL- Express disgust or disapproval
  • BABBLING BROOK- A cook
  • BANDICOOT- A small marsupial animal differing from the Kangaroo in many ways, particularly in tail (which resembles the rat).
  • BILLABONG - A watercourse which runs only after it rains.
  • BIMBADEEN - A good view
  • BOORIE - Boy, child.
  • BOSKER- Good; first class.
  • BRUMBY- A wild horse with long matted mane and tail and of ill-breeding.
  • BUNDALEER - Among the trees
  • BUNG - State of exhaustion or when something is broken/ out of action. The word was first recorded in 1841 and the record said “bang” meant “dead” in the Yagara dialect.
  • BUNJI: Slang for mate.
  • BUNYIP - Large mythical creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
  • CAGMAG- Scraps of food.
  • CARINYA - Happy home
  • CLINER- A young girl.
  • COOEE - Meaning come here. It is a prolonged clear call, used most frequently in the bush to attract attention.
  • COOINDA - Happy place
  • COOLAMON - A multi-purpose curved wooden tray can be used for carrying infants, food, digging and for burning leaves during smoking/cleansing ceremonies.
  • COOLONGALOOK - Means “he who loves to climb”
  • CORROBOREE - An assembly of sacred, festive or warlike characters
  • DADIRRI - The concept of inner deep listening and quiet awareness. A tuning in of experience to understand the beauty of nature.
  • DEADLY - Far from what you’d think, it is slang meaning awesome or great
  • DIDGERIDOO - Developed by indigenous peoples of northern Australia, likely within the last 1,500 years and is now in use around the world. It is a wooden trumpet "drone pipe" classified by musicologists as a brass aerophone.
  • DITCHIE- DOONKUNA - Means sunrise
  • DUFFER- A fool
  • DUNGOG - Clear hills
  • DUNOON - Ridge
  • ECHUCA - Meeting of the waters
  • EUMERALLA - Valley of plenty
  • EUROA - Joyful, happy
  • FIZGIG- Police informer
  • GALAH - Small Australian cockatoo with a gray back and rosy pink head and underparts, abundant and regarded as a pest.
  • GAMMON - Pretending, kidding or joking
  • GEEBUNG-Small native plum.
  • GILGAI - Describes a terrain of low relief on a plain of heavy clay soil, characterized by the presence of hollows, rims, and mounds, formed by periods of expansion during wet weather and cracking during hot, dry weather.
  • GIRRAWEEN - Place of flowers
  • GUNYAH- A blackfellow's humpy, built of bark, sometimes around a tree, but not always, tapering from a peak at the top to a bell-shape at the bottom.
  • GWANDALAN - Rest, peace
  • HUMDINGER- A proficient person.
  • JARJUM - Child
  • JUMBUCK- Sheep
  • KALANG - Beautiful
  • KAURI- A yellow valuable wood.
  • KOOKABURRA - A large kingfisher, noted for its loud call that resembles laughter.
  • KURANYA - Rainbow
  • KURRAJONG - A tree valued as fodder (food)
  • KYLIE - A boomerang
  • LAMBRUK - A homestead
  • LUMME- A mild oath.
  • MALPARARA - Two friends
  • MARLU - Kangaroo - from the Warlpiri language group in Central Australia.
  • MIGALOO - Ghost or spirit. Also, the nickname for albino humpback whale.
  • MIZZLE- To leave hurriedly.
  • MOB - Refers to kin or family.
  • MOPOKE - Bird with a weird metallic call
  • NANGANA - To see
  • NARBETHONG - A cheerful place
  • NARDOO- Sporocarp of plant used by aboriginals as food
  • NULLA NULLA - Deadly hunting boomerang composed of a long carved piece of wood that is shaped like the number 7. It is a versatile war club that flies aerodynamically at a high speed usually with the intention of killing it’s target.
  • NUMERALLA - Valley of plenty
  • NUNKERI - Beautiful, excellent, pretty
  • OMAROO - Beautiful view
  • ORROROO - Wind through the
  • PANKINA - Be happy
  • PANNIKIN- Small drinking vessel.
  • PAVLOVA - A meringue dessert with a soft centre, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. It was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova
  • PICCANINNY- A baby or very young child
  • PLONK - Wine, or fortified wine, of poor quality; more generally, wine or alcohol of any kind.
  • PUKAMANI - Funeral rite
  • QUANDONG - A tree with a bright edible fruit
  • QUOKKA - A small, short-tailed wallaby, Setonix brachyurus, of south-western Western Australia, including Rottnest and Bald Islands.
  • QUOLL- Native cat
  • SHAKEALEG - A common slang word for dancing. In particular, shakealeg refers to the traditional movement of moving the knees in and out while the feet continue to move forward at the same time.
  • TARONGA - A beautiful view
  • TATHRA - Beautiful country
  • TIDDA - Means sister and can also be used for female friends.
  • TJUKURPA - Dreaming
  • TUMBEELLUWA - Evergreen
  • WAGGABALIRI - Co-operative kicking volley game. The ball was usually made of possum fur.
  • WARATAH - Red flowering tree
  • WARRIGAL- Wild dog
  • WERONA - Quiet
  • WIRLA - A bad feeling in the gut — the kind of feeling you get when you see a person and know something isn't right.
  • WOOMERA - Spear thrower. It lays between the end of a spear and your hand and acts as a lever that propels the spear at an incredible speed.
  • YAKKA - means work, strenuous labour, and comes from 'yaga' meaning 'work'
  • YALLAMBEE - To dwell at ease
  • YALLAROO - Beautiful flowers
  • YARINGA - Near the sea
  • YARRAH- Eucalyptus
  • YIDAKI - Yolngu name for Didgeridoo. Many people believe that the word didgeridoo is actually an Aboriginal word when in fact the word is a made up and loosely describes the sound that comes out of the oldest wind instrument on the planet.
  • YOWIE - Feared super-natural being. Other names include hairy man and bungarer

EXAMPLE REGIONAL GROUP AND DIALECT
THE NOONGAR

The Noongar are people of the south-west of Western Australia. Their language is made up of fourteen different dialects. Noongar dialects have changed over time, incorporating and mixing with English. In the late 1930’s, anthropologist Norman Tindale identified 14 language groups within Noongar country: Amangu, Yuat, Whadjuk, Binjareb, Wardandi, Balardong, Nyakinyaki, Wilman, Ganeang, Bibulman, Mineng, Goreng, Wudjari and Njunga. The main difference between the Noongar language groups is pronunciation, but because the groups are geographically and ecologically distinctive, there are also regional vocabularies.

​GRAMMAR
  • In the Noongar language words are ordered differently than in English. The subject comes before the verb in English and the object follows.
  • In Noongar, the word order is subject – object – verb.
  • For example to explain that men are hunting kangaroo, in Noongar they say: ‘maam yonga ngardanginy’. Translated into English this would be maam = men, yonga= kangaroo and ngardanginy = hunting.

The Noongar language has survived despite the impact of settlement and dominance of English. The custom of teaching Noongar continues to be handed down from Elders to children.

NOONGAR WORDS

SIMPLE WORDS
  • Balang - Them, those
  • Balup - Them
  • Balai - Lookout/Beware
  • Barl - He, She
  • Boolariny/Boola - Plenty, Many, Lots
  • Kaya/Kiya - Hello
  • Kwoba/Kwop - Good
  • Koort - Heart, hearts, two hearts together

ACTIONS
  • Balak - Naked
  • Barkininy - Bite, Biting
  • Baranginy - Dig or Catch
  • Barminy - Hit
  • Bo - Long way
  • Bokitja - Going A Long Way
  • Boodjaree - Pregnant
  • Boolyaka - Leaving, Going
  • Boorniny - Cutting
  • Doongkoorlanwornt - Fall down, fall over
  • Ke-ning/Ke-niny - Dance
  • Waabiny - Play, Play Time
  • Walinj - To cry or Crying

DATE/TIME
  • Beerit - Daylight (Before dusk)
  • Benang - Tomorrow
  • Birak - Noongar season December and January as the ‘hot dry time’
  • Boorda - Later on
  • Boordawon - Soon, Sooner than later
  • Bunuru - Noongar season February and March, late Summer and early Autumn
  • Djeran - Noongar season covers the cooler period of the months April And May
  • Djilba - Noongar season August and September covers the late Winter and Early Spring
  • Kambarang - Noongar season with Decreasing Rain From October to November
  • Kedalak - Night time
  • Kedalup - Daytime
  • Koora/Kura/Koora-Koora - Long time ago, a very very long time ago
  • Makuru - Noongar season which is the early Winter and occurs from June And July
  • Nyitting - Cold times, creation time
  • Yeye/Yeyi - Now, the present, today

EMOTIONS/ATTRIBUTES
  • Dar Wara - Poor speaker
  • Darboort - Dumb
  • Djinanginy kaartdijin - Seeing and understanding
  • Djirip-djirip - Very happy
  • Kaartdijin - Knowledge
  • Kaartdijinboort - No knowledge (of something)
  • Kada Kada - Make believe
  • Karnya - Shame, (or to have)
  • Kart-warra - Silly, stupid (kart – head) (warra – no good)
  • Kwobardak - Pretty, beautiful
  • Nyornditj - To pity, feel sorry for someone or something
  • Moolyip/Moorlyip/Moorlyan - Sulk, sulky, unhappy (or as in the saying “nose out of joint”)

LIVING CREATURES
  • Bardee - Grubs (Found In Kooroop) Grass Tree
  • Boodee - Rat kangaroo – now rare
  • Booladarlung - Pelican – large (bird)
  • Darmoorluk - Twenty-eight (green parrot) (bird)
  • Djildjit - Fish
  • Djilgi - Freshwater prawn
  • Djilyaro - Bees
  • Djooditj - Small kangaroo
  • Gooljak/Kooljak - Swan
  • Koorlbardi - Magpie (bird)
  • Mopoke - Owl
  • Ngoolyark - Black cockatoo (bird)
  • Nyarnyee - Baby kangaroo, commonly known as a “joey”
  • Warlitj - Eagle
  • Yonga - Kangaroo

NATURE/ENVIRONMENT
  • Balga - Grass Tree
  • Bilya/Beeliar - River
  • Binjar/Pinjar - Swamp or a Lake
  • Bidee - Path
  • Birdal - Sparks
  • Biriny - Resin (Kooroop) from Grass Tree
  • Biyoo/Boyoo - Zamia palm
  • Boodja-Dooga - Dusty (Becoming)
  • Boorn - Stick, tree, log, twig, wood
  • Boorna-Wangkiny - Message Stick
  • Boort - Bark Of A Tree
  • Boya - Rocks, Stones
  • Derbarl Yerrigan - Swan River
  • Djarlgarro Beelier - Canning river
  • Djarlma - Forest
  • Karl/Kaarla - Fire
  • Kinjarling - Rain
  • Moodjar - Christmas Tree (Tree which blossoms around Christmas with large orange flowers)
  • Mia mia - Shelter made from natural bush; sticks and branches
  • Mootjool - Yellow everlasting flower
  • Mulgar/Marlga - Thunder
  • Ngamma/Ngamar - Rockholes (filled with water)-
  • ​Walken - Rainbow
  • Wardan - Ocean, sea

PEOPLE
  • Deman - Grandmother
  • Dembart - Grandfather
  • Djook/Djookian - Sister/s
  • Konk/Konkee - Uncle
  • Koolang/Kurrlong - Child
  • Koolangka/Koolanga/Kurrlongurr - Children
  • Maam/Maaman - Man, men or father
  • Koorta - Husband or wife (two hearts coming together as in marriage)
  • Moort/Moortung - Family or relations
  • Ngarngk - Mother, sun
  • Ngooltja - Brother or Sister in-Law
  • Ngoon/Ngoonee - Brother/Brothers
  • Yok - Young girl
  • Yorga - Woman, women

PLACES
  • Boodja/Booja - Country
  • Boodjara - Country (Of Origin/Belonging to)
  • Ga-ra-katta/Garra-Katta - Mt. Eliza at the foot of Kings Park
  • Gabbi Darbal - Estuary; place where salt and fresh waters mix
  • Gargangara - Armadale (area just north of the townsite)
  • Gnargagin - Place of water
  • Goolamrup - Now known as Kelmscott
  • Goorda - Island
  • Meeandip - Garden Island
  • Ngooloormayup - Carnac Island
  • Wadjamup/Wedjamup/Wadjemup - Rottnest Island

SPIRITS/MYSTICAL
  • Bardan - Spirit (a person’s spirit)
  • Boylyada maaman - Witchdoctor
  • Bulya/Boyly - Witchdoctor’s magic
  • Djenak - Evil Spirit
  • Kwop Wirrin/Quop Wirrin - Good spirit
  • Warra Wirrin - Bad spirits, no good spirits

THINGS
  • Birnt - Cloak Pin for Booka (Skewer, Made From Bone)
  • Booka/Bwoka - Coats (Made From Kangaroo Skin)

UNIVERSE
  • Djinda - Star
  • Meeuk Mia - Halo of the Moon
  • Meeuk/Meeka - Moon
  • Meeukany - Moonlight​
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A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS BY KAI
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Defining the Brain: Website | Downloads (science)
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The Logophile Lexicon: Website | Book (literary)
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