Wadawurrung language

Wadawurrung, also rendered as Wathawurrung, Wathaurong or Wada wurrung, and formerly sometimes Barrabool, is the Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria. It was spoken by 15 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. Various regional programs and initiatives promote the usage and revitalisation of Wadawurrung language.

Wathawurrung
Wathaurong
Native to	Australia
Region	Victoria
Ethnicity	Wathaurong people
Extinct	(date missing)
Revival	1998[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Kulinic Kulin Wathawurrung
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wth
Glottolog	wath1238
AIATSIS[2]	S29
ELP	Wathawurrung
The five Kulin nations. Wadawurrung ('Wathaurong') is in on the coast in green.

Phonology

Consonants

Blake reconstructs Wadawurrung consonants as such;^[3]

	Labial	Alveolar	Laminal	Retroflex	Velar
Stops	p/b [p]	t/d [t]	th/dh [t̪] tj/dj [c]	rt/rd [ʈ]	k/g [k]
Nasals	m [m]	n [n]	nh/ny [n̪ , ɲ]	rn [ɳ]	ng [ŋ]
Laterals		l [l]	ly [ʎ̟]	rl [ɭ]
Rhotics		rr [ɾ / r]		r [ɽ]
Glides			y [j]		w [w]

Due to the varied nature of attestations of the language, Blake reconstructs Wadawurrung consonants in complacence to the standard features of the Australian Languages.

It is presumed that Wadawurrung did not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants ('Parrwong ~ Barwon' - Magpie).

What Blake attributes as a distinction between 'alveolar' and 'laminal' consonants is better described as a distinction between dental and post-alveolar pronunciation on nasal and stop consonants. This is a distinction in indigenous language families of the Australian south-east such as Yuin-Kuric (incl. Ngunnawal and Dharug) and the Gippsland languages (Incl. Dhudhuroa).

It is presumed there was no distinction between post-alveolar /n/ and palatal /ɲ/ ('Nhita' - to steal, fluctuates with 'nyita'). It is assumed that a similar correspondence occurs with the post-alveolar stop, thus mixed attestation between 'th', 'tj' & 'ty'.^[3]

The post-alveolar consonants /ʎ̟/, /t/ & /ɲ/ in word final position are rendered as 'yl', 'yt' & 'yn', respectively. E.g. 'Gowayn' - Eel. The word final nasal after /a/ is always cited as 'ayn' due to its fluctuation with 'ng' in sources^[3]

Blake asserts that sources do not differentiate between alveolar /r/ and retroflex /ɽ/ and the distinction is thus presumed from comparison to other Victorian Aboriginal Languages. Blake represents every rhotic as 'rr' unless drawing from modern sources such as Hercus.^[3]

Vowels

Blake does not specify the number of vowels present in Wadawurrung. The standard set of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/ are used, however Blake notes a consistent correspondence between 'a', 'u' and 'o' in various sources ('Djinang' - foot, variously attested as 'jinnung', 'genong').^[3] There is also fluctuation between 'a' and 'e' as the last vowel in a word ('walart' - possum, compared to 'wollert'),^[3] however Blake maintains that they are distinct vowels

Vocabulary

Place names

Select placenames with attested origin in Wathawurrung language terms are;

Placename	Origin
Barrabool	Unclear, variously reported as "oyster", "slope down to water" or "rounded hill".[4]
Barwon	From Barrwang meaning "Magpie", same origin as the town of Parwan.
Bungaree	Meaning "hut" or "tent".[5]
Buninyong	From Buninyouang, recorded by early colonists as meaning "Man lying on back with raised knee", in reference to the profile of Mount Buninyong.
Connewarre	From koonoowarra, meaning black swan.[6] Same origin as the town of Koonwarra in South Gippsland.
Corio	Possibly "Sandy cliffs", other sources state "small marsupial" or "wallaby".
Geelong	From Djillong, City of Greater Geelong maintains it means "Land" or "Cliffs",[7] other sources suggest it was the original name of Corio Bay.[8]
Gheringhap	Either from "gheran" as meaning "timber", then followed by a placename suffix "-hap",[9] or a reference to the black wattle tree.[10]
Gnarwarre	Said to be from the name of a local wetland and its waterfowl, possibly same origin as Lake Connewarre from kunuwarra for the black swan.
Jan Juc	Either "milk"[11] or "ironbark".
Koorweinguboora	Either "where the crane eats frogs" or "land of many waters".[5]
Modewarre	The musk duck.[11]
Moolap	A meeting place for gathering shellfish.
Moorabool	Either from a word for "ghost" or the name for the curlew.
Moriac	Meaning "hill".
Myrniong	The native yam-daisy, also spelled Murnong.
Parwan	From Barrwang meaning "Magpie", same origin as that of the Barwon River.
Tarneit	From the Wathaurong word for the colour white.
Wendouree	from wendaaree (the Wathawurrong word meaning go away). When settler William Cross Yuille asked a local indigenous woman what the name of the lake was, she told him to go away. hence the name
Werribee	From Wirribi-yaluk, the name of the Werribee River, with Wirribi said to mean "spine" or "backbone".[12]
Wingeel	From the word for the wedge-tailed eagle and creator spirit. Compare spelling Bunjil from other Kulin languages
Woady Yaloak River	From Wurdi-yaluk meaning "big creek".
You Yangs	Reportedly Ude Youang, meaning "big mountains".[13]

Animal Names

Wadawurrung vocabulary pertaining to local wildlife;

• 'Djirnap' - Cockatoo
• 'Duwan' - Brush-tailed phascogale, tuan.
• 'Goim', 'Kuyim' - Kangaroo
• 'Ngurr-ngurr' - Wombat, Vombatus ursinus
• 'Ngambulmum' - Koala, lit. 'bottom of a tree fork'
• 'Mon.garrk', 'Mon.ngarrk' - Echidna
• 'Perridak' - Platypus
• 'Walart' - Possum. The term 'Walart-walart' refers to a possum skin cloak (Blake also lists 'Barnong' as a word pertaining to the Ringtail Possum specifically)^[3]