Woiwurrung–Taungurung language

Woiwurrung, Taungurung and BoonwurrungOther spellings and names include Boonerwrung, Boon Wurrung, Putnaroo, Thurung, Toturin, and Gippsland dialect () are Aboriginal languages of the Kulin nation of Central Victoria. Woiwurrung was spoken by the Woiwurrung and related peoples in the Yarra River basin, Taungurung by the Taungurung people north of the Great Dividing Range in the Goulburn River Valley around Mansfield, Benalla and Heathcote, and Boonwurrung by the six clans which comprised the Boonwurrung people along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port Bay to Wilsons Promontory. They are often portrayed as distinct languages, but they were mutually intelligible.Barry Blake 1991: 31 Ngurai-illamwurrung (Ngurraiillam) may have been a clan name, a dialect, or a closely related language.

Phonology

Consonants The following is the Woiwurrung dialect: Peripheral Laminal Apical Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex Plosive / / / / / / Nasal Lateral Rhotic Glide It is not clear if the two rhotics are trill and flap, or tap and approximant.

Vowels The exact qualities of vowels in Woiwurrung are unclear, due to conflicting transcription in early written accounts. Blake describes Woiwurrung as having at least three vowels, though mentions that there could be as many as six, much like Hercus' descriptions of Wemba Wemba. Hercus describes Woiwurrung as having five vowels, though noting that the vowel /o/ was potentially quite limited in use. Both describe an amount of allophonic variation within each vowel. +Vowels according to BlakeFrontCentralBackCloseiuMid(ɛ)Opena +Vowels according to HercusFrontCentralBackCloseiuMidɛ(o)Opena

Allophonic variation Woiwurrung appears to have had a number of consistent allophonic variations in vowel sounds, particularly those following /w/ or when next to a laminal consonant. /a/ seems to have been pronounced closer to /æ/ when next to a laminal consonant and /ɒ/ when following /w/.

Pronouns In the case of the Woiwurrung pronouns, the stem seems to be the standard , but the front was suffixed to , so combines to form below. In Kulin languages there is no grammatical gender. Person Singular Dual Plural Woi. IPA Eng. Woi. IPA Eng. Woi. IPA Eng. 1st Inc. We two (you) We (& you) 1st Exc. I We two (not you) We (not you) 2nd You You two You 3rd He/She/It Those two They

Vocabulary biik = land, country boorondara = shade, darkness, night (origin of the name of the City of Boroondara) nyilum biik = poor soil / hard land (origin of the name of Nillumbik Shire) wominjeka = hello / welcome (womin = come, je [dji] = asking to come, ka = purpose) yabber = to talk (this word, with the same meaning, has made its way into informal English)Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054. yarra = flowing, (also means "hair"). It is thought to have been mistakenly given to the Yarra River (referred to as Birrarrung in the Woiwurrung language) by an early settler who asked a boy what it was called, who was confused and answered "it is flowing".

Number and sign system A numbering system was used when Wurundjeri clans sent out messengers to advise neighbouring clans of upcoming events, such as a ceremony, corroboree, a challenge to fight or Marn grook ball game. Messengers carried a message stick with markings to indicate the number and type of people involved and a prop to indicate the type of event, such as a ball for a Marn grook event. The location of meeting was spoken, but neighbouring clans might not use the same language, so a sign language was used to indicate the number of days in the future when the people should assemble. The number was indicated by pointing to a location on the body from 1 to 16. After 16, at the top of the head, the count follows the equivalent locations across the other side of the body.

Numeral Spoken number Sign of the number Literal meaning 1 bubupi-muningya little finger child of the hand 2 bulato-ravel third finger little larger 3 bulato middle finger larger 4 urnung-meluk forefinger urnung means a direction, meluk means a large grub found in some eucalypti 5 babungyi-muningya thumb the mother of the hand 6 krauel wrist-joint 7 ngurumbul the divergence of the radial tendons a fork 8 jeraubil the swelling of the radial muscles 9 thambur the inside of the elbow-joint a round place 10 berbert biceps the ringtail possum and also the name of the armlet made from the pelt of that animal, worn on the bicep during festive occasions 11 wulung shoulder-joint 12 krakerap the collar-bone the place where the bag hangs by its band 13 gurnbert the neck reed necklace, or place where the reed necklace is worn 14 kurnagor the lobe of the ear the point or end of a hill, or of a spur or ridge 15 ngarabul the side of the skull a range or the ridge of a hill 16 bundial top of the head the cutting-place, the place where the mourner cuts himself with some sharp instrument, from budagra meaning to cut 17+ From the top of the head, the count follows the equivalent locations across the other side of the body. 17 is the other side of the skull.

Woiwurrung–Taungurung language

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