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Ngunnawal language
 
 
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Ngunnawal or Ngunawal is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Ngunawal people.

awal is currently classified as a sub-tribe of the larger Ngarigu/Ngarigo
Ngarigo

The Ngarigo is the Australian Aborigines whose traditional lands lie south-east of the Canberra area ,According to Norman Tindale in his 1974 catalogue of Australian Aboriginal people groups, the specific areas lands of the Ngarigo are...
 dialect area that covers the limestone plains of Monaro
Monaro, New South Wales

Monaro is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. A small area of Victoria near Snowy River National Park is geographically part of the Monaro, whilst the Australian Capital Territory is frequently considered part of the region: most towns have very close links with Canberra....
/Maneroo in NSW to ACT across the Monaro
Monaro, New South Wales

Monaro is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. A small area of Victoria near Snowy River National Park is geographically part of the Monaro, whilst the Australian Capital Territory is frequently considered part of the region: most towns have very close links with Canberra....
 tableland through to the Australian Alps
Australian Alps

The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, Australia....
 of NSW/VIC Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains

The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australia mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres Australian Height Datum....
.








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Ngunnawal or Ngunawal is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Ngunawal people.

Classification

Ngunawal is currently classified as a sub-tribe of the larger Ngarigu/Ngarigo
Ngarigo

The Ngarigo is the Australian Aborigines whose traditional lands lie south-east of the Canberra area ,According to Norman Tindale in his 1974 catalogue of Australian Aboriginal people groups, the specific areas lands of the Ngarigo are...
 dialect area that covers the limestone plains of Monaro
Monaro, New South Wales

Monaro is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. A small area of Victoria near Snowy River National Park is geographically part of the Monaro, whilst the Australian Capital Territory is frequently considered part of the region: most towns have very close links with Canberra....
/Maneroo in NSW to ACT across the Monaro
Monaro, New South Wales

Monaro is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. A small area of Victoria near Snowy River National Park is geographically part of the Monaro, whilst the Australian Capital Territory is frequently considered part of the region: most towns have very close links with Canberra....
 tableland through to the Australian Alps
Australian Alps

The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, Australia....
 of NSW/VIC Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains

The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australia mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres Australian Height Datum....
.

Prominent place names

Some meanings for Ngunawal words:
  • Kambera - where the name Canberra
    Canberra

    Canberra is the List of Australian capital cities of Australia. With a population of over 340,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall....
     may have come from, said to mean 'meeting place' for big Bogong moth
    Bogong moth

    The Bogong moth is a temperate species of nocturnal moth notable for appearing in large numbers around major public buildings in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during spring ....
    s
  • Tuggeranong
    Tuggeranong

    Tuggeranong is the southernmost town centre of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It comprises 19 suburbs with a total of 31,819 dwellings, housing 87,119 people of the 324,034 people in the Australian Capital Territory ....
    , a district of Canberra, comes from the Ngarigo
    Ngarigo

    The Ngarigo is the Australian Aborigines whose traditional lands lie south-east of the Canberra area ,According to Norman Tindale in his 1974 catalogue of Australian Aboriginal people groups, the specific areas lands of the Ngarigo are...
    /Ngarigu word
  • Ginninderra - is also a Ngarigo
    Ngarigo

    The Ngarigo is the Australian Aborigines whose traditional lands lie south-east of the Canberra area ,According to Norman Tindale in his 1974 catalogue of Australian Aboriginal people groups, the specific areas lands of the Ngarigo are...
  • Yeal-am-bid-gie is the name for the Molonglo River
    Molonglo River

    The Molonglo River rises on the western side of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia in the state of New South Wales. Its source is on the other side of the mountain range from where the Shoalhaven River rises, in Tallaganda state forest at ~1200 metres altitude....
    , recorded by C. THROSBY in 1820
  • Murrumbidgee means "big river" (See Murrumbidgee River
    Murrumbidgee River

    The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee travels from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains, through the ACT, and to a confluence with the Murray....
     )


Other Ngarigo/Ngarigu words

  • Mura Gadi means 'pathways for searching' . Gadi by itself means 'searching for', the Gadi Research Centre at the University of Canberra
    University of Canberra

    The University of Canberra, also known as UC, is a university located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, the capital of Australia....
     with this name.


  • Bimbi - Bird
    Bird

    Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
  • Nengi Bamir - See far (View)
  • Dulwa - Casuarina
    Casuarina

    Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeastern Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean....
     trees
  • Bargang - Melliodora
    Eucalyptus melliodora

    Eucalyptus melliodora, commonly known as Yellow Box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall eucalyptus. The bark is variable ranging from smooth with an irregular, short stocking, to covering most of the trunk, fibrous, dense or loosely held, grey, yellow or red-brown, occasionally very coarse, thick, dark brown to black; shedding f...
     trees
  • Yerra - swim
    Swim

    Swim can refer to several things:*Swimming , an album by the band French Kicks*swimming*Swim , an EP by the band Feeder, and its Swim ...
  • Gummiuk - bulrushes
  • Ngadyung - water
    Water

    Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
  • Nguru - camp
    Campsite

    A campsite is a Location used for overnight stay in the out of doors. The term 'campsite' usually means an area where an individual, family, group or military unit might camp....
  • Mundang - canoe
    Canoe

    A canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be covered....
      (pdf format)


  • Weereewa - Lake George
    Lake George (New South Wales)

    Lake George is a lake in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia about 30 minutes drive north-east of Canberra along the Federal Highway enroute to Sydney....
     


  • Several Ngunawal sub-tribe words of Ngarigo/Ngarigu were used as street names in the suburb of Ngunnawal area such as:
    • Gadali - to hunt
      Hunt

      Hunt may refer to:...
    • Guginya - kookaburra
      Kookaburra

      Kookaburras are large to very large terrestrial animal kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea, the name a loanword from Wiradjuri language guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeia of its call....
    • Gula - koala
      Koala

      The Koala is a wikt:thickset arboreal marsupial herbivory native to Australia, and the only Extant taxon representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
    • Mura - pathway (Also used here
    • Burin - stringybark


  • Other explanations for street names in Ngunawal sub-tribe Ngarigo language listed by the ACT planning and land authority :
    • Bargang - yellow box
    • Bimbiang - shield
    • Birrigai - to laugh
    • Budyan - birds
    • Bunburung - small lizard
    • Burin - stringy bark
    • Burrai - quick
    • Bunduluk - rosella
      Rosella

      A rosella is one of 5-8 species of colorful Australian parrots in the genus Platycercus. Platycercus means "broad-" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the rosellas and other members of the broad-tailed parrot tribe....
    • Berra - boomerang
      Boomerang

      Boomerangs are curved pieces of wood used as weapons and sport equipment. Boomerangs come in many shapes and sizes depending on their geographic or tribal origins and intended function....
    • Bamir - long
    • Balbo - kangaroo rat
    • Bural - day
    • Gamburra - flowers
    • Giliruk - pee wee
    • Gunyan - slow
    • Gurubun - koala
      Koala

      The Koala is a wikt:thickset arboreal marsupial herbivory native to Australia, and the only Extant taxon representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
    • Karrugang - magpie
      Magpie

      Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family , Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds....
    • Kudyera - fighting club
    • Mirrabei - the name for tribal elder Matilda Sissy Williams (died 1973)
    • Mulleun - eagle
      Eagle

      Eagles are large bird of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several Genus which are not necessarily closely related to each other....
    • Murrung - lizard
    • Mundawari - bandicoot
      Bandicoot

      A bandicoot is any of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. The word bandicoot is an anglicised form of the Telugu language word pandi-kokku, which originally referred to the unrelated Indian Bandicoot Rat....
    • Nangi - see or look
    • Walga - hawk
    • Warabin - curlew
    • Warrumbul - youth
    • Wirria - tree goanna
    • Yerra - to fly like a bird
    • Yerrabi - to walk
    • Yumba - eel


  • Narragunnawali - means 'alive/well-being/ coming together' as used in the Peace Park near the National Library.


  • winyu - sun
    Sun

    The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
     


  • umbagong - axe
    Axe

    The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
      Umbagong district park in Belconnen was named after this.


Possible Ngunawal words


Gang Gang Male Mjc01
*gang-gang - name for a 'small black cockatoo' (possibly the only non-locality Ngunawal word in current use - for the Gang-gang Cockatoo
Gang-gang Cockatoo

The Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, is found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia, particularly :wikt:alpine bushland....
, although the word is claimed as being of Wiradhuri origin by another source.)

  • Gungahlin
    Gungahlin

    Gungahlin is a district of Canberra, Australia Gungahlin is situated to the north of Canberra's city centre. The name Gungahlin is a regional Aboriginal word meaning "little rocky hill"....
     - name for a district in Canberra, which gets its name from the homestead built in 1862 by Edward Crace called 'Goongarline' , which is said to be an aboriginal word for 'white man's house', or mean 'wonderful' or 'beautiful'.


  • Yhar - running water (town of Yass
    Yass, New South Wales

    Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Council. The name appears to have been derived from an Australian Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....
     named after this, where many Ngunawal people had camped.)

Primary sources


Secondary sources