Darug language

The Sydney Language, also referred to as Dharug or Iyora, is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language that was spoken in the region of Sydney, New South Wales.

Its last speakers died in the late 19th or early 20th century, their population having been diminished due to the effects of colonisation.^[1] It is known today only from written records.

[edit] Name

The speakers' own name for their language is unknown. The coastal dialect has been referred to as Iyora (also spelt Iora, Eora), which simply means "people", while the inland dialect has been referred to as Dharug (also spelt Darug, Dharuk, Dharruk), a term of unknown origin or meaning. Both names are also used to refer to all dialects of the language collectively.^[2]

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Consonants

[edit] Vowels

The language may have had a distinction of vowel length, but this is difficult to determine from the extant data.^[3]

[edit] Words surviving in English

Examples of Dharuk words that have survived in English are:

• Names of animals: dingo, koala and wallaby
• Trees and plants: burrawang, kurrajong and waratah
• The tools boomerang, a word from the Turuwal sub-group, and woomera (spear-thrower)^[4]
• Place names including Mulgoa, Toongabbie and Winmalee

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Troy, Jakelin (1994). The Sydney Language. Canberra: Panther. ISBN 0 646 110152. 

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