The land is a map: placenames of indigenous origin in Australia

336 Pages·2009·18.043 MB·English

by  Hercus, Luise Anna;Simpson, Jane Helen;Hodges, Flavia

THE LAND IS A MAP
Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia

THE LAND IS A MAP
Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia
Edited by
LUISE HERCUS, FLAVIA HODGES, JANE SIMPSON
THEAUSTRAUANNATIONALUNMRSITY
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CONTENTS OVERVIEW
Contents indetail IX
Listofmaps XVI
Listoffigures andtables XVU
Preface XIX
Notes on contributors XXI
OVERVIEW
I INDIGENOUS PLACENAMES: AN INTRODUCTION
Luise Hercus and Jane Simpson I
2 THE CONCEPT OF PLACE AMONG THE ARRERNTE
David Wilkins 24
3 TRANSPARENCY VERSUS OPACITY IN ABORIGINAL PLACENAMES
Michael Walsh 43
4 CHANGING PLACES: EUROPEAN AND ABORIGINAL STYLES
Patrick McConvell 50
5 IS IT REALLY A PLACENAME?
Luise Hercus 63
DOCUMENTINGPLACENAMES
6 ON THE TRANSLATABILITY OF PLACENAMES IN THE WIK REGION,
CAPE YORK PENINSULA
Peter Sutton 75
7 NAMES AND NAMING: SPEAKING FORMS INTO PLACE
FrancaTamisari 87
V
vi Contentsoverview
8 'I'M GOING TO WHERE-HER-BRISKET-IS': PLACENAMES IN THE ROPER
BrettBaker 103
9 THE ARCHAISM AND LINGUISTIC CONNECTIONS OF SOME
YIR-YORONT TRACT-NAMES
BarryAlpher 131
10 SOME REMARKS ONPLACENAMES IN THE FLINDERS
Bernhard Schebeck 140
RECONSTRUCTING PLACENAMES SYSTEMS
II BLOWNTO WITEWITEKALK: PLACENAMES AND CULTURAL
LANDSCAPES INNORTH-WEST VICTORIA
Edward Ryan 157
12 WEEDING OUT SPURIOUS ETYMOLOGIES: TOPONYMS ON THE
ADELAIDE PLAINS
Rob Amery 165
13 PLACENAMES IN YUWAALARAAY, YUWAALIYAAY AND GAMILARAAY
LANGUAGES OF NORTH-WEST NEW SOUTH WALES
AnnaAsh 181
14 NAMING THE DEAD HEART: HILLIER'S MAP AND REUTHER'S
GAZETTEER OF 2,468 PLACENAMES INNORTH-EASTERN SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
Philip Jones 187
INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TWO PLACENAMES SYSTEMS
15 'WHATNAME?': THE RECORDING OF INDIGENOUS PLACENAMES
IN THE WESTERN DESERTOF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Paul Monaghan 202
16 'WHATTHEY CALL THAT IN THE WHITES?': NGIYAMPAA AND OTHER
PLACENAMES IN A NEW SOUTH WALES NGURRAMPAA
Tamsin Donaldson 207
Contents overview vii
ASSIGNING AND REINSTATING PLACENAMES
17 CREATING ABORlGINAL PLACENAMES: APPLIED PHILOLOGY IN
ARMIDALE CITY
Nicholas Reid 241
18 RECLAIMING THROUGH RENAMING: THE REINSTATEMENT OF
KAURNA TOPONYMS INADELAIDE AND THE ADELAIDE PLAINS
Rob Amery and Georgina Yambo Williams 255
APPENDIX
GUIDELINES FORTHE RECORDING AND USE OF ABORlGINAL AND
TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERPLACENAMES
Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia 277
INDEX OF PLACES AND PLACENAMES 283
INDEX OF LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE GROUPS 303

CONTENTS IN DETAIL
I INDIGENOUS PLACENAMES: AN INTRODUCTION I
I Introduction I
2 Fourdifferences between Indigenous and introducedplacenames 10
2.1 System versus set ofnetworks 10
2.2 Local mnemonics versus mnemotechnics II
2.3 Uses made ofthe land 13
2.4 What counts as a significantfeature 13
3 Three strategiesfor creating introducedplacenames rarely found in
Australian Indigenous placenames 14
3.1 Commemoration strategies 14
3.2 Topographic descriptors 15
3.3 Relative location 17
4 Semantic contentofIndigenous placenames in southern
and Central Australia 18
2 THE CONCEPTOF PLACE AMONG THE ARRERNTE 25
I Place 25
1.1 Pmere- camp, country,place 27
1.1.1 Pmere as generic/classifier 29
1.2 Namedplaces and placenames 31
1.2.1 Conceptions ofgeographic place and linguisticconsequences 31
2 Placenaming 34
2.1 Analysable placenames 35
2.2 Placenames that are not immediately analysable 37
Appendix: Defining pmere 39
IX
x Contentsin detail
3 TRANSPARENCY VERSUS OPACITY IN ABORIGINAL PLACENAMES 43
1 The basic question: whatproportion ofplacenames ofIndigenous
origin are transparent- in some sense? 43
2 Towards atypology oftransparency 44
2.1 Clarity- focus on the semantic contentofthe form
ofthe placename 44
2.2 Recognition- the extent to which the semantic content
ofaplacename is recognisable 45
2.3 Candour- the extentto which (past) ownership of
placenames is acknowledged 45
2.4 Openness- the extentto which constituents ofaplacename package
are open to the widerpublic 46
3 Placenamepackage 46
4 Multiple names for aplace 47
5 Temporal dimension 48
4 CHANGING PLACES: EUROPEAN AND ABORIGINAL STYLES 51
1 English placenames: taking the name ofyourhome with you when youmove 51
2 Transporting Aboriginal names inthe European domain 52
2.1 New centres ofinfluence: the airstrip 52
2.2 The influence ofhistorical Aboriginal immigrants in shifting names 53
2.3 Substitutingthe name ofaplanned destination for the eventual site
in a move 53
2.4 Summary 54
3 Extension and change ofplacenames by Aboriginal people 54
3.1 'Bigplaces' andwaterholes as centres ofspheres ofinfluence 55
3.2 'Runs' andthe influence ofsocial groups on placename extension 55
3.3 Innovations in names and apparent shift 56
3.4 Repeated names in different countries 57
3.5 Modemplacename shiftandnew spheres ofinfluence 57
3.6 Naming afterplacenames 58
4 Implications for history 59
5 IS IT REALLY A PLACENAME? 63
1 Generic terms 63
2 'Intelmediate' names 69