Skip to main content
state library of queensland
Blog
Languages

2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages: Word of the Week - Week Thirty-Seven.

By Administrator | 11 September 2019

As part of State Library's commitment to the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, we will be promoting a 'word of the week' from one of the 125+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects from across Queensland.

State Library's IYIL2019 Word of the Week: Week 37.

This week's word of the week is gulmari meaning 'shield'. It is from the Guwinmal language of Central Queensland along the coastal section taking in the Styx River and Torilla.

Tribes of Rockhampton, Roth (1902).

Guwinmal is also known Koinbal, Koinjmal, Kuinmabara and is related to the Darumbal language of the Rockhampton region. The above image from Roth depicts the location of "Kooinmburra" as he referred to Guwinmal. The image below is also from Roth and depicts several shields used in the region - these were generally made from Corkwood. Figure 56 was collected from Torilla and can be attributed to Guwinmal.

Shields from Rockhampton District, Roth.

Historical wordlists collected by W E Roth and Curr exist for Guwinmal; while more recent linguistic work in the region has been undertaken by Gavan Breen and Angela Terril. AUSTLANG indicates there are no fluent speakers and the language is considered endangered - it is currently undergoing community revival with support from the Central Queensland Language Centre.

Shields will be a central theme of the upcoming Spoken exhibition highlighting the protection of language and culture. Join the conversation as we post a new word for each week!

Week Thirty-Seven 10-16 September 2019.

#slqIYIL #IYIL2019 #IYIL #IY2019WordoftheWeek #SLQIndigenousLanguages

Desmond Crump

Indigenous Languages Coordinator, State Library of Queensland

State Library of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Webpages

State Library of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Map

Jarjum stories: A kuril dhagun showcase focusing on children’s books and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Opens 19 October 2019.

Spoken: celebrating Queensland languages: A major exhibition exploring the survival and revival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages throughout Queensland. Join in the many talks and events to celebrate the rich and diverse languages spoken today. Opens 21 November 2019.

UN IY2019 Links

UN International Year of Indigenous Languages webpages

UN International Year of Indigenous Languages Resources

References

The word of the week has been sourced from the following items in the State Library collections.

Source:  Roth, W. (1898) The Aborigines of the Rockhampton and surrounding coast districts. Microfilm. FILM 0714

Further Reading

Other materials in the State Library collections relating to Guwinmal and neighbouring languages include the following:

Breen, G. (2009) “The Biri dialects and their neighbours”. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, V133, No.2. SER 506.942

Curr, E. M. (1887) The Australian Race: its origins, languages, customs, place of landing in Australia and the routes by which it spread itself over that continent. RBF 572.994 cur

Holmer, N. (1983) Linguistic Survey of South-Eastern Queensland. J 499.15 HOL

Roth, W. (1898) The Aborigines of the Rockhampton and surrounding coast districts. Microfilm. FILM 0714

Terrill, A. (1998) Biri. J 499.15 TER

Terrill, A. (2002) Dharumbal: the language of Rockhampton, Australia. Pacific Linguistics 525.  J 499.15 TER

Websites

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

Central Queensland Language Centre

Comments

Your email address will not be published.

We welcome relevant, respectful comments.

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
We also welcome direct feedback via Contact Us.
You may also want to ask our librarians.