Pallanganmiddang (Waywurru, Waveroo) is an extinct, poorly-attested Aboriginal language of the Upper Murray region of the northeast of Victoria, that was spoken by the Pallanganmiddang people.
Name
Many tribe and language names in the area end in a suffix variously spelt -matong, -middang, -mirttong, -mathang, and -mittung;[2]: 2 this suffix may have an etymological association with "speech" or "tongue" (compare Western Australian language Kalaamaya's midhany "tongue", likely a cognate[3]), and, in Pallanganmiddang's case, seems to denote an ethnonym.[4]
Pallanganmiddang has been alternatively known as Balangamida, Pallangahmiddang, Pal-ler an mitter, Wavaroo, Wave Veroo, Waveroo, Wayyourong, Wayyouroo, Wayerroo, Waywurru, Weeerroo and Weeherroo.[5][6][7]
Classification
Although it was a Pama-Nyungan language,[8] Pallanganmiddang was likely quite distinct from its neighbouring languages, such as Dhudhuroa, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri; its percentage of shared vocabulary with its neighbours is very low. The only exception is a purported language mentioned in an 1899 list titled "Barwidgee, Upper Murray", with which Pallanganmiddang shares 39% of its vocabulary. This source may actually show a dialect of Dhudhuroa spoken near the border of Pallanganmiddang territory, or it may be conflating two languages, although the list's use of words not native to the area suggests its lack of reliability.[2]: 3
Despite its seeming lack of closeness to neighbouring languages, Pallanganmiddang does contain many roots familiar in Aboriginal languages such as nha- "to see", and yan- "to go".[2]: 3
Documentation
There are only four primary source documents on the language: a vocabulary of 46 words from 1878 and a vocabulary of 109 words from 1886, a vocabulary of 341 words of unclear date, and a vocabulary of 63 words from 1900, which, taken together, provide a list of more than 300 words.[2]: 1–2
Phonology
Consonants
The consonant inventory was probably the same as in neighbouring languages. The following table shows the maximum inventory, with sounds not directly attested being shown in brackets:[2]: 3–4
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Dental | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p/b | t/d | ʈ/ɖ | t̪/d̪ | c/ɟ | k/ɡ |
| Nasal | m | n | (ɳ) | (n̪) | ɲ | ŋ |
| Lateral | l | (ɭ) | (l̪) | (ʎ) | ||
| Rhotic | r | |||||
| Approximant | w | j |
- The variation between p/b, t/d, and k/g in the sources suggest a lack of phonemic distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants.[2]: 3
- There was probably not a phonemic distinction between dentals and palatals, since some words are recorded with both t/d, suggesting a dental or alveolar plosive, and j/g, suggesting a palatal plosive (e.g. "foot" is variously spelt teerrer or gerra, "man" is variously spelt teerre, gerree or jere).[2]: 3–4
- There is no definite evidence for retroflexes, but the spelling of carrda "crayfish" suggests they existed.[2]: 4
- There probably was a distinction between a flapped or trilled rhotic, and a glide-type rhotic (possibly a retroflex), but such distinctions were not made in older sources.[2]: 4
The following table shows consonants in both initial and intervocalic form; note the differences between the voiced and voiceless plosives:[2]: 4
| Initial | Medial | |
|---|---|---|
| p/b | pada "big" | kabiga "baby" |
| t/d | taka "hit"[A] | madega "old man" |
| rt/rd | ? | karda "crayfish" |
| th/dh | thirriwa "nails" | bathawatha "cold" |
| tj/dj | djuyu "snake" | budju "kangaroo" |
| k/g | kima "kangaroo rat" | bugu "bowels" |
| m | merri "ground" | marrimuna "lazy" |
| n | narra "wild dog" | mani "camp" |
| rn | ? | ? |
| nh | nhagadi "see"[B] | ? |
| ny | nyuma "rain" | noganya "give" |
| ng | ngaa "nose" | ? |
| l | — | ngalawiya "wood duck" |
| rr | — | karri "wind" |
| y | yarra "beard" | payorro "magpie" |
| w | warra "water" | wawa "brother" |
| A The alveolar initial is assumed here based on a cognate. |
| B The dental initial is assumed here based on various cognates. |
Only 7 words ending with consonants have been recorded (the word wugug is suspicious, however, as wowwer is also recorded and wugug is documented for another language in Victoria). Three of these words occur in another form (or similar word) ending in a vowel; even bab "mother" may have had the alternate form bab-ga, based on mam-ga "father". It seems likely Pallanganmiddang did not allow final consonants.[2]: 5
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| wugug | elder brother |
| worungun | cord |
| karrin | laugh |
| bab | mother |
| tueyon (also ju-u) | snake |
| youllon (also ulo) | finger, toe |
| bunjun (compare punjoo "road") | track of a foot |
Consonant clusters
Pallanganmiddang contained homorganic nasal-plosive consonantal clusters. There were also heterorganic clusters, some of which went across morpheme boundaries such as -mg- in mam-ga "father".[2]: 5
| Cluster | English |
|---|---|
| mb | bamba "a fly" |
| nd | purranda "bad" |
| rnd | ? |
| ndh | berrontha "crow" |
| ndj | pandju "road" |
| ngg | pungga "stone" |
| Cluster | English |
|---|---|
| nb | winbinbi "sun" |
| ngb | narrangba "you're a bad boy" |
| md | wimda "spear" |
| mg | mamga "father" |
| lg | belgamba "shield" |
| nrr | mobenrru "bushman" |
| nm | tonmana "gammon", "tell a lie" |
Vowels
Pallanganmiddang may have had only three vowels /i/, /u/ and /a/, similar to many Aboriginal languages, although the exact amount is unclear. Nonetheless, according to different sources, a, e, i, o, and u are all used. There may have been a distinction between long and short vowels, as suggested by the spelling in the first syllable of karmborro "group", but this is unclear.[2]: 5
There may have been no phonemic distinction between u and o, as suggested by variant spellings, such as koro and kurru "blood".[2]: 5
Monosyllabic words with no final consonant seemingly contained a long vowel (e.g. mii "eye", ngaa "nose"), a feature common in Aboriginal languages.[2]: 6
Sound correspondences
Robert M.W Dixon, in his notes, claimed that there seems to be evidence of sound correspondence between Pallanganmiddang and its neighbouring languages. See this list:[2]: 6
| English | Pallanganmiddang | Neighbouring languages |
|---|---|---|
| ear | marramba | marlamboa (Dhudhuroa) |
| tongue | dharra | dhalayn (widespread) |
| water | warra | wala (Yorta Yorta)
wallung "rain" (Ngarigo) |
| wedge-tailed eagle | warrimu | wanumarru (Dhudhuroa) |
| excrement | gurra | guna (widespread) |
| foot | djirra | djina (widespread) |
| head | buwa | buka (Yorta Yorta) |
| dogh | bowa, bawa | baka (Yorta Yorta) |
Grammar
No primary source data are available for Pallanganmiddang's grammar. However, there are short sentences included in the collected vocabulary lists, although it is difficult to glean much information from them.[2]: 6
Pronouns
The forms innar and neibee are both recorded for "you". Another word, ninna, although given as "I", could possibly be a variant of innar. If spelled ngina (as the initial velar nasal may have been unheard), it matches a word meaning "you" in Yorta Yorta and Latji-Latji.[2]: 6
Itebe is recorded for "I". This could have been pronounced something like ngaytbi, and so neibee, although given as "you", could perhaps be a first-person pronoun. In fact, neibee seems to match the final two syllables in bang(g)owonabi (translated as "hungry"), waurranmandjianabi (translated as "thirsty") and kanimanabi (translated as "drink"), possibly meaning "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty", and "I drink".[2]: 6–7
Nyeende-nanga-durrah is recorded for "me", and nyeende for "my". However, a velar nasal, rather than the implied palatal nasal from the spelling, is more typical for first person pronouns in languages in the area. This could suggest they are possibly misglossed and are actually second person pronouns; alternatively, a sound change could have occurred, or the text could be erroneous.[2]: 7
One wordlist records wowandowan for "hungry"; since wan means "I" in several other languages in Victoria, this possibly suggests a translation of wowandowan as "I'm hungry" and therefore wan as a bound first-person pronoun (and the previously-mentioned ngina, etc as the free form).[2]: 7
Morphology
There probably was a suffix -ntha (in neighbouring language Dhudhuroa, -ntha occurred as a second person subject bound pronoun):[2]: 7
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| minyi-wayantha | answer |
| bobintha | burn |
| tagalitantha | eat |
| tang(g)rrintha | lame (in leg) |
| puthanda | sulky |
The suffix -gu can be found on verbs (in other languages of Victoria, this is a plural imperative or a dative-purposive marking a purposive or infinitive verb):[2]: 7
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| yayi yani-gu | come |
| yayi yan-di-gu | fetch it |
| tuta-gu | catch |
| taka-gu | kill |
| maynde-gu? | take it |
Many verbs end in either -ti or -thi:[2]: 7–8
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| taka-thi | eat |
| popa-ti | jump |
| yaga-thi | swim |
| yawa-ti | talk |
| kibi-thi | sing |
-dali appears in some words:[2]: 8
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| kudji-dali (also given as kudjina) | cry |
| padadi-dali | dance |
| pewu-dali | ready to fight |
| tagurra wurrima-dali | wash |
-bi appears in some words:[2]: 8
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| towadad-bi | fight |
| wurrarragurra-bi | lose the way |
| yana-bi? | walk |
-na appears to be a suffix, appearing on nouns, verbs, and forms of uncertain word class. This may actually represent two suffixes, the distinction unheard by the documenters.[2]: 8
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| taka-na (compare taka-ku "kill") | beat |
| ton-ma-na | gammon, tell a lie |
| kudji-na (also given as kudjidali) | cry |
| yarra-na (also given as yarra) | beard |
Some nouns referring to humans end in -ga:[2]: 9
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| yuwarriga (compare yuwarru "young man") | daughter |
| djerriga (compare djerri "man", "woman") | old woman |
| mamga (also given as mama) | father |
-di was possibly a causative suffix; compare the translations of "come" and "fetch it":[2]: 9
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| yayi yani-gu | come |
| yayi yan-di-gu | fetch it |
Vocabulary
The following table contains a list of selected vocabulary from Pallanganmiddang:[2]
| Pallanganmiddang | English |
|---|---|
| (ng)ina | you |
| noga | that |
| pulithap, pulido | two |
| pada | big |
| djerri | man |
| karrewa | fish |
| marrega | bird |
| bawa | dog |
| wonda | tree |
| waarri | bark |
| wada | skin |
| kurru | blood |
| buwa, boya | egg |
| buwa | head |
| marramba | ear |
| mii | eye |
| tagadhi | eat |
| nhaga- | see |
| ngurrangurra | sleep |
| barridjarra | die |
| taga- | kill |
| yakathi | swim |
| yan- | walk |
| yayiyani- | come |
| tanade, tandathi | stand up |
| bathawatha, bawatha | cold |
| murnang-djitaming(g)a | full |
| kayangi (-dji?) | good |
References
- ^ S89 Pallanganmiddang at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Blake, Barry J.; Reid, Julie (1999). "Pallanganmiddang: a language of the Upper Murray". Aboriginal Languages. 23: 15–31.
- ^ "The Dhudhuroa Language of Northeastern Victoria: A Description Based on Historical Sources | I-Portal: Indigenous Studies Portal". iportal.usask.ca. p. 179. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ Clark, Ian D (2009). "Dhudhuroa and Yaithmathang languages and social groups in north-east Victoria – a reconstruction". Aboriginal History. 33: 210. ISSN 0314-8769.
- ^ "Pallanganmiddang | Ethnologue". web.archive.org. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "ScriptSource - Pallanganmiddang". scriptsource.org. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Eira, Christina (2008). "Not tigers – sisters! Advances in the interpretation of historical source spellings for". Aboriginal History. 32.
- ^ "Glottolog 5.1 - Pallanganmiddang". glottolog.org. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
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