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.
This week’s word is aigi [pronounced eye-gi], from the Gudang language of Eastern Cape York, particularly the area around Somerset and Albany Bay. This word means ‘sandy beach’; it also refers to sand.
The above image from the John Oxley Library photographic collection depicts a British Marine Camp on Somerset Hill which is in the vicinity of where the words were collected two decades earlier. The informant who provided the words is identified as an Aboriginal man named Paida who spoke and understand both languages.
The above image is an extract of a comparative wordlist of ‘two vocabularies of the neighborhood of Cape York’ provided by Paida – the two languages are Kowrarega [more commonly known as Kaurareg] and Gudang. This wordlist is an appendix to The Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Rattlesnake published in 1852 and represents one of the few known sources for the Gudang language. The Pama Language Centre is supporting descendants of Gudang in their language revival.
State Library of Queensland invites you to celebrate the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages as we raise awareness of the rich diversity of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
Join the conversation as we post a new word for each week!
Week Eleven 12-18 March 2019.
#IYIL2019 #IYIL #IY2019WordoftheWeek #SLQIndigenousLanguages
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
UN IY2019 Links
UN International Year of Indigenous Languages webpages
UN International Year of Indigenous Languages Resources
The word of the week has been sourced from the following historical item in the State Library collections.
Source: Macgillivray, J. (1852) Narrative of the voyage of the HMS Rattlesnake … [Facsimile edition] J 919.02 M’GI
Images: British Marine Camp on Somerset Hill, Cape York, Queensland, ca.1869. JOL Negative number: 153655
Other materials in the State Library collections relating to Gudang and neighbouring languages include the following:
Macgillivray, J. (1852) Narrative of the voyage of the HMS Rattlesnake … [Facsimile edition] J 919.02 M’GI
Sutton, P. (ed) (1974) Languages of Cape York: papers presented to the Linguistic Symposium, Part B, held in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Biennial General Meeting, May,1974. G 499.15 1976