First Nations Language Collection

Grosvenor Street, Toowong S.W.1. June, 19th, 1940.

Mr. Sydney May, Hon. Secretary, Place names Committee, University of Queensland.

Dear Sir,

With reference to two place names which you submitted to me, I have to advice you as follows.

Coombabah. Said to be a pocket of land impinging on a swamp. This is not the literal meaning although a certain place may be so-called. The meaning of the name is "Place of wood grubs, from goombo, the teredo or, as it is frequently termed by whites, cobra. The place in question was probably so-named because the blacks had a practice of collecting the grubs from decayed timber in the swamps and thereafter putting into the water more fresh timber, chiefly oak, to accommodate grubs for future use.

Boobyjan. At the time of writing to you, I did not know know that there was a place of this name to the south of Brisbane, but had in mind a cattle station of that name in the Burnett district, but knowing of no such word in the local tongue, I could not give any definite information there on. Mr E. Armitage of Maryborough has interpreted the name as "where the blacks stood". I think, however, the translation has been arrived at the deduction and not by local knowledge. It seems to be interpreted from bubai, to stand, and tyan, black men.

To show the falacy of such deductions, I may say that, in the language of the blacks at the Albert River, bo-be means ashes or fine dust, and in the locality, no doubt, the name means place of ashes.

Sice[sic] my last letter to you, I have found that Messrs Lawless brothers, in the forties of last century, left Ninduin-ba Station in the Albert River District and took up land in the Burnett District which they named Boobyjan, probably using a term that they had learned at the Albert River. Ninduinba means "place of charcoal or embers".

By a flight of fancy one could imagine that, when naming the Burnett property, Lawless Brothers had in mind the mythological Phoenix rising from the bu-be (ashes) of the ninduin (charcoal or Embers).

Yours faithfully. FJWatson (F.J.Watson).

Nindooimbah. Should be Ninduinba (Nin-duin-ba) meaning place of ashes or soot. Ninduin , ashes or soot,and ba, place. Or,place of a burned out fire.

Pimpama. Place of soldier birds. Bim-bim-ba. bim-bim, soldier birds. Letter b or p used optionally.

Tabragalba.Said to be named from the fact that a huge petrified nulla was found there. (I have heard of no one who has actually seen this nulla). Another story is that some old nullas that no one claimed were found there. This is the most likely story, and in that case the name would be Dhaberi-dalba (T or dh optional) meaning dhaberi, nulla; and dalba, thrown away or scattered.

Tallabudgera. Allen's definition, place of urinating is, in my opinion, doubtful. I,however, cannot comment.

Tamborine. Allen's definition, yam in a cliff, has evidentally been deduced from the words tam, meaning wild yam, and birin, a cliff._ The blacks did not usually give a name to a mountain range but to some outstanding features of it. The name is probably a bush worker's corruption of the word tarumban, which was a name applied to some part of the mountain where wild limes were plentiful. Tarum is the name of the native lime tree and its fruit; ban is a variant of ba, place of. I may say that limes grow plentifully on some part of the mountain. and that I have, during the last season,, through a friend in the district, received three different species of this fruit.

Undulla. Should be nandalla, meaning the silverleafed ironbark tree.

Whites Hill Bulimba. Place of magpie larks,(commonly called peewees) From bulum, magpie lark, and ba, place of.

Coochin. should be Coochin Coochin,originally a cattle station.

Coochin,in all S.E.Queensland languages, as an adjective means red, and,as a substantive, means a red pigment or clay. There is a hill on what was once part of the station the material of which is red. Long ago I was told that the station was named from this hill.

The owners, Bell family,maintain that the words mean "Black swan". The name of the black swan, however is muru-kutchi (beak red) or, in English, red-beak. The Bell family are disinclined to admit this,partly,I fancy,owing to a house flag bearing two black swans having been adopted by them.

Warrill. Said to mean a creek or river, but I strongly suspect it to be a corruption a corruption of the English word water in the same that the blacks used to use the word warra.

FJWatson

Review of a list of place names by F.J.Watson

St. Helena. Moogooh May be niugam, a sea shell (Melo diadema). Name probably inspired by the shape and colour of the island when viewed from the west. Tabby Tabby. Dhu-be Dhu-be, meaning crabs. This, by the way, I believe to be the word of which the name Doboy or Doughboy (creek) is a corruption.

Nerang River. Ejuncum. From i-jun or i-dhun, a species of grass; (i as english ee).; affix is indeterminate but possibly should be gun and signifying condition of.

Coomera. Kummera-kummera. John Allen, an abo. native of the district, has given this name the meaming[sic] of "fern"; possibly it is identical with the poison plant mentioned.

Deepwater point. Karrawumbahdeen. In this district a word meaning grass tree is karragul. The name on the list appears to [be] a compound word with an affix.

Canaipa. Konai, a spear made of ironbark wood or other heavy hardwood, and pa or ba, (place of spears), Probably where the timber was procured.

Nerang. Ngearung. Probably the shovel-nosed shark as stated. I recorded the name as shark many years ago but do not remember the authority therefor. Another name for shark in this district is bowai, but that may be for another species.

Redland Bay Talwurrupin. A variant of talwalpin, the native cotton-bush the fibre of which the aboriginals used in making string etc.

Upper Coomera Crossing. Tchoongurragoon. If the meaning is correct, the root of the word should be tchoongnuroo or jungnuru. Tchungarra or chungarra is the pelican. Goon or gun is a common affix indicating relation to.

Alberton Ferry. Wobbomerijee. Wobum mudtheri or wobum mujeri, meaning mud, sticky; literally, Sticky mud.

Tamborine. Tohambreen. Commented on in a revision of a former list. The local name for yam is, according to John Allen, dum. At Brisbane it is tam (long a).

Wynnum. Winnam, the bread-fruit or pandanus tree. The name of this tree, south of Brisbane, is I believe, tiungul. This name was commented on in revision of former list.

Ormiston. Wekkahn. Wahngahn or wargarn. Meaning, crow (bird).

Jinboomba. See comments in previous review.

Ninduimba Ninduinba. Place of ashes. Ninduin, ashes, soot, etc. Expired remains of a fire. Commentted[sic] on in review of previous list.

Beenleigh. Webummarjoo. Sticky mud. Same as Wobummerijee (Alberton Ferry. Which see, above mentioned. It may be mentioned that the site of Beenleigh was, at one time called by the blacks, Guanba. My informant did not know the meaning, but it is probably an abbreviation of Guguganba, meaning, the place of Gugugan, a tribal subdivision that at one time occupied that district.