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Re: THEORY: Languages divided by politics and religion

From:Roger Mills <romilly@...>
Date:Monday, May 29, 2000, 15:17
Herman Miller wrote:
>Actually it's Mbabaram whose word for "dog" is /dog/; Dyirbal is a related >language, but its word for "dog" IIRC is /guda/. >
Is it possible the Mbabaram, for unknown reasons, have simply borrowed the Engl. word?? Probably another chance resemblance: Dyirbal /guda/ 'dog' : Malay /kuda/ 'horse'?? But only if the Dy. were on the north coast at some point, say within the C.E., where there were occasional trading forays led primarily by Makassarese/Buginese-- while neither language uses "kuda", there could have been Malay-speakers and/or bilinguals (though I doubt horses) on board. In any case, the Australians had domesticated the dog (or brought it with them) long before such putative contact with Malay--- so it just goes to show, how careful one should be with such words. Another? (From a Natl. Geog. special about the Kakadu/Gagadu nature preserve in northern Queensland/Gulf of Carpentaria area, IIRC)-- the sea eagle was called "marawuti" and figured prominently in the mythology of the local tribe. It happens that /wuti/~/vuti/ means 'grasp, seize' in several lgs. of Timor & other islands further east. Mere speculation..... Two possible Austronesian words vs. several hundred Australian langs. doesn't seem to be a very compelling percentage.