Re: a weird question...
| From: | Herman Miller <hmiller@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Tuesday, September 21, 1999, 3:05 |
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On Mon, 20 Sep 1999 00:35:40 -0000, alypius <krazyal@...> wrote:
>>alypius wrote:
>>> Is this their word for dingo, or for dogs in general? I understand =
that
>the
>>> dingo is Australia's only native canine. Other dogs were brought by =
the
>>> English. Perhaps the Aborigines borrowed "dog" from the English?
>>
>>That word is native, it's mere co-incidence. It can be shown to come
>>from *gudaga
>
>Assuming the aborigines were all illiterate before the English came, how=
do
>they show the origin of dog from gudaga? Granted, the etymology sounds
>logical, but many etymologies are only educated guesses. Does your =
source
>explain this? ~alypius
The vowel "o" in Mbabaram corresponds to "a" in related languages, in =
words
originally beginning with g-. (Mbabaram words in general lost the first
syllable.) It was only after finding this general rule that Ken Hale
realized the etymology of "dog" from "gudaga" (which is the word for =
"dog"
in Yidiny; Dyirbal has "guda"). (See R.M.W. Dixon's book "Searching for
Aboriginal Languages".)
--=20
languages of Kolagia---> =
+---<http://www.io.com/~hmiller/languages.html>---
Thryomanes /"If all Printers were determin'd not to print =
any
(Herman Miller) / thing till they were sure it would offend no =
body,
moc.oi @ rellimh <-/ there would be very little printed." -Ben =
Franklin