The most common Nyungar word for ‘dog’ is durda:
Australian | respelt | English | Eng JSM | source |
“door-da” | durda | “dog, a” | dog: | [4] Grey 1840 [:256:10] [NYUNGAR] |
“tdoor-da” | durda | “dog, a” | dog: | [4] Grey 1840 [:256:12] [NYUNGAR] |
“durda” | durda | “dog” | dog: | [8 (E)] Salvado [:255:49] [Balardung] |
“dur-da” | durda | “dog” | dog: | [5] Symmons 1841 [:256:7] [Wajuk] |
“door-da” | durda | “dog, a” | dog: | [4] Grey 1840 [:256:10] [NYUNGAR] |
There were various spellings:
“dorder” | durdir | “dog” | dog: | [24] Hassell, Edney [:255:50] [NYUNGAR] |
“toorrit” | durdir | “dingo” | dog: | [22] Gray 1987 [:162:27] [NYUNGAR] |
“doora [[sic]]” | dura | “dog” | dog: | [3] Lyon 1833 [:256:8] [NYUNGAR] |
“Toort” | durd | “Dog” | dog: | Nind, Scott [:3:39] [NYUNGAR] |
Some recorders did not hear, or note, the ‘r’ sound:
“dudah” | duda | “dog, native” | dog: | [7] Stokes 1846 [:256:18] [NYUNGAR] |
“tutto” | dudu | “dog” | dog: | [8 (N)] Salvado [:255:52] [Balardung] |
What emerges from the following is that perhaps the indigenous people did not have in mind ‘dog’ so much as ‘a frisky, alive, vital thing’:
“Dor-dâk” | durda[a]g | “Alive” | healthy: | Symmons, Charles [:10:5] [NYUNGAR] |
“toortock” | durda[a]g | “well” | healthy: | [2] Nind 1831 [:435:32] [NYUNGAR] |
The -ag suffix denotes the possessive, hence a ‘dog’ was seen as ‘frisky-of’, ‘a frisky thing’.
The same idea of being ‘alive’ extended into plants, anything ‘alive’ or ‘healthy’ being seen as ‘green’ — here durda combined with the suffix -ang:
“Durdong” | durda[a]ng | “(K.G.S.) Green.” | green: | Moore 1842 [:36:2] [Minang] |
“dur-dong” | durda[a]ng | “green, colour” | green: | [9] Moore 1884 [:276:42] [NYUNGAR] |
Moore, Brady and Symmons recorded the same concept with another word, wangin, probably based on wangi, ‘speak’:
“won-gin” | wanGin | “living – applied to trees” | healthy: | [9] Moore 1884 [:313:30] [NYUNGAR] |
“wang-en” | wangin | “well” | healthy: | [6] Brady 1845 [:435:34] [NYUNGAR] |
“Won-gin” | wangin | “Alive” | healthy: | Symmons, Charles [:10:4] [NYUNGAR] |
Linking ‘healthiness’ (or ‘friskiness’, or ‘green-ness’) to plants was specifically indicated by Moore above. It can be assumed that the ‘green’ of durdang, meant ‘healthy; as much as ‘green’.
A final example provided by Moore has durda + -ag possessive + -abin ‘inchoative’ (beginning) for ‘beginning to become frisky’, or ‘getting better’ (healthier):
“Durdakabbin” | durda[a]gabin | “[Getting; becoming. … Durdakabbin, getting well, recovering from sickness.]” | healthy: | Moore 1842 [:1:4.2] [NYUNGAR] |