-up
-up /ʌp/ is a suffix commonly found in place names in south western Western Australia.
The suffix originated in a dialect of Noongar, an Indigenous Australian language, in which "-up" means "place of". The suffix "-in" or "-ing" has a similar meaning in a related dialect of Noongar.[1] Places tended to be named after their distinctive features, whereby the place names could be used to create a "mental map" allowing Indigenous Australians to determine where water, food and other raw materials could be found. These sites were often located near sources of fresh water, leading to the common misconception that "up" and "in" mean "near water".[1]
The meanings and the pronunciations of many of these names has been lost over time.[1]
A number of these places were at one stage named with a suffix "-upp". This was as a result of the Western Australian Lands and Surveys Department adopting a system of spelling Indigenous Australian names devised by the Royal Geographical Society. In simple terms, the system set the pronunciation of consonants as in English and vowels as in Italian. Using this system meant that "up" would be pronounced /uːp/ oop, whereas the names were meant to be pronounced /ʌp/ up.[2] The solution was deemed to be that doubling the following consonant would shorten the preceding vowel, thus "upp". This spelling convention was rescinded for towns in south west Western Australia in 1915 as the Australian pronunciation of "u" was almost always short.[2]
The usage of some terms are for the name of Noongar groups as well as places Pinjarup is one of a number of names for one group - and it has been utilised and changed to the place name of Pinjarra.
List of places
The following is a list of locations in Australia which end in "-up".
See also
- Noongar for a map of the Noongar linguistic regions
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Noongar Town Names and their Meanings". Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum. Department of Education and Training (Western Australia). Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History of country town names - D". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History of country town names - B". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 "History of metropolitan suburb names - B". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History of country town names - C". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 "History of metropolitan suburb names - C". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ Walley T. (2002) Department of Conservation and Land Management. Personal Communication. In: Department of Conservation and Land Management (2003) Rockingham Lakes Regional Park Draft Management Plan 2003-2013. Western Australia. p.39-40.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "History of country town names - N". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of suburb names - G". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of country town names - G". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of suburb names - J". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 "History of country town names - J". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 "History of metropolitan suburb names - K". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History of country town names - K". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of metropolitan suburb names - M". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "History of country town names - M". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of metropolitan suburb names - N". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ "History of country town names - O". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ "History of country town names - P". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 3 "History of country town names - Q". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ "History of country town names - T". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) (www.creativespirits.info) Retrieved 2009-05-20
- 1 2 3 "History of country town names - W". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ "History of metropolitan suburb names - W". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- 1 2 "History of metropolitan suburb names - Y". Landgate. Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
Further reading
- Milne, Rod. (1992) Ups and ings : Aboriginal place names of south western W.A Perth, W.A.: R. Milne
External links
- http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/guides/wa_history/place_names State Library of Western Australia guide to researching West Australian place names