The
Anēwan language, also known as Nganyaywana, has been classified by
Robert M. W. Dixon as belonging to the Djan-gadi/Nganjaywana subgroup of Central New South Wales, and was one of three varieties of the group, the other dialects being Himberrong and Inuwon.[1] For a long time Anēwan was regarded, like
Mbabaram, as a
linguistic isolate, ostensibly failing to fit into the known Australian patterns of language, since the material in word-lists taken down of its vocabulary appeared to lack cognates in contiguous languages such as
Gamilaraay. The status of its seeming irregularity was solved in 1976 by
Terry Crowley who showed that the differences were caused by
initial consonant loss which, once accounted for, yielded up over 100 cognate terms between Anēwan and other languages and dialects of the region.[2][3] One of the peculiarities generated by this phenomenon of initial loss was that many
homophones were created between originally distinct words, so that in Anēwan the word for
goanna and
bull ant became identical (janda).[3]
The Anēwan consisted of several clans, one of which was the
Himberronghorde.
Their section names were:
Irong feminine Arkan
Arpong feminine Iran
Iyong feminine Patjang
Imbong feminine Irakena.
The Irong intermarried with the Iyong, and the Arpong with the Imbong.[6]
History
By the time
R. H. Mathews began to record elements of the Anēwan language in 1903, remnants of the original tribe had been widely dispersed over New England.[7] Those who remained in Armidale lived on a site on the town fringes known as "The Dump", in
humpies built close to the rubbish tip, which were devoid of the basic amenities of water, sewerage and electricity, and jerry-rigged by using
hessian bags, corrugated sheet iron and cardboard boxes. In 1960, four children died and 11 were hospitalised from infections picked up in conditions that were called "appalling". The government then allocated funds to clean up the area and built cottages in
fibro cement for its residents. Eventually, these were replaced by brick units in a settlement which the local Aboriginal community named Narwan.[8]
May Yarrowick (1876-1949) midwife, and first known Aboriginal person to register as a nurse.
Notes
^Hoddinott showed that the Baanbay language described as a spoken by a distinct group was simply a minor variant of
Gumbaynggirr (
Hoddinott 1967, pp. 56–60)
McDonald, Barry (1996). "Evidence of four New England corroboree songs indicating Aboriginal responses to European invasion". Aboriginal History. 20: 176–194.
JSTOR24046134.