link | State Library of Queensland “Word of the Week” Week Nine.
As part of State Library’s commitment to the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, we will be promoting a ‘word of the week’ from one of the 125+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects from across Queensland.
This week's word is woongarra [pronounced one-garra] from the Taribelang language of Bundaberg, meaning ‘burning mountain’. Originally the word referred to The Hummock and dates back beyond 10,000 years when smoke erupted from the volcano’s crater. Today the word has been used for various placenames in Bundaberg, including a street, suburb and former Shire Council for the Eastern and Southern parts of Bundaberg.