The Nyoongar Legacy

The Nyoongar Legacy is the result of decades of research into Nyoongar language by the Rt. Rev. Bernard Rooney OSB, Emeritus Abbot of New Norcia. It is a study of the Indigenous place-names of the south-west of Western Australia, including over 300 Indigenous place names from the region. Each entry offers an interpretation of the source for a particular place and the possible or probable meanings. The book includes a comprehensive dictionary of the Nyoongar language focusing on what is now known as the northern dialect. Divided into two sections, Nyoongar­English and English­Nyoongar, the dictionary is the result of the author’s own grass­roots experience of Nyoongar as a spoken language and offers the fruits of his extensive research into the available written sources. These sources include published dictionaries as well as unpublished word­lists dating back to the foundation of the colony of Western Australia. A culturally rich resource for educators and children alike, developing an understanding of language, culture and history in the south-west of Western Australia.