Aboriginal Place Names
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Long before European settlers drew their maps and named their towns, Australia's vast and ancient landscape already carried a rich cartography of meaning — encoded in the Aboriginal place names passed down through thousands of years of oral tradition. Aboriginal Place Names is an essential reference work that uncovers the Indigenous linguistic heritage embedded across the Australian continent, chronicling the origins, meanings, and cultural significance of place names drawn from the many language groups of Australia's First Nations peoples. It presents a compelling intersection of linguistics, history, and geography, illustrating how land and language are inseparable in Aboriginal culture, where every hill, waterhole, and plain holds a story older than written record. The work stands as a significant contribution to the broader understanding of Indigenous Australian identity and sovereignty, arguing — through the very act of naming — that the land was never truly terra nullius. The author's approach is both scholarly and accessible, drawing on anthropological research and community knowledge to bring these names back into cultural focus. For anyone with a genuine curiosity about Australia's deep history and the living languages that shaped it, this volume raises a profound question: how much of a country's true identity is lost when its original names are forgotten?
Author: A W Reed
Format: Paperback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Long before European settlers drew their maps and named their towns, Australia's vast and ancient landscape already carried a rich cartography of meaning — encoded in the Aboriginal place names passed down through thousands of years of oral tradition. Aboriginal Place Names is an essential reference work that uncovers the Indigenous linguistic heritage embedded across the Australian continent, chronicling the origins, meanings, and cultural significance of place names drawn from the many language groups of Australia's First Nations peoples. It presents a compelling intersection of linguistics, history, and geography, illustrating how land and language are inseparable in Aboriginal culture, where every hill, waterhole, and plain holds a story older than written record. The work stands as a significant contribution to the broader understanding of Indigenous Australian identity and sovereignty, arguing — through the very act of naming — that the land was never truly terra nullius. The author's approach is both scholarly and accessible, drawing on anthropological research and community knowledge to bring these names back into cultural focus. For anyone with a genuine curiosity about Australia's deep history and the living languages that shaped it, this volume raises a profound question: how much of a country's true identity is lost when its original names are forgotten?