Kamilaroi, Gamilaraay, or Gomeroi

What is the difference? Which one is correct?

The good news is that from a linguist’s viewpoint they are all correct! To explain how these different words came about, we need to go back to before European settlers arrived…

“No” Languages

In this part of Australia the languages, lands and people were known by their different words for “no”, so these are now referred to as “No” Languages. For example, gamil is “no” in Gamilaraay language, and yuwaal used to be “no” in Yuwaalaraay language (now waal).

At the end of the "no" words is a form of ­-Baraay, which is added to a word to mean “having”, and drops off the “b” after “l”. So this way of referring to languages is similar to saying that English is “No-having”, Māori is “Kāore-having”, and Japanese is “Īe-having”.

Other Australian languages have different naming systems, e.g. using their words for "go" or "this".

The map shows the languages that were spoken in this area when Europeans arrived. As well as Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay, we can see Yuwaaliyaay, Gawambaraay, Wiriyaraay, and Guyinbaraay:

From: Austin, P. K (2008), The Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) language, northern New South Wales: A brief history of research. In W. B. McGregor, (Ed.), Encountering Aboriginal languages: Studies in the history of Australian linguistics, pp. 37-58. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

“K” and “G”

The Gamilaraay language was not traditionally written down. When Europeans first arrived in Australia, they wrote down languages according to what they heard, without understanding how the languages work. Languages have different sound systems and they did not realise that there is no difference in meaning between “k” and “g” in most Australian languages. These sounds are both pronounced in the same part of the mouth, but “g” has voice added. You can feel this if you put your hand on your throat and say “k” and “g” in English. These sounds do not make any difference to the meaning of words in Gamilaraay, so "g" was standardised for use in the dictionary.

In the nineteenth century some Europeans thought they heard “g” at the start of the word Gamilaraay and wrote it down as Gummilroy, while others heard “k” and wrote it down as Kamilaroi. This spelling was used to name the Kamilaroi Highway, etc. In other words they also heard “k” but wrote it as “c”, such as in Cobbadah, or sometimes they heard “g”, such as in Gunnedah. Since then, linguists have analysed the language and standardised this sound by writing “g” for all Gamilaraay words starting with these sounds.

-Baraay (having)

Early Europeans did not know about the –Baraay ending meaning “having”, so again they wrote down what they heard and it has ended up with different spellings. For example, –oi in Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay), or –i in Euahlayi (Yuwaalaraay).

This also happens in place names. For example, the name Collarenebri comes from galariin “gum blossoms” and –Baraay, and Boggabri comes from bagay “creek”, and –Baraay.

A similar word to –Baraay is used in the names of other languages. For example, ­-dhuray in Wiradjuri, and ­-buwan in Wangaybuwan.

Gomeroi

When we speak quickly, we sometimes miss out some of the sounds and the words become shorter. English examples are “can’t” from “cannot”, or “o’clock” from “of the clock”. So when the word "Gamilaraay" is spoken quickly it can sound like "Gomeroi" or "Gummeroi," and some people prefer to use one of those spellings to describe their language or group.

Or people may prefer the spelling used by their forebears for their language/lands/people. In fact, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has a list of 37 different recorded synonyms/spellings for this one word!