The Bear and the Water: A Study in Mythological Etymology

Because of the elementary state of comparative philology and dialectology for the Australian aboriginal languages, there has not as yet been any considerable study of roots and root residuums. The following account of one such set of concepts is offered as a study of the interaction of etymology and folklore, since each throws light on the other. The words in question are those for 'bear' and 'water' in the languages of Victoria and the North Coast of New South Wales. One cannot but be struck with the vast amount of curious legendary lore which is bound up in Australian native words. The root itself, the expression of a general and material concept, may have a residuum of folklore adhering to it in the legends of one tribe. It is tempting to feel that the word and the allied concepts may have been adopted into other dialects by the agency of intermediate neighbouring tribes.