New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesJiemba meaning
I note you are an organisation in Canada. What evidence do you have that Jiemba means laughing star in Wiradjuri (a First Nation's language in Australia)? Wiradjuri for star is 'budhu' while laughing is 'ginda-nha'. A combination of both words have no relationship to the sound of 'jiemba', if indeed the word was misappropriated from early colonisers. I raise this matter because it is causing great hurt to members of the Wiradjuri Nation as the word continues to be misappropriated by many Australian organisations.
2
Replies
I agree. This website: https://omniglot.com/writing/wiradjuri.php shows that the writing system of the Wiradjuri people doesn't have an "e". This website: https://www.wiradjuri.dalang.com.au/plugin_wiki/wordlist shows the words for "star(s)" and Jiemba isn't on there
2
I have no idea whether or not the origin given on this site is correct. But the fact that the way the Wiradjuri language is written today does not include the letter "e" does not by itself show this has to be incorrect. People write down names and words from other cultures using their own alphabets all the time, and it is certainly possible that Jiemba could be how some English speaker "heard" a Wiradjuri name and wrote it down.
I hope that someone who knows will explain where the information about this name on this site came from. Jiemba is not included in "The Great Australian and New Zealand Book of Baby Names" by Cecily Dynes, which is the one book I own that specifically includes some names said to be of Australian Aboriginal origin.
I hope that someone who knows will explain where the information about this name on this site came from. Jiemba is not included in "The Great Australian and New Zealand Book of Baby Names" by Cecily Dynes, which is the one book I own that specifically includes some names said to be of Australian Aboriginal origin.
2
The information was originally taken from a user-submitted name. Based on what's been written here, it will likely be removed on the next update.
1
I've looked into this a bit found a few articles that mention "jiemba" in reference to the language Pallanganmiddang, which has 14-20% lexical similarity with Wiradjuri dialects, according to the first article.
https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72831/pdf/article0217.pdf
"star .... djimba .... jiemba (T), teimba (M), jameber (R) [Dhu djimboa]"
The second column, djimba, is the phonetic spelling, while the third column shows how the word was recorded in various sources. (T) = Thomas Mitchell
https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p74381/pdf/book.pdf
"The Waywurru word dika ‘sister’ was reconstructed as <tayiga> /taiga/ in Blake and Reid (1999). Historical sources list <ti.ger> (Robinson), <tiega> and <tiga> (Mitchell). It should be kept in mind that the collectors were relying largely on the spelling conventions of English for their records. In this light, while /taiga/ is a feasible reconstruction for <ti.ger>, it seems less likely for <tiga>. Taking <tiega> into account clearly eliminates /aɪ/ as a possible first vowel, especially when compared with other uses of <ie> by Mitchell: <jiemba> djimba ‘star’, <tierah> dheerra ‘tongue’, and <yiera> djirri ‘man, person’. Hence, not /taiga/ but dika ‘sister’. "
It appears jiemba is the way the word djimba "star" was recorded in the 19th century by Thomas Mitchell. Mitchell's vocabulary list was included in one of Robert Brough Smyth's papers ( https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smyth-robert-brough-4621 ). The word may not be Wiradjuri at all.
As a name, Djimba/Jimba/Jiemba looks to be very rare in Australia. I'm not sure it's worth keeping it in the database.
https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72831/pdf/article0217.pdf
"star .... djimba .... jiemba (T), teimba (M), jameber (R) [Dhu djimboa]"
The second column, djimba, is the phonetic spelling, while the third column shows how the word was recorded in various sources. (T) = Thomas Mitchell
https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p74381/pdf/book.pdf
"The Waywurru word dika ‘sister’ was reconstructed as <tayiga> /taiga/ in Blake and Reid (1999). Historical sources list <ti.ger> (Robinson), <tiega> and <tiga> (Mitchell). It should be kept in mind that the collectors were relying largely on the spelling conventions of English for their records. In this light, while /taiga/ is a feasible reconstruction for <ti.ger>, it seems less likely for <tiga>. Taking <tiega> into account clearly eliminates /aɪ/ as a possible first vowel, especially when compared with other uses of <ie> by Mitchell: <jiemba> djimba ‘star’, <tierah> dheerra ‘tongue’, and <yiera> djirri ‘man, person’. Hence, not /taiga/ but dika ‘sister’. "
It appears jiemba is the way the word djimba "star" was recorded in the 19th century by Thomas Mitchell. Mitchell's vocabulary list was included in one of Robert Brough Smyth's papers ( https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smyth-robert-brough-4621 ). The word may not be Wiradjuri at all.
As a name, Djimba/Jimba/Jiemba looks to be very rare in Australia. I'm not sure it's worth keeping it in the database.
This message was edited 3/20/2021, 3:41 PM
1
Just want to say I am very impressed by the depth of your research on this!
1
Which site are you referring to?
1