-up

Not to be confused with Eup (administrative division).

Porongurup is an example of a Western Australian place with a name that includes the "-up" suffix.

-up /ʌp/ is a suffix commonly found in place names in south western Western Australia.

The suffix originated in a dialect of Noongar, an Indigenous Australian language, in which "-up" means "place of". The suffix "-in" or "-ing" has a similar meaning in a related dialect of Noongar. Places tended to be named after their distinctive features, whereby the place names could be used to create a "mental map" allowing Indigenous Australians to determine where water, food and other raw materials could be found. These sites were often located near sources of fresh water, leading to the common misconception that "up" and "in" mean "near water".

The meanings and the pronunciations of many of these names has been lost over time.

A number of these places were at one stage named with a suffix "-upp". This was as a result of the Western Australian Lands and Surveys Department adopting a system of spelling Indigenous Australian names devised by the Royal Geographical Society. In simple terms, the system set the pronunciation of consonants as in English and vowels as in Italian. Using this system meant that "up" would be pronounced /uːp/ oop, whereas the names were meant to be pronounced /ʌp/ up. The solution was deemed to be that doubling the following consonant would shorten the preceding vowel, thus "upp". This spelling convention was rescinded for towns in south west Western Australia in 1915 as the Australian pronunciation of "u" was almost always short.

The usage of some terms are for the name of Noongar groups as well as places Pinjarup is one of a number of names for one group - and it has been utilised and changed to the place name of Pinjarra.

List of places

The following is a list of locations in Australia which end in "-up".

Name	Location	Place name meaning (where known)
Amelup
Badgebup		"place of wild rushes"
Bailup		Aboriginal unknown origin.
Balgarup		"place of the black boy trees" (Xanthorrhoea preissii).
Balingup		Derived from the name of an Aboriginal warrior, Balingan.
Banjup		Named for Banjupp Lake.
Barragup		Not known.
Beenup		A corruption of the Aboriginal name of nearby Beenyup Brook. Now known as Byford.
Binningup		Apparently an Aboriginal name, but not necessarily traditional.
Boranup
Boyanup		"a place of quartz"
Boyup Brook		"place of smoke"
Burekup		The Aboriginal name of a wildflower that grows profusely in the locality.
Carbunup River		" Variously "place of a kindly stream", "place of cormorants", and "place of the stinkwood thicket.
Cardup		"place of the racehorse goanna".
Chinocup		an Aboriginal word of unknown meaning.
Condingup		an Aboriginal word of unknown meaning.
Coodanup		Unknown.
Cookernup		"the place of the swamp hen".
Coolbellup		The Aboriginal name of a lake in the area.
Cooloongup		"place of children".
Coolup		"place of the wild turkey".
Coomalbidgup		"Possum scratches up a tree & there is water there".
Cowaramup		believed to be derived from cowara, the Aboriginal name for the purple-crowned lorikeet (Glossopsitta porphyrocephala).
Culeenup (Cooleenup)
Dalyellup
Dalyup		Possibly the Noongar word for the king parrot or Hookbill.
Dandalup		Not known.
Dardanup		Believed to be a variation of the Aboriginal word "Dudingup" the meaning of which is not known.
Dinninup		An Aboriginal name of unknown meaning.
Dwellingup		"place of nearby water".
Gelorup
Gidgegannup		"place where spears are made". "Gidgie" is the word for spear.
Gnowangerup		"place where the mallee hen nests" (Leipoa ocellata).
Gwelup		"the lake that shifted position", derived from "Gwelgannow" which means to "shift the position" and "step aside".
Gwindinup		May be a local spelling of the nearby Gynudup Brook.
Jacup
Jandabup		"place of little eagle".
Jerdacuttup		Named for the Jerdacuttup River.
Jerramungup		"place of upstanding yate trees" (Eucalyptus cornuta).
Jingalup		A contraction of nearby Kodjingalup Well.
Joondalup		"place of whiteness or glistening".
Joweelingup
Karnup		A local Aboriginal name, the meaning of the name is not known.
Karrakup		From "Karrak", the Nyoongar word for the red-tailed black cockatoo which is prevalent in the area.
Karrinyup		Originally Careniup, of unknown meaning.
Kebaringup		A local Aboriginal name, the meaning of the name is not known.
Kendenup		Of Aboriginal origin, of unknown meaning.
Kirup		"the place of summer flies".
Kojonup		"place of the stone axe".
Kudardup		Named for Coodardup Mill.
Kulikup		Not known.
Kundip		Not known.
Kuringup		"place of wattle gum".
Kwobrup		"good place".
Mandogalup		An Aboriginal name, the meaning of which is unknown.
Manjimup		An Aboriginal name said to be derived from "Manjin", a broad leafed marsh flag with an edible root.
Marbelup		Not known.
Marrinup
Mariginiup		"to pull out flag leaved flax".
Mayanup		No meaning or source for the name given.
Metricup
Moodiarrup		Not known.
Morangup
Mullalyup		"the place where the young men had their noses pierced".
Mumballup
Mungalup		Not known.
Munglinup		A local Aboriginal word.
Muradup		An Aboriginal name.
Myalup		An Aboriginal name derived from a nearby swamp.
Nambeelup
Nannup		"stopping place" or "place of parrots".
Narrikup		"place of abundance"
Needilup		Not known.
Neerabup		Possibly "swampy place" or "small basin or lake".
Noggerup		Not known.
Nornalup		"place of black snake" (Norn, a name of a Pseudechis species).
Nowergup		"place of sweet water".
Ongerup		"place of the male kangaroo".
Palgarup
Peringillup		Not known.
Pingrup		Believed to mean "grassy place".
Pootenup		"place of the native hybrid mallee tree".
Porongurup
Qualeup		The Aboriginal name of a nearby lake.
Quigup		Not known.
Quindalup		"place of quendas" (Isoodon obesulus).
Tambellup		possibly "place of thunder".
Wadjemup		Noongar name for Rottnest Island, meaning "place across the water".
Wagerup		"Place of emus".
Wannanup
Warawarrup
Wattleup		Named for Wattleup Road.
Wokalup		Not known. Humorously said to mean "the confusion experienced by nocturnal animals during an eclipse".
Wonnerup		"place of the Aboriginal woman's digging or fighting stick".
Yallingup
Yalup Brook
Yangebup		Derived from the Aboriginal word "yanget", the name of a native flax or bullrush.
Yornup
Yunderup		Derived from "Yoondooroop", the original spelling of one of the islands in the Murray River delta.

See also

• Noongar for a map of the Noongar linguistic regions

Further reading

• Milne, Rod. (1992) Ups and ings : Aboriginal place names of south western W.A Perth, W.A.: R. Milne

External links

• http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/guides/wa_history/place_names State Library of Western Australia guide to researching West Australian place names