Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Koala
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Etymology== The word "koala" comes from the [[Sydney Language|Dharug]] {{lang|xdk|gula}}, meaning {{gloss|no water}}. Although the vowel "u" was originally written in the [[English orthography]] as "oo" (in spellings such as ''coola'' or ''koolah''—two syllables), the spelling for that sound later became "oa"; the word is now pronounced in three syllables (''ko-a-la'') possibly in error [[spelling pronunciation|based on that new spelling]].<ref name=Dixon>{{cite book |first1=R. M. W. |last1=Dixon |first2=B. |last2=Moore |first3=W. S. |last3=Ramson |first4=M. |last4=Thomas |year=2006 |title=Australian Aboriginal Words in English: Their Origin and Meaning |edition=2nd |page=65|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-554073-4}}</ref> Another hypothesis is that "koala" was an aboriginal name from the [[Hawkesbury River]] district near Sydney.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Koala |url=https://wildlife.org.au/news-resources/educational-resources/species-profiles/mammals/koala/#:~:text=Its+Australian+indigenous+name+is,River+district+(near+Sydney)|website=Species Profiles |publisher=Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland}}</ref> Adopted by white settlers, the word "koala" became one of hundreds of [[List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin|Aboriginal loan words in Australian English]], where it was also commonly referred to as "native bear",<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward E. Morris |title=Dictionary of Australian Words ''(orig)'' Austral English |year=1898}} This author strongly deprecated use of another synonym, "sloth".</ref> later "koala bear", for its resemblance to a bear.<ref name="Leitner-1998" /> It is one of several Aboriginal words that made it into International English alongside words like "didgeridoo" and "kangaroo".<ref name="Leitner-1998">{{cite journal|last1=Leitner|first1=Gerhard|last2=Sieloff|first2=Inke|year=1998|title=Aboriginal words and concepts in Australian English|journal=World Englishes|volume=17|issue=2|pages=153–69|doi=10.1111/1467-971X.00089|quote=Dixon et al. (1990) believe there to be some 400 loans in Mainstream Australian English [...] Some Aboriginal expressions have entered the stock of world English vocabulary; witness kangaroo, didgeridoo, koala, [...] Sometimes popular usage deviated markedly from scientific taxonomies, as in the case of the koala which became known as koala bear. [...] Both mallee and mallee scrub, koala, and koala bear are common today.}}</ref> The koala's [[genus|generic]] name, ''[[Phascolarctos]]'', is derived from the Greek words {{lang|grc|φάσκωλος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|phaskolos}}) {{gloss|pouch}} and {{lang|grc|ἄρκτος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|arktos}}) {{gloss|bear}}. The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]], {{lang|la|cinereus}}, is Latin for {{gloss|ash coloured}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Collins Latin Gem Dictionary |first=D. A. |last=Kidd |year=1973 |publisher=Collins|page=53|isbn=978-0-00-458641-0}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)