On the alternative names of Sparrows (Passer sp.) in AustraliaIn Australian
English there are a number of regional names for the sparrow – used generally
for the introduced House Sparrow Passer domesticus, or, in Melbourne and
surrounds, also for the introduced Tree Sparrow, P. montanus.As I used to a
lexicographer with Macquarie Dictionary I have collected a reasonable amount of
information about these terms.The oldest alternative/colloquial name, is
SPADGER. Recorded since at least 1934, but perhaps earlier than my current
records indicate, as witness C.J. Dennis’ book of verse “Rose of Spadgers” from
1924, which is set in a fictional Spadgers Lane. While this contains nothing
about sparrows at all, it does point to the possible currency of the term
“spadger” in Australian English. At any rate, the word itself is a direct
adoption from northern British dialect, and is earliest recorded in a dialect
glossary from Leeds from1862, but spread throughout the entire UK by the 20thC.
It is presumed that this term is merely a fanciful alteration of the original
English word “sparrow”, which word itself dates back to Old English times, the
very beginning of the language.Chronologically, the next earliest term in
Australia seems to be SPAG, recorded from 1951. Probably also of British
dialect origin with the forms “spag” and “spug” being found in Nottinghamshire
and Northumberland since the 19thC.I have been able to date SPOGGY / SPOGGIE
only as far back as 1975 in Australian sources, but it must be earlier. This is
especially common in South Australia. Possibly also of British dialect origin.
Cf. Yorkshire and Tyneside dialect “spuggy”. SPROGGY is an uncommon variant of
spoggy, recorded from SA. Sidney J. Baker also mentions the forms SPROG and
SPROGGY in the second edition of “The Australian Langauge” 1966.SPRAG is the
form especially common in Queensland. My earliest record is 1981, but, once
again, presumedly earlier. Northumberland dialect has “sprig” and the forms
“sprug” and “sprong” are recorded from Scotland.SPAGGER is a term recorded from
a single informant from Nyngan, NSW. This is most probably a local variant of
the more common SPADGER.Sidney J. Baker also recorded the forms spridgy and
spudgy in 1959, but as far as I am aware these are no longer in use. Certainly
they do not turn up in the Australian Wordmap database, 2003, run jointly by
Macquarie Dictionary and the ABC, the largest ever collection of Australian
regional English. http://www.abc.net.au/wordmap/default.htmOther related terms
from British dialect are “spyng” from Kirkcudbright and “spurdie” from the
Orkneys. Other unrelated dialect names for the house sparrow are “chummy”,
“craff”, “hoosie”, “Philip”, “phip”, “row-dow”, “thatch sparrow”, “tile
sparrow” and “eave sparrow”.Of course, there is no necessity to suppose that
all the Australian forms had to originate in British dialect. They could have
arisen as local variants of SPADGER, following the same rules of phonetic
change as those evident in England. The vast gap is years between the
Australian and British forms, coupled with the difference in the vowels (Oz
sprag vs UK sprig; Oz spoggy vs UK spuggy), militates against a direct adoption
of British forms in all cases.By the by, although these words are frequently
used by children, and abandoned as adults, I don’t think that it is a case of
children “getting it wrong”. If this were so, then why don’t hundreds of other
words have such a vast array of variant forms? Sparrow is a pretty
straightforward word for native-speakers to pronounce, even for kids (who often
have difficulty with other well-known words, like hospital/hostible,
spaghetti/psketi, ask/arks, nuclear/nucular, etc.)PS Anthea – I’d love to hear
from you if you ever do chase down that reference to Spriggies!!James Lambert
--Forwarded Message Attachment--From: :
; ; :
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:17:40 +1100Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Sparrows"Spadge or
Spadger: The HOUSE-SPARROW. (Northern counties.) A vulgar corruption of
Sparrow." Swann, H. Kirke 1913, "A Dictionary of English and Folk-names of
British Birds", Witherby & Co, London I notice that some web sites also
suggest that "Spadger" is common in Northern Ireland also. Paul DoddDocklands,
Victoria -----Original Message-----From: Peter Shute
Sent: Saturday, 22 November 2008 11:14 AMTo:
; ;
: Re: [Birding-Aus] Sparrows I wonder whether
the many variations on the name have come about because they are initially
learned by children from other children, increasing the chances of getting it
wrong. Peter Shute --------------------------Sent using BlackBerry -----
Original Message -----From:
<>To:
<>;
<>Sent: Sat Nov 22 10:24:48 2008Subject: RE:
[Birding-Aus] Sparrows My parents (English) have always called them "Spadgers".
Paul DoddDocklands, Victoria -----Original Message-----From:
@vicnet.net.au] On
Behalf : Friday, 21 November 2008 1:57 PMTo:
: RE: [Birding-Aus] Sparrows "Spadger" is a
common British synonym for sparrow.I have read somewhere that in Victoria they
used to be known as "Spriggies"because aleading light in the Victorian
Acclimatization Society was a Mr. Sprigg. (Ihave spentdays trying to find a
reference for this statement without success but Iknow it's theresomewhere).
Anthea Fleming > Here in the Hunter Valley NSW numerous birdos refer to them
as> "Spadgers">> A Brew>> -----Original Message-----> From:
>
On Behalf Of Nick Uren> Sent: Thursday, 20 November 2008 5:29 PM> To: Bill
Jolly; ; > Subject: Re:
[Birding-Aus] Sparrows>> Dear Bill and Philip,>
Many thanks for your replies to my> question about sparrows,> it certainly
helps clarify and simplify the situation. However, I> have had no responses
with respect to local or alternative names for> sparrows which although
disappointing is not surprising I suppose in> the sense that most people I ask
have no awareness that sparrows are> called anything else. I will keep
searching. Thanks again.>> Yours sincerely>> Nick Uren
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