InAustralian English, abillabong (/ˈbɪləbɒŋ/BIL-ə-bong) is a smallbody of water, usually permanent. It is usually anoxbow lake caused by achange in course of ariver orcreek, but other types of smalllakes,ponds orwaterholes are also called billabongs. The term is likelyborrowed fromWiradjuri, anAboriginal Australian language ofNew South Wales.
The wordbillabong is most likely derived from theWiradjuri language of southernNew South Wales, which "describes a pond or pool of water that is left behind when a river alters course or after floodwaters recede".[1] According to theMacquarie Dictionary (2005), the original termbilabaŋ means "a watercourse that runs only after rain", withbila meaning "river",[2] and possibly combined withbong orbung, meaning "dead".[3][4] The attribution of this last part of the word was contested in 2004 byFrederick Ludowyk of theAustralian National Dictionary Centre, whose view was that that "-bong" or "-bang" was asuffix "signifying a continuation in time or space". Ludowyk writes thatbong meaning "dead" is not a Wiradjuri word, but may have been picked up or assumed from the word "bung", which was originally aYagara word used in thepidgin widely spoken across Australia.[5]
The word is first recorded inAustralian English in 1836, referring to theBell River in south-eastern New South Wales, when explorerThomas Mitchell records theAboriginal name of the river as "Billibang". It is first recorded in its later, more general sense, by J. Allen in 1853: "Thisstation is situated about half-a-mile inland, over a 'billy-bong' (the native name for a small creek or backwater)". It is not recorded in the first edition of theOxford English Dictionary (prepared 1882–1888), published before the later contributions of the Australian academicEdward Ellis Morris. It appears in Morris'sAustral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words (1898).[5]
A 2004 thesis suggests that the term could be ofScottish Gaelic origin, derived from words for "lip" or "mouth" and "river".[6]
Definitions vary. A billabong is often defined as anoxbow lake, an isolated crescenticpond left behind after ariver loop iscut off when the river channel changes course.[7]
Merriam-Webster defines the word as: "1. (a) a blind channel leading out from a river; (b) a usually dry streambed that is filled seasonally", or 2. "a backwater forming a stagnant pool"[8] TheCambridge Dictionary describes it as "In Australia, a low area of ground that was part of a river in the past and that only fills up with water from the river during a flood".[9]
In a 2009 study, billabongs of theChannel Country (a region of outback Australia whose name derives from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross it) are alternatively termed waterholes, and described as "enlarged channel segments along the main course of the river... typically occur[ring] at the confluence of two smaller channels".[10]
Queensland'sDepartment of Environment, Science and Innovation, in its Queensland Waterhole Classification Scheme, describes waterholes as "referred to by a range of different names (i.e. billabongs, lagoons and waterbodies)".[11]
Another source describes a billabong as "a large body of water", which may be formed from a section of cut-off river, but may also be formed from water left behind after a large flood.[12]
Billabongs are usually formed when the path of acreek or river changes due tobank erosion, leaving the former channel deprived of further inflow and becoming a dead-endgully holding only residual water that has not yet drained or evaporated. As a result of the arid climate of many parts of Australia, these "dead rivers" often fill with water seasonally but can be dry for a greater part of the year.[13]
Many billabongs are of cultural significance and social importance toAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and used as sources offresh water as well as other resources. Water is an intrinsic part ofCountry, and essential resource duringdrought ordry seasons, and they have many intricate ways of understanding how to find water.[1]
TheNgan'gi peoples in theDaly River region of the Northern Territory continue to manage the billabongs' ecology in their Country.[1]
Water-holding frogs living in the billabongs can take up a lot of water before it burrows into the earth in the dry season, and Aboriginal peoples in desert environments can locate the frogs underground by various means.[1]
In the days since thecolonisation of Australia, these were importantlandmarks for European settlers to identify, and many billabongs were given names relating to the local areas.[citation needed]
A billabong retains water longer than the original watercourse and may be the only accessible water in a large area.[14]
Billabongs are significant because they do not have outflow and can hold water longer than sections of rivers especially during drier season, thus serving important ecological functions aswaterholes andhabitats for freshwater animal and plant species, including thewater-holding frog. Many of these species'life cycles are related to the changes in seasons.[1]
Dangers to the ecological balance of billabongs includesaltwater intrusion andintroduced species.Feral animals have caused salt water to flow intoArafura Swamp, a large freshwater basin in theTop End in the Northern Territory,[1] in which there are many permanent billabongs.[15]
Once a jolly swagman camped by abillabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me
Banjo Paterson's popular song "Waltzing Matilda" is set beside a billabong.[14]
Mary Grant Bruce wrote a series of books, known asThe Billabong Series, depicting the adventures of the Linton family, who live at Billabong station from around 1911[16] until the late 1920s.[17][18]
BothAboriginal Australians andEuropean artists use billabongs as subject matter in painting. For example, Aboriginal painterTjyllyungoo (Lance Chad) has a watercolour entitledTrees at a billabong.[19]
Americanavant-garde filmmakerWill Hindle produced a short film titledBillabong in 1969.[citation needed]
They are mentioned in the title of the songBillabong Valley by Australian prog-rock bandKing Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
Billabong is the name of an Australian brand of sportswear for surf, skateboard, and snowboard.[20]
'Bill' = 'bile' = 'lip or mouth' and 'abong' is from 'abhainn' = 'river' with a parasitic 'G' added. A billabong probably has a mouth shape of sorts being at a bend in a river.
Media related toBillabongs of Australia at Wikimedia Commons
