Garookuh

/ɡəˈruːkə/ noun

Definition

A variant spelling or dialectal pronunciation of garoo, the Australian kangaroo.

Etymology

A variant form of 'garoo' with an added schwa ending, likely representing attempts by early English speakers to capture the sound of Aboriginal words more accurately, with the '-uh' reflecting spoken English phonetics.

Kelly Says

This spelling variant shows how English borrowed words from Aboriginal languages in multiple different ways—different colonists heard and spelled the same animal differently, and some versions stuck while others faded away.

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