NCRC PL 7101 N3T17 Taplin Grammar of the Narrinyeri Tribe of Australian Aborigines [BRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GRAMMAR NARRINYERI TRIBE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES By the late REV. G. TAPLIN, Aborigines' Missionary, Point McLeay. PRINTED BY E. SPILLER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, NORTH-TERRACE. 188O. PL N3Tf7 LONTENTS, PAGES. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS . . . . . . . . 5, 6 LETTERS USED IN THE LANGUAGE . . . . . . 7 NOUNS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7-10 PRONOUNS .. .. .. .. .. .. 11-13 VERBS .. .. .. .. .. 14-20 ADJECTIVES .. .. .. .. .. .. 21 ADVERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 SYNTACTICAL NOTES . . . . . . . . . . 23, 24 117.9800 THE GRAMMAR THIS language is spoken by the tribe of aborigines in South Australia inhabiting the country on the shores of Encounter Bay and the Lakes Alexandrina, Albert, and Coorong, and twenty miles up the River Murray. There are some trifling variations of dialect between the clans that compose the tribe, but I do not perceive such a difference as would be an impediment to a stranger learning the language. My object in committing to writing the information Avhich I have gathered respecting the grammar of this tongue has been to present it in such a form as to enable students of Comparative Philology to use it for the purpose of rendering a modicum of help towards arriving at correct conclusions respecting the Philosophy of Language. The com- parison of the grammatical structure of different languages is of the greatest importance, and the surest guide to the real relationships of language and nations. In saying this, I am almost quoting the remarks of that lamented and eminent laborer in this department of Anthropo- logical science, the late Dr. Bleek, of Cape Town. Any one who has ever undertaken to gather up the grammar of an unwritten and barbarous language, will appreciate the difficulties which have to be encountered. Inquiries are useless when addressed to minds upon whom the idea of grammar never dawned. Expressions are heard having a certain force, and it is only after years of careful observation that those expressions can be analyzed, and their true character discerned ; and this difficulty is increased when, as in the language of the Narrinyeri, ellipsis and abbreviations abound. The Rev. H. A. E. Meyer, a Lutheran Missionary, made a brave attempt to master the grammar of this language in 1843, and with some success; but yet his attempt presents a great number of ludicrous mistakes to one better acquainted with it. I found I had to rely on my own observations if I was to gain any correct knowledge of the language. GRAMMAR OF THE NARRINYERI TRIBE It is necessary in pursuing such an inquiry to avoid falling into the mistake of supposing and concluding that there are complications and difficulties of structure where there are none, and refinements and nice distinctions of signification existing when there is nothing of the kind. Sentences and expressions, which appear at first to have this character, afterwards resolve themselves into simple and understood phrases. It has several times been my experience to have what appeared strange and unintelligible conglomerations of words resolve themselves into plain and forcible expressions. I do not presume that in preparing this grammer I have never fallen into any mistakes. I know that I am always discovering something in the language which I did not know before. And, indeed, it is the case with every observant speaker of his native tongue that he is continually finding out new capabilities and powers and beauties of expression ; it is then much more certain that such will be the case in learning a strange and hitherto unwritten language. The aborigines speak their language very correctly, that is, they dislike to hear what they consider irregular expressions. Although they do not understand systematic grammar, they know when one phrase is wrong and another right. The principal cause of changes in the language is the custom of dropping the use of words which may be contained in the name of some person who dies. This often produces awkward changes, but more of words than of grammar. In giving names to animals I observe that the name often resembles the voice or note of the animal ; but I do not see any traces of imitation of the sounds made by beasts or birds beyond this. The language of the Narrinyeri is lexically very different from the languages of the neighboring tribes. It is remarkable that the Narrinyeri (like all other nations) in speaking English speak it according to the idiom of their own language ; the English words are arranged according to the aboriginal vernacular. OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. LETTERS. In writing native, I have used the " vowels" according to the following table of their sounds : a as a in father. as o in hope. e as a in hate. u as oo in moon. i as e in mete [to measure.] ai as i in mine. " i" at the end of words with u over it [Y] asi and y in pity and city. The " consonants" are sounded as follows : T) as in bed. p as in pet. d as in dead. r as in rope. dh as in though. t as in top. g as in good [always hard]. th as in think. h aspirate. w as in wit [always conso- le as in king. nantal]. 1 as in long. y as in yet [ditto]. m as in mat. ng nasal [use as if at the end of a n as in new. -word, only dropping the vowel]. The language is without the letters^, v, s, and z. NOUNS. There is only one declension of nouns in the Narrinyeri language. There is no distinction of gender in the use of them. They usually end in a vowel, commonly short i (pronounced like short ej in the nominative case. The stem of the noun is got by casting away this terminal vowel, and the cases are formed by adding to the termination of the stem affixes which form the different cases. The only instances where there is a difference of declension is where the words express human relationships. This we will notice afterwards. In this language the nouns, adjectives, and pronouns are declined in the singular, dual, and plural numbers. The declension of adjectives is, however, uncommon, defective, and irregular. The genitive case of nouns is formed by the affix aid. This not only means of, but also, in the case of places, at ; as, Kornald menake A man's beard. Leivinitye Tipald He lives at Tip. Ngape tantir mantald I slept in the wurley. The aid is often used by itself, but always with the sense of belonging to, or connection with ; as, Pinyatoioe tyilyi aldamb Sugar belonging to or for or connected with rice. GRAMMAR OF THE NARRINYERI TRIBE The dative case is formed by the affixes in the singular of angk and ungai. The former as the signification of to and by, the latter of on, or by ; yet the terminations are used so interchangeably we can only say that both are forms of the dative ; as, Loru el ap mantangk I will go to the hut, house, or wurley. Tangulun itye ngurlungai Stands he on a hill ? Polungai On a horse. The causative is formed in the singular by the affix il evidently an abbreviation of the pronoun kili (by him) ; as, Kornil mempir napangk, or inangk nap The man struck his wife. The ablative is formed by the affix anmant ; as, Nguk (water), perk (well), anmant (from) Water from the well. This form of the ablative is almost confined to places. When it relates to things or persons it is formed by nend ; as, Ngungkura (first), ityan (it), pintamin (take away), ngarrari ( wood), umanyirinend (from your), pclinend (eye) First cast the wood out of thine eye. Kinanyirienend (from his), preivirrenend (side), yaralin (flows), kreioe (blood), barekar (water) From his side there flows blood and water. It is really difficult to say how many cases the nouns have, because all prepositions are joined as affixes to the nouns to which they relate, but only some of them change their form, according as the noun is in the singular, dual, or plural number. The following is a list of prepositional affixes and prepositions, shewing where they change in the dual and plural, and where they do not : SINGULAR. DUAL. PLURAL. aid enggal an = of, at, upon. | to, on, in, by, at; sometimes used unga! ungengiil ungar = { ^fhinstrumentally. angk il pTio-o-ul ir l by > throu fl > because of; instru- - \ mentally, or causatively. nend nend nend = from, out of. nenggulund ? {of, the form of the genitive ; in pronominal adjectives, with. anmant = from a place. No difference from number : ungunai \ tunti in the middle. ungunel in front of. loru up. ungul ) mom down. maremuntunt beneath. ambe /or. tarangk between. ngurukwar outside, without. tepangk close to. ngungkura before. tuntangk between two. I have given these prepositions here because of their close, and, indeed, peculiarly inseparable relationship to nouns and pronouns. OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. After much consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the fol- lowing is the declension of a noun : PORLE (A CHILD}. Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . porle, a child. GENITIVE . . . . . . porlald, of a child. DATIVE . . . . . . . porlangk } to, with, or on .. . . porlungai j a child. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . porlil, by a child. ABLATIVE . . . . . . porlenend, from a child. VOCATIVE . . . . . . porlinda, ! child. Dual. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . porlengk, two children. GENITIVE .. .. .. porlengal, of two children. DATIVE . . . . . . porlungengun, to two children. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . porlengul, by two children. ABLATIVE . . . . . . porlengulund, from two children. . . porlenengulund. VOCATIVE .. .. .. porlula, 01 two children. Plural. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . porlar, children. GENITIVE .. .. .. porlan, of children. DATIVE . . . . . . . porlungar, to icith, by, or on children. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . porlar, by children. ABLATIVE . . . . . . porlenend, from children. " . . . . . . porlannand. VOCATIVE . . . . . . porluna, ! children. Sometimes compound substantives are formed out of simple nouns by the addition of inyeri (belonging to or ofj, a verb stem or an adjective. To such words belong peculiar laws of declension. For instance : Kurl'inyeri, from kurle (head), inyeri (belonging to) ; i.e. a hat or head- dress. Turninyeri, from turns (foot), and inyeri (belonging to) ; i.e. a boot. Kurinyinyerengk, from kurrengk (the two shinsj, inyerengk (belonging to two) ; i.e. a pair of trousers. Now, in such words as these, the prepositional sign would be affixed to the end of the word, as Kurlinyerald, of a hat Kurrinyerenggal, of a pair of trousers. Then, again, we have yande orn, from yande (old or useless) and korn (a man) i.e. an old man; yanae tmin, from yande (old) and mimine (a woman) i.e. an old woman In these cases the sign of the declension comes between ; as yant aid orn of an old man ; yant aid imin of an old woman. The particle urmi is added to some stems of verbs to make it mean an instrument to do the verb with; as, halt urmi a spade a digging thing ; drek urmi (a tomahawk), from drekin (cutting or chipping) and urmi (an instrument). In such words the case endings are added to the end of the whole word. 10 GRAMMAR OF TEE NARRINYERI TRIBE The word amalde is added to the stems of some verbs to make them signify a person who does that action ; as, pett amalde, from pettin (steal) and amalde (an agent) i.e. a thief; yelpul amalde, horn yelpulun (lying) and amalde (an agent) i.e. a liar. These words take also the affix at the end. Watyeri is a particle used in the same way, and signifies " full of;" as, plonggewatyeri full of, or possessed by sorcery ; tuniivatyeri full of sand; merkewalyeri full of holes. The particle urumi means something used for a purpose ; as, tyetyurumi from tyetyin (anoint) and urumi (a means) i.e. oil, ointment ; muturumi (a drink), frommuttun (drinking); kunkurumi, from kunkun (swallowing), things to swallow i.e. pills. The declension of words signifying human relationships is peculiar. There are different forms of the word meaning a relationship, in order to express whether it is mine, yours, or his. For instance : nanghai my father. narkowalli his mother. ngaiowe your father. gelanowe my elder brother. yikowalle his father. gelauwe your elder brother. nainkowa my mother. gelavrwalle his elder brother. ninkuwe your mother. This word nanghai (my father) is declined thus : NOMINATIVE . . . . . . nanghai my father. ACCUSATIVE . . . . nanghaiyin in my father. GENITIVE .. .. .. nanghaiyin of my father. DATIVE .. .. .. nanghaiyinangk to my father. CAUSATIVE .. .. .. nanghaiyininda by my father. ABLATIVE .. .. .. nanghaiyinanyir from my fat her. FOE nanghaiyinambe for my father. Now, in all the words signifying relationships, this form of declension is the same. The accusative and the genitive are alike, and are formed by adding in or an to the nominative ; and every other case is formed by affixing a case particle or case ending to the accusative or genitive case. This is the method, whether the word be of my, your, or his relations. But where the case ending is affixed to the genitive case it is sometimes put between the stem of the word and the case ending ; as, Tartaldan of my younger brother. OF A USTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 11 PRONOUNS. The personal pronouns are declined in three numbers singular, dual, and plural. After each pronoun in its full form I shall put the abbrevia- ted, or euphonized form, commonly used in speaking. IST PERSON. NGAFE (I). Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . . ngape ap . . . . /. ACCUSATIVE . . . . ngan an . . . . . . me. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . ngate at, atte . . by me. Dual. NOMINATIVE .. .. ngel angel (pronounced ang'eij tee two. ACCUSATIVE . . . . lam alam . . . . us two. CAUSATIVE .. .. ngel angel (pronounced ang'eij by us two. Plural. NOMINATIVE . . . . ngum . . . . . . we. ACCUSATIVE . . . . nam anam . . ..us. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . ngurn . . . . . . by us. 2ND PERSON. NOINTB (Taouj. Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . . nginte ind, inde . . thou. ACCUSATIVE . . . . ngum um, m . . thee. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . nginte, ind . . . . . . by thee. VOCATIVE . . . . nginta inda . . . . thou ! Dual. NOMINATIVE . . . . ngurl ung-url . . . . you two. ACCUSATIVE . . . . lorn olom . . . . you two. CAUSATIVE ngurl ung-url . . . . by you two. VOCATIVE . . . . ngurla ula . . . . you two ! Plural. NOMINATIVE . . . . ngun ung'-un . . . . you. ACCUSATIVE . . . . nom onom . . . . you. CAUSATIVE.. .. .. ngun ung'-un .. .. by you. VOCATIVE . . . . nguna una . . . . you ! SRD PERSON. KITYE (HsJ. Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . , kitye itye . . ACCUSATIVE . . . . kin, in . . CAUSATIVE . NOMINATIVE ACCUSATIVE CAUSATIVE NOMINATIVE ACCUSATIVE CAUSATIVE . . kll II .. ".. Dual. kengk engk . . _ kenggun eng'gun kenggul eng'gul Plural. kar ar . . . . kan an kar ar . . he, she, it. him, her, it. t by him. \ by her. (by it. they two. , , them two. by them two. . . they, them. . . by them. 12 GRAMMAR OF TEE NARRINYERI TRIBE. The other cases of pronouns are formed by adding proper case endings to the accusative. The following are the case endings : anyir . . becomes Genitive in the case of pronominal adjectives. angk . . Dative to, at, in, into, with, on. anyir . . from as a result. ambe . . for, instead of, for an object (as " kak in oura, nak " amboiir ityan " = put it here that I may see t*. Literally, foresee it nak amb). The following is a declension of the word kitye (he) : Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . . kitye . . . . he. ACCUSATIVE .. kin.. .. .. him. GENITIVE . . . . kanauwe . . of him. DATIVE . . . . kinangk . . . . to him. CAUSATIVE . . . . kil . . . . by him. FROM kinanyir, from him. \ FOB, kinambe,/or him. Dual. NOMINATIVE . . kengk . . . . they two. ACCUSATIVE . . . . keng'gun . . them two. GENITIVE . . . . keng'gunauwe . . of them two. DATIVE . . . . keng'gunangk . . to them two. CAUSATIVE . . keng'gul . . . . by them two. FROM keng'gunanyir, from them two. FOR keng'gunambe, for them two. Plural. NOMINATIVE . . . . kar . . . . they. ACCUSATIVE . . kan . . . . them. GENITIVE , . . . kanauwe . . of them. DATIVE . . . . kanangk . . . . to them. CAUSATIVE . . . . kar . . . . by them. FROM kananyir, from them. \ FOR kanambe, for them. The possessive or adjective pronouns, my, his, your, &cc., change their terminations in forming their cases ; the auwe becomes anyir before the termination expressing the case. Thus we say kinanyerald, not kinau- weald. This will be best illustrated by the declension of the possessive pronouns kinauwe (his), keng'gunamve (theirs two), hanauice (their) : KIN AUWE (His). Singular. NOMINATIVE .. .. kinauwe .. his (sometimes "kinauwurle"), ACCUSATIVE . . . . kinauwe. GENITIVE ...... kinanyerald . . of his. DATIVE . . . . . . kinanyerangk . . to his. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . kinanyeril . . . . by his. FROM kinanyirenend, from his. Dual. NOMINATIVE .. .. keng'gunauwe.. theirs (two). ACCUSATIVE . . . . keng'gunauwe. GENITIVE .. .. keng'gunanyirald of 'theirs (two) ". DATIVE .. .. .. keng'gunanyirangk to theirs (tivoj . CAUSATIVE . . . . keng'gunanyeril . . by theirs (two) . FROM keng'gunanyirenend, from, theirs (two). OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 13 Plural. NOMINATIVE .. ACCUSATIVE . . GENITIVE DATIVE CAUSATIVE kanauwe . . kanauvre, kananyirald kananyirangk kananyiril their, . . of their. . . to their. by their. FKOM kananyirenend, from their. The pronoun following a transitive verb would be in the dative or genitive case ; as, Ngate mempir kinanyirangk kurl I struck his head ; not kinauwe kurle. At the same time there are many instances in which the auwe would be used in an objective sense ; as, Kil pleppin kenggunauive piilar He touched the eyes of these two. The demonstrative pronouns are hikke (this), hityekatye (this one), and naiye (that). The following are the forms of the demonstrative pronoun hik : SINGULAR. DUAL. PLURAL. NOMINATIVE hikkai henggengk harar. ACCUSATIVE . . . . hin henggun haran. ABLATIVE hll henggul harar. Also HITYEKATYE (THIS ONE) [emphatic]. SINGULAR. DUAL. PLUEAL. NOMINATIVE hityekatye hengenekengk harnakar. ACCUSATIVE . . . . hityenekatye. The pronoun naiye (that) has the following forms : SINGULAR. DUAL. PLURAL. NOMINATIVE naiye nakak narar. ACCUSATIVE . . . . orne narar. GENITIVE ornauwe. DATIVE ornangk. The interrogative pronouns nganggi (who?) and minye (what?) are used in the following forms in the various cases : NGANGGI (Wno?) NOMINATIVE .. .. nganggi who. TV | nak to whom. \ nak an angk to whom (plural). GENITIVE . . .l nauwe ,- } whose or ivhom. ( nauvmrli J CAUSATIVE . . . . ngandi by whom. ABLATIVE namb i -for ivhom. MINYE (WsAi ?J NOMINATIVE .. .. minyi what. DATIVE mek to what. GENITIVE . . . . mek of ichat. ABLATIVE mekimbe /or what (what forj . fmengye by what (hoivj. j minyandai what times (how often}. p ! minyurti what sort. CAUSATIVE . . . . < jj^jjy^ mun yarai what number. \ minde what reason, why. ^murel with what intention. U GRAMMAR OF TEE NARRINYERJ TRIBE VERBS. The verb in native has a close relationship to the adjective, and a tendency to assume the form of a participle. Thus, Kaikundun il ityan is more nearly expressed by the English " Calling by him to him" than by " He calls him." Lewin itye is better expressed by " He is sitting" than by " He sits." The Narrinyeri language possesses the property of being able to form words out of itself with much facility. Names are generally invented by natives for European objects, and words are formed to express actions introduced by the colonists. For instance : Taminyun is " to shoot ;" and it is compounded of the words tamin (to point) and yun (the sound of a gun). But we see this tendency to build up words in the language itself in words built up to express native ideas ; as : PILGERUWALLIN " Being greedy ;' ' from pulkeri (greedy) and wallin (being). KONKTJWARRIX " Sending away ;" from konJc (apart), u (expressive of impera- tive), and warrin (to make). LAMATYERI " Wood for a fire ;" from lammin (carrying on the back) and atyeri (belonging to i.e., that which is carried on the back). ANANGKWARRIN "Preparing," "getting ready;" from (mangle, or kanangk, or ityanangk (the dative of the accusative form of the third personal pronoun kityan, kin, or kan), and tvarrin (making) ; literally making towards it. The four principal classes of verbs are: (1) The simple verbs ; as, mempin (striking), takkin (eating), ngoppun (walking), lulun (breaking), nampulun (hiding). (2) Verbs with the termination wallin, signifying " existing;" as lunkuwallin (plaj'ing), yuntuu-allin (crowding). (3) Verbs with the termination u-arrin, meaning " causing, making ;" as nunku- tvarrin (doing right), toirrangivarrin (doing wrong), ivurtuwarrin (satura- ting with water). (4) Verbs ending in mindin, as kldeimindin (fetching). I will now proceed to give the conjugation of the aboriginal native transitive verb LAK (To SPEAR j. INDICATIVE MOOD Present Tense. Singular. Dual. Ngate yan lakkin I spear him Npinte yan lakkin Thou spearest him Kile yan lakkin He spears him. JS T gel yan lakkin We two spear him Ngurl yan lakkin Ye two spear him Kenggul yan lakkin They two spear him. Plural. Ngurn yan lakkin We spear him Ngan yan lakkin Ye spear him Kar yan lakkin They spear him. OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 15 Singular. Ngati yan lakkir I speared him Nginti yan lakkir Thou spearedst him Kile yan lakkir He speared him. Past Tense, Dual Ngel yan lakkir "We two speared him Ngurl yan lakkir You two speared him Kenggul yan lakkir-They two speared him Plural. Ngurn yan lakkir "We speared him Ngun yan lakkir You two speared him Kar yan lakkir They two speared him. Remote Past Tense. Singular. Ngati yan lak emb I did spear him Nginte yan lak emb Thou didst spear him Kile yan lak emb He did spear him. Plural. Ngurn yan lak emb We did spear him Ngun yan lak emb You did spear him Kar yan lak emb They did spear him. First Future (Simple Future}. Dual. Xgel yan lak emb We two did spear him Ngurl yan lak emb- You two did spear him Kenggul yan lak emb They two did spear him. Singular. Ngati yan lakkani I will spear him Nginte yan lakkani Thou wilt spear him Kile yan lakkani He will spear him. Plural. Ngurn yan lakkani "We will spear him Ngun yan lakkani You will spear him Kar yan lakkani They will spear him. Second Future (Intentional). Singular. Ngate lak el ityan I will [i.e., intend to] spear him Dual. Ngel yan lakkani "We two will spear him Ngurl yan lakkani Ye two will spear him Kenggul yan lakkani-They two will spear him. Nginte lak el ityan Thou wilt spear him Kile lak el ityan He will spear him. Dual. Ngeli lak el ityan We two will spear him Ngurle lak el ityan You two will spear him Kenggul lak el ityan- [him. -They two will spear Plural. Ngurn lak el ityan He will spear him Ngun lak el ityan You will spear him Kar lak el ityan They will spear him. Third Future (Predictive}, Singular. Lakkin el atte ityan I will spear him Lakkin el inde ityan You will spear him Lakkin el il ityan He will spear him. Dual. Lakkin el a-ngel ityan We two will spear him [him Lakkin el ungurl ityan Ye two will spear Lakkin el engul ityan They two will spear him. Plural. Lakkin el ungurn ityan We will spear him Lakkin el ungun ityan You will spear him Lakkin el ar ityan They will spear him. 16 Other Forms of the Future. Nginte el our ityan lak Thou must spear him. Lak amb el ityan ? Shall I spear him ? Tarno lak amb ityan ? Shall I not spear him ? Repetitive Tense. Singular. Ngati lak unganyi I spear again Nginte lak unganyi Thou spearest again Kile lak unganyi He spears again. Dual. Ngel lak unganyi We two spear again Ngurl lak unganyi You two spear again Kenggul lak unganye They two spear again. Plural. Ngurn lak unganye "We spear again Ngun lak unganye You spear again Kar lak unganye They spear again. REFLECTIVE MOOD. Singular. Ngap an angk laggelir I speared myself Nginte nangk laggelir Thou spearedst thyself Kitye nangk laggelir He speared him- self. Dual. Ngele nangk laggelir We two speared ourselves Ngurle nangk laggelir Ye two speared yourselves Kenggenangk laggelir They two speared themselves. Plural. Ngurn an angk laggelir We speared ourselves Ngun en angk laggelir Ye speared yourselves Kan en angk laggelir They speared themselves. RECIPROCAL MOOD. Ngele nangk laggel amb Let us two spear each other. Singular. Lak our inde Do thou spear II oura lak Let him spear IMPERATIVE MOOD. Dual. Xgel oura lakkin Let us two spear Ngurl our lakkin Let you two spear Kenggul our lakkin Let them two spear. Plural. Neurn our lakkin Let us spear Ngun. our lakkin Do you spear Kar our lakkin Let them spear. OPTATIVE MOOD ("MAY"). Singular. Ngati in anyura lakkin I may spear him Nginte in anyura lakkin Thou mayest spear him Kile in anyura lakkin He may spear him. Dual. Ngel in anyura lakkin We two may spear him Ngurl in anyura lakkin Ye two may spear him Kenggul in anyura lakkin They two may spear him. Plural. Ngurn in anyura lakkin We may spear him Ngun in anyura lakking Ye may spear him Kur in anyura lakkin They may spear him. OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 17 OPTATIVE (" COULD " OR " WOULD"). Singular. Lak ilde atte ityan I would spear him Lak ild inde ityan Thou wouldest spear him Lak ild ile ityan He would spear him. Dual. Lak ilde ngel ityau We two would spear Lak ilde ngurl ityan Ye two would spear him [spear him. Lak ilde engul ityan They two would Plural. Lak ilde ngurn ityan "We would spear him Lak ilde ungun ityan Ye would spear him Lak ilde ar ityan They would spear him. PROHIBITIVE MOOD. Lak e Spear not. Tauo ityan lak ityan Don't spear him. ("MUST"). Laggel el our ap I must spear Laggel el our ind Thou must spear Laggel el our itye He must spear. &c., &c. INFINITIVE MOOD (PRESENT). Lak Spear [the idea absolute] Lak uramb For the purpose of spearing [of an instrument or weapon]. PARTICIPLES. Laggelin Spearing. | Laggelir Speared. Singular. Ngan lakkir I am speared Is gum lakkir Thou art speared Kin lakkir He is speared. PASSIVE. Dual. Lam lakkir "We two are speared Lorn lakkir You two are speared Kenggun lakkir They two are speared. Plural. Nam lakkir "We are speared Nom lakkir Ye are speared Kan lakkir They are speared. NOTES. 1. I chose the word lakkin for the paradigm of a native verb because it contains all the inflections which I know of. The word lakkin means, primarily, " piercing ;" ' as, Ngate lakkin itye koye I pierce a basket (i.e., make a basket by the piercing through and through of the rushes as it is woven or sewn together). But the word is mostly used for casting a spear darting ; and, from that, aiming any missile or throwing a stone at any person is lakkin. 2. Although I have given an " indicative mood," yet the peculiarity of the participial character of the native verb must not be lost sight of. There must necessarily be in every language a form of expressing the verb, equivalent to our indicative form and this I have endeavored to give ; that is, the inflection of the verb, with the accompanying pronouns both causative and objective which conveys the indicative thought. 18 GRAMMAR OF THE NARRINYERI TRIBE But yet it must not be supposed that the words Ngate ityan lakkin, for instance, mean " By him it spearing ;" although that is the nearest to it in English. Yet the word lakkin does not mean " spearing," hut, as the aborigines say in broken English, " spear em." They say, " I spear em it kangaroo :" this is the native idiom. In exhibiting the indicative mood I have supposed the speaker to say, " I spear him ;" but of course I might have put it, "I spear thee" or " I spear you" and so on. In that case the objective form of the second personal pronoun would have to be used as Ngate um lakkin, " I spear thee ;" or, Ngate onom lakkin, " I spear you ;" and so on, through all the tenses. 3. The transitive verbs are distinguished from the intransitive by the former using the causative case of the pronoun ; whereas the latter uses the simple nominative. This Avill be seen in the following conjugation of the verb : Singular. Ngaiin ap I come Ngaiin inda Thou comest Ngaiin itye He comes. NGAI (T COME.) INDICATIVE MOOD Present Tense. Dual. Ngaiin ngel We two come Ngaiin ung'url Ye two come Ngaiin engk They two come. Plural. Ngaiin ung'urn We come Ngaiin ung'une You come Ngaiin ar They come. Singular. Past Tense. Puntir ap I came Puntir inde Thou earnest Puntir itye He came. Dual. Puntir ang'el We two came Puntir ung'url You two came Puntir engk They two came. Plural. Puntir arn We came Puntir ung'une You came Puntir ar They came. Future Tense. Singular. Ngai el ap I will come Ngai el inda Thou wilt come Ngai el itye He will come. Dual. Ngai el ang'el We two will come Ngai el ung'url You two will come Ngai el engk They two will come. Plural. Ngai el arn We will come Ngai el ung'une You will come Ngai el ar They will come. IMPERATIVE MOOD. Koh Come Ngai war . . Do come Ngai akhi . . Come here. OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 19 OPTATIVE OR POTENTIAL MOOD. Singular. Dual. Ngap inanye ngai I may come Ngel inanye ngai We two may come Ngint inanye ngai Thou mayest come Ngurl inanye ngai Te two may come Kity inanye ngai He may come. Kengk inanye ngai They two may come, Plural. Ngurn inonye ngai We may come Ngune inanye ngai Ye may come Kar inanye ngai They may come. INFINITIVE MOOD. Ngai To come. PARTICIPLES. Puntin . . . . Coming | Puntani . . About to come. 4. There appears to be different classes of verbs in the Narrinyeri language. They are distinguished by the variation or non-variation of the word which expresses the indicative mood when it expresses the present participle. For instance Ngati yan merippin signifies " I cut it :" In this case the word merippin expresses the indicative present, first person. It is also merippin for " cutting" that is the present participle. Then Ngati yan drekin is " I chip it;" but it is not drekin in the present participle, but dretulun. So that we thus have two classes of verbs the first does not change in assuming the participial form, as mempin (strike), pempin (give), morokkun (seize) ; the second does change in assuming the participial form, as pornun (die), pornelin, (dying) ; nampulun (hide), nampundetin (hiding); nyrippin (wash), nyribbelin (washing); milipulun (speak a foreign language), milipundun (speaking a foreign language). Possibly a more exact knowledge of the language might reveal subdivi- sions of these classes. 5. Some verbs change from the intransitive to the transitive form by the addition of undun to the root, instead of ulun or a " g" sound instead of a "k" sound; as, nampulun ap (I hide), nampundun atte ityan (I hide it) ; yelkulun ap (I move), yelkundun atte ityan (I move it) ; pingkin ap (I fall), pin g gen atte ityan (I throw it down). The meaning "cause to be" is given to adjectives of verbal form by the addition of mindin ; as, nauldammulun (tired), nguldammulimindin (making tired). 6. The two auxiliary verbs in most common use are wallin (being), and warrin (making, or causing). They are affixed to adjectives; as, nunkeri (good), nunkowallin (being good), nunkowarrin (making good) ; piltengi (strong), piltengwallin (being strong), piltengwarrin (making strong) ; wirrangivallin (being bad), wirrangwarrin (making bad). 7. The word ellin also means " being state of being," and sometimes " doing." It is very irregular in its use. It is the nearest word in the language to our verb " to be," It is scarcely to be expected that such an 20 GRAMMAR OF THE NARRINYERI TRIBE abstract verb should be found perfectly developed in a barborous tongue. The use of this word ellin, and also of ennin, is very difficult to under- stand. El appears to mean " intention, for or towards," whether that in- tention be for doing, wishing for, or being ; ellin expresses the intention satisfied. For instance, take the following table of the words : I Ellin Doing El I wish to do .......... Ellir Done ( Ellani About to do El I wish for .............. Ellin Having El-I shall be .. j S 11 -^ ( Ellir Has been f Ennin Doing En Do .............. { Ennani Will do ( Ennir Done. The following native sentences furnish instances of this : -En al yan, " Do with it" i.e., " do it,' ' Luk ap alye ellir, " Thus I it did," " I did so." Ngati yan ennani, " I will do it." Ngate yan ellani, " /will doit," " By me it will be done." Kunyitye ellir, " Enough, he has been" i.e., " He is dead. 8. The stem of the word warrin is commonly used as the sign of the imperative and interrogative. The stem war is used and pronounced nearly like the English word " our." The following are specimens of its use : Rung war, " Do hear." Nak our, " Do see." Ng-ai tear, " Da come." Nginta warn, or ngint oura, " Do thou" (a phrase meaning " Get out of the way"). Ngint our, or war, " Do thou" i.e., " Do thou do it." Mant our, " Do slowly." Murrumil our, and murrunmour, " Make haste Do hasten." Yelkul war, or our, " Do move." Mint oura, ' Do to me thou" (it is equivalent to " Give me a bit"). Kahk in oura, "Put it here." Yang ouri? "Where do you go?" 9. In expressions which mean going and coming, it is very common for the words " go" and " come" to be omitted. The following are in- stances of this practice , Hpwillhe;i.e,Hewill g o.'' Mare el itye . . Down will he ; i.e., " He will come." Laldan an .. Up it; i.e., ' Fetch it." Lare itye . . Down he; i.e., "He has come." Moru an . . Down him ; i.e., " He has gone down." Moru el ap .. Down will I ; i.e., I will go down." Loru means up, moru means down ; loldu also means up, and mare down. 10. The stem or root of verbs very often consist of one or two vowel sounds and two or three consonantal sounds. Thus pet is the stem of the word pettin (to steal) ; morok is the stem of the verb morokkun (to fetch). I have said " very often" I might have said " always," but that I do not feel quite certain ; but this rule is very common. OF A USTRALIAX 'ABORIGINES. 21 ADJECTIVES. Some adjectives in the native language are declined like nouns ; and some of them have such a verbal form as to show they are closely related to verbs. Nunkeri (good) 'and wirrangi (bad) are examples of the former class; talin (heavy), balpin (white), kinemin (dirty), kinpin (sweet), prit- yin (strong), are examples of the latter class. Sometimes an adjective is used in both forms as balpe and balpin, both of which signify " white." The following is the declension of the word NUNKEUI (Goon) . Singular. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . nunkeri, good [noun understood]. GENITIVE . . . . . . nunggurald, of good. DATIVE . . . . . . nunggurungai, to good. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . nungguril, by good. Dual. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . nunggerengk, two good. GENITIVE .. .. .. nunggerengul, of two good. DATIVE . . . . . . nunggerungengul, to two good. CAUSATIVE . . . . . . nunggerengul, by good. Plural. NOMINATIVE . . . . . . nunkerar, good. GENITIVE . . . . . . nungeran, of good. DATIVE . . . . . . nunggerungar, to good. CAUSATIVE . . . . nunggerar, by good. The following is the declension of the adjective NGRUWAR (ALL} . NOMINATIVE . . . . . . . . ngruvar, all. GENITIVE .. .. .. .. ngruntungar, of all. DATIVE . . . . . . . . . . ngruntungar, to all. ACCUSATIVE . . . . . . . . ngnrwar, all. VOCATIVE . . . . . . . . . . ngrirvrun, all .' CAUSATIVE . . . . . . . . ngruntar, by all. FROM ngruntenend, from all WITH ngruntungar, with all. Adjectives have no degrees of compaiison: the only approach to such is found in the word muralappi (small), muralappeol (very small). 01 is the common diminutive particle for adjectives and substantives. The natives only count to three Yammalai or yammalaitye, " one ; " ninggengk or ningkaiengk, " two ;" neppaldar, " three." Ngunkur is "first:" there are no words for "second" or "third." All numbers above three are expressed by Ngruwar (many). Sbme adjectives are formed from adverbs ; as fcaffoinyttri, or karloanye>i from karlo (to-day) and inyeri (belonging), and meaning " now ;" klauoanyeri, or kaldoiv- anyeri from kaldoic (a long time) and inyeri (belonging to), and meaning ' old; " and konkinyert (by itself, alone). 22 GRAMMAR OF THE NARRINYERI TRIBE ADVERBS. The various adverbs will be found in a vocabulary of the language. I only wish here to refer to some words of this class in which a nice dis- tinction in meaning is observed. ADVERBS OF TIME. Yun By-and-by. Palli While, by-and-by. llauwul A long time ago. Kaldau A long time. Ngurintand Often. ADVERBS OF NEGATION. Tarno el Don't do. Tarnalin Not yet. Karlo To-day. (Karloanyeri New.) Hik Now. Watanggrau Yesterday. Ngrekkald To-morrow. Tarno No, not. Tarnalo No more. Tarnalo Never. Tauo Don't (imperative). Nowaiy None. Nowaiy ellin No more (i.e., of anything). ADVERBS OF PLACE. Yangi Where ? (interrogative) . Yarnd Of where ? Whence ? Yauo Yak Where to ? Yangalli Where is he ? Kiuau Where (relative). Aiau By where. [Instances Manti kiuau tantani ap, " The wurley where 1 shall sleep." Yak al inda tantani ? " Where will you sleep ?" Ngurlung aiau, " By where the hill is."] Ku-un Far off. [As, Ngap tangulun ku-un, " I stand far off." Nginte tangulun ku-un, "Thou standest far off." Kitye tangulun Jcu-u, 41 He stands far off." Kengk tangulun ku-u, " They two stand far off." Kar tangulun kuar-un, " They stand far off."] Akhe Here. Alyikke Here. Alyenik This here place. Alye Here. ADVERBS OF TIME. Yaral? When? (Interrogative). | Ungunuk When. (Relative). The word tcunye (then) is commonly joined, as an affix, to pronouns, as Ondu Over there. Yarnd inde ? Whence thou ? Yauo ande ? Whither thou? Wunyitve Then he. Wunyinde Then thou. Wunyungune Then you. Wunyar Then they. Wunyel Then will. Wunyap Then I. Wunyatte Then by me, i.e., Then I (casuative). Wunyil Then by him, i.e., Then he (casuative). The words uk, ukke, Zuk, and lun, which have the meaning of similarity " so," " thus," " way " may be illustrated by the following examples Luk, "So." Lun, "Thus." Ukke, " Way." Luk M, or lun u " So, thus " " He did it thus." Luk itye yarnin " Thus he speaks." Lwi cllin " So being, Like." Luk ugge " Like this one." Eikkai ukke - " This way." " This road." Hil amb uk " For this way" (equivalent to "^because "). Lun uk " Thus." Ngo uk ap " I go so." OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 23 The word ambe has the force both of a conjunction and preposition; it may be rendered both " instead of" and " because :" as, Kaldowamp or amb, " For a long time :" Hi I amb uk, " For this way, because :" In amb at, " Only for it:" Aid amb anai, " For my " as Pinyatowe aid amb anai pelberri, ' Sugar for my tea." The conjunction " and " is not known in the language. SYNTACTICAL NOTES I. The form of the verb remains unchanged, whatever be the number and person of nominative, in intransitive verb, and causative in transitive verbs as, Ngap lewin, " I sit ;" liar lewin, "They sit ;" Kil ilyn pettin " He steals it ;" Kar ityan pettin, " They steal it." II. The prepositional particle in pronouns is always an affix to the accusa- tive case as, Inangk, " To him ;" Kanangk , " To them ;" Pempir il iimangk, " He gave to thee." In all these angk signifies the preposition to." III. Transitive verbs are followed by an accusative pronoun as Js.il (by him) ; Ilyan " him," ngolkir " was bitten," i.e., " He bit him." IV. Pronominal adjectives are always in the same number and case as the nouns with which they are connected as, Kinanyirangk taldumandangk, ' To his house." V. The diminutive of nouns is always placed after the case-ending of the noun as> Porlaldol, " Of a little child ;" Porlarol, " Of little children." VI. Very often, when an adjective and noun come together, the case-ending will be attached to the adjective, but omitted from the noun as, Nung- garald korn, "Of a good man:" here aid, signifying the genitive, is only attached to the adjective, and not to the noun korn (a man). GRAMMAR Of THE NARRINYERI TRIBE. VII. The sign of a transitive verb is a noun or pronoun in the causative ; and of an intransitive verb a noun or pronoun in the nominative Kil ityan drekin, " He cuts it :" Kitye tangulun^ " He stands." VIII. Demonstrative pronouns agree with the nouns which they point to in number and case as, Hikkai korn, " This man ; " Harnakar kornar, " These men ;" Ornangk nunkungai, " In that day ;" Ornangk koyungai, " In that basket." IX. The distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs, where the same English word expresses both, must be carefully observed. Thus lulun (breaking) is intransitive, luwun (breaking) is transitive ; nyrangkin (burning) is intransitive, kulkun (burning) is transitive. X. The word "where" (kiuauj, which is only used relatively, must be carefully distinguished from yangi (where), which is only used interroga- tively. Also the word ungunuk, or ungun, which mean " when" used relatively must be distinguished from yaral, which means " when" in the interrogative sense. XI Although the stem of the verb may be said to be the infinitive present, yet the particle uramb (meaning "for the purpose of") is always used when a verb is governed in the infinitive by another verb ; as, Kil pem- pir inangk kaUumi kalturamb an tuni, " By him was a giving to him a spade for the purpose of digging the ground" i.e., He gave him a spade to dig the ground. Pempir il an angk nakkari takuramb, " He gave me a duck to eat." THE UNIVE; A 000 404 920 1 Syrocuse, N. Stockton, Calif.