n - University of Newcastle

OF THE LAA-GUAGE SPOKES GT
THE XARRINTERI TRIBE IK S. AUSTRALIA.
fEy the lt~te Rev. a. Tuplilr, Aborigines' -TIissioilctvy, Point Dfuc;eu!y,
Sot111~ A z~tralic~.)
[This C:rammar of the Narrinyeri clialect is to be foluld in a 1,ook en-
titled I' The Folklore, Manners, Customs, aad Languages of the South
Snstralina Aborigines ; Aclelaicle, 1879.'' I have re-arranged and condensed
the material of the Gra~lullar, ancl adapted the whole to the systeul fol-
lonred in this present volome.-E~.1
TIIE Narrinyeri aborigines occupy a portion of the coast of South.
Australia, near Aclelaicle. Tlieir territory includes the shores of
Eilcouliter Bay, Lakes Ale~aiid~ina ancl AlLerL, ancl the country
to the east of the AInrray, for about 20 miles from its mouth.
The first attempt to master ancl commit to writing the granlmar
of tliis language mas macle in 1843 by the Rev. H. E. Bieyer, a
Lutlieran Missionary. His sketch of the grammar is not free
from l~lunilers. Nor can the present effort expect to be faultless,
but it is approsimately correct, being foundecl on a practical acquaintance
with the language.
1. LETTERS.
The Narri~iyeri have not the sounds of f;, s, 2, but they ha~e
the sonailt souilcl of tlh (here written c~IL), as in the English vords
'this,' 'thine,' 'breatlie,' and the surcl ~IL, as in 'thin,' 'breath.'
4. GEXERAL PBIXCIPLES.
There is no article, but the numeral 'one ' is usecl as a sort of
indefillite article. Nouns, pronouns, aucl ac1,jectives are cleclined
by the use of aaxes, ancl have forms for the siiig~llal; dual, and
plural numbers.
Nnmber is indicatecl by a change of termination; for example :-
' ~Van.' I~ICLII.' Eye. ' Lip.' ' Eczr.'
Sing. a y - Korni. DIiil-a. Nun-a. Tur-e.
Dzral May-ula. Koi-11-egk. Min-ula. Alun-agge. Tur-illa.
PZzc. Nay-11"". Iionl-ar. Xin-una.
'Eye.' ' Eljebvozu.' ' Trozrser.'
Sing. Pil-i. Pi-cha&e. Terkdn-a.
Dz~nl Pil-a&ge. Pi-ko. Perkcan-ula.
TIIE XIRRISTERI DIALECT. 29
In the declension of nouns the affixes used as case-elldings lnay
I~egegarcled as post-positions. There is no distinction of gender
in nouiis and acljectives, but, for sonie words, there is a change of
-termination to indicate the fembine ; as, yu&a, ' brother,' yitgii;
ta, 'sister.' This clialect likes to encl its ~vo~ds TX-it11 a TO\%-el, especially
the short i, which is here represented by y.
3. Nouss.
Th~i). D:~Ze,z9io,~.-Tllere are tzao declensions oE nouns, tlie one
used for words clenoting human relationships, and the other for
all nouns else.
(n.) Con~l~aol~ .Yot~lzs.
Th9il. crises.-For commoii noulls, the case-endings of the singular
nlu~llber are :-
The Genitive takes tlie a6x ald ilieaiiing 'of,' but, with placenames,
' at,' ' in,' ' upon.' This affix is also used as n separate
word, with the sense of ' beloiigiiig to.'
The Dative 1. takes -amby, TI-llicli msy be translated 'for,' 'for
tlie purpose of,' ' for the use of.'
I'he Dative 4. takes -agk, 'to,' 'hy,' and -5&ai, 'on,' 'by '; but
these two tern~nations seem to be intercharigeable. The Englisli
for this case is, ' to,' ' with,' ' by,' ' on,' ' at '-either locative or
instrumeiltal.
TIL~ ilblntivs 1. has tlie atEx -il; as, koriiil nleinpir iiapa~k,
' the mall struck his wife '; from korni, ' 111a11,' in em pin, ' striliili,n,'
napy, ' wife '. This case niealis ' by,' ' tlirough,' ' because of'
-eitlier-ihsti.ume~ital or causatire.
The Ablative 4., if usecl to signify 'place from,' takes -anmalit;
as, guk perk-anm ant, Lwater from the mell '; but, n~hen it relates
to persons or things, it takes -inend ; as, gum-any ir-inend pil-inencl,
' from your eye.' The English for this case is ' from.'
Another case-ending in the singular is -anyir; this I shall call
Ablative 6. It denotes 'from,' expressing a cause ancl a result ;
but witli proi10mi1lal adjectives, it stsllds for the Genitive form.
These are the pruicipal cases, but the iinmber of theill may be
ninltiplied indefinitely by the use of any of the follo~inlg :-
4. POST-POSITIONS.
Ainby, ' for.' Noru, ' do~vil.'
Gugkura, ‘ before.' Taraik, 'between.'
Gurn-kwar, ' ontsicle.' Tepagk, 'close to.'
Loru, ' up.' Tuiltagk, ' betn-een two.'
31are-mnntunt, ' beneath.' Tunti, ' in the middle.'
Ugul, u@nel, u&unai, ' in front of.'
Sonle of these, when used as post-positions to nouns, are con-
stant ;:others vary their forni when a hed to the clual or the plural.