n - University of Newcastle

AX AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE.
PARBD~GX OF TIIE DECLEXSION OF COAIXON NOC'KS.
Koi~u, ' a man.'
Acc.
2a { ICorn-akk
Iiorn
-
Koril-n&e@n
Korn-egk
Eorn-ugar
Eorn-ar
roc.
AbI.
Korn-inda.
1. Eionl-il
2. Korn-anmant
6. Ron-11-an yir
Konl-ula
Kon~-e@g~l
Korn-ukegun
?
Kern-ngegtul
Koin-una
Korn-ar
Iiorn-ugar
Rorn-au
Porly, ' n cltiltl.'
,S'ingzrlnr. Dzca7. Plural.
iVont. 1." Pod-y Porl-egk Porl-ar
Gen. Porl-ald Porl-esik-a1 Porl-an
(B.) ATouns of Relatio~aship.
For nouns of relationship, the case-endings are :-
Acc., Geiz. -y in.+
Dntirel. 'for' -yln-amby.
Dative 2. ' to ' -y in-ag k.
Cnztsntive. ' by ' - yin-inda.
Ablntive6. 'from' -yin-anyir.
+That is, -in or -an preceded by the euphonic y.
For nouns of this kind there are also special terminations to
express the nature of the relationship, whether ' mine,' 'yours,' cr
' his '; thus :-
Nng-gai, ' father,' ' my father.'
Yiko-wally, ' his father.' Gai-uwy, ' your father.'
Nag-ku-o~vy, ' mother,' 'my mother.'
Nagku-mally, ' his mother.' Nagku-uwy, ' your mother.'
Kelan-omy, ' my (elder) brother.'
Kelan-mally, 'his brother.' Kelan-uwy, 'your brother.'
*See foot note, p. 15 of appendix.
THE iilERISTERI DIALECT. 31
Naigai, ' lily father,' is thus cleclinecl :-
t LIT~~~~. ISaggai, 'my father.'
Gen. Naggai-j-in, ' of my father.'
. . Dat. 1. Naggai-yin-amby, 'for illy fatl~er.'
DcL~. 2. Naggai-yin-agk, 'to nly father.'
Ace. Naggai-yin,'lllyfather.'
CCIZIS. Kaggai-yin-inda, 'by my fatller.'
Ab7. 6. Kaggai-yin anyir, ' froill iny father.'
All the other terms of relatioilshil), with their possessive acl-
juncts, may be declined by adcliug these case-endings. But some-
times the Gellitire of relationship puts the -ald of or~li11al.y llou~ls
before its own eilrling ; as, tart-alcl-an, ' of my (younger) brother.'
Derivatives aye formed from ilouns by adding to tllenl such
terminatio~ls as :-
1. -inyeri, 'belongiilg to'; as, knrl-inyeri, 'a hat,' from
Burly, ' l~eacl'; turn-inyeri, 'a boot,' from turny, ' foot ';
kurr-iny er-egk, ' a yak of tronsers,' from kurregk (clcal) ' the
shim.' Such a derivatire morcl, when cleclinecl, is treateel as it
conlmoll noun, ancl the post-position is aclclecl to the acljectil-e
termination; as, kurl-inyer-alcl, 'of a hat,' kurr-inyer-egkal,
' of a pair of trousers. '
2. -urumi o~ -urmi, which is aclclecl to the stem of a rerb to
denote ' the instrument ' with which the action expressed by the
verb is done, or a thing which is usecl for some particular pur-
pose ; as, t y ety-urun1i, ' oil, ointment,' froin ty etyin, 'anointing
'; kun k-urnmi, ' pills,' from kun k un,' smallowii~g '; ;mutturmi,
' a drink,' from mutt un, ' drinking '; kal t-urmi, 'a spade,'
from kalt, ' to clig '; clrek-urmi, ' a toi~~aha~vk,' from clrek, ' to
cut or chip.' Here also the post-position is fixed to the fowlative
for the purposes of cleclension.
3. -amalcly, which is aclded to the sten1 of a verb, to ilenote
the agent or person rho does the action; as, pett-amalcly, 'a
thief,' from pett, 'to steal'; yelpul-amaldy, 'a liar,' from
yelyul, 'to tell a lie.' Here also the post-position is placed at
the encl of the word.
4. -1vatyeri means 'full of'; as, plogae-watyeri, 'possessed
of sorcery' ; tuni- at y eri, ' full of sand. P
5. \The11 yancl y, 'old,' 'useless,' is usecl with a no~ul, it
modifies the form of the noun, ancl attaches the caseencling to
itself; as, yandy or11 ('or korn), 'an old man,' yant-alcl orn
'of an old man '; y andy imin (for miminy), 'an old ~voman,'
yantstld nlin, 'of an old moman.'