n - University of Newcastle

Gu clj ir, ' and'; nlinnig, ' if '; ka, ' or.' There is no ~oorcl for
' mhea,' but minnig and ka are usecl in its stead ; for instance,
' whe~i I see you to-morrow' vill be expressecl by 'if I see yo11
to-morrow'; ancl ' when dicl you come to Perth '2 -.ill be ' clicl you
come to Perth to-day or yesterday '2 9. INTEEJECTIOSS.
Nah-ah ! so ! (to illclicate that a person is listening to what is
relateel), ancl n'y dn-' alas '!
OF THE ABOEIGIYAL DIALECT CALLED
THE 'IITIRRADHURI.
[The TTirradhnri dialect, or, as I call it, the TTi~iclhari, covers the \%-hole
heart of N. S. TTales ; its limits are shov-n on tlie map of the native tribes.
I consider myself fortunate in having secured the publication of the
Grammar ancl Vocabulary of so important a tnbe. The following manuscript
1-i-as ~vritten about fifty years ago by the late Archdeacon Gunther,
and is specially reliable becanse of its author's character ancl experience,
and because, at that time, the tribe had not ~ ebegun t to decay, and its
language was entire. He mas eclncated for the Ministry at Basle, in
Switzerland, attending lectures there at tlie University and tile hlissionary
College; snbsequently he prosecuted his studies at the C. 31. Society's
College, Islington, London.
In 1837, he commenced his illissionary work anlono the aborigines of the
TT7irkdhsri tribe at " TVellington Valley," now TYellLgton, in New Soutli
Wales. Here lie compiled th~s Grammar and Vocabulary ; he also trans-
! latecl the Gospel by 81 Luke and portions of the Prayer Book for the use
3 of the tribes on the hiacquarie River and the neighbouring country. His
efforts and those of the mission party, in ameliorating the conclition of the
natives and teaching them, met with considerable success. After the
mission was ahancloned by the authorities, lie was induced by Bishop
Broughton to accept the parish of $luclgee, where he laboured for Illany
years, and clied in December. 1879.
These MSS. are the property of the late Mr. Ghnther's son, the present
Archcleacon of Camden, New Sonth Wales, who has kindly lent them to
ine for this purpose. In ecliting them, I have retained the author's mode
of spelling the native words, and have made only some slight alterations in
the forin of the matter of the Grammar and the Vocabulary, with the view
of securing greater symmetry throughout.-ED.]
THE W1BADI)YAEI DIALECT.
1. THE G-EA313IAE.
--
1. THE DECLESSION OF NOUSS.
There is, properly speaking, only oue primary declension, but the
principle of assimilation, to which the language llas a strong
tenclency, sometimes produces slight rariat,iolls of the termi~lations
of the nouns before the case-endings ; similarly, ~-;11en the
last letter but one of tlre sten1 is i.
In order to cover dl these variations, the nul~lber of the cleclensions
will arno~~nt to eight. It must, however, be observed
that here tlie formation of cases diffsrs lnaterially from the modes
usecl in other languages, at. least fronl that of the Latin ancl
r e . The. simple or nomimatire form unclergoes no alterat,ion,
but, to form the cases, it takes aclclitiolls by means of postfixes.
The only appareilt exception to this rule is that ~vliere the letter
i is cast out. The number of cases cannot easily be fixed, since
almost erery relation in wliicli a noun may be placed is signified
by some postfix or other ; those $:-en in the examples below include
the most colnmoll and essential relations.
A strange peculiarity of this language is the existence of two
nominative-forms-the one the sin~ple szontinnt.ive or nominatiredeclarative,
corresponrling to the questioll ' 7~110 ov what is it '2
and t,he other the szonzinntive active, when tl~e thing or person
spoken of is considerecl as an agent; this ansx\-ers to the question,
' 1%-ho or n~hat cloes it '? The genitice ancl the dc6tiz.e are alike ;
the acczcsntive is the same as the simple ilominative ; tlle vocative
is l;no\~n by the exclamatory worcl '7%' put before the simple
nominative, or by its termination, which is like that of the genitive.
The cnse-endings anel their meanings nlay be sllomn thus :-
Case. Tern~inations. AIeaning.
1. il'oi:~incttiae the simple form.
2. A'ont. C L ~ E ~ Z ~ . -c1~1, -clyu? -p, lu, the agent form.
3. Genitive -gn . ' of '; ' belonging to.'
4. Batice -RU ' to,' for,' 'to\~lrds.'
5. Accusntivc the same as stom. 1. the direct object.
6. Focc~tiue prefixes ya to nou~. 1.
7. Loconaotive -clyi, -li, -ri place from vhich.
S. Conjzcncti~ve -clurai or -durei ' tofiet,her mi~;li.'
9. Locntize -cia, -clya, -ya, -la, -ra 'in,' ' on,' 'at.'
10. Instrun~ental -durada 'by means of.'
The numbering of the cases corresponds nith that sllo-\m on the Paradigm.
The same word is both singular aucl plural without cha~lge ;
only when the iclea of plurality is to be conveyecl, tlle nom1 adds
the word ga 1 a g and is then cleclinecl like IT- a 11 a g of the paradigm.