the minyung dialect.
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II. THE VOCABULARY.
Words, Phrases, and Sentences used by the Minyung Tribe.
1. Words and Phrases.
(The verbs are given in their shortest form, the imperative.)
Berrin—the south, the south people; e.g., berrinba—to the south; cf. kokin—the north, the north people; e.g., kokingȧl—from the north. The aborigines on the Richmond River call the Clarence River ‘Berrin,’ and the Tweed ‘Kokin’; but, to those on the Tweed River, the Richmond is ‘Berrin,’ and the Logan is ‘Kokin.’
Binnuġ—an ear; e.g., binnuġma—make to hear; tell; answer.
Birra—to cast through.
Birrė—fly away; e.g., birryalen ġarriġ—crossed over.
Buġge—fall; it is sometimes equivalent to ‘gone away,’ or ‘disappeared’; as, inji buġgeloro mibin kurrȧlbo wairabo? ‘where have all the blacks been this long time’? If the imperative ends in a (as buġga), the word means ‘kick,’ ‘stamp,’ ‘leave a mark,’ as a foot-print. In the Pirripai dialect, spoken by the natives on the Hastings River, buġgen means ‘killed,’ for they say bunno butan buġgen, ‘he killed a black snake.’
In Minyuġ, nyuġga bukkoyen means ‘the sun has risen,’ nyuġga buġgen, ‘the sun has set’; but with this compare the Brisbane dialect, which says piki boġ, ‘the sun is dead.’
Buġgo—(1) a native shield; (2) the tree from which it is made.
Bujȧbuyai—a swallow. Bujȧrebin—a daisy. Bujȧgun—a quiet girl. Bujȧro—quiet; e.g., yiran bujȧro, ‘whip-snakes (are) harmless.’
Bujȧrȧ, Bujȧrábo—morning.
Bujȧre, Bujȧro-bujȧro—this morning, just before daybreak.
Buji, bujin—a little piece; bujigan—into little pieces.
Buma or bumga—strike, beat, fight, kill by fighting.
This is probably a derivative from buġge, just as wáġ, the noun for ‘work,’ becomes wamma, the verb ‘to work.’
This is probably a derivative from buġge, just as wáġ, the noun for ‘work,’ becomes wamma, the verb ‘to work.’
Burre—the top of a tree; with this compare ćulle, ‘the barrel’ or ‘trunk’ of a tree; waian, ‘the root’; ćerruġ, ‘the branches’; kunyal, ‘the leaves.’ Ćulle is also a general name for a ‘tree.’ It often means ‘logs’ lying down, and ‘firewood’; e.g., kulga ćulle wébȧragai, ‘cut wood for the fire.’ Ćerruġ, besides, is ‘the open palm of the hand,’ ‘a bird's claw,’ or ‘the paw of an animal,’ and it is the name of a constellation. Kunyal, ‘leaf,’ may be allied to with kuġgȧl, ‘an arm,’ or ‘wing.’ Waiau also means ‘a road.’ When a tree is cut down, the stump is called gunun.
