(B.)
[ABSTRACT.]
GRAMMAR
OF THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY
THE NAERINYEEI TRIBE IN S. AUSTRALIA.
(By the late Rev G. Taplin, Anorigines' Missonary, Point Macleay, South Australia.)
[This Grammar of the Narrinyeri dialect is to be found in a hook entitled "The Folklore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the South Australian Aborigines; Adelaide, 1879." I have re-arranged and condensed the material of the Grammar, and adapted the whole to the system followed in this present volume.—Ed.]
The Narrinyeri aborigines occupy a portion of the coast of South Australia, near Adelaide. Their territory includes the shores of Encounter Bay, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, and the country to the east of the Murray, for about 20 miles from its mouth. The first attempt to master and commit to writing the grammar of this language was made in 1843 by the Rev. H. E. Meyer, a Lutheran Missionary. His sketch of the grammar is not free from blunders. Nor can the present effort expect to be faultless, but it is approximately correct, being founded on a practical acquaintance with the language.
1. Letters.
The Narrinyeri have not the sounds of f, v, s,z, but they have the sonant sound of th, (here written dh), as in the English words 'this,' 'thine,' 'breathe,' and the surd th, as in 'thin,' 'breath.'
2. General Principles.
There is no article, but the numeral 'one ' is used as a sort of indefinite article. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are declined by the use of affixes, and have forms for the singular, dual, and plural numbers.
Number is indicated by a change of termination; for example: —
| 'Man.' | 'Man.' | 'Eye.' | 'Lip.' | 'Ear.' | |
| Sing. | May-u. | Korni. | Min-a. | Muna. | Yur-e. |
| Dual | May-ula. | Korn-egk. | Min-ula. | Mun-agge. | Yur-illa, |
| Plu. | May-una. | Korn-ar. | Min-una. |
| 'Eye: | 'Eyebrow' | 'Trouser' | |||||
| Sing. | Pil-i | Pi-chag͏̇ge | Yerkoán-a. | Dual | Pil-agge. | Pi-ko | Yerkoan-ula. |
