R. H. Mathews

“ In all the languages treated in this article, in every part of speech subject to inflexion, there are double forms of the first person, of the dual and plural, similar in character to what have been reported from many islands in Polynesia and Melanesia, and the tribes of North America. Separate forms for “we two,” and “he and I,” were observed by Rev. James Günther among the pronouns of the Wiradyuri natives at Wellington, [5] but as he does not mention anything of the kind in the plural, we may conclude that he did not observe it. ”

“ Gender.—Wuthu, a man; lêurk, a woman; bangga, a boy; kurregûrk, a girl; buban, a child of either sex; wuthuginbal, means a man and his wife. The gender of mammals and birds is marked by adding mamuk for male, and babuk for female; thus, gurê mamuk, a buck kangaroo; gurê babuk, a doe kangaroo.
Case.—The language has the nominative, nominative-agent, genitive, accusative, instrumental, dative and ablative cases. In the nominative, there is no change in the noun, except when it is the subject of a transitive verb, and then it requires the agent-suffix ”

“ The verb has the usual moods and tenses, and is inflected throughout for number and person. In the first person of the dual and plural there is a variation in the affix to the verb to indicate the inclusion or exclusion of the person spoken to. ”

“ Murrung nginyadhu has the meaning of “I am well,” and may be called a substitute for our verb “to be.” By incorporating yalu with this expression, it makes it more emphatic, as, Yalu murrung nginyadhu, “Really I am well.” Any adjective describing a human attribute may be taken as a predicate, as, good, bad, strong, sleepy, and employed with the modifications of the word nginya. ”

“ Although marriages generally follow the above rules, yet in certain cases Murri can marry Butha, and Kubbi may take Ippatha as his spouse— a similar liberty being allowed the men of phratry B. Again, where there is no objection arising from nearness of kin, a Murri man may marry a Matha woman, but her totem must be different from his, and she must belong to a distant family. This applies to the men of every section. ”

“ The Wiradyuri Language.
Articles.
There are no articles, properly so-called, in the language. The demonstratives “this” and “that” do duty for our “a” and “the.” If it be desired to definitely say that only one is meant, the numeral, ngunbai, is employed.
In all the sentences illustrating the cases of nouns and other parts of speech in this paper, the demonstratives are omitted. A native would say, “Man [that over yonder] beat child [this in front] ,” the proper demonstratives being inserted where illustrated by the brackets. ”

“ Initiation Ceremonies and Marriage Laws.
The initiation ceremonies of the Burreba-burreba are the same in all essential respects as those of the Wiradyuri tribes, which I have described in detail elsewhere. [10] The social organisation is also similar to the Wiradyuri, comprising two phratries, each of which is subdivided into two sections, as exemplified in the following synopsis:—
Phratry. A man. Marries Sons and Daughters.
A Murri Ippatha Umbi and Butha. ”

“ An infix, muga, between the stem of the verb and the termination, gives a negative meaning, as, Ngubumugamangalu, we, dual exclusive, did not beat.
There is no passive form of the verb, all sentences being in the active voice, thus, instead of saying, “A boomerang was thrown by the man,” the phrase would be, “The man threw a boomerang.” ”

“ Demonstratives.—The following are a few examples:—This, nginna. These (dual) , nginnabula. This other one, nginnagwal. From this, nginnalidhi. Belonging to this, nginnagula. With this, nginnadhurai. That, ngunnila. That other one, ngunniloagwal. That yonder, ngunnainbirra. A native will frequently state the location of an article by its compass direction from a particular tree or other well-known spot.
These demonstratives are very numerous—many of them being used as pronouns of the third person, and are declined for number, person, and case. ”

“ Vocabulary of Wiradyuri Words.
This vocabulary contains about 430 words collected personally among the Wiradyuri natives on the Lachlan, Macquarie, and Murrumbidgee rivers. Instead of arranging the words alphabetically they are placed together under separate headings:—Family terms—Parts of the body— Natural objects—Animals—Trees—Weapons—Adjectives—Verbs. As the equivalents of English terms will most frequently be required they are put first. [16]
FAMILY TERMS. A man gibir or mên. ”

“ Frequently the verb includes the meaning of a preposition, as in the following examples:
Ngadhu ngadyên dyirramuddyi gullegiri, I that hill go-up-will. Ngadhu dyila dyirramuddyi birrawagiri, I that hill go-down-will. Ngadhu ngidyi gigulle waiangugiri, I that tree go-round-will. Ngeani birgudyi wurungiri, We (pl. incl.) the scrub through-will-go. Ngulliguna billadyi errugiri, We (dual excl.,) the creek will-cross. Ngadhu dyirramudyi ngagungurgu gulleamurrigiri, I will climb over the hill. ”

“ Nouns.
Number.—There are three numbers, singular, dual and plural. Wamboin, a kangaroo. Wamboinbula a couple of kangaroos. Wamboingirbang, several kangaroos.
Gender.—In human family different words are used, as mên or gibir, a man; bullâdyeru or inar, a woman; birrengang, a boy; ingargang, a young girl; yiramurung, a youth; megai, a maiden; burai, a child.
Among animals, word are used signifying “male” and “female” respectively. Wille bidyur, a buck opossum; wille gunal, a doe opossum. ”

“ The following vocabulary contains 290 of the most commonly used words in the Ngunawal language, with their English equivalents. Every word has been noted down carefully by myself from the lips of old men and women in the native camps. ”

“ Each phratry has attached to it a group of totems, consisting of animals and inanimate objects. Every man, woman, and child in the community has his particular totem, which is inherited from birth. For further information on this subject the reader is referred to numerous papers contributed by me to different scientific societies.
The Ngunawal Language. ”