Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/109

 3. Acfire-fransi'fn'f-reciprocal, or those verbs that denote an action that passes from the agent to some external object, which object returns the action to the agent who then becomes the object, and thus they act reciprocally one towards the other. Consequently the dual and plural numljers are always the subject to this form of the verb; as, bunk ill an bali, 'thou and I strike' each other reciprocally; biiukillan bar a, 'they strike' each one the other reciprocally, or they fight with blows. This constitutes the ' reciprocal ' modification of the verb.

4. Continuative ; as Avhen the state continues, or the action is, was, or will be, continued without interruption ; as, b u n k i 1 - lilin bag, 'I am now continuing in the action of making blows', such as thrashing or beating. This is called the ' con- tinuative ' modification of the verb.

5. Causative (1) by permission, or, with a negative, proliihitive ; as, when we do or do not permit a person to do the act, or another to do the act to him; as, biimmunbilla bon, 'let him strike,' b u m in a r ab unb il 1 a bon, 'cause some one to strike him,' equivalent to, ' let him be struck' ; b u m m a r a b u n- b i y i k r a bon, ' let no one strike him.'

6. Causative (2) by personal agency, denoting the exertion of personal energy to produce the effect upon the object ; as tiir ta unni, 'this is broken'; tiir bng-ga unni also means ' this is broken,' but then personal agency is understood, for the phrase is equivalent to ' some person has broken this,' or ' this is broken by some one.'

7. Causative (3) by instrumental agency, denoting an effect produced by means of some instrument; as, tiir burrea unni, 'this is broken,' sc, by means of something.

8. 'Effective, or those which denote an immediate effect pro- duced by the agent on the object; as, urn a bag unni, 'I made tins'; pital bag, 'I am glad'; pitalma bon bag, ' I made him glad.'

D. Neuter verbs, or those w^hich describe the quality, state, or existence of a thing; as, kekal lag unni, 'this is sweet'; tetti lag unni, ' this is dead '; w^onnug ke noa? ' where is he?' unni ta, 'this is it'; moron noa katan, 'he is alive'; unuug noa ye, 'there he is.' In these the particles, lag, k e, t a, k a t a n, ye, are rendered into English by the neuter verb is.

10. Reduplicate, or those which denote an increase of the state, quality, or energy ; a^, p i t a 1 noa, 'he is glad ' ; p i t a 1-p i t a I noa, ' he is very glad '; tetti bara, ' they are dead ' ; tetti- tettei bara,' they are dead-dead,' or ' a great death is among them'; kauwal, 'great'; k au w a 1-k au w a 1, ' very great '; t a u w a, ' eat ' ; t a u w a-t a u w a, ' eat heartily.'

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