Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/110

 24 AX AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE.

11. Pi'lvaiive, or those which denote the absence of some pro- perty. Affirmatively, u m a n bag u n n i, 'I make this,' or ' I do this ' ; u p a u bag u n n i, ' I do this,' not directly, but with something or by means of something else ; e.g., ' I write on this paper with a quill' would be up an ba.g unni yirigko wiyelliko, lit., ' I make this quill for-to speak or commuiii- cate ' ; whereas uman bag unni yirig pen kakilliko would mean ' I make this quill for-to* be a pen.' Negatively, when it is implied that the act itself has not taken place, the expres- sion would be u m a pa bag b a, ' had I made ' ; again, if the act existed, but no effect produced by the action were implied, it would be expressed thus, u m a i - g a b a g u n n i, 'I had almost done this.'

12. Imminent, or those which denote a readiness to be or to do; as piriwal katea kun koa bag, ' lest I should be king'; buutea kun koa bon bag, 'lest I should strike him.'

13. Inceptive, or those which describe the state as actually about to exist, or the action as going to put forth its energy at the time spoken of;as, kakilli kolag ball, 'we two are now going to live reciprocally together'; biinkilli kolag bag, 'I am now going to strike.'

14. Iterative, or those which denote a repetition of the state or action; as, mc5ron katea kanun, 'shall live again'; b u n t e a k a n li n, ' will strike again.'

15. Spontaneous, or those which denote an act done of the agent's own accord ; as, tiir kullin unni, 'this is breaking of its own accord ' — not by external violence {cf. No. G) ; p 6 r k u 1 1 e ii n u o a, ' he has just been born,' lit., ' he has dropped himself.'

Or THE Moods. There are three moods, the Indicative, the Subjunctive, and the Imperative.

1, The Indicative, which simply declares a thing ; as, b ii n t a n bag, 'I strike'; unni ta, 'thisisit', the subject; gali noa 'this is he/ the agent.

2. The Suljunctive, which subjoins something to the meaning of the verb, such as a wish, a desire, a purpose ; as, b u w i 1 b a g, ' I wish to strike,' b u u w a b a g, '1 desire to strike,' or ' I want now to strike ' ; t a u a n ba u w a b u n k i 1 1 i k o, ' had I come hither for-to strike.'

our author expresses that everywhere by for-to. I have allowed that pre- positional form to stand. — Ed.
 * This form of the verb, as will afterwards be shown, denotes purpose ;

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