Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/111

 3. Tlie Imperative, which expresses command ; as, b \\. w a hi, ' do thou strike' ; but in b ii m m n n b i 1 1 a, ' let strike,' the per- son or persons addressed are desired to permit the person nan:ied to strike; in b I'lmm a r ab u nb ill a, 'let strike,' the person addressed is desired ti:^ permit any one to strike the person named ; in b u n t e a- k a, ' strike again,' the person or persons addressed are desired to repeat the action. The imperative form is often used with the first and the third personal pronouns ; in this sense it denotes the desire of the agent to do the act at the time spoken of ; as, b u w a b a n u g, 'I want to strike thee' ; b u w a b i 1 o a, ' he wants to strike thee.'

Note. — The equivalent, in many instances, to the English infinitive mood is the construct form of the verb which denotes the purpose of the subject; as, Minarig kounni? What is this for ? b u n k i 1 1 i k o, is the answer, ' for-to strike.'

Of the Te^^'ses.

1. The Present, which asserts the j)Tesent existence of the action or being of the verb, at the time in which the assertion is made. The signs of this tense are the following affixed particles, of which the first consonant is varied by the terminations of the respective conjugations of the verbs, viz., -an to the simple verb, -Ian to the reciprocal verb, and -lin to the participle; as, b u n t an, 'strikes' now; b ii n k i 1 1 a n, now 'reciprocally strike one another'; bunkillin, now 'striking'; biinkillilin, now 'continuing in the act of striking.'

2. The Perfect-definite, which asserts the act as having been completed in a past period of the present day ; as, biinkeun, ' has struck,' sc, this morning ; b li n k i 1 1 e u n b a g, 'I have struck myself,' sc, this day.

3. The Perfect-past-aorist, which asserts the act as completed, without reference to any particular period in past time ; as, b II n k u 1 1 a, ' struck.' This is not the participle.

4. The Pluperfect, which asserts the act as completed prior to some other past circumstance. It is formed by the affirmative particle, t a, affixed to the past aorist. and is equivalent only to the English pluperfect ; as, b ii n k u 1 1 a t a, ' had struck.'

5. The Pature- definite, which asserts the act as taking place at a certain definite period, future to the time at which the act is spoken of; as, biinkin, 'shall or will strike,' sc, to-morrow morning.

6. The Future-aorist, which asserts the mere future existence of the act, without reference to any other circumstance, in some indefinite time to come; as, biinnun bag, 'I shall strike'; b II u n u n n o a, 'he will strike.'

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