Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/377

 1. THE GRAMMAE.

��1. The Declension of Nouns.

Thei'e is, properly speaking, only one primary declension, Ijut the principle of assimilation, to which the language has a strong tendency, sometimes produces slight variations of the termin- ations of the nouns before the case-endings ; similarly, when the last letter but one of the stem is i.

In order to cover all these variations, the number of the de- clensions will amount to eight. It must, however, be observed that here the formation of cases differs anaterially from the modes used in other languages, at least from that of the Latin and Greek. The simple or nominative form undergoes no alteration, but, to form the cases, it takes additions by means of posthxes. The only apparent exception to this rule is that where the letter i is cast out. The number of cases cannot easily be fixed, since almost every relation in which a noun may be placed is signified by some postfix or other ; those given in the examples below in- clude the most common and essential relations.

A strange peculiarity of this language is the existence of two nominative-forms — the one the simjole oiominative or nominative- declarative, corresponding to the question ' who or what is it "? and the other the nominative active, when the thing or person spoken of is considered as an agent ; this answers to the question, ' who or what does it '"? The genitive and the dative are alike ; the accusative is the same as the simple nominative ; the vocative is known by the exclamatory word ' ya ' put before the simple nominative, or by its termination, which is like that of the genitive.

The case-endings and their meanings may be shown thus : — •

�� �Case.

�Terminations.

�Meaning.

�1.

�Nominative

� �the simple form.

�2.

�Nom. agent.

�-du, -dyu, -gu, lu, -ru

�the agent form.

�3.

�Genitive

�-gu

�'of; ' belonging to.'

�4.

�Dative

�-gu

�'to,' 'for,' 'tovmrds.'

�6.

�Accusative

�the same as nom. 1.

�the direct object.

�6.

�Vocative

�prefixes ya to nom, 1.

� �7.

�Locomotive

�-dyi, -li, -ri

�place from which.

�8.

�Conjunctive

�-durai or -durei

�' together with.'

�9.

�Locative

�-da, -dya, -ya, -la, -ra

�'in,' 'on,' 'at.'

�.0.

�Instrumental

�-durada

�' by means of.'

��The numbering of the cases corresponds with that shov/n on the Paradigm.

The same word is both singular and plural without change ;

only when the idea of plurality is to be conveyed, the noun adds

the word galag and is then declined like w alia g of the paradigm.

�� �