Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/43

 INTKODrCTIOIf. XXXIU

Australian stem is mi, although there are, in varioiis parts of the continent, words with the ma stem. The Australian words for ' eye,' then, are mi, mia, mikal, miki, rair, mil, mial, mina, minuk, miko, mirang; maal, mail ; meur, mobara. These words extend from Port Darwin right across to Bass's Straits. Several Avords formed from the same root mean the ' face,' and compound words are: — wirtin-mirnu, 'eyelid,' turna-mirnu, 'lower eyelid,' wicin-mir, 'eye-lash,' genin-mir, 'eye-brow,' kraji-mring, 'white of the eye,' daami-mir, 'the temples,' katen-mirnu, ' a tear.'

Now, it is evident that all these words for ' eye ' come from the root ma, mi, me, mo, and that those formed from mi are the most common. This ma is quite sporadic ; for, in Samoan, which I take to be original and typical Polynesian, ma means ' clean,' 'pure,' 'bright-red,' main a is 'to shine,' said of fire ; ma-lama means either ' the moon' or ' a light'; va-ai is ' to see,' and so on ; the Ebudan ma is ' to see'; in New Britain me-me is 'scarlet,' ' bright-red,' and with the meaning of ' red ' the Ebudan has me-me-a, miel, mial a; in Samoan, mu-mvi is 'to burn bi'ightly,' aud mii-mu is 'red,' and the Aneityumese ama-mud is 'to burn ' transitively; the Maori has ma-hana, 'warm'; Papuan for 'eye' is mata, mara, maka, mana; the Malay has mata, 'eye,' and this is the sporadic word used everywhere for ' eye.'

From all these words, it appears that ' see,' ' clear, ' shine,' 'eye,' 'burn,' 'tire,' 'red,' are allied terms, and that the root-idea from which they all proceed is that of ' shining brightly.' Now, so far as the eye is concerned, that is an appropriate designation for it ; and this appropriateness is elsewhere confirmed by language ; for the Sanskrit akshi, 'eye,' Latin oculus, and the Latin acer, ' sharp,' are founded on the root ak, meaning ' keenly bright' or 'sharp,' and the English word 'sheen' is, in Lowland Scotch, ap- plied to the ' bright' part of the eye. Now, I find that meaning in the Sanskrit bha,, 'to shine,' which is just our root ma. Sanskrit derivatives from this bha are bha, 'a star' (with which compare the Australian mirri, 'the stars'), bhaga, 'the sun,' and bha, 'light,' bhanu, bhfima, 'light,' 'the sun,' ' passion.' The Greek phai-no is from the same root.

The Dra,vidian language, like the Australian, seems to prefer the form mi ; it has min, 'to glitter,' and hence mina is ' a fish,' so called from its phosphorescent scales.

A Samoan word 'to glisten,' 'to shine,' is ila-i la, applied to the^ eyes, and in the Papuan of Tagula (south-east cost of New Guinea) ira is 'bright'; at Port Essington (north coast of Australia) ira is the 'eye,' and in some parts of New South Wales ire, yir-oka is the 'sun.' In the Wiradhari dialect, iradu is 'day,' and the Ebudan of Erromanga has ire, ' to-day.' Further, a common word for 'eye' in Queensland is dilli ; and [c]

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