Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/96

 10 AN AI'STRALTAN^ LAIS^GTTAGE.

words used for the male and for the female ; as, w a r i k a 1, descriptive, as, puntei, the 'narrow' place ; biilwara, the 'high' place; tirabinba, the 'toothed' place; bimkilli-gel, 'the place for fighting,' the field of battle. Names of countries have a declension peculiar to place, and in the genitive have a feminine and a masculine termination; ejj., Englandkal, means 'English- man,' the termination being masculine ; but Englandkalin, means 'Englishwoman,' the termination being feminine; so also, untikal, 'of this place,' masculine; untikalin, 'of this place,' feminine. A noun is an adjective, a verb, or an adverb, according to the particle used with it, or the position of the word in the sentence ; as, p ital, 'joy'; ])it aim alii, 'to cause joy '; p i t a 1 1 i k a n, 'a joyful being'; p i t a 1 k a t a n, 'to exist joyfully'; murrarag, 'good'; murraragtai, 'the good,' s<?., person; m u r r a r a g u m ti, 'good done,' ' well done,' 'properly done.'
 * a he-dog'; t i n k o, 'a she-dog.' Names of places are generally

Of tue Declension of Nouns, etc.

There are seven declensions of nouns, according to which all adjectives and participles, as well as nouns, are declined.

Nouns are declined according to their use and termination. When used for the name of an individual person, they are de- clined in the first declension, whatever may be the termination of the word ; but when used as the names of places, they follow the declension of place-names. Common nouns are declined in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth declensions, according to their respective terminations.

Of the two nominative cases, the one is simply declarative, and in it the subject is inactive; as, 'this is a bird,' unni ta t i b b i n ; the second nominative is used when the subject is represented as doing something; as, tibbinto tatan, 'the bird eats' ; in which case the particles ending in o are affixed, to denote the agent, according to the terminations of the respective nouns* ; hence the following general rules for the use of the particles of agency : — -

1. Nouns or participles ending in * or n affix -to ; as, K i k i, 'a native cat,' kikoi-to, ' the cat ' f ; Gurrulli, the active participle, or the infinitive, ' to hear,

believe, obey,' gurrulli-to, 'faith, belief ' .'

2. Nouns ending in ng, a, e, o, k, require -Jco; as, Maiya, ' a snake,' maiya-ko. ' the snake '; K u r i, 'a man,' k li r i - k o , ' the man ' ; AVoiyo, 'grass,' wo iy o - ko, 'the grass .'

But when r precedes o, the noun belongs to the fifth declension.


 * See ' A(je7d-7ioini)iatu'e case,' page 11.

t Supply here, and wherever the space occurs, some transitive predicate, as ' did, does, or will do, something.'

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