Page:Diary of ten years.djvu/449

 Rh attempted of any of its dialects. It is placed at the end of words beginning with N ; its sound is that of Ng in ring, wing. In some few words h will be found interposed between two r 's, as in Marh-ra (the hand), Warh-rang (three). When this is the case, the first r is to be aspirated. This is an attempt to explain in letters a sound which hearing and practice alone can enable any one to understand and acquire. This obscure indistinct sound, as well as the frequent occurrence of the Nasal Ng, and a faint similarity in some of the pronouns with those of the Malabar language, have been remarked as affording a slight clue by which a distant relationship might be traced between the Western Australians, and the natives of the south-east districts of the peninsula of India. It may be necessary to explain, that when any word is said to belong to the North, South, or other dialects, this is to be understood with reference to Perth as a centre. The words contained in this Vocabulary are those in most common use in the vicinity of the Swan River and the adjacent districts; some of which may be found to be localised, but most of them are used under some form or modification by all the aborigines residing within the limits of Moore River to the north, the Avon to the east, the sea to the west, and King George's Sound to the south. The characteristic peculiarity of the King George's Sound dialect is to shorten the words by cutting off the final syllable, especially where it ends in a vowel, as Kat, for Katta—Kal, for Kalla, which gives the language a short, abrupt sound. "An-ya twonga gwabba," in the Perth dialect (I hear well), is "An twonk gwap" at King George's Sound. Whilst, on the other hand, the tribes that have been met with two hundred miles north of Fremantle appear to lengthen out the words by adding a syllable to the end of them, which gives their language a more soft and musical sound; as, "Mallo nginnow," in the Perth dialect (sit in