Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/180

175. Urgin berha yetty wirwy, I will go the day after to-morrow.

The adverb stage is still a long distance off.

In illustration of the extreme meagreness of these tongues, we give the few following examples:—

Kayanie, water. Tolkine kayanie, thirsty, Mirnen kayanie, tears. Cooroomboo kayanie, milk. Birra, dead. Birra wotchowoo, hungry. Bocoin wootchowoo, stuffed with food.

Their dialects do not possess any synonym for size, the adjective Corongondoo standing for large in the matter of bulk, and for a great many in numbers; whilst Panmaroo takes the place of small in size, or few in number.

The only conjunction they possess is Nga (and), and according to the position thereof, so is its prolongation, or the contrary, the prolongations being formed by dwelling on the final a. As for prepositions or articles, their tongues are altogether devoid of these necessary parts of speech.

Their numerals merely consist of two, viz.:—Polite, two; and kyup, one. kyup murnangin signifies five, or one hand; and polite murnangin means ten, or two hands.

For a number such as thirty, or even a hundred, they say co co, and for any larger number than that, such as a flock of sheep, or an immense flight of ducks, they ejaculate corongandoo.

Thus it can easily be seen that the dialects of these people are about as meagre in quality and quantity as they well can be; if they were but ever so little more so, it would be most difficult, if not altogether impossible, for the