Page:Two Representative Tribes of Queensland.djvu/217

Rh of a wearing-down process, like what in West Australia has in some instances reduced two words, each originally of two syllables, to a monosyllable.

The pronominal and verbal schemes are more perfectly preserved in Kabi than in Wakka. Kabi, also, more closely resembles the Kamilroi to the south-west than Wakka does.

In Kabi and Wakka there are the same phonic elements and the same order of words in sentences. Both languages are averse to initial vowels, and in both the terminal letters are the liquids, ng or vowels. In both, the sounds of "h" and "s" are foreign.

The distinction between hard and soft mutes is not recognised. The pronunciation of words is not uniform, but varies considerably with different speakers. The difference is conspicuous in certain letters, e.g. "t", which, with different speakers, will sound like d, dh, ty, ch or j. Hence the Kabi word for man might be written dan, dhan, tan, tyan, chan or jan. It is often difficult to determine the exact quality of a vowel, e.g., whether the word for where should be written wanyō or