Item 03: 'The Aborigines of Australia. A Lecture by Wm. Ridley M.A.', 14 September 1864. - Page 35

*one feature characteristic of many, if not all Australian islands

is the mode of deriving and compounding words.   Nouns, adjectives

and pronouns are by a slight modification turned to verbs.

Thus mil the eye, redoubled, signifies to see. (milmil)

from andi? The interrogative who? comes anduma = say who.

{muga} is blind - applied to the mind - stupid.

mugabinna - blind eared signifies deaf.

The names of animals are frequently derived from the  

sounds they utter.   Thus the owl is called {bukuta?},

the swallow millimumul, the bronze winged pigeon

{tamur}, the topknot pigeon gullawullil, and  

the laughing jackass kukuraka.