Transcription

[Page 16]

4

Kamilaroi Grammar.

n as in no

n [symbol?] as ng in sing

p as in pin

r as in rate

t as in to

v as in vain

w as in way

y as in ye

 

R is pronounced wih more force than in English. So sharp and forcible is the native pronounciation of in the names Yarr and Wolgerr, that those who reduced these names to writing spelt them "Yass" and "Walgett," and so they will probably be written in our maps and books to the end of the world. There is no sound of s. The nasal n, written n, or [looks like IJ], occurs often at the beginning of a syllable.

The letters dh are used to represent the sound of th in than. Instead of j, the sound of dy- or ty- (being always a consonant) is often used; that is, in words where some aborigines distinctly utter the j sound, other soften if to ty, or even t or d. They also frequently give an aspiration after the initial consonant: thus "baia" is sometimes sounde "b-h-aia." There are many words in which the sound of h and that of y are sometimes inserted.

In Kamilaroi, every syllable ends in a vowel or a liquid. They avoid the sound of two consonants together, even though one is a liquid. Thus, Doctor Milner is called by the blacks "Docketer Milener." In many words the vowel interposed between two consonants is very short. Some who have reduced this language to writing call it Kamilroi, some Gummilroy; but the aborigines insert a short sound between the l and the r. It is about equal to the sheva of half-vowel, as pronounced by Hebew scholars; and, following the method of expressing the composite 

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