in the last mentioned article,[13] also applies to the Ngunawal.

The Ngunawal is one of an aggregate of tribes whose sacred songs I have learnt and published, with the accompanying music, in an article I communicated to the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland in 1901.[14] These are the first sacred songs of the Australian Aborigines which have ever been set to music.

Nouns.

Number.—Nouns have three numbers. Mirri, a dog; mirribula, a couple of dogs; mirridyimma, several dogs.

Gender.—Baual, a man; bullan, a woman. Words for “male” and “female” distinguish the gender of animals, as, gurabun muddun, a bear, male; gurabun dhuruk, a bear, female.

Case.—The principal cases are the nominative, causative, instrumental, genitive, accusative, dative and ablative.

The nominative is the name of the sbuject at rest, and is without flexion.

The causative, or nominative-agent, represents the subject in action, as, bullanga gudha ngubumuiñ, a woman a child beat.

Instrumental.—Baualga burraingu nguburiñ dyuiñga, a man a wallaby killed with a spear. Here the instrument, a spear, takes the same suffix as the causative. The wallaby, burrai, takes the genitive affix, as being the possessor or recipient of the killing.

Accusative.—Except in such instances as the wallaby in the last example, the accusative is the same as the nominative.

The genitive case is represented by an affix to the name of the property as well as to that of the owner, a peculiarity which I was the first to report[15] in Australian languages. Baualngu mirriwung, a man’s dog.

Every object over which ownership may be exercised can be declined for
number and person, as under:—
 Singular 1st Person My dog (dog my) Mirridya.
          2nd „ Thy dog Mirridyi.
          3rd „ His dog MIrriwung.
and so on through all the persons of the dual and plural.

If a couple or more articles be claimed, an infix is inserted between the noun root and the possessive affix, thus: Mirribuladya, dogs both mine; mirridyimmadya, dogs several mine.

Dative.—Ngurani munnagai, to the camp come.

Ablative.—Ngurawurradyi yerribiwurri, from the camp go away.

Adjectives.

Adjectives follow the qualified nouns, and are inflected in the same manner for number and case. Buru mununmang, a kangaroo large; burubula mununbula, a couple of large kangaroos; burudyimma munundyimma, several large kangaroos.

Casuative.—Baualga mununga mirri ngubuningga, a man large a dog will beat. The other cases are also declined like the nouns. Frequently one of the affixes, both in number and case, is omitted sometimes the affix of the noun, and in other instances that of the adjective, being thus eliminated, according to the euphony of the expression.

A predicative adjective becomes an intransitive verb, and is conjugated accordingly. An example in the singular will be sufficient:

Singular 1st Person I am large Mununmangga. 2nd „ Thou art large Mununmandyi. 3rd „ He is large Mununmañ.

Comparison of adjecitves is effected by such expressions as, Gudba ngunu, yeddhung nin, bad this, good that. Yeddhung madi ngunu, this is very good.

Pronouns.

These are declined for number, person and case, but are without gender. They contain the inclusive and exclusive forms in the first person of the dual and plural:

Singular 1st Person I Gulangga. 2nd „ Thou Gulandyi. 3rd „ He Dhanu.

Examples in the dual and plural are omitted, as their terminations will appear in the conjugation of the verbs. The foregoing full forms of the pronouns are used chiefly in answer to a question. In ordinary conversation the pronominal suffixes to verbs, nouns and other parts of speech, supply their place.

Towards, or with, me, gulangguria. Away from me, gulangguridyia. Belonging to me, gulangguia. Myself, mittimbaldya, and so on. All these can be inflected for number and person.

Demonstratives.—These may be classed under different heads, of which the following are a few examples:

Position.—Ngunu, this, close. Ngunubun, this also. Niñ, that. Niñwulu, that only. Wurranaguddha, that, a little way off. Warranandiwang, that, farther still. Mudhamaguwarri, a long way off.

Direction.—Ngunāga, that (in rear of speaker). Barunggo, that (in front of speaker). Ngunainbil, that this side (of something). Nguna-au, that on other side (of something). Gagurwarru, that in the hollow. Warrugunnawang, that on the rising ground, or hill.

Size.—Warranalang, that large one. Warranuggada, that small one.

Possessive.—Ningulangu, belonging to that. Warranalangu, belonging to that large one. Nidyulangu, belonging to those two persons.

Number.—Warranungulu, those two. Warradyimmilañ, those several animals or things.

Person.—Ngunadya, this mine. Ngunadyi, this thine. Ngunawung, this his.

“This” and “that” in all the foregoing examples can also mean “here” and “there” according to the context.

Interrogatives.—Who, ngunnaga? Whose, ngunnagangu? Who from, ngunnaganguridyi? What, minya? What (did something), minyaga?

Verbs.

The verb has the usual moods and tenses, and is inflected throughout for number and person. In the first person of the dual and plural there is a variation in the affix to the verb to indicate the inclusion or exclusion of the person spoken to.

Indicative Mood—Present Tense.

 Singular 1st Person I beat Ngubumangga.
          2nd „ Thou beatest Ngubumandyi.
          3rd „ He beats Ngubumañ.
 Dual 1st Person We, incl., beat Ngubumanga.
                     We, excl., beat Ngubumangalu.
          2nd „ You beat Ngubumanbu.
          3rd „ They beat Ngubumanbula.
 Plural 1st Person We, incl. beat, Ngubumanyin.
                     We, excl. beat, Ngubumanyilla.
          2nd „ You beat Ngubumanhu.
          3rd „ They beat Ngubumandyula.

Past Tense.

 1st Person I beat, indefinite Nguburingga.
 Singular, I beat recently Ngubumuingga.
            I beat going along Ngubunyirringga.
            I beat long ago Nguburiangga.

Future.

            I will beat, indefinite