The Gundungurra Language - R. H. Mathews (read me a book txt) 📗

have the singular, dual and plural numbers, the usual persons and tenses, and three principal moods, viz., indicative, imperative and conditional. The verb-stem and a contraction of the pronoun are incorporated, and the word thus formed is used in the conjugation. INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense.

  Singular. First Person I throw (throw I) Yerreemangga
               Second Person Thou throwest Yerreemandyee
               Third Person He throws Yerreemañ

  Dual. First Person We throw, incl. Yerreemang′a
                              We throw, excl. Yerreemangaloong
               Second Person Ye throw Yerreemanboo
               Third Person They throw Yerreemanboola

  Plural. First Person We throw, incl. Yerreemanyan
                              We throw, excl. Yerreemanyalla
               Second Person Ye throw Yerreemanthoo
               Third Person They throw Yerreemandyoolung

Past Tense.

  Singular. First Person I threw (threw I) Yerreeing′ga
               Second Person Thou threwest Yerreerindyee
               Third Person He threw Yerreering

  Dual. First Person We threw, incl. Yerreering′a
                              We threw, excl. Yerreeringaloong
               Second Person Ye threw Yerreeringboo
               Third Person They threw Yerreeringboola

  Plural. First Person We threw, incl. Yerreeooranyan
                              We threw, excl. Yerreeooranyulla
               Second Person Ye threw Yerreeooranthoo
               Third Person They threw Yerreeooradyoolung

Future Tense.

  Singular. First Person I will throw Yerreeningga
               Second Person Thou wilt throw Yerrenindyee
               Third Person He will throw Yerreeniñ

  Dual. First Person We will throw, incl. Yerreening′a
                              We will throw, excl. Yerreeningaloong
               Second Person Ye will throw Yerreenimboo
               Third Person They will throw Yerreenimboola

  Plural. First Person We will throw, incl. Yerreeninyan
                              We will throw, excl. Yerreeninyulla
               Second Person Ye will throw Yerreemunanthoo
               Third Person They will throw Yerreemunadyoolung

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular Second Person Throw thou Yer′-ree Dual Second Person Throw ye Yer′-ree-ou′ Plural Second Person Throw ye Yer′-ree-a-nhoor′

CONDITIONAL MOOD.

Perhaps I will throw Yerreeningga booramboonda

If a negative meaning be required, it is effected by means of an infix, mooga, between the verb-stem and the abbreviated pronoun. One example in the first person singular in each tense will exhibit the negative form of the verb:

  I am not throwing Yerreemoogamangga
  I did not throw Yerreemoogaringga
  I will not throw Yerreemooganingga

This negative infix can be applied in the same manner to all the persons of the three tenses.

There are numerous modifications of the verbal suffixes to convey variations of meaning; as, “I threw at him,” “He threw at me,” etc., which can be conjugated for number and person. Case can also be indicated in this way, as already stated in dealing with the nouns.

Verbs have no passive voice. If a native desires to state that a fish was swallowed by a pelican, he would say, “A pelican swallowed a fish.”

Prepositions.

Some prepositions can be used separately, as dhooreegoong, between; warroo, around; willinga, behind, and several others, thus: Dhooreegoong ngullawoolee, between trees two or between two trees; gunbee warroo, the fire around or around the fire.

A prepositional meaning is often obtained by a verb; thus, instead of having a word for “up” or “down,” a native will say, Boomaningga, up I will go; woorâramuningga, down I will go. Many of the prepositions admit of conjugation for number and person, as in the following example:

  Singular. First Person Behind me Willingīa
               Second Person Behind thee Willinganyee
               Third Person Behind him Willingâwoong

  Dual. First Person Behind us, incl. Willingangulla
                              Behind us, excl. Willingangullung
               Second Person Behind ye Willingangâwooloong
               Third Person Behind them Willingangawoolangoo

  Plural. First Person Behind us, incl. Willinganyanung
                              Behind us, excl. Willinganyanungoo
               Second Person Behind ye Willinganthooroong
               Third Person Behind them Willingadyanung

Adverbs.

Space will not permit of a list of adverbs any further than to illustrate how some of them can be conjugated:

  Singular. First Person Where go I Ngoondeeneea
               Second Person Where goest thou Ngoondeeneeñee
               Third Person Where goes he Ngoondeeneeoong

  Dual. First Person Where go we, incl. Ngoondeeneenga
                              Where go we, excl. Ngoondeeneengoolung
               Second Person Where go ye Ngoondeeneewoo
               Third Person Where go they Ngoondeeneewoola

  Plural. First Person Where go we, incl. Ngoondeeneeñnun
                              Where go we, excl. Ngoondeeneeñulla
               Second Person Where go ye Ngoondeeneeñoo
               Third Person Where go they Ngoondeeneeyoolung

Adverbial meanings are sometimes conveyed by means of verbs, as beetyballeemañ, he (or it) goes out of sight. Conjunctions and interjections are few and unimportant.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Gundungurra Language, by R. H. Mathews

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNDUNGURRA LANGUAGE ***

***** This file should be named 21866-0.txt or 21866-0.zip ***** This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/8/6/21866/

Produced by anonymous

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

*** START: FULL LICENSE *** THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at http://gutenberg.org/license).

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived from the public domain (does not contain a