1901.] MATHEWS — THE GUXDUNGURRA LANGUAGE. 141 



having the same value as in English, with the following qualifica- 

 tions : 



Unmarked vowels have the usual short sound. 



Vowels having the long sound are distinguished by the follow- 

 ing marks : 



a as in fate I as in pie oo as in moon 



a as in father 6 as in pole ee as in feel 



ou as in loud 



It is frequently difficult to distinguish between the short or un- 

 marked sound of a and that of u. A. thick or dull sound of i is 

 occasionally met with, which closely approaches the short sound of 

 u or a. 



G is hard in every instance. 



R has a rough trilled sound, as in hurrah ! 



Ng at the beginning of a word, as ngee = yes, has a peculiar 

 sound, which can be got very closely by putting oo before it, as 

 oong-ee', and articulating it quickly as one syllable. At the end 

 of a word or syllable it has substantially the sound of ng in our 

 word sing. 



The sound of the Spanish n is frequent, both at the beginning 

 or end of a syllable. 



Y, followed by a vowel, is attached to several consonants, as in 

 dya, dyee, tyoo, etc., and is pronounced therewith in one syllable, 

 the initial sound of the d or other consonant being retained. Y 

 at the beginning of a word or syllable has its usual consonant 

 value. 



Dh is pronounced nearly as th in " that " with a slight sound of 

 the d preceding it. 



Nh has nearly the sound of th in " that " with an initial sound 

 of the n. 



The final h is guttural, resembling ch in the German word 

 "joch." 



T is interchangeable with d, p with b, and g with k in most 

 words where these letters are employed. 



A sound resembling j is frequently given by the natives, which 

 can be represented by dy or ty ; thus, dya or tya has very 

 nearly the same sound as ja. 



In all cases where there is a double consonant, each letter is dis- 

 tinctly enunciated. 



