t9o6] 



MATHEWS— THE ARRAN^DA LANGUAGE. 323 



tioned by Mr. C. Giles, already referred to, with four new section 

 names added, making eight divisions in all.^ In 1899 I supplied a 

 complete table showing the rules of marriage and descent among the 

 eight sections of the Arranda." The reader who wishes to study 

 their sociology is invited to peruse the works quoted. 



On the present occasion I shall endeavor to give a short account 

 of the grammatical structure of the Arranda language. In 1890, 

 Rev. H. Kempe, another missionary at Hermannsburg, published a 

 grammar and vocabulary of this language,'^ and I propose to make 

 use of some selections from his work, in addition to fuller informa- 

 tion collected recently at my request by a capable friend and corre- 

 spondent who resides in that district. It may be mentioned here 

 that Mr. Kempe failed to observe the double form in the first person 

 of the dual and plural in the pronouns which is now reported by me 

 for the first time. 



It may perhaps be as well to repeat that I was appointed by the 

 Government of South Australia, a Land Surveyor in 1883, and a 

 Justice of the Peace in 1884, both of which positions I still hold. 

 By means of these appointments I have had opportunities which 

 would not otherwise have occurred of carrying on my inquiries 

 respecting the customs of the Aborigines in that State. 



GRAMMAR OF THE ARRANDA LANGUAGE. 



Articles. 



There are no words strictly corresponding to the English articles 

 a and the. The demonstrative adjectives, this and that, in their 

 various aboriginal forms, supply the place of the definite article. 



Nouns. 



Number. — There are three numbers — the singular, dual and plu- 

 ral. Atua, a man ; atuantatera, a couple of men ; atuantirbera, 

 several men. Another form of dual is : wora, a boy ; worananga, 

 two boys. The latter form is used only for persons. 



^ " The Aborigines of the Upper and Middle Finke River," Trans. Roy. 

 Soc. South Australia, XIV., 223-224. 



'Proc. Amer. Pliilos. Soc, XXXVIIL, 76. 



■'■Trans. Roy. Soc. South Australia, XIV., pp. 1-54. 



