BY H. B. ItlTZ, M.A. 83 



1913. 



convenient to reaJers of the present paper, to have a brief 

 statement of the principal poiut of my theory, as regards the 

 -etyiiiolouy of Tasmauian words. 

 Tbey are: — 



(a) The Aboriginal's mind worked on the same hnes as 

 tbose foHowed bj a very youug child. The first object to be 

 distinguished is (»iie that moves while the objects sui rounding 

 it are at rest. The speech-sounds, or rather, the cous-^nants, 

 most naturally expressing motion are the continuants, viz., 

 1, m, n, r, iig. The sibilants are not found iti the Tasn)aniau 

 speech, and the vowels are too indistinct to serve as charac- 

 teristics. 



(b) Next, the modifications of motion would be oliserved ; 

 if m(»ti()n came before rest, it would be expres-<ed by the group 

 b, p, w, m ; if motion came after rest, it would be expressed 

 by the group g, k, w, r, ng ; while rest itselt would be 

 expl•es^ed by the group d, t, 1, n. 



(c) The members of each group are readily inter- 

 changeable, ptactically at the discretion of the individual 

 speaker, though, of course, some forms may have become 

 conventionally fixed. 



(d) The vowels are interchangeable, within certain limits. 



(e) Each syllable begins normally with a coiisommt; 

 where a vowel is found as initial, it is most likely the remains 

 of a syllable originally beginning with w. 



(f) In a group oi syllables, any interior letter is liable 

 to be slurred, and eventually elided, if the syllable to which 

 it belongs does not bear the phrase-accent. 



In my discussion of the details of Mr. Bea.ttie's list, 



(a) The spelling will be uniform, chiefly on the lines 

 followed by H. Ling Koth, in Appendix F. of his *' The 

 Aborigines of Tasmania." 



(b) The statements will as a rule be positive, though 

 they are necessarily based on conjecture. Still, the 

 harmony of the facts with my theory is so consistent, that 

 there is no justification lor excessive diffidence on my part. 

 Hence, my statements may fairly be considered as valid 

 pending disproof based on fads and logic. 



(c) The following abbreviations will be ussd : — 



(1) "H.W.M.," for the original recorder of the 

 present list. 



(2) "H.L.E," for H. Ling Eoth : " The Aborigines of 

 Tasmania. 



("3) " H.B.R.," for Hermann B. Kitz : " The Speech of 

 the Tasmanian Aborigines" (3). 



(3) These Papers and Procetdings, 1909, pp. 44-81. 



