96 HORATIO HALE ON LANGUAGE 



Verbs have, as in Latin, four conjugations, — using this term, as in that language, to 

 signify different modes of inflecting verbs. As in Latin, also, they are distinguished by 

 the termination of the infinitive. Verbs-of the 



1st conjugation end in fiHko, oliko and eliko. 



2nd " " kili/io. 



3rd " " bi/iko. 



4th " " ritiko and tiliko. 



These conjugations differ in the formation of the tenses as follows : — 



Pbbsknt. 



1 . «?i 

 an 

 an 



2. tan 

 "> . bin 

 4 . rin 



There are many verbs which are combined with other verbs and with adjectives to 

 vary their meaning. Thus, mïinbili, to permit, added to the root bu, to strike, forms 

 bumûnbili, to permit to strike. Mali, to make or do, gives a causal signification, as kola, 

 secret, kolamali, to conceal ; Uir, broken, tiirmult, to bi-eak. KfiH, signifies spontaneous 

 action, as liirkïili, to break of itself BMi, signifying " to be in any act," forms active 

 verbs, as teti, dead, letibïdi, to be dying. Maini'ili, or mnina, gives to the preceding verb the 

 meaning of failure or incomplete operation, as na, to see, namainuli, to look without observing, 

 riûrïï, to hear, i'iTirîimaini'ili, to hear but not to attend. Bii, to strike, bumuina bon ban, I 

 nearly struck him, or did not quite strike him ; lit., " to strike failed him I." 



But perhaps the most notable excellence of this language is found in its verbal 

 nouns, or nouns derived from verbs, by the aid of various inflections or affixes, which 

 enable the speaker at once to give an intelligible name to any object, act, or quality. The 

 modern English and the modern Romanic tongues — mere "jargons " which arose out of 

 the conquests and convulsions of the dark ages, — have lost in a large measure that happy 

 Aryan facility of word-formation which was possessed by the G-reek and Sanscrit, and to 

 a less degree by the Latin, and which is still retained by the G-erman. This useful 

 facility is enjoyed in the highest degree by the languages of eastern Australia. The fol- 

 lowing table of derivatives does not appear in Mr. Threlkeld's grammar, but was prepared 

 by him at a later date, and was copied by me from his manuscript. It shows in a striking 

 light the advantages which the language derives from this source, both for discriminating 

 nice shades of meaning, and for devising names descriptive of new objects. It also 

 displays, both in the language and in the people, a remarkable aptitude for expressing 

 abstract ideas. 



