BY JOSEPH LAUTEEER, M.D. 15 



meaning, indeed it is. " Ya " cannot be derived from any root, 

 it is merely an exclamation of sm'prise or consent common to 

 all mankind. " Wa " and " ya " are of the same value, there- 

 fore the negative " wakara," or " wakar," used on a tract covering 

 300 miles in length, is altered to " yakara " or " yaggara " on 

 the Lower Brisbane, and around the city (Brisbane). 



" Marmong " or " mammong " means lather in these 

 dialects. The camp is given by " himbing," characteristic of 

 Queensland, and by its synonyms, " weabra," and " murra," 

 reminding one of the word " wurra," or " wutta," characteristic 

 of New South Wales. Some nearer relations seem to exist 

 between the Yuggum language and the dialects of the Yamma 

 in the Port Curtis district. 



The word " yukum " has to be derived from *' ya," indeed, 

 and "kum," a mutilated form of "kara," not, as in our aboriginal 

 languages the m very often takes the place of r. West of the 

 Dividing Range between the border and Grafton, the Yukum 

 languages run into the dialects of the Wakar, and the negative 

 receives the form of Yakka. To this category belong the 

 languages on the head waters of the Maclntyre west of Warwick 

 and Stanthorpe, the Pikumpal language on the Dumaresq, and 

 Maclntyre and Prealagh languages on the sources of the latter. 



West of the Yakka dialects of the Darling Downs district, 

 the Wolleroi or Yeralleroi language is used, extending into the 

 south-eastern part of the Maranoa district on the Culgoa and 

 Ballon rivers. Camp or house is given by " wullai " or " wollai " 

 in all dialects of this language. Father means " yabbo " or 

 " benno " and " busine," the male form of the Yaggara word, 

 " busang," used for mother, in the Moreton district. The 

 negative " woll " is an altered form of " wo-kar " or " wo-kal ; " 

 " wo " is indeed, and the " 11 " stands for " kara." On the 

 Bokhara River the word is transformed into " wulla," and further 

 south it takes the form of " wail." 



The Wirri language has only a dialectic relation to the Woll 

 language. " Wirri " stands for " wikri," " wi " is the emphatic, 

 " kri " is the real negative. The Wirri dialects which include 

 Ridley's Wiraduri, are the most widely spread dialects of 

 Eastern Australia. They are and have been spoken with very 

 little difference south of the Namoi and Barwon rivers, as far as 

 Bourke, then in the plains and along the rivers Castlereagh, 



