440 



PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 



The great difficulty with these words ending in " y " or in " i " is 

 to know what sound is to be given to the terminal letter. Is it, 

 for instance, Adaminabee or Adaminabai ? Murrurundee or Mur- 

 rurundai ? Quirindee or Quirindai ? — for both pronunciations are 

 used. In some words, e.g., Bondi, the " ai " sound is always given, 

 bvit this is not so in other words. If the proposed system were 

 adopted no such mistakes could possibly be made. The terminal 

 letter in the name of Yarrangobilly is so absurd that one is filled 

 with wonder why it has been retained, or why, if it was thought 

 to be necessary, it should not also have been used in names like 

 Kirribilli. It is sad to feel that, in the not far distant future, 

 someone will be found gravely asserting in the public prints that 

 the name is associated with a very necessary article used in camping 

 and picnic parties, or with some stockman or bullock-driver called 

 Billy , who " discovered the caves." 



APPENDIX. 



The following is the System of Orthography for Native Names of 

 Places adopted by the Council of the Royal GeographicalSociety, 

 THE Foreign and Colonial Offices, Admiralty, and War Office, 

 etc., etc. 



1. The true sound of the word as locally pronounced is taken as the basis 

 of the spelling. 



2. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed at. A 

 system which would attempt to represent the more delicate inflections of 

 sound and accent would be so complicated as only to defeat itself. Those 

 who desire a more accurate pronunciation of the written name must learn 

 it on the spot by a study of local accent and peculiarities. 



3. The broad features of the system are — 



(a) That vowels are pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in 



English. 



(b) Every letter is pronounced, and no redundant letters are intro- 



duced. When two vowels come together, each one is sounded, 

 though the result when spoken quickly is sometimes scarcely 

 to be distinguished from a single sound, as in ai, an, ei. 



(c) One accent only is used — the acute, to denote the syllable on 



which stress is laid. This is very important, as the sounds of 

 many names are entirely altered by the misplacement of thi,> 

 " stress." 



The following amplification of these rules explains their application : — 



Pronunciation and Remarks. 



Examples. 



ah, a as in father 

 eh, a as in fate 



English e \ i as in ravine ; the sound of ce in 



beet. Thus, not Feejee, but 

 o as in mote 



Java, Banana, Somali, 

 Bari. 



Tel-el-Kebir, Oleleh, 

 Yezo, Medina, 

 Levuka, Peru. 



Fiji, Hindi. 

 Tokvo. 



