BY HERMANN B. RITZ, M.A. ^^ 



The thin, bright sounds, t, 1. i, n, s, are t3'pical of diminu- 

 tives, not only in nouns, but also in adjectives, and even 

 in verbs." Now, in Tasmania, we find ina, enna, itia as 

 suffixes indicating diniinutives, analogous with the 

 German ing, the English kin, the French il, in, et, the 

 Italian illo, ino, etto. 



The Tasmanian diphthongs ma}^ be divided into two 

 groups. H. Ling Roth gives au, oi, and ou, but omits 

 ie, ia, as he takes the i of the latter group to be a con- 

 sohantal i. The group au, oi, ou, to which we ma}^ add 

 oa, simply represent an unstable a or o, whereas ia, ie, 

 ea, are developments of i or e, indicating a lengthening 

 in time or space, as expressed by delay, interval, or a 

 curve ; wina is a straig'ht stick, wiena a bent or broken 

 one. 



Of the consonants, the liquids alone are capable of 

 continuance ; they therefore fitly represent motion. We 

 find, accordingly, that lia (also in the forms of lena, liena, 

 lila) means missile, leg, water, bu-sh fire, iguana, kan- 

 garoo, cat, gun, crow, movable shelter, nest, stone (mis- 

 sile or cutting tool) ; ria (also rene, riawe, riena, rina) 

 means toe, hand, finger, to polish, water, dance, kan- 

 garoo, rat, to run ; ni, (also nina, nile, none, noana, nuna, 

 nuena), means you (i.e., away from me), no, hand, take 

 away, fire, flea, stone implement; mina (also mena, 

 manga, mana, meuna), means I, mine (i.e., towards me), 

 lips, beak, sick (restless), tongue, bird. 



The labial consonants represent a sudden puff, a 

 sending forth of energy, and are therefore very appro- 

 priate for expressing action and purpose. Thus we find 

 pa (also ba, wa, ma) as the general suffix of verbs ; as 

 suffix, prefix, or infix, it expresses power, emphasis, 

 magnitude. Alana, mena, mina, meaning " I," may well 

 indicate, besides " motion towards me," the prime im- 

 portance men attribute to their own persons. It is in- 

 teresting to note that most European languages use me 

 or mi as the pronoun of the first person. We find, 

 further, that pena (also pana, penina, pina, poine, puna) 

 means lance, oar, laugh, fish, pointed, sharp, bird. 



The dental consonants, pronounced by practically 

 shutting the teeth, indicate inclusion and exclusion, and 

 by their sound, a sudden stop or thud. Here, again, 



