282 Ahorigiiial Dialects, 3,'c., of Tasmania. 



The Tasmanian Aborigines made use of some vocal sounds 

 not met Avitli in tlie English language ; one, for instance, 

 corresponds to tlie sound of u, as pronounced by the French ; 

 others are equivalent to c/i and <//i in the Scotch and L'ish 

 loc/i and louff/i j and there are some curious combinations of 

 nasal and guttural sounds. 



The Oi'thography of the Aboriginal Vocabulary agrees as 

 nearly as possible with the ordinary phonetic expression of 

 the English alphabet, with the following quahfications : — ■ 

 the vowel a, when it stands alone, is to be pronounced as in 

 ■cat, 7'a-p, &c., but aa is sounded nearly as aw in the word 

 latoii, e is pronounced as in the English v»"ord t/ie, and ee 

 as in t/iee, me, see, &c., but e is to be sounded like a inpo- 

 tatoe and in day ; i is to be pronounced as in sigh, fie, &c. ; 

 o is to be sounded as in so, go, floio, and oo as in soon, moon, 

 &c. ; u is never to be sounded as in the English word fiute, 

 its usual sound being that in the French words une, usage, 

 usurier,fwmer, &c., but when followed by a double conso- 

 nant, or by two consonants, it is to be sounded as in the 

 English words mush, lump, hump, &c. ; y is to be somided as 

 in the English words holy, glihly, yonder, yelloiv, &c. ; 

 i before another vowel has a full sound as in the Eno-lish 

 words shine, riot ; ei coming together are to be pronomiced 

 as in Leipsic, ou as in noun, oi as in toil, &c. Consonants 

 have their usual sounds when single ; ch and gh are pro- 

 nounced as in the German word hochacJden and in the Irish 

 Lough, When a double consonant, or two consonants 

 stand together, the first carries the accent, as in the English 

 words cunningly, peppery, cobbler, plphin. 



I propose to treat on another occasion, of the liistory, 

 habits, and customs of the Aborigines, 



