42 



AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 



changed by marriage; and they are always addressed and known by their 

 maiden names, unless they are exchanged publicly. 



Personal names are rarely perpetuated, as it is believed that anyone 

 adopting that of a deceased person will not live long. This superstition accounts 

 for the great number of unmeaning names in a tribe. When a dead man or 

 woman is referred to, it is by the genei-al term ' muuruukan ' — 'dead person;' 

 but when the time of mourning has expired, they can be spoken of by name, 

 though still with very great unwillingness. If they need to be named by 

 strangers during the period of mourning, it must be in whispers. As a great 

 favour to the writer, references were made by name to deceased relatives ; but 

 this was done with so much reluctance, that in several instances the inquiry had 

 to be abandoned without obtaining the desired information ; and one man would 

 not pronounce his own name because it was the same as that of his deceased 

 brother. Not only is the name of a deceased person forbidden to be mentioned, 

 but the names of all his near relatives are disused during the period of mourning, 

 and they are mentioned only in general terms, as exemplified below. To call 

 them by their own names is considered an insult to the deceased, and frequently 

 leads to fighting and bloodshed. 



When a man's father dies, the 



man is called 

 When a man's mother dies, the 



man is called 

 When a woman's father dies, 



the woman is called 

 When a woman's mother dies, 



the woman is called 

 When a man's brother or sister 



dies, the man is called 

 When a woman's brother or 



sister dies, the woman is 



called ... 

 When an uncle on father's 



side dies his nephew is 



called ... 



Examples. 



Chaap wuurong dialect. 



Palliin 

 Palliin 



Palliin kuurk 

 Palliin kuurk 

 K»ep gnunnse 



Keep gnunna kuurk 



Palliin 



Kuum kopan noot dialect. 



Parrapeetch 

 Kokaetch 

 Parrapaeheear 

 Kokseheear 

 Kiiap mekunna 



Kiiamma kunnaheear 



Parrapeetch 



