126 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



combined with a plural demonstrative ta. Tn the second plural ta is 

 combined with, the pronominal word ngi as ngi-ta, and Macgillivray 

 gives it with na also as ngi-ta-na. In the third person masculine nu or 

 noi (with its drawled Muralug pronunciation nue) is probably the same 

 as the feminine na, for o frequently varies to o and a (see § I., 1). 

 The affix i, which is also found in the first person masculine, may, 

 perhaps, mark the masculine, but is more likely to be the same with 

 the demonstrative i. It occurs also in the first plural inclusive ngo-i, 

 which is probably the same as nga-i. 



The pel, palae of the dual is also found combined with the demon- 

 tratives, and is the root of the verb palan, to divide, open. It may 

 also be used as a numeral. Latham suggested the meaning of 'pair,'' 

 and pointed out that the root p-l, or some modification of it, is the 

 equivalent for two in very many of the Australian languages. Latham 

 also noted the close correspondence of the Saibai (Kowrarega) use 

 with that of the Western Australian language. " These so closely 

 agree in the use of the numeral tico for the dual pronoun, that each 

 applies it in the same manner. In the third person it stands alone, so 

 that in Western Australian hoala and in Kowrarega pale = they two, 

 just as if in English we sa.\(\.pair or both, iastead of they loth (the pair); 

 whilst, in the second person, the pronoun precedes it, and a compound 

 is foiTaed ; just as if in English we translated the Greek o-^oJt by thou 

 pair or thou hoth.''^^ 



The affixes Ihe and Ipa have a certain amount of likeness, though 

 their presence in the exclusive dual and inclusive plural cannot be 

 explained. The I may probably be the same as the plural suffix ^(see 

 § III.), whilst le andj:?ff may be compared with the demonstrative hi, 

 or with the dative suffix j?«, towards, and the directive suffix j9«. 

 Without the affixes and demonstratives, the pronomial forms are 

 reduced to two only, yiga and oigi (for ngo or ngo in the plural exclusive 

 is the same as nga, see § i). These two are, as Latham pointed out,^ 



1 "Remarks on Voyage of the ' Eattlesnake ' " in Opuscula, p. 225, and 

 Macgillivray, ii. p. 333. 



- The difference between the first and second persons being expressed by 

 different modifications {nga, ngi) of the same root {ng), rather than by separate 

 ■words, suggests the inquiry as to the original power of that root. It has already 

 been said that, in many languages, the pronoun of the third person is, in origin, a 

 demonstrative. In the Kowrarega it seems as if even the basis of the first and 

 second was the root of the demonstrative also. ["Remarks on Voyage of the 

 ' Rattlesnake,' " p. 333, and Opuscula, p. 225.] 



