Ray & H ADDON — The Languages of Torres Straits — II. 135 



I, mail also appears as an affix forming nouns from verbs : 

 umamail, the dead ; hurugdmulmael, the harvest, the ripening ; igilile- 

 mael, the living ; housagimael, the non-fruiting ; nongo iutapoiaizimael 

 his healings, those he had healed. The last three examples show the 

 insertion of the affixes le (possessing), igi (wanting) and zi (thing). 

 In mael, ma may be compared with the ma, mu of plural verbs, and / 

 with the noun plural. 



The instrument with which an action is performed is sometimes 

 expressed by the word za, (thing) following the verb. 



Example : niai za, a chair, sit-thing. 



2. NuMBEE. — The dual is expressed by the numeral uhasar, two, by 

 the dual demonstratives, sepal, sepalbi, or by the dual pronoun, palae. 



JJkasa/r wapi, two fishes ; ukasar dimur, two fingers ; sepal gigino 

 kazi, two sons of thunder ; sepal magina mani, two Kttle (pieces of) 

 money ; sepalli soli, two laws ; palae api-angai malaeg, two fisher-men. 

 Sometimes numeral and demonstrative are both used. Sepalhi ukasar 

 ungai-dumawaku, two garments. 



The plural is indicated in various ways. 



(«) By suffixes, -?, -al, -el, -ol, -Id : Umail, dogs ; talul, snakes ; 

 saiil, laws ; kusal, beads ; mahaegal, men ; bahatal, sisters ; pui-tamal. 

 branches ; kaziol, children ; ianalo, baskets. 



(I) By the plural demonstrative ita with or without the suffix : 

 Ita kazil, children ; ita apal, lands. 



(c) By the plural pronouns : Tana minarpolai mabaeg, the scribes. 



(d) Definitely by numerals, with or without the adjective gorsar : 

 Tuelv iana, twelve baskets ; tuelv gorsar nanu watal, twelve were her 

 years ; foate koigdrsa/r goiga, forty days. 



(e) By the adjectives durai, some; mura, all; gorsar, many, or 

 koigdrsar, great many, with or without the demonstrative or suffix : 

 Durai nginu kutaig, thy brothers ; durai kikiri, some sick ; mura 

 kikiri laig, all the sick folk ; ita durai mahaegal, some men ; mura 

 mabaegau kdziel, men's sons. 



(/) ^y context : Ngapa mangiw urui palgizo a purutamoin, forth 

 came birds and ate {purutamoin, plur. verb). 



Macgillivray has the following note on plurals in Kowrarega 

 {i.e. Muralug) : — 



" To form the plural of a noun or adjective, the rule appears to be 

 to add le as a postfix, sometimes previously supplying a terminal 



