Ray & Haddon — The Languages of Torres Straits — II. 151 



(7i) Continuance. 



The word mata is used to translate tlie Lifu pete ho, while, and 

 •expresses the continuance of an action. Tana mata waTcaiasimoin, 

 while they mourned ; noidoha mata utuipa, as he sowed ; tana mata 

 iagiasin, they were silent. Magillivray has gul mata pongeipa = the 

 canoe is still under sail [n., 305]. 



(^) Repetition. 



The word laho expresses repetition. lesu lako mangiz au Kaper- 

 nauma, Jesus again came to Capernaum ; ngai lako uhinmepa danalpa- 

 taipa, I wish to open eyes again; ngai laho wbnigi, I will not drink again. 



{j) Emphasis. 



A verb or verbal phrase is rendered emphatic by the word kai, at 

 the end of the sentence : Noi mamu hai, he was well. This is pro- 

 bably the same as the (m), Kowrarega hi of which Macgillivray remarks 

 (ii., 312) : — " The meaning of this is, to a certain extent, doubtful; 

 however, it enforces an afl&rmation ; Ex. ina muggi^ki = this is very 

 little : it is frequently used after pronouns ; arri hi halapahai = we 

 shall go to the dance." 



The Li£u emphatic particle hi is translated by wa = yes, verily. 

 Ka/rengemin, wa harengemin a wahain-tamamoiginga, hear, yes hear, and 

 not understand. In Lifu : troa deng, a denge hi, ngo tha trotrohnine pe. 



4. Ntjmbeb. 



A verb is used with a singular, dual or plural pronoun with the 

 simple endings. Ngai iamuliz, I say ; palae iamuliz, they two say ; 

 tana iamuliz, they say. 



In some cases, especially when the pronoun or other method of 

 marking number is not used, a syllable is inserted between the root 

 and the verbal ending. The following examples are found in the 

 Gospel : — 



Dual. — Nongo ukasar haura paleman, his two ears were opened ; 

 ngipel sipalsei hai mangeman, you two shall come ; palae uzarman, two 

 went. The usual forms of the verbs are palan, mangiz, and uzar, but 

 the examples present some difficulty, and do not agree ; the infixes 

 being em, ma. The verbs mangiz and uzar, come and go, do not else- 

 where appear with the suffix n. 



Plural. — The plural appears to be distinguished by the infix moi, 

 mai, or mi. In Sharon's vocabulary, patmnoin is given as the plural 



