309 



■fragiiientary state, but liowever dei'eotive the lists may be, by 

 having adhered to the "System of Orthography " prepared by 

 the Royal Geographical Society of London, which excellent and 

 inimitable method enables one to secure a phonetic reproduction, 

 I believe the reader will have no difficulty in pronouncing the 

 words correctly, which is frequently very perplexing with other 

 native vocaljularies. 



If tlie language is spoken Ijy an indi^'idual who ai'ticulates the 

 words correctly, and has a pleasant voice, it is ver)- euphonious, 

 because it not only abounds in vowels, but most words end in 

 one, and none of the consonants liave a harsh sound. Perhaps 

 the only exception is the f, which in some words is considerably 

 " rolled," but as a i-ule not to such an extent as to make the 

 ^ound unpleasant. 



To get the correct pronunciation is often difficult on account of 

 the variations of expressions given to certain sounds by different 

 individuals, and can only be obtained from a frequent repetitio)). 

 of the words, in some cases I found it difficult to determine 

 between a, o, and even u, so variably were the words pronounced. 

 This diiEculty is still more enhanced by the desire on the part of 

 the natives to attempt to modulate the word, because as soon as 

 they are desired to rejDeat it they seem to imagine that the word 

 lias not been pronounced to one's liking, and alter it ; and should 

 you pronounce it ever so incorrectly, they at once agree, and are 

 sure to pronounce it the same way. They are often evidently 

 under the impression that the worcl is well enough known to the 

 interrogator, who on!)' gives it a diffi;rent expression, and to 

 please him repeat it in his style ; Ijeing very cjuick of hearing, 

 they can repeat almost every sound with a marvellous accuracy. 



Ji nndp, g and k, I and r, and y andj are often substituted one 

 tor the other, so that it became difficult to decide to which letter 

 the sound preponderates ; and in certain words it seems optional 

 ^vhether 7ig or only n is used. 



b^recjuently a diiticulty arises when a woi'd is used in an ab- 

 lireviated form, or a prefix or affix added ; and when an object is 

 ^hown, and instead of its own name, that of the substance is 

 given it was derived from. For instance, when I wanted to 

 know the name of the nose-stick, I received the one given to the 

 ^vood it was made of, and when I asked the word for " a leaf," I 

 received the name given to the tree it came from. 



The Yunga dialect cojitains a great proportion of abbreviations 

 m the small vocabulary oljtained ; from this it appears to me that 

 certain tribes, more than others, are in tlio habit of shortening 

 their words. 



