76 



Vocabularies of Four South Australian Languages- 

 Adelaide, Narrunga, Kukata, and Narrinyeri- 

 wiTH Special Reference to their speech Sounds. 



By J. M. Black. 



[E^ad April 8, ,1920.] 



These small collections of words were made during a visit 

 to Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission Station, on northern Yorko 

 Peninsula, in October, 1919. Founded in the year 1867 for ''the 

 civilization and evangelization of the aborigines on Yorke 

 Peninsula," the mission was managed for half a century by 

 local trustees, but four years ago it was placed under Govern- 

 ment control. The first missionary and superintendent was 

 the Rev. W, J. Kiihn (1867-1880), and the present super- 

 intendent is Mr. F. Garnett, who has held ofl&ce since 1909, 

 and who kindly gave me every assistance in my work. The 

 natives at the mission number about 230, but of these only 

 some 25 are full-blooded ; the remainder are half-castes and 

 quadroons. 



As in former papers on the same subject, the alphabet 

 used is that of the International Phonetic Association, with 

 a few modifications. 



[a] is the a in Scottish '"'man" or German ''Mapn" ; when 

 long (which is rare) it is the English a in ''father." Before 

 any of the reflexed consonants [r, Z, n], etc., it approaches the 

 English u in "nut" or "fur" [9], as [mar a] hand, almost 

 [mara] ; [baZa, barla] woman, almost [bs/a, ba^la]. 



[e] is the close French e in "repeter" [repete], or the first 

 element in the "ey" of "they" [Sei, 5e : 1] . 



[e] is the open English e in "bed" [bed]; when long, like 

 e in "there" [Be : o]. 



[i] is the short, open sound heard in "pity" [piti] ; when 

 long [i :], it sounds as in "marine." 



[o] is the English in "not"; when long it is almost like 

 a in all" [o :1], but with a slight tendency towards [o:]. Both 

 sounds are somewhat rare. 



[a] is the obscure sound heard in "wanderer" f'wondara]. 

 I have not used it much in this paper, because, although one 

 may hear [wor;g9n9] or [bar^gara] in rapid enunciation, yet, 

 if the native is pressed to pronounce clearly, one hears 

 [worygana] and [bavygara]. 



[u] when short = 00 in "foot" ; when long = 00 in "boot." 



