APPENDIX. 275 



have given it in parallel columns, without altering any of 

 the words. 



Our own vocabulary was almost entirely collected by 

 Mr. Millery of the Fly, who, to great diligence and acute- 

 ness in collecting the words, added an excellent musical ear 

 for appreciating their correct sound. I transcribed his 

 vocabulary, and made some additions of my own, at the 

 same time slightly altering the system of orthography, 

 in order to make it, as I believe, more precise, and more 

 easy to be understood. Instead of marks of accentuation, 

 which are always liable to mistake, I have, when necessary, 

 put marks of quantity over the vowels. By numbering 

 the words, I have been able easily to refer from one part of 

 the vocabulary to the other, by appending the number 

 of the word I wish to refer to. In this manner the 

 composition, or derivation of the words, is often pointed 

 out. 



Respecting the grammatical structure of the language, 

 we, of course, could learn little or nothing. It is re- 

 markable, however, in the 800 words included in the 

 vocabulary, how many compositions can be resolved, and 

 derivations detected. In a vocabulary of about 500 words, 

 collected by Mr. Macgillivray at Port Essington,* hardly a 

 single derivation, or any other kind of relation, could be 

 perceived between one word and another; while, from 

 what we see in this vocabulary, we have reason to expect 

 that there is hardly an expression for a compound or 

 derived idea in the Erroobian language but what the 

 composition or derivation can be traced in the expression. 



The appropriateness of the sound to the meaning is also 



* Mr. Macgillivray has now returned to the shores of Australia and 

 New Guinea, as Naturalist to H.M.S. Rattlesnake, under Captain Owen 

 Stanley. His vocabulary will, therefore, probably be published on the 

 completion of that voyage, with additions and improvements. 



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