THE WOMBAT. 



11 



Africa. In the New Hebrides it is a or e ; in Fiji and Samoa, it is 

 Tco or ». in all cases it seems to be used as a strengthening 

 particle, to give backbone to the real pronouns, which, being so 

 frequently in use, are very volatile through attrition. In the other 

 examples given above the prefixed strengthener is A, Ai, I, N (for 

 in). I have not space here to show that the syllable that follows 

 this prefix is really the pronoun ; but the reader will kindly accept 

 that as a fact and remember it, when the Woddowro pronouns 

 come into view. 



Proposition III. — In some of the Melanesian languages, the names 

 of the parts of the body and relationships always have a 

 possessive pronoun su fixed to them. 



This quality arises from the fact that the native mind has not 

 been accustomed to abstract the thing, and conceive of it as apart 

 from its possessor. To them a ' hand ' must always be my, thy, his 

 hand ; and a foot is always somebody's foot ; henee they say 

 lima-ku, ' my hand,' not lima alone, lima-na, ' his hand,' and so 

 on. These suffixes are the bodies of the personal pronouns in a 

 condensed form. JNot satisfied with the suffix only, the Motuans 

 prefix also a pronoun ; as lau, ae-gu, which, literally, is ' I leg-my ;' 

 similarly oi ae-mu, ' thy leg,' ia ae-na, ' his leg,' idia ae-dia y 

 ' their legs.' Relationship : — Tama-gu e ! my father ! 



Having thus cleared the way for the examination of the 

 Woddowro pronouns, let me recapitulate what, I thins, I have 

 proved, namely (1) there are Binal and Ternal pronoun forms in 

 the Melanesian languages, and these contain in them the words for 

 ' two ' and ' three ; ' (2) these pronouns have a prefixed strengthening 

 syllable ; (3) the names for parts of the human body and for 

 relationships have a possessive pronoun tacked on at the end. 



Now, as regards the pronouns which are my task to-day, I 

 observe that Mr. Tuckfield has written them down by express- 

 ing, as best he could in letters, the sound as it met the ear. 

 Hence, as given in his note book, they are not symmetrical, nor are 

 their component parts exhibited to the eye. For this he is not 

 blameable ; for comparative grammar alone can evolve order in 

 their forms. I will now show what I consider that order ought to 

 be, by giving in separate columns his form of the words and my 

 arrangement of them. 



WODDOWRO PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 



As Written. As Arranged by Me. 



Nominative Case. 



Singular. 



1. Bangik, I. j Bang-ngi-k. 



2. Bangen, Thop. Bang-ngin. 



3. Bang-nu-k, He. | Bang-nda-k. 



