72 THE ABORIGINES OF THE LOWER MURRAY, LOWER 
These examples though few, are quite ample enough to show 
how very intibe these dialects are, and the same dissimilarity holds 
H 
men still been extant, their extended tribal knowledge would have 
ns e m 
task to the philologist now-a-days is both wearisome and unsatis- 
factory. 
a readable translation of even the commonest conversation, as the 
same word is frequently applied in many different ways, and it is 
only by the inflections, prolongations, &c., thereof that what itmeans 
imply can be understood ; therefore, unless to the initiated, 
ec 
a life’s experience, together with continual intercourse, supplemented 
unfl ra) 
1ti 
meanings of different words entirely. 
In illustration of the extreme meagreness of these tongues, I 
give the few following examples :— 
Kayanie, water. 
Tolkine kayanie, thirsty. 
Mirnen kayanie, tears. 
Kooroomboo kayanic, milk. 
Birra, dead. 
Birra wotchowoo, hungry. 
Bocoin wotchowoo, stuffed with food. 
