78 R. H. MATHEWS. 



mamuk, a cock emu ; wille pabuk, a female opossum. The 

 kangaroo, mindyun, has an independent name, dhallung, 

 for the buck, and another, muty, for the doe. This rule 

 also applies to some other animals. 



Case. — The principal cases are the nominative, possessive, 

 accusative, instrumental, dative and ablative. 



There are two forms of the nominative, one of which 

 merely names the object under attention, as gal, a dog, 

 and then the noun remains unchanged. But when a tran- 

 sitive verb is used, the noun takes a suffix, as, Wutyuku 

 mindyul buyin, a man a kangaroo killed. Kulkunu bandyal 

 kargin, a boy a codfish caught. Gallu wille bundin, a dog 

 an opossum bit. 



Possessive — A suffix is applied to the possessor and also 

 to the thing possessed, as Wutyuga gattimgattimuk, a man's 

 boomerang. Laiura berkanuk, a woman's yamstick. Kul- 

 kuna lahrnuk, a boy's camp. The grammar also admits of 

 putting the thing possessed foremost in the sentence in 

 certain instances, for the sake of euphony, and then the 

 suffixes are transposed, as, lahrnga laiuk, instead of laiura 

 lahrnuk, a woman's camp. 



Anything over which possession can be exercised is sub- 

 ject to inflection for number and person. In the first 

 person of the dual, trial and plural, there are two forms of 

 the word — one, marked "incl.," including the person spoken 

 to; and the other, marked " excl.," in which the person 

 addressed is excluded : 



Person. Singular. 



1st My boomerang, Gattimgattimek 



2nd Thy boomerang, Gattimgattimin 



3rd His boomerang, Gattimgattimuk 



Person. Dual 



1st 



Our, incl., boomerang, Gattimgattimul 

 Our, excl., boomerang, Gattimgattimulluk 



