LANGUAGES OF SOME NATIVE TRIBES. 



151 



Demonstratives. — Nginya, that. Nginyaga, that (in 

 action). Nginyame, that (acted upon). The demonstra- 

 tives are very numerous and varied, representing different 

 gradations of meaning, depending upon the position of the 

 object referred to in regard to the speaker, and also to the 

 points of the compass. All the pronouns of the third per- 

 son are iu effect demonstratives, which accounts for their 

 irregularity and diversity. 



Interrogatives. — Ngandi, who ? Ngangu, whose ? Minya, 

 what ? Minyunggulmai, how many? Widdyimdugai, what's 

 the matter ? Widdhundu, how ? 



Verbs. 

 Verbs have the singular, dual and plural numbers, with 

 the usual persons, tenses and moods. The verb stem and 

 a contraction of the pronoun are incorporated, and the word 

 thus formed is used in the conjugation. There is an inclu- 

 sive and exclusive form in the first person of the dual and 

 plural. 



The following is a brief conjugation of the verb ngeli, 

 to speak : — 



Indicative Mood — Present Tense. 



Sing. 1st Per. I speak or talk, 

 ,, 2nd ,, Thou speakest, 

 ,, 3rd ,, He speaks, 



Singular 

 1st Person 



Singular 



Past Tense. 



I talked, 



I talked this morning, 

 I talked yesterday, 

 I talked recently, 

 I talked long ago, 



Future Tense. 



( I will talk, 



J I will talk presently, 



1st Person \ I will talk tomorrow, 



1 1 will talk in the future. 



Ngeradhu 

 Ngerandu 

 Ngeralula 



Ngelgaidhu 

 Ngelngurrinyedhu 

 Ngelngunnidhu 

 Ngeldhumbirradhu 

 -Ngelg umbir ngaldhu 



Ngelagadhu 

 Ngeladhullungaclhu 

 Ngelngurriagaclhu 

 Ngelwandhagadhu 



