THE WOMBAT. 11 
Africa. In the New Hebrides it is a or e ; in Fiji and Samoa, itis 
ko ort. 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 IlI.—Jn some of the Melanesian languages, the names 
of the parts of the body and relationships always have a 
possessive pronoun suffixed 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. ‘T’o them a ‘hand’ must always be my, thy, his 
hand ; and a foot is always somebody’s foot ; hence 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. Not satisfied with the suffix only, the Motuans 
prefix also a pronoun ; as Jaw, ae-gu, which, literally, is ‘ I leg-my ;’ 
similarly ot ae-mu, ‘thy leg,’ ia ae-na, ‘ his leg,’ idia ae-dia, 
‘ their legs.’ Relationship :—-Zama-gu e! O my father ! 
Having thus cleared the way for the examination of the 
Woddowro pronouns, let me recapitulate what, I think, 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 
obserye that Mr. Tuckfield has written them down by express- 
ing, as best he could in letters, the sound as jit 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 MBE, 
Nominative Case, 
Singular, 
1, Bangik, I, Bang-ngi-k. 
2, Bangen, Thou. Bang-ngin, 
3, Bang-nu-k, He. i Bang-nda-k, 
