174 W. THALBITZER. 
of the song as b we find the following distribution: Ab!— Ab’C! — 
Ab?— Ab*C? etc. The exponent indicates in the refrain small varia- 
tions, in the burden larger (the varying contents). An example of a 
refrain with many periods is no. 38 with six periods (one more than 
stated in the chapter on the melodies that gives A to E, a result 
only completed by the analysis of the words). 
The small variations of the refrain words in the repeated periods 
often occur as a simple consequence of the singer’s negligence during 
the repetition; and are therefore to be looked upon as due to wear and 
tear. They assert themselves particularly in certain positions where 
the words of the refrain border on the beginning or the end of the 
burden, and there often acquire the nature of a prefix or suffix or 
even amalgamate with the exterior parts of the logical word. The 
texts transcribed from the records of my phonograph are especially 
rich in exemples hereof, е. g. no. 183 (Phon.) tla:’najatite-iora-a‘ja . 
atanin'elaima ia pisia'milatiteiaoa-a‘ja where the suffixes aja and 
га’ are identical with the initial refrain word in the period A. Some- 
times the expletive of the refrain is used as part of the text: “I sing 
my ajaja awoayja’, e.g. in nos. 190 and 194. 
Most drumsongs begin with a syncopated movement and every 
now and then in the course of the singing the rhythm surges into 
another syncope. This feature that characterizes the melody is natur- 
ally also expressed in the words of the refrain where it is indicated 
by an accent that occurs in the middle of the long a or j (in aja), 
the first unstressed part of the sound forming the up-beat, f. inst.: 
Do! be 
On AN Lean FRE Аи 
a-ja ja jaja; — aj" а] а: ]а-]а: 
A transition from the drumsongs to the songs without refrain 
is made by the cases in the epic-lyric poems where there are frag- 
ments of refrains or words resembling refrains (interjections), that 
may be inserted there simply to fill out a rhythmical figure, thus 
particularly in the petting songs and the children’s ditties, e. g. 
No. 2. am:aluagaya даа’... jaja jeq 
No. 3. ukapa jaja.,.ja ha:ja: 
No. 10. im‘uma:ja aja:ja: 
No. 21. qupaluarta jaja etc. with the final aja ja‘ hatj-e: 
The constantly repeated refrain creates a rhythm that to the child’s 
| imagination must sound like the bird’s own language. 
In all these cases the refrain-fragment is evidently part of the 
burden itself, organically connected with it. 
