Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/333

LANGUAGE. 251 6. Of the personal pronouns there are three distinct forms, expressing different degrees of relationship between the person or persons spoken to or of, as, for instance, ngadli, we two (viz. brothers); ngarrinye, we two (parent and child); ngadlaga, we two (husband and wife), &c. 7. There are no prepositions in this language, the deficiency being made up by a great variety of inflexions, or rather terminations of the nouns, inseparable from them, as, karnko, house; karnkungu, in the house; karnkuru, to the house; karnkotarri, beyond the house; karnkongunne, from the house; and many other similar terminations. 8. The verb, though without a distinct passive voice, presents the peculiarity of a number of conjugations, indicating secondary relations of the actions expressed by the root of the verb—in other words, the conjugation from verbs neutral and active, reciprocal and continuative. This novel feature of the language renders the acquisition of it difficult, as it is only by experience that one learns to distinguish those conjugations really in use from those that might be formed but are not used. 9. Another peculiarity, and poverty at the same time, is the absence of all numerals beyond three. The construction of sentences, and particularly the use of the moods of verbs, appears also very peculiar, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with this part of the language to venture a description.