Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. eBook

John MacGillivray
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 347 pages of information about Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850..

Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. eBook

John MacGillivray
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 347 pages of information about Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850..

(Footnote.  To form the plural of a noun or adjective, the rule appears to be to add le as a postfix, sometimes previously supplying a terminal vowel if required:  Example:  geta = hand becomes getale in the plural:  kuku = foot, kukule:  kutai = yam, kutaile:  ipi = wife, ipile:  kerne = lad undergoing a certain ceremony, kernele:  makaow = mat, makaowle:  bom = fruit of pandanus, bomale.  There are exceptions however; mari = shell ornament, makes marurre in the plural:  gul = canoe, gulai:  tawpei = short, tawpeingh:  all nouns ending in ra have the plural in re, as kowra = ear, kowrare and all ending in kai gain jille in the plural, as ipikai = woman, ipikaijille.

Regarding the allusion to a terminal vowel, it may be mentioned here that as most Kowrarega words end in a vowel, its absence when a vowel commences the following word is commonly owing to elision.  Example:  udzu umai = my dog becomes udz’umai.  When the last consonant in a word is the same as the first in the following word, one of the letters is omitted.  Example:  apa pirung = soft ground becomes ap’irung.  There are numerous other contractions, as ai for aidu = food:  aiye for aiyewel = come here:  mue utsem = the fire has gone out, for mue utsimem etc.)

COLUMN 1:  ITEM NUMBER. 
COLUMN 2:  ENGLISH. 
COLUMN 3:  KOWRAREGA. 
COLUMN 4:  GUDANG.

1 :  Sky :  je :  -. 2 :  Sun :  gariga :  inga. 3 :  Cloud :  dapar :  otera. 4 :  Cloud, heavy, cumulus :  markei :  -. 5 :  Cloud, driving, scud :  ras :  -. 6 :  Moon :  kissuri :  aikana. 7 :  Moon, new :  kainidung (634) :  kichia. 8 :  Moon, full :  mullpal :  ichara. 9 :  Moonlight :  kapi kissurri (612.6) :  -. 10 :  Star :  titure :  onbi, unbi. 11 :  Star, falling :  titure udzarizhe (10.745) :  -. 12 :  Star, morning :  gariga titure (2.10) :  -. 13 :  Jupiter ? :  dogei :  -. 14 :  Pleiades :  kusali* :  -.

(Footnote.  The frequency of words having different meanings may perhaps lead some to suppose that they may have originated in error on my part.  Some have a figurative connexion as upu = a series of waterholes, also a blister; kusali = the constellation of the Pleiades, also a plant with bunches of seeds which become white and glittering by exposure to the sun:  others have no obvious community of meaning, as ari = rain, also a louse; gi = laughter, also ripe, &tc.)

15 :  Darkness, night :  inur :  yulpalga. 16 :  Shadow, shade :  yirada :  moda. 17 :  Wind :  guba :  alba. 18 :  Rain :  ari :  apura. 19 :  Rainbow :  oripara :  ung-gebanya. 20 :  Dew :  urma :  -. 21 :  Fog :  wunu :  -. 22 :  Thunder :  duyuma :  wagel (526). 23 :  Lightning :  baguma :  omba. 24 :  Heat, steam :  kaman :  -. 25 :  Sea :  wur :  -. 26 :  Salt water :  adabu :  ung-onya. 27 :  Saltwater creek :  kassur :  -. 28 :  Saltwater swamp :  gowada :  gawata. 29 :  Deep water :  mal :  -. 30 :  Shoal water :  gata :  -. 31 :  Wave :  baow :  -. 32 :  Foam : 

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Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.