There are numerous examples which could be mentioned of words appearing in an aboriginal dialect which have a striking resemblance to European words of modern and ancient languages, which at this stage of our knowledge of primitive tongues must be recorded as curiosities rather than linguistic analogies. One of the most remarkable, perhaps, is the Arunndta for head, viz. “kaputa”; but to connect this in any way with the Latin word would be as unreasonable as calling the “patriarchal” type of aboriginal a semite.
It is, therefore, not my intention to suggest anything beyond mere coincidence, and it lies far from my mind to attempt theorizing upon little evidence, yet it must be admitted that similarities in points of evolution and culture, no matter how trivial and accidental they may be, are not without interest. Viewed entirely in this light, there is no harm in mentioning one or two similarities which exist between certain words of the Australian dialects and those of other tongues, articulate or otherwise.
Affirmation is expressed in the Cambridge Gulf district by “yau,” “yo-au,” or “yowai.” During latter years, the same expression has found its way south, even as far as the MacDonnell Ranges, where it has largely replaced the original form of “owa.” In the adjoining coastal districts of the Northern Territory, a similar word is in use as well as one which sounds more like the German “ja.” It is of more than passing interest to note that throughout the Malay Archipelago “yo-au” or “yowai” is the principal form of affirmation in use among the local primitive peoples. It is not unlikely, therefore, that the early Macassan trepang fishers, who used to visit the north coast of Australia long before the white man arrived, brought this word along with them.
We find, also, that the consonantal expression, “ng,” combined with a vowel sound, is common among other primitive languages. Professor Garner, too, has found it included in the inarticulate “speech” of apes in the form of a note indicating satisfaction, which can be represented by “ngkw-a.” The speculative mind naturally wonders whether this simian cry of satisfaction is perhaps fundamentally of similar, though independent, phonetic origin to the northern Australian word for water, the essential of life, which we noted above is “ngawa.”
The di-syllabic muttering of a European child-in-arms, moreover, which the happy parents flatter themselves sounds like “pa-pa” or “ma-ma,” is equally characteristic of the aboriginal babe, but the parents in the latter case interpret the note to be “nga-nga.” And, indeed, the Arunndta mother responds by handing the infant the fluid it needs, while she caressingly soothes it with the simple little word “Nga,” which in our own language would be equivalent to the sentence, “Here you are!”
INDEX
Roman numerals refer to Preface.