giwir ŋuddelona littraga: bain dinna tuŋgōr, ŋurribu bain ge bain; kamil yanelina. paul, barnaba ellibu, aro yanani. paul goaldone; baindūl ŋerma wīnūŋailone. paul kaia ŋummildone, kakuldone, “waria ŋurriba dinnaga.” tuŋōrdūl parine, yanani ellibu. burulabu giwir ŋummi, goe “ŋipai!” kākūldone “baiame bular yarine yealokwai giwir.” paul, barnaba ellibu, bunnaŋunne, kakuldone, “kurria! kamil ŋeane baiame; ŋeane giwir yealokwai ŋindai. ŋeane guiye murru ŋurriŋillone. ŋeane murru goalda burulabu; kurria ŋindai yealo kagil gigle: berudi warraia, ŋummilla baiame moron. baiame gīr gūnagulla, taon, burul kolle, kanuŋo minnaminnabul gimobi. baiame yalwuŋa baiame.” Kamilaroi is the language spoken by the aborigines along the Namoi River, on part of the Bundarra and Balun, and 200 miles of the Barwan (or Darling); also on Liverpool Plains, and about the head of the Hunter. The writer believes that any one who carefully reads through this Key, _especially the first 2 pages_, will be able to pronounce the foregoing Kamilaroi sentences, and teach the aborigines to read them. Many of the aborigines, especially the young men, are very quick at learning to read. It is very important that the rule of _naming_ the letters according to their pronunciation in words should be attended to, as it will remove great difficulties from the way of beginners. How could an ignorant person guess that the letter called “double you” had the sound w in wit? or that “aitch” was merely a hard breathing? The Christian into whose hands this little book may come, and who has any aborigines speaking kamilaroi near, is earnestly requested to consider, whether it is not worth a patient and prayerful effort to teach them to read those precious saving truths which are dimly and scantily, but in some measure really, expressed in these brief sentences. KEY To the foregoing “Kamilaroi speech.” RULES OF PRONUNCIATION. Pronounce ā as a in father „ a as a in mat „ ē as ey in obey „ e as e in net „ ī as i in marine „ i as i in it „ ō as o in bone „ o as o in on „ ū as oo in moon „ u as u in bun „ ai as i in wine „ ao as ow in how „ oi as oi in noise „ g always as in go „ ŋ as ng in ring. In English we use the sound ŋ or ng only at the end of a syllable; its frequent occurrence at the beginning of a syllable in Kamilaroi is therefore a slight, but only a slight difficulty. It is only necessary to use precisely the same consonant sound which we have in ring, sing, &c., with a vowel after and not before it. N.B. Name the letters as they are pronounced; that is, call g _ge_ (as in get), h _he_, ŋ _eng_, r _re_, w _we_, and y _ye_. Thus the name will guide the learner to the proper sound in spelling. The first four words on page 3 are names of men; the next four words are names of women; then, as follow, each line hereunder containing the English words for the correspond line of Kamilaroi:—