roo (var. Obur) of the Goorgilla set I find in the same
group the homophone _obur_ (gidea tree), which is also a totem of the
group of tribes in question[121]. The Wotero of Halifax Bay suggests
Wutheru, for which I am unable to find a meaning, unless it be emu, as
given by one observer, who however on another occasion gave a different
translation. Korkoro in the same set may be the same as korkoren
(opossum) of a tribe some 150 miles away[122]. The muri[123] and kubbi
of the Kamilaroi and Turribul (?) mean kangaroo and opossum in the
latter language, and ibbai means Eaglehawk in Wiraidhuri[124]. The
Kamilaroi bundar (=kangaroo) may give us a clue to the meaning of the
Dippil Bundar[125]; the Kiabara Bulcoin has a homophone in the Peechera
tribe, where it means kangaroo; on the Hastings River it means red
wallaby. Balcun however means native bear according to Mathew[126].

If we turn to the eight-class tribes the results are hardly more
striking. The Dieri Pultara, Palyara and Upala[127], are homophones of
the class names which we have seen as alternative forms; but this very
fact makes it certain, or nearly so, that one of the homophones is due
to chance coincidence. Bearing in mind that the Arunta alone have the
form Bulthara, we may perhaps see in the change undergone by the word in
their language the result of attraction, though it must be confessed
that the hypothesis is far-fetched in the case of a non-written
language. On the other hand it tells against the Palyeri=Palyara
equation that the Arunta, who are by far the nearest to the Dieri, use
the form Bulthara. The equation Kanunka=Panunga is not backed by any
evidence that the p-k change is admissible. Finally three of the four
words mentioned seem to be compounded with a suffix; and if this is so
it is clearly useless to equate them with words in which this suffix is
a component part.

One class name only, Ungilla, is found in the Arunta area itself (and
far beyond it, as far as the Gulf of Carpentaria) with the meaning
crow[128]. If we may regard the _j_ and _k_ of the forms jungalla,
kungalla, as a prefix, the equation seems justified; otherwise it seems
an insuperable difficulty that not the original form of the class name,
but the derivative and shortened form is the one to which the equation
applies. Our very defective knowledge of the languages of the
eight-class tribes makes it possible that when we know more of them
other root words may be discovered.