Handbook of Australian Languages: Volume 3 0708112153

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Handbook of Australian Languages Volume 3

edited by R.M.W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake

This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy.

Handbook of Australian Languages Volume 3 Djapu, a Yolngu dialect Yukulta Uradhi Nyawaygi

edited by R.M.W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake

The Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1983

First published in Australia 1983 Printed in Australia for the Australian National University Press, Canberra © 1983 R.M.W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake and the several authors, each in respect of the paper contributed by him; for the full list of the names of such copyright owners and the papers in respect of which they are copyright owners see the Table of Contents in this Volume. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Handbook of Australian languages. Volume 3. Bibliography. ISBN 0 7081 1215 3. [1], I. II.

Aborigines, Australian - Languages. Dixon, R.M.W. (Robert Malcolm Ward), 1939- . Blake, Barry J.

499’. 15

Printed in Australia by M acarth u r Press (Books) Pty Limited, P arram atta

Contents

List of maps

xiv

Contributors ' addresses

xv

Preface xvii Recent publications on Australian languages Abbreviations

xix

xxii

DJAPU, A YOLNGU D I A L E C T by F r a n c e s M o r p h y 1

THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS 1.1 Linguistic type

1

1.2 'Tribal' and language names

2

1.3 Djapu in its linguistic context 1.3.1 The Yolngu language group 1.3.2 Language and dialect 4 1.4 Djapu 1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3 1.4.4 1.4.5

in its social context Dialect and social organisation 5 Avoidance relationships and language Language and ceremony 6 Child language 6 Loan words 7

1.5 Present situation 1.5.1 Recent history 7 1.5.2 The languages today 1.6 Past investigations 1.7 A note on orthography 2

3

6

8

9 12

PHONOLOGY 2.1 The phonemes and their realisations 13 2.1.1 The oral stops 13 2.1.2 The glottal stop 17 2.1.3 The rhotics, laterals, nasals and semivowels 18 2.1.4 The vowels 18 2.1.5 Minimal pairs 20 2.2 Phonotactics 20 2.2.1 Syllable structure 20 2.2.2 Word-initial segments 20 2.2.3 Word-final segments 21 2.2.4 Word-final consonant clusters

22

vi

Contents

2.2.5 Intra-morphemic clusters 22 2.2.6 The glottal stop 24 2.2.7 Stress, vowel length and consonant gemination 25 2.3 Morphophonological processes 26 2.3.1 Deglottalisation 26 2.3.2 Glottal stop insertion 26 2.3.3 Consonant deletion 26 2.3.4 Loss of vowel length 27 2.3.5 Consonant/semivowel alternation 2.3.6 Laminal assimilation 29 2.3.7 Final vowel deletion 29 2.3.8 Degemination 30 2.3.9 Summary 31 3

27

MORPHOLOGY 3.1 Word classes 3.1.1 Form and function 31 3.1.2 Formal word classes 31 3.2 Noun morphology 3.2.1 Noun and adjective 32 3.2.2 Noun classes 32 3.2.3 Case markers - form 34 3.2.4 Case markers - function 36 3.2.5 Derivation of nominals from nominals 44 3.2.6 Derivation of verbs from nominals 46 3.2.7 Number 47 3.2.8 Reduplication 48 3.2.9 Nominal compounding 48 3.3 Post-inflectional clitics - CONTR, IM and PRO

48

3.4 Pronoun morphology 3.4.1 Personal pronouns 51 3.4.2 Intensive pronouns 54 3.4.3 The use of final and non-final forms 54 3.4.4 Interrogative/indefinite pronouns 55 3.4.5 Fillers 56 3.5 Demonstrative morphology 3.5.1 Function 56 3.5.2 Form 56 3.5.3 Non-final forms 58 3.5.4 The suppletive root-forms of the demonstratives 58 3.5.5 Comparison with the case-marking system of nouns 59 3.5.6 Other comments on demonstratives 60 3.5.7 Anaphora 61 3.5.8 Other demonstrative forms 62 3.6 Verb morphology 3.6.1 Transitivity 62 3.6.2 Verbs in the lexicon 63 3.6.3 Conjugation 63 3.6.4 Inflectional affixes - form 65 3.6.5 Verbal inflections - function 69

Contents

vii

3.6.6 Derivational affixes (I) - stem-forming derivations 73 3.6.7 Derivational affixes (II) - derivations which affect transitivity 75 3.6.8 Derivational affixes (III) - derivations which affect word-class 76 3.6.9 Verbal reduplication 78 4

SYNTAX 4.1 Simple sentences 80 4.1.1 The constituents of the noun phrase 82 4.1.2 The verb complex 87 4.1.3 Peripheral extensions of the sentence - (I) syntactic 93 4.1.4 Peripheral extensions of the sentence - (II) local and temporal 100 4.2 Nominal sentences 103 4.2.1 Adjective-predicate sentences 103 4.2.2 Equational sentences 104 4.3 Word-level derivations - (I) nominals from verbs 109 4.4 Word-level derivations - (II) verbs from nominals 110

4.4.1 Inchoative 110 4.4.2 Transitiviser 111 4.4.3 DO 113 4.5 Syntactic processes affecting transitivity - (I) purposive constructions 114 4.6 Syntactic processes affecting transitivity - (II) the reflexive-reciprocal 117 4.7 Syntactic processes affecting transitivity - (III) the causative 121 4.8 Possession 122 4.8.1 Alienable possession (genitive) 123 4.8.2 Inalienable possession 126 4.9 Finite 4.9.1 4.9.2 4.9.3 4.9.4

subordinate clauses 127 Qunh i:THAT clauses 127 q uIa: HYPOTHetical 130 ma’rr: RESULT 130 bili: CAUse 131

4.10 Non-finite subordinate clauses 131 4.10.1 Peripheral subordinate clauses 131 4.10.2 Purposive and infinitive (dative) subordinate clauses 133 4.10.3 Reduced relative clauses 135 4.10.4 Other uses of nominalised verb+ASSOC 138 4.11 Co-ordination 4.11.1 Conjunction 139 4.11.2 Disjunction 139 4.11.3 Apposition 139 4.12 Polar interrogatives

140

viii Contents 4.13 Imperatives 4.13.1 Positive imperatives 4.13.2 Negative imperatives 4.13.3 Hortative 142 4.14 Particles

142

4.15 Reported speech TEXTS

141 142

148

149

VOCABULARY Alphabetical vocabulary 159 Vocabulary by semantic fields LIST OF AFFIXES

170

184

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

187

Y U K U L T A by S a n d r a K e e n 1

THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS 1.1 Linguistic type

191

1.2 Tribal and language names 1.2.1 Yukulta Kangkalita 192 1.2.2 Dialects 192 1.3 Territory and neighbours

193

1.4 Sociolinguistic information 1.5 Present situation 1.6 Past investigations 2

193

194 194

PHONOLOGY 2.1 Phonemes and their realisations 2.1.1 Consonants 194 2.1.2 Vowels 196

194

2.2 Phonotactics 196 2.2.1 Phonemes in word-initial position 2.2.2 Consonant clusters 197 2.3 Stress

196

198

2.4 Morphophonology 2.4.1 Assimilation and reduction rules 198 2.4.2 Complementary distribution of lamino-dentals and palatals 198 3

MORPHOLOGY 3.1 Parts 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4 3.1.5

of speech 199 Nominals 199 Pronominals 200 Verbals 201 Locational Words 202 Time Words 202

Contents

ix

3.1.6 Particles 202 3.1.7 Interjections 202 3.2 Noun morphology 203 3.2.1 The nominal case system 203 3.2.2 Case functions 204 3.2.3 Nominal derivations 208 3.3 Pronoun morphology 3.3.1 Free pronouns 213 3.3.2 Case system on free pronouns 214 3.3.3 Bound pronouns and the pronominal case system 216 3.3.4 Comparison of case systems 217 3.3.5 Number markers on bound pronouns 217 3.3.6 Order of person markers 218 3.4 The clitic complex 219 3.4.1 Realis and irrealis aspect 219 3.4.2 Deletion of the clitic complex 221 3.4.3 The transitivity marker 222 3.4.4 Tense-aspect markers 222 3.5 Verb morphology 222 3.5.1 Transitivity 222 3.5.2 Conjugation 224 3.5.3 Verbal derivations

224

SYNTAX 4.1 Simple sentences 227 4.1.1 The intransitive construction 227 4.1.2 The transitive construction 228 4.1.3 The nominal sentence 228 4.1.4 The minimal verbal sentence 229 4.1.5 Word order 229 4.2 Noun phrases 229 4.2.1 Noun phrases in A function 230 4.2.2 Noun phrases in 0 function 230 4.2.3 Noun phrases in S function 231 4.2.4 Noun phrases in benefactive function 231 4.2.5 Noun phrases in local function 231 4.2.6 Noun phrases in possessive function 232 4.3 Verb phrases 4.3.1 Constituents 232 4.3.2 Verbal modifiers 232 4.4 Word level derivations 4.4.1 Nouns derived from verbs 4.4.2 Verbs derived from nouns 4.4.3 The reciprocal verb 233

233 233

4.5 The anti-passive transformation 234 4.5.1 The semi-transitive sentence 234 4.5.2 Irrealis aspect 234 4.5.3 Negation 235 4.5.4 Irrealis desiderative 235 4.5.5 Subject-object combinations 236 4.5.6 Conditional and dubitative sentences

236

x

Contents 4.6 Negative sentences

237

4.7 Desiderative sentences 238 4.7.1 Realis-desiderative 238 4.7.2 Irrealis-desiderative 239 4.7.3 Negative-desiderative 239 4.8 Imperative sentences 240 4.8.1 Realis imperative 240 4.8.2 Irrealis imperative (hortative) 240 4.8.3 The imperative particle 241 4.8.4 Negative-imperative sentences 241 4.9 Interrogative sentences 4.9.1 Sentences requiring a yes-no response 4.9.2 Information questions 243 4.10 Subordinate clauses 4.10.1 Clauses introduced by a clitic 4.10.2 Complement clauses 245 4.11 Particles and clitics 4.11.1 Particles 248 4.11.2 Clitics 248

241

243

248

4.12 Syntax of discourse 249 4.12.1 Compound sentences formed by juxtaposition 250 4.12.2 Compound sentences formed by addition of a conjunction 251 4.12.3 Complex sentences 251 5

SEMANTIC INTERPRETATIONS

251

5.1 Irrealis aspect and the anti-passive transformation 251 5.1.1 Negation and reduction in realisation potential 252 5.1.2 Irrealis desiderative 252 5.1.3 Distance between persons 252 5.1.4 The anti-passive rule 256 5.2 Deep aspect 257 5.2.1 The scale of realisness 5.2.2 Aspect and time 259

258

5.3 Hierarchies 260 5.3.1 Tense and mood hierarchies 260 5.3.2 Nominal hierarchies 260 5.3.3 The principle of reduction of realisation potential 261 TEXTS

261

VOCABULARY Alphabetical vocabulary 272 Vocabulary by semantic fields ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AUTHOR'S NOTE

304

303

289

xi

Con ten ts

URADHI by T e r r y C r o w l e y 1

THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS 1.1 Linguistic type

307

1.2 Tribal and language names 1.3 Territory and neighbours

308 309

1.4 Sociolinguistic information 311 1.4.1 Totemism and social grouping 311 1.4.2 Material culture 311 1.4.3 Outside cultural influences before European contact 312 1.4.4 Avoidance style 312 1.5 Present situation

314

1.6 Past investigations 2

315

PHONOLOGY 2.1 Phonemes and their realisations

315

2.2 Phonotactics 319 2.2.1 Word-initial possibilities 319 2.2.2 Word-final possibilities 320 2.2.3 Intervocalic consonant clusters 2.3 Stress 322

321

2.4 Morphophonemics 2.4.1 Sandhi and morpheme boundary phenomena 2.4.2 Nasals becoming stops 329 2.4.3 -t- epenthesis 330 2.4.4 -y- deletion 330 2.5 Historical phonology 3

330

MORPHOLOGY 3.1 Parts of speech

333

3.2 Noun morphology 3.2.1 Case inflections 334 3.2.2 Nominal derivations 346 3.3 Pronouns and demonstratives 352 3.3.1 Personal pronouns 352 3.3.2 Demonstratives 357 3.3.3 Interrogatives 357 3.4 Verb morphology 3.4.1 Transitivity 359 3.4.2 Conjugations 359 3.4.3 Inflectional categories 3.4.4 Verbal derivation 364 4

SYNTAX

363

367

4.1 Constituents and constituent order 4.1.1 The simple sentence 368 4.1.2 Noun phrase constituency 371

322

xii

Contents 4.2 Word-level derivations

372

4.3 Processes affecting transitivity 4.3.1 Reflexive 374 4.3.2 Reciprocal 375 4.3.3 False reflexive 376 4.3.4 Causative 376

374

4.4 Possession 376 4.4.1 Alienable possession 376 4.4.2 Inalienable possession 377 4.5 Complex sentences 378 4.5.1 Absolutive-marked subordinate verbs 378 4.5.2 Ablative-marked subordinate verbs 378 4.5.3 Genitive-marked subordinate verbs 379 4.5.4 Dative-marked subordinate verbs 379 4.6 Sentence particles, etc 5

SEMANTICS

382

5.1 Avoidance style

383

5.2 Body-part metaphor TEXTS

380

388

389

VOCABULARY Alphabetical vocabulary 401 Vocabulary by semantic fields

NYAWAYGI 1

by

416

R.M.W. D ixon

THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS 1.1 Linguistic type

431

431

1.2 Tribe, territory, sections 1.3 Surrounding languages

432

434

1.4 Previous work on the language 1.5 Sources for this study 2

PHONOLOGY

435

436

437

2.1 Consonants 438 2.1.1 The [r]-[d] phoneme 439 2.1.2 Phonetic realisations of other consonants 2.2 Vowels

441

2.3 Stress

443

2.4 Phonotactics

443

2.5 Probabilities of occurrence

446

2.6 Phonological and phonetic processes 2.7 Cognation with neighbouring languages

447 448

440

Con ten ts

3

MORPHOLOGY

451

3.1 Nominals 452 3.1.1 Case inflections 452 3.1.2 Stem-forming affixes 457 3.1.3 Interrogative members 460 3.2 Locational qualifiers 3.3 Time qualifiers

461

461

3.4 Pronouns 3.4.1 Personal pronouns 463 3.4.2 Personal pronouns - analysis 3.4.3 Local forms 467 3.5 Verbs 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.3 3.5.4 3.5.5

470 Inflectional paradigm 470 Conjugational analysis 474 Analysis of inflectional forms Meanings of inflections 481 Derivational suffixes 489

3.6 The affix -la 4

SYNTAX

490

490

4.1 Simple sentences 4.1.1 Core and extensions 491 4.1.2 Noun phrase structure 492 4.1.3 Structure of verb complex 492 4.1.4 Minimal sentences 492 4.2 Possession 4.2.1 Possessive phrases 493 4.2.2 'Giving' constructions 495 4.3 Derived sentences 4.3.1 Comitatives 495 4.3.2 Reciprocals 496 4.3.3 Anti-passives 496 4.3.4 Reflexive constructions 4.4 Subordination

497

4.5 Verbalisation 4.5.1 Inchoatives 498 4.5.2 Causatives 499 4.6 Double transitivity 4.7 Particles

502

4.8 Interjections VOCABULARY

500

503

504

Alphabetical vocabulary 504 Vocabulary by semantic fields LIST OF AFFIXES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

524 525

511

497

467

476

xiii

xiv

Contents

Corrigenda to Volumes 1 and 2 References

526

527

L ist of Na p s 1

Australia, showing approximate locations of languages referred to in Preface, and in Recent Publications on Australian languages, and key to Maps 2-5 xvi

2

Yolngu languages and their neighbours

3

Yukulta and its neighbours

4

Uradhi dialects and neighbouring languages

5

Nyawaygi and its neighbours

xxiv

190

430

306

Contributors’ addresses

Barry J. Blake3 Department of Linguistics, Monash Univer­ sity, Clayton, Victoria, 3168

Terry CrowleyJ Department of Language, University of Papua New Guinea, Box 320, University P.O., Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

R.M. W.Dixon, Department of Linguistics, Arts, Australian National University, G.P.O. Box 4, Canberra, A.C.T. 2601

Sandra Keen3 C/- Antanaitis, 29 Eagle Circuit, Kambah A.C.T. 2902

Frances Morphy3 Department of Linguistics, Arts, Austialian National University, G.P.O. Box 4 Canberra A.C.T. 2601

Map 1

xv i

see map 4

see map 2

see map 3 NORTHERN see map 5

TERRITORY

QUEENSLAND WESTERN

____ L ____ _

AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AUSTRALIA NEW

SOUTH

WALES

VICTORIA

1200 km

v

1

A n g u th im ri

6

Mayi languages

11

Y aygir

16

Mara

21

Y in d jib a rn d i

2

G uugu Y im id h irr

7

P itta -p itta

12

M alyangaba

17

Nunggubuyu

22

W a tja rri

3

K uku-Y alandji

8

M argany & Gunya

13

W a ru m u ng u

18

W a rlpiri

23

Y ankuntjatjara

4

Y idin

9

B ägandji

14

M angarayi

19

Djaru

24

D iyari (D iari)

5

D yirbal

10

G um baynggir

15

Ngalakan

20

U n ga rinjin

25

Tasm anian

D h uw al-D h uw a la Djapu G upapuyngu

Y ukulta -------(m ap 3) . (m ap 2)

W argam ay U radhi ------ (m ap 4)

Nyawaygi

f (map 5)

Y olngu

Map 1: Australia, showing approximate locations of languages referred to in Preface, and in Recent Publications on Australian Languages, and key to maps 2 -5

Preface

This is the last of the planned three-volume series of the Handbook. Our aim has been to make available short grammatical sketches of Australian languages, each being written in a standard format, following guidelines provided by the editors, and including sample texts (where available) and vocabulary lists. All volumes are published by the ANU Press in Canberra (for the Australasian market) and by John Benjamins in Amsterdam (covering the rest of the world). The first two volumes have been very well received; indeed Volume 1 is now out of print in its Australian edition, although Benjamins still has copies remaining. While we have no immediate plans for further volumes, we do hope that others may continue to use our style, layout and terminology, in the interests of uniformity. Volume 1 contained an introduction by the editors, dis­ cussing some of the recurrent features of languages across the continent, together with a grammar by John Haviland of Guugu Yimidhirr, a language that is still in active daily use, mainly at Hopevale Mission, North Queensland. The other grammars in Volume 1 - Pitta-pitta by Barry Blake, Gumbayng giv by Diana Eades and Yaygir by Terry Crowley were salvage studies of languages for which only a handful of elderly speakers remain, as were all of those in Volume 2 - Wavgamay by R.M.W.Dixon, the Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimvi by Terry Crowley, Watjarvi by Wilfrid H. Douglas and Margany and Gunya by J.G.Breen. Volume 2 also included an assessment of the available materials on the long-dead lang­ uages of Tasmania, by Terry Crowley and R.M.W.Dixon. This volume begins with Frances Morphy's study of Djapu, a dialect of the Dhuwala-Dhuwal language that belongs to the Yolngu subgroup from eastern Arnhem Land. Yolngu languages are among the most actively spoken in Australia and have an expanding literary tradition. We are pleased to be able to publish the first extended account of the structure of a Yolngu dialect. The other three grammars in the present volume deal, once more, with dying languages. Sandra Keen's (1972) MA thesis on Yukulta has attracted a lot of attention, mainly because of the interesting transitivity and case-marking distinctions in this language (e.g. McConvell 1976). Keen originally revised the thesis for publication by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (at their request) but eventually declined the offer of microfiche publication. She has completely revised and rewritten the grammar once more, to conform to the Handbook format. Terry Crowley's Uradhi describes the language spoken to the north of Anguthimri (see Volume 2), which has undergone considerable phono­ logical changes, although less sweeping than those of

xviii

Preface

Anguthimri. Dixon's Nyawaygi is the final instalment of an areal survey covering languages of the Cairns/Townsville coastal strip - the others are Yidin (Dixon 1977a), Dyirbal (Dixon 1972) and Wargamay (see Volume 2). Nyawaygi has particular comparative interest since, like Guugu Yimidhirr (Volume 1), it retains monosyllabic verb roots in a number of small conjugations that must certainly go back to the proto-Australian stage (see Dixon 1980). Special thanks are due to Val Lyon, who drew the maps for all three volumes; to Rose Butt who checked the manu­ scripts and then proofs for most of the contributions to Volumes 2 and 3, catching many inconsistencies and errors that had escaped the authors; and to Ellalene Seymour who typeset most of Volumes 1 and 2, and the whole of Volume 3.

December 1982

R.M.W.Dixon Barry J.Blake

Recent publications on Australian languages Volume 2 of the Handbook included a list of books on Australian languages currently in print which, in the editors' opinion, contain reliable information. The list below provides an up-date, giving information on books published in 1981 and 1982 and also on forthcoming publications. Publishers are: AIAS - Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, P.0. Box 553, Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601. Distributor for North and South America: Humanities Press Inc., 171 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands, N.J. 07716, U.S.A. Postage extra. CDC - Curriculum Development Centre, Brigalow St., Lyneham, A.C.T., 2602. Postage extra. CUP - Cambridge University Press, P.O. Box 91, Albert Park, Victoria 3206 (and offices in U.K. and U.S.A.) IAD - Institute for Aboriginal Development, P.O. Box 2531, Alice Springs, N.T. 5750. Prices include postage; pay­ ment to accompany order. OLM - Oceania Linguistic Monographs - The Secretary, Oceania Publications, Mackie Building, University of Sydney, Sydney, N.S.W., 2006. Prices include postage; payment to accompany order. PL - Pacific Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, P.O. Box 4, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600. Postage extra. SIL - Summer Institute of Linguistics, Australian Aborigines Branch, P.O., Berrimah, N.T. 5788. Postage extra.

GE N E R A L SURVEYS AND A R E A L STUDIES, ETC Black, P. and Walsh, M. A guide to the languages of Aboriginal Australia, in preparation, AIAS. Blake, B.J. Australian Aboriginal languages: a general introduction, 1981. Angus and Robertson: Sydney. $A4.95 (paper). Holmer, N.M. Linguistic survey of south-eastern Queensland, in preparation, PL. Menning, K. (compiler), Nash, D. (editor). Sourcebook for Central Australian languages (pilot edition); 1981, IAD. $A16. Yallop, C. Australian Aboriginal languages3 1982. Andre Deutsch: London. $A19.50.

G R A M M A R S , D I C T I O N A R I E S , T E X T C O L L E C T I O N S , ETC Austin, P. A grammar of Diyari3 South Australia3 1981, CUP.

XX

Recent publications on Australian languages

Austin, P., Hercus, L.A. and Wurm, S.A. Basic materials in Malyangaba: grammar, sentences and vocabulary , in prepar­ ation, PL. Breen, J.G. The Mayi languages of the Queensland gulf country, 1981, AIAS. $A9.50. -- 'Margany and Gunya', in Handbook of Australian languages, Volume 2. Capell, A. and Coate, H.H.J. Comparative studies in Northern Kimberley languages, Australia, in preparation, PL. Crowley, T. 'The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri ' in Handbook of Australian languages, Volume 2. Crowley, T. and Dixon, R.M.W. 'Tasmanian' in Handbook of Australian languages, Volume 2. Dawson, J. Australian Aborigines: the language and customs of several tribes of Aborigines in the western district of Victoria [facsimile reprint of 1881 edition, with original colour plates reproduced in black and white; and introduction by J. Critchett], 1981, AIAS. $A16.50. Dixon, R.M.W. 'Wargamay', in Handbook of Australian Languages, Volume 2. Dixon, R.M.W. and Blake, B.J. (editors). Handbook of Australian languages, Volume 2. ANU Press, Canberra $A18.95 (in Australia); John Benjamins, Amsterdam Hfl 100 (in rest of world). Douglas, W.H. 'Watjarri', in Handbook of Australian languages, Volume 2. Evans, N. A learner's guide to Warumungu, 1982, IAD. $A8. Goddard, C. A learner's guide to Yankuntjatjara, 1981, IAD. $A6. Heath, J. Nunggubuyu myths and ethnographic texts, 1981, AIAS. $A13.95. -- Basic materials in Mara: grammar, texts and dictionary , 1981, PL. $A37.50. -- Nunggubuyu dictionary , 1982, AIAS. $A10.45. Heath, J., Merlan, F. and Rumsey, A. (editors). The languages of kinship in Aboriginal Australia, 1982, OLM. $A10. Hercus, L.A. The Bagandji language, in preparation, PL. -- The languages of Victoria: a late survey, revised edition in preparation, PL. Hercus, L.A. and Sutton, P. This is what happened [texts in Australian languages], in preparation, AIAS. Hershberger, H. and R. (compilers) Kuku-Yalanji dictionary , 1982, SIL. $A7.25. Merlan, F. Mangarayi (Lingua descriptive series), 1982. North Holland: Amsterdam. Hfl 60, $US24. -- Ngalakan grammar, texts and vocabulary , in preparation, PL. Reuther, J.G. The Diari, translated by P.A.Scherer, micro­ fiche, 1981, AIAS. $A39.70. [includes Vol 5, Three Central Australian grammars - Diari, Jandruwanta, Wonkanjuru, by J.G.Reuther, translated by T .Schwarszchild and L.A.Hercus, edited by L.A.Hercus and J.G.Breen. Additional notes on Diari by P.Austin. ] Rumsey, A. An intra-sentence grammar of Ungaringin, north Western Australia, in preparation, PL. $A12.50. Swartz, S. (editor) Papers in Warlpiri grammar: in memory

Recent publications in Australian languages

xxi

of Lothar Jagst, 1982, SIL. $A7.50 [By Lothar Jagst, S.M.Swartz, M. Laughren, D. Nash, K. Hale.] Tsunoda, T. The Djaru language of Kimberley, Western Australia, 1981, PL. $A19. Wafer, J. and Koch, H. A simple sketch of the Kaititj (Kayteji) language, IAD. $A3. Wordick, F. The Yindjibarndi language, 1982. PL. $A28.50.

LANG U A G E LEARNING COURSES Sandefur, John R. and Joy L. An introduction to conversat­ ional Kriol (includes 6 cassette tapes), 1981, SIL. $A24. Williams, D. Learning an Aboriginal language [Gupapuyou], 1981, CDC. $A48. (Component parts can be purchased separately: student text $A21.70; teachers' handbook $A4.50; five audio cassettes $A28.) The Australian Journal of Linguistics is now publishing an annual bibliography of all books, papers and longer reviews on Australian languages. The 1981 bibliography appears in the December 1982 issue of AJL. The annual subscription to AJL is $A25, and should be sent to the editor: Dr R. D. Huddleston, Department of English, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia.

Abbreviations

transitive

A

s u bject

AVERS

(function) a b l a t i v e (case) a b s o l u t i v e (case) a c c u s a t i v e (case) adj e c t i v e a d v e r s a t i v e (particle) a g r e e m e n t (particle) a l l a t i v e (case) a n a p h o r i c (clitic) a n t i - p a s s i v e (verb affix) a s s o c i a t i v e (case; d e r i v a t i o n a l affix) a v e r s i v e (case)

BEN

benefactive

CAU CAUS

c a u s a l (case) causative (derivational

ABL A BS ACC ADJ A D V ER AGR ALL ANAPH ANTIPASS ASSOC

COM, COMP CONT CONTR

affix) COMIT comitative affix complement continuous contrastive (clitic)

emphasis

d a t i v e (case) desiderative d e i c t i c /interrogative (verb) distributive d i t r a n s i t i v e (verb) d e l o c u t i v e (affix)

DAT D ES -D/I DIST DITR DO DU,

(case)

du

dual

ERG E X C , exc

e r g a t i v e (case) e x c l u s i v e (pronoun)

FUT

future

GEN

genitive

H HABIT HERE HORT HYPOTH

hearer habitual locational hortative hypothetical (determiner)

IM IMP INC, inc INCHO IND INDEF INHAB

i m m e d i a c y (clitic) imperative i n c l u s i v e (pronoun) inchoative indicative

Irr IRREAL

irregular

K IN KINDY

kinship kinship dyadic ( d e r i v a t i o n a l affix) kinship proprietive ( d e r i v a t i o n a l affix)

indefinite i n h a b i t a n t of, doer of ( d e r i v a t i o n a l affix) INST, I N S T R i n s t r u m e n t a l (case) intensive INTENS interjection INTERJ interrogative INTERR i n t r a n s i t i v e (verb) I NTR i n d i r e c t o b j e c t (function) 10

KINPROP

(verb)

irre a l i s

LOC

locative

(case)

M O ICO L L

moiety collective ( d e r i v a t i o n a l affix)

negative n o n - i n f l e c t i n g (verb) NOMLSR nominaliser nominative (case); nominal NON-INDIC non-indicative n o u n p h rase NP non-singular nsg

NEG -NI NMLSR, NOM

0 tense OBJ OBL OBLS OR PART PE R PERF

t r a n s i t i v e o b ject (function) obj ective o b l i q u e (case) oblique stem o r i g i n a t o r (case) p a r t i c i p i a l com p l e mentiser p e r l a t i v e (case) perfective

(aspect)

Abbreviations

PL, pi POT PRES PRIV PRO PROP PURP

plural potential (verb inflection) present tense privative (nominal affix) prominence (clitic) proprietive (derivational affix) purposive (inflection)

QUANT

quantity (derivational affix)

REAL REC PAST RECIP REDUP REFL

realis recent past reciprocal reduplicated reflexive

S

intransitive subject (function) speaker

S

xxiii

SEMITR SEQU SG,sg STAT

semi-transitive (verb) sequential singular stative

TEMP TR TRVSR

temporal (case) transitive transitiviser

UNM

unmarked (inflection)

VBLSR Vi Vm VOC Vtr

verbaliser intransitive verb middle verb vocative transitive verb

1 2 3

first person second person third person

The Yukulta grammar follows conventions established in the Guugu Yimidhirr grammar (Volume 1) with juncture marks: - morpheme boundary where morphemes can be easily segmented + morphemes combined into portmanteaux or not easily segmented

x x iv

Map 2

G( j / J

(/

H

1

Melville

\

0

^

r^S \N h u lu n b u y

A

't ß Ü

Arnhem

\ rk

Ngangalala

M irrngatja

iGangan

• W andawuy

/

GULF

^Baniyala 'D jarrakp i

Approximate boundary of Yolngu language group

CARPENTARIA \

^

NGANDI

I

NUNGGUBUYU Eylandt

Map 2:

Yolngu Languages and their Neighbours

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect by Frances Morphy

L 1.1

THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS LINGUISTIC TYPE

Djapu [Djapu'] is a dialect of one of the Yo Iqu langu­ ages of North-east Arnhem Land. Yo I qu languages belong to the Pama-NyuQan typological group of Australian languages, but are isolated from other members of this group by an intervening group of prefixing languages. The languages on the outer fringes of the Yo Iqu group have been influenced to some extent by their prefixing neighbours (see for example Heath:1978a), but the majority of Yo I qu languages are enti­ rely suffixing, and their morphology is agglutinative in character. Djapu, which is a dialect of the Dhuwala-DhuwalDha'yi language, is of this type. Djapu has 19 consonant phonemes. There are six stops and six nasals: two laminal, two apical and two peripheral (bilabial and velar). In addition there is a contrast in certain word-medial environments between an apico-domal stop /t/ and an apico-domal flap /_d/. There are two apical later­ als; and two rhotics: an alveolar trill /rr/ and a retroflex continuant /r/. The two semi-vowels are /y/ and /w/. Djapu has a typically Australian three vowel system, with a sig­ nificant length contrast just in the first syllable of a word. There is also a glottal stop, but there are good reasons for considering it not as a segmental phoneme, but as a prosodic feature of the syllable (see 2.1.2). Djapu words must begin with a consonant, and may end in either a vowel or a consonant. Words may consist of one or more syllables. Stress is predictable, with primary stress occurring on the first syllable of a word. The following word classes occur in Djapu: personal and interrogative pronouns, demonstratives (which may also function as determiners to nouns), nominals (including tem­ poral and locational qualifiers), verbs, grammatical parti-

2

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

cles (including adverbs as a sub-class), and interjections. Demonstratives show a three-way deictic distinction be­ tween this/here, that/there and yon/yonder. There is also a fourth form which is used when an object or place referr­ ed to in a speech act is not present in the real-world con­ text of that speech act (see 3.5). Personal pronouns distinguish singular, dual and plural number in the first and third persons but only singular and non-singular in the second person. There is an inclusiveexclusive distinction for the non-singular first person pro­ nouns. There are no bound-form (clitic or affixal) pronouns. Personal pronouns have a nominative-accusative paradigm, while interrogative pronouns and determiners inflect on an ergative-absolutive pattern. The case system of the nominals shows a split between human and higher animate (+HU) and lower animate or inani­ mate (-HU) nominals. For higher animate nominals transitive subject (A), intransitive subject (S) and transitive object (0) are separately marked. Lower animate/inanimate nominals have an ergative-absolutive pattern of inflection. The vast majority of Djapu verbs are grouped into four major conjugations. Each conjugation may be divided into sub-conjugations on the basis of slight differences in the forms of inflections. In two of the conjugations transitive verbs predominate, while in the other two intransitive verbs predominate, although one of these latter two has a more mixed membership than any of the others. In addition there is a separate small class of interrogative and deictic verbs, and two irregular verbs bu- 'hit' and Qa- 'hear, listen to '. 1.2

'TRIBAL' AND LANGUAGE NAMES

The Yo I qu themselves have no name for the YolQU-speaking people as a whole. Moreover, since there are no named, bounded territorial units larger than the patrilineal clan, any name for the group as a whole must be an arbitrary one. There are four names by which the Y o I qu are known in the anthropological literature. These are: (i) Muimgin. This term was first used by Warner (1937) to designate the Y o I qu and some neighbouring groups such as the Burarra. The etymology of the term is unclear: it may be, as Schebeck (1968a:38) and Peterson (Tindale 1974:141) suggest, the word murrQiny 'shovel-nose spear'. (ii) Wulamba. According to R.M.Berndt (1955:84) this term was applied to the Djapu people by other Yo I q u . Berndt himself uses it as a label for all YolQU-speaking people. (iii) Miwuijt. Shapiro (1969) was the first to use this label. It is probably derived from miwatj 'east(erner)'. (iv) Yolngu. (and variant spellings, e.g. Yuulngu). This term was first used by Schebeck in the 1960's, and is now in general use among contemporary workers in North-east Arnhem Land. The word means 'Aboriginal person' in nearly all Yo I qu languages (DjinaQ has a variant, yol). Like all

1.2

’Tribal ' and language names

3

the others Y o I q u is an arbitrary term for the language group and its speakers, since it is used often to refer to all Aboriginal people. 1.3

DJAPU IN ITS LINGUISTIC CONTEXT

1.3.1 THE YOLNGU LANGUAGE GROUP. The homelands of the YolQU-speaking people stretch from the Goyder River in the west to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the east, and from the Wessel Islands in the north to Blue Mud Bay. Schebeck (1968a,b), in his pioneering comparative studies of the Y o I q u language area, divided Y o I q u into nine dialect groups, each named after its respective term for the demonstrative 'this/here'. This is one of the ways in which the Y o I q u themselves classify Y o I q u dialects (see Schebeck 1968a:8ff). These groups were as follows: Dhuwala Dhuwal Dha'yi

NhaQu DhaQu DjaQu

Dhiyakuy DjinaQ Djinba

In a recent paper Zorc (1978) has reclassified some of these groups, basing his analysis on a comparison of grammatical morphemes, or 'functors' as he terms them. His results are as follows: Group Group Group Group

1: 2: 3: 4:

Dhuwal,Dhuwala and Dha'yi Ritharrpu(Dhiyakuy) DhaQu Nhapu

Three of Schebeck's dialect groups are not considered by Zorc. DjaQu should be grouped with DhaQu in the same way that Dhuwal, Dhuwala and Dha'yi are grouped together (Zorc and Schebeck personal communication). The status of Djinba is not known at present, but DjinaQ dialects are sufficient­ ly different from those of the other groups to qualify as a separate, fifth group. Neither Schebeck nor Zorc uses the term 'language' to describe the dialect groups that they isolate. In one sense they are right to avoid the term: the most usual linguistic definition of a language, that each 'dialect' should be mut­ ually unintelligible with surrounding 'dialects', is hard to apply in the Y o I q u area. Most Y o I q u people are multi-dia­ lectal, at least in terms of passive knowledge. It is there­ fore not possible to make judgements about mutual intelligi­ bility between what are, in fact, closely related language varieties,on the basis of speakers' intuitions. The one exception to this rule is DjinaQ, which is felt by Dhuwal speakers at Yirrkala at least, to be a foreign language (see Text 2:29). I have chosen to use the term 'language' as an equiva­ lent to the term 'group' as used by Zorc purely because it is a less cumbersome term than 'dialect group'. Moreover the word 'group' is needed in the term 'Yo I q u language group', as a cover term for all Y o I q u dialects, and in the term 'sub-group', given that it will be possible at some

4

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

stage to subgroup the languages within the Y o I qu group (see below). In this grammar, therefore, the term 'language' refers to a group of dialects which, in addition to sharing a high percentage of cognate vocabulary, also share a high percentage of identical or closely cognate forms for their grammatical morphemes. It is not possible, given the present state of knowl­ edge, to subgroup these languages definitively. The geo­ graphically central groups (Zorc's groups 1, 3 and 4 and Djaou) have been less influenced than the marginal languages by the surrounding prefixing languages, and therefore they preserve more of the prototypical features of Y o I qu morpho­ logy and syntax. But this does not mean that they are re­ lated together as a subgroup, in contrast to the marginal languages. Indeed the result of Zorc's functor count seems to suggest that Group 1 (Dhuwala-Dhuwal-Dha'yi) is more closely related to RitharrQu, a marginal language, than it is to the other central languages. Heath (1978a) provides a detailed analysis of the in­ fluences that RitharrQu and its southern prefixing neigh­ bours have had upon one another. Among other things RitharrQu has developed a set of bound pronouns, which is a non-YolQU feature. The inclusion of DjinaQ within the language group is provisional at this stage, but work on this language being undertaken at present by Bruce Waters should soon clarify its status. It has undergone quite dramatic phonological changes which differentiate it from the rest of the group. DjinaQ has no lamino-dental series of stops and nasals (and thus resembles more closely languages to the west, such as RembarrQa), and its vowel system has also undergone changes which need investigation. It may be developing bound pro­ nominal prefixes, under influence from the west. There is a reduced system of case marking on nominals (Waters per­ sonal communication). 1.3.2 LANGUAGE AND DIALECT. The Dhuwala-Dhuwal-Dha'yi language, of which Djapu is a dialect, may be divided into two major subgroups: D h a 'yi and Dhuwala-Dhuwal. The diff­ erences between them have not been systematically investi­ gated, but it would seem that they are minor and that all dialects of the language are mutually intelligible. The Dhuwala/Dhuwal distinction is sociolectal rather than dialectal, and will be discussed in 1.4. Within the Dhuwala/Dhuwal subgroup there are differences which appear to be dialectal, but these cross-cut the Dhuwala/Dhuwal distinction. Thus Gumatj, a Dhuwala variety spoken in the eastern part of the area, is more similar in many respects to Djapu, a Dhuwal variety spoken in the east, than it is to GupapuyQU, a Dhuwala variety spoken in the west. Some of the features which distinguish GupapuyQU from Djapu and Gumatj will be examined in some detail in later chapters. Djapu is a Dhuwal dialect of eastern Dhuwala-Dhuwal. At present it is not possible to state with any precision how different Djapu is from other dialects of the group, nor indeed to say how many dialects there are (or were) in the group. Research on this matter is complicated by the

1.3

Djapu in its linguistic context

5

fact that speakers of these dialects were drawn into the settlement of Yirrkala from the time of its establishment in 1935, and have been living in close proximity since then. Although certain dialect differences are consciously per­ ceived and maintained, many other differences, particularly in vocabulary, have probably disappeared. 1.4

DJAPU IN ITS SOCIAL CONTEXT

1.4.1 DIALECT AND SOCIAL ORGANISATION. Two levels of soc­ ial distinction, which are of importance in both the lingu­ ist's and the speaker's perception of linguistic differences, are moiety and clan. The whole Yolpu-speaking area is divided into two exogamous patrilineal moieties called Dhuwa and Yirritja. When discussing linguistic variation, Y o I qu attribute it at one level to the moiety division. With respect to Dhuwal and Dhuwala at least this division is reflected in linguistic reality. All Dhuwala speakers belong to the Yirritja moiety, and all Dhuwal speakers to the Dhuwa moiety. The phonologi­ cal rule which produces the Dhuwala/Dhuwal contrast is dis­ cussed in 2.3.7, and 3.2.3 (see also Morphy 1977). Thus 'Dhuwala' and 'Dhuwal' are not geographically based dialects of the same language: together they constitute a dialect group with two socially conditioned variants. Geographically-based dialectal variation cross-cuts the Dhuwaia-Dhuwal distinct ion. Each moiety is further subdivided into a set of patri­ lineal clans which are the land-owning units of the society. Each clan is said by the Y o I qu to have its own language. Thus the language of the Djapu is Dj a p u d h ä r u k , that of the Mapgalili clan is Mapga I i I i d h ä r u k and so on ( d h ä r u k means 'word' or 'language'). Although in social terms these 'languages' are thought of as being distinct from one ano­ ther, in purely linguistic terms this level of segmentation is over-precise. There is, for example, no discernable difference between Dj apu d h ä r u k and M a r r a k u l u d h ä r u k (the langu­ age of the Marrakulu clan whose traditional territory is very close to that of the Djapu) except in its esoteric vocabulary (see 1.4.3). Djapu and Marrakulu clan members will sometimes acknowledge this, saying that their d h ä r u k is 'the same'. However, there is no overall name for the Djapu-Marraku I u dhäruk.

Since the moieties and hence the clans are exogamous, local groups - consisting typically of a group of related men and their wives and children - will always contain speakers of several clan d h ä r u k . Children start off by speaking their mother's d h ä r u k , but are expected to switch to their father's by early adulthood. The majority of marriages take place between members of geographically proximate clans. Given these two factors it is not surpris­ ing that dialect variation within a language, such as that between East and West Dhuwaia-Dhuwal, can be correlated with the spatial distribution of groups of intermarrying clans. However within such a group of clans there is a conscious effort made by speakers of different clan d h ä r u k to maintain

6

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

the slight variations which make each one unique. In the Dhuwala-Dhuwal dialect group, the distinction between the dha’ r u k of the two moieties has also become institutionalised, and is today consciously maintained. Text 2 is a detailed discussion of language variation in the area from the per­ spective of a speaker of Djapu. 1.4.2 AVOIDANCE RELATIONSHIPS AND LANGUAGE. Although in Yo I qu society there are categories of kin who have an avoid­ ance relationship, there has been no development of an av­ oidance language. A man and his real or classificatory mother-in-law (mukul r u m a r u ) must never directly address one another, nor look at one another. In other, less extreme avoidance relationships such as that between a woman and her son-in-law's sister, the use of proper names must be avoided, both in addressing and in referring to that person. When addressing a rumaru (avoidance) relation, people some­ times use the second person non-singular pronoun nhuma instead of the second person singular. 1.4.3 LANGUAGE AND CEREMONY. There is no clearly separable ceremonial language in the Yo I qu area. Y o I qu languages tend to have several words for a particular object or action, all of which are said to have 'the same meaning'. For ex­ ample 'white cockatoo' may be translated as Qerrk, J o r r p u , dangi or one of half a dozen other words. One or two of these words will be in everyday use, as Qerrk is today: others will occur both in everyday and ceremonial contexts such as songs, as J o r r p u does; yet others occur mainly in ceremonial contexts, as dangi does. There is thus a continu­ um from everyday names to 'big names' ( y i n d i y ä k u ) . The latter have esoteric references which may be known (overtly at least) only to initiated men. The Yo I qu follow the common Australian practice of avoiding the use of words which sound like the names of recently dead people. In such cases the substitute word in everyday speech is often a word that was previously used more often in ceremonial contexts. 1.4.4 CHILD LANGUAGE. There exists at Yirrkala a welldefined baby talk style. Although I have not systematically investigated this speech style, it has some interesting features that are worth mentioning. There is a simplifi­ cation of the adult language phoneme inventory whereby laterals are replaced by /y /, and / r / (the retroflex con­ tinuant) by /n / or /y /; dhuwal a 'this/here' becomes dhuwaya and mär i 'mother's mother' becomes mäni or mä y i , for example. There are also vowel-initial words in baby talk whereas there are none in adult speech; examples include amala 'mummy' and a pa t i 'white person'. Bernhard Schebeck (personal communication) points out that the baby talk style is distinct from another speech variant known at Yirrkala as Baby Gumatj. This somewhat disparaging label refers to a variant of Dhuwala which has become a lingua franca among younger Yo I qu speakers who have grown up at Yirrkala. Older people generally deplore its use, and express the hope that if the young can be per­ suaded to spend more time at the smaller outstation settle-

1.4

Djapu in its sociaZ context

7

meats they will revert to the use of their own clan dial­ ects. Baby Gumatj has not yet been systematically investi­ gated by any linguist. 1.4.5 LOAN WORDS. For at least one hundred years, and possibly much longer, YolQu-speaking people had regular contact with speakers of Austronesian languages, particular­ ly Makassarese. These people came every year to the northern coast of Australia to collect trepang (see Macknight 1976 ior details). Regular contact between Makassans and Abori­ gines ceased in the early years of the twentieth century. The presence of Austronesian loan words in Aboriginal lang­ uages of the Top End has been recognized for some time. In a lecent paper, Walker and Zorc (1981) make a systematic attempt to identify Austronesian loan words in Y o I qu lang­ uages, and have compiled a list of around 250 words which are probably or possibly Austronesian in origin. About 100 of these are almost certainly Makassarese. The extensive nature of this borrowing has not previously been described in detail, and it raises interesting and as yet unexamined questions about the possible influence of Austronesian (particularly Makassan) phonological systems on those of the northern Australian languages. In more recent years contact with English-speaking Australians has led to the borrowing of words from English. As might be expected, loans from English are generally words which refer to items introduced by European Australians (for example m u t i k a ' 'vehicle' and d h i l i p 'tea' [loan from ’tealeaf j). There are also cases of English words being borrow­ ed as synonyms for already existing Y o I qu words, for example hunt i n g - III, 'hunt ing-ALL ’ is frequently found as an alter­ native to m e n g u -nh a - I i | 'hunt-NMLSR-ALL '. 1.5

PRESENT SITUATION

1.5.1 RECENT HISTORY. There are at present around three thousand speakers of Y o I qu languages. Since soon after con­ tact with Europeans they have been concentrated at three Methodist (now Uniting Church) missions on the coast of North-east Arnhem Land. The first of these to be established was Milingimbi, in the early 1920s. Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island) and Yirrkala were established within the following two decades. There are also a few Y o I qu speakers at settle­ ments further to the south such as Ngukurr (Roper River), Numbulwar (Rose River), Bamyili and Beswick, and to the west at Maningrida. Recently the people have been returning to small sett­ lements on their own clan territories called ’homeland centres' (or 'outstations'). Some people never became per­ manent residents at the mission stations; one group of Djapu people had remained more or less continuously in the Caledon Bay area. In the last two years a Djapu homeland centre has been set up on the clan's own territory at Wandawuy, inland from Trial Bay. The reasons for the homeland centre movement, which is not restricted to the Yirrkala area alone, are complex and

8

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

cannot be discussed in detail here. In the Yirrkala area there were some purely local factors which hastened the development of the movement, the most important of which was the establishment of Nhulunbuy, a mining town some fifteen miles away from the settlement. A large portion of Crown Land surrounding Yirrkala was leased by the Federal Government to a multinational company, Nabalco, for the mining of bauxite. Y o I qu resistance to this development culminated in what is popularly known as the 'Gove Land Rights Case', in which Mr Justice Blackburn gave his now famous ruling that the Aborigines could not prevent the establishment of the mine because they could not claim rights of ownership over the land under Australian Law as it was then constituted. They also found that they could not prevent the sale of alcohol in the mining township. The Yirrkala homeland centre movement is in part a response to this situation. There is a desire to get away from the mining township, and in particular to get away from alcohol and its attendant social problems. More posi­ tively, there is the wish to assert to Europeans that the clan lands are not 'empty wilderness', but are a vital resource for the people which is being fully utilised. People have realised that in European eyes use of land is at least part-proof of its ownership. Underlying all these factors is another, perhaps the most important. Many Y o I qu have never been fully satisfied with life on a large settle­ ment, where there are social tensions arising from living in close proximity to other groups, and where people do not have full control over their own lives. The homeland centre movement offers a possible solution to both of these pro­ blems . The movement was facilitated by the election in 1972 of a Labor government which was sympathetic to the Aborigines' desires and provided encouragement, both verbally and fin­ ancially. The movement gathered force during the Whitlam era. Also during this time, the Uniting Church in North Australia began to hand over control of their mission settlements to the Aboriginal Town Councils and Progress Associations. Yirrkala is now administered by the Dhanbul Association, consisting of and run entirely by the Yo I qu themselves. The Dhanbul Association also administers the royalties paid to the community by Nabalco. 1.5.2 THE LANGUAGES TODAY. Yolnu languages are still first languages for the vast majority of people in the Y o I q u speaking area, and there is no indication that they will be replaced by English in the near future. Three of the settlements at which Y o I qu predominate have bilingual edu­ cation programmes at primary level. When these were first started, just one dialect from each area was selected for the programme. At Yirrkala it was Gumatj, the dialect of three Yirritja clans in the area. At present there is a desire to introduce more dialects into the programme, parti­ cularly for use in non-Gumatj homeland centre schools, and reading material in Djapu is now being produced. Thus, not only are Yo I qu languages still being spoken, but there is also an increasing number of people who are

1.3 Present situation

9

literate in Yo I qu languages. The next important step is for adult literature to be produced. At Yirrkala this is be­ ginning: there is a weekly YolQu-language newspaper, Yutana Dhäwu, which is produced by the Yirrkala Community School Adult Education Section. 1.6

PAST INVESTIGATIONS

The earliest known vocabulary from the YolQU-speaking area appears in the notebook of Robert Brown, ship’s surgeon on Flinders' Investigator. On February 4th 1803 the ship was in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where Brown collected a vocabulary list of just over ninety words (now in the Libr­ ary at Kew Gardens). A shorter list of 50 words taken from Brown's notes was published by Flinders (1814, 11:215) in his account of the voyage. Brown’s handwriting is difficult to interpret, and portions of the vocabulary are indeciph­ erable. Of the 58 readable items, 35 are definitely words still in use today, while another 10 are less successful attempts at transcription, but may also be words still in use. As always in short encounters between speakers of different languages, there are misunderstandings, some of them amusing. Brown appears to have elicited nouns by the common device of pointing. When he pointed to a part of the female anatomy which he designates 1cunnus’ he got the reply ’yacca’ (yaka), meaning ’n o ’. While most body-part terms seem to have remained constant over time, there are interesting changes in other parts of the vocabulary. The terms given for ’sun’ (larangai), ’moon’ (kullega or kullga) and star (pirnie) are all quite different from the words in use today. As far as is known, no systematic study of Y o I qu lang­ uages was made for 150 years after Flinders’ expedition. Then, in the early 1950s, Beulah Lowe arrived at Milingimbi, in the western part of the area, to teach in the school. She stayed for some twenty years during which time she did a great deal of linguistic work, particularly on GupapuyQU which is the predominant Dhuwala dialect on the nearby mainland. Her ’Gupapuyou Alphabet and Pronunciation Notes' together with her duplicated 'Gupapuyou Grammar' was the first detailed account of a Y o I qu dialect. It is essentia­ lly a pedagogic grammar, aimed at the layman who wants to learn the language. The treatment of GupapuyQU morphology is systematic and comprehensive. The sections on syntax are less comprehensive, but nevertheless do outline the main clause types of the language. More recently Milingimbi school has compiled a GupapuyQu-English dictionary based on Beulah Lowe's notes, incorporating notes left at Milingimbi by Rev. Ellemore and Dr. Churchward (B. Lowe personal communication); it contains over 4000 entries. This is also unpublished, and the compilers stress that it is a temporary dictionary only, since many items need rechecking. Nevertheless, it is a very valuable reference work for any student of Y o I qu lang­ uages .

10

Djapu3 a Yolngu dialect

One of the earliest published works on a Y o I qu language is 'Notes on the language of the Elcho Island Aborigines' by the Rev. J.C.Jennison (1927). He discusses the presence of loan words from Malay languages, and follows this with a vocabulary of nearly 900 words in Dhuwala-Dhuwal, which he calls Kokalango. This paper predates Lowe's work on the phonology of Gupapuyou, and Jennison's orthography is under­ differentiated: neither long vowels nor the lamino-dental stops and nasals are represented consistently. The retroflexed sounds are noticed and represented by the combina­ tions r n and r d . There are occasional insertions of non­ existent vowels into consonant clusters beginning with r r : for example m a r r t j i 'go' is given as 'maritji'. There are also some mistranslations, for example 'tiako' ( d h i y a - k u ) 'this-GEN' is translated as 'belong'. At Yirrkala the linguists attached to the Church and the Department of Education focussed initially on Gumatj. The main concerns have been bilingual and adult education programmes, and Bible translation. There is thus quite an extensive body of literature in Gumatj, but as yet no pub­ lished grammar. Joyce Ross has produced a partial pedagog­ ic grammar, and is also preparing a paper for publication on the clitics - n y d j a and - n a . More recently the Literature Production Centre of the Northern Territory Department of Education at Yirrkala has published some literature in Djapu. The Education Department has also started diction­ ary and/or wordlist projects in Djambarrpuyq u , Gupapuyqu and DhalwaQU (Dha'yi) (Walker personal communication). Alan Walker, the Regional Linguist for the Northern Terri­ tory Department of Education has been working since 1979 on Dha/Lwaou phonology. The first non-missionary linguist to work in the area was Bernhard Schebeck, who made his initial field trip in 1964-5, visiting all the major settlements in the Y o I qu area, including Ngukurr and Numbulwar. The results of his re­ search are to be found in two long, unpublished documents 'Final Report on linguistic fieldwork..' and 'Dialect and social groupings in North East Arnhem Land', copies of which are lodged at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. The first of these is a comparative survey of Y o I qu 'dialect groups', the second a discussion of the relationship between language and social organisation which throws a great deal of light on the hitherto confusing anthropological litera­ ture on the area. On his subsequent visits to Yirrkala, Schebeck concen­ trated mainly on RirratjiQU, a DhaQU dialect, and has pub­ lished several papers on aspects of syntax, but no complete grammar has appeared as yet. The 1970s and early 1980s saw an increase in the number of linguists working on Y o I qu languages, and a quantity of published material is accumulating. Jeffrey Heath (1978a), who worked mainly in the Numbulwar area, has published a study of the effects that RitharrQU and its prefixing neigh­ bours have had on one another. He has also published a grammar and several papers on RitharrQU. His grammar of two Dhuwal dialects (1980b) is less detailed, and is mainly intended as an aid to interpreting the considerable body of

1.6

Past investigations

11

texts which accompany it. lie calls one of the dialects Djapu, and since it differs in several respects from the dialect described in this grammar, a word of explanation is in order. There are, in fact, two Djapu clans. The larger is the Gupa ('Nape') Djapu, whose dialect is described here. The other is the Dhudi ('Bottom') Djapu, a small clan whose territory lies to the south-west of Gupa Djapu lands. The dialect described by Heath resembles the dialect of the one Dhudi Djapu speaker with whom I worked. It would, however, be premature to state that there are therefore two slightly different Djapu dialects. Both Heath's and my Dhudi Djapu consultants have spent many years at Numbulwar, well to the south of traditional Djapu territory. What appear at first sight to be clan-based dialect differences may turn out, with further research, to be the result of divergent devel­ opment at the two settlements, Yirrkala and Numbulwar, from a single original dialect. My own data was collected during two field trips to Yirrkala in 1974-5 and 1976. Bruce Waters of the Summer Institute of Linguistics has recently started work on DjinaQ. He has published on verb morphology, and phonology (Waters 1979). Michael Christie worked on Gupapuyou (at Milingimbi), and has an as yet un­ published paper on discourse in Gupapuyou. Beulah Lowe has also recently undertaken an analysis of different types of discourse using a tagmemic framework; this also remains unpublished. John Rudder, working at Galiwin'ku, published 'An introduction to Y o I qu science' (1977). He discusses the semantics of Y o I qu taxonomic categories, and gives a detail­ ed listing of flora and fauna names in Djambarrpuyqu with their Western scientific equivalents. Rudder is at present working on other aspects of Djambarrpuyqu semantics for his M.A. thesis at the Australian National University. Finally, there is Zorc's paper on functor analysis (mentioned previously), and two papers by Ray Wood on Gälpu (DhaQu) phonology. In the earlier paper (Wood, 1977), he adopts a geminate solution to the problem of the contrast between two series of stops. In his second, much more detailed treatment of the phonology (1978) he opts for a contrast between lenis and fortis stops. This problem is discussed in Chapter 2. The anthropological literature on the Y o I qu area, both ethnographic and theoretical, is vast. At least eleven anthropologists have worked in the region, starting with W.L.Warner in the 1920s, who worked mainly in the area of the newly established settlement at Milingimbi. The next decade saw the arrival of Donald Thomson, who worked at Milingimbi and Caledon Bay between 1935 and 1944. R.M. and C.H.Berndt began their long association with the Y o I qu in the 1940s, working mainly in the Yirrkala area. The next period of intensive investigation began in the 1960s with N.Peterson, whose main fieldwork was with RitharrQU speakers at MirrQatja outstation, and W. Shapiro, who did his field work in Elcho Island (Galiwin'ku). They were followed in the late 60s and early 70s by D.Biernoff and N. White who worked mainly with Madarrpa people to the south of Yirrkala, and N. Williams at Yirrkala itself.

12

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

A. Borsboom was also working with Djinap speakers at this time. The most recent group of anthropologists to work in the area, all in the mid-1970s, are H. Morphy and J. Reid at Yirrkala, and I. Keen at Milingimbi and Ngangalala. None of these anthropologists are trained as linguists, and none has published a systematic account of a Yolpu language, but there is nevertheless much of linguistic in­ terest in the literature. Thompson in particular had con­ siderable insight into the semantics of some Y o I qu concepts and collected a large number of translated texts (most of these are unpublished). The work of the Berndts includes a great deal of text material, largely in the form of songs. 1.7

A NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY

The orthography used here is the one devised by Beulah Lowe for Gupapuyou, a western Dhuwala dialect. It is in general use throughout the Yolpu-speaking area, most impor­ tantly in the bilingual education programmes of community schools. The symbols used are those of Tables 2.1 and 2.2 aug­ mented with a full series of six lenis stops i.e. b, g, d , _d, dh and d j . In Gupapuypu two sets of stop symbols are necessary because there is (following Lowe's analysis) a phonemic contrast between two types of stops in the envir­ onment : vowel < lateral?rhotic

vowel

The nature of this contrast will be discussed in Chapter 2. In eastern Dhuwala-Dhuwal dialects such as Djapu only one of these contrasts, /\J vs. / d / is found, since all the other stops corresponding to the Gupapuyou 'voiced' series lenited to /y/ or /w/ at some time in the past. Thus, strict­ ly speaking, in the eastern dialect group the voiced series of stop symbols are redundant, with the exception of /jd / . In environments other than the one mentioned above, Lowe has adopted the following conventions: (i) word-initial stops and stops following nasals are written with voiced symbols (b, g, d , d_, dh, dj) . (ii) word-final stops and those in stop clusters or following semi­ vowels are written with voiceless symbols (p, k, t , t_, th, tj).

Those conventions are adhered to here because it seems des­ irable to retain a unified orthography for the whole Dhuwala-Dhuwal area, particularly since it is one already in general use. In typesetting the Handbook we do not have the velar nasal symbol available in upper case or in italics - and so substitute NG and ng for q in these circumstances.

2.1

Phonemes and their realisations

13

TABLE 2.1 - Djapu consonants peripheral

stop: fortis lenis nasal liquid: lateral rhotic semi-vowel

apico-

bilabial

dorsovelar

alveolar

p

k

t

m

q

lamino-

post(inter-) alveolar alveolar dental (retroflex) t d n | r

n i rr

w

th

tj

nh

ny

y

Notes: (1) The terms 'lenis' and 'fortis' are used here simply to label a phonemic distinction. The phonetic characteristics of the two stop series are discussed at the conclusion of 2.1.1. (2) In the practical orthography the stops are represented by voiced symbols (b, g, etc.) word-initially and following nasals. TABLE 2.2 - Djapu

high front high back low

2, 2.1

short i u a

vowe

Is

long i: u: a:

PHONOLOGY THE PHONEMES AND THEIR REALISATIONS

The consonant and vowel inventory of Djapu is shown in Tables 2.1 and 2.2. The practical orthography in use for all Yo I qu languages and dialects uses e for the long vowel / i:/ , o for /u:/ and ä for /a:/. 2.1.1 THE ORAL STOPS. It is not a straightfoward matter to decide on how many oral stop phonemes there are in Djapu. Many Yo I qu dialects have a contrast between two types of stop in certain word-medial environments. This contrast is an areal feature, that is also found in a number of neigh­ bouring prefixing languages. It has been described for Rembarroa (MacKay 1975 and 1980), Burera (Glasgow and Glas­ gow 1967), Ngalakan (Merlan forthcoming) and Ngandi (Heath 1978b). In Y o I qu languages, the contrast has been variously described as voiced/voiceless (Lowe n.d.-a), lenis/fortis (i.e. weak/strong) (Schebeck 1968b, Wood 1978, Lowe 1975, Heath 1980a, b) and simple/geminate (i.e. short/long) (Wood 1977, Schebeck n.d.). The first two characterisations set

14

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

up a phonemic distinction between two types of stop (e.g. / b/ and /p/), whereas the third entails a single stop series with a contrast between simple stops and geminate stop clusters (e.g. /p/ corresponding to /b/and/pp/ to /p/). In Gupapuyou there is a potential contrast between two kinds of stop if the preceding segment is a vowel or liquid and the following segment is a vowel. Elsewhere the contr­ ast is neutralised. Although the occurrence of two types of stop is an areal phenomenon, it does not necessarily follow that the same solution to the problem of phonemicisation applies in all the languages concerned. Each language must be examined on its own terms. Even within a language the data for diff­ ering dialects may suggest different synchronic solutions. Dhuwala-Dhuwal is a case in point. The geminate solution might seem satisfactory for western dialects such as Gupapuyou (see below), but in the east there has been a development which renders it extremely cumbersome, if not totally unworkable. For eastern dialects (such as Djapu) the morpheme-internal contrast between two types of stop has been eliminated for all but the retroflex series by the operation of a lenition process to the lenis (or simple)

Thus in the present-day eastern dialects the only remaining stop contrast in morpheme-medial position is /\J vs. / d / (lenis / d / does not occur in the contrastive environments, except in one word: g u r u d u t 'peaceful dove', found in both eastern and western dialects). Evidence for this sound change is to be found in pairs of cognates such as the following (Gupapuyou examples are from Lowe n.d-c): West (Gupapuyou)

East (Djapu)

J j rrg i war guguyu- N ba_l_gapt hu-N bulbul b u d j u ’ yu-N gadjak gudhaj_' yu-N

J_i rr w i warwuwuyu-N ba_l_wapthu-N buIwuI b u y u ' yu-N gaya k guyaj_' yu-N

'charcoal' 'grieve' 'crouch' 'lethargic' 'rub' 'subsection term' 'cook'

Thus, if the geminate analysis were adopted for Djapu a dis­ tributional anomaly would result, since all occurrences of stops in the relevant environment (except for d_) would have to be analysed as stop clusters. The main advantages of the geminate solution for west­ ern dialects are: (a) Phoneme economy. Six stops are elim­ inated from the phoneme inventory. (b) It provides a good explanation for the limited environment in which the contr­ ast occurs, since stop clusters are ruled out word-initially and word-finally by the phonotactic constraints of the lang­ uage. (c) Therefore there is no need for rules of neutral­ isation, or, alternatively, for stating that the stop phon­ emes of the language are limited in their distributional

2.1 Phonemes and their realisations

15

possibilities. For eastern dialects (b) and (c) would still apply, but there is no great saving in the number of phonemes, since only one would be eliminated. For all of the above reasons, the contrastive stop solution seems preferable, at least for eastern Dhuwala-Dhuwal. So far only morpheme-internal environments have been considered. On the basis of these it has been assumed that five of the six lenis stops may be eliminated from the phon­ eme inventory of Djapu. However, the behaviour of stops at morpheme boundaries poses problems for such an analysis. Many grammatical morphemes show alternations between stops and semi-vowels in their initial segments. For exam­ ple, the ERGative suffix is - t h u following stops, nasals and (optionally) semi-vowels, and -y(u) elsewhere (for a fuller statement see 3.2.3). In western dialects, this poses no problems; the underlying form of the suffix may be set up as - d h u , that is, with a lenis initial segment. Lenition of lenis segments may then be said to occur at morpheme bound­ aries but not morpheme-internally. In eastern dialects two alternative statements are possible: (a) lenis stops are present in the phonemic inventory but are always lenited to semi-vowels in environments where they would otherwise contrast with fortis stops. This applies both morpheme-internally and at morpheme boundaries. (b) all lenis stops except /_d/ are eliminated from the phon­ eme inventory, and the alternations at morpheme boundaries are accounted for by morphophonemic rules. The initial seg­ ment of the ERG suffix, for example, would be characterised as a morphophoneme /DH/ which is realised as /th/ or as /y/ depending upon its environment. Solution (b) is preferable, but would only be fully satisfactory if all morpheme-initial stop segments show this type of alternation. In Djapu, there are a few suffixes which do not. These include - p u n u , a rarely used transitiviser and - k u , another transitiviser. In some dialects the PERlative suffix - k u r r is also of this type, although in Djapu the lenited form - w u r r is occasionally found after vowels. These morphemes pose problems for solution (b) because they indicate a contrast in morpheme-initial envir­ onments between stops which do not alternate with semivowels, and stops which do. Thus, contrasting with TRVSR - k u is the DATive affix -Gu which alternates between - k u and - w ( u ) . A second, related problem is the behaviour of stops in compounds and reduplicated roots. In Gupapuypu minimal pairs occur which are best explained in terms of two series of stops, for example the inherently reduplicated roots: Balbalvu-N Balpalyu-N

'be balanced' 'make fire with firesticks'

In the first example the word-initial stop is underlyingly lenis, whereas in the second it is underlyingly fortis. The distinction surfaces in word-medial position but is neutra­ lised word-initially. No minimal pairs of this kind have been found so far in Djapu, but since there are undoubtedly some reduplicated roots in which the first consonant of the root has lenited

16

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

when in word medial position, and others where it has not, the potential for a contrast exists. For example (the sym­ bol /'/ represents a glottal stop): dhä’ r r a ' t h a r r a - 0

'b e standing'

(the reduplicated f o r m o f dha’r r a - 0 'stand') ga I' kaj_yu-N 'be crawling' (the reduplicated form of ga_l_'yu-N 'crawl')

as against: ba_l_wa' waj_wapt hu-N

biIyu'wiIyu-N

'be crouching' (the reduplicated form of b a lw a p th u - N 'crouch') 'be turning' (the reduplicated form of bilyu-N 'turn')

In all cases but one of compounding found so far in Djapu,lenition of the first consonant of the second root occurs. The exception is the compound ma’ r r - g a g g a 'somewhat, moderately' (which combines m ä r r 'RESULT' with gagga 'care­ fully'). Morphophonemic rules can therefore account for the lenition in almost a]1 cases if the environment for morphophonemic alternation is expanded to include the init­ ial segment of any non-word-initial morpheme rather than just of bound grammatical morphemes. Thus, neither analysis (a) nor (b) is entirely satis­ factory. Analysis (a) states that an underlying contrast exists between a series of stops which never surface as stops in a contrastive environment and a set of stops which do. Analysis (b) eliminates all but one of the stop con­ trasts and requires morphophonemic rules of alternation which account for most, but not all of the observed data. The reason why neither analysis fully fits the facts is that Djapu appears to be at present in transition between the two phonological systems described here. It has com­ pletely eliminated the stop contrast inside morphemes, and is in process of doing so at morpheme boundaries. Evidence for the change is found in the PER suffix -Gurr. In western dialects, where the lenis/fortis opposition is still found this suffix has a fortis initial consonant, contrasting with the lenis /g/ of, for example, the DAT suffix -gu. In Djapu, the PER suffix is sometimes regularised to conform with the majority of suffixes which show a morphophonemic alternation between a stop and semi-vowel. The initial segment of the suffix is thus in the process of being re-interpreted as being subject to morphophonemic alternation. There is an interesting paradox here. The morphophonemic rules evident in Djapu today arise historically from a lenition process which applied to lenis stops. In order for the initial seg­ ment of the PER suffix to conform, a stop which was origi­ nally fortis has to be reinterpreted as a morphophoneme which in its phonetic realisations is identical to the pre­ viously existing lenis stop. There still remains the problem of determining what are the phonetic correlates of the phonemic contrast - voiced/ voiceless, or long/short, or some further feature. Voicing is not a relevant phonetic feature. Both voiced and voiceless stops occur, but they are in complemen­ tary distribution and therefore do not contrast phonemically. Voiceless stops occur syllable-finally and following a glottal

2.1 Phonemes and their realisations

17

stop (see 2.1.2.). Voiced stops occur after nasals. In word-initial position both voiced and voicel ess variants are found in free variation. Long consonants do occur, but the distribution of long and short consonants is in fact predictable. In disyllabic words with an open first syllable (CV) the first consonant of the second syllable is often noticeably long (see Waters 1979:90-95 for discussion of a similar phenomenon in Djinao). But this applies to laterals, nasals and semi-vowels as well as to stops. For example b a l a ' ’house', g a l a y 'wife', nh i na 'sit+UNM' and dhuwa 'moiety name' are phonetically [ ba I : a ] [ g a l : a y ] [ n h i n : a ] and [ d h u w : a ] respectively. Moreover, at mor­ pheme boundaries where sequences of two homorganic stops occur phonemically (e.g. manymak-ku 'good-TRVSR') a de-gemin­ ation rule is necessary, since the stop which occurs phonet­ ically in the surface form is not long. This contrasts with the situation in Rembarrga, where an important piece of evi­ dence supporting the geminate analysis of fortis stops is the phonetic similarity between these and stop clusters at morpheme boundaries. In Djapu and other Y o I qu dialects the main difference between / \ J and f 6 / is most commonly described in terms of the manner of their articulation: /{/ is said to be phoneti­ cally a stop, whereas /_d/ is a flap. Spectographic analysis of the speech of one Djapu person has revealed that, in her speech, the /d/ phoneme is a voiced implosive (P. Rose, per­ sonal communication). It is not possible to generalize" on the basis of one speaker to say that this is the critical difference between /\J and / d / in Djapu, and it would be even more speculative to suggest that the other lenis stops in dialects such as Gupapuyou may also be implosives. How­ ever, this is an interesting possibility that should be borne in mind for future research on Y o I qu dialects. A possible alternative analysis would be to regard /dJ as a third rhotic rather than as a stop. (This is the case for Warlpiri, see Dixon 1980:483.) This proposal was con­ sidered by Wood (1977:28) for Gälpu, a DhaQu dialect, and rejected on grounds that /d/ patterns phonotactically with the other stops, not with the rhotics. The same may be said for Djapu. A few additional factors concerning the phonetic reali­ sations of the stops are worth mentioning. Word-finally, stops tend to be unreleased; occasionally an audible release of air through the nose is heard after the closure is made. In younger speakers word final /1j/ is sometimes heard as an affricate [t ]; this may well be due to interference from English. The articulation of the lamino-dental phonemes varies from speaker to speaker. Some people articulate them as apico-interdentals, with the tongue tip protruding be­ tween the teeth, others simply as lamino-dentals, with the tip of the tongue pressed against the lower teeth, and the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth.

J*

2.1.2 THE GLOTTAL STOP. This differs from other phonemes of the language both in its distributional possibilities and in its role in the operation of morphophonological rules. It appears only in syllable-final position and is never

18

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

found following an oral stop. It most commonly occurs at the end of morphemes, but also occurs intra-morphemically. In cases where the addition of an inflection to a stem would leave the glottal stop inside a syllable, it shifts to the end of the syllable. For example yiki' 'knife' plus INSTR inflection -y is realised as [yikiy’]. Since all syllables begin with one and only one consonant, the position of a glottal stop within a word is completely predictable if the syllable at the end of which it occurs is marked in some way. These facts were first noted by Schebeck (n.d. :5), who concluded: 'quite clearly ... the glottal stop is a feature of the syllable, and not a phoneme of the same kind as the other segmental phonemes'. It is interesting that MacKay (1975) comes to the same conclusion about the glottal stop in Rembarrqa, a language spoken immediately to the west of the Y o I qu group. Two other points help to justify this analysis. If the glottal stop is eliminated from the phonemic inventory it is possible to set up the syllable type CV(C)(C) for the lang­ uage. The only occurrences of CVCCC syllables are when the final consonant is a glottal stop. Secondly, all the morphophonological rules ignore the presence of the glottal stop: they operate with reference to the preceding phoneme. For example, the ERG/INSTR suffix -DHu has allomorphs: - y after a vowel; - y u after a liquid or semi-vowel; and - t h u elsewhere (in the practical orthography this is represented as - dhu following nasals and - t h u following stops, including the glottal stop.) These allomorphs occur whether or not the final segment Lowed by a glottal stop. For example: ma g u t j i y ik i'

'eye' 'knife'

maoutj iy yi k i y’

' eye-INSTR' 'knife-INSTR'

goo bekaq'

'hand' 'hook'

goqdhu b e ka q ' t h u

'hand-INSTR' 'hook-INSTR'

me 1 da k u 1'

'eye' 'axe'

me 1yu da k u 1 ' yu

' axe-INSTR'

qanarr dju k u r r '

' tongue' 'fat'

qänarryu d j u k u r r ' yu

'tongue-INSTR 'fat-INSTR'

'eye-INSTR'

The evidence against treating the glottal stop as a segmental phoneme thus appears fairly convincing. I shall, however, follow the conventions of the practical orthography, which uses a sequential symbol /'/ for the glottal stop. 2.1.3 THE RHOTICS, LATERALS, NASALS AND SEMIVOWELS. The apico-alveolar rhotic /rr/ is realised as a tap or a trill, while the apico-postalveolar rhotic /r/ is a retroflex contin­ uant. The laterals, nasals and semivowels follow the norm for Australian languages (see Blake and Dixon 1979:19). The degree of lip rounding for /w/ is not very pronounced. 2.1.4 THE VOWELS. This discussion of vowel allophony is based on auditory impressions, and more work is needed for a full description. The major allophones of all Djapu vow­ els are fairly central in articulation. Occurrence next to /y/ or to the lamino-alveolar consonants results in fronting

2.1

Phonemes and their realisations

19

and heightening of the vowel, while occurrence next to /w/ gives a more back and/or lower allophone. /a/ shows the widest range of allophonic variation of the three. /a/ realised as [ ae] / - y [a] /-w [n] /w-w [a ]/
8.4% 1.6_

k 0

14.8" - 22.6% 7-| 4.0~ 10.01► 14.0%

y

w

t~ 1 r n

4.5 4.0 3.0 0.9

12.4%

Lamino-dentals

th 10.5 nh r l . i

11.6%

Bilabials

P 14.8 m j*14.6

29.4%

2.2.3 WORD-FINAL SEGMENTS. Vowels are most common finally, being found in 54% of all words. The contrast between the two laminal series is completely neutralised in this posi­ tion: lamino-dentals (/1h/, /nh/) are never found in wordfinal position. There is a tendency towards neutralisation of both the apical and the peripheral series as well, with apico-alveolars occurring more frequently than apico-postalveolars and velar consonants being found more commonly than bilabial consonants. In terms of manner of articula­ tion, rhotics are the most common final consonants, then laterals, nasals, stops and semivowels in that order. The frequencies of occurrence are: Apico-alveolars

Lamino-alveolars Velars

t 1 rr n

1.0 5.2 > 19.1% 9.3

tj ny

3.8 ► 5.7% 1.9J

Lamino-dentals

th nh

k

5.8 ► 11.1% 5.3J

Bilabials

P m

0 Semivowels

y

w

Apico-postalveolars

r n

3 •6j

2.9 > 3.1% 0.2

I

t _[

1.0 1*8 ► 1.9 1.0. 0.3~I

1.0_f

22

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

2.2.4 WORD-FINAL CONSONANT CLUSTERS. As stated previously, clusters of two consonants may occur word-finally. Excluded from consideration here are certain word-final clusters which contain a morpheme boundary, for example /rny/ which occurs when the PRO clitic -ny is attached to the LOC casemarker -Qur. Such cases are considered in 3.3(c). The permissible word-final consonant clusters are any lateral or rhotic ( I, J_, rr or r) followed by any velar conson­ ant ( k or q ) . There is also just one example of the sequence /w k /, dhiwkthiwk 'wet and dirty, mucky'. 2.2.5 INTRA-MORPHEMIC CLUSTERS. Djapu, and the Y o I qu lang­ uages in general, allow a rather wider set of consonant clusters than most Australian languages. Intra-morphemic clusters show fewer possible combinations than the clusters which occur across morpheme boundaries, and only the former will be described here. Clusters occurring at morpheme boundaries are in part governed by the operation of morphophonemic rules, which receive attention in 2.3. One very general restriction which applies in all types of consonant cluster is that a lamino-dental (/1h/ or /nh/) cannot occur syllable-finally. The only exception to this rule is in the homorganic nasal + stop cluster /nhth/. This restriction will not be re-stated for each type of consonant cluster. Therefore a statement about a type of cluster such as 'any stop + /p/' should be understood as 'any stop, excep t /1h/, + /p/ '. (a) Clusters of two consonants. clusters are allowed: tjp tp ip kp

The following Stop + Stop

tjk ttj i+ j

that is: any stop + /p/; any apical stop + /1j/; /1j/ + /k/. The following Nasal + Stop clusters are allowed: mp nhth nyp np HP OP

nth nt h

nytj ntj nt j

nt nt

ny k nk _nk Qk

that is: any homorganic nasal + stop; any nasal + /p/; any apical nasal + /1j/ or /1h/; any nasal except /m/ + k. The following Nasal + Nasal combinations occur: nym nm nm pm

nyo ng DO

that is: any non-peripheral nasal + any peripheral nasal; q + m. (This last has only been found in one word, gogman 'woman with child at the breast'. goo is the word for 'hand' and therefore it is likely that gogman is not monomorphemic in origin. The original meaning of -man is un­ known .)

2.2 Phono tactics

23

A few Stop + Nasal clusters are found. They are not common, and in most cases occur at what were probably origi­ nally morpheme boundaries. pm t jm km

kp

The only example of pm found occurs in dapman 'policeman'. (The etymology of this word is obscure. It is most probably derived from the verb root d a p t h u ' - N 'clench': an alternative form is c(aptap which is formed from the reduplicated verb root. The second syllable may be formed by analogy with gopman or with the element 'man' in the English equivalent.) / t j m / and / k m / occur in the verb root s guwat j m a - L 'go to visit' and bokma-N 'create', / m a / may originally have been a gramma­ tical morpheme which has become incorporated into the root. The only word in which a frozen morpheme boundary is not apparent is bukmak 'all' . / k p / is found in b i r r k p i r r k p a n i 'bird sp.' and wäkpani 'fruit sp.'. The element / p a n i / occurs elsewhere, e.g. pamanpani 'root sp.', and was probably origi­ nally a morpheme with an identifiable meaning. Both b i r r k p i r r k and wäk occur as independent words, b i r r k p i r r k is an alternative name for 'b i r r k p i r r k p a n i' and wak is 'crow'. Liquid + nasal and liquid + semivowel clusters also occur. They are as follows: 1m 1m rrm rm

1nh

1ny 1ny rrny rny

rrnh

!n

1w 1w rrw rw

1P 10 rrp rp

iy ly

rry ry

that is: any liquid + any semivowel; any liquid + /m/, / n y / or /q/, any alveolar liquid + / n h / ; / I / + / n / . The permissible liquid + stop clusters are as follows: 1P I p rrp

Ith 1th rrth rth

1k

ItJ Itj rrt j rtj

i k rr k rk

rP that is: any liquid + any non-apical stop. The final type of CC cluster is semivowel + stop or nasal. The following types occur: yp

yk

ym

yp

yw

that is: /y/ + peripheral stop, nasal or semivowel. Table 2.3 summarises all the possible intra-morphemic CC clusters. Rare clusters are enclosed in parentheses. (b) Clusters of three consonants are quite common at morph­ eme boundaries and as a result of the reduplication of roots. The possibilities in these environments are much wider than is the case for intra-morphemic clusters. Only intra-mor­ phemic clusters are considered here. The following clusters have been found: JJyn

r r km

rkm rmp

ymp

24

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect TABLE 2.3 - Attested -CC- intra-morphemic clusters

firs t memb e r P k t t tj m 0 n _n nh ny 1 1 rr r

y

second member P

k

t

kp tp tp t J'P t j k mp DP Ok np nk HP jn k

t_

th

tj

m

o

(pm) (km)

(kg)

n

nh

ny

w

y

In

1nh

1ny 1ny rrny rny

1w 1w rr w rw yw

iy ly

ttj ttj ( t j m)

nt Hi

nyp ny k 1k Ip 1k 1p rrp r r k r P rk yp y k

nt h nt j nt h n t j nht h nytj Ith Itj Ith Itj rrt h rrt j rth rt j

(om) nm _nm nym 1m lm rrm rm ym

ng HO nyo 10 10 rrg rg yo

rrnh

rr' ry

All these clusters of three consonants are rare. One exam­ ple each of the clusters enclosed within the line has been found: gu_l_kmi_n 'yellow tree snake', r i r r k r n i n y 'chronic inval­ id', garkman 'frog', m i r m b i t j 'nose', _Daymbalipu a proper name (male), y a l g g i 'weak, soft'. (Walker personal communication suggests that the name D a y mb a l i pu may be Makassan in origin.) There are eight known examples of / r r g k/ and five of /tq k/; these include g u r r g g i t j 'shade', m a r r g g i t j 'healer', warrgguj _ 'spear type'; mar ggi 'knowledgeable', m i r g g u y 'unripe', b a r g g i t j 'bee sp. and its "sugarbag"'. A final syllable /kitj/ is evident in three out of thirteen rhotic + ok clus­ ters, and the final syllable of m i r m b i t j 'nose' may be de­ rived from an original element /kitj/ by assimilation to the preceding nasal. It is likely that /kitj/ was originally a morpheme with an independent meaning and that therefore these examples of CCC clusters were not originally intramorphemic. With the exception of /rm/ and /ym/, the first two con­ sonants of these CCC clusters are a sub-set of the permiss­ ible word-final CC clusters. 2.2.6 THE GLOTTAL STOP. Apart from the restriction, noted previously, that glottal stops may not occur after other stops, a glottal stop may appear after any of the syllablefinal phonemes. The possibilities, stated informally, are: CV'

_

liquid CV+* semivowel

nasal CV + liquid + Q +

This distribution provides additional justification for eliminating the glottal stop from the segmental phoneme

2.2

Phonotactics

25

inventory. In addition, the combination of nh+' never occurs except in the cluster n h ' t h . Recall that otherwise /nh/ may only occur sy1lable-finally in the cluster /nhth/. Only one glottal stop may occur in any word. Where reduplication or other processes would potentially result in a word containing more than one glottal stop, all except one are eliminated (see 2.3.1.). 2.2.7 STRESS, VOWEL LENGTH AND CONSONANT GEMINATION. Stress in Djapu is predictable: it almost always occurs on the first syllable of a word. Schebeck (personal communication) points out that the handful of exceptions to the general rule are predominantly words in which the second syllable begins with / d / , for example b u d a p t h u - N 'go down and cross' and bandany 'dry, clear'. Word-initial syllables have two other features which distinguish them from other syllables: (a) long vowels occur only in word-initial syllables; (b) if an initial syllable is open (that is, of the form CV) and contains a short vowel, the following consonant is often phonetically long. Alternatively, if an initial open syll­ able has an underlying short vowel which is followed by a homorganic glide (that is, the sequences /uw/ and / iy/), then the vowel may be lengthened. A possible explanation for these distributional facts is to postulate that initial, stressed syllables have a strong tendency to be heavy (following the terminology of Allen 1973:65). Closed syllables and open syllables con­ taining a long vowel are both heavy; open syllables with a short vowel are light. Gemination of the consonant follow­ ing a short vowel may be viewed as a strategy for converting a light, open syllable into a closed, heavy one. Consider, for example, the minimal pair / w a p a / 'place' and / w a g a / 'speak+UNM'. These occur phonetically as [ w a : - g a ] and [ w a g - g a ] respectively (where - indicates a syllable boundary). In words where a short vowel is followed by a homorganic glide, either this or the alternative strategy of introducing vowel length may be employed. Thus / d h u w a / 'moiety name' may take three different phonetic forms: [ d h u - w a ] (where the stressed syllable optionally remains light), [ d h u w - w a ] or [ d h u : -wa ].

Note that this analysis assumes there is a phonemic distinction between long and short vowels, and that the occurrence of geminate consonants is predictable on the basis of that distinction. A possible alternative analysis might be to state that there is a phonemic contrast between simple and geminate consonants, and that long vowels occur predictably in word-initial syllables preceding simple con­ sonants. This analysis, however, would account only for cases where a vowel is followed by a homorganic glide and would fail to account for words such as yolgu 'person' and monosyllabic words consisting of a closed syllable with a long vowel, e.g. gog 'hand' and dholQ 'bowel'. In such cases the syllable would be heavy even if the vowel were short, and there would be no motivation for introducing vowel length. We conclude that consonant length can be predicted from information about vowel length, but not vice versa.

26 2.3

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES.

This section describes eight processes which result when two or more morphemes are combined within a word. Three kinds of morpheme combinations are relevant to the discussion: (a) Reduplications, where part or all of a lex­ ical root is reduplicated. (b) Compounds, where two lexi­ cal morphemes are combined in one word. (c) Affixation (that is, inflection and derivation), where a grammatical suffix and/or a post-inflectional clitic is appended to a word. Of the processes to be described, four are quite regu­ lar and are universally applied in the appropriate environ­ ments. They may therefore be described in terms of rules. The other four are variably applied or sporadic in occurr­ ence and must be described as tendencies rather than in terms of absolute rules. 2.3.1 DEGLOTTALISATION. This process occurs when a root (most commonly a verb root) containing a glottal stop is reduplicated. The second occurrence of the glottal stop is deleted. For example: _l_iw'yu-N 'go round' _N w 'J_Iwy u -N~_M w 'y u_M wyu-N 'paddle '

(For details on other aspects of root reduplication see 3.6.9.). 2.3.2 GLOTTAL STOP INSERTION. This process applies at the morpheme boundary within a reduplicated form. Its occurr­ ence is sporadic, and seems to depend upon the speed of utterance; it is less common in citation forms and slow, deliberate speech than in normal speech. A glottal stop is inserted between the first and second occurrence of the root, for example: yolQU 'person' yolpu'yulQU 'people'

The process is blocked if the final segment of the first morpheme is a stop (including a glottal stop). For example J_upthu-N 'wash' J_up_l_upthu-N 'bathe, swim'

Note that the application of the rules described in 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 to roots with a glottal stop and those without result in identical reduplicated forms. Take for example the minimal pair _l_urr'yu-N 'clap' and _l_urryu-N 'flow'. The reduplicated form for both is J_urr'_l_urryu-N: 'clap'

'flow'

J_urr'yu-N J_urr'j_urr'yu-N (by reduplication) -> J_ur r'_|_urry u-N (by deglottalisation) _l_urryu-N -> _j_urr_l_urryu-N (by reduplication) -> _|_urr'j_urryu-N (by glottal insertion)

2.3.3 CONSONANT DELETION. This process applies sporadic­ ally to the forms resulting from the deglottalisation and

2.3 Morphophonological processes

27

glottal insertion processes, and is a feature of rapid speech. The consonant immediately following the glottal stop is deleted. For example: yolQU 'person' -> yolQuyulQU (by reduplication) -> yolQu'yulQü (by glottal insertion) -* yolQu'ulQU 'people' (by consonant deletion)

_Mw'yu-N 'go round' -* J_iw 'J_iw 'yu-N (by reduplication) -> J_iw 'J_iwyu-N (by deglottalisation) -> j_iw'iwyu-N 'paddle' (by consonant deletion) It could be argued that in such cases the glottal stop is replacing the initial segment of the morpheme. However, the occurrence of intermediate forms containing both the glottal stop and the initial consonant weakens the case. Moreover, such an analysis would result in the glottal stop being considered as a syllable-initial segment, thus vio­ lating a general phonotactic constraint. 2.3.4 LOSS OF VOWEL LENGTH. It has been noted previously that long vowels occur only in word-initial syllables, that is in syllables which carry stress. An underlying long vowel is shortened if it occurs in word medial position. For example: yolQU

'person' yolQu'yolQU (by reduplication)

-> yoIq u 'yuIqu 'people' (by loss of vowel length) Vowel length may also be lost in the first syllable of a reduplicated word: thus the form yu Iqu '(y) uIqu 'people' also occurs. In compounds this rule does not apply. Both morphemes retain stress on the first syllable, and vowel length is also retained in the second word. For example: .
rakuny-tji-0 'die' bad_atj '?' + -DHu DO -> badatj-tju-N 'fail to do' (NB: badatj does not occur as an independent nominal root, but does also occur as an element in dha*-wadatj-ku-NG2 'make a mistake in speaking') Ngarritj 'subsection term' + DHu ERG -* Ngarr itj-thu 'Ngarr itj-ERG'

The process may be described as applying directly to the morphophoneme /DH/ or to the stop alternant /1h/. There are no compelling arguments for or against either analysis; but if the second one is adopted it must be ordered after the rules which assign the correct surface form of the morphophoneme (see 2.3.5). 2.3.7 FINAL VOWEL DELETION. This process is the main marker of the Dhuwala-Dhuwal distinction. It applies only to grammatical morphemes, that is, case and verbal inflec­ tions, derivational affixes and pronoun and demonstrative roots bearing zero inflection. Further, it only applies if the word is more than two syllables in length and when the vowel is preceded by only one consonant. Detailed discuss­ ion of the process is found in 3.2.3, 3.4.1 and 3.5.3. The general form of the rule may be stated as: V

-*■

0

/

VC -#

The application of the rule is illustrated by the following examples: Qarra 'lsg' + -Gu DAT garrak 'lsg-DAT' darramu 'man' + -DHu ERG •* darramuy 'man-ERG' dhiyagu 'this+ERG' -> dhiyag 'this+ERG'

In the next examples, the rule does not apply because: (a) the word is di-syllabic garra 'lsg' + -0 NOM -* Qarra 'lsgNOM'

30

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect TABLE 2.4 - Summary of morphophonological processes Process

/Deglottalisation (^Glottal stop insertion ^Consonant deletion Loss of vowel length /Consonant/semivowel alternation 1 VLaminal assimilation (/Final vowel deletion ''Degeminat ion

(b)

Occurrence is: regular sporadic sporadic regular regular, but subject to complex conditioning regular regular

the vowel does not occur word-finally dhi ya QU 'this+ERG' + -ny PRO -> d h i y a o u n y 'this+ERG-PRO'

(c)

the vowel is preceded by a CC cluster way in 'animal' + -DHu ERG -*• w ä y i n d h u 'animal-ERG'

2.3.8 DEGEMINATION. This rule degeminates a sequence of two identical consonants which occur at a morpheme boundary. For example: m a n y m a k 'good' + -ku T R V S R -> m a n y m a k - k u -* ma n y m a k u 'do well'

The rule must be applied after the assignment of the corr­ ect surface realisation of a morphophoneme, since it app­ lies to suffixes with stop/semivowel alternations, for example: m i y a l k 'woman' + -Gu DAT miyal k - k u -»- miy a l k u 'woman-DAT' -*

It must also apply after the laminal assimilation rule, and after the vowel deletion rule: bad_atj '?' + -DHu DO

-> ->

badatj-tju-N ba_datju-N 'fail to do'

ga_l_umay 'pelican' + -DHu ERG -> gä_l_urnay-yu -> *gä_kinayy (vowel deletion is blocked because a sequence of two consonants precedes the final vowel) -* gäj_umayu 'pelican-ERG'

Degemination is blocked if a glottal stop occurs between the two identical segments. For example: mayao' 'river' + -q ur LOC m a y a q ' Q u r 'river-LOC'

The effect of the degemination rule is to render some morpheme boundaries indistinct. In the transcription used in this grammar, the underlying consonant clusters are retained so that morpheme boundaries may be clearly marked.

3.1

Word olasses

31

TABLE 3.1 - Word classes - form and function Function Noun phrase head

Form Noun, derived noun 'S Pronoun [_Demonstrative

Modifier of Noun Phrase head

Noun, derived noun

Determiner within Noun Phrase

Demonstrative

Modifier of Predicator

Adverbial particle S Noun [Verb

Predicator

F Verb ^Predicate nominal

Modifier of Clause Inter-clause Relator

Particle

2.3.9 SUMMARY. The complete set of morphophonological processes is summarised in Table 2.4. Rules which are ordered with respect to one another are linked on the left with the later-applying rule appearing below the earlierapplying one.

3, 3.1

MORPHOLOGY WORD CLASSES

3.1.1 FORM AND FUNCTION. In order to understand the nature of Djapu word-classes it is necessary to distinguish from the outset between form and function. The functional cate­ gories of Djapu, that is the ways in which words relate to one another and modify one another's meanings, are more numerous than the formal (that is, morphological) categories. The relationships between the major forms and functions are diagrammed in Table 3.1. It can be seen from the table that while the function 'adjective' (i.e. modifier of a noun) exists, the formal category 'adjective' does not. Similarly, the function 'adverb' (i.e. modifier of a verb) exists, but formally speaking several classes of word can fulfill this role. The formal class of adverbial particle is a small, closed class. The names used for the formal word classes are taken from the major function which words of that class perform. More detailed discussion of form and function will be found in later sections of this chapter and in chapter 4. 3.1.2 FORMAL WORD CLASSES. Djapu has two major, open classes of words: nominals and verbs. It also has small, closed classes of particles and interjections. The class of nominals is the most complex, being further subdivided into

32

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

nouns, pronouns and demonstratives. The two major classes are distinguished from the others by having systems of in­ flection; the forms of particles and interjections are in­ variant. Nominals and verbs are clearly distinguished from one another: nominals are inflected for case while verbs are inflected for tense, aspect and mood. The derivational possibilities for each class are also different. One group of words which have rather ambivalent status are those verb roots which obligatorily take the DO suffix -DHu before an inflection. This suffix may also be added to some nominals in order to derive verbal stems, so in this respect these verb roots behave like nominals. But they differ from nominals in that they have no lexical mean­ ing independent of their verbal function. When occurring in uninflected form (see 4.1.2(d)) they are still semantically verb roots, and thus they cannot take nominal case inflections. Particles can be divided into two subclasses on seman­ tic and functional grounds. Adverbial particles are dis­ tinguished by having a lexical meaning (e.g. 'quickly') and limited scope; they modify a verb only. Grammatical parti­ cles are a more mixed subclass. They include words which have a grammatical rather than a lexical meaning (for exam­ ple, y u r r u FUTure), words which mark inter-clausal relations such as conjunctions (for example ga 'and'), and clause modifiers (for example mak 'perhaps' and y a n b i 'mistaken supposition'). The boundary between adverbial and grammati­ cal particles is not completely clear-cut. At least two words are in an intermediate position, for different reasons. These are: b a l a which may be used either as an adverb with the meaning 'movement away from speaker' or 'over there' or as a conjunctive particle meaning 'then, next' (this pro­ bably represents an expansion from the original meaning , to cover movement in time as well as space). The other is w i r r k a whose meaning is most properly translated as 'do intensely', but in context it is often translatable as something more adverbial, e.g. 'pull hard' (further comments are in 4.1.2(b)). 3.2

NOUN MORPHOLOGY

3.2.1 NOUN AND ADJECTIVE. As stated in 3.1.1, the function­ al categories of NP head and modifier of NP head are not distinguished by a corresponding formal dichotomy. Indivi­ dual lexical items may function as either: the facility with which they fulfill each function depends upon their semantics. Thus waUj 'dog' functions almost entirely as an NP head, but g u r r Q a n ' 'dark, darkness' may easily function as either, and y i n d i 'big' is most often found in modifying function. The function of modifier (adjective) is disting­ uishable on syntactic grounds, and further discussion is therefore postponed until Chapter 4. 3.2.2 NOUN CLASSES. Djapu nouns may be divided into four functional categories according to their inflectional possi­ bilities. These are:

3.2 Noun morphology

33

(a) +HUman nouns. Nouns with human referents always belong to this category. Other nouns may be inflected as +HU nouns, but the likelihood of this diminishes with the status of the referent on the animacy scale. Thus dogs are often accorded +HU status. Other animals in their mundane roles are rarely accorded +HU status, but in their roles as Ancestral Beings will nearly always be so. +HU nouns are marked separately for each core syntactic function. TRansitive Subject (A) is marked by ERGative, INTRansitive Subject (S) by ABSolutive and TRansitive Object (0) by Accusative. For peripheral cases they are marked by the OBLique suffix, with ABLative, PERlative and Associative involving a further case-marker added to the oblique stem (OBLS). Thus locative and allative functions are not distinguished in surface morphology, being just the oblique case marker. +HU nouns also have a case-marker, ORiginator, which is unique to them. The interrogative/ indefinite pronoun yol 'who' inflects as a +HU noun. (b) -HUrnan nouns. This category includes all other common nouns. -HU nouns have an ERG-ABS pattern of case-marking for the core syntactic cases; that is, S and 0 are not distinguished, both being marked by ABS. In the local cases, ablative and locative fall together, both being marked by -our (in Dhuwala dialects these two are separate, being -Quru and -Qura respectively). Allative is marked by the ALL case marker, and perlative by the PER case marker added directly to the root, rather than to an oblique stem as with the +HU nouns. The same is true of the ASSOC marker. The indefinite/interrogative pronoun nhä 'what' also follows this pattern. (c) Place-names are distinguished from the preceding two types of noun by taking a zero case inflection for locative function. (Some place names take the ASSOC case marker in citation form, and this is sometimes retained in locative case, e.g. Nhulunbuy). For allative they may take either the -HU ALL case-marker or the ERG/INSTR suffix. ABLative is marked by -HU ABL - q u t , and PERlative by -kurr. (d) Locational qualifiers. Like place-names, these are limited in the functions that they can perform, being found only in locative, allative, ablative, perlative and associ­ ative functions. Allative is marked by —(qu )I i I or - ( q u ) m a l , ABLative by - r j u r , LOCative by -(f) or - ( q u ) m i , PERlative by - k u r r and Associative by - B u y . There is a subtle difference between the two alterna­ tive LOC forms. The -(qu)mi form is used when the speaker has a particular named location in mind. Take for example the interrogative pronoun wan h a( k a ) 'where' which inflects as a locational qualifier. If a person is known to be in the same general area as the speaker, then the correct way to ask where he is, is: (1)

wanhaka

Qayi

where+LOC 3sgN0M Where is he? (i.e. where within this named locality in which we are?)

But if the person is away at another named locality, and

34

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.2 - Dj apu case markers Type

+HU

ERG INSTR/CAU TEMP ABS ACC DAT OR OBL LOC ALL, ALL), ABLZ PER ASSOC

-DHu (OBL used)

-HU

of noun Place names

Locational qualifiers

"-DHu

-0 -NHA

-0

-Gu

-Gu

-Guqu

-Ga 1 (OBL used) (OBL used)

-qur -lit

-OBLS-qur -OBLS-kurr -OBLS-Buy

-qur -kurr -Buy

-0 - 1i1 -DHu -qur -kurr -(qu)Buy

-0~-(qu)mi —(q u)ma1~(q u) 1i1 -qur -kurr -(qu)Buy

Note: kin terms which end in a vowel take ERG suffix -1, rather than -DHu.

that is the answer sought , the correct question is: (2)

wanha-Qumi

qayi

where-LOC 3sgNOM Where is he? (i.e.: at what named locality?)

Locational qualifiers form a small, closed subclass. A full list is given under X in the vocabulary by semantic fields. The qualifiers b a r r k u 'far' and g a l k i 'close' (and sometimes the other locational qualifiers as well) may also be used in uninflected form as adverbial particles (see 4.1.2.). As a sub-class, locational qualifiers are the least noun-like of the four functional categories of nouns, being found most often in adjectival or adverbial functions. 3.2.3 CASE MARKERS - FORM. Table 3.2 shows the underlying morphophonemic forms of the Djapu case inflections. A dis­ cussion of the allomorphs of each case marker follows. Note that the peripheral case-markers of the +HU class are based on an oblique form. This is -Gal when word-final (i.e. OBL case), but - G a l a q u when being used as a stem-forming affix (OBLS). Table 3.3 shows the full set of allomorphs of case markers. It will be seen that certain general morphophon­ emic tendencies are at work, although they do not affect the whole paradigm equally. (a) Final vowel loss. The vowel when followed by the This vowel is dropped when position. Comparison with

OR and ACC suffixes have a final IM or PRO clitics (see 3.3). the case suffix is in word-final Dhuwala dialects suggests that

3.2 Noun morphology

35

TABLE 3.3 - Case-marking: allomorphs e r g

/i

n s t r

/c

a u

/t

e m p

/a

DHu^-thu

l l

following

stops,

-> -t h u ~ - y u

following

semivowels

-*-yu

following

laterals,

+-y

following

vowels

ABS

-0

in

ACC

-NHA^-n

following

all

nasals

rhotics

environments vowels

if

also

word-final ->-nh a DAT

elsewhere

-Gu->-ku

OR

following

stops,

->-ku~-wu

following

semivowels

-*-wu

following

laterals,

->-w (a)

following

vowels

-GUQU->-kUQU

after ing

->■- k U Q

after

stops a

and

nasals

rhotics

nasals

preced-

clitic

stops

and

nasals,

word-

finally ->-WUQU

elsewhere

preceding

-> - W U Q

elsewhere

word-finally

->-0

optional

alternative

following ->-QU

optional

OBLS

- G a i-5— k a 1

following

->-wa 1

elsewhere

- G a 1a rju->-ka 1a p u

following

->-wa 1a Q u

elsewhere

LOC/ABL ALL1

PER

stops

and

nasals

-1 i 1

in

all

environments

u q

vowels

treated

underlyingly

(i.e. as

if

is it

somewere

-Gurr)

elsewhere

■>- k u r r ASSOC

-wupu

nasals

environments

times

to

and

all

following

-w

stops

in

-kurr

to

vowels

-Qu r

•kurr->-wurr~

clitic

vowels

alternative

following OBL

a

■B u y' > - p u y

following

stops,

nasals,

semi-

vowels following

-> - w u y -wuy~-puy

Note

that

in

ernes

/1h /

and

by

the

voiced

this /k/.

table In

symbols

the! v o i c e l e s s the

/dh /

practical and

/g /

stop

symbols

orthography

when

OBLS

elsewhere

following

represent

these

are

the

phon-

represented

nasals.

the suffixes ending in a semi-vowel or a liquid once showed a similar type of alternation. Final vowels were lost when preceded by only one consonant (not a cluster), and in word-final position. A comparison with Dhuwala forms in Table 3.4 shows this clearly.

36

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3. 4

ERG DAT/GEN LOC ABL ALL PER

-

Dhuwala and Dhuwal case markers

Dhuwala

Dhuwal

V-yu

V-y

V-wu-wa

V-w(~wa) 1 -Qur -Qur

-Qura -Quru

-1 i1i -kurru

-1 i1 -kurr

non-final OR ACC

-WUQU

V-nha C-nha

-WUQU

V-nha C-nha

final —WUQ

V-n C-nha

1 The allomorph -wa, which also occurs in GupapuyQu , is an isolated survival from an older DAT case-marker *-Ba. Baby < Cumatj has re-Ba as the major form for the Dat case-marker. adopted ■

In modern Djapu, the final vowel is now completely lost following liquids and semivowels, but not following nasals, where it is retained if a post-inflectional clitic follows. Support for this hypothesis may also be found in the pro­ noun, demonstrative and verb paradigms (see 3.4, 3.5 and (3.6.4). (b) Lenition. In several of the suffixes there is alter­ nation between stops and semivowels, with /1h/->/y/ and /p/ or /k/->/w/ in certain environments. Lenition never takes place if the final phoneme of the root is a stop or a nasal. It always takes place (except optionally in the case of -Buy) if the final phoneme is a vowel. Liquids and semi-vowels occupy an intermediate position: with some suffixes they trigger lenition, with others they do not and with some it is optional. Thus although lenition is a wide-spread ten­ dency in certain environments, it cannot be stated in terms of a general morphophonemic rule. ( c ) Accusative reductions. The allomorph of the ACC marker which occurs when it is in word-final position after a vowel is not what might be expected from the overall tendencies of the language. The simple reduction of - n h a to - n h is ruled out by the fact that a word cannot end in / n h / (see 2.2.5), but the expected change would be to / n y / rather than to / n / . Other Dhuwal dialects do in fact have - n y as the ACC allo­ morph in this environment.

3.2.4 CASE-MARKERS - FUNCTION (a) Syntactic inner-cere cases. Three inner-core syntactic functions must be distinguished for Djapu: A (transitive subject), S (intransitive subject) and 0 (transitive object). Table 3.5 shows how these case functions are marked on +HU and -HU nouns. The following examples illustrate the use of the inner-core case markers. (For a discussion of the case-marking on pronouns see 3.4.) Examples which are taken from the texts at the end of this grammar are cross-referen-

3.2 Noun morphology

37

TABLE 3.5 - Inner core case-marking case function

subclass of nouns

A S 0

+HU

-HU

ERG ABS ACC

ERG 1 ? ABS

ced by text and line number. (i) ERG marking A function and ABS marking 0 function (note that body parts are -HU nouns): (3)

bala gayi

dhungurrk w utthu-n yu rru g a l k a - y '

then 3sgN0M nape+ABS hit-UNM FUT sorcercer-ERG Then the sorcerer hits (him) on the nape of the neck

(3:8)

(ii) ABS marking S function: (4)

gayi

mayawa

g a j _' - k a j _y u - n

way in

3sgN0M lizard sp+ABS crawl-REDUP-UNM animal+ABS A frill-necked lizard was crawling along

(1:2)

(iii) ACC marking 0 function: (5)

nhe-ny

yurru d ja m a rrk u jj-n '

2sgN0M-PR0 FUT children-ACC You will bring the children

ga-ma

bring-UNM

(b) Syntactic outer-core case: dative. (For a detailed discussion of inner and outer core case functions see 4.1 and 4.5. ) The DAT case-marker is used for a wide range of functions. It may indicate purpose, goal, beneficiary or indirect object with semi-transitive and ditransitive verbs. It also marks the complement of some adjectival predicates, for example mar ogi ’knowledgeable', dhuga 'ignorant' and d j a I/ d u k t j j k 'desirous'. These different uses of DAT are distinguisable on semantic rather than syntactic grounds, and so are not distinguished in the morpheme-by-morpheme glosses. Some examples of the use of DAT are: (i) purpose/indirect object: (6)

_l_arru-m

Qilimurr

wa’yin-gu

seek-UNM lplincNOM animal-DAT We're looking for game [to hunt]

(ii) purpose (7)

(compare (7) with (31)):

duwaUt hu- n m a r r t j i b umbar r u- w

go up-UNM go+UNM rock-DAT Go up the rock [in order to go down the other side]

(iii) goal/indirect object: (8)

wa‘thu-rr

nhangu

call out-POT 3sgDAT Call out to him

38

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

(iv) beneficiary (9)

Qa I i

djäma bunbu

djamarrkuJJ-w'

IduincNOM make shelter+ABS children-DAT We'll make a shelter for the children

(v) indirect object (10)

bili

bäyou-n

quI

i

qit

j a t a—q

gathu-l

y o l QU - y

CAU nothing+ABS-IM IRREAL lduinc-DAT give-POT person-ERG Because people may give us nothing

(vi) complement of adjective predicate (11)

dhuQa

nhuma

dhuwal-ny

borum-gu

barukaQur-wu-ny

ignorant 2nsgN0M this+ABS-PRO fruit-DAT fruit sp-DAT-PRO You lot don't know the barukarjur fruit

DAT may sometimes be used to mark the object of a normally transitive verb, with the semantic effect that the object is not, or not as yet, affected by the action. The agent in such a semitransitive construction is marked as an intransi­ tive subject. In text 3 we have the sentence: (12)

b a l a bu-ma-n

nhanQu

then hit-UNM-IM 3sgDAT Then (he) hits at him [but doesn't touch him]

(3:4)

this is opposed to the normal transitive sentence: (13)

b a l a bu-ma-n

qanya

then hit-UNM-IM 3sgACC Then (he) hits him

Similarly with the verb nhäpairs like: (14)

N g a rritj-th u

nha’ -ma

'to see/look', we have

wa’ y i n

subsection term-ERG see-UNM animal+ABS Ngarritj sees the animal(s) (15)

N g a rritj

nha*-ma

wayin-gu

subsection term+ABS see-UNM animal-DAT Ngarritj is looking for animal(s)

Hale (1973:336) describes a very similar use of the dative in Walbiri. The uses of the DAT case marker are discussed further in 4.5. The DAT suffix also marks possessive function, which will be discussed below. (c) Peripheral syntactic cases. (For a discussion of the distinction between core and peripheral cases see 4.1.) Instrumental (INSTR), Causal (CAU) and Temporal (TEMP) functions. For -HU nouns these are marked by the same suffix as ERG. They are distinguished from ERG in morphemeby-morpheme glosses, because they are syntactically distinct from transitive subject function. INSTR marks the instru­ ment with which an action is effected as in (16-17), and CAU the cause of a state, as in (18). +HU nouns take OBL case-marking for Causal function. They do not occur in Instrumental (or Temporal) function.

3. 2 Noun morphology (16)

mi j _ i p i

gayi

y u r r u dharpu-ma-n

39

garapa-y

shoulder blade+ABS 3sgNOM FUT pierce-UNM-IM spear type-INSTR He pierces the shoulder blade with a one-pronged spear (3:9) (17)

garra-ny

y u r r u gäna

m arrtji

1sgNOM-PRO FUT alone go+UNM I will go alone on foot (18)

payi

J_uku-y

foot-INSTR

murnyao'-thu-na-n

gatha-y-nha

3sgN0M sweet food-DO-PAST NON-INDIC-IM food-CAU-IM J_u k a - n h a r a - y

eat-NMLSR-CAU He feels satiated from eating vegetable food [that is, he longs for another type of food]

-DHu may also be added to a noun in order to derive a tem­ poral noun with the meaning 'at X ’ or ’on X'. This function is labelled TEMP, as in: (19)

walu-y

Qunhi

Sunday g a n a p u r r

m arrtji

b a l a G a n a r i ’ m i r r i —I i I

sun-TEMP that Sunday lplexcNOM go+UNM away place name-ALL On that day, Sunday, we went to Shady Beach (20)

daykun-garri-nyara-y

ganapurr

gaggathi-rr-ny

gula-gur

sun-enter-NMLSR-TEMP lplexcNOM get up and go-UNM-PRO there-ABL Gurrumuru-gur

place name-ABL We left Gurrumuru at sunset

Originator. This case function is restricted to +HU nouns. The OR case-marker basically marks an agent who is not in subject function in a clause. It occurs in simple sentences such a s : (21)

wanha-n

w ä y i n - d j a ba’ pa - w u g u - n y

where+LOC-IM meat-PRO father-0R-PR0 Where is the meat got by father? (22)

bala garra

marggi-th i-na-n

yapa-gu-ny

bela-nhara-w

then lsgNOM know-INCHO-PERF-IM sister-0R-PR0 dig-NMLSR-DAT Then I learnt from my sister how to dig

OR may also mark a +HU agent which has been demoted from subject position (see 4.10.3). Associative. The ASSOC morpheme syntactic functions.

-Buy has two separate

(i) It may be used as derivational affix which, when added to a noun, derives another noun with the meaning 'inherently associated with X' . Such a derived noun may have either noun or adjective function. For example: walu-puy

garrwar-puy

sun-ASSOC 'day time'

above-ASSOC 'aeroplane'

retja-wuy

borum

jungle-ASSOC fruit 'jungle fruit, fruit from the jungle'

m id jtjin

wapijji-wuy

medicine sting-ray-ASSOC 'medicine for [curing wounds made by] sting ray'

These derived nouns take further nominal case inflections in the normal way, for example:

40 (23)

Djapua Yolngu dialect garra

djäl

guya-puy-wu

dhäwu-w

lsgNOM want fish-ASSOC-DAT information-DAT I want infoimation about fish

(ii) As a case marker, ASSOC marks a non-human agent which is not in subject position in a clause (its use here para­ llels that of OR with human agents), e.g. (24)

Qayi

raku n y-dji-n

rawalk-puy

3sgN0M dead-INCHO-PERF sorcery-ASSOC He has died by/as a result of sorcery

ASSOC may also mark a -HU agent which has been demoted from subject position (see 4.10.3). -Buy is a common final element of place names, for example Wandawuy (the Djapu outstation) and Nhulunbuy (the mining town near Yirrkala). The ASSOC marker is dropped if the place name is further inflected, for example Wanda-1il 'to Wandawuy’ and Nhulun-gur 'from Nhulunbuy'. In some cases, but not all, the place-name has an independent meaning (e.g. wanda 'head'). In some place names, the ASSOC marker has become contracted to /pi/~/wi/. In these cases the suffix has been incorporated into the root and is not dropped if further inflection follows. For example 'to Djarrakpi' (the Maggalili clan outstation) is Djarrakpi-lil. (d) Peripheral local cases. Four local case functions are distinguished in Djapu: static location ('in', 'on' or 'at'); movement towards; movement away from; and movement within ('through', 'along'). The suffix taken by a noun to mark each of these functions depends upon its functional category (+HU, -HU, place name or locational qualifier). Static location. (25)

+HU nouns are marked

by the OBL suffix:

dhuwal garra nhina Milyin-gal here lsgNOM sit+UNM name-OBL I'm sitting here with Milyin/at Milyin's (camp)

-HU nouns take the LOC suffix -gur: (26)

b a l a - g u mi

d jltji-g u r

ganapurr

b u n a - n h a - mi

gu I i

away-LOC bush-LOC lplexcNOM arrive-NMLSR-RECIP+POT IRREAL If we should meet some place away in the bush (2:31)

Locational qualifiers take either -0 or -(gu)mi , as in ( 2 6 - 7 ) (see also ( 1 - 2 ) ) . Place names receive zero inflect ion: (27)

gunhi

guIi

waga-nha-mi-rr-ny

gula-mi

THAT IRREAL speak-NMLSR-RECIP-UNM-PRO HYP0TH-L0C Dawin-dja place name+LOC-PRO Whenever (we) talk together somewhere, like Darwin

Movement towards. (28)

b al a g a y i

(2:31)

+HU nouns take the OBL suffix:

g ä r r i-nya-mara-m

b irrk a 'm irr

dug'tug

then 3sgN0M enter-NMLSR-CAUS-UNM anything+ABS palpitating+ABS gur i kaI —yi yoIgu-waI that+OBL-ANAPH person-OBL Then he puts some other palpitating thing into that person (3:12)

3.2

Noun morphology

41

Place names take either the ALL suffix - 1i Ior -DHu (which is homonymous with the ERG suffix and is glossed ALL2 ). (29)

m arrtji

panapurr

d h i p u - p u r Gu_l_kula-y

go+UNM lplexcNOM this-ABL place name-ALL2 We went from here to Gulkula

-IIU nouns take the ALL suffix — IiI, and locational qualifiers take either ALL — (q u) IiI or ALL -(ou)mal. In (30), wiripu 'other' functions as a locational qualifier: (30)

budapthu-n

wiripu-mal

gali'-lil

cross over-UNM other-ALL side-ALL (it) crossed to the other side

(1:4)

The indirect +HU object of a ditransitive verb may sometimes take OBL instead of DAT marking. The semantic difference is that when the OBL suffix is used the focus is on the physical transference of the object, whereas the use of the DAT suffix focuses on the purpose for which the transfer takes place. For an amplified discussion of this point, with examples, see 4.5. The DAT suffix may also replace the ALL or PER suffix when the notion of purpose is involved. For example in (7) the addressee is told to go up over the rock in order to reach the boat-shed on the other side. If the speaker had merely been describing the direction of movement he would have said: (31)

duwa_tthu-n m a r r t j i

bumbarru-kurr

go up-UNM go+UNM rock-PER (They) went up over the rock

Movement away from. case-marker: (32)

dhuwal

parra

+HU nouns take OBLS followed by the ABL m a r r t j i - n Daymba i i pu-wa I a p u - p u r

this+ABS lsgNOM come-PERF name-OBLS-ABL I have come from Daymbalipu

All other noun-types take the ABL suffix - p u r . (33)

m arrtji

panapurr

For example:

dhipu-pur Y ir rk a la - p u r

go+UNM lplexcNOM here-ABL We went from Yirrkala

place name-ABL

Movement within. +HU nouns take OBLS followed by the PERlative suffix. All other nouns take the PER suffix: (34)

j nap1- n a p d h u - n n h i n a

bala d h u k a r r - k u r r

run-REDUP-UNM sit+UNM away road-PER (it) kept running and stopping along the road

(1:4)

Note that in (34) bala is an uninflected adverb, whereas in (26) it functions as a locational qualifier and is appro­ priately case-marked. (35)

b a l a payi

d h i I i p i n y —g u r r m a r w a k t h u - n - a

then 3sgN0M breast-PER come out-UNM-IM Then it comes out the other side through the breast

(3:10)

The PER suffix has two other functions which deserve mention. It may be used in a non-local sense to mean 'through the medium of':

42

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.6 - The complex genitive

Case-role of head NP

Complex genitive form

ERG/INSTR/CAU T -HU local (ALL/LOC/ABL/PER)_[ OBL OBLS-ABL OBLS-PER DAT OR (OBLS-)ASSOC

(36)

ga

bala

nh a k u n

OBL

(-Gal)

OBLS-OBL OBLS-ABL OBLS-PER OBLS-DAT OBLS-OR OBLS-ASSOC

( - Ga ( -Ga ( -Ga ( -Ga ( -Ga ( - Ga

ganapurr

yurru

1a g u - w a 1) 1a g u - g u r ) 1a g u - k u r r ) 1a g u - w ) 1a g u - w u g ( u ) ) 1a g u - w u y )

gäpaki- k u r r - a

and then for example lplexcNOM FUT whiteman-PER-IM w a g a - n h a - m i-rr dhäruk-kurr English-kurr-a speak-NMLSR-RECIP-UNM language-PER language name-PER-IM Then in cases like that we speak together in English, the whiteman's language (2 :31)

Note that in (36) gäpaki 'whiteman' is functioning as an adjective rather than as a +HU noun. It is therefore ininflected to agree with the -HU noun that it modifies. Finally, PER is sometimes used where a DAT or ALL suf­ fix would be expected. This use is restricted to cases where there are two NPs, one of which is in PER function. The PER marking spreads to the NP which would normally receive DAT or ALL marking: (37)

ganapurr

m a rrtji

d jltji-k u rr

w äyin-kurr

lplexcNOM go+UNM bush-PER animal-PER We're going through the bush for game

(e) Possessive function. Although marked by the same suffix as dative, possessive (or genitive) function is syntactic­ ally distinct. Whereas a dative function is on arguments of a verb,the genitive function is more adjectival - a nominal in genitive case is descriptive of another nominal. In many Australian languages the adjectival nature of geni­ tive is reflected in the morphology: a nominal marked for genitive function may take a further case-marker that agrees with the case of the possessed noun or noun phrase. In Djapu the principle is the same, but the manner of achiev­ ing it is slightly different. The simple genitive is marked by DAT, and is used to mark the possessor of an NP in ACC or ABS case (i.e. 0 and S function). The complex genitive is either marked by OBL or by OBLS + case marker of head NP. Table 3.6 illustrates the Djapu complex genitive forms. In the examples which follow, some of the complex genitive forms are pronouns rather than nouns, but the forms of the complex genitive markers for nouns and pronouns are identi­ cal. The rules for generating the complex genitive forms are discussed at length in 4.8.1. Examples of genitive forms are:

3.2

Noun morphology

43

(i) Simple genitive (38)

djamarrkujj ' Milyin-gu nhina-'nhina

Qunha

gali'-gur

children+ABS name-DAT sit-REDUP+UNM that+LOCi side-LOC Milyin's children are sitting over there

(ii) Possessed NP in ERG case (39)

nhä-mirr

nhawi

/ bitja-n

what-PROP whatsit

gayi-ny

dhuway-'mirrigu-y

do thus-UNM 3sgN0M-PR0 husband-KINPROP-ERG

n h a n u kaI 3sgOBL 'How's whatshername?' asked her husband

(iii) Possessed NP in ALL case (40)

ba Ia g i l i n y

manda

m a r r t j i dju_l_u_l_'yu-n wa’w a - w a l - g g a w ä g a - IiI

then IduexcNOM DU+ABS go+UNM hide-UNM EB-OBL-CONTR Daymba Iipu-waI name-OBL Then we retired to our brother Daymbalipu's camp

camp-ALL

(1:26)

(For a discussion of the clitic CONTR, see 3.3.) (iv) Possessed NP in DAT case (41)

garra-ny

gutha-n-mara-gaI

yumurrku-n

yapa-'mirrigu-w

lsgNOM-PRO grow-UNM-CAUS-PERF children-ACC EZ-KINPROP-DAT

garra-kaIagu-w lsg-OBLS-DAT I have raised my elder sister's children

(v) In the following complex example, the first possessed NP is in LOC case. Its possessor is therefore in OBL rather than DAT case. This possessor is in turn possessed by a pronoun taking OBLS+OBL marking. (42)

garra

nhina

dhiyal

w ä g a - g u r M i l y i n - g a i y a p a - 'm i r r i g u - w a I

IsgNOM sit+UNM here+LOC camp-LOC name-OBL

EZ-KINPROP-OBL

garra-kaIagu-waI lsg-OBLS-OBL I am sitting at my sister Milyin's camp

This sentence could also be translated 'I am sitting in the camp with my sister Milyin' (recall that OBL also marks locative function for +HU nouns). Note that in Djapu, as in most Australian languages, there is a category of things which are possessed inalien­ ably. It includes body parts, parts of objects, names, subsection terms, non-corporeal extensions of the body, (e.g. voice, soul, shadow, reflection) and the words for 'name' and 'subsection'. The possessor of an inalienably possessed thing is simply apposed to it and does not receive DAT marking: (43)

J_uku

garra

gara-thi-n

foot+ABS IsgNOM spear-INCHO-PERF My foot has been speared

(44)

yol n h e m ä l k who 2sg subsection What subsection are you?

The syntax of this construction is discussed in 4.8.2.

44

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

3.2.5 DERIVATION OF NOMINALS FROM NOMINALS. There are seven affixes which derive complex nominals from other nominals. (a) PROPrietive, - m i r r ( i ) . This suffix is termed 'proprietive' rather than 'comitative' because a part of comitative func­ tion as usually understood in Australian languages is mark­ ed by the OBL case-marker (see (25) and (42)). - m i r r ( i ) may once have had a wider comitative function in the language than it does today (see 4.6). When added to a nominal that characteristically functions as a noun (rather than as an adjective), PROP derives a nominal in adjective function with the meaning 'X-having'. For example: (45)

Qa Ii

dja_nqarr-mi r r -a n h i n a

IduincNOM hunger-PROP-IM We were hungry

(46)

nhä-ma

Qa Ii

sit+UNM

q u n d i r r - m i rr

wäqa

see-UNM IduincNOM antbed-PROP+ABS place+ABS We saw a place full of antbeds

When added to a noun which characteristically functions as an adjective, PROP has two distinct uses. Firstly, it may derive an adjectival nominal which describes a generic property of a class of objects. For example: (47)

wäkQani

b a la n y a r

b o r u m g u r r q a n ' - m i rr d h u w a l - n y

fruit sp like this fruit dark-PROP this-PRO This type of fruit, wäkQani, is characteristically dark in colour

Secondly, it may derive an adverb, for example 'one-PROP' means 'once' and wey in-Qu-mi rr 'long-QuPROP' means 'for a long time'. (Note the presence of -qu preceding the suffix. This only appears when the derived nominal is in adverbial function, and its occurrence is optional). A complex adjective derived by PROP may take the full range of nominal case-suffixes, and may also be verbalised (see 3 . 2 . 6 . ) . It occurs as - m i r r when in word-final posi­ tion, or preceding a case-marker or clitic. It takes the form - m i r r i when preceding another derivational affix. waQgany-mirr

(b) PRIVative -miriw. This suffix occurs much less often than does -mirr(i). It is suffixed only to nominals in noun function, and derives an adjective with the meaning 'lacking X'. It is also limited in its syntactic possibilities; it appears only in ABS case and cannot be verbalised. Examples are: marwat-miriw

hair-PRIV bald

b irrim b irr-m iriw

soul-PRIV reckless

A common use of -miriw is on the nominalised form of a verb, with the meaning of a negative imperative. For example: (48)

yat ju -n -m i-n y a -m i riw

yell-UNM-RECIP-NMLSR-PRIV No quarreling!

The next group of suffixes are limited to certain types of

3.2 Noun morphology

45

noun only. (c) INHABitant of, - p u y g u . This suffix may be added to a place name to give the meaning ’person from X ’. This de­ rived nominal may then take the full set of +HU noun casemarkers . (49)

B ä n i y a la-puyou-w

Gangan- buygu-w

warrpam'-thu-n-a

place name-INHAB-DAT place name-INHAB-DAT all-DO-UNM-IM dhawar'yu-n-a

b itru l

finish-UNM-IM petrol+ABS The Bäniyala and Gangan peoples’ petrol was completely finished

-puyou may also be added to a nominalised verb to derive a noun with the meaning ’doer of X' (see 4.3). - pu y ou is obviously related to the ASSOC suffix - B u y , but in morphophonemic terms it behaves differently in that the first consonant never lenites to /w/. Thus we have the place-name Wandawuy, whose inhabitants may be referred to as Wandapuyp u . (d) MOIety COLLective - k u n d j t j . This suffix may be added to one of the names of the two moieties, Dhuwa or Yirritja. It derives a collective noun meaning 'a group of X moiety people’. This noun may then be further inflected: (50)

batthu-n-a

yukurra d h u w a -k u n d itj-th u

light-UNM-IM lie+UNM moiety name-MOICOLL-ERG y i r r i t ja-kundj t j- th u

gurtha

moiety name-MOICOLL-ERG fire+ABS Now the Dhuwa people and the Yirritja people were lighting fires

The final three suffixes may only be added to kin-terms. Occasionally they are added to other relationship terms such as 'friend'. (e) KINship PROPrietive -'mirrigu (f) KINship PROPrietive - 'Qa Ii When attached to a kinship term, the first of these denotes a kinsperson of a first or third person (e.g. 'my father, his father' etc.). The second denotes a kinsperson of a second person (e.g. ’your father’). This suffix is only used for referring to a person, and not for addressing them. It can co-occur with a DAT pronoun, but this is rare. (51)

b i I y u - ' p i I y u- n - m a r a - m

gayi-ny

ba' pa-'m i r r i g u - y - n y

turn-REDUP-UNM-CAUS-UNM 3sgN0M-PR0 father-KINPROP-ERG-PRO His father kept turning (his arm) (1:13) (52)

dhika-n

nhä-gu-n

bäpa-'gaIi-w-nha

INDEF-IM look-POT-IM father-KINPROP-DAT-IM Look around for your father

(g) KINship DYadic - ’ m a n y d j i . When added to a kin term, this suffix denotes 'two people, one of whom calls the other one X ' . It is added to the term for the senior member of the pair, except in the case of mother and child, where it is added to the junior term, waku 'child of female' (i.e. 'own child, female ego, ZC male ego’). An example of KINDY is: (53)

manda

b ä p a - ' manydj i

wapthu-n-dja

3duN0M father-KINDY+ABS jump-UNM-PRO

46

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect Father and child jumped up and down

(1:11)

3.2.6 DERIVATION OF VERBS FROM NOMINALS. Both transitive and intransitive verbs may be derived from nominals. The verbalising affixes follow those which derive complex nomi­ nals . (a) INCHOative -DHi. This suffix derives an INTRansitive verb with the meaning 'be/become X'. Some examples are: b u w a y a k - t h i (faint-INCHO) 'be unintelligible' (of language) y o l Q U - t h i (person-INCHO) 'be born' (become a person) m o k u y - t h i (ghost-INCHO) 'die' (become a ghost) b a y q u - t h i (nothing-INCHO) 'disappear, set (of sun)' (become nothing) nh a w i - y i (whatsit-INCHO) the verbal equivalent of nhawi 'whatsit', used as a filler when the speaker cannot bring to mind the verb that he wants to use.

The allomorph-yi is sometimes, but not always, used if the nominal stem ends in a vowel. It always occurs follow­ ing PROP -mirri. INCHO is -thi elsewhere. Thus: yothu-mirri-yi (child-PROP-INCHO)

'become pregnant'

(b) Transitivisers (TRVSR) - k u , -DHa and - p u n u . These three suffixes derive TRansitive verbs from nominals. The con­ ditioning environments for the three suffixes have not been fully determined; they appear to be partly phonological and partly lexical in nature. A stem ending in a stop appears always to take -ku: dha’-wad_atj-ku (mouth-?-TRVSR) 'make a mistake in speaking' m a n y m a k - k u (good-TRVSR) 'do well'

If the root is disyllabic and ends in any other con­ sonant or in a vowel, then either -ku or -DHa may be used, and the use is lexically determined. For example: qonuQ-dha (heavy-TRVSR)

'do heavily, make heavy'

J_uJ_ny i n '-ku (depression-TRVSR) 'scrape' d h u m b u j V - y a (short-TRVSR) 'make short' y a k u r r - k u (asleep-TRVSR) 'put to sleep'

Stems of more than two syllables which end in some­ thing other than stop take -DHa: bathala-ya (huge-TRVSR) 'make huge' muQa-mirri-ya (ashes-PROP-TRVSR) 'roast in ashes'

The distribution of the allomorphs of -DHa are as follows: -tha after nasals; and -ya elsewhere. - p u n u is a rarely used suffix: the only two productive examples known to me are the verbs r i n y d j u - p u n u (Rinso-TRVSR) 'wash clothes' and m i n d u - p u n u (mend-TRVSR) 'mend, sew', / p u n u / is a final element in the roots of several NG conjugation verbs, e.g. w a q g a p u n u - 'cook', and m u t j p u n u - 'build a shelter'. (c) The DO suffix -DHu. This is a very productive suffix which derives both TRansitive and INTRansitive verbs from all types of nominals. A detailed discussion of the sem­ antics of DO derivation is set out in 4.4.3. Some examples of its use are: yapa-'yu (EZ-DO) 'call someone older sister' (TR)

3.2 Noun morphology

47

patha-'yu (food-DO) 'ask for food' (TR) mutika-'yu (car-DO) 'go by car' (INTR) dhuwal-'yu (this-DO) 'speak Dhuwal' (INTR)

When used as a denominalising affix, the allomorphs of have the following distribution: -thu following stops and nasals; and -yu elsewhere. In addition, a glottal stop is always present at the morpheme boundary unless the root ends in a stop. There is a class of verb roots which also take DO ob­ ligatorily preceding verbal inflections; the distribution of allomorphs following verb-roots is somewhat different from that described here (see 3.6.6.). -DHu

3.2.7 NUMBER. The marking of number is optional, and is achieved in a variety of ways. Singular is unmarked. Dual number. The third person dual pronoun manda may be used as a dual marker. It is often very hard to decide whether it is being used as a pronoun or as a dual number marker. It is more likely to be a dual marker if: (a) It occurs after the noun. When a noun and a pronoun co-occur in an NP, the pronoun usually comes first. (b) It has zero case inflection. A pronoun always agrees in case with a co­ occurring noun. The dual number marker does so optionally, (c) The NP is in ERG case and the number marker takes the form manda-1 . -I marks ERG case on the dual number marker as well as on some kin-terms (see Table 3.2.). When being used as a pronoun, manda follows a NOM-ACC pattern of inflection (see Table 3.7). Plural number is marked in one of the following ways: (a) by the use of a collective noun which is suppletive with the corresponding singular. There is a small closed set of these, mainly with human referents, for example djamarrkujj' 'children' (singular form: yothu). A list of suppletive coll­ ective nouns with human referents is given in section B of the vocabulary by semantic fields. (b) by a p ural verb, for example ^äpthu-N 'sit' (singular form: nhina-0). (c) by reduplication of the first two syllables of the word. This is attested for only two nouns, both of which have human referents. yoiQu 'person' may be pluralised as yolQu'yulpu, and paj_apaj_ 'senior person' as QaJ_a'QaJ_apa_k (d) plural suffix -wurr, which is also only attested with three nouns: dhäyka 'woman', d_arramu 'man' and d_ilkurr(u) 'old m a n '. (e) The most productive method for indicating plural number is with the noun mala meaning 'group/set'. It may be infl­ ected to agree with its head noun, but this is not obliga­ tory. The ubiquitous element -q u - is inserted before all non-zero case markers with the exception of ACC when mala is being used as a number marker. It is never the first occurring word of its NP when it is in this function. When it is in ABS case, particularly in verbless sentences, it almost invariably takes the form mala-ny-nha. This may be a rare example of the IM and PRO markers co-occurring on the same word (see 3.3.). An example from Text 2 is:

48

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

(54)

dhaVuk

mala-ny-nha balanyar

Wu_l_aki B u r a r r a - n y

language PL-PRO-IM like this Wulaki Burarra-PRO Languages like Wulaki and Burarra

(2:29)

Sometimes the 3plNOM pronoun w a Ia I(a) is used instead of m a l a. The problems of interpretation are the same as those found with dual number marker m a n d a . An example which shows w al al being used as both a pronoun and a number marker within a single NP is the following: (55)

nhina

panya

dhudakthu-n-a Qunhi-yi

sit+UNM 3sgACC learn-UNM-IM

walal

mitjinarri-y

dhaVuk

that+ABS-ANAPH language+ABS

walala-y

3plN0M missionary-ERG PL-ERG The missionaries are now learning this language

Note that the first occurrence of w a l a l precedes its corefer­ ent ial noun and takes pronominal case marking (i.e. NOM for A). The second w a l a l follows the noun and takes nominal case marking (i.e. ERG for A). ( n h i n a 'sit' is here being used to indicate durative aspect.) 3.2.8 REDUPLICATION. Apart from the limited use mention­ ed in 3.2.7, nominal reduplication is not a common feature of Djapu. Adjectival nouns may occasionally be reduplica­ ted to give the meaning 'very X ' , but the usual method of forming a superlative is to use the adverbial particle m i r i t h i r r 'very, extremely'. Some noun roots consist of reduplicated forms, e.g. n y i k n y i k 'mouse/rat' for which no unreduplicated counterpart exists. 3.2.9 NOMINAL COMPOUNDING. Compounds consisting of two nominals are not uncommon. The first nominal of such a compound is most often a body-part and the second an adjec­ tival nominal. They combine to produce a nominal which describes a personal characteristic or attribute, e.g. m u _l _ ku rr - gu j _ku ' (head-many) 'indecisive* b u k u - d h u m u k (forehead-blunt/thick) 'forgetful' _l_äy-däl (temple-hard) 'greedy, selfish'

In terms of stress patterns and morphophonological rules, these compounds cannot be regarded as single words (we would expect lenition of the first consonant of the second word, and loss of vowel-length in non-initial syllables). But they are more closely bound to one another than is usual with a noun and its qualifier. This can be seen from the fact that: (a) they are never separated by another word, and always occur in the same position relative to one ano­ ther; (b) the compound always receives case-marking at the end of the second morpheme; the first morpheme is never case-marked; (c) their compound meaning is different from the sum of the meanings of the individual parts. 3.3 POST-INFLECTIONAL CLITICS - CONTR, IM and PRO. The three post-inflectional clitics discussed here may be attached to almost any type of word. They are introduced at this point because knowledge of them is necessary for an

3.3 Post-inflectional clitics - CONTR, III and PRO

49

understanding of pronoun, demonstrative and verb morphology. They occur as the final element and are mutually exclusive (except for the possible instance mentioned in 3.2.7). All three give a particular type of emphasis to the word they occur on, or to the clause in which that word occurs. They might be termed discourse-level phenomena, since their function is to relate elements from one clause to another. This is in contrast to case and tense/aspect/mood markers which are clause-level phenomena in that they relate ele­ ments within a clause to one another. (a) CONTRastive emphasis marker - q g a . This clitic is used when the speaker is contrasting one thing or situation with another. Two examples of its use are found in Text 1, at lines 26 and 34. In 1:26 it is found on the possessor noun wäwa-waI - q g a 'brother-OBL-CONTR'. In the immediately preced­ ing part of the narrative the speaker had been recounting events which occurred at another person's camp. With this sentence the narrative moves to the camp belonging to her brother, who receives contrastive emphasis. The use of CONTR in the second example (1:34) is less clear-cut. The suffix appears on the negative particle yaka 'not ' : (56)

qanapurr-ny

yaka-qga

yä’n

ganydjarr

nhina

lplexcNOM-PRO not-CONTR still strength+ABS sit+UNM We still hadn't even sat down for a breather

(1:34)

Here the speaker seems to be contrasting the actual state of affairs with the one that should have been, namely that the correct thing for people to allow one to do is to rest after a tiring journey. (b) IMmediate marker IM allomorphs are: -n -a -na -nha

-n a/-n/-a/-nha.

The distribution of the

after a vowel after a liquid or semi-vowel elsewhere (with n-na contracting to na) alternates freely with the other allomorphs

This clitic may be added to any or every word in a clause (52) is an example of a clause with every word marked for IM. Its use denotes that the action or event described by the clause occurred immediately after a previously mentioned action or event, or is about to happen immediately. It is often used on the UNM form of the verb (see 3.6.4) with a hortative sense, as in: (57)

m arrtji-n

go+UNM-IM Let's go!

It may often be translated by 'now', but is used far more frequently than this English word. In many cases it is best left untranslated. It will be noted that two of the allo­ morphs, - nha and - n are identical to the ACC case-marking allomorphs. This means that nominal forms are often ambig­ uous between A B S + I M and ACC. In many cases, the context will disambiguate the function, but some problems of inter­ pretation do occur, particularly with nouns which are some-

50

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

times given +HU status and sometimes not. in text 1:12. (58)

Qunhi nh'ama-' n h a - m a

An example occurs

wa'yin-nha

THAT look-REDUP-UNM animal-ACC/IM ... who were looking at the animal...

(1:12)

There is no way of knowing whether w a y in is being treated as +HU-ACC or -HU+ABS-IM in this sentence. There are also problems of interpretation with the allomorph -a. The Dhuwala form of the LOC suffix is -qu r a . When - q u r a occurs in a Djapu text it may be difficult to decide if it represents a slip into Dhuwala or if it should be analysed as -Q u r - a . Similarly, the use of d h u w a l a 'this' may be a case of a slip, or it may be an alternative to the more common irregular form d h u w a - n a 'this-IM'. The problem does not arise in cases where the corresponding Dhuwala form ends in /u / or / i/, e.g. Djapu - l i l - a , ALL-IM is distinct from Dhuwala -l ili, ALL (ALL-IM in Dhuwala is - l i l i - n a ) . The IM suffix also poses problems of interpretation when it occurs on verbs (see 3.6.4). (c) PROminence marker -ny/-tja. distributed as follows:

The forms of this suffix are

-ny after a vowel, liquid or semivowel -tja elsewhere

(the full form of the suffix -nydja occurs in Dhuwala dia­ lects after a vowel, but never occurs in Djapu). Further research is required before all the uses of PRO are fully understood. In general terms it give prominence to or draws attention to the word that it is suffixed to. On nouns and pronouns, some of its more easily defined uses are: (i) to mark new information. An example of this is found in Text 3:11, where d o d u r r k 'heart', a new object in the dis­ course, is marked with PRO. (ii) to mark a request for information. It is commonly found on the last word of a question (see 4.12). (iii) PRO on the subject of a sentence often indicates that there has been a change of subject (either S or A NP) from the previous sentence. Clear examples of this use are found in Text 1:4-13 where the subject is switching from the lizard in 4 to the man in 5, to the woman in 7, back to the man in 8, to the boy in 10, back to the man in 13. Each time a new subject takes over, the PRO marker is to be found on it. In sentences 6, 9 and 11-12, the subject is either the same as that of the previous sentence or includes the subject of the previous sentence, and no PRO marker is used. By contrast, the 'new subject' of sentence 13 is included in the subject of the previous sentence, the re­ verse relationship to that holding between sentences 10 and 11. In this case it is given PRO marking. Further study is necessary before this can be stated as a general rule. In this use of PRO, the marked form is not necessarily completely new information. Text 3 provides another example of PRO in this function, with an added complication. In lines 1-12 a new subject is marked by PRO only if it is not the sorcerer. There is no example of the sorcerer receiving PRO marking. Why should

3.4 Pronoun morphology 51 TABLE 3.7 - Pronouns: core oases NOM 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3

sg du inc du exc Pi inc Pi exc sg nsg sg du Pi

garra ga 1 i 0 i 1i ny( u) pi 1 i murr qanapurr nhe nhuma gay 1 manda wa 1a 1

ACC

DAT1

g a r r a n( h a ) g i t j a 1an(ha) 0 i n y a 1an(ha) g i 1imu r r u n ( h a ) ganapurrun(ha) nhuna nhuma1an(ha) ganya mandan (ha) wa 1a 1an(ha)

garrak(u) g i t j a 1ag(gu) g i n y a 1ag(gu) g i 1imurrug( gu) ganapurrug(qu) nhugu nhuma1ag(gu) nhangu mandag(gu) wa 1a 1ag (gu)

da . t2

garra1 g i t j a 1amba1 ginya 1amba1 g i 1imu( r r u ) m b a 1 ganapurrumba1 nhepa1 nhu rrawamba1 nhanba 1 mandapa1 wa1a 1amba1

Note: (h) signifies that the longer form has a lamino-dental nasal, nh, whereas the shorter form ends with an apico-alveolar nasal, n.

this be so? The most reasonable hypothesis seems to be that since the text is about sorcerers, the sorcerer is the ex­ pected subject of the text's sentences. Thus it is the switch to an unexpected subject, the victim, in sentences 3 and 7 that triggers PRO marking. Note that from sentence 13 onwards the victim seems to assume that status of expected subj ect. 3.4

PRONOUN MORPHOLOGY

3.4.1 PERSONAL PRONOUNS. Djapu pronouns have a NOM-ACC pattern of inflection for the inner-core syntactic cases. That is: S and A functions are marked by NOMinative and 0 function by Accusative. Apart from this, the case marking system is identical to that of the +HU nouns. In many instances the forms of the case suffixes are identical, with only a few forms being unrelated to the nominal case-markers. Pronouns are found in two forms. The first is the form which occurs when there are no post-inflectional clitics. The second,longer form, which includes the bracketed compon­ ents in Tables 3.7 and 3.8, is the stem to which post-inflec­ tional clitics are added. These two forms will be referred to as final and non-final forms respectively. The DAT2 forms are a peculiarity of Djapu not shared by other Dhuwal dialects. There appears to be no semantic dis­ tinction between the two DAT forms, although DAT 2 forms are considered to be n j ni nyqu ('foundation') Djapu. Djapu speak­ ers, however, use both. The two forms may be used contrastively to disambiguate a sentence in which there are two dis­ tinct referents who have the same pronominal status: (59)

dhuwal

nhangu gara

ga

dhuwal

nhanbal

gara

this 3sgDAT spear and this 3sgDAT spear This is his^ spear, and this is his2 spear

The ABL, PER, ASSOC and complex genitive cases are form­ ed by adding the appropriate case marker to the OBLS stem in

52

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.8 - Pronouns: non-core cases OR

1 sg 1 du

inc

1 du

exc

1 pi

inc

1 pi

exc

2

sg

2

nsg

3

sg

3

du

3pl

OBL

OBLS

qarrakuq(u) qitjalaqguq(u) qinyalaqguq(u) q i 1imurruqguq(u) qanapurruqguq(u) nhokuq(u) n h u m a 1aqguq(u) nhanu kuq(u)

qarraka 1 qitjalaqgal q inya 1a q g a 1 q i 1imur r u q g a 1 qanapurruqga1 nhoka1 n h u m a 1a q g a 1 nhanuka1

q a r r a k a 1aquqitja 1a q g a 1aquq in y a 1a q g a 1aquq i 1i m u r r u q g a 1aquq a n a p u r r u q g a 1aqun h o k a 1aqun h u m a 1a q g a 1aqun h a n u k a 1aqu-

mandaj"^11^ 1^ . — ]_qguq(u) w a 1a 1aqguq(u)

mandal"^3 ' — ]_oga 1 wa 1a 1a q g a 1

m a n d a q g a 1aquwa 1a 1a q g a 1aqu-

exactly the same way as with nominals (see Tables 3.3 and 3.6). Note that Djapu (in common with most other Yolqu langu­ ages) has no 2du form. Dual number may be specified by us­ ing the combination nhuma m a n d a . Here again m a n d a is acting as a general dual marker rather than specifically as a 3du pro­ noun. It is sometimes used redundantly with ldu forms, for example q i I iny manda in text 1 : 1 7 , 26. A comparison of final with non-final forms shows the following regular correspondences: (a) All non-final forms end in a vowel or liquid. In final forms a final vowel is dropped if the word is more than two syllables long, and if it is preceded by a single consonant. Thus forms like qarra 'lsgNOM' and nhuQu '2sgDAT' are unaffec­ ted by the vowel deletion rule. (b) the NOM f o r m s ending in a liquid (qanapurr 'lplexcNOM', Qi I imurr 1lplincNOM’ and wa Ia I ’3plNOM') originally had a final vowel. Evidence for this is found in the inflected forms of the pronouns, where the roots are, respectively, qanapurru-, q i I imurru- and wa Ia Ia - . The final vowel does not appear before clitics, and therefore has been completely lost from the NOM forms. (c) the pronominal ACC marker has the same allomorphs as the nominal ACC marker: that is, -nha in non-final position and -n in final position. (d) In non-final forms of DAT-, (except for 2sg and 3sg) , the suffix -ku, identical to the nominal DAT case marker, appears. In final forms the vowel is dropped in the form qarrak 'lsgDAT', but the whole suffix is dropped when preceded by another consonant (/q/). Note that if only the final vowel were dropped, a word final cluster / q g / would result, and this would violate phonotactic constraints. Analysis of the pronoun paradigm. The most regularly de­ clined pronoun is lsg. Its only irregular form is DAT 2 , where we might have expected *qarrapal to occur. The modern form, qarral, is probably derived from qarrapal through the loss of the first C V (/pa/) of the final syllable. If we take the non-final forms as basic, we see that it has an invariant root, qarra, to which case suffixes are added as

3.4 Pronoun morphology

53

TABLE 3.9 - Pronouns: suppletive roots NOM 1 1 2 sg 2 nsg 3 sg

Qa 1i 0 i1iny(u) nhe nhuma gay i

ACC

DAT{

NON-CORE

DAT 2

> nhenhurrawaganya

follows: NOM 0 ACC -nha DAT -ku

OR -kuQ(u) OBL -kal OBLS-kalagu

The similarities between this and the nominal paradigm are clear. One major difference is that the first consonant of the suffix is not lenited after a vowel, as it is in the nominal paradigm. This is generally true of both pronouns and demonstratives (see 3.5.2). Some of the non-singular pronouns are almost regular. The only irregularity is the insertion of an epenthetic nasal preceding the case marker in the non-core cases (DAT, OR, OBL and OBLS). The nasal assimilates in point of arti­ culation to the following consonant. Thus for lplexc we have: root Qanapurru

DATi -Q-gu

DAT2 -m-baI

OR -g-gugu

OBL -Q-gal

OBLS -g-galagu

Similar remarks apply to lplinc gilimurru, 3du manda and 3pl waI a Ia.

Note that for 3du manda the insertion of this nasal is optional. Many of the pronouns have suppletive roots, and/or irregular case-markers. These are tabulated in 3.9 and 3.10. The suppletive Idu forms in Gupapuygu (Western Dhuwala) are Qalitjala- ’lduinc' and galinyala- 'lduexc'. The correspond­ ing Djapu forms have lost the first vowel and the consonant following it. The origin of the element /tjala/ (with assi­ milation of /1j/ to the preceding nasal and degemination of the resulting /nyny/ cluster in the exc form) is unknown. 2sg appears to have two synchronically unrelated rootforms nhe- and n h u - (with added vowel length for peripheral cases). The D A T 2 form is based on n h e - , which differentiates it from all the other non-NOM forms of 2sg. 2nsg also appears to be based originally on nhu-. The non-NOM root is formed by adding the PL marker -mala to the root. In the NOM form the final CV of the stem has been dropped. The DAT2 root form may originate from an old 2pl form which has not survived as such. A probable cognate is the Golpa (Nhagu) 2pl form nhurruli (Schebeck and Zorc per­ sonal communication). Golpa distinguishes, unlike Djapu, between 2du nhuma and 2pl nhurruli. 3sg probably had at one time two unrelated root-forms Qay(i) a n d n h a n (u ). The ACC form was probably * g a y ( i ) - n h a , c o n ­ tracting to the present-day form.

54

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.10 - Pronouns: irregular case-markers ACC

2sg 3sg

DAT x 1

-na (-nya?)

>•

0U

It will be seen from Table 3.10 that in the 2sgACC form the nasal is alveodental /n/ rather than the regular lamino-interdental /nh /. 3sg ACC oanya could be analysed as root Qa- and ACC -nya, but the form of the intensive pronoun (see 3.4.2(b)) suggests that oanya is perceived as a single morpheme. In the DAT forms, the suffix -qu appears to be un­ related to the regular suffix -ku. But it may be related to the element /nu/ which now occurs as part of some derivat­ ional suffixes (c.g. puypu 'inhabitant of' and -'mirripu kin­ ship proprietive1), and may represent the last survival of an earlier genitive (as distinct from dative) suffix. 3.4.2 INTENSIVE PRONOUNS. Djapu has a set of intensive pronouns which are derived from the basic pronoun forms. They are sometimes used as reflexives (see 4.6), but more often to lend emphasis of the type 'he did it himself'. The INTENS marker -pi/-wuy is related to the ASSOC suffix -Buy. The intensive pronouns are formed as follows: (a) NOMinative case: -pi is added to the monosyllabic and disyllabic NOM pronouns, for example: nhe-pi 'yourself', parra-pi 'myself'. -wuy is added to longer non-final forms, for example: walala-wuy 'themselves'. (b) Accusative case: there is some alternation in the ACC paradigm of the intensive pronoun. The simplest way of forming it is to insert -pi/-wuy (conditioned as before) between the root of the ACC pronoun and the ACC suffix. The ACC suffix takes the form -nya following -pi and -nha following -wuy. Examples are: panya-pi-nya 'himself' pinyaIa-wuy-nha 'ourselves'

Other more complex forms are also found. panya-pi-nya-wuy 3sgACC-INTENS- A C C - INTENS

For example

'himself'

The ACC forms of the INTENS pronoun need further investi­ gation . (c) DATive case: -wuy is added to the non-final DAT form of the pronoun, for example parra-ku-wuy 'for myself'. The only example of a DAT2 INTENS pronoun found so far is wa Ia Ia-mba Ia-wuy 'for themselves', which seems to indicate that the DAT 2 form also has an underlying final vowel. (d) Peripheral cases: the infix -giyin- is inserted after the epenthetic nasal and preceding the case marker or OBLS marker. For example: wa Ia Iap-g iy in-gup 'by themselves'. 3.4.3 THE USE OF FINAL AND NON-FINAL FORMS. In the INTENS pronoun paradigm the non-final form of the personal pronoun

3. 4 Pronoun morphology

55

TABLE 3.11 - Interrogativo/indefinite pronouns yolERG/INSTR/CAU ABS ACC DAT OR OBL LOC ALL ABL PER ASSOC

' wh o '

- t hu -0 -nha -ku -kup(u) -ka 1

- k a 1apu-pu r - k a 1a p u - k u r r - k a 1apu-wuy

nhä-

'what'

wanha-

'where'

-thu -0 -ku

-pur -1 i 1 -pur -ku r r -puy

-0~-ka~-(pu)mi - ( p u ) m a 1— ( Pu) 1 i 1 -pur -puwuy

is always used when the INTENS suffix follows. If the per­ sonal pronoun is followed by the IM or PRO clitic the sit­ uation is more complicated. (a) PRO: in cases where the final form of the pronoun ends in a stop or nasal, the full (non-final) form of the pronoun is used, e.g. p a r r a - k u - n y 'lsg-DAT-PRO' (final form p a r r a - k ) , p a n a p u r r u - p g u - n y 'lplexc-DAT-PRO ' (final form p a n a p u r r u - p ) . Elsewhere, the final form is used, for example p a n a p u r r - n y 'lplexcNOM-PRO',p a r r a - n y 'IsgNOM-PRO' . (b) IM: the IM clitic is rarely found on pronouns, except in the ACC case, where it follows the non-final form. For example p a r r a - n h a - n 'lsg-ACC-IM'. The reason is not hard to find. The allomorph of IM following a vowel is - n or - n h a , and the allomorph following liquids is - a or - n h a . If the IM clitic was frequently used on NOM forms of the pronoun, the following ambiguities would also be common: parra-n 'lsgNOM-IM' or 'lsg-ACC' parra-nha 'lsgNOM-IM' or 'lsg-ACC' (Dhuwala form) waI a Ia 'lsgNOM-IM' or 'lsgNOM' (Dhuwala form)

Since the IM clitic may be attached to any word in a clause there is probably a tendency to avoid using it on a word where the resulting form would be ambiguous. 3.4.4. INTERROGATIVE/INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. such pronouns in Djapu:

There are three

yoI 'who, someone' nhä 'what, something' wanha 'where' ('somewhere' is rendered by pula-(pu)mi, see 3.5.8)

yol inflects like a +HU noun, nha’ like a - H U noun, and wanha like a locational qualifier. The major difference from the nominal paradigm is that there is no lenition of the first consonant of case suffixes. The paradigms of the interro­ gative/indefinite pronouns are set out in Table 3.11. There is no PER form for wanha 'where'. In its place is the verb w a n h a - w i t j a - 'go which way?' Nhä 'what' may also take derivational affixes, some of which are unique to it. The following forms have been recorded:

56

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect nhä-mirr, (what-PROP) 'how, how about' nha’-tha, (what-TEMP) 'when' nha’- m u n y ' (n ha) , (what-QUANT) 'how many' nha'-muny ' ( n h a ) - m i rr (what-QUANT-PROP) 'how many times'

The local cases of nhä 'what' are not often used. 3.4.5 FILLERS. There are two frequently occurring words which are used when a speaker has temporarily forgotten the name of a person, thing or place. These are: n h a w i 'whosit, whatsit' n h a y ( i ) k a 'what's that place' n h a w i may be inflected as either a +HU or -HU noun. As with pronouns there is no lenition of the first consonant of case-suffixes. N h a y ( i ) k a inflects as if it were a place name, that is it takes -0 for LOC, -l il for ALL and - q u r for ABL.

3.5

DEMONSTRATIVE MORPHOLOGY

3.5.1 FUNCTION. tinct functions.

Djapu demonstratives perform several dis­

(a) Deictic functions. Two types of deictic function may be distinguished: context deixis (pointing to things in the real world) and discourse deixis (pointing to things which are mentioned in a speech act, and which are not present in the real-world context in which the speaker is situated). The demonstrative formqunhi— quri- is used almost entirely for discourse deixis, while the other three, d h u w a l , d h u w a l i and q u n h a are most often used in context deixis. Compare: (60)

qatha-mirr

q u n h a wä'qa

veg.food-PROP yon place That place [over there] is good for food

(61)

qatha-mirr

qunhi-yi

wäqa

veg.food-PROP that-ANAPH place That place [that we're talking about] is good for food

In (60) the speaker would be pointing to a place at some distance from where he/she is standing at the time. In (61) the place being discussed is not in the vicinity of the speaker, it is simply a topic of conversation. (b) Grammatical functions. Demonstratives may be used either as deictic determiners qualifying a noun (this man, this place etc.) or as deictic demonstrative pronouns (this one, here etc). 3.5.2 FORM. The paradigms of the demonstratives are some­ what irregular. Table 3.12 sets out the ABSsolutive forms. The distance range involved in the choice of a demonstrative form is somewhat flexible, d h u w a l is normally used to refer to objects in the immediate vicinity of the speaker, incl­ uding the speaker him/herself, d h u w a l i is normally used to refer to objects in the vicinity of the addressee, and q u n h a for objects outside the immediate vicinity of speaker

3.5 T AB L E

3.12

-

Demonstrative morphology

57

Absolutive forms of the d e m o n st r a t i v e s Deictic function Discourse deixis

Distance

Context deixis

Proximate Near Distant

d h u w a 1 'this/here' d h u w a 1 i 'that/there' Qunha ' yon/yonder'

1 J ^

Qunhi

'th a t/th e re '

and addressee. However, if the addressee is far enough away from the speaker for shouting to be necessary, then forms based on Qunha will be used. punhi is not specified for spatial distance. An example showing the use of dhuwal and d h u w a l i is (note the suppletive root-forms): (62)

yaka nhe

not

panya

dhipali

gurrunhu-rr

barrku-mal

2sgN0M 3sgACC there+ALL lay down-POT far-ALL

/ d hi i pa I

here+ALL

gaIki-maI

close-ALL Don't put him down over there, (put him) here, close by

Tables 3.13-3.16 show the forms of the demonstratives. Post-inflectional clitics are added to forms which include the bracketed segments. As with nouns, CAU falls together with ERG for -HU and with OBL for +HU. TABLE

ERG/INSTR/TEMP ABS/LOCi DAT OR OBL loc2 ALL ABL ASSOC

3.1 3

-

dhuwal

+HU

-HU

dh iyap(u) dhuwa1 dhiyak(u) dhiyakup(u) dhiyaka1 (OBL form used) (OBL form used) dh iyaka 1apurjur dhiyaka1apuwuy

dhiyap(u) dhuwa1 dhiyak(u)

Note that there is no PERlative case . dhuwa 1-witja- 'go this way. TABLE

ERG/INSTR ABS/LOC1 DAT loc2 ALL ASSOC

't h i s / h e r e '

3.14

dhiya1 dhipa 1 dhipupur dhiyakuy

Locational

dh iya 1(a(pu)mi) dhipa 1 dhipupur dhiyakuy

It is replaced by the verb

- dhuwali 'that/t h e r e ’

+HU

-HU

Locational

dhiyapi dhuwa1i dhiyaki (OBL form used) (OBL form used)

dhiyapi dhuwa 1i dhiyaki dhiya1i dhipa 1i dhiyakiy

dhiya1i((pu)mi) dhipa 1i dh iyakiy

Note: Only those forms which differ from the dhuwal paradigm are given; OR, OBL, ABL and +HU ASSOC are the same as for dhuwa1.

58

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.15 - Qunha 'yon/yonder'

ERG/INSTR/TEMP ABS/LOCi DAT OR OBL LOC2 ALL ABL ASSOC

+HU

-HU

QuruQ(u) Qunha Quruk(u) Qurukur] (u) Quruka1 (OBL form used) (OBL form used) Quruka1aQUQur Qurukuy

QUrUQ(u) Qunha Quruk(u)

Qunha1 Qunhawa1 q u 1aQur Qurukuy

Locational

Qunha 1(a(Qu)mi) Qunhawa1 qu 1aQur Qurukuy

A PER form Qulakurr has been attested, but more common is the verbal form qu 1a-witja-■ 'go that way'.

TABLE 3.16 -

ERG/INSTR/TEMP ABS/LOC ]_ DAT OR OBL LOC^ ALL ABL ASSOC

Qunhi

’that/there 1

+HU

-HU

Quriq i Qunh i Quriki Qurikiq Qurika1 (OBL form used) (OBL form used) Qur ika1aQUQur qu rika1aQuwuy

Quriq i Qunh i Quriki

Qunhi1i Qunhiwa1 QU 1iQur Qurikiy

Locational

Qunhi 1i((Qu)mi) Qunhiwa1 Q U 1iQUP

Qurikiy

There is no PER form for Qunhi. The locational LOC2 forms have bracketed optional com­ ponents. Thus locational LOC2 'here' may take any of the following forms: d h i y a l , d h i y a l a m i or dh iy a Ia Q u m i . The meaning difference between d h i y a l and the other two forms is the same as that described for locational qualifiers (see 3.2.4). Alternatively the LOCi form of the demonstrative may be used under certain conditions (see 4.1.4). CO

lO

CO

NON-FINAL FORMS. The relationship between final and non-final forms of demonstratives is exactly the same as for nouns. Final forms ending in a nasal or a stop have a de­ leted final vowel The vowel is retained in non-final form , e. g. this-ERG this-DAT this-OR

non-final dh iy a Q u dhiyakudhiyakuQu-

final dhiyaQ dhiyak dhiyakuQ

3.5.4 THE SUPPLETIVE ROOT-FORMS OF THE DEMONSTRATIVES. The root-forms of the dhuwali and Qunhi paradigms are derived from those of t h e d h u w a l and Qunha paradigms respectively. In the paradigm of Qunhi, root-final / i / replaces the root-final

3.5 Demonstrative morphology

59

TABLE 3.17 - Foot suppletion and ease-marking for demonstratives: synchronic analysis ' this/here' d hu w a1 dhi-

' yon/yonder'

1

case-marker

ABS/LOCi ALL l oc 2 ERG DAT OR ASSOC OBL(S) ABL

- dhiya-

/a/ of th e dhuwa 1 i a r e r o o t , w here d iscu ssio n

punha p a r a d i g m T h e r o o t - f o r m s f o r dhuwal a n d i d e n t i c a l , e x c e p t i n t h e c a s e o f t h e ABS/LOCi d hu w a1i h a s a r o o t - f i n a l / ] / . The f o l l o w i n g i s l i m i t e d t o r o o t s u p p l e t i o n i n t h e dhuwal a n d

dh i pu-

>

punha-

>

puru-

pu 1a -

-0 -Ba 1 -1 -p(u) -k(u) -kup(u) -kuy - k a 1( apu) -pur

Qunha paradigms. A synchronic analysis of the root-forms is given in Table 3.17 (the case markers are discussed in 3.5.5, where they are compared with case-markers on nouns).

Reconstruction of earlier root-forms. The 'this/here' para­ digm appears to be based on an original root *dhu— d h i - (at this stage it is not possible to state whether one of these is derived from the other). The element / y a / in the modern root-form d h i y a - cannot, at present, be explained. The final element / w a l / in the modern ABS/ LOCp form may possibly be related to the modern ALL case-marker -Ba I , and the element / p u / in the ABL root-form d h i p u - is possibly a reduced form of -BaI (with final / a / changing to /u/ preceding the ABL suffix - p u r ) . The 'yon/yonder' paradigm appears to be based on an original root *pu- . The origins of the elements /ru/ and /la/ in the modern suppletive root forms are at present ob­ scure. They may be related to forms which are found in many Australian languages for ERG and LOC respectively. The element / n h a / in the root-form punha- may be related to the ACC case-marker - nha , which is also found in many other Australian languages. 3.5.5 COMPARISON WITH THE CASE-MARKING SYSTEM OF NOUNS. Demonstratives lack two of the cases found in the noun paradigm: there is no ACC form for +HU demonstratives (ABS is always used for 0 function), and there is no PER form (except for the rarely-used pu I a - k u r r ) . In some instances the forms of the case markers also differ from those of the noun paradigm. The noun and demonstrative case-markers are com­ pared in Table 3.18 (ignoring the idiosyncratic vowel har­ mony which affects / u / when preceded by / i /). As with pronouns, the demonstrative case inflections always appear in non-lenited form, with the exception of the ALL inflection, which is -wal in the paradigms of punha and punhi and - pa l (i ) in the paradigms of dhuwal and dhuwa l i . Evidence from Dhuwala dialects suggests that the ALL casemarker for demonstratives was originally *- Ba l a and the ALL

60

Djapu3 a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3.18 - Comparison of noun and demonstrative case markers demonstrative

ERG/INSTR/TEMP A B S / ( L 0 C 1) DAT OR OBL OBLS loc2

ALL ABL ASSOC

noun

-QU

-DHu

-0

-0

-ku -kUQU -ka 1 -ka1aQU- 1 (a(Qu)mi)1 ^ -1 i((Qu)mi) -Ba 1

-Qur -kuy

I

-Gu -Guqu -Gal -Ga 1aQU-Qur2 -(Qu)mi -1 i1 -Qur -Buy

1 L 0C9 -l(a(Qu)mi) occurs with dhuwal and Qunha, and -1 i((qu )mi) with dhuwali and Qunhi demonstratives. 2-Qur is found on -HU nouns and -(Qu)mi on locational qualifiers.

case inflection for nouns was * - l i l i . These forms are relat­ ed to two of the locational adverbs of the modern language: bala 'movement away from speaker' and lili 'movement towards speaker'. The ERG and LOC2 demonstrative inflections are not related to the major forms found with nouns. The ERG suffix - qu on demonstratives is presumably not related to the resi­ dual DAT suffix -qu found in the pronoun paradigm. It may be a reflex of a common Australian ERG suffix -Qku. The locational LOC2 inflection -(Qu)mi occurs in both the demonstrative and the noun paradigm. It is added to the -HU LOCg form of the demonstrative rather than to the ABS form as is the case with nouns. The ASSOC suffix - k u y probably results from a contrac­ tion of an original * - k u - w u y 'DAT-ASSOC. That is, the ASSOC morpheme was originally added to the DAT form in the demon­ strative paradigm. 3.5.6

OTHER COMMENTS ON DEMONSTRATIVES.

The ABL forms

QuIaQur and QuIiQur may be used in a temporal sense to mean

'then, after that'. It will be noted that dhuwali has a defective paradigm, being distinguished from d h u w a l only in some cases. Heath (1980b) has suggested that Djapu has only a two way dis­ tinction between d h u w a l 'near' and Q u n h a 'far', and that d h u w a l i forms result from a combination of d h u w a l + ANAPH marker -yi (see 3.5.7). Whether this is so or not is a difficult question to answer. It is very possible that d h u w a l i forms originated in this way, but in the present-day language their use to indicate position near addressee as opposed to position near speaker seems sufficiently welldeveloped to justify setting them up as a separate demon­ strative form. There are also occasional examples in texts of d h u w a l i-yi (i.e. d h u w a Ii-ANAPH) which suggests that native speakers do not consider d h u w a l i forms to be intrinsically

3.5

Demonstrative morphology

61

anaphoric. It is also very possible that qunhi forms devel­ oped from Qunha forms + ANAPH. But the separation of qunha from Qunhi forms is better developed. Not only has qunhi a full and separate paradigm, but its function as a dis­ course deictic differentiates it from qunha, which is almost always used as a context deictic. 3.5.7 ANAPHORA. Demonstratives may be optionally marked as anaphoric by the addition of a clitic -DHi (ANAPH). The attachment of ANAPH to a demonstrative signifies that the object, place or action to which it refers has been mention­ ed previously in the discourse, or is understood to be an item in the discourse on the basis of a previous statement, e. g. (63)

qanapurr

qunhi-yi-ny-dhi

g itkitth u -n -a

lplexcNOM thatPL O C A N A P H —PRO—ANAPH laugh—LNM—XM raku-' ra k u n y-d ji-rr-a

dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM-IM At that we died laughing

(1:14)

The demonstrative in (63) refers back to the description in previous sentences of an attempt to catch a lizard. (64)

gul-way guIyu-n-mara-m

qunhi-ny-dhi

m utika-ny'

stop-? stop-UNM-CAUS-UNM that+ABS-PRO-ANAPH car+ABS-PRO (He) brought the car to a halt (1:6)

In the sentence preceding this one the narrator described how the driver tried to hit a lizard, but missed. Although the car is not specifically mentioned, it is understood from the more general context to be the instrument with which the attempt was made. The IM and PRO clitics and the ANAPH marker always follow the non-final forms of demonstratives. ANAPH is fre­ quently found in combination with either the IM or the PRO clitic (never both). The most regular formations are: root-PRO-ANAPH root-ANAPH-IM

The allomorphs of ANAPH are: —dh i following a nasal, and -yi elsewhere. Some regular examples are: qunhi-yi qunhi-ny qunhi-n qunhi-ny-dhi qunhi-yi-n

'that-ANAPH' 'that-PRO' 'that-IM' 'that-PRO-ANAPH' (see (64)) ’that-ANAPH-IM'

Some of the most commonly used forms, however, do not follow this regular pattern. Among the irregular forms attested are: dhuwaI-ny-dhi-yi 'this-PRO-ANAPH-ANAPH’ qunhi"! p that' quriqij- -yi-ny-dhi < 'that+ERG > -ANAPH-PRO-ANAPH ' qurikij that+DATj qunhi-yi-n-dhi 'that-ANAPH-IM-ANAPH'

All of these involve the addition of a second ANAPH marker either immediately following the demonstrative stem or as

62

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

the final element of the word. 3.5.8

OTHER DEMONSTRATIVE FORMS.

(a) Q u i a HYPOTHetical functions as the root-form for the ABL case of Q u n h a . It may also occur with a locational LOC in­ flection as Q u l a - ( o u ) m i (for example, Text 2:31) to indicate an indefinite, hypothetical location. It also occurs as an uninflected particle introducing finite subordinate clauses (see 4.9.2). (b) qu Ii IRREALis in its uninflected form is best treated as a word distinct from the suppletive root-form qu Ii. It functions as a particle (see 3.6.5). (c) b a l a n y a r ( a ) 'like this' is frequently encountered when a speaker is comparing one situation with another. Its verbal counterpart i s b i t j a - 'do thus'. b a l a n y a r i s formally a nominalised verb-form and it is quite common to find the nominalised form of b i t j a - ( b i t j a n a r ( a ) ) being used instead, b a l a n y a r co-occurs frequently with particle nhakun (derived originally from nhä ’what', but now invariable in form) in contexts of exemplification. The combination b a l a n y a r nhakun is best translated as 'thus for example' or 'for instance'. Many examples can be found in Text 2 . b a l a n y a r ( a ) is also found in DAT case meaning 'for this reason'. (d) d h i k a 'someone/thing/where' ( I N D E F ) is used when a speak­ er is unsure of the identity of some entity, has temporarily forgotten it or wishes to remain vague. It may be used in combination with the indefinite pronouns yol 'someone', nha' 'something' and wanha 'somewhere' (see for example Text 1 : 3 0 ) d h i k a may take local case inflections only. (e) be 'indefinitely far away/long ago' (INDEF). be occurs with zero case marking, and also in the following forms: be-Q u r (INDEF-ABL) 'after that'/'from very far away' be-QU-y (INDEF-q u -TEMP) 'at that very distant time' b e -n y bala (INDEF-PRO away) 'and so on for a long time'

3.6

VERB MORPHOLOGY

3.6.1 TRANSITIVITY. Most Djapu verbs are either strictly transitive, or strictly intransitive. Transitive verbs take obligatory A NP and 0 NPs, while intransitive verbs take an obligatory S N P . There are however three import­ ant classes of exceptions to this general rule. (a) Some verbs may be either transitive or intransitive, while maintaining the same conjugation membership. These include waoa- 'talk' (INTR); 'say' (TR) a n d w a o g i ' y u - 'smell' (INTR, TR). In no case is there any morphological marking on the verb to indicate whether it is being used transitive­ ly or intransitively. (b) Semi-transitive verbs. These take an obligatory S NP and an obligatory DAT complement. The most commonly occurr­ ing are m a r g g i - t h i - 'become knowledgeable about'; d j ä l - t h i 'want' (both are derived from adjectival nominals which also take an obligatory DAT complement); and j _ a r r u - 'seek'.

3.6

63

Verb morphology

Some verbs which are normally transitive may be used semi­ transit ivel y . These include nh'a- 'look at/see'(TR); 'look for' (SEMITR), gä- 'hear/listen to' (TR); 'listen for' (SEMITR) and bu- 'hit' (TR); 'hit at' (SEMITR). The semantic effects of the semi-transitive use of these verbs was dis­ cussed in 3.2.4(b). Further investigation may show that many other normally transitive verbs may be used in this way. (c) Ditransitive verbs. These are transitive verbs which take an obligatory additional complement NP in ABS/(ACC), DAT or OBL case, weka 'give', and j _ a k a r a - 'tell' are the most commonly occurring of these. The semantic effects of using DAT versus OBL are discussed in 3.2.4(d). 3.6.2 VERBS IN THE LEXICON. Like other Yo Iqu dialects Djapu presents something of a paradox. It is rich in devices for deriving verbs from nominals, and these devices are very productive and much used. However, there are very few monomorphemic roots in the language which are unambigu­ ously verbal. The number of monomorphemic roots found so far is about 75, and a number of these, while appearing monomorphemic in terms of the language as it is today, are historically derived from compound stems. There is another set of verbs, numbering around 500, which have stems composed of root + DO (-DHu) or much less commonly, root + INCHOative (-DHi); the roots cannot be used as nominals. DO and INCHO are also used productively to derive verbs from roots that are nominals in the modern language (see 3.2.6). 3.6.3 CONJUGATION. Djapu has four major conjugations, a small closed conjugation of interrogative and deictic verbs, two irregular verbs bu- 'hit/affect' and ga'- 'hear /1 ist en ' and a small, closed conjugation of non-inflecting verbs. The major conjugations will be referred to as 0 (zero), N, L and NG. The 0 oonjugation may be divided into four sub-conjugations on the basis of minor differences in verbal inflections. Two of these, 0 and (02 > have closed membership, 03 has a small set of monomorphemic verbs and is also the sub-con­ jugation into which all stems derived by INCHO fall. 04 consists entirely of reflexive/reciprocal verbs derived by the suffix -mi. 0 as a whole has 21 monomorphemic roots, of which 15 are INTR, five are TR and one is TR/INTR: 01

buna1u ka mu 1ka waganhäradhärragora-

'arrive'

(TR)

'ingest'

(TR)

' hold'

(TR)

'talk/say' 'b ur n'

(TR/INTR)

( INTR)

'be

standing'

( INTR)

'be

shy/ashamed'

nhinagorraw a 1mayu k u r r a guyagabuthuwa-

'sit'

(INTR)

'lie'

( INTR)

' exit'

( INTR)

'sleep'

(INTR)

'think'

( INTR)

'excrete/give

02

gaVri' e n t e r ' ( INTR) m a r r t j i - 'go/come' (INTR)

gathi -

'cry'

(INTR)

03

managi guyagiburaki-

g a* 1k i — wandi-

'fall

over'

'run'

( INTR)

'steal'

(TR)

'think'

(TR)

'be h u r t '

(INTR)

birth

( I NTR)

(I N T R )

(IN T R )

64

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

The NG conjugation is divided into two sub-conjugations on the basis of minor inflectional differences. NGi has six members and NG2 has 19 monomorphemic roots. NG 2 is also the sub-conjugation into which all compound stems derived with CAUS - m a r a and TRVSR - k u - / - D H a fall. The NG conjugation as a whole has 15 TR roots, four INTR roots, three DITR roots, and one each of SEMITR. TR/SEMITR and TR/INTR roots. The NG 2 sub-conjugation includes three monosyllabic roots. gungagurrukagurrka-

'shut/block' (TR) 'carry/wear' (TR) 'throw away' (TR)

wekadh ig g a wägga-

'give' (DITR) 'die' (INTR) 'go/come + PL' (INTR)

gä-

'carry/bring/take' (TR) 'see/look' (TR/SEMITR) 'forget' (TR) 'pierce' (TR) 'dig' (DITR) 'prevent from doing'(TR) 'paddle' (TR) 'fish' (TR) 'chase, harass' (TR) 'tell/call' (DITR)

1a r r u 1ä w u märramen gu membugamat h a -

'seek' (SEMITR) 'bite' (TR) 'fetch/get' (TR) 'hunt' (TR) 'forget' (TR) 'do properly' (TR/INTR) 'find' (TR) 'seep/drip' (INTR) 'be in/on' (INTR)

nhämodharpube 1a g a 1mug a w u 1u 1u k u r a guku1a k a r a -

g a r a k a 1a dhadu 1u gorru-

The L conjugation is also divisible into two on the basis of slight inflectional differences. It is a closed conjugation with eight members, five TR, one INTR and two DITR: Li

L2

garrtha(INTR) gurrupagat ha-

'get caught/stuck'

gayathagoma-

'recognise/understand' (TR) 'grab' (TR) 'knead' (TR)

nherra-

'put down' (TR)

garrpi-

'bind/block up' (TR)

dharaQa-

'give' (DITR) 'give' (DITR)

The N conjugation may also be divided into two subclasses on the basis of small differences in verbal inflections. Np has a closed membership of 12 monomorphemic roots, while N 2 consists of one monomorphemic root and all verbs derived with the DO suffix -DHu. Of the N conjugation roots, nine are T R , three are INTR and one is SEMITR: join' (TR) 'cook/burn' (TR) man ap aput into' (TR) 'create' (TR) q iIit j a — chase/follow' (TR) 'put into' (TR) gupasting/heal' (INTR) 'leave' (TR) d jlth a get dry/warm' (INTR) 'lay down' (TR) _Mthagrow' (INTR) (?) 'roast in ashes' (TR) gutha(The conjugation membership of g u t h a - 'grow' is uncertain: I have no examples of the POT form of the verb, which is the only inflection differentiating the and Nj conjugations.)

bathabokrnagaIkaganagurrunhaJ jrrth a -

n2

galku-

'wait' (SEMITR)

Table 3.19 summarises the main characteristics of the four major conjugations. Of the four conjugations, NG, L and N are predominantly TR and 0 is predominantly INTR, but transitivity does not correlate very strongly with conjugation. Once derived verbs are added however, the correlations become much stron­ ger. INCHO -DHi derives (p conjugation verbs which are all

3.6

Verb morphology

65

TABLE 3.19 - The four major conjugations conjugation

0 NG

L N

number of members TR

21 25 8 13

5 15 5 9

DITR

SEMITR

3 2

1 1

INTR

TR/INTR

15 4 1 3

1 1

TR/SEMITR

1

INTR, and CAUS -mara and TRVSR -ku/-DHa derive NG conjugation verbs which are all TR. -DHu (DO) derives both TR and INTR verbs, which all belong to the N2 conjugation. Deictic and interrogative (D/I) verbs form a further small closed conjugation with five members. Only two are monomorphemic : bit ja- 'do thus' (TR/INTR) nhaltja- 'do what' (TR/INTR) n h a l t j a is obviously derived originally from nha' 'what', and therefore it seems likely that both verbs were originally compounds. The element - t j a may be originally related to TRVSR -DHa. The other three verbs are compounds based on b i t j a - 'do thus': d h u w a I- w it j a - 'go this way' (INTR) q u la-wit ja- 'go that way' (INTR) w a n h a - w i t j a - 'go which way' (INTR)

Alon-inflecting (NI) verbs form a small closed class. are:

They

djäma (TR) 'work, do' wukirri (TR) 'write' bothurru (TR) 'count' djambi (TR) 'change, exchange' djäka (SEMITR) 'look after, care for'

All these verbs are Austronesian loans (see Walker and Zorc 1981). They are never inflected, and derivational affixes are added directly to the root form (Walker, personal comm­ unication, states that speakers of Djambarrpuyqu have re­ analysed dj ä ma as an NG conjugation verb, with root d jä—). 3.6.4 INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES - FORM. As with nominal case markers, some verbal inflections have two forms: one which occurs if the inflection is word-final (final form), and another (non-final form), which occurs preceding clitics particularly the IM and PRO clitics (see 3.3). (The only exception to this rule is the conjugation PERF suffix, which takes the final form when preceding the PRO clitic but not before the IM clitic.) In Table 3.20 the segments of the non-final forms of the affixes which are dropped in order to derive the final forms are placed in brackets. From Table 3.20 it can be seen that inflectional suf­ fixes are of two main types (ignoring, for the moment, the PAST NON-INDIC inflections and PERF —q ( a I) of the NG2 con­ jugation in which the final VC is deleted word-finally).

66

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect TABLE 3 . 2 0

UNMarked POTential

Verb inflections

-

01

02

03

04

-0

-0

- r r

-rr

1-01

-0

~ r r l

-nV(a)

PAST NON-INDICative 1 -nha -nya l2

L l

-nya

-nya

N1

n2

1

PAST NON-INDICative

i " r

1final vowel 2final vowel ■final vowel syllabic bit ja has a

-rial

-nha

,

Qä-

-ma

-ma

-QU

-ku

-mar

-ku 1

-nha

-nha

-n 1

CM

- r

-na

i_ 1

PERFect

-q (u )

bu

Deictic/interrogative

-n -I2

- q (u ) z

1-O(al)

UMMarked POTential

NG2

-m(a) 3 f

-0

PERFect

Notes:

NG i

-na

-rr

-k(u)4

-nan,

-rr

-na

of stem becomes / i/ of stem becomes /u/ of inflection is never deleted if root is mono­ suppletive root biya- with POT inflection

(a) Inflections with a deletable final vowel. When the in­ flection is word-final the final vowel is dropped if the inflected verb is more than two syllables in length. Thus inflections attached to monosyllabic roots are not affected by the rule. This is very similar to the rule operating on pronominal inflections (see 3.4.1, Table 3.7). When in non-final position, these inflections retain their final vowel, with the exception of -na ( 0 conjugation PERF inflection), which loses its vowel before PRO but not before IM. The post inflectional clitics have allomorphs IM - n , and PRO - ny following a vowel but d j a after n- (cf.3.3). (b) Inflections with a final consonant in both final and non-final forms. In modern Djapu, these inflections have no vowel in their non-final forms. They take the -a allomorph of IM while PRO is -ny following a liquid and again - d j a after a nasal. There is however some evidence that at an earlier stage of the language those inflections which now end in liquids (i.e. laterals or rhotics) once had a final vowel. The main evidence is the root alternations in the , L2 and Ni conjugations, compared with NGq: Ll l2 Ni NG!

UNM

POT

POT+IM

gatha-n nherra-n batha-n weka-m

gathu-1 nherru-1 bathu-rr weku-Q

g a t h u - 1- a n h e r r u - 1- a bat h u - r r - a weku-Qu-n

In the NGp conjugation, root-final/a/becomes /u/ before -q u . This appears to be an example of vowel assimilation. The rule must apply before the dropping of the word-final vowel

3.6

Verb morphology

67

in order for the correct POT form to be generated. In the case of the L and N]_ conjugations, the original suffix was *-1u or *-rru (this is confirmed by a comparison with close­ ly related Dhuwala dialects which retain the final vowel). The original suffixes ending in /u/ caused the final /a/ of the root to become /u/ for POT forms of the verb. At a later stage the final vowel of the inflection was lost in final form and then also in non-final form. But the vowel alter­ nation in the root forms remains as a record of its passing. Another piece of evidence is that the form of UNM+IM for subclass $>3 sometimes occurs as -rri-n instead of -rr-a. The final vowel of this suffix has thus almost, but not completely, disappeared. There is no evidence that non­ alternating forms ending in a nasal ever had a final vowel. If the cases enumerated under (a) and (b) are taken together, a diachronic rule can be stated which is very similar to the one given for noun inflections (see 3.2.3). Historically Djapu had a set of verbal inflections of the forms NV, LV and R V . In modern Djapu, the final vowel is now completely lost following liquids, but is retained after nasals if followed by a post-inflectional suffix (with the exception of -n-dja, as stated above). (c) Other alternations. Two apparent irregularities in the inflectional paradigm are the NG]_ PERF and the N2 PERF. The expected final form of the NGq PERF is -Qal, as in NG2 , but the actual form is - q . Elsewhere in its morphology Djapu shows a tendency to reduce inflections which consist of three phonemes to a single consonant (see for example DAT forms of the pronouns in Table 3.7), so that this reduction is not wholly unexpected. What does need explaining is why it should happen in NGq but not in NG2 . The reason would seem to be that if NG2 forms were reduced to - q the result would be ambiguous. This is not the case with NGq forms. An example should make this clear: POT NG] ng 2

weku-Q be I a-Q gawuIu-Q

PERF weka-Q/*weka-QaI *be I a-Q / bei a-Qa I *gawulu-Q /gawulu-Qal

In the NG2 conjugation the final vowel of the root, whether /u/ or /a/, is invariant. Thus the reduction of -Qal to - q would lead to an identity of form between POT and PERF. In the NG^ conjugation, however, all roots end in /a/, and in all cases /a/ -> /u/ / - q u . Thus the POT and PERF forms remain distinct even after -Qal is reduced to q . The PERF forms of the N2 conjugation are also in need of explanation. The original non-final PERF form of N2 was probably -na, reducing in final form to - n . The final form would have been ambiguous since it would have been identical to the UNM form. Speakers thus began to use the PERF+IM form -na-n to signify simple PERF, and these two, PERF and PERF+IM are not now distinguished by Djapu speakers in sur­ face forms. The old non-final form -na is retained before PRO. Table 3.21 gives a sample verb from each sub-conjuga­ tion with all the possible inflections and inflection + clitic combinations for UNM, POT and PERF.

68

D japu j a Yolngu d i a l e c t

s

na i

t

i

i

03

(D

(JJ

(0

to

1

1

>

> C

i

i

cr

03 E 1

=3

7

7

1

1

1

£ 1

cr

cr

03

£ (O E 1

— ZJ MC 1

i_ 1

L_ 1

l_ 1

1 i, 1

cT 1 j 1

i

i

7 i. i

7 i i

7

7

i

i

i. i

j

1

i

i

i

i

£

I

c

c

(0

>~

7 w

-rr-a

l

w Cm

c

to cz i

>

na -

i

Pi

c

ra c* i

>

r-r

c

i

1- n y

c

na-

+i *—)

CM +f , rpm

ny

(U *—)

na-

Pi

ny

o

£

W Pm

i

i

i

n

Pi

n

Cm n

-

Cm

1

> C 1-0^ 1

> C 1

c 1 £

7

Z3

7 ZJ

1

1

I

I

(Z C 1 1 -Q^ 1 1

C 1

7 S£ 1

13

C

1

s r-Q

£ £

+ H O CM

1

I

1

7

Z!

1

o'

o'

^ 1

i

L

03

(D

£ 1

£ t_ 1

£

£

1

1

L 1

-ku-n

-£

-ku-ny

CO

0)

S

Ö co

H Cm

1

£

-Q_ 1

I

Z3

I

1

i

-k

Cl,

«K O

O 0C c" ^

cT ^

to

1

I

c

c

^ 1

I

£

O

•£

>~

+

7 £ I

>

>-

>

>

>

03

(0

7 £

1

1

i

i

T3

1

bO •-
payi+A dhuway-'mirripu+A payi+DAT+A -> " " Qay i+OBL+A (by Rule 2) -> " " payi+OBL (by Rule 3) Qayi dhuway-'mirriQu-y nhanukal 3sgNOM husband-KINPROP-ERG 3sg+OBL Her husband (39)

(I am sitting) at (Milyin) my sister's camp [ (wa’pa [(yapa-'mi rr iqu) (parra)+DAT ]+DAT ]+LOC -> wapa+LOC yapa-'mi rr iqu +DAT+LOC parra+DAT+DAT+LO C -* " yapa-'mirripu+OBL+LOC pa rra+OBL+OBL+LOC (by Rule 2) + " yapa-'mirripu+OBL parra+OBL+OBL (by Rule 3) II -> " parra+OBLS+OBL (by Rule 4) wäpa-pur yapa- 'mirripu-wa1 parra-ka1apu-wa1 camp-LOC sister-KINPROP-OBL lsg-OBLS-OBL At my sister's camp (42)

A final example which shows the need for rule 5 is: (192)

parra marrtji-n yapa-'mirripu-waIapu-pur parra-kaIapu-pur lsgNOM come-PERF sister-KINPROP-OBLS-ABL lsg-OBLS-ABL I have come from my sister [ (yapa-'mirripu) (parra)+DAT]+OBLS+ABL yapa-'mirripu+OBLS+ABL par ra+DAT+OB L S+AB L parra+OBL+OBLS+ABL (by Rule 2) parra+OBLS+OBLS+ABL (by Rule 4) parra+0+OBLS+ABL (by Rule 5) yapa-'mirripu-waIapu-pur parra-kaIapu-pur sister-KINPROP-OBLS-ABL lsg-OBLS-ABL From my sister

Note that Rule 3 cannot apply here to delete the ABL casemarker, since ABL follows OBLS, not OBL. This OBLS arises from the processes involved in the local case-marking of +HU nominals, a process which is completed before the app­ lication of Rules 1-5 can begin, since it applies to the whole of the higher N P . 4.8.2 INALIENABLE POSSESSION. It has been stated that the whole-part relationship is indicated by simple juxtaposition of the two within a single N P . If a whole acts upon a part of itself the -mi form of the verb and/or an intensive pro­ noun must be used (see (217) and (223)). This is strong additional proof that the two are regarded, both syntacti­ cally and semantically, as the same entity. Although always agreeing in case function the whole and the part do not necessarily receive the same case-marking. If the whole is represented by a pronoun, it and its part (represented by a nominal) will receive different case mark­ ing for all inner-core functions (recall that pronouns take NOM-ACC case marking, while -HU nominals take ERG-ABS mark­ ing). If both are nominals but the 'whole' is, in addition, +HU then they will be differently marked for 0 function, as

4.8

Possession

127

in : (239)

ga-ma [nhe]A y u r r u N g a r r i t j [rirra k a y hear-UNM 2sgN0M FUT Subsection name voice-ABS dj a m a r r k u M - n ' ] 0

children-ACC You will hear the children's voices, Ngarritj

Occasionally examples occur where a whole appears to be marked as an alienable possessor. For example: (240)

g a r r a - k u - n y mu_l_kurr

y a tj-tji-n

lsg-DAT-PRO head-ABS bad-INCHO-PERF My head hurts

Perhaps, however, this sentence should be regarded not as an instance of possessor-marking, but as a semi-transitive construction in which the part is thought of as acting upon its whole. In other words the whole is treated as the in­ direct object of the SEMITR verb and the part as its sub­ ject, and the literal translation would be '(my) head hurts to m e '. It is usually possible to tell in any given sentence whether -DHu is being used to mark an ERG or an INSTR NP. This is so even in a TR sentence, since in such cases the ERG NP is usually animate and the INSTR NP inanimate. The one type of sentence in which ambiguity regularly results is the one involving a whole and its part. The part could either be regarded as part of the ERG N P , agreeing in func­ tion with its whole, or as a separate, but identically casemarked INSTR N P . An example should make this point clear. (241) could be interpreted as: (241a)

dharpu-gal

[ g a r r a - n ] o [ d h a n d u r r u g - d h u g at a pa g a - y ]A

pierce-PERF lsg-ACC horn-ERG The buffalo's horn has pierced me

buffalo-ERG

or as: (241b)

dharpu-Qal

[ g a r r a - n ]0 [ d h a n d u r r u g - d h u ]jnst;r [ g a t a p a g a - y

pierce-PERF lsg-ACC horn-INSTR l° The buffalo has pierced me with its horn

buffalo-ERG

Note that in a sentence such as (146), where the verb is intransitive there is no ambiguity, an NP marked by -DHu can only be in INSTR function. 4.9 FINITE SUBORDINATE CLAUSES The clauses discussed in this section differ from main clauses only in that they are introduced by a subordinating particle. They may carry the same complement of NPs as a main clause, and the verb may show the same range of tense, mood and aspectual modification as a verb in a main clause. 4.9.1 Qunhi: THAT CLAUSES. The uninflected form of the dis­ course deixis demonstrative g un hi may be used as a particle to introduce a variety of subordinate clauses. This use of Qunhi is identified in sentence glosses as THAT. It may be preceded by a pronoun in NOM case and/or another particle,

128

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

but otherwise appears clause-initially. of three main kinds:

THAT clauses are

(a) Complement clauses. The subordinate clause functions as a sentential object or indirect object argument of the main verb, e.g. (242)

ganapurr

g uyagi-rr-ny

/

gunhi

ya n b i

galki

wäga

lplexcNOM think-UNM-PRO THAT mistake close place Gurrumuru place name We thought mistakenly that Gurrumuru was close (243)

nha’-ma

/

see-UNM

gunhi

g ayi

THAT

3sgN0M animal+ABS frill-necked lizard+ABS

way i n

mayawa

g a j _- ' ka_l_yu-n

crawl-REDUP-UNM (We) saw that a frill-necked lizard was crawling along

(1:3)

The introductory particle of a complement clause is often omitted, as for example in the sentence in Text 1 which immediately precedes (243): (244)

nha‘-ma

/

see-UNM

gayi

mayawa

g a j _ - ' ka_l_yu-n

3sgN0M frill-necked lizard+ABS crawl-REDUP-UNM

way i n

animal+ABS (We) saw a frill-necked lizard crawling along

(1:2)

The sentential complements of SEMITRansitive dj a’ I 'want' and marggi 'knowledgeable' often lack the introductory particle, e.g. (245)

djäl

ga I i

/ yukurra-ny

want IduincNOM sleep+UNM-PRO We want to sleep

[Note: the infinitive clause described in 4.10.2 is similar in meaning to (245)] (b) Framing clauses. The function of this type of clause is to provide a frame for the activity, state, or event described by the main clause. The frame may be interpreted as temporal, as in: (246)

b a l a nhe

y u r r u J _arr u-ma-n

then 2sgN0M FUT gunhi

gayi

gunha d a r r a mu - w /

look for-UNM-IM that yurru

rakuny-dj i - r r

man-DAT

b’a’ pa

g itja la -g

THAT 3sgN0M FUT dead-INCHO-UNM father+ABS lduinc-DAT Then you will look for (another) man when our father dies

The subordinate clause may precede the main clause, as in (247-8). The main clause is then usually preceded by the connective b a l a 'then'. (247)

ga

gunhi

and THAT

ganapurr

Jjjka-ny

gunhi

guya-ny

/

lplexcNOM eat+UNM-PRO that+ABS fish+ABS-PRO

bala ganapurr

wägga-ma-n

lili-n a

w aga-lil-a

then lplexcNOM move+PL-UNM-IM to here-IM camp-ALL-IM And when we had eaten that fish we came home (248)

ga

gunhi

and THAT

ganapurr

J _ar r u- ma- ny

y u r r u ya*

lplexcNOM look for-UNM-PRO FUT

INTERJ

/

4.9 m a rrtji-n y

nhä - ma - n y

Finite subordinate clauses

ganya

borum-nha / b a l a g a n a p u r r

go+UNM-PRO see-UNM-PRO 3sgACC fruit-ACC b itja -n -a

waga

quI

129

i

then lplexcNOM

/ dhuwa-na b o r u m - d j a

do thus-UNM-IM speak+UNM IRREAL this-IM fruit-PRO And when/if we go looking for that fruit, and see it, then we might say: 'this is the fruit now'

Note that the gloss of (248) includes 'when/if'. If the particle y u r r u (FUT) is present in the subordinate clause, the sentence may be interpreted as a conditional rather than a temporal frame: it specifies the conditions under which the event of the main clause might take place rather than the time in relation to which it takes place. Two further examples are: (249)

gunhi

nhe

THAT

2sgN0M FUT

yurru

guku-m

/

harass-UNM

garra

yaka-n ga th a -n y

lsgNOM not-IM food+ABS-PRO

bat ha-n

cook-UNM If you harass me, I won't cook food (for you)

(250)

gunhi

nhe

THAT

2sgN0M FUT

nhuna

yurru bu- ma - n

yaka d j ä k a

not

manymak-ku-g

/

garra

look after good-TRVSR-POT

lsgNOM

yurru

2sgACC hit-UNM-IM FUT If you don't look after (them) well, I'll hit you

A conditional clause may also contain the particle g u l i IRREALis (see for example (27)). When IRREALis is included, gunhi THAT may be omitted, as in (71). (c) 'Relative' clauses. Sometimes a clause introduced by is best translated by a relative clause in English. In such cases, the T H A T clause gives information about a particular NP in the main clause, rather than providing a frame for the entire clause. When the main and subordinate clauses contain a coreferential N P , and the subordinate clause follows the main clause, both the 'frame' and the 'relative' interpretation may be possible: gunhi THAT

(251)

d ä g g u ' -t_aggu b a t h a l a - n y

ray sp

big-PRO

buthuwa-ny

/ gayi

gunhi

3sgN0M THAT gunhi-yi

ganya

guli

3sgACC IRREAL yutjuw ala-n

give birth to+UNM-PRO that+ABS-ANAPH small-ACC The big one is _d_a’ g g u ' t_aggu , which gives birth to the small one or the big one is (called), 'daggu 't_aggu ' when it gives birth to the small one

Potentially, any NP in the main clause may be coreferential with any NP in the subordinate clause. If the coreferential NP in the second, subordinate, clause is deleted, the 'relative' interpretation is strongly favoured. However, it may be deleted only if it fulfils a core function (A, S ,0 or DAT) in the subordinate clause. (This fact provides additional evidence for considering DAT as a core case.) In the following example the A NP of the subordinate clause has identical reference with the A NP of the main clause: (252)

J j w ’ yu — J _ i wy u- n - ma r a - m a - n

manda

turn around-REDUP-UNM-CAUS-UNM-IM 3duN0M

/

gunhi

THAT

130

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect nha’ma ' -n h a - ma

wa’y i n - n h a

look-REDUP-UNM animal-ACC/lM The two who were looking at the animal went round and round [the tree] (1:2)

In (254) below, the O NP of the subordinate clause is dele­ ted under identity with the DAT NP of the main clause (see 4.9.2). 4.9.2 gula: HYPOTHETICAL. If the subordinate THAT clause is in non-indicative mood it may be introduced by gula, the HYPOTHetical determiner (see 3.5.8), rather than by gunhi. gula may introduce any type of THAT clause. In the follow­ ing example a habitual (and therefore non-indicative) action has a framing clause introduced by Quia: (253)

ga

gula

qu

Ii

balkurrk-thu

and HYPOTH IRREAL rain-ERG

wa Ia I

qu

Ii

w a l a l a - n d h a r y u - n / ga

3pl-ACC

rain-UNM

and

b a l a ' - g u r ga_l_wa'yu-n / _dopulu

3plN0M IRREAL house-LOC play-UNM gambling And whenever/if it rains on them, then the children will play inside the house, gambling

In (254), a 'relative' clause in past non-indicative mood is found subordinated to an adjective-predicate clause: (254)

m i r i t h i r r - w a I ' qu dj a’ I dh i y a - k u - n y - d h i

borum-gu

yolQU

very much-really want this-DAT-PRO-ANAPH fruit-DAT person+ABS wa I a I

/g u la

baman'

Qa n a p u r r J_uka-nha

qu

Ii

PL+ABS HYPOTH long ago lplexcNOM eat-PAST-NON-INDIC IRREAL (We) people used to really love this fruit, which we used to eat long ago m ä r r : RESULT. The particle m ä r r (often reduced to m a r r ) introduces a different type of subordinate clause which results from the action, event or state described in the main clause, or which is the purpose for which the action in the main clause is undertaken, e.g. 4.9.3

(255)

nhe

m a r r t j i - n gäyu

gu I k-ku I kt hu - r r / m ä r r

Qayi

2sgN0M go+POT-IM tree+ABS cut-REDUP-POT RESULT 3sgN0M boQguQ manymak wäga q i t j a I a—q mutjpunu-m tomorrow early good+ABS camp+ABS Iduinc-DAT make shade-UNM You go and chop down (some) tree(s) so that tomorrow he can build us a good shady camp (256)

wa I u

nhä-Q u

m a rrtji-n y

/ märr

sun+ABS look-POT go+P0T-PR0 m a rrtji-n y

walu-puy

/ ga

Qa I i

yurru

RESULT IduincNOM FUT nhä-ma

Q ath i-'m irriQ u -n

go+UNM-PRO sun-ASSOC and see-UNM MF-KINPROP-ACC (We) must watch the sun as (we) go, so that we travel in daylight to see grandfather

A main clause may have more than one RESULT clause subordinated to it : (257)

nhe-ny

y u r r u waga-ny

2sgN0M-PR0 FUT

walala-n

tell+UNM-PRO 3pl-ACC

yurru

nhe

nhä-ma

FUT

2sgN0M see-UNM

/ märr

waI a I

ragi-lil

beach-ALL yurru

RESULT 3plN0M FUT

/ mär r

RESULT

banarra-wurr

clear space-PER

4.9 Finite subordinate clauses 131 gaj_wa' y u - n play-UNM You will tell them [to go] to the beach, so that you can watch (them), and so that they are playing in a clear space

4.9.4 b i l i : CAUSE. A subordinate clause introduced by bili specifies the cause or reason for the action, state or event described by the main clause. There is a semantic link with the other meaning of this particle ('already') in that the clause introduced by bi l i usually refers to an event which is prior to that of the main clause. In most cases it is adequately translated by 'because'. A good example is found in Text 2:30; see also (81-2), (235) and: (258)

gayi

yurru Ngarritj-tja

3sgN0M FUT

gorra-n

/bili

subsection term+ABS-PRO sleep+UNM-IM

d_UQ 't u g - w u n y a 'y u - n

CAU

ga y i 3sgN0M

/ g a w u Iu - n h a r a - y

heartbeat-lose-UNM paddle-NMLSR-CAU Ngarritj will sleep because he is exhausted from paddling

(For a discussion of the non-finite CAU clause see 4.10.1.) (259)

wäyin-nha

g u n h a ’y u - r r - a / b i l i

meat-ACC/lM leave-POT-IM

CAU

q it

j a Ia — q

w a Iu

lduinc-DAT sun+ABS

bäygu- thi-na-n nothing-INCHO-PERF-IM Let’s leave the meat now, because the sun has set on us

4.10

NON-FINITE SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

All the clause types to be considered here are formed on the nominalised verb-form. All are reduced in the sense that they carry no information about tense, mood or aspect. They are also limited in varying degrees in the number of NPs that they contain and in their possibilities for expan­ sion. We begin with the most reduced, least clause-like constructions. 4.10.1 PERIPHERAL SUBORDINATE CLAUSES. A nominalised verb may take any of the following peripheral case-markers (for morphological details see 3.6.8(c)): LOcl _ ABL_| QUr ALL - 1i I ASSOC (see 4.10.4)

INSTR ~1 CAU r TEMP J

-DHu

This type of subordinate clause need not necessarily contain an NP which is coreferential with an NP in the main clause: (260)

gurrunhu-rr

ganya

[ b u k u w a _l_ 'yu- na- gu I i I ]A ;q

lay down-POT 3sgACC become shady-NMLSR-ALL Lay him down in the shady [place]

(Note that the presence of the element -gu preceding the case-marker indicates that the nominalised verb is being treated here as a locational qualifier.) If the subject (S or A) of the subordinate clause is

132

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

coreferential with the S or A of the main clause, then it is obligatorily deleted, e.g. (261)

b a l a qayi

dhuwal-ny

[ j _uk u-' _l _ukura-nha- I i I - a

then 3sgN0M this+ABS-PRO fish-REDUP-NMLSR-ALL-IM

marrtji-n-a go-PERF-IM Then he went to fish

(262)

Qayi

d u q 'j^uq-wunya 'y u - n [ g a w u Iu - n h a r a - y

Jcau

3sgN0M heartbeat-lose-UMM paddle-NMLSR-CAU He's tired out from paddling

This peripheral clause type, in which the 'clause' con­ sists only of a nominalised verb, is by far the most common­ ly occurring. The nominalised verb may be accompanied by one, or at most two NPs, under the following conditions: (a) if the verb is INTR, and its subject is not coreferential with an NP in the higher clause, e.g. (263)

oarra

djawaryu-nan

[yothu-wal

y a t j u - n - m i - n y a r a - y ] Cau

lsgNOM be tired-PERF child-OBL yell-UNM-RECIP-NMLSR-CAU I'm tired because of the children quarrelling

(b) If the verb is TR, and the A NP is coreferential with the S or A of the main clause, the A NP of the subordinate clause will be deleted, but the 0 NP may remain, e.g. (264)

qayi

ro q iyi-n

[ n h ä - n h a r a - q u r mäI u - ' m i r r i q u - w a I l ^ b l

3sgN0M return-PERF see-NMLSR-ABL father-KINPROP-OBL He has come back from seeing his father

(265)

qayi

nha’ r a - n h a

m urnyaq'-thu-na-n

3sgN0M burn-PAST NON-INDIC sweet food-DO-PAST NON-INDIC-IM [qatha-y-na

J _ u k a - n h a r a - y l Cau

food-CAU-IM eat-NMLSR-CAU aU He felt very satiated from eating (too much) vegetable food

(c) If the verb is TR and its A NP is not coreferential with the S or A NP of the main clause, then the nominalised verb may be accompanied by both its A and its 0 NP argu­ ments : (266)

qarra

q u y u Ik - t h i - n a - n

[ y u mu rr ku -w a I qunda-y

lsgNOM annoyed-INCHO-PERF-IM children-OBL stone-CAU dupt hu-nara-yJcau throw-NMLSR-CAU I'm annoyed by the children throwing stones

Despite the fact that such NPs can appear, these peri­ pheral constructions are only superficially clause-like: (i) They may be embedded in the main clause, as in (261). Full clauses are never found embedded in other clauses. (ii) There is a distinct preference for the 'clause' to con­ sist only of a nominalised verb. Of examples (263-6) only (265) is a non-elicited sentence. (iii) Although two NPs may potentially occur, the prefer­ ence is for one at most. The speaker from whom (266) was elicited also gave the following, preferred, alternative in which the object ('stone') is lexically incorporated into the verb root:

4.10 Non-finite subordinate clauses (267)

133

garra Quyu I k - t h i -na-n [yumu rrku-wa I lsgNOM annoyed-INCHO-PERF-IM children-OBL

w i r r w u - ' w i r r w u y u - n a r a - y ]C a u throw stones-REDUP-NMLSR-CAU I'm annoyed by the children throwing stones

(iv) All NPs, whatever their syntactic role in the subordi­ nate clause, are case-marked to agree with the nominalised verb (recall that +HU nominals take OBL case marking for causal and ablative case functions). Thus in (263), (264) and (266) the +HU NPs are in underlying S, O and A functions respectively, yet in all instances they are only case-marked to agree with the nominalised verb. There is no evidence for double case-marking (e.g. -ERG-CAU in (266)), and there­ fore no evidence that the syntactic relationships between the nominalised verbs and their NP arguments have been pre­ served. Rather, it appears that the NPs are raised out of the subordinate clause into the main clause, where they are apposed to the nominalised verb. A more accurate transla­ tion of (266) would therefore be: 'I'm annoyed by the child­ ren, by stones, by throwing'. (v) It is not possible to expand a peripheral subordinate clause by forming a further subordinate clause on one of its NP arguments. In normal circumstances, a reduced rel­ ative clause may be appended to an NP in S or 0 function, e.g. (268)

Qarra

[ g a n y a l o nhä-ma

[djatthu-nar

gäyu ] q

lsgNOM 3sgACC see-UNM chop-NMLSR+ABS tree+ABS I'm watching him chopping down a tree

(For a fuller discussion of this clause type see 4.10.3.) However, in a sentence such as 'he came from watching his father kill a kangaroo' the final clause must be a finite clause. It cannot be a reduced clause of the type exemplified in (268): (269)

Qa yi

rogiyi-n

[n h ä - n h a r a - Q u r ma" Iu - ' m i r r i g u - w a !] ^ /

3sgN0M return-PERF see-NMLSR-ABL Qayi

father-KINPROP-OBL

g a r r t j a m b a I - n h a buma- r

3sgN0M kangaroo-ACC kill-PERF He has come from seeing his father, he killed a kangaroo

These facts support the analysis advanced above, that the NP has been raised from its position as the 0 of the subordinate clause into a peripheral position in the main clause. 4.10.2 PURPOSIVE AND INFINITIVE (DATIVE) SUBORDINATE CLAUSES. These are formed by adding the DAT case-marker to the nominalised verb-form, e.g. (270)

Qar r a

d jä

I [ _ l _uk a- nhar a- w] pu r p

lsgNOM want eat-NMLSR-DAT I want to eat

(271)

yän

Qa yi

d h u m b a I'y u - n - a

[ w a Q a - n h a r a - w ]Infin

still 3sgN0M not know-UNM-IM speak-NMLSR-DAT He still doesn't know how to speak [said of a small child]

134

(272)

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect Qayi

m arrtji

b umbar r u- m i r r [ y o l p u - w

wutthu-nara-w ]

3sgN0M go+UNM stone-PROP person-DAT hit-NMLSR-DAT He went with a stone in order to hit the person

ur^

If the subject (A or S) NP of the subordinate clause is coreferential with a core NP of the main clause then it is obligatorily deleted. In (269-72) the A or S NP of the subordinate clause has been deleted under identity with the S NP of the main clause. Examples of other correspondences are: (273)

parra

yu rru dalku-m y u k u r r a [ pa'nd i -w w e k a - n h a r a - w ]purp lsgNOM FUT keep-UNM lie+UNM mother-DAT give-NMLSR-DAT I'll be keeping (it) in order to give (it) to mother

In (273) the A NP of the subordinate clause is identical to the A NP of the main clause and is deleted (note that the 0 NP of both clauses is also unspecified). (274)

ma'

nhe

N g a rritj

gurtha

bu-ma

come on 2sgN0M subsection term fire+ABS make-UNM [bo rru tj-ku

g u k u - n h a r a - w ] pu r p

mosquito-DAT chase away-NMLSR-DAT Come on Ngarritj, make a fire to chase away the mosquitoes

As with the English translation, this Djapu sentence is ambiguous. The A NP of the subordinate clause could be coreferential with either the A NP (Ngarritj) or the O NP ( g u r t h a ) of the main clause. (275)

wapa-n

ga

panya

parra

j_i nygu

[yiki-w '

tell-PERF and 3sgACC lsgNOM already knife-DAT gä-nhara-w]I n f i n

give-NMLSR-DAT I have already told her to give (me) the knife

Here the A NP of the subordinate clause is deleted under identity with the 0 NP of the main clause. (276)

nh e - n y

yurru

p a rra -n marpgi-ku-m

[ g iritji-n y a ra -w ]

2sgN0M-PR0 FUT lsg-ACC know-CAUS-UNM dance-NMLSR - DAT You'll teach me to dance

n ^

In (276) the S NP of the subordinate clause is identical to the 0 NP of the main clause, and is deleted. Note that in the examples given so far any NP which accompanies a DAT-marked nominalised verb also receives DAT marking, irrespective of its syntactic relationship to the nominalised verb. As in the case of peripheral subord­ inate clauses this may be viewed as resulting from the raising of NPs into the main clause. The combination of this process and the deletion rules results in ambiguous sentences of the following kind: (277)

parra

dj ' al

[ nhupu g u p g a ' y u - n h a r a - w ]

,

f

lsgNOM want 2sgDAT help-NMLSR-DAT

This sentence may mean either: 'I want to help you' (dele­ tion of A NP in the subordinate clause under identity with S NP of main clause, and raising of 0 NP into DAT position in main clause) or: 'I want you to help' (A NP of subord­ inate clause raised to DAT position in main clause).

4.10 Non-finite subordinate clauses

135

Thus far, the syntax of Purposive/Dative subordinate clauses appears to be identical to that of peripheral sub­ ordinate clauses. However there is one important differ­ ence. Complex NPs (that is, NPs which in themselves contain more than one N P , or which contain a subordinate clause) are allowed in PURP/DAT subordinate clauses, but not in peripheral subordinate clauses. In such cases the complex NP cannot be raised out of the subordinate clause. It remains within it and takes the case-marker appropriate to its syntactic role within that clause. Examples of complex NPs are: (a) an NP containing a possessor in DAT case, e.g. (2 7 8 )

waI a I

yu rru

3plN0M FUT

q a r r a - k qu th a -n

y u m u rrk u

b a la n y a r b i l i

lsg-DAT grow-UNM children+ABS always

[ [ ( m a I i T)

(q a rra -k )]

nhä-nha-nhara-w ]p u rp

shadow+ABS lsg-DAT 0 see-REDUP-NMLSR-DAT My children will growup, so that they will always see my shadow [i.e. I will always keep them very close to me] (Note that in this example, mali' 'shadow' is alienably possessed. This is unusual).

(b) an NP which is expanded to include another non-finite subordinate clause, e.g. (2 7 9 )

q a rra m a rrtji-n lsgNOM go-PERF

[ nha’- n h a r a - w [ (q a n y a ) see-NMLSR-DAT 3sgACC

(g i r i t j i - n y a r ) ] q ]p u r dance-NMLSR+ABS

I went to see him dancing

If the second embedded clause contains a transitive verb with a further 0 NP argument a different construction is used. Once again, however, the NP is not raised out of the subordinate clause. (280)

q a rra

m a rrtji-n

lsgNOM go-PERF

[n h a *-n h a ra -w

[(q a n y a )

see-NMLSR-DAT 3sgACC

(dharpu-nhara-w uy

spear-NMLSR-ASSOC

g a r r t j a m b a l - w u y ) A s s o c ] 0 : pu

kangaroo-ASSOC I went to see him spearing kangaroo (Lit. 'concerning the spearing of a kangaroo')

(For a discussion of nominalised verb + ASSOC see 4.10.4 4.10.3 REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSES. The clause types dis­ cussed here are relative clauses in that they provide further information about an NP in a higher clause. They may be contrasted with the clauses discussed in 4.10.1 and 4.10.2 which are basically adverbial, being complex NPs which fulfil peripheral or outer core case functions. In adverbial clauses it is not necessary for there to be an NP which is coreferential with an NP in the higher clause. In reduced relative clauses the surface subject (S or A) N P , which is normally deleted, must be coreferential with the S or O of the higher clause. Where the coreferential NP of the subordinate clause is already in surface S or A funct­ ion, the clause has the following characteristics: (a) the nominalised verb takes ABS ($>) case-marking, and its mean­ ing is imperfective; (b) the subject of the clause is dele­ ted under identity with its coreferential NP in the higher clause; (c) all other NPs in the subordinate clause retain

136

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

the case-marking appropriate to their syntactic role within that clause. Examples are (268) in 4.10.1 and: (281)

gay i

nhuna

nha-ma

[m itth u -n a r]

3sgN0M 2sgACC see-UNM cut-NMLSR+ABS She's watching you cutting (282)

dhuwal

Qar ra

yothu-n

y u k u r r a Qa’-ma

[g a th i-n ya r]

this+ABS lsgNOM child-ACC lie+UNM hear-UNM cry-NMLSR+ABS I can hear a child crying

When the reduced clause consists of only a nominalised verbform it may be embedded in the main clause as a participial adjective, e.g. (283)

ga'thil

gawatthu-na-ny

qu I i

wa I a I

[ (wakwakt h u - n a r )

before get-PAST N0N-INDIC-PR0 IRREAL 3plN0M float-NMLSR+ABS (dur am) ]q

drum+ABS Before, they used to get floating [petrol] drums [from the sea, in order to make iron blades] (284)

ga

[m iyapunu]

nha’-ma

qu I i

[ (gaj_'yu-nar)

(dhukarr) ]

and turtle+ABS see-UNM IRREAL crawl-NMLSR+ABS track+ABS And ( y o u ) might see a turtle, (its) crawling track

A second clause type occurs if the coreferential NP in the subordinate clause is in underlying 0 function and the underlying agent is +HU. It has the follov/ing character­ istics : (a) the nominalised verb form takes ABS (0) case marking if the underlying agent remains in the clause, and ASSOC (-Buy) marking if the underlying agent is deleted. Djapu differs here from other dialects of Dhuwala-Dhuwal, for example Gupapuygu, in which the nominalised verb always takes ASSOC marking in this clause type. The meaning of the nominalised verb is perfective, and passive. (b) the underlying 0 is raised to INTR S position, and then usually deleted under identity with its coreferential NP in the main clause. (c) underlying +HU A is demoted to OR (-Gu q u ) case. Evidence for the raising of the underlying TR O to INTR S position and the demotion of the underlying A comes from comparison with the passive-like verb g a r a t h i -03 'be killed'. Recall that in main clauses this is an INTR verb for which the +HU agent is marked by OR. This case-frame is preserv­ ed in reduced relative clauses, e.g. (285)

gäthur wark-thu-n

today

märryag-dhu g a r r t j a m b a l

go after-DO-UNM gun-INSTR

[ba’ygu-n kangaroo+ABS none-IM

Qa r r a - k u Q g a r a t h i - n y a r ]

lsg-OR be killed-NMLSR+ABS Today (I) went after kangaroo with a gun, (but) none were killed by me

With a normally TR verb, exactly the same surface case­ marking occurs in reduced relative clauses, e.g. (286)

J_akara-nha

Qunhi

mi yapunu

[dharpu-nar

tell-PAST NON-INDIC that+ABS turtle+ABS spear-NMLSR+ABS waI a I a - Q g i y i n - g u g ]

3pl-INTENS-OR

4.10 Non-finite subordinate clauses

137

They used to tell about the turtles which had been speared by them themselves (287)

ba I a '

y u k u r r a dha’ r r a

[_l_urr ' _l _ u r r yu - n - ma r a- n h a r

house+ABS lie+UNM stand+UNM break up-UNM-CAUS-NMLSR+ABS y u m u r r k u ' -wuq ]

children-OR A house is standing (there), vandalised by children

If the underlying agent is unspecified, the nominalised verb receives ASSOC marking and may be embedded in the main clause as a participial adjective, e.g. (288)

[(yolpu

( d h a r p u - n h a r a - w u y ) ]g

dhigga-gal

man+ABS spear-NMLSR-ASSOC(+ABS) die-PERF The man who has been speared has died

A third clause type occurs if the verb is T R , the underly­ ing +I1U A is either present or left unspecified (usually the latter), and a -HU Peripheral NP is present. It also occurs if the underlying A is -HU. It has the following characteristics: (a) the nominalised verb is marked by ASSOC (-Buy), and is passive and perfective in meaning; (b) the 0 NP of the subordinate clause is raised to INTR S position; (c) the underlying Peripheral NP or -HU A NP is marked by ASSOC. For this clause type, then, -HU A and Peripheral NPs are syntactically equated. Examples are: (289)

_[uka-nha

ganapurr

ganguri

dhuwal

[ guya_!_'yu-na-wuy

eat-PAST NON-INDIC lplexcNOM yam+ABS this+ABS cook-NMLSR-ASSOC gundirr-wuy ]

antbed-ASSOC We used to eat these yams, which had been cooked in antbed [i.e. in an earth-oven] (290)

bili

Qunhi-ny-dhi

ganguri-ny [ganu'-wuy

j_i r r t h a - n a r a - w u y ]

CAU that-PRO-ANAPH yam-PRO ashes-ASSOC roast-NMLSR-ASSOC Because those were yams which had been roasted in the ashes

It might be suggested that in this clause type the LOC (or possibly ALL) NP has been raised out of the subordinate clause and placed in apposition with the nominalised verb. This analysis must be discounted because of examples like: (291)

y u r r u _l_atju

but

ganya

dhika-n

buyu-'wuyu-n

/

beautifully 3sgACC INDEF-IM make smooth-REDUP-UNM

buyu-'wuyu-n

[nhakun gäpaki-wug

make smooth-REDUP-UNM as if

goQ-buy

whiteman-OR hand-ASSOC

yaw' y u - n a r ]

dig-NMLSR+ABS But someone had made it [the ground] beautifully smooth, it was as smooth as if it had been dug by a white man's hand

Here the underlying A NP of the subordinate clause consists of two nominals, one +HU and one -HU (the inalienably poss­ essed 'hand'). The +HU nominal receives OR case-marking and the -HU nominal receives ASSOC marking. It does not seem reasonable to suggest that part of the NP has been raised out of the clause and marked with ASSOC, leaving the +HU component behind in the subordinate clause. Rather, it is simply a coincidence (although not totally an unmotivated one, see 4.10.4) that both the nominalised verb and the -HU

138

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

A receive ASSOC marking. Note that in (291) it is the pre­ sence of the +HU component of the A NP which determines the form taken by the verb (ABS). From the following example it would appear that if a -HU Peripheral NP is present, it takes precedence over the A NP in determining the form of the verb: (292)

dhuwa-na m i y a p u n u - n y [ q u n d i r r - w u y

batha-nara-wuy

this-IM

cook-NMLSR-ASSOC

turtle-PRO

antbed-ASSOC

Qarra-kup ]

lsg-OR This is a turtle, cooked by me in antbed

In the syntax of reduced relative clauses Djapu (and Dhuwala-Dhuwal as a whole) differs considerably from the two other Y o I q u languages which have so far received de­ tailed grammatical descriptions. Ritharrgu (Heath 1980a) does not possess this type of clause: it forms relative clauses by the suffixation of a morpheme - q u to a fully inflected verb-form. On the other hand, Dhagu (see Schebeck 1976b) possesses a much more elaborate syntax of reduced relative clauses than does Djapu. It appears that in Dhagu any (or almost any) NP of the main clause may be expanded with a reduced relative clause. The resulting complexities of case-transformation which occur within the subordinate clauses have no counter-part in Djapu syntax. 4.10.4 OTHER USES OF NOMINALISED VERB+ASSOC. In a previous chapter (3.2.4(c)) it was noted that the ASSOC morpheme has two separate syntactic functions: (a) as a derivational affix it derives an adjectival nominal with the meaning 'inherently associated with X', or 'con­ cerned with X '. (b) it marks an instrument whose user is not the subject NP of the clause, e.g. (293)

gayi

rakuny-dji-n

rawalk-puy

3sgN0M dead-INCHO-PERF sorcery-ASSOC He has died by/as a result of sorcery [perpetrated by someone else]

The use of the ASSOC marker on the nominalised verb as described in 4.10.3 parallels the second use of ASSOC des­ cribed here: it signifies that within that clause the under­ lying -HU agent (which is equated syntactically in this clause type with -HU Peripheral NPs) is not in subject position. A complex NP consisting of a nominalised verb and one NP argument may also fulfil the other syntactic function of ASSOC. Corresponding to function (a) are examples such as: (294)

dhuwal

gara

[ y o IQu- wa Iagu-wuy

d h a r p u - n h a r a - w u y Ia s s o c

this spear person-OBLS-ASSOC spear-NMLSR-ASSOC This is a person-spearing-spear/this is a spear for spearing people with

(295 )

garra

m a rrtji-n

lsgNOM go-PERF

[nha-nhara-w

frrt Jamba l-wuy)Assoc]0 ]p kangaroo-ASSOC

[ (ganya)

see-NMLSR-DAT 3sgACC

(dharpu-nhara-wuy

spear-NMLSR-ASSOC

139

4.10 Non-finite subordinate clauses I went to see him, concerning the spearing of a kangaroo

Note that in both (294) and (295) it is the underlying 0 which receives ASSOC case-marking. In both these instances, then, it appears that once again the NP arguments of the nominalised verb are raised into the higher clause and apposed to the nominalised verb. This contrasts with the relative-clause use of the ASSOC marker, where it is the demoted agent or peripheral N P , which remains within the subordinate clause, that receives ASSOC marking. 4.11 CO-ORDINATION 4.11.1 CONJUNCTION. Clausal conjunction is signalled by ga 'and', b a l a 'then' or by ga b a l a 'and then'. ga is often used simply as a clause introducer, with no conjunction being implied. Phrasal co-ordination is most commonly achieved by juxtaposition (see 4.11.3). Noun phrases may sometimes be conjoined by ga ’and' but this construction is probably a caique from English (see 4.1.1). Coreferential NPs in conjoined clauses may be freely deleted. An NP which fulfils a core function in both clauses will almost always be deleted from the second clause. 4.11.2

DISJUNCTION. Phrasal disjunction is indicated by (lit. 'what maybe') or more commonly by the particle The latter is probably a borrowing from English 'or'.

nhä mak

wo. (296)

nhä mak Dhuwa-gga

nhä mak Y i r r i t j a - g g a

or moiety name-CONTR or Is (he) Dhuwa or Yirritja?

(297)

ga

dhuwa-na g ä y u - n y

moiety name-CONTR

wo d h a r p a - n y

and this-IM tree-PRO or tree-PRO And this one is ' g ä y u ' or ' d h a r p a '

(298)

manda

märrma ' m a r r t j i

yurru yolgu

/ märrma ' wo j _ u r r k u n '

3duN0M two+ABS come+UNM FUT person+ABS two And two people will come along, two or three

or three

(Note that nhä mak precedes both phrases, whereas wo occurs only before the second phrase, as in English). Clausal disjunction is marked by y u r r u 'but, or'. This particle is identical to the FUT marker y u r r u and can only be distinguished from it by its position in the clause. Whereas disjunct ive y u r r u must always occur clause-initially, FUT y u r r u occurs anywhere except clause initially. In the following example both uses of y u r r u are illustrated: (299)

Mar r agu

dhäruk

balanyar

clan name language like this yu rr u d j a r r p i ' -ya-m

/ yurru w irip u

but

different

wiripugu-ya-m

/ märr

somewhat waga

FUT crooked-TRVSR-UNM different-TRVSR-UNM speak+UNM The Marragu language is like this, [Dhuwal], but also different; (they) say [words] in a somewhat distorted, different way

(2:9)

4.11.3 APPOSITION. Apposition of both clauses and phrases is a common feature of Djapu discourse. When two main

140

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

clauses or two phrases are apposed there is a pause between them. An example of phrasal apposition is: (300)

ga

qu nhaI

—y i

ganapurr

nhina-ny

y u k u r r a w ä g a -g u r

and there+LOC-ANAPH lplexcNOM sit+UNM-PRO lie+UNM place-LOC g u rrg g itj-g u r

/ y ä k u - g u r Ba_l_kpa_l_k-gur

wa’ g a - g u r

shade-LOC name-LOC vegetable sp-LOC place-LOC And we were sitting at that shady place, at the place called Balkpalkpuy

There are some cases of clausal juxtaposition where a pause does not occur: (a) where a subordinate clause is juxtaposed to its main clause, see for example (244) in 4.9.1. (b) where a clause contains an exemplification of an adjoin­ ing clause. The exemplifying clause is normally introduced by b a l a n y a r nhakun 'like for example': (301)

ga

w irip u -n y dhika-ny

bala-ny

nhawi-ny

and other-PRO INDEF-PRO over there-PRO whatsit-PRO mulkuru-ny

dhäruk

/

distant-PRO language Yuwatja

b a l a n y a r nhakun

gunha

like for example that

bala

over there

Mawug- dj a

language name language name-PRO And there are other foreign languages over there somewhere, like for example Iwatja and Maug (2:27-8)

(c) in the verb-chaining construction. In this construction (also discussed in 4.1.2) a series of verbs with the same underlying subject (either A or S) are adjoined, with dele­ tion of all but one occurrence of the shared subject. Verb chains are used in narrative to describe a set of actions or events which follow closely on one another, as in (120), (126-7) and (302)

J_upthu-n g a n a p u r r

y u k u r r a / wap

wash-UNM lplexcNOM lie-UNM m artj-m a rtju-n

/

dj unama

/

jump up straight

d_uwa_t_-duwatdhu-n

go+PL-REDUP-UNM get out-REDUP-UNM We washed [in the river], then got up and went, and got out [onto the bank]

A verb chain may be considered only marginally to be a series of linked independent clauses. In several respects the verbs are more closely bound to one another than is usually the case with two adjoining main clauses. They must share a common subject and if inflected must all take the same inflection. Moreover, a verb chain is uttered as if it were a single clause, with no significant pauses between the verbal constituents. 4.12 POLAR INTERROGATIVES There is no distinct grammatical construction for in­ dicating a question. A common way of forming a polar in­ terrogative is to preface a statement with nhä 'what'. For example:

4.12

(303)

Polar interrogatives

141

nhä nhe dhuwal mäkiri-miriw what 2sg this ear-PRIV Are you deaf? [said to make someone pay attention]

Note that this is identical in form to the exclamatory type of sentence typified by (171-3). A question is distinguish­ ed from these only by the intonation pattern. In a question there is emphasis on the initial nhä which falls off rapidly in pitch only to rise sharply again as the final word be­ gins. It then either quickly reaches a peak and falls off rapidly towards the end of the final word or continues to rise until the end. This intonation pattern is indicated by the contoured line above (303). By contrast an exclama­ tory sentence such as (171) would show an intonation contour of the following sort: (171)

nhä

dhuwal

what this

gorrmur'

wäqa

hot

place

The initial nhä is not particularly stressed, and the rise and fall in pitch towards the end of the sentence is both more gradual in onset and decline and less extreme at its peak. Another common way of indicating a polar interrogative is to affix the PRO clitic to the final word of the utter­ ance. For example: (304)

djäl

nhe

rjara I i ' -wu ^ n y

want 2sgN0M cigarette-DAT-PRO Do you want a cigarette?

(Note once again the characteristic shape of the intonation contour.) This device may be used to form any type of question; it is not limited to polar interrogatives. 4.13

IMPERATIVES

4.13.1 POSITIVE IMPERATIVES. There is no separate impera­ tive form of the verb in Djapu (other Dhuwal-Dhuwala dia­ lects, for example Gumatj, do have a special imperative form: see Ross n.d.:ll). A positive imperative may consist of either the UNM or the POT verb form. The addressee may be indicated by a second person pronoun or by a proper name, or any reference to them may be omitted. It is common to preface or end a command with the interjection ma' which translates roughly as 'come on.'’ or 'get on with i t , or with g a t j u y 'go on . ''. (305) shows an imperative with interjection ma ' , omission of reference to the addressee, and the POT form of the verb: (305)

ma'

w a d u t j a dh a r p a

gäyu

gulkthu-rr

come on quickly tree+ABS tree+ABS cut-POT Come on, quickly cut a tree down!

In (306) both a pronoun and a proper name referring to

142

Djapu3 a Yolngu dialect

the addressee occur, and the verbs take the UNM inflection. (306)

nhe wirrka 2sgN0M INTENS ga dj ku and raw+ABS Ngarritj, you raw

marrtji Ngarritj / ga way in bu-ma / go+UNM name and animal+ABS kill-UNM gä-ma bring-UNM go quickly, kill some game and bring it back

N conjugation verbs almost invariably occur in the POT form for an imperative, as in (306). For verbs of other conjugations the UNM form is used rather more often than the POT form (for the 02 conjugation the UNM and POT forms are, in any case, identical). The uninflected verb root of an N conjugation verb may also be used to form an abrupt command, as in (123). 4.13.2 NEGATIVE IMPERATIVES. A negative command may take one of three forms. The politest form will contain a verb inflected for UNM or POT and the negative particle yaka. A more abrupt type takes the form of a nominalised verb plus the PRIVative suffix, e.g. (307)

yatju-n-mi-nya-miriw yell-UNM-RECIP-NMLSR-PRIV No quarrelling!

(308)

dhukun-mirri-ya-nha-miriw rubbish-PROP-TRVSR-NMLSR-PRIV Don’t make [this place] full of rubbish!

The third type of negative imperative, also somewhat abrupt in tone, consists of the particle yaka and an infinitive clause, e.g. (309)

yaka nhuqu marrtji-nyara-w not 2sgDAT go-NMLSR-DAT You are not to go!

This type of construction is perhaps best regarded as being derived from a sentence containing a main clause with an infinitival complement, such as: (310)

yaka qarra djäl [nhuqu marrtji-nyara-w ] not lsgNOM want 2sgDAT go-NMLSR-DAT I don't want you to go

4.13.3 HORTATIVE. A hortative expression is formed by adding the IMmediate clitic to the UNMarked form of the verb, and omitting reference to the subject, e.g. (311)

marrt j i-n go+UNM-IM Let's go!

The lduinc NOM or lplinc NOM form of the pronoun (qa1i. qilimurr) may also be used as a hortative, meaning 'let ’s go! 4.14 PARTICLES The majority of Djapu particles have already been

4.14 Particles discussed. sections:

143

The reader is referred to the following

3.1.2

bala

'movement away from speaker, over there, (and) then' (see also 4.11.1) wirrka 'do more intensely (INTENS)'

3.3

-Qga 'contrastive emphasis (CONTR)' -na— n~-a~-nha 'immediacy (IM)' -ny~-tja 'prominence (PRO)' (see also 4.2.2)

3.5.7

—d h i — y i 'anaphoric (ANAPH) '

3.5.8

Quia 'hypothetical (HYPOTH)' (see also 4.9.2) balanyar(a) 'like this' bitjanar(a) 'like this' nhakun 'for example, for instance' beny bala 'and so on'

3.6.5

(a), (c) y u r r u

3.6.5

(a-c) Quli 'irrealis (IRREAL)'

4.1.2

(b) adverbial particles of manner and of temporal and spatial orientation

4.1.4

barrku 'far' gaIki 'near'

4.9.1

Qunhi 'THAT'

4.9.3

märr 'RESULT'

4.9.4

bill 'cause (CAU) '

'future tense (FUT) '

4 . 1 1 . 1 ga 'and' 4. 1 1 . 2 wo 'or' nha‘ mak 'or' yurru 'but, or'

As may be seen from this list, particles may be either free morphemes or clitics which are appended to one or more words in a clause, including the free-standing particles. The remainder of this section is devoted to particles which have not so far been discussed. (i) muka 'agreement ( A G R ) ' . The inclusion of muka in a clause, usually as the final word of the clause, indicates that the speaker is corroborating a previous statement of his own or of another speaker. In the following example speaker A is criticising the group of people who should have brought a ready-made coffin from Yirrkala to an outstation. Speaker B is backing him up (the example is in Dhuwala): (312)

A:

dhiyala

ba’yma

r j ar a k a l a - ma b a t h i

here+LOC around find-UNM container+ABS The container [coffin] was found around here somewhere

B:

_l_arru-ma

Qar r a

balanyara-wu

look for-UNM lsgNOM like this-DAT dhipala

/ yolgu-nydja

person+ABS-PRO

gaj_'ga_lyu-n muka

here+ALL arrive-UNM AGR Yes, I expected to find one like this [i.e. one brought from Yirrkala] (when we) people arrived here

144

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

(ii) mak 'maybe, perhaps', mak normally occurs clause-initially. Examples of the use of this particle are: (314)

mak

nhe

bulu

wagi

perhaps 2sgN0M again say+POT Perhaps you could say (that) again (315)

mak

Jjnygu-n

walal

m a rrtji-n

hunt i n g - I i I - a

maybe already-IM 3plN0M go+UNM-IM hunting-ALL-IM Maybe they've already gone hunting

(iii) ya’nbi-yanbi 'mistake'. The inclusion of this particle in a clause, usually in clause-initial position, indicates that it contains a false supposition, e.g. (316)

yanbi

g ayi

mistake 3sg

galki

wäga

/ b itja -n

close place

N garritj-thu

gayi

do thus-UNM 3sgN0M

guyagi-rr

subsection term-ERG think-UNM Ngarritj thought, wrongly, that the place was close by

(iv) - w a l ' g u 'extremely, indeed' and (v) - w a r r a y 'sort of, really'. These two particles are, in a sense, opposites, - w a l g ' u indicates that something is very much the case, while - w a r r a y indicates that something is nearly the case. Both are clitics which are attached to the word that they modify. (317)

m i r i t h i r r - w a I ' gu d j ä l

dh i y a - k u - n y - d h i

borum-gu

very much-indeed want this-DAT-PRO-ANAPH fruit-DAT yolgu

walal

person+ABS PL+ABS People like this fruit very much indeed (318)

ga

dhuwal

and this

borum n h ä g a n i g '

/

fruit fruit sp

nhägani g ' - t j a

/ yaka ganya

borum-warray

gayi

fruit-sort of 3sg J_uka

gunhi

that

yurru

fruit sp-PRO not 3sgACC eat+UNM FUT And this fruit is n h ä g a n i g ' ; it's sort of a fruit, but you mustn't eat it [because it is inedible or poisonous] (319)

g a t h a - n y gunhi

g a n a p u r r u - g gu_l_ku ' - w a r r a y / gäpak i - wa I ' gu

food-PRO that+ABS lplexc-DAT gatha-wal'gu

a lot-really

whiteman-indeed

dhipu-gur m i t j in - g u r

food-indeed here-ABL mission-ABL We had a lot of food really, but it was white man's food from the mission

(vi) yaka 'no, not'. This particle must be distinguished from the existential negative quantifier bäygu 'nothing, noone, never'. Contrast, for example: (320)

yaka-n g a rr a

weka-m

wäyin-dja

not-IM lsgNOM give-UNM meat+ABS-PRO I will not give (him) meat (321)

bili

bäygu-n

gu I i

g itja la -g

gathu-l

yolgu-y

CAU nothing-IM IRREAL lduinc-DAT give-POT person-ERG Because (those) people might give us nothing

(Negation and mood are discussed in 3.6.5(b).) (vii) b a l a g ADVERsative. A clause containing b a l a g describes an undesirable potential action, state or event. If the

4.14 Particles

145

description is of an event that could have occurred in the past, then the PAST NON-INDICative form of the verb is used. For possible future events the POTential form of the verb is used. (322)

ma'

qilim urru-n

INTERJ lplinc-ACC

w utthu-rr-a

balaq dharpu-qu-n

hit-POT-IM

ADVER pierce-POT-IM

dhandurruq-dhu

horn-INSTR Come on, (it) might gore us with (its) horn (323)

bo rru tj-m irr

dhuwal

wa*qa-ny

/qayi

puli

balao

mosquito-PROP this place-PRO THAT IRREAL ADVER d j a m a r r k u j j ' m u r ' m u r y u - r r q i tja Ia—q children+ABS be sick-POT lduinc-DAT This place is mosquito-ridden, so our children will probably get sick

(Note the use of q a y i ’3sg' in place of Quhh i THAT to intro­ duce a subordinate finite clause.) (viii) J_i nygu~J_i qgu~b i I i 'completely, already, also'. This particle is used to indicate that a process has been com­ pleted, or that some action or event has already taken place, or that the clause describes something which is the same as something else that has already been described. (324)

d h u w a l - n y gunyaji

J j n y gu- n

balwur-nha

this-PRO sand crab completely-IM cooked-IM This sandcrab is completely cooked (325)

J j nygu

qa I i

waqa-nha-m i - n

gathur'

already IduincNOM speak-NMLSR-RECIP-PERF today We've already spoken today (326)

D j amb a r r p u y q u d h ä r u k

balanyar-yi

linygu

language name language like this-ANAPH also The Djambarrpuyqu language is also like this

(2:8)

Uttered as an isolated word, J j n y g u signals the end of a speaker's 'turn' in conversation. It may be used to mark the end of a section of a narrative, indicating that the speaker is about to move on to a new topic or event. (See for example the last utterance in Text 1). Bili is often used instead of J j n y g u in some Dhuwala-Dhuwal dialects, but is not currently used in Djapu because of the death of a person with a similar-sounding name (Bernhard Schebeck, personal communication.) (ix) yan-yan 'just, still'. The exact meaning of this part­ icle is hard to capture. The following examples illustrate its use: (327)

qanapurr

yaka-qga

ya‘ n

ganydjarr

nh i na

lplexcNOM not-CONTR still strength+ABS sit+UNM We still hadn't even sat down (328)

d_i ku-qga

(1:34)

ya'n

raw-CONTR still It's still raw (329)

qarra

yaka wa_ndi -r r y u r r u

lsgNOM not

run-UNM

FUT

/

qarra

y u r r u dj 'aka

lsgNOM FUT

qa’ nd_i-w

look after mother-DAT

146

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

ya‘n just I won't run away, I'll just (stay and) look after mother (330)

yurru balanyar-yi but

yan

q i I i murru-qgu-ny ga

like this-ANAPH Iplinc-DAT-PRO

qarra

yaquli

walala-q dhäruk

and 3pl-DAT

/

language

barrkuwatjku-qaI

just lsgNOM back there explain-PERF But our language and their language are like that, as I have just explained

Finally, there are three two-word combinations the meanings of which are conventionalised in the sense that the combin­ ed meaning is not the sum of the meanings of the individual parts. (x) dhiyaq(un) bala 'right now', (lit. 'this-TEMP(-IM) then'). This combination is used to convey a stronger sense of imm­ ediacy than is possible with the much-used IMmediacy marker: (331)

_nuwayak nhe yurru djäma dhiyaqun bala / stringy-bark+ABS 2sgN0M FUT make right now ga yurru qayi waltjajn buna and FUT 3sgN0M rain+ABS arrive+UNM You'd better make a stringy-bark (shelter) right now, its going to rain

(xi) bitjan bili 'always, habitually' (lit. 'do thus already'). This may be used as an alternative to qu Ii (IRREALis): (332)

qarra

qu I i

dja’ma qatha-w /

lsgNOM IRREAL work

food-DAT

bitjan bili ma_l_q't hu-n-mara-m always

appear-UNM-CAU-UNM

rrupiya money+ABS I work for food all the time, I'm always making money

(xii) yan b iIi~ya ra bili 'on and on', (lit. 'still, just already'). This combination is used to indicate that an action or event continues for some considerable time, e.g. (333)

w a n d i-rr-a yukurra qanapurr

yän

/ yanbi

run-UNM-IM lie+UNM lplexcNOM just

gilitji

qayi quIi

mistake THAT IRREAL

wadutja qayambaIk-tja

/ yara bili

approach+POT quickly place+ABS-PRO

on and on

qanapurr

yukurra wandi-rr

lplexcNOM lie+UNM run-UNM We just kept hurrying on, [thinking] mistakenly that the place was quickly drawing near, on and on we hurried

In terms of their position in a clause, particles may be divided into six groups. The first three of these (a-c below) comprise particles with clause-wide scope: they are normally found at or near the periphery of the clause. The other three groups (d-f below) consist of particles with more limited scope: these tend to occur near the clause constituent that they modify. At least two particles, bala and _l_i n y g u , can function at both levels. balaj, 'then' has clause-wide scope, being a temporal conjunction. The scope of bala2 'movement away from speaker' is the verb complex. Jpnyguj 'also' has clause-wide scope. Its meaning is 'it is also the case

4.14

that X', where X is the whole clause. 'already' is the verb complex. The six types of particles are:

Partiales

147

The scope of J_inygu2

(a) Particles which occur as the first word in a clause. These are: Qunhi, THAT I when used in their invariant form to introduce Quia , HYPOTHJ THAT clauses b a l a n y a r , 'like this' yurru, 'but/or' (i.e. when marking a disjunct between two clauses) märr, RESULT bili, CAU y a n b i , mistaken supposition y a n / y a r a bi li, 'on and on' b a l a ^ 'then'

There are two particles, ga'and' and m a k 'maybe' whose scope may be either clausal or phrasal. They are found at the beginning of the clause or phrase to which they belong, ga occasionally occurs as the second word in its clause. The phrasal disjunct markers n h ä m a k 'or' and w o 'or' occur phrase-initially. (b) Particles which occur as the last word(s) in a clause. These are: beny bala, 'and so on (until)' muka, AGReement yän, 'still/just' Jjnygu^, 'also'

(c) Particles which occur near the beginning of the clause. These are: y u r r u , F U T (this never occurs clause-initially, that position being reserved for y u r r u 'but/or') QU Ii, IRREALis

balag, ADVERsative yaka, 'no, not' nhakun, 'for example'

(these may occur clause-initially if there are no type (a) particles in the clause)

In previous sections of this grammar, qu I i IRREAL and y u r r u FUT have been treated as part of the verb complex. In terms of their position in the clause, however, they are more similar to particles with clause-wide scope than they are to particles whose scope encompasses only the verb, such as those discussed in (d-e) below. (d) Particles which tend to follow the verb.

These are:

ba Ia2 'movement away from speaker' IiIi 'movement towards speaker' dhiyag(un) bala 'right now'

All of these particles modify the verb in some way. (e) Particles which tend to precede the verb. This cate­ gory includes all adverbial particles except those enumera­ ted in (d); and also the aspectual particles b i t j a n bili 'habitually, always' and _l_inygu2 'already'.

148

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

(f) Clitic particles. These occur as post-positions to the words that they modify. -DHi (ANAPH) is found only with demonstratives. All the other clitic particles may modify any type of word. 4.15

REPORTED SPEECH

It is extremely rare for speech acts to be reported indirectly. The only example collected so far is a speech act which is itself embedded in another speech act: (334)

manymak gayi

good

marr-gagga / gayi

3sgN0M somewhat

b itja -n

g ayi

J_akara-nha-mi-n-dj a

/

3sgN0M tell-NMLSR-REFL-PERF-PRO

yapa-l

do thus-UNM 3sgN0M sister-ERG 'She says that she's feeling better' said (my) sister

(Note also the use of the reflexive form of the verb, to mean 'report on herself' rather than 'report to herself'.) Speech is normally reported directly, using verbs such as w a g a - 0 1 'say', _l_akara-NG2 'tell' and or b i t j a - 'do thus' and treating the speech act as a complex 0 N P : (335)

gayi

yapa

waga-n

B i rand i t j - t h u - n y

3sgN0M sister say+UNM-IM Frances-ERG-PRO gagga

nhe

ga-gu

y u r r u m u t i k a / dhuwal

carefully 2sgN0M take-POT FUT nhawi

[ Awat

Howard

car+ABS

this+ABS

mur muryu-nan ]o b i t j a - n

whatsit+ABS be ill-PERF do thus-UNM My sister Frances said 'Howard drive the car carefully, what's-her-name is feeling ill'

The speech act may be reciprocal. rocal form of the verb is used: (336)

[gu

w irrka m a r r t j i- n y ] 0 b i t ja-n-m i-nya

come on INTENS go+UNM-PRO waI a I

In such cases the recip­

do thus-UNM-RECIP-PAST NON-INDIC

gu I i

3plN0M IRREAL 'Come on, let's go quickly' they would have said to one another

(This is yet another example of an 'intransitive' reciprocal verb taking an 0 N P .) Thoughts may also be reported directly in the same way: (337)

[yanbi

gayi

mistake 3sg

galki

wa’ g a l g b i t j a - n

close place

N garritj-thu

gayi

do thus-UNM 3sgN0M

guyagi-rr

subsection term-ERG think-UNM Ngarritj thought, wrongly, 'the place is close by'

Alternatively, the thought may take the form of a subordin­ ate finite clause introduced by gunhi ' T H A T ' : (338)

ganapurr

guyagi-rr-ny

lplexcNOM think-UNM-PRO

/ gunhi

THAT

yanbi

gayi

mistake 3sg

g a i k i wäga-ny

close place-PRO

Gur rumur u

place-name We thought, wrongly, that Gurrumuru was close by

Text 1 149

TEXTS The three texts reproduced here have been chosen to illustrate three different speech styles. The first is an example of narrative, spoken rapidly and with excitement. The second text is more slowly and carefully spoken and illustrates an exemplificatory style. This discussion of dialect and language differences is intended for an audi­ ence of young Djapu clan members. The third text was dic­ tated, rather than being spoken into a tape recorder, and is therefore an example of extremely slow and deliberate speech. Texts 1 and 3 (which were recorded by me) are by Milyin (Muwaypi) Maymuru, a middle-aged Djapu woman, who is considered to be a speaker of 'good' Djapu by other clan members. Text 2 is a recording made of himself by Dambuythun (Daymbalipu) MunuQgurr, a senior Djapu man, for the use of future generations of Djapu speakers. It is reproduced here with his permission. TEXT 1 - JOURNEY TO GURRUMURU This text consists of two extracts from a long narra­ tive concerning a journey from Yirrkala to Gurrumuru outstation for a burial ceremony. It is a good example of narrative style; indeed the speaker tends to carry some features of the style to extremes. In particular she makes frequent use of the verb-chain construction in order to build up a feeling of excitement in passages describing fast action. The occupants of the car were Milyin (the speaker), her close classif icatory elder sister Barbara, Barbara's youngest son Muwandi, myself and my husband, here referred to by his subsection (mälk) name Ngarritj. Since I am classified as Milyin and Barbara's sister, my husband is also their classificatory husband and Muwandi is his classificatory son. la 1.

AN INCIDENT ON THE JOURNEY TO GURRUMURU y a r r w u p t h u - n - a m a r r t j i b a l a b a I k u w a r r a ' - IiI descend-UNM-IM go+UNM away low, undulating hill country-ALL Now we went down to the low, hilly country.

2.

nhä-ma see-UNM

/ nayi

mayawa

gaj_-' ka_l_yu-n

3sgN0M frill-necked lizard+ABS crawl-REDUP-UNM

w a y in animal+ABS (We) saw a frill-necked lizard crawling along. [This is an example of a finite complement clause which lacks an introductory particle. The next sentence repeats the infor­ mation using a full complement clause.]

3.

nha’- m a see-UNM

/ Qunhi Qayi THAT

w a y in

mayawa

3sgN0M animal+ABS frill-necked lizard+ABS

ga_l_-' kaj_yu-n crawl-REDUP-UNM

150

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

(We) saw that a frill-necked lizard was crawling along. 4.

n_ap ' -n_apdhu-n /

nhina

run-REDUP-UNM

sit+UNM away road-PER

wiripu-maI

bala d h u k a r r - k u r r /

budapthu-n

cross over-UNM

gaIi ' - I i I

other-ALL side-ALL (It) kept running and stopping along the road, then crossed to the other side. [For comments on this sentence see 4.1.2(c).] 5.

dja_l_aj_yu-n p a y i - n y

hurry-UNM

N g a rritj-tja

/ m arrtji

3sgN0M-PR0 subsection term+ABS-PRO

go+UNM

b a d a tju -n -w a rra y wutthu-n

miss-UNM-really hit-UNM Ngarritj hurried and tried to hit (it) [with the car] but he missed. [Note the use of the PRO marker to indicate a change of topic. The second clause of this two-clause verb chain itself bears a superficial resemblance to a verb chain. However it is best considered as a single clause containing a main verb wutthu-N 'hit' and two verbal modifiers, see 4.1.2(c).] 6.

gul-way guIyu-n-mara-m

stop-?

punhi-wal

stop-UNM-CAUS-UNM there-ALL

punh i - n y - d h i

/ gul-way guIyu-n-mara-m

stop-?

stop-UNM-CAUS-UNM

mutika-ny'

that+ABS-PRO-ANAPH car+ABS-PRO (He) brought the car to a halt there. [For comments on this use of the verbal root form see 4.1.2(d). In this sentence it is the car which is topicalised, although it is in non-subject position. The meaning of the clitic particle - g a y is not known. ] 7.

parra-ny

ga

Bapara-ny

ga

B i r a n d j i t j - t ja

lsgNOM-PRO and name+ABS-PRO and name+ABS-PRO

däpthu-n

sit+PL-UNM

m utika' -pur

car-LOC Bapara and Frances and I stayed in the car. [Phrasal co-ordination with ga 'and' is unusual, and is probably a caique from English. For the more usual structure of a plural NP see sentences 17 and 18 of this text. ] 8.

payi

£tap' - n a p d h u - n N g a r r i t j - t j a

3sgN0M run-REDUP-UNM subsection term+ABS-PRO Ngarritj ran hard. 9.

nap'thu-n-a

/ bala d ja rra n y -g a y

p a w a t t h u - n ga’yu

run-UNM-IM then fumble-? get-UNM stick+ABS He ran and fumbled to get a stick. [Note the repetition of the verb from the previous sentence. This 'recapping' is a common linking device in Djapu discourse.] 10.

payi-ny

Muwandj - y - n y j_i w ' y u - n - m a r a - m

3sgN0M-PR0 name-ERG-PRO go round-UNM-CAUS-UNM Muwandi went round (the tree) [that the lizard had run into]. 11.

manda

ba’ p a - ' manydj i wapthu-n-dja 3duN0M father-KINDY+ABS jump-UNM-PRO Father and son jumped up and down. [Note that the subject-topic of the previous sentence is in­ cluded in the subject-topic of this sentence, and that there­ fore the NP does not receive PRO marking.]

Text 1 12.

J_i w ' y u - n - m a r a - m

/ waI m u - ' a Imur u- ma- n

go round-UNM-CAUS-UNM

run-UNM

/w almu-'alm uru-m

squint-REDUP-PROP-CAUS-UNM

look up-REDUP-UNM

j_i w ' y u - J j w y u - n - ma r a- ma - n

manda

go round-REDUP-UNM-CAUS-UNM-IM 3duN0M nha’m a - ' nha-ma

/ w andi-rr/

look up-REDUP-UNM-IM

rum u-'rum u-m irri-ya-m

151

/

qunhi

THAT

wa’y i n - n h a

look-REDUP-UNM animal-ACC/IM Those two went round and round [the tree], looking up, squinting up, to see the animal. [The first six clauses comprise a classic example of a verb chain. Note that both transitive and intransitive verbs are involved, and that the common subject NP (A or S) only occurs once, at the very end of the chain. The subordinate THAT clause is probably best interpreted as a relative clause, since the pronoun in the higher clause immediately precedes it and the coreferential A NP of the subordinate clause is deleted. It is not possible to determine whether -nha marks Accusative case or IMmediacy in this instance; either inter­ pretation is possible.] 13.

qayi-ny b ä p a -' mi r r i q u - y - n y / turn-REDUP-UNM-CAUS-UNM 3sgN0M-PR0 father-KINPROP-ERG-PRO

b iIyu p iIyu -n -m a ra -m

yarrarrayu-n-mara-m

m a rrtji/

gaIki-rr-w array

be in position-UNM-CAUS-UNM go+UNM fall-UNM-nearly The father kept turning [his arm], aiming [the stick], nearly falling over. [Note that PRO is used here, indicating change of topic, although the referent is a part of the preceding topic NP. It appears, therefore, that the whole may represent the part, but not vice versa. ] 14.

qanapurr

qunhi-yi-ny-dhi

g itkitth u -n -a

lplexcNOM that+LOCi-ANAPH-PRO-ANAPH laugh-UNM-1M ra ku -' ra ku n y-d ji-rr-a

dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM-IM At that, we died laughing. [it appears, from the use of the exclusive form of the pronoun, that the speaker is treating the tape-recorder (and potential listeners) as addressee.] 15.

dhika qanapurr

g itkitth u -n

INDEF lplexcNOM laugh-UNM How we laughed! 16.

qarra

m arrtji

r a k u - ' rakuny-dj i - r r - a

g itkitth u -n

lsgNOM go+UNM dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM-IM laugh-UNM I was dying of laughter. 17.

ra ku n y-d ji-rr-a

q ilin y

manda

Baqara-ny

dead-INCHO-UNM-IM IduexcNOM DU+ABS name+ABS-PRO Baqara and I were dying. 18.

ra ku -' ra ku n y-d ji-rr-a

qanapurr

B i r a n d j i t j - t ja

dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM-IM lplexcNOM name+ABS-PRO We and Frances were dying. 19.

ba I a q a n a p u r r

wa’ t h u - n - a

then lplexcNOM call out-UNM-IM Then we called out:

152 20.

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect manda

gu'

m a rrtji-n

lili

2duV0C come on come+UNM-IM towards speaker 'You two, come on here now! [As in this sentence, the 3duN0M form of the pronoun (manda) may be used as a term of address to two people.] 21.

b a r r k u - n gunha d h u k a r r - n y gunhi

wäga-ny

/

g ilim urr

m a rrtji-n

far-IM that road-PRO that place-PRO lplincNOM go+UNM-IM It's a long way off, that place (that) we're going (to). [The second clause of this sentence is best interpreted as a relative clause lacking an introductory gunhi 'THAT'.] 22.

gunha' y u - r r - a

w irip u -n y

leave-POT-IM other-PRO Leave (it, we'll get) another.' 23.

b itja -n

do thus-UNM (We) said : 24.

g u n h a ' - w a y manda-ny

ba’ p a - ' ma n y d j i

leave-? 2duV0C-PR0 father-KINDY 'You two, father and son, leave (it)!' 25.

bulu

ganapurr

dhukarr

gupa-n-dja

/ g i t k i t t hu-n- m i - r r

again lplexcNOM road+ABS follow-UNM-PRO raku-' ra k u n y-d ji-rr-a

/ ga

laugh-UNM-RECIP-UNM

raku-' ra ku n y-d ji-rr

dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM-IM and dead-REDUP-INCHO-UNM Then we set off on the road again, laughing together till we nearly died. lb 26.

EVENTS

UPON A R R I V A L

bala g i l i n y

manda

AT GURRUMURU m arrtji

then IduexcNOM DU+ABS go+UNM

d j uj_uj_' yu-n wä wa- wal - gga

hide-UNM

EB-OBL-CONTR

wäga- I i I j)aymba I i pu-wa I

camp-ALL name-OBL Then we retired to our brother Daymbalipu's camp. 27.

g a n a p u r r u - g g u - n y wäga

lplexc-DAT-PRO camp That was our camp. 28.

g u n h i-li-y i

ganapurr

yuku-yukurra-ny

there-LOC-ANAPH lplexcNOM lie down-REDUP+UNM-IM dj adaw'yu-n daybreak-UNM There we were going to rest (until) daybreak . 29.

ga

waI a I y o l g u - n y

/ djada-way

daybreak-?

bukmak-nha w a r r p a m ' - n h a b ä y g u - n g a t ha

and 3pl person-PRO all-IM all-IM none-IM food And all the people there had no food . [Normally the possessor in a nominal sentence of this type is in DAT case, as in the following sentence. ] 30.

bäygu- n g a t h a b ä y g u - n d h i l i p

bäygu d j u k a d h i k a n h ä - m a l a - n

/

none-IM food

none-IM tea none sugar INDEF what-PL-IM bäygu wä y i n met d h i k a n h ä - m a l a - n / b ä y g u - n w a r r p a m ' - n h a none meat meat INDEF what-PL-IM none-IM all-IM wa I a I a - g

3pl-DAT No food, no tea, no sugar, what else; no meat, what else, they had

Text 1

153

nothing of anything. 31.

ga

nhini

ganapurr

/ b itja -n -d ja

gäthur-gga

and sit+POT lplexcNOM do thus-UNM-PRO now-CONTR And we were just about to sit down. (Literally ’and we were about to sit down, doing thus now'.) 32.

b a l a waI a I

m arrtji

gombu-ma-n

then 3plN0M come+UNM beg-UNM-IM Then they came begging . 33.

gombu-ma-n m a r r t j i

/ g a th a -' yu-n-a

beg-UNM-IM come+UNM m arrtji

/

come+UNM

m arrtji

/ wugay-' yu-n-a

food-DO-UNM-IM come+UNM

d j u k a - ' yu-n-a

m arrtji

honey-DO-UNM-IM

/ dh i I i p - t h u - n - a m a r r t j i

sugar-DO-UNM-IM come+UNM

tea-DO-UNM-IM

come+UNM

ganapurru-n

lplexc-ACC They came begging us for food, for honey, for sugar, for tea. [This verb chain starts with a recapitulation of the verb in the previous sentence. The subject, which is coreferential with the subject of the previous sentence, is not mentioned once. All the verbs have the same referent for object ('us') and this NP is mentioned once only. Note the heavy use made of the DO morpheme to form delocutive verbs.] 34.

ganapurr-ny

yaka-gga

yän

ganydjarr

nhina

lplexcNOM-PRO not-CONTR still strength+ABS sit+UNM We still hadn't even sat down for a breather. 35.

_l_i nygu- n

finished-IM That's all. [This is a common way of signalling the end of an episode in narration.]

TEXT 2 - DISCOURSE ON LANGUAGE This text consists of excerpts from a much longer dis­ course in which Daymbalipu speaks not only of language, but also of places around Yirrkala, and flora and fauna. I have concentrated on the sections concerning language partly for reasons of space, but also because they present a very clear exposition of how a speaker of a Yolgu language perceives linguistic differences both within the Yolgu group and out­ side it. Both Daymbalipu and his classificatory sister Florence Ngalawurr Munuggurr assisted me with the trans­ cription and translation of this text. A copy of the re­ cording has been lodged by Daymbalipu in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. As in the previous text, each excerpt is marked by a lower-case letter. 2a DJAPU AND OTHER DHUWAL DIALECTS (PART 1) 1.

mat ha- ny

dhuwal

/ dhuwal

matha

g u rriri

language-PRO this this language short This language, the Dhuwal language is short. [The speaker is referring here to the final vowel deletion rule, which makes words in Dhuwal dialects shorter than in Dhuwala dialects.]

154 2.

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

ga

dhuwa-na wadutja-ya-ma-ny

y u r r u m ’a r r

wäqa

and this-IM quickly-TRVSR-UNM-PRO FUT somewhat speak+UNM ya' oilimurr-ny INTERJ lplincNOM-PRO And our quicker way of speaking is 'dhuwa-na' . [The speaker is here contrasting the 'quick' form d h u w a - n a with d h u w a l 'this'.]

3.

Djapu-ny

matha

d huwal

clan-name-PRO language this The Djapu language is 'dhuwal ' .

4.

bitja-n yurru w a q a gam' do thus-UNM FUT speak+UNM INTERJ This is how (you) should speak: [Throughout this text the FUT marker is used to denote generic or predictable action rather than future tense (see 3.6.5(a)).]

5.

dhuwal

b ala' b a l a - n y '

/ ga

dhuwa-na bala-ny'

this house house-PRO and this-IM house-PRO 'This is a house, and now this is a house.' [The form d h u w a - n a 'this-IM' is irregular, and characteristic of the Djapu dialect. For this reason it is being highlighted here. ]

2b DJAPU AND OTHER DHUWAL DIALECTS (PART 2) 6.

balanyar

dhäruk

d huwal

/

Djapu-ny'

like this language this

jiininyqu-ny

clan-name-PRO original-PRO

dhäruk language The Dhuwal language is like this; it is the original Djapu language. [For a detailed discussion of the topic-comment structure of nominal sentences see 4.2.2. The translation of rnninyqu is difficult. In the Aboriginal English of Yirrkala it is translated as 'foundation', which conveys well its meaning of an identifying characteristic of something which is basic to that identity and which is permanent, having been laid down in the Ancestral past.]

7.

bili q a r r a CAU

qu

Ii

qä-ma

/ wiripu

lsgNOM IRREAL hear-UNM

yurru waqa

dhä-wadatj-ku-m

other+ABS

dhäruk

dhuwal

mouth-?-TRVSR-UNM

Djapu'

FUT speak+UNM language+ABS this+ABS clan-name+ABS [I am telling you this] because I am always hearing (you) making mistakes in speaking this Djapu language. [The second clause is a finite complement clause lacking the introductory particle qunhi THAT.]

8.

Djambarrpuyqu dhäruk

balanyar-yi

J_inygu

clan name language like this-ANAPH also The Djambarrpuyqu language is also like this.

9.

Marraqu

dhäruk

balanyar

/ yurru wiripu

clan name language like this

märr

y u r r u d j a r r p i '- y a - m

somewhat FUT

but

/

different+ABS

wiripuqu-ya-m

crooked-TRVSR-UNM different-TRVSR-UNM

waqa speak+UNM The Marraqu language is like this, but [also] different; (they)

Text 2 say [words] in a somewhat distorted, different way. 10.

b itja -n

y u r r u waga

do thus-UNM FUT

ganapurr

dhäruk

/

speak+UNM lplexcNOM language+ABS

dhuwaI - ' y u - n

this-DO-UNM We should speak like this: 'dhuwal'. 2c 11.

D IF F E R E N C E S ga

BETWEEN CL OSEL Y

Dha'yi

R EL A T ED D I A L E C T S

Y irritja -n y

matha

and language name moiety name-PRO language And Dha'yi is a Yirritja language. 12.

ga

Dhagu

Dhuwa

matha

ga

Y irritja

and language name moiety name language and moiety name matha

language And Dhagu is both a Dhuwa and a Yirritja language. [The speaker is pointing out that although some languages (Dhuwal and Dha'yi) are moiety specific, some are not.] 13.

guj_ku

Dhuwa-ny

clan

ba’ p u r r u

many+ABS moiety name+ABS-PRO clan+ABS clan+ABS dhiyala-gumi

yukurra

nhina

here-LOC lie+UNM sit+UNM Many Dhuwa clans live in this place [Yirrkala]. 14.

y u r r u yaka gayi

but

not

yu rru ganapurr

3sgN0M FUT

waggany-gurr-ny

lplexcNOM one-PER-PRO

waga-nha-mi-rr

speak-NMLSR-RECIP-UNM But we don't speak to one another in one (language). 15.

nhangu gäna

N g a y mi l - w u

dhäruk

ga

man i ka y

3sgDAT separate clan name-DAT language and song The language and song of the Ngaymil clan are separate. [For a detailed discussion of this sentence see 4.2.2.] 16.

b a l a n y a r nhakun

D j a mb a r r p u y g u

take for example clan name Take Djambarrpuygu, for example. 17.

yurru

w a g g an y - w a r r a y d h ä r u k - t j a

although one+ABS-almost language+ABS-PRO

rirrakay-ny

sound+ABS-PRO

y u r r u w a g g a n y - m a n a p i - r r manda

FUT one-j oin-UNM 3duN0M Although they two [Djapu and Djambarrpuygu] share almost the same language. 18.

ganapurr d h ä r u k - tj a

yurru

lplexc language-PRO FUT Our language is [shared]. 19.

y u r r u ma n i k ay -n h a y u r r u

nhuma

but

2nsgN0M whatsit-INCHO-UNM INTERJ

song+ABS-IM FUT

gunhi

guli

gä- ma- ny

nh a w i-yi-rr

ya

/

manikay-nha

THAT IRREAL hear-UNM-PRO song+ABS-IM But you will whatsit the songs, when you hear the songs... [The speaker here is trying to convey that although the language is the same, the songs are different, but he abandons the sentence in mid stream. He tries again,

155

156

Djapu3 a Yolngu

dialect

successfully, in the next sentences.] 20.

b a l a n y a r nhakun

D a t i ’ wuy

take for example clan name Take the Dati’wuy for example. 21.

waQa

yurru

waggany-gurr ganapurr

speak+UNM FUT We speak in one language . 22.

one-PERlplexcNOM

yurru

r i r r a k a y - n h a y u r r u m a n i k a y - n h a nhuma

but

sound+ABS-IM FUT

gä-ma

/

song+ABS-IM 2nsgN0M hear-UNM

w iripu-ny

different-PRO But you will hear the sound of their songs is different. [This is a complex nominal sentence, in which the topicalised component consists of a single word and the comment of a finite verbal clause. ]

2d YIRRITJA LANGUAGES AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES 23.

ga

b i t j a n —d h i —y i

j_i nygu Y i r r i t j a - n y

and like this-ANAPH-ANAPH also dhä- manapi - r r

moiety name+ABS-PRO

y u k u r r a dha'ruk

mouth-join-UNM lie+UNM language+ABS And the Yirritja (clans’) languages are also connected like this, [in this sentence the more common b a l a n y a r ’like this’ has been replaced by its verbal counterpart b i t j a - n ’do thus’.] 24.

dhuwal a

dha’-manap i - r r

this+ABS mouth-join-UNM ’Dhuwala’ connects them. 25.

ga

gayi

ganag’ t h u - n - d j a

y u k u r r a Dha’ y i

and 3sgNOM separate-UNM-PRO lie+UNM language name And Dha’yi is separate (from them). [Dha’yi, although also spoken by clans of the Yirritja moiety, is not a Dhuwala dialect.] 26.

manda-ny

dhä-manap i - r r

y u k u r r a Mad_arrpa

2duN0M-PR0 mouth-join-UNM lie+UNM clan-group name+ABS Dha’ y i

Ma d a r r p a

language-name+ABS clan-group name+ABS (But) [Dhuwala] Madarrpa and Dha’yi Madarrpa are connected. [Madarrpa is a ritual grouping of clans in the southern Yolgu area who speak different dialects. One of them is Duwala speaking and another is Dha’yi speaking.] 27.

ga

w irip u -n y dhika-ny

bala-ny

nhawi-ny

and other-PRO INDEF-PRO over there-PRO

mulkuru-ny

whatsit-PRO foreign-PRO

dhäru k

language And over that way there are other, foreign languages. 28.

balanyar

nhakun

gunha b a l a

like this for example that

over

Yuwatja

there language name

Mawug-dj a

language name-PRO Like for example Yuwatja [iwatja] and Mawug [Maug]. 29.

dha’ r u k

mala-ny-nha balanyar

language PL-PRO-IM

Wuj_aki

Burarra-ny

like this language name language name-PRO

157

Text 2

Languages like Wulaki [Djinap] and Burarra [Burera]. [Note that Djinap, which is probably a member of the Yolpu group, is here classified as 'foreign' along with genetically distant languages.] 30.

b ä p u r r u m a l a - n y - n h a punhi w i r i p u

mala-ny-nha /

punhi-yi-ny

group

PL-PRO-IM

THAT-ANAPH-PRO

PL-PRO-IM

that other

nhakun y a k a - n p a n a p u r r

like

mar pgi

pu ri-ki-n y-

/

not-IM lplexcNOM knowledgeable that-DAT-PRO-ANAPH

bu w a y ak - t h i - r r - a

wa I a I

puli

dha'ruk

b ili

CAU

panapurru-pga I

faint-INCHO-UNM-IM 3plN0M IRREAL language+ABS lplexc-OBL rirrakay-ny

sound+ABS-PRO There are groups which are different [from us], the like of which we don't know, because the sound of their language is unin­ telligible to us. 31.

ga

panapurr-ny

/

and lplexcNOM-PRO pula-mi

p unhi p u l i

wapa-nha-mi-rr-ny

THAT IRREAL speak-NMLSR-RECIP-UNM-PRO

Dawin-dja

/

HYPOTH-LOC place-name+LOC-PRO panapurr

bala-pumi

d jltji-p u r

away-LOC

bush-LOC

b u n a - n h a - mi

puli

/ ga

lplexcNOM arrive-NMLSR-RECIP(+P0T) IRREAL barrku

wiripu-pumi

far away other-LOC

päpaki-wal

one-join-UNM päpaki- k u r r - a

y u r r u wäpa-pur

whiteman-OBL PUT

w a p g a n y - m a n a p i - r r / ga

pula-mi

and HYPOTH-LOC

b a l a nhakun

place-LOC panapurr

yurru

and then for example lplexcNOM FUT wapa-nha-mi-rr

dhäruk-kurr

whiteman-PER-IM speak-NMLSR-RECIP-UNM language-PER English-kurr-a language name-PER-IM And we, whenever we talk together somewhere, like Darwin, or if we should meet away in the bush, or if we come together far away in some other, whiteman's place, then in cases like that we speak together in English, the white man's language. [in this complex sentence, three juxtaposed finite subordinate clauses are subordinated to a single main clause. Only the first-occurring, subordinate clause is introduced by punhi 'THAT'. Note that the subject of the main clause appears twice, once preceding the subordinate clauses and once following them, within its own clause. This appears to be a case of incipient embedding of the subordinate clauses in the main clause. ] 32.

ga

balanyar-a

punhi

dhuwal-ny

y u k u r r a wapa

and like this-IM that+ABS this+ABS-PRO lie+UNM speak+UNM pa na p u rru -p g a ia p u -w d j a m a r r k u j j - w ' yumurrku-w

dhiya-ku

lplexc-OBLS-DAT children-DAT small+PL-DAT this-DAT Djapu-w clan name-DAT And (I) am speaking 'dhuwal' like this for these our small Djapu children. 2e 33.

THE PERMANENCE OF L I N G U I S T I C

IDENTITY

balanyara-w

Like this-DAT [I am telling you this] for this reason.

158 34.

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect dhuwal

Q athil gurrunha-n

this+ABS before lay down-UNM ’Dhuwal' was laid down%[for us] before. [Here the speaker is referring to the actions of the Ancestral Beings who gave the clan its language. ] 35.

yaka

dhuwal-ny d h a r r a t h i r

dha’ r u k

not this-PRO impermanent language This is not an impermanent language. 36.

dhuwal-ny

b itja -n

Qayi

y u r r u wuyupthu-n

yulguny

this+ABS-PRO do thus-UNM 3sgN0M FUT continue-UNM for some time This [language] will continue like this for some time to come.

TEXT

3

- THE SORCERER

This text gives a general account of the modus operandi of sorcerers, and the FUT marker y u r r u is used generically throughout. It was dictated rather than recorded, and the slow, deliberate style is reflected in the lack of subordin­ ated constructions. Also, nearly every clause carries a full complement of NPs, which is not a usual feature of more rapid discourse in which NPs may be freely deleted in cases where no ambiguity results. 1.

Qayi

yurru

Qorra-n

gäna

3sgN0M FUT sleep+UNM-IM alone He sleeps alone. 2.

gayi

y u rr u yaka-n g u y a g i - r r yumurrku-n

3sgN0M FUT not-IM think-UNM small+PL-ACC He doesn't think about (his) children. 3.

baI a Qayi

gunhi-ny-dhi

yolgu-ny

m arrtji

then 3sgN0M that+ABS-PRO-ANAPH person+ABS-PRO come+UNM Then this person comes along. 4.

b a l a bu-ma-n

nhangu

then hit-UNM-IM 3sgDAT Then (he) hits at him. [Here a normally TR verb is used semi-transitively. The meaning conveyed is that the sorcerer makes the motion of hitting the person, but does not actually touch him. The effect, neverthe­ less, is to render him unconscious.] 5.

Qayi

yu rru wathuy'yu-n

3sgN0M FUT spear at-UNM He spears at him. [Here the semi-transitivity is a property of the verb-root.] 6.

J_akara-m Qanapur r

yurru d j t j a l k

call-UNM lplexcNOM FUT We call it Mitjalk'. 7.

gunhi-ny-dhi

spearthrower+ABS

m arrtji-n

that+ABS-PRO-ANAPH come+UNM-IM That one comes along now. 8.

b a l a Qayi

dhungurrk w utthu-n yu rru g a lk a - y '

then 3sgN0M nape+ABS hit-UNM FUT sorcerer-ERG And then the sorcerer hits (him) on the nape of the neck.

Text 3 m ijjp i

9.

Qayi

y u r r u d h a r p u - m a -n

159

garapa-y

shoulder blade+ABS 3sgNOM FUT pierce-UNM-IM spear type-INSTR He spears the shoulder blade with a one-pronged spear.

10.

dhi Ii r j i n y —g u r r m a r w a k t h u - n - a

b a l a Qayi

then 3sgN0M breast-PER come out-UNM-IM And it comes out through the breast. 11.

bu-ma-n

/ b a l a Qayi

yurru d o d u r r k - tja

m ä r r a- ma - n

hit-UNM-IM then 3sgN0M FUT heart+ABS-PRO take-UNM-IM (He) hits (him), then takes the heart. 12.

bala

Qayi

g ä r r i-nya-mara-m

b irrk a 'm irr

duQ't_uQ

then 3sgN0M enter-NMLSR-CAUS-UNM anything+ABS palpitating+ABS Q urikal-yi

yolQu-wal

that+OBL-ANAPH person-OBL Then he puts some other palpitating thing into that person. 13.

b a l a Qayi

yurru m a r r t ji

weyinQu-mirr

then 3sgN0M FUT go+UNM long-PROP Then he [the victim] goes on for a long time. 14.

t h r e e days Qayi

m arrtji

three days 3sgN0M go+UNM For three days he walks about. 15.

b a l a Qayi

dhi Qg a - ma- n y u r r u

then 3sgN0M die-UNM-IM Then he dies. 16.

Qayi

FUT

Qunhi-ny-dhi

yolQU

b a l a dug 't_UQ-wunya ' y u - n a n

3sgN0M that+ABS-PRO-ANAPH person+ABS then heartbeat-get lost-PERF That person's heart has failed then. [For a detailed discussion of the use of PRO marking in this text see 3.3.]

VOCABULARY ALPHABETICAL VOCABULARY This listing consists of a basic 500 item vocabulary and, in addition, all words found in the grammar which do not come within the basic vocabulary. The total number of items listed is about one thousand. The alphabetical list­ ing gives only short glosses; fuller discussion of the meanings of individual items is to be found in the vocabu­ lary by semantic fields. Demonstrative and pronominal forms are not included; a full discussion of these is to be found in Chapter 3 of the grammar. Proper names and place names are given in the alphabetical vocabulary but most are omitted from the vocabulary by semantic fields. The alphabetical order followed in this vocabulary is: ä, r,

a, b, d, d_, dh, d j , e , t , t_, t h , t j , u, w, y .

g,

i,

k,

I , J_, m, n, _n, nh,

ny,

q,

o,

p,

rr,

The glottal stop,', is ignored for the purposes of ordering except in the case of minimal pairs, where the item with no glottal stop precedes the item containing a glottal stop.

160 Djapu, a Yolngu dialect Word class membership is indicated by: Adv, adverbial particle Int, interjection Loc, locational qualifier Mod, nominal modifier N, noun PA, predicate adjective Part, particle Prop, proper name of person, place, social group, etc Vadv, adverbial verb amala, N : mummy a p a t i , N: white person ba’lkay, N: urine Ba’niyala, Prop: name of outstation bäpa, N: father b ä p i, N: snake ba’purru, N: clan bärra, N: west wind bärka, Mod: skinny bäru, N: salt-water crocodile ba’tju, N: digging stick bäyim-NI, Vtr: buy bäyma, Loc: around here/there bä y p u , Mod: none, nothing ba’yQut h i-03 , Vintr: disappear badak, Int: wait a minute badatju-N , Vadv: fail, miss badjkan, N: white cockatoo badjpadj, N: rock wallaby bakthu-N2, Vintr: break bakthunmara-NG2, Vtr: break baI a , Part: then/movement away ba Ia ', N: house balanda, N: white person balap, Part: adversative (ADVER) Balap', Prop: subsection term balbalyu-N2, Vintr: be balanced balin, N: salt water barramundi balkitj, N: male agile wallaby baIkurrk, N : rain balkuwarra', N: undulating country balmarrk, N: male pubic hair balpalyu-N2 , Vintr: make fire balwur, Mod: ripe, cooked baj_kpa_l_k, N: vegetable sp. Ba_[_kpa_l_kpuy, Prop: place name ba_l_wak, N: lower leg, tail baj_(w) apthu-N2 , Vintr: crouch baman', Time: long ago baman'puwuy, Mod: old bambay, Mod: blind bandurr'yu-N2, Vtr: kick bajnarra, N: clearing bandany, Mod: dry, clear, true

Vditr, ditransitive verb Vintr, intransitive verb Vrecip, reciprocal verb Vsemitr, semitransitive verb Vtr, transitive verb Time, temporal qualifier -D/I, deictic/interrogative verb -NI, non-inflecting verb

baridja, N: arm B a p a d j ', Prop: subsection term B a p a d j 't j a n , Prop: subsection term B a p a r a , Prop: woman's name b a r r a r i- w e k a - N G 2 , Vtr: frighten b a r r a r i - 0 3 , Vintr: be frightened b a r r k u , Loc/Adv: far away b a r r k u w a t j , Mod: separate b a r r k u w a t j k u - N G 2 , Vtr: explain b a r r t j u - N 2 , Vtr: spear b a r r u k a l a ' , N: paperbark b a r r w a j i , N: skin, bark b a r r w a p d h u - N 2 , Vintr: fall over b a r k p a r k t h u - N 2 , Vintr: sing b a r k t h u - N 2 , Vintr: crack b a r k u m a , N: native cat b a r p g i t j , N: bee sp. b a r p a ' , Mod: rotten, rancid b a r t j u n m a r a - N G 2 , Vtr: slap b a r u k a p u r , N: fruit s p . b a t t h u - N 2 , Vtr: light fire b a t j , N: barbed spear b a j y t j u r r , N: star b a t h a - N i , Vtr: cook b a t h a l a , Mod: huge b a t h i , N: container b a w a ' m i r r , Mod: silly b a y ' , Int: are you with me? b a y m a t t h u - N 2 , Vtr: affect b e k a p ' , N : hook b e l a - N G 2 , Vditr: dig b e m b i , N : sheep b e w i y i k , N: cuckoo shrike b i l i , Part: because (CAU) B i l i n y d j a n , Prop: subsection term b i I i t j p i I i t j , N: red-winged parrot b i l k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: cover b i l y u - N 2 , Vintr: turn round b i I y u n m a r a - N G 2 , Vtr: turn some­ thing round b ij_ap 't hu-N2 , Vtr: lick b i_l_kt hu-N2 , Vintr: excrete, give birth bijjna, N: clap stick bilparr, N: female sex organs

Alphabetical vocabulary binhdha, N: rib birrimbirr, N: soul birrirri'yu-N2, Vtr: wring birrka'mirr, Part: anything, anyhow birrka'yu-N2, Vadv: try, taste birrkpirrk(qani), N: bird sp. Birandjitj, Prop: Frances (Loan) birku, N: club bitrul, N: petrol (Loan) bitja, N: picture, photograph (Loan) bitja-D/I, Vadv: do thus bitjan bill, Part: always biyay, N: large goanna bokma-N^, Vtr: create bo Iu, N: bamboo bo Iutju', N: facial hair boj_k, N: semen bo riba, N: butterfly boqguq, Time: tomorrow early borrutj, N: mosquito sp. borum, N/Mod: fruit, ripe bothurru-NI, Vtr: count bo'yu-N2, Vintr: blow bu-Irr, Vtr: affect budapthu-N2 , Vintr: go down across bukaway'yi-03, Vintr: dream bukmak, Mod: all, every buku, N: forehead, summit buku-dhumuk, Mod: forgetful bukuru-NG2, Vintr: look up buku-ruqiyinyamara-NG2, Vtr: answer bukuwa_l_' yu-N2, Vintr: become shady buku-yarrwupthu-N2 , Vintr: be born bu Ia I’, Mod : two buliki, N: cow (Loan) bulka', N: fur, feathers bulnha, Adv: slowly buIu, Adv: again bulwul, Mod: lethargic BuJ_any ', Prop: subsection term BuJ_anydjan, Prop: subsection term bumbarru, N: rock, stone buna-0i, Vtr: come up to, arrive, visit bun'kumu, N: knee buribu, N: bough shelter bunydji, N: anus buny'tju-N2, Vtr: smoke buqgu I, N: ceremony Burralag', Prop: subsection term burrwu, N: shark sp. buraki-03, Vintr: be hurt buram, N: hornet

161

Burarra, Prop: name of a language burinymuIka-0i, Vtr: squeeze bu^t_thu-N2, Vintr: fly buthalak, N/Mod: yellow (ochre) buthuqu, N: scorpion buthuru, N: ear buthuwa-0i, Vintr: give birth, excrete buwayak, Mod: faint, indistinct buyuka, N: fire, firewood buyu'yu-N2 , Vtr: rub smooth Da'win, Prop: Darwin doy', N : money duram, N: drum (Loan) da* I, Mod: strong, hard da’Iku-NG2, Vtr: hold, keep dämbu, N: head jda’ogu 'j^aqgu, N: stingray sp. da'pthu-N2, Vintr: sit, stay da’rrpa, N: king brown snake dad_awyu-N2 , Vintr: stop, finish da kuI', N : axe damaI a , N: male sea eagle Dambuythun, Prop: man's name damurruq', Mod: salty, bitter, sour dangi, N: white cockatoo dagga Ikt hu-N2 , Vintr: fall over daggultji', N: brolga dapal, N: caterpillar dap-_tap, N: policeman dapman, N: policeman Clapthu-N2 , Vtr: grip, clench, handcuff darramu, N: man, male darrkthu-N2 , Vtr: bite datam, N: water lily sp. dawut_awu , N: tawny frogmouth daw'yu-N2 , Vintr: break daw'yunmara-NG2 , Vtr: break, hurt jdaykun, N: sun, day, time daykungarrinyar(a), N: sunset I)aymbalipu, Prop: man's name deny, N: scrotum detj, N: grasshopper d^iku, Mod: raw, unripe cH lak, N: old person d^ilkurr(u), N: old man jdiltha-Ni, Vintr: sting, heal djltji, N: back, bush hinterland djny'tjny, N: kidney d^i rrodj rrq , N: Burdekin duck _ditja Ik, N: spear thrower d^od_urrk, N: heart ^opulu, N: gambling d^uk^uk, PA: wanting

162

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

du Ip u t h i — 03 , Vintr: be sated ^jumurr, Mod: big dup'jhJp, N: heartbeat, pulse _dupthu-N2, Vtr: throw dur'yu-N2, Vtr: push d u t t j i ' , N: firedrill cluwat_thu-N2, Vintr: ascend dha", N: mouth

d h ä p a r p , Mod: empty-handed, unsuccessful

d h ä p u w a p a - 0 1 , Vintr: yawn d h ä r r a - 0 i , Vintr: stand d h ä r u k , N: language, word d h ä - w a d a t j - k u - N G 2 , Vtr: make a mistake in speaking

d h a - w i r r k a 'y u - N 2 , Vtr: ask d h ä w u , N: information d h ä y k a , N: woman d h a d u IU - N G 2 , Vintr: seep, drip d h a k a l , N: cheek, fruit d h a k u , N: vagina d h a Ia , N: vagina dh am b a d _ i n y , N: death adder d h a m b u r r u , Mod: fat d h a m i j j p u , N: blue-tongue lizard d h a m u n u m u n ' , N: lower jaw d h a n b u l , N: morning star d h a n d u r r u p , N: horn d h a p a p , Mod: full D h a p u , Prop: name of a dialect group dhapa, N: heel d h a r r a t h i r , Mod: impermanent d h a r r w a , Mod: many d h a r a p a - L i , Vtr: recognise, under­ stand d h a r i r r , N: finger/toe nail d h a r p a , N: tree, wood d h a r p u - N G 2 , Vtr: pierce

d h a r w a , N: h i p d h a r y u - N 2 , Vtr: (rain) wets d h a w a I, N: named place d h a w a I - w u y a p i -03 , Vintr: be born d h a w a r r a k , N: facial hair d h a w a r 'y u - N 2 , Vintr: finish, cease d h a w a t _ t h u - N 2 , Vintr: emerge D h a ' y i , Prop: name of a dialect group

dh il i p i n y , N: breast d h i l i p , N: tea (Loan from tealeaf)

d h i m u r r u , N: east wind d h i p g a - N G i , Vintr: die d h i r r i p i , Loc: inside d h i w k t h i w k , Mod: mucky D h i y a k u y , Prop: name of a dialect

group

d h i y a p ( u n ) b a l a , Part: right now d h o l p , N: bowel dho_l_u, N: m u d d h o p u l u , N/Mod: deaf and dumb d h u d a k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: learn dhu^ji , N: bottom, buttocks d h u k a r r , N: track, road d h u k u n , N: rubbish, litter d h u l a k u , N: wallaby sp. d h u l g u , N: kapok d h u Ik u , N: sore d h u Im u , N: belly dhumbaI'yu-N2, Vsemitr: not know dhurrbu_l_', Mod: short dhum'thum, N: agile wallaby dhumuk, Mod: blunt dhumurr'yu-N2 , Vtr: kick dhungurrk, N: nape dhunupa, Mod: straight, right (handed) dhupa, PA: ignorant dhurri, N: faeces dhurr(w)ara, N: mouth, opening Dhuwa, Prop: name of one moiety Dhuwal, Prop: name of a dialect group DhuwaI a, Prop: name of a dialect group dhuwaIwitja-D/I, Vintr: go this way dhuwaI'yu-N2, Vintr: speak Dhuwal dhuway, N: husband dja’ka-NI, Vsemitr: care for djäl, PA: desire, want djalthi—03, Vsemitr: desire, want djäma-NI, Vtr: make, work djämbutj, N: sorcerer djärrap, N: horse djärrw it_, N: fresh-water mussel djäri, N: rainbow dja_daw'yu-N2, Vintr: to break (of day) djalarrpa, N: immature female antilopine kangaroo djalathap, N: south wind djaIkiri, N: foot djalpiny, N: leech dja_laJLyu-N2 , Vintr: hurry djamarrkuJJ ', N: children Djambarrpuypu, Prop: dialect name djambatj, Mod/N: acute, alert, good hunter or gatherer djambi-NI, Vtr: change, exchange djan, Int: is that so? djana', N: fat djanda, N: goanna sp.

Alphabetical vocabulary

dJ a n u a r r, N: hunger d j a _ n p a r r t h i -03 , Vintr: be hungry D j a p u , Prop: name of a dialect group Djapu Prop: clan name d j a r r a k , N: tern sp. d j a r r a k a j _ a ' y u - N 2 , Vintr: move in

an uncontrolled way d j a r r a n y ' t j u - N 2 , Vintr:

fumble, scrabble d j a r r k a , N: water goanna d j a r r k t hu-N2, Vtr: scrape d j a r r p i ' , Mod: crooked, wrong d j a r r p i 'ya-NG2 , Vadv: do wrongly d j a r r p u d a y ' , N/Mod: left side, left handed d j a r r w u t u , N: female agile wallaby d j a t t h u - N 2 , Vtr: chop dj at _am, N: centipede d j a w a r y u - N 2 , Vintr: be tired d j a w a r ' y u - N 2 , Vtr: spear djawu_l_pa, N: old man d j a w ’ y u - N 2 , Vtr: snatch, take d j a y k u p ' , N: file snake d j a y p i m a p - N I , Vtr: save up (Loan) d j i k u r r k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: stab, pierce D j i n a p , Prop: name of a dialect group d j i n a w a , Loc: inside, under D j i n b a , Prop: name of a dialect group djingaryu-N2, Vintr: get up djingaryunmara-NG2, Vtr: raise up djirrmapa', N: echidna d jirrpiyirrpi, N: willy wagtail djirrtjirr, Mod: grey djirap, N: boil d j irikit j , N: quail djiwarr, N: sky ; djugu, N: ceremony djuka, N: sugar (Loan) djuku, N: louse djukurr', N: fat d j u_l_kt hu-N2 , Vintr: cross dju_l_kthunmara-NG2, Vtr: pass by d j uJ_u_L'y u— » Vintr: hide djul_u_ryunmara-NG2 , Vtr: hide, conceal d j u n a m a , Loc: straight on d j u p ' t j u p d h u - N 2 , Vtr: kiss d j u r r k u d u p t h u - N 2 , Vintr: dive, fall headlong d j u r r u k , Mod: wet d j u r w i r r , N: bower bird d j u y ' y u - N 2 , Vditr: send ga-NG2» Vditr: bring

gä Ika I, N: ant ga’ l k i - 0 3 , Vintr:

163

fall over

GäIpu, Prop: name of a clan gäj_umay, N: pelican g ä n a , Part: alone, separate,distinct Gancja_n, Prop: name of an outstation g ä r r ' , N: spider g a r r i - 02, Vintr: enter g ä t h u , N: own child (male ego),

brother’s child (female ego) g a t h u r , Time: today, now g a y u , N: tree, wood, stick g ä y ' w u , N: string bag g a , Part: and g a c i a y k a , N: stringy bark tree g a k a r r a r r ' , N: silver gull g a k t h u - N 2 , Vintr: vomit g a l a y , N: wife g a l i ' , N: side Ga Ii kaI i , Prop: subsection term

Ga Iiwin'ku, Prop: name of settlement galka-N^, Vtr: put into gaIka', N: sorcercer galki, Loc/Part: close galku-N2, Vsemitr: wait for galmu-NG2, Vadv: prevent from doing gal pa, N: body ga_l_iwa_li, N: boomerang ga lkarripu, N: crow ga£pu, N: spearthrower g a h t j u r r , N: clitoris ga_l_'yu-N2, Vintr: crawl ga m ’, Int: you see? G a m a n y d j a n , Prop: subsection term G a m a r r a p ’ , Prop: subsection term ga mu n u p g u , N/Mod: white (pigment) g a n a - N i , Vintr: leave g a n a p ' t h u - N 2 , Vintr: be separate g a n a r i ' , N: tree sp. G a n a r i ' m i r r i , Prop: Shady Beach g a n d a l p u r r u , N: mature female antilopine kangaroo g a n d a r r , N: waist, middle g a n d a r r - p u t u , Mod: fat g a n g u I, N/Mod: yellow (ochre) g a n g u r i , N : yam s p . g a n u ' , N: ashes gajTamu , N: mosquito sp. g a j i g u y p a , N: flying fox sp. g a n y b u , N: fish net g a n y d j a r r , N: strength, energy ganydju_l_a, N: eye g a n y d j u j _ a ' mi r r i pu , N: boy/girlfriend g a n y ' t j u r r , N: heron g a p g a , Adv: carefully g a p g a t h i - 0 3 , Vintr: get up and go gapa_n, N/Mod: white (clay)

164

Djapu3 a Yolngu dialect

gapu, N: water gapu]_a, Mod: silly, stupid garrpi-L,2, Vtr: bind, block garrtha-L^, Vintr: get stuck Garrthalala, Prop: name of an outstation garrtjambal, N: male antilopine kangaroo garrukal, N: blue-winged kookaburra garrwar, Loc: on top, above garrwi'yu-N2, Vtr: tie up, bind gara, N: spear garanyirrnyirr, N: cicada garapa, N: single-pronged spear garatha, N: tree goanna sp. garathi-03, Vint: be pierced, be killed garkman, N: frog garminyarr, N: soil, sand, ground gatapapa, N: buffalo gatha-L}, Vditr: give gathipaJJ, N: blowfly gathul’, N: mangrove gatjuy, Int: go on gawulu-NG2, Vtr: paddle gay’, Int: oh! Gayak, Prop: subsection term gayit, N: blade gaywarapu, N: ashes get kit, N : tern sp. g i Iitji—03, Vintr: approach gi_nipgarr, N: navel, pipe-bowl giritji-03, Vintr: dance git kit, N: laughter gitkitthu—N2» Vintr: laugh godarr', Time: tomorrow gombu-NG2, Vtr: beg for, snatch gonhdha-NG2, Vtr: fetch, get gonydju, N: beeswax gop, N: hand gopman, N: pregnant or lactating woman gorrmur', N/Mod: heat, hot gorru-NG2, Vintr: be in, on gora-0 i, Vintr: be shamed gu', Int: come on, come here guku, N: honey, 'sugarbag' guku-NG2 , Vtr: chase, harass gu Ia ', N: faeces gulap, N: blood gulkthu-N2, Vtr: cut gulyu-N2, Vintr: stop moving gu Iyunmara-NG2 , Vtr: bring to rest gu_l_i tj i, N: anus gu_l_kmi_n, N: yellow tree snake

guj_ku, Mod: many GuJ_kula, Prop: place name guj_un ', N : belly gu_j_uw itjp itj , N: whimbrel Gumatj, Prop: name of a Dnuwala dialect gumiriny, Mod: raw, unripe gumuj_urru, N: curlew gumurr, N: chest gumurr'yu-N2 , Vintr: meet gunbukpuk, N: burr, prickle gunga, N: pandanus gunga-NGj, Vtr: shut, block gunda, N: stone, rock gundirr, N: termite mound ('antbed') gunha'yu-N2, Vtr: leave gunya_n, N: sand crab gunyul’, N: charcoal gupalup', N: blue-tongue lizard gupga'yu-N2 , Vtr: help gupa, N: nape gupadal'pu, Time: for ever Gupapuypu, Prop: name of a Dhuwala dialect gurrka, N: penis, root gurrkurr, N: sinew, vein, root gurrmat_tji, N: pied goose gurrmul, N: initiated boy gurrpan', N/Mod: sky, dark gurruka-NGi, Vtr: carry, wear gurruj_k, N: newborn baby Gurrumuru, Prop: name of outstation gurrunha-N^, Vtr: lay down gurrup, N: son-in-law (female ego) gurrupa-Lj, Vditr: give gurrut_u, N: relative, relation gurak, N: throat gurtha, N: fire, firewood gurudut, N: peaceful dove gutha, N: younger brother (male ego), younger sibling (female ego) Gutjan, Prop: subsection term gutjark, N: water gutjparryu-N2, Vtr: throw away guwak, N: koel cuckoo guwatjma-Li, Vtr: go and visit guya, N: fish guyaj_'yu-N2 , Vtr: cook guyaga-0 i, Vintr: think guyapi-03, Vtr: think guyiparr, N/Mod: cold guyita, N: wood grub IiIi, Loc: movement towards speaker Iipa Iipa, N: dugout canoe _l_äwu-NG2, Vtr: bite

Alphabetical vocabulary J_äy, N: temple J_äy-dä I, Mod: selfish, greedy J_äy-dä 11 h i-03 , Vintr/Adv: be selfish, greedy/selfishly, greedily ^akara-NG2 , Vditr: tell, call _l_ambarr, N: shoulder J_ap(thun)mara-NG2 , Vtr: open _l_apthu-N2 , Vintr: open J_arru-NG2 , Vsemitr: search for J_atjin, N: mangrove worm sp. J_at j_l_at j , N: northern rosella _l_atju, Mod: good, delicious, beautiful _l_aw'yu-N2 , Vintr: get up j_aw'yunmara-NG2 , Vtr: lift up _l_aypa, Loc: on the other side j_i k an, N: elbow, joint, bay Jjmbarra 'yu-N2 , Vtr: carry on shoulder J_indirritj, N: red-collared lorikeet Jj n y g u , Part: already, also Jjrra, N: tooth Jjrrmapa, N: fresh-water catfish sp. J_i rrtha-Nj, Vtr: roast in ashes M r r w i , N: charcoal J_i t ha—N i , Vintr: get dry, get warm Jj w *_l_iwyu-N2 , Vintr: paddle l_iw'yu-N2 , Vintr: go round J_i w 'yujj wyu-N2 , Vintr: paddle J_i w 'yunmara-NG2 , Vtr: surround Iiya, N : head l_orrpu, N: white cockatoo J_uka-0^, Vtr: ingest l_uku, N: foot J_ukura-NG2 , Vtr: fish kijnyin', N: depression in ground J_undu, N: friend Iu n i ', N: person without a spouse ^upgurrma, N: north wind _[upj_upt hu-N2 , Vintr: swim J_upthu-N2 , Vintr: wash J_upthunmara-NG2 , Vtr: wash J^urrkun', Mod: three, a few jurr 'J_urryu-N2 , Vintr: break down j_urr,_l_urryunmara-NG2 , Vtr: wreck J_urryu-N2 , Vintr: flow j_urr'yu-N2 , Vintr: clap J_uthay, N: carpet snake, Children's python m ä d i, N: rock lobster

165

ma‘ki r i , N: ear ma’ki r i-w it ju- N 2 , Vsemitr: listen, pay attention malk, N: subsection, 'skin' ma’jjj ' , N: daddy ma’nba, N: pied cormorant mäni, N: granny (mother's mother) mäna, N: shark mäpa_n, N: boil maVr, Part: RESULT ma’rr, Adv: somewhat, moderately ma’rra-NG2 , Vtr: fetch, bring, take märrma', Mod: two ma’rryap, N: gun märi, N: mother's mother('s brother), father's father m a y i , N: granny (mother's mother) m a ', I n t : go on mad_akarr it j , Mod: angry, dangerous M a d a r r p a , Prop: name for a group of Yirritja clans mak, Part: perhaps, maybe makarr, N: thigh, mainland, root makiny, Mod: lean makurr, N: multi-pronged fish spear mala, N/Mod: group, set, plural number m a I i ', N: shadow, reflection, image malthu-N2 , Vsemitr: accompany maltjana, Mod: two maJ_Q 't hu-N2 , Vintr: appear maJ_Q 't hunmara-NG2 , Vtr: find ma_[wiya, N: emu maj_(w)urrk, N: rain m a m buruQburuQ, N: brain manaQi- 0 3 , Vtr: steal manapa-Ni, Vtr: join manapi- 0 3 , Vintr: join mandjawak, N: knife manikay, N: music, song manymak, Mod: good manymaku-NG2 , Vadv: do well mapan, N: cloud Mapga I i I i, Prop: name of a clan rnaputji, N: eye, seed, well maputji'mirriQ U , N: boy/gir]friend mapu, N: egg Marrakulu, Prop: name of a clan Marrapu, Prop: name of a clan marr-gapga, Mod: somewhat, moderately marrpgitj, N/Mod: Aboriginal healer, clever, able marrpu, N: female possum marrtji-02 , Vintr: go/come maranydjalk, N: shark or stingray m a r i , N: trouble

166

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

m a r q g i , PA: knowledgeable, aware m a r o g i ku-NG2 , Vtr: teach m a r q g ith i-03 , Vsemitr: learn,

mitjinarri, N: missionary (Loan) mitjiyaq, N: boat miwatj, N/Mod: east, easterner miyalk, N/Mod: female become knowledgeable miyama-Li(?), Vintr: sing m a r t h a q a , N: boat m a r t j u - N 2 , Vintr: go/come [pi. verb] miyapunu, N: turtle, sea mammal mo-NG2 , Vtr: forget m a r w a k t h u - N 2 , Vintr: come out the moku, N: anus other side of mokuy, N: ghost m a r w a t , N: hair, leaf mokuythi—0 3, Vintr: die m a t t j u r r , N: flying fox s p . mo I, M o d : black m a t h a , N: tongue, language momu, N: father's mother m a t h i r r a , N: cave moniuk, Mod: salty, bitter, sour M a w u q , Prop: name of a language mud_ad_a, N/Mod: deaf and dumb (Mauq) (person) m a y a q ' , N: neck, river muka, Part: AGReement m a y a w a , N: frill-necked lizard mukthu-N2 > Vintr: be quiet m a yk ar ran ^, N: lightning mukul bäpa, N: father's sister m a y p a I , N: shellfish or mukul rumaru, N: mother-in-law crustacean (of male ego) m e k a w u ' , N: oyster sp. mulka-0i, Vtr: feel, touch, hold m e I , N: eye, seed, well mulkuru, Mod: distant, foreign m e I-nya_l_yu-N2 , Vtr: stare at mulmu, N: grass m e m b u - N G 2 , Vtr: forget mu_[kurr, N: head m e n d u Q , N: snail mu Ikurr-bandany, Mod: bald m e _ n g u - N G 2 , Vtr: hunt mu_i_kurr-djambat j , Mod: clever, m e t , N: meat (Loan) able m e w i r r i , N: maggot, worm muj kurr-guj_ku ' , Mod: indecisive m i d i t j i n , N: medicine (Loan) muj_qurr, N: semen miku, N/Mod: red (ochre) munaqa, N: white person Milingimbi, Prop: name of a munatha, N: soil, sand, ground settlement mundukul', N: black-headed python m i l k m i l k , N: mosquito sp. munguyu-N2 , Vtr: follow m i l k u m i n y , N: gall bladder munha, Time: night, darkness m i l m i t j p a , Time: afternoon munhawu, Time: night-time M i l y i n , Prop: woman's name muqa, N: ashes mijjpi, N: shoulder blade muqamirriya-NG2 , Vtr: roast in m i m ' p u , N: cicatrice ashes m i n d u p u n u - N G 2 , Vtr: mend, sew murrqiny, N: shovel-nose spear (Loan) murrukay, Mod: big m i_nd_i Iq , N: tick murryu-N2 , Vintr: rev (of engine), m i n y d j i r r i , N: sandfly rumble, roar m i n y i q ' k a r r , N: nit mur'muryu-N2 , Vintr: be ill m i n y i r r m i n y i r r , N: gravel, pebbles murnyaq', N: sweet or starchy miny'tji, N: design, colour food m i n y 't j i - y a r p u - N G 2 , Vtr: paint murnyaq'thu-N2 , Vintr: feel M i r r q a t j a , Prop: name of an satiated outstation muryu-N2 , Vintr: be hot, m i r i t h i — 0 3, Vadv: do to extremes feverish m i r i t h i r r , Mod: very, extremely mutika', N: motor vehicle (Loan) m i r m b i t j , N: nose, beak, point muthali, N: black duck m i r q g u y , Mod: raw, unripe mutjpunu-NG2 , Vtr: build m i t t h u - N 2 , Vtr: cut Muwandi, Prop: boy's name mitt j i , N: family muykandi, N: green-winged m i t h i r r i , N: stingray sp. pigeon m i t h u r r u q u , N: salt water barramundi jnäku, N: stringy bark mit jin, N: mission (Loan)

Alphabetical vocabulary

jnaku, N: canoe _nanydjak, N: nose j}aQ'thu-N2 , Vintr: run napuQga, Loc: in between, in the middle _nepaj_, N: knee rnninygu, Mod: original, permanent ninydjiya, N: tidal plain, swamp nuwayak, N: stringy bark nha’-NG2 , Vtr(semitr): see, look nhapaniQ*, N: inedible fruit nha’ra-01, Vintr: burn nhakun, Part: for instance nhaItja-D/I, Vadv: do what Nhapu, Prop: name of a dialect group nhawi, N : whatsit nhayika, N: what's that place? nherra-L2 , Vtr: put down nhina-0i, Vintr: sit nhumun, N: menstrual flow, afterbirth nyap'nyapdhu-N2 , Vtr: chew nyiknyik, N: mouse, rat nyoka, N: crab sp. nyoyu-N2 , Vintr: howl nyumukunj ny, Mod: small nyurrul', Mod: soft, weak Qa’-Irr, Vtr: hear, listen to Qa* t, N: saliva Qa’muk, N: green tree-ant Qanitji, N: alcohol rjänarr, N: tongue, flame Qand i, N: mother q’ anuk, N: ghost Qapaki, N: white person Qatj ', N: small brown ant r)äthi-02 , Vintr: cry Qathil(i), Time: before, previously Qa’t hi I(i)qu , Mod: old Qaw, N: fresh-water crocodile Qakrjak, N: female sea-eagle Qalparr, N: phlegm Qa Iparrthi-0 3 , Vintr: have a cold QaIthiri(q ), N: liver Qa_I_apaJ_(mi rr), N: old person QaJ_i nd i, N: moon Qa_Kw)apthu-N2, Vintr: burn Qa_i_wa 'yu-N2 , Vintr: play Qa_l_'yu-N2, Vintr: ascend Qamakuli, Mod: good

167

QamanQani, N: fruit sp. Qamatha-NG2 , Vadv: do properly Qamba'(q )ambaythi-0 3 , Vintr: be sick Qamini, N : breast Qanak, N: flesh Ngangalala, Prop: a settlement Qangi'yu-N2 , Vditr: dig Qanhdharrkthi-0 3 , Vintr: be thirsty Qapa, N: back Qapipi, N: mother's brother Ngarritj, Prop: subsection term Ngarritjan, Prop: subsection term Qaraka, N: bone, shell, carapace QarakaIa-NG2 , Vtr: find QaraIi', N: smoke, tobacco, cigarette Qarambiya, N: hand Qarirri', N: fish Qarkula, N: water Qar'Qaryu-N2 , Vintr: be thirsty QarQga, N: hole Qat_i Ii, N: red-tailed black cockatoo Qatha, N: (vegetable) food Qathi, N: mother's father Qathu, N: cycad nut Qawatthu-N2 , Vtr: pick up, get QawuIuI', N : smoke QawuruQ, Mod: cooked, ripe Qayambaik, N: place Qayatha-L}, Vtr: grab Ngaymil, Prop: name of a clan Qe, Int: yes Qerrk, N: white cockatoo q i(ni)', Int: tag question QiIitja-Ni, Vtr: put into Qirrima, N: place Qoma-L}, Vtr: knead QonuQ, Mod: heavy Qorra-0!, Vintr: sleep, be lying Qukthan, N: gut Quia, Part: HYPOTHetical q u Iawitja-D/I, Vintr: go that way q u Ii, Part: IRREALis QuiumurruQ, N: female pubic hair Qunhi, Part: THAT Qupa-Nj, Vtr: chase, follow Qurrka-NG}, Vtr: throw away QurrQgitj, N/Mod: shade, dark Qurrtji, N: nasal discharge Qurru, N: nose Qurru-yirr'yu-N2 , Vadv: begin Qurula, N: tern sp. QutaQ, N: bee Qutu, Mod: thick, solid Qutha—L i/Ni(?), Vintr: grow Quthanmara—NG2 , Vtr: raise, rear

168

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

quykal', N: kingfish q u y u Ik t h i - 0 3 , Vintr: be irritated r r a m b a q i , Adv: together, equally r r u p i y a , N: money (Loan) r ä k a y , N: edible rush corm r a k i , N: string r a k u n y , Hod: dead r a k u n y d j i - 0 3 , Vintr: die r a n y i r a n y i , N: moth r a q a n , N: paperbark raq i , N: beach r a w a l k , N: sorcery r a y p i n y , Mod: sweet, fresh (water) r a y w a I, Mod: sharp Rembarrqa, Prop: name of a

language rerri, N: sickness ret ja, N: jungle r i n y d j u p u n u - N G 2 , Vtr: wash (Loan) r i r r a k s y , N: voice, sound R i r r a t j i q u , Prop: clan name r i r r i k i n g i n , N: gravel, pebbles r i r r i k t h u - N 2 , Vintr: be sick r i r r k m i n y , N: chronic invalid R i t h a r r q u , Prop: clan and language name r i y a l a , N: stream, current r o q i y i - 0 3 , Vintr: return r umar u, N: avoidance category of kin rumba I, N: trunk, body r u m u m i r r i ya-NG2 , Vtr: squint at r u p u , N: male possum r u r r w u y u - N 2 , Vtr: wash r u r r ' y u - N 2 , Vtr: shake ruwaqga, Mod: light wäk, N: crow wäkqani, N: fruit sp. wa! ku- NG2, Vtr: kiss Wämut , Prop: subsection term wäqa, N: place, camp wa’ q ga-NG} , Vintr: go/come [pi. verb] wä’ q i , N: wind w ä r r a q , N: dingo wathu-N2 > Vsemitr: call out to wäwa, N: older brother w a y ' , Int: hey! w ä y ' - y u - N 2 » Vintr: call out way i n , N: mammal, bird, land reptile, meat waj dut ja, Adv: quickly w a k i r ’ y u - N 2 , Vintr: go bush for a spell waku, N: own child (female ego),

sister's child (male ego) w a k u I u q g u I , N: mist wakuy, N: armpit w a k w a k t h u - N2 » Vintr: float w a l ma - 0 i , Vintr: exit wal mur u-NG2, Vintr: look up w a Iq a , Mod: alive - w a l ' q u , Part: indeed, extremely wa l t j a _ n , N: heavy rain w a I u , N : sun, day w a l u p u y , Time: daytime wa_l_arr, Mod: long, tall wa_l_uka, N: rain wambaI, N: lower leg, tail w a m ' p a r r , N: kidney W a m u t t j a n , Prop: subsection term w a n ' k a wu , N: water goanna sp. wa_na, N: arm wanda, N: head Wandawuy , Prop: name of an out-

station w a n d i - 0 3 , Vintr: run w a j n ' k u r r a , N: bandicoot sp. wa q a - 0 j , Vtr/intr: talk, speak to waqgany, Mod: one w a q g an y - m a n a p i - 03, Vintr: meet waqgapunu-NG 2 , Vtr: cook w a q g i ' y u - N 2 , Vtr/intr: smell w a q u p i n i , N: cloud w a p i _t i , N: stingrays and sharks

(generic term) w a p i t j a , N: digging stick w a p t h u - N 2 , Vintr: jump w a r r a k a n , N: land mammal, bird,

land reptile, meat w a r r a q u l , Loc: outside - w a r r a y , Part: sort of, almost warrqguj _, N: type of spear w a r r p a l a , N: initiated youth w a r r p a m ' , Mod: all w a r r p a m 't h u - N 2 , Vadv: do/be

completely w a r r y u - N 2 , Vtr: pull w a r k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: work, make (Loan) w a r ' w a r y u - N 2 , Vintr: duck under

water warwuwuyu-N2 , Vsemitr: grieve w a r y u - N 2 , Vintr: urinate w a t a , N: wind, breeze wat_a, N : young woman wat_u, N: dog w a t h a r r , Mod: light, white w a y a t h u l ' , N: scrub turkey weka-NG}, Vditr: give wet_i , N: agile wallaby w e y i n , Mod: long, tall w i d _ i p i y a , Mod: other, another

Alphabetical vocabulary

win'ku, N: parrot fish wi_n'ku, Mod: left(handed) w i ny i w i ny i , N: bat wirrka, Adv: more intensely wirrkthu-N2, Vtr: scratch wirrkul^, N: young unmarried/ childless girl wirrwuyu-N2, Vintr: throw stones wiripu, Mod: other, another, different w i r i pupuya-NG2 , Vadv: do differently w i t i t j , N: olive python wo, Part: or (Loan) w o r r ' , N: sweat w o r r u p u , N: old person w u k i r r i - N I , Vtr: write Wul a mba , Prop: name for Djapu, used by groups to the west WuJ_aki , Prop: name of a clan wu_l_kuman , N: old woman (Loan) wu j j n a n , N: old man (Loan) w u n d a p a r r , Mod: hard, strong w u n y a ' y u - N 2 , Vintr: get lost w u n y a ' y u n m a r a - N G 2 , Vtr: lose w u p a y ' , N: honey, 'sugarbag' wu p g a n , N: dog wupijj, N: visible projection of the self: reflection, shadow, photograph wup i J_i ’yu—N2 , Vintr: cast a shadow w u q i Jj 'y u - N 2 , Vtr: buy w u r r a p a n d a , N: white person w u r r k i , N : flower w u r r k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: tear off with teeth w u r r p a j n , N: emu w u r k t h u - N 2 , Vtr: swallow, drink wuruj_uj _' , N: bush fly w u t t h u - N 2 , Vtr: hit w u y u p t h u - N 2 , Vintr: continue y ä k u , N: name y ä n , Part: still, just y ä t j ( k u r r u ) , Mod: bad

yätji—0 3, Vadv: be badly done y äw, I n t : I doubt it, I am uncertain ya', Int: you see ? yaka, Part: no, not

169

y a k a r r a y , Int: wow! y a k a y , Int: ouch! y a k a ' y u - N 2 , Vintr: refuse y a k u r r , N/Mod: sleep, asleep y a k u r r k u - N G 2 , Vtr: make sleep y a I a I a , Time: later ya I p g i, Mod: weak, soft y a I u , N: nest y a n b i , Part: mistaken supposition y a n b i l i , Part: and so on (until) y a p a r a , N: tail y a - p u Ii , Part: back there (in

discourse) N: sister (male ego), elder sister (female ego) y a r r a m a n ' , N: horse y a r r a r r a ' y u n m a r a - N G 2 , Vtr: aim y a r r ( w ) u p t h u - N 2 , Vintr: descend y a r a b i l i , Part: and so on (until) y a t j u - N 2 , Vsemitr: yell at y a t j u n m i - 0 4 , Vrecip: quarrel y a w i r r i n y ' , N: initiated youths y a w u n g u , Time: yesterday y a w ' y u - N 2 , Vditr: dig y a w 'y a w y u - N 2 , Vtr: bale out y i d a k i , N: drone pipe (digeridoo) y i k i ’ , N: knife, blade y i nd i , Mod: big y i n d i ' p u , N: thumb y i p a n y , N: snake Yirritja, Prop: name of a moiety Yirrkala, Prop: name of a settle­ ment yirryirrpu, N: pelican yo, Int: yes y o l p u , N: aboriginal person y o t h u , N: child, young animal y u k u r r a - 0 l s Vintr: sleep, be lying y u k u w a ' , N: yam s p . y u i p u n y , Time: for some time y u m u r r k u , Mod/N: small ones, children y u p t h u - N 2 , Vintr: fall down, come down y u r r u , Part: but y u r r u , Part: FUTure tense yujja, Mod: new, young y u t u p g u r r , N: thigh y u t j u w a j a , Mod: small Y u w a t j a , Prop: language name yapa,

170

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

VOCABULARY BY S E M A N T I C F I E L D S NOUNS

A -

Body parts

dämbu, head muj _kurr, head

wanda, head J_i ya , head (Gupapuygu) mamburugburug , brain mar wat , head hair, leaf

buku, forehead, top of hill/cliff _j_a’y, temple d h a k a l , cheek, fruit, seed-pod ganydju_l_a, eye m a g u t j i , eye, seed, well me I, eye, seed, well mirmbitj, nose, beak, point of land _nanydjak, nose g u r r u , nose, point (of land, implement) g u r r t j i , nasal discharge b u t h u r u , ear mäki r i , ear dhamunumun', lower jaw dhä, mouth, opening dhurr(w)ara, mouth, opening bolutju', facial hair d h a w a r r a k , facial hair J j r r a , tooth gänarr, tongue, flame ga" I, saliva mayag', neck, river gurak, throat dhungurrk, nape gupa, nape (used also in the con­ trast gupa ' t o p ' / d h u d i 'bottom' to designate paired clans from the coast and inland respective­ ly, e.g. Gupa Djapu/Dhud_i Djapu) gal p a r r , phlegm J_ambarr, shoulder mi J_i p i , shoulder blade wakuy, armpit J j k a n , elbow, fork of a tree, bay between two points, connection bandj a , arm wana , arm gog, hand g a r a m b i y a , hand y i n d i ' g u , thumb (lit. big-gu) d h a r i r r , fingernail, toenail dh i Ii g i n y , breast gam i n i , breast gumu r r , chest mi m' pu , cicatrice

b i n h d h a , rib dharwa, hip gu_l_un', belly, stomach dhul mu, belly, stomach g a n d a r r , waist, middle (of any­

thing) gijiig g a rr,

navel, pipe bowel, light switch (can be extended to cover any small depression or protuberance) rumba I , trunk (of person or tree), body g a l g a , body d h o l g , bowel g u k t h a n , gut d o d u r r k , heart d u g ' t j j g , heart-beat, pulse g a I t h i r i ( g ) , liver d y n y ' t g n y , kidney w a m ' p a r r , kidney m i l k u m i n y , gall bladder d j l t j i , back, the bush (refers to the eucalypt forest which forms the hinterland of the coastal area) gapa, back d h u d i , bottom, buttocks (see also gupa, nape) b u n y d j i , anus gu_l_i t j i , anus moku, anus y a g a r a , tail y u j yu g g u r r , thigh m a k a r r , thigh, mainland, large root bun'kumu, knee nepa_l_, knee wamba I, lower leg (human), tail (animal) ba_l_wak, lower leg (human) , tail (animal) d j a Ik i r i , foot _l_uku, foot dhapa, heel g u r r k a , penis, root deny, testicles and scrotum mu_l_gurr, semen bo_l_k, semen b a l m a r r k , male pubic hair b i j _ g a r r , female sex organs dhaku, vagina d h a l a , vagina g a j _ t j u r r , clitoris nhumun, menstrual blood, afterbirth

Vocabulary by semantic fields

g u l u m u r r u g , female pubic hair gu Ia ', faeces d h u r r i , faeces b ä l k a y , urine b u l k a ' , body hair, fur, feathers barrwa_n, skin, bark ganak, f l e s h g a r a k a , bone, shell, carapace,

enduring core of anything gu Ia q , blood gurrkurr, vein, sinew, root djana ' , f a t d ju k u rr', fa t

worr', sweat dhuIku, sore d jira g , b o il mapajn, b o i l

rerri, sickness g a n y d j a r r , strength, energy dhandurruQ, horn

B - Hu m an c l a s s i f i c a t i o n d a r r a m u , male (human or animal) m i y a l k , female (human or animal) d h ä y k a , woman yolgu, Aboriginal person (also used for other dark-skinned people, e.g. Africans) yothu, child, young of animal y u m u r r k u , small ones, children [plural noun] d j a m a r r k u j j ' , children [plural noun ] gurru_l_k, baby g u r r m u l , initiated boy (after circumcision which takes place at about seven years of age) w a r r p a l a , initiated youth y a w i r r i n y ' , initiated youths [plural noun] d_i Ik u r r ( u ) , old man [final vowel occurs preceding suffixes ] d j a w u j ^ p a , old man w u l m a n , old man (Loan) w i r r k u j ^ , young unmarried or childless woman wat_a , young woman gogman, woman who is pregnant, or breast-feeding a child wu_l_kuman, old woman (Loan) ga_l_apa_l_(m ir r ) , old person d j Ia k , old person w o r r u Q u , old (person) _j_un i * , person without a spouse, either unmarried or widowed

171

g a n y d j u j _ a ' m i r r i gu , boyfriend, girl­

friend (lit. eye-KINPROP) magut j i 'm i r r i g u , boyfriend, girl­

friend (lit. eye-KINPROP) Aboriginal healer, wise person d j ä m b u t j , sorcerer gaIka’, sorcerer r a w a I k , sorcery J j j n d u , friend r i r r k m i n y , chronic invalid mail’, visible projection of the self: shadow, reflection, picture, photograph, etc. wugi_l_i, visible projection of the self: shadow, reflection, photograph, movie etc. b i r r i m b i r r , soul: spiritual com­ ponent of the personality that returns to the clan well at death mokuy, ghost: spiritual component of the personality that haunts the deathplace and may harm the living. Must be ceremonially banished to the bush. Also a type of ancestral being which lives in a clan territory. Qanuk, ghost [see mokuy] a p a t i , white person [child speech register ] b a l a n d a , white person [the term used when talking to whites] munaga, white person [this term, while sometimes used at Yirrkala is more common further south, e.g. at Ngukurr ] g ä p a k i , white person w u r r a p a n d a , white person d a p - j t a p , policeman (see also verb m a rrg g itj,

d_apt h u - N) jdapman, policeman m i t j i n a r r i , missionary (Loan) ya’ k u , name

C - Kinship g u r r u t u , relation mit_tji, group of close relations, family r u m a r u , avoidance kin category: includes muk ul r u m a r u (q.v.) gändi, mother, mother's sister a m a i a , mummy [child speech register] gap i p i , mother's brother b ä p a , father, father's brother mukul ba*pa, father's sister maj_u', daddy

172

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

ma’ri , mother’s mother, mother's mother's brother, father's father mäni, granny (mother's mother) [child speech register] ma’ y i , granny (mother's mother) [child speech register] p a t h i , mother's father momu, father's mother y a p a , sister (male speaking), elder sister (female speaking) wäwa, elder brother g u t h a , younger sibling (female speaking), younger brother (male speaking) wa k u, own child (woman speaking), sister's child (man speaking) ga’ t h u , own child (man speaking), brother's child (woman speaking) g a l a y , actual or classificatory mother's mother's brother's daughter's child: wife dh uway , actual or classificatory mother's father's sister's daughter's child: husband mukul r u m a r u , mother-in-law (male ego): actual or classificatory mother's mother's brother's daughter g u r r u p , son-in-law (of female ego): actual or classificatory father's sister's daughter's child Ca - Moie t i e s

and sub s e c t i o n s

Y i r r i t j a , name of one moiety Dhuwa, name of the other moiety b ä p u r r u , clan (conceptually

includes both living and deceased members, and the ceremonial property of the clan) mala, group, set, clan (also used to designate plural number) mälk, subsection, 'skin' Balap', Dhuwa moiety subsection: male term (brother of Bilinydjan , son of Gutjan) Bapadj', Yirritja moiety sub­ section: male term (brother of Bapadi'tjan, son of Bilinydjan) B a p a d i ' t j a n , Yirritja moiety sub­ section: female term (sister of Bapajdi ', daughter of Bilinydjan)

B ilin y d ja n ,

Dhuwa moiety subsec­ tion: female term (sister of B a l a p ' , daughter of Gutjan) Bu_l_any', Yirritja moiety sub­ section: male term (brother of Bulanydjan, son of Gamanydjan) Bu_l_anyd j a n , Yirritja moiety sub­ section: female term (sister of Bulany', daughter of Gamanydj an) B u r r a l a p ' , Dhuwa moiety subsection: male term (brother of Galikali, son of Bapad_i 'tjan) G a l i k a l i , Dhuwa moiety subsection: female term (sister of Burralap', daughter of Bapad.i'tj an) G a m a n y d j a n , Dhuwa moiety subsec­ tion: female term (sister of Gamarrap', daughter of Ngarritjan) G a m a r r a p ' , Dhuwa moiety subsection: male term (brother of Gamanydjan, son of Ngarritjan) G a y a k , Yirritja moiety subsection: male term (brother of Gutjan, son of Galikali) G u t j a n , Yirritja moiety subsection: female term (sister of Gayak, daughter of Galikali) N g a r r i t j , Yirritja moiety sub­ section: male term (brother of Ngarritjan, son of Wamuttjan) N g a r r i t j a n , Yirritja moiety sub­ section: female term (sister of Ngarritj, daughter of Wamuttjan) Wa’mut , Dhuwa moiety subsection: male term (brother of Wamuttjan, son of BujLanydjan) W a m u t t j a n , Dhuwa moiety subsection: female term (sister of Wamut, daughter of Bulanydjan) D - M a mmals d j i r r m a p a ' , echidna n y i k n y i k , mouse, rat (generic) w a n ' k u r r a , bandicoot species m a r r p u , possum species (female) r u p u , possum species (male) g a r r t j a m b a l , male antilopine kangaroo g a n d a l p u r r u , mature female antilopine kangaroo d j a l a r r p a , immature female antilopine kangaroo bad i p a d i , rock wallaby d h u l a k u , wallaby species d h u m ' t h u m , agile wallaby

Vocabulary by semantic fields b a l k i t j , male agile wallaby d j a r r w u t u , female agile wallaby wet_i , agile wallaby gamguypa, flying fox (Pteropus gouldii)

m attju rr,

flying fox (Pteropus scapulatus) w i n y i w i n y i , bat wat_u, dog wuggan, dog w ä r r a g , dingo barkuma, native cat d j ä r r a g , horse y a r r a m a n ', horse b u l i k i , cow, bullock (Loan) g a t a p a g a , buffalo be m b i , sheep

E

-

Rep tiles

a n d a mphib i a n s

baVu , salt-water crocodile gäw, fresh-water crocodile mi yapunu, turtle (generic) dhami j _i gu, blue-tongue lizard g u g a l u g ' , blue-tongue lizard mayawa, frill-necked lizard b i y a y , large goanna (Varanus sp.) d j a n d a , goanna (Varanus gouldii) d j a r r k a , water goanna (Varanus mertensi)

wan' kawu, water goanna (Varanus mertensi) spotted tree goanna (Varanus timorensis) ba’ p i , snake (generic) y i g a j n i , snake (generic) _l_uthay, carpet snake, Children's python m u n d u k u l ' , black-headed python wit itj, olive python d j a y k u g ' , Javan file snake dhambad_iny, death adder d ä r r p a , king brown snake guj_kmi_n, yellow tree snake garkman, frog

garatha,

F - Birds mapu, egg (bird's or reptile's) yalu, nest

majlw i y a , emu w u r r p a j i , emu d a g g u I t j i ', brolga

ga"_l_umay, p e l i c a n y i r r y i r r g u , pelican g a n y ' t j u r r , heron species gumu_l_urru, c u r l e w gu_|_uw i t j p i t j , w h i m b r e l wayathul',

scrub turkey

173

gurudut, peaceful dove muykandi, green-winged pigeon d_awut_awu, tawny frogmouth gaj^karr igu , crow wa’k, crow g a r r u k a I , blue-winged kookaburra djirrpiyirrpi, willy wagtail bad_ikan, white cockatoo dangi, white cockatoo J_orrpu, white cockatoo gerrk, white cockatoo ga_t i I i , red-tailed black cockatoo bi I itjpiI itj, red-winged parrot J_atjJ_atj, northern rosella J_indirritj, red-collared lorikeet djir i k i t j , quail djurwirr, bower bird guwak, koel cuckoo bewiyik, cuckoo shrike d_ama Ia , male sea-eagle gakgak, female sea-eagle dj rrgd_i rrg, Burdekin duck muthali, black duck gurrmat_tji, pied goose gakarrarr', silver gull djarrak, tern sp. guru Ia , tern s p . get kit, tern sp. mänba, pied cormorant birrkpirrk(gani), bird sp.

G

-

Fishes,

etc

guya, fish (generic; excludes sharks, stingrays, crustaceans, shellfish) garirri', fish (generic; see guya) Jjrrmaga, fresh-water catfish sp. w i n 'k u , parrot fish g u y k a I ', kingfish balin, salt-water barramundi mithurrugu, salt-water barramundi wapiti, shark, stingray (generic) maranydjalk, shark, stingray (generic) ma’n a , shark sp. (major Ancestral Being of the Djapu) burrwu, small shark sp. däggu 't_aggu, stingray sp. mature specimen (immature of sp. is m i t h i r r i ). mithirri, stingray sp., immature specimen nyoka, mud crab gunyajn, sand crab majd i , rock lobster m a y p a I , shellfish, crustacean (generic)

174

DjapUj a Yolngu d i a l e c t

djarrwit_, f r e s h - w a t e r mussel mekawu' , b l a c k - l i p p e d r o c k o y s t e r me nduq, s n a i l

H - I n s e c ts 3 etc g u n d i r r , t e r m i t e mound, ' a n t b e d ' , e a r t h oven ( t h e h e a t i n g a g e n t i s chu nk s o f t e r m i t e mound) g ä IkaI, ant (generic) Qajt_i s m a l l br own a n t qamuk, g r e e n t r e e - a n t buram, h o r n e t , wasp djat_am, c e n t i p e d e m e w i r r i , m a g g o t , worm g at h i qaJ_i, b l o w - f l y wuru_hj_l_', b u s h f l y b o r r u t j , mosq uito sp. ga_namu, m o s q u i t o s p . miI km i l k , m o s q u i t o s p . m i n y d j i r r i , sand f l y bo rib a , b u t t e r f l y r a n y i r a n y i , moth dapal, c a t e r p i l l a r g u y i t a , wood g r u b J_a t j i n , ma ngr ove worm (Tereda s p .) djalqiny, leech d e t j, grasshopper g a r a n y ir r n y ir r , cicada djuku, louse m i n y i q ' k a r r , n i t ( l o u s e egg) mi _ndi I q , t i c k buthuqu, sc o rp io n qutaq, bee ( g e n e r ic ) b a r q g i t j , b e e sp ( p r o d u c e s a s a l t y - t a s t i n g honey) g uku, h o n e y , ' s u g a r b a g ' wuqay', honey, 's u g a r b a g ' g o n y d j u , b ee s wa x ( u s e d i n h a f t i n g i m p l e m e n t s and weapons) gä’r r ' , s p i d e r ( g e n e r i c )

I - L a n g u a g e s _, c e r e m o n y 3 noise d h ä r u k , l a n g u a g e , s p e e c h , word mat h a, l a n g u a g e , t o n g u e rirrak ay , c h a r a c te r is tic noise: v o ic e (human), v o c a l i s a t i o n ( a n i m a l ) , sound ( o b j e c t ) g i t k i t , laughter dhawu, i n f o r m a t i o n , s t o r y , news mari, tr o u b le , d is tu rb a n c e ma n i k a y , s o n g , mus i c b u q g u l , c e r e m o n y, d a n c i n g djugu, ce r emony (Gupapuyqu)

m in y 'tj i, design, colour, pain tin g gamunuQgu, w h i t e c l a y u s e d f o r p a in tin g , white gapa_n, w h i t e c l a y u s e d f o r p a i n t ­ ing, white buthalak, y e l l o w o c h r e u s e d f o r p a i n tin g , yellow gangu I , y e l l o w o c h r e u s e d f o r p a i n tin g , yellow mi ku, r e d o c h r e u s e d f o r p a i n t i n g , red

J - A rtefacts ga_l_i wa_M , boome r a ng ( o n l y u s e d i n cerem onial c o n t e x t s as c l a p s t i c k s t o a c company c e r t a i n songs) birku, c l u b bä t j u, d i g g i n g s t i c k w a pi t ja , d i g g i n g s t i c k bij_ma, c l a p s t i c k y id a k i, drone-pipe ( ' d i g e r i d o o ') gara, spear (generic) bat_i , b a r b e d s p e a r garapa, single-pronged spear g a y it, shovel-nose spear, k n ife murrqiny, shovel-nose spear (known f rom some Yol qu d i a l e c t s , b u t n o t a Dj apu word) makurr, m u lt i- p ro n g e d f i s h sp e ar warrQgu_l_, t y p e o f s p e a r d j t j a l k , spear thrower ga_l_pu, s p e a r t h r o w e r d a k u l ' , a x e ( b o t h s t o n e and m e t a l ) mandjawak, k n i f e y i k i ', k nife, blade duttj i ' , fire d r ill ganybu, f i s h i n g n e t b e k a q ' , hook r a ki , string jiaku, canoe l i p a l i p a , dugout canoe marthaqa, boat mi t j i yaq, boat b a t h i , c o n t a i n e r , box, d i l l y b a g g ä y ' w u , s t r i n g bag bu£bu, bough s h e l t e r ba Ia ' , h o u s e doy, money r r u p i y a , money (Loan) dopulu, gambling, cards ma’r r y a q , gun mut i ka' , m o t o r v e h i c l e (Loan) m i d j t j i n , m e d i c i n e (Loan) duram, f l o u r drum, p e t r o l drum (Loan' b i t j a , p i c t u r e , p h o t o g r a p h (Loan) dhukun, r u b b i s h , l i t t e r

Vocabulary by semantic fields bitrul, petrol (Loan)

K - Food,

fire,

water

way in, land animal (excluding snakes) (generic), meat warrakan, land animal (excluding snakes) (generic), meat m e t , meat (Loan) gatha, vegetable food, food murnyag', sweet or starchy food, e.g. honey, fruit, yams djuka, sugar (Loan) dhilip, tea (Loan from tea-leaf) djangarr, hunger buyuka, fire, firewood gurtha, fire, firewood gunyul', charcoal Jjrrwi, charcoal (cognate with Gupapuygu J_irrgi) ganu', ashes muga, hot ashes gaywaragu, ashes garali', smoke, tobacco, cigarette gawuIuI', smoke gapu, water (and used as euphemism for alcohol) garkula, water gutjark, water Qä nitji, alcohol mayag', river, neck riyala, stream, current

L - Celestial, weather daykun, sun, day, time waIu, sun, day, time ga_M nd i, moon, month batjtjurr, star dhanbu I, morning star daykungarrinyar(a), sunset (lit. sun-enter-NMLSR) djäri, rainbow djiwarr, sky magan, cloud wagupini, cloud wakuIugguI, mist w ä g i, wind wata, breeze bärra, west wind dhimurru, east wind djalathag, south wind J_uggurrma, north wind maykarra_n, lightning balkurrk , rain maj_(w)urrk, rain waJjjka, rain waltjan, heavy rain

M

-

175

G e o g r a p h y , etc

waga, place, camp, house g ay ambal k, place g i r r i m a , place g u r r g g i t j , shady spot, shade, dark m i t j i n , mission (Loan) d h u k a r r , road, track g a r m i n y a r r , ground, soil, sand munat ha, ground, soil, sand dhojj-i, mud g a r g g a , hole J_uj_ny in', shallow depression in the ground mathirra, cave bumbarru, rock, large stone gunda, stone m i n y i r r m i n y i r r , pebbles, gravel r i r r i k i n g i n , pebbles, gravel r a g i , beach _ninydjiya, tidal plain, coastal swamp b a j i a r r a , clearing, place clear of vegetation b a l k u w a r r a ' , low, undulating hilly terrain dhawal, named place or country miwatj, east, easterner

N - Flora d h a r p a , tree, stick, wood gäyu, tree, stick, wood w u r r k i , flower ma r wa t , leaf (also hair) barrwa_n, bark (also skin) nuwayak, stringy bark (used for making bark canoes, bark shelters and bark paintings) na'ku, stringy bark (see nuwayak) b a r r u k a l a ' , paperbark (used for a variety of containers and also to seal contents of an earth oven) r a g a n , paperbark (see b a r r u k a l a ' ) mulmu, grass (generic) bo Iu, bamboo g u n b u k p u k , burr, prickle g ad a y k a, stringy bark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) g a n a r i ' , tree sp. ( ’shady tree'; grows on or near the beach) d h u l g u , kapok (in Gupapuygu dialect) gunga, pandanus (the leaves are used to make baskets and mats) g a t h u l ' , mangrove ret j a , 'jungle', pocket of tropical rainforest vegetation g a n g u r i , yam sp. (Vigna radiata) y u k u w a ' , yam sp. (Vigna lanceolata)

176

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

datam, water lily sp. r ä k a y , edible rush corra

(Eleocharis dulcis) pamangani , fruit sp. wäkgani , fruit sp. b a r u k a g u r , fruit sp. ba_l_kpa_l_k, a species of tree with

a black nut inside a red shell cycad (Cycas media. The cycad nut was once an important staple food. It is highly poisonous in its natural state, and is pounded and leached in running water before being baked into a cake.) n h ä p a n i p ' , inedible or poisonous fruit

gathu,

0

- N OMI NA L M O D I F I E R S (ADJECTIVES)

Number and identity wapgany, one b uI a I ', two ma’ r r m a ' , two ma 11 j a_na , two J _ u r r k u n ' , three, a few w i d y p i y a , other, another w i r i p u , other, another, different b a r r k u w a t j , separate d h a r r w a , many guj_ku ', many dhapap, full bukmak, all, every w a r r p a m ' , all, every baygu, none, nothing, never (adverbial) birrka'mirr, anything, anyhow (adverbial) d h a r r a t h i r , impermanent, stop-gap, ephemeral mulkuru, distant, foreign, unfamiliar buwayak, faint, indistinct Co lour mo I, black w a t h a r r , light-coloured, bright, white d j i r r t j i r r , grey (of hair) g u r r p a n ' , dark, the sky p u r r p g i t j , dark, shady (For other, secondary, colour terms, see section I of this vocabulary)

Dimension d u m u r r , big (in a nominal compound,

gives the meaning 'very X', e.g. d j a n a ' - d u m u r r 'very fatty') m u r r u k a y , big y i n d i , big bat ha I a , huge, massive nyumu ku_n i n y , small y u t j uw a j _ a , small waj_arr, long, tall w e y i n , long, tall dhumbuj_' , short, little d h a mb u r r u, fat g a n d a r r - p u t u , fat (person) (lit: 'waist-solid') ba’ r k a , thin, skinny dhunupa, straight, correct, right(side), right-handed d j a r r p i ' , crooked, wrong, distorted

Physical property gorrmur', hot, heat guyiparr, cold djurruk, wet d h i w k t h i w k , wet and dirty, mucky b a n d a n y , dry, clear, true r a y w a I , sharp dhumuk, blunt ponup, heavy ruwapga, lightweight da’ I, strong, hard w u n d a p a r r , strong, hard p u t u , thick, solid n y u r r u l ' , weak, soft y a I p g i , weak, soft b a l w u r , ripe, cooked borum, ripe, fruit (generic) pawurup, ripe, cooked dy k u , unripe, raw g u m i r i n y , unripe, raw m i r p g u y , unripe, raw b a r p a ' , rotten, rancid monuk, salty, bitter, sour, salt(water) d a m u r r u g ' , salty, bitter, sour, salt(water) r a y p i n y , sweet, palatable, fresh(water) m a k i n y , lean (meat) d j a r r p u d a y ' , left(side), lef thanded wiyi'ku, left(side), left-handed

Vocabulary by semantic fields

177

Age and value

Corporeal

baman' puwuy, o l d ( l i t : ' l o n g ago-ASSOC') pat h i I ( i ) p u , o l d ( l i t : ' b e fo re -p u ') nininypu, permanent identifying characteristic, original, 'foundation' yuj^a, young, new manymak, good (general term) p a m a k u l i , good, suitable for a purpose, happy J_atju, good, delicious, lovely y ä t j ( k u r r u ) , bad, no good d h ä p a r p , empty-handed, broke, unsuccessful in the hunt

y a k u r r , asleep, sleep bambay, blind dhoQuI u, deaf and dumb mudada, deaf and dumb mu 1k u r r - b a n d a n y , bald (lit: 'head-clear') d j a_ np a r r , Noun, hunger wa I pa , al ive r a k u n y , dead

_duk_tuk, desire, want, like dhupa, ignorant d j ä l , desire, want, like m a r p g i , know, be aware of

Human propensity

Adverbial

b a w a ' m i r r , silly, stupid gapujj a, silly, stupid mu I k u r r - g u Ik u ', indecisive (lit: 'head-many') buku-dhumuk, forgetful (lit: 'forehead-blunt/thick') d j a m b a t j , acute, alert, keen, good hunter or gatherer m u [ k u r r - d j a m b a t j , clever, able (lit: 'head-alert') läy-däl, greedy, selfish (lit: 'temple-hard') mad_akarr i t j , angry, dangerous b u l w u l , lethargic

b u l n h a , slowly (can be repeated twice, i.e. b u l n h a b u l n h a 'hang on, wait a minute') w a d u t j a , quickly gapga, carefully b u Iu , again gäna, alone, separately w i r r k a , more intensely r r a m b a p i , together, equally

Predicate adjectives

Intensifiers m ä r r , somewhat, moderately m a r r - g a p g a , somewhat, moderately m i r i t h i r r , very, extremely

VERBS

P

-

Motion and induced motion

m a r r t j i - 0 2 » intr, go/come. (The direction of movement is not part of the semantics of the verb. May be used either as a main verb or as an aspectual modifier to another verb, indicating duration.) m a r t j u - N 2 > intr, go/come. (The subject of this verb must be plural in number.) wa’pga-NGi, intr, go/come. (The subject must be plural in number.) gapgathi-03, intr, get up and go wakir'yu-N2, intr, go and stay out bush for a few days guwatjma-L}, tr, go and visit somebody wuyupthu-N2 , intr, keep going, continue. (Cognate with Gupapuypu wudhupt hu-N.) pupa-N}, tr, chase (a moving object), follow (a road) d ja_!_a_l_yu-N2 , intr, hurry, move quickly dhawatjt hu-N2 , intr, go out/come out walma-0i, intr, go out/come out bilyu-N2 , intr, turn round biIyunmara-NG2 , tr, turn something round d juj_kt hu-N2 , intr, cross dju_l_kthunmara-NG2, tr, pass, overtake djarrakaj_a'yu-N2 , intr, move in an uncontrolled way, for example, trip, stumble, tumble, slip, jolt along (of a car) buna-0^, tr, come to visit, arrive

178

Djapu} a Yolngu dialect

gumurr'yu-N , intr, meet (lit: 'chest-DO') waggany-manapi-03, intr, meet together (lit: 'one-join') ga’rri-02, intr, go in/come in marwakthu-N2, intr, come out the other side of _l_iw'yu-N2, intr, go round JJ w 'yu nrriara—NG2 , tr, go round something, surround JJ w 'JJ wyu-N2, intr, paddle j_i w 'yu I iwyu-N2 , intr, paddle gawulu-NG2, tr, make a vessel move by paddling rooiyi-03, intr, return munguyu-N2 , tr, follow malthu-N2, semitr, accompany. (The person being accompanied receives DAT marking.) ga_l_'yu-N2, intr, crawl (babies and reptiles) wapthu-N2> intr, jump, arrive hurriedly at a place giritji-03, intr, dance, copulate (euphemism) wandi-03, intr, run, move quickly _naq'thu-N2, intr, run, move quickly but_thu-N2 , intr, fly chjwatt hu-N2 , intr, go up, move upwards QaJ_'yu-N2, intr, go up, come up to yarr(w)upthu-N2 , intr, descend budapthu-N2 , intr, go down and cross over (river, road) gälki— 0 3, intr, fall over barrwaqdhu-N2, intr, fall over d^aqga I kthu-N2 , intr, fall over yupthu-N2, intr, fall off, fall out of, come down djurrkudupthu-N2> intr, dive, fall headlong J_u pj_upt hu-N2 , intr, swim, bathe war'waryu-N2, intr, duck under water _l_urryu-N2, intr, flow dhad_u 111-NG2, intr, seep, drip d_älku-NG2, tr, hold, keep (probably dä'1-ku 'strong-TRVSR') qayatha-L^, tr, grab djaw'yu-N2, tr, snatch, take, take a photograph qawatthu-N2, tr, get, pick up gonhdha-NG2, tr, fetch, carry (possibly from *goq-DHa'hand-TRVSR') ga-NG2, tr, carry, bring, take. (Used when the object being transported is near the referent of the ANP.) ma’rra-NG2, tr, go and fetch, go and take. (Used when the referent of the ANP has to move to the object in order to get it.) gurruka-NGi, tr, carry, wear (clothes) warryu-N2 , tr, pull dur'yu-N2 , tr, push d_upthu-N2 , tr, throw wirrwuyu-N2j intr, throw stones gutjparryu-N2 , tr, throw away qurrka-NG}, tr, throw away qarakaIa-NG2 , tr, find malq'thu-N2, intr, appear, come to light, transpire maJ_o'thunmara-NG2> tr, find, recall djadaw'yu-N2, intr, break (of day) bäyquthi-03, intr, disappear, set (of sun) (lit: ba'yqu-DHi 'nothingINCHO') bukuwa_l_'yu-N2, intr, become shady, move (of shade) (lit: bu ku-ga_l_' yu'head-crawl')

Vocabulary by semantic fields

17 9

Q - G iving gatha-L^, ditr, give gurrupa-Li, ditr, give weka-NGj, ditr, give (Indirect Object may be marked for 0, DAT or OBL function for any of these three verbs.) djuy'yu-N2 , ditr, send manaqi-03, tr, steal w u q iJJ 'yu—N2 , tr, buy (lit: w u q M j -DH u 'image/shadow-DO ') wu q ij_i 'yu-N2 > intr, cast a show (lit: wuqiJj-DHu 'image/ shadow-DO') djambi-NI, tr, change, exchange

R - P o s i t i o n and i n d u c e d p o sition nhina-0i, intr, sit, sit down, stay at, live at. (May be used as either a main verb or as a modifier to another verb indicating durative aspect.) _da*pthu-N2 > intr, sit, sit down, stay at, live at. (Subject of this verb must be plural.) baj_(w) apt hu-N2 , intr, crouch. (Cognate with Gupapuyqu ba Igapthu-N .) dhärra-0i, intr, be standing. (May be used as an aspectual verb in the same way as nhina-0^, q.v.) _]_aw'yu-N2 , intr, get up J_aw'yunmara-NG2 , tr, lift a heavy object dj ingaryu-N2 , intr, get up, stand up djingaryunmara-NG2, tr, put something standing up yukurra-0i, intr, be lying down, lie down, sleep. (May be used as an aspectual verb in the same way as nhina-0ls q.v. When used as an aspect marker is reduced to gurra-0! in normal speech.) QOrra-0}, intr, be lying, be asleep yakurrku-NG2 , tr, put down to sleep (lit: yakurr-ku 'sleep-TRVSR') wakwakthu-N2 , intr, float garrtha-Lj, intr, get caught, get stuck baIbaIyu-N2 , intr, be balanced (in Gupapuyqu dialect) gana-N^, tr, leave an object or place gunha'yu-N2 , leave an object or place, let alone, let go gorru-NG2, intr, be in, be on qilitja-N^, tr, put into galka-Ni, tr, put into nherra-L2 , tr, put down, put on (clothes) gurrunha-Ni, tr, lay down wunya'yu-N2, intr, get lost wunya'yunmara-NG2 , tr, lose dj yu-N2 , intr, hide djuj_u_!_'yunmara-NG2 , tr, hide, conceal Jjmbarra'yu-N2 , tr, carry on shoulder yarrarra'yunmara-NG2 , tr, aim something manapa-Ni, tr, join manapi-03, intr, join ganaq'thu-N2, intr, be separate, apart, distinct giI itji— 03, intr, draw close, approach gulyu-N2 , intr, stop, come to rest gulyunmara-NG2 , tr, bring to a halt da_dawyu-N2 , intr, cease, finish dhawar'yu-N2 , intr, cease, finish

S - Affect baymatt hu-N^,, tr, affect: hit, kill, build (house), make (artefact),

180

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

gather (vegetable food), etc. bu-Irr, tr, affect (see baymatthu-N2) warkthu-N2 , tr, work at, make (lit: wark-DHu, 'work-DO') djäma-NI, tr, work, make mutjpunu-NG2, tr, build bokma-Nj, tr, create (refers specifically to the acts of the Ancestral Beings) mengu-NG2, tr, hunt guku-NG2, tr, harass, harry wutthu-N2 , tr, hit, either with a held or a thrown implement bartjunmara-NG2 , tr, hit with a flexible implement, slap bandurr'yu-N2 , tr, kick dhumurr'yu-N2, tr, kick dharyu-N2, tr, (rain) falls on, wets dapthu-N2, tr, clench (fist), grip, handcuff mulka-0i, tr> touch, feel, hold burinymuIka-0}, tr, squeeze qoma-Li, tr, knead birrirri'yu-N2 , tr, wring rurr'yu-N2, tr, shake _l_ukura-NG2 , tr, catch (fish) dharpu-NG2, tr, pierce, spear (possibly from *dharpa-bu- 'stick-hit') djawar'yu-N2 , tr, spear barrtju-N2, tr, spear. (Denotes either multiple action 'spear many times' or multiple object 'spear many things') djikurrkthu-N2 , tr, stab balpalyu-N2 , intr, make a fire using a fire-drill (in Gupapuyqu dialect) wirrkthu-N2, intr, scratch (oneself) djarrkthu-N2, tr, scrape djarrany'tju-N2, intr, scrape, scratch, fumble bela-NG2, ditr, dig (the ground -0; for yams etc. - DAT) qangi'yu-N2, ditr, dig (see bela-NG2) yaw'yu-N2, ditr, dig (see bela-NG2) yaw'yawyu-N2, tr, bale out gulkthu-N2 , tr, cut mitthu-N2, tr, cut djatthu-N2 , tr, chop bakthu-N2, intr, break bakthunmara-NG2 , tr, break, hurt daw'yu-N2, intr, break daw'yunmara-NG2, tr, break, hurt barkthu-N2, intr, crack J_urr 'J_urryu-N2 , intr, break down, become dilapidated J_urr'_l_urryunmara-NG2, tr, wreck, vandalise batthu-N2 , tr, light (a fire) qaI(w)apthu-N2 , intr, burn nha’ra-0i, intr, burn, be burnt guya_l_'yu-N2, tr, cook (cognate with Gupapuyqu gudhaj_' yu-N) batha-N^, tr, cook waqgapunu-NG2 , tr, cook J_irrtha-Ni, tr, roast in ashes (possibly derived from * M rr-DHa 'charcoal-TRVSR') muqamirriya-NG2, tr, roast in ashes (lit: muqa-mirri-ya 'ashes-PROPTRVSR') Jjtha-Ni, intr, get dry, get warm garrwi'yu-N2 , tr, tie up garrpi-L2, tr, bind up, block up

Vocabulary by semantic fields

181

buyu'yu-N2, tr, rub smooth (Cognate with Gupapuyqu budju'yu-N.) J_apthu-N2, intr, open _l_ap(thun)mara-NG2, tr, open gunga-NGi, tr, shut, block m iny'tjiyarpu-NG2 , tr, paint (lit: miny'tji-dharpu-NG2 'design-pierce') bilkthu-N2, tr, cover J_upthu-N2, intr, wash (oneself) j_upt hunmara-NG2, tr, wash (someone or something) rurrwuyu-N2, tr, wash (something) rinydjupunu-NG2, tr, wash (clothes) (lit: Rinso-punu 'Rinso-TRVSR') m indupunu-NG2, tr, sew, mend (lit: mindu-punu 'mend-TRVSR') qaj_wa 'yu-N2, intr, play, play cards, copulate (euphemism) guoga'yu-N2, tr, help djaka-N}, semitr, look after, care for djaypimap-NI, tr, save up T - Attention, m e n t a l a c t i v i t i e s and a t t i t u d e s galku-N2, semitr, wait for nhä-NG2 , tr/(semitr), see, look at, look for (semitr) me I-nyaJ_yu-N2, tr, stare at, glare at (lit: 'eye-bend') rumumirriya-NG2 , tr, squint at, peer at walmuru-NG2, intr, look up (e.g. at an animal in a tree) bukuru-NG2, intr, look up ]_arru-NG2, semitr, look for, seek qä-Irr, tr/(semitr), hear, listen, listen for (semitr) m’ a’k ir i-w itju-N2, semitr, pay attention, listen (lit: ear-?) guyaqi-03, tr, think that, think of guyaqa-01, intr, think mo-NG2, tr, forget membu-NG2, tr, forget dharaqa-Li, tr, recognise, understand dhudakthu-N2, tr, learn marqgithi-03, semitr, learn, become knowledgeable about (lit: marqgi-DHi 'knowledgeable-INCHO') marqgiku-NG2, tr, teach (lit: marqgi-ku 'knowledgeable-TRVSR') dhumbaI'yu-N2, semitr, not know, be ignorant of bukaway'yi-03, intr, dream gora-0 i, intr, be shamed because of inappropriate behaviour of oneself or another barrari-03, intr, be frightened barrari-weka-NG2, tr, frighten (lit: fear-give) quyuIkthi-03, intr, be irritated, be annoyed, dislike djalthi-0 , semitr, want, like, desire (lit: dja’I-DHi, 'desir ing-INCHO') war(wu)wuyu-N2, semitr, grieve for (cognate with Gupapuyqu warguguyu-N) U - T a l k i n g , etc waqa-0 i, tr/intr, say (with sentential 0), speak, talk J_akara-NG2, ditr, give information to (direct object usually a reported speech act, indirect object may be marked for 0 , DAT or OBL function); call (an object X) (both object NPs marked for 0 function) wäy'-yu-N2, intr, call out (lit: hey-DO) wathu-N2, semitr, call out to yatju-N2, semitr, yell at yaka'yu-N , intr, refuse (lit: yaka-DHu 'no-DO') dhä-wadat i-ku-NGo, tr, make a mistake in speaking (lit: dha’-badat j-ku 'mouth-miss-TRVSR') dha-wirrka'yu-N2, ask (lit: dha-birrka'yu- 'mouth-try') gombu-NG2, tr, beg for, plead for, snatch (probably comes from *goQ-bu'hand-affect')

182

Djapu, a Yolngu dialect

buku-ruqiyinyamara-NG2 , tr, answer (lit: buku-roqiyi-nya-mara'forehead-return-NMLSR-CAUS') yatjunmi-04, reciprocal, quarrel (lit: yatju-n-RECIP 'yell at each other') dhuwaI'yu-N2, intr, speak Dhuwal (lit: dhuwal-DHu, 'this-DO') barrkuwatjku-NG2 , tr, set out, make clear, explain mukthu-N2, intr, be quiet barkparkthu-N2 , intr, sing miyama-Li(?),intr, sing (said not to be a Djapu word) nyoyu-N2 , intr, howl (of a dog) murryu-N2, intr, make a rumbling noise (e.g. thunder, engine) bothurru-NI, tr, count wukirri-NI, tr, write

V - Corporeal _l_uka-01, tr, ingest: eat, drink, smoke J_a"wu-NG2, tr, bite darrkthu-N2, tr, bite wurrkthu-N2, tr, tear off with the teeth b iJ_aq 'thu-N2 , tr, lick nyaq'nyaqdhu-N2, tr, chew wurkthu-N2 , tr, swallow, drink djanqarrthi-03, intr, be hungry par'paryu-N2 , intr, be thirsty panhdharrkthi-03, intr, be thirsty du Iputhi-03, intr, be sated murnyaq'thu-N2, intr, feel satiated with sweet or starchy food, and long for something else, particularly meat gakthu-N2 , intr, vomit dhäpuwaqa-0i, intr, yawn (possibly derived from dha-pu-waqa-0, 'mouth-?-say?; the meaning of the element /pu/ is not known) wapgi'yu-N2, tr/intr, smell bo'yu-N2, intr, blow buny'tju-N2, tr, smoke (tobacco) walku-NG2 , tr, kiss dju q 'tjuqdhu-N2 , tr, kiss b i_l_kthu-N2, tr, give birth to, lay (egg), excrete buthuwa-0i, tr, give birth to, lay (egg), excrete waryu-N2 , intr, urinate buku-yarrwupthu-N2 , intr, be born (lit: forehead-descend) dhawaI-wuyaqi-03, intr, be born (lit: country-think of) gutha-Lj/Ni(?), intr, grow, develop puthanmara-NG2 , tr, raise (children) pamba'(q )ambaythi-03, intr, be ill rirrikthu-N2, intr, be ill muryu-N2 , intr, be hot, be feverish mur'muryu-N2 , intr, be ill pa Iparrthi-03, intr, have a cold (lit: palparr-DHi 'phlegm-INCHO') buraki-03, intr, hurt, be hurt djawaryu-N2 , intr, be tired _d_i 11ha—N i, intr, sting, heal dhipga-NG3, intr, die garathi-03, intr, be killed, be pierced (probably derived from *gara-DHi 'spear-INCHO' with an original meaning of 'be speared') mokuythi-03, intr, die (lit: mokuy-DHi 'ghost-INCHO') rakunydji-03, intr, die (lit: rakuny-DHi 'dead-INCHO') päthi-02, intr, cry, weep

Vocabulary by semantic fields

183

Uirr'yu-N2j intr, clap gitkitthu-N2, intr, laugh W - A d v e r b i a l , d e i ctic and i n t e r r o g a t i v e verbs bitja-D/l, tr/intr, do thus (with no accompanying verb the unmarked meaning is 'say [thus]', with the reported speech functioning as a sentential object) dhuwaIwitja-D/I, intr, go this way (lit: dhuwal-bitja 'this-do thus') gu law itja-D/I, intr, go that way (lit: gula-bitja 'that-do thus') nhaltja-D/I, intr, do what birrka'yu-N2, tr, try, taste, test badatju-N2, tr/intr, try to do and fail, miss galmu-NG2> tr, prevent from doing gugga'yu-N2, tr, help gurruyirr'yu-N2 , tr/intr, begin to do dadawyu-N2, intr, cease, finish dhawar'yu-N2 , intr, cease, finish mirithi-03, tr/intr, do to extremes gamatha-NG2 , tr/intr, do properly manymaku-NG2 , tr/intr, do well (lit: manymak-ku 'good-TRVSR') warrpam'thu-N2, tr/intr, do completely, be completely (lit: warrpam'-DHu 'all-DO') wiripuguya-NG2 , tr/intr, do differently (lit: wiripu-gu-ya 'different-?-TRVSR') ya’tj i-0 3, tr/intr, be badly done (lit: yätji-DHi 'bad-INCHO') djarrpi'ya-NG2 , tr/intr, do wrongly (lit: djarrpi'-DHa 'crooked-TRVSR') J_äy-d_ä 11h i-03 , tr/intr, selfishly, greedily, be greedy, be selfish (lit: J_äy-dä I-DH i 'temple-hard-INCHO') X - LOCATION IiIi, movement towards speaker b a l a , movement away from speaker, over there, then d j unama, straight on b a r r k u , distant, far away g a l k i , close, close by, near _l_aypa, on the other side of (river, road) bäyma, around here, around there ga I i ', side jnapugga, in the middle, in between d h i r r i p i , inside d j i n a w a , inside, under w a r r a g u I , outside g a r r w a r , on top of, above n h a y i k a , what's that place? Y - TIM E b a ma n ' , long ago gäthil(i), before, previously [ final vowel occurs preceding IM] yawungu, yesterday g ä t h u r , now, today y a l a l a , later g o d _ a r r ' , tomorrow

boggug, tomorrow early m i l m i t j p a , in the afternoon w a l u p u y , in the daytime (lit: w a l u - B u y 'sun-ASSOC') munha, night, darkness munhawu , in the night (lit: munha-Gu 'night-DAT') y u l g u n y , for some time g u p a d a l ' g u , for ever

Z -

INTERJECTIO NS

yaka, no yo, yes ge, yes gay', oh! (startled response) gatjuy, go on ma', come on, get on with it gu', come on, come here way, hey! (to attract attention) y a k a r r a y , wow! (expresses surprised pleasure) y i k i r r i , see y a k a r r a y y a k a y , ow !, ouch! djan, is that so? well I never! (expresses mild disapproval) gam', you see? yaw, I'm not sure I agree,

184 Djapu, a Yolngu dialeot I doubt it ya', you see? (usually marks the end of a paragraph-like segment in discourse) rji(ni) tag question

bay', are you with me (elicits a response from listener to show that he is still paying attention) badak, hang on, wait a minute

LIST OF AFFIXES The following list shows all the affixes discussed in the grammar, with reference to the sections containing major discussion of their form and functions. Allomorphs resulting from morphophonological processes are referred to the appropriate morphophonological representation of the affix. -0, ABS, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(a), on demonstratives: 3.5.4, use in reduced relative clauses: 4.10.3 -0, LOC, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), on demonstratives: 3.5.4, use with locational qualifiers: 4.1.4 -0, NOM, on pronouns 3.4.1 -0, POT, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(c) -0, UNM, form: 3.6.4, function: 3 . 6 . 5 ( a ) -Bal, ALL, 3.5.4 -BaI, DAT2 , 3.4.1 -Buy, ASSOC, form: 3.2.3, functions: 3.2.4(c), on pronouns: 3.4.1 on demonstratives: 3.5.4, in resultative function: 4.1.3(b), use in non-finite subordinate clauses: 4.10.3, 4.10.4 -bal, see -Bal, DAT2 -buy, see -Buy, ASSOC -buyqu, see -puyqu INHAB -DHa, TRVSR, form: 3.2.6(b), function: 4.4.2 -DHi, INCHO, form: 3.2.6(a), as a stem-forming affix: 3.6.6(b), functions: 4.4.1 -DHu, ALL2, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), use with place-names: 4.1.4 -DHu, CAU, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(c), in causal function: 4.1.3(b), in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -DHu, DO, as a derivational affix: 3.2.6(c), as a stem-forming affix: 3.6.6(a), functions: 4.4.3 -DHu, ERG, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(a) -DHu, INSTR, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(c), in instrumental function: 4.1.3(c), in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -DHu, TEMP, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(c), in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -dha, see -DHa, TRVSR -dhi , see -DHi, INCHO -dhu, see -DHu, ALL2, CAU, ERG, INSTR, TEMP -dhu, see -DHu, DO -dji, see -DHi, INCHO -Gal, OBL, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), 3.2.4(e), on pronouns: 3.4.1,

List of affixes

185

in causal function: 4.1.3(b), in comitative function: 4.1.3(c), in possessive function: 4.8.1 -GalaQU-, OBLS, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), 3.2.4(e), on pronouns 3.4.1, on demonstratives: 3.5.4, in possessive function: 4.8.1 -Gu, DAT, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(b), 3.2.4(e), on pronouns: 3.4.1, on demonstratives: 3.5.4, in dative and purposive functions: 4.1.3(a), in purposive constructions: 4.5, in possessive function: 4.8.1, in purposive and infinitive subordinate clauses: 4.10.2 -Gu q u , OR, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(c), on pronouns: 3.4.1, on demonstratives: 3.5.4, in resultative function: 4.1.3(b), in reduced relative clauses: 4.10.3 -gaI, see -Ga I, OBL -galaQU-, see -Galagu-, OBLS -giyin-, INTENS, 3.4.2 -gu, see -Gu, DAT -guQ, see -Gu q u , OR -guQU, see -Gu q u , OR -k, see -Gu, DAT -k, see -ku, POT -kaI, see -Ga I, OBL -kalagu-, see -Galagu, OBLS -kiy, see -Buy, ASSOC -ku, POT, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5 -ku, TRVSR, form: 3.2.6(b), function: 4.4.2 -ku, see -Gu, DAT -kuI, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5 -kundrt j , MOICOLL, 3.2.5(d) -kuQ, see -Gu q u , OR -kuQu, see -Gu q u , OR -kurr, PER, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), on pronouns: perlative function, 4.1.4 -kuy, see -Buy, ASSOC

3.4.1, in

-I, ERG, on kin-terms: 3.2.3, on dual number marker: 3.2.7 -I, LOC 2 > form: 3.5.4, function: 4.1.4 -I, POT, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5 - 1i, see - I, LOC 2 — lil, ALL}, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), in allative function: 4.1.4, in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -m-, epenthetic nasal, 3.4.1 -m, see -ma, UNM -ma, UNM, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(a) -mal, ALL}, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d) - ’manydji, KINDY, 3.2.5(g) -mar, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -mara, CAUS, form: 3.6.7(a), function: 4.7 -mi, LOC, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), on demonstratives: 3.5.5, in locative function: 4.1.4 -mi, REFL/RECIP, form: 3.6.7(b), function: 4.6 -mirr, see -mirri, PROP -mirri, PROP, form: 3.2.5(a), on interrogative pronoun: 3.4.4, function: 4.3 - ’mirriQU, KINPROP, 3.2.5(e) -miriw, PRIV, form: 3.2.5(b), function: 4.3, in negative imperatives: 4.13.2

186

Djapuj a Yolngu dialect

-muny'(nha), QUANT, 3.4.4 -n, UNM, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(a) -n, see -na, PERF -n, see -NHA, ACC -na, ACC, 3.4.1 -na, PAST NON-INDIC, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -na, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -na, see -nara, NMLSR -nan, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -nar, see -nara, NMLSR -nara, NMLSR, form: 3.6.8, function in non-finite subordinate clauses: 4.10 -NHA, ACC, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(a), on pronouns: 3.4.1 -nha, PAST NON-INDIC, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -nha, see -NHA, ACC -nha, see -nhara, NMLSR -nhar, see -nhara, NMLSR -nhara, NMLSR, form: 3.6.8, function in non-finite subordinate clauses: 4.10 -nya, ACC: 3.4.1 -nya, PAST NON-INDIC, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -nya, see -nyara, NMLSR -nyar, see -nyara, NMLSR -nyara, NMLSR, form: 3.6.8, function in non-finite subordinate clauses: 4.10

-Q-, epenthetic nasal, 3.4.1 -Q, see -Gu q u , OR - Q , see -QaI, PERF

-Q, see -q u , ERG -Q, see -q u , POT -QaI, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -'QaIi, KINPROP, 3.2.5(f) -q u , DATl5 3.4.1 -q u , ERG, 3.5.4 -q u , POT, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(c) -q u , see -Gu q u , OR -q u IiI, see - Ii I, ALLi -Qumal, see -mal, ALL! -Qumi, see -mi, LOC -Qur, ABL, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), on pronouns: 3.4.1, on demonstratives: 3.5.4, in ablative function: 4.1.4, in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -Qur, LOC, form: 3.2.3, function: 3.2.4(d), in locative function: 4.1.4, in peripheral subordinate clauses: 4.10.1 -pal, see -BaI, DAT 2 -pi, INTENS, 3.4.2 -punu, TRVSR, form: 3.2.6(b), function: 4.4.2 -puy, see -Buy, ASSOC -puyQU, INHAB, on nominals: 3.2.5(c), on nominalised verbs: 4.3 -rr, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) -rr, POT, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(c) -rr, UNM, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(a)

List of affixes

187

-r, PERF, form: 3.6.4, function: 3.6.5(b) —tha, TEMP, 3.4,.4 -t ha, see -DHa, TRVSR -thi , see -DHi, INCHO -thu, see -DHU . > ALL 2 , CAU, ERG, INSTR, TEMP -thu, see -DHu, DO -'thu , see -DHu,, DO —tju, see -DHu, DO -w, see -Gu, DAT -wa, see -Gu, DAT -wa I, see -Ga I, OBL -walaQU-, see -GalaQU, OBLS -wu, see -Gu, DAT —w u q , see -Gu q u , OR -w u q u , see -Gu q u , OR -wurr, PL, 3.2.7 -wurr, see -kurr, PER -wuy, INTENS, 3.4.2 -wuy, see -Buy, ASSOC -y, see -DHu, ALL2 , CAU, ERG, INSTR, TEMP -ya, see -DHa, TRVSR -yi, see -DHi, INCHO -yu, see -DHu, ALL2 , CAU, ERG, INSTR, TEMP -yu, see -DHu, DO -'yu, see -DHu, DO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Dambuythun (Daymbalipu) Munuogurr I express my appreciation for his encouragement at all stages of my work on Djapu. It was he who first steered me towards the people who became my major consultants on the language, and he him­ self has provided me with many illuminating insights, part­ icularly on semantic topics. I am indebted to many other Y o I q u people at Yirrkala, but especially to Milyin (Muwaypi) BaQara and Mayawuluk for the many hours that we spent to­ gether in the struggle to turn me into a Djapu speaker. Of my own generation I particularly thank Julie Djarpirr who was my first teacher, and Florence Ngalawurr who, during her time in Canberra, assisted with transcription and helped to fill gaps in my data which became apparent during the writing of the grammar. Djilirrma, Nami (Naminapu), Maymirrirr and Leanne Ralwurranydji also helped in many ways My field trips to Yirrkala were made possible by fund­ ing from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. I am grateful to the following non-YolQU for their help: Bob Dixon, without whose constant prodding, advice and encouragement this grammar would never have been written; Bernhard Schebeck whose advice in the field and detailed comments, particularly on the sections concerning verbs and

188

DjapUj a Yolngu dialect

the reflexive-reciprocal, have been invaluable. My thanks also to Barry Blake, Harold Koch, Alan Walker and David Zorc for their comments on a draft of the grammar, and to Jeri Jaeger and Phil Rose for their advice on matters phonological and phonetic. All remaining errors of fact and interpretation are of course my own. I am grateful to Beulah Lowe, Michael Christie, Joyce Ross and Bruce Walters for sending information on unpublished materials concerning Y o I qu languages, and to Beulah Lowe for allowing me to use her Gupapuyou materials for comparative purposes. Many people contributed in indirect but important ways to the writing of this grammar. Leon White entrusted his vehicle to us, thus making possible the journey to Gurrumuru. I am grateful to him for this, and much else besides. Nancy Williams and Jan Reid have been generous over the years in the sharing of ideas and information. Lastly I thank Howard Morphy for his constant support in matters both intellectual and practical.

190

Map 3

60 miles 40

60

80 kilometres

Wellesley Islands (Aboriginal Reserve)

^Mornmgton

, LARDIL

Island v

f-

Forsythe ir ■ Isiands v a n g GAL (Aboriginal n ? ^Reserve) • ^Bayley Point

Bentmck \ls la n d

South Wellesley Islands (Aboriginal Reserve) KAYARTILT GULF

m Westmoreland

YUKULTA CARPEN TAR IA

NGUBURINDI

I Doomadgeej I Aboriginal/»1 Reserve

Lily W aterhoie \

‘^ r ’ßurketowm

l

Corinda Doomadgee|

GALIBAMU MINGIN WA : NJI

Map 3:

Yukulta and its Neighbours

Yukulta by Sandra Keen

1. THE LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS 1.1 LINGUISTIC TYPE Yukulta is a Pama-Nyungan language with typical suffix­ ing systems of inflection and derivation. There are three distinct paradigms for nominal inflection. Nouns operate in an ergative-absolutive system, with ergative marking the A(gent) of a transitive verb, and absolutive marking the O(bject) of a transitive verb and S, the intransitive sub­ ject. Free pronouns have one form for all of S, A and 0. There is also a system of clitic pronouns. The dual and plural clitics operate in a nominative-accusative system, but the singular ones distinguish S, A and 0, and even make a future-nonfuture distinction within S (see Table 3.2). The clitic system is of the type that Capell has called 'affix-transferring' (Wurm 1969:59). A clitic complex or cluster of clitics expressing S, A, 0-, and O 2 (direct and indirect object), transitivity and tense-aspect is suffixed to the first constituent of the clause. Free form pronouns appear to be used mainly for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity. Verbal inflection is restricted to suffixes indicating mood, and verbs fall into either a transitive or intransi­ tive category, the latter being further divided into two classes, strict intransitive and middle verbs. A middle verb occurs in a sentence which has an obligatory dative noun phrase functioning as remote goal or object, as well as an absolutive noun phrase functioning as subject. An interesting feature of the language that has been picked up in a number of secondary sources from my earlier work on the language (Keen 1972) is the pervasive alterna­ tion between the transitive construction and the antipassive construction. The antipassive transformation transforms a transitive sentence to one having the form of a middle sen­ tence (termed a semi-transitive sentence) and, as a result, a transitive verb is set in an intransitive construction and thus is not able fully to realise its transitive potential.

192

Yukulta

This reduction in surface transitivity is discussed in de­ tail in chapter 5. It is hypothesised that the seemingly unrelated conditions causing the antipassive transformation (negation, degree of desire and certain subject-object com­ binations) are all connected by the principle of reduction of realisation potential and that the tense, aspect, mood and nominal hierarchies found in Yukulta are manifestations of an underlying hierarchy ranked in terms of degree of realisation potential. Yukulta phonology has no unusual features, the inven­ tory being fairly typical for an Australian language with six main points of articulation for stops and nasals, two laterals and three vowels plus length. Every word must end in a vowel. 1.2

TRIBAL AND LANGUAGE NAMES

1.2.1 YUKULTA KANGKALITA. Kangkalita is sometimes cited as an alternative name for Yukulta but this word simply means 'language': kaQ ka-lit-a word-NOMLSR-ABS

Yukulta is the accepted name of the language as well as of the tribe. There are many spellings of the name in the lit­ erature: Yukula, Iukala (Sharp 1935); Jokula (Tindale 1940); Eugoola (Curr 1886;II:300); and Jakula (O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin 1966). None of these spellings include the apico-alveolar stop probably because assimilation readily occurs and /I/ + /t/ may easily be perceived as the single flapped sound: [T ]. 1.2.2 DIALECTS. O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966:54) classify Yukulta, Gayardilt, Yanggal and Lardil with the Pama-Nyungan languages under the group name, Tangkic. The small amount of comparative work done indicates that Yukul­ ta, Gayardilt and Yanggal, together with Nguburindi, belong as dialects of one language while Lardil is a different but closely related language. Yukulta, Gayardilt and Yanggal have considerable gramm­ atical similarity as well as a high percentage of shared vocabulary and speakers of these dialects can hold quite detailed conversations with each other whereas there is a lesser degree of mutual intelligibility between each of these languages and Lardil. The Lardil people claim they 'can't get hold of' the Gayardilt language and in 1969-70 there was little voluntary contact between the two tribes although they live on the same island. From a list of 144 words there was 56 per cent shared vocabulary between Lardil and Gayardilt and 64 per cent between Lardil and Yukulta. The only available information on Nguburindi was a word list by Roth (1897b) which shows 90 per cent of shared voc­ abulary between Nguburindi, as recorded then, and Yukulta, as spoken now. One informant even claimed that Nguburindi and Yukulta were the same language which means at least that a high degree of mutual intelligibility existed between the two dialects.

1.3 1.3

T e r r ito r y and neighbours

193

TERRITORY AND NEIGHBOURS

The Y u k u l t a p e o p l e l i v e d i n t h e G u l f c o u n t r y o f n o r t h ­ west Q u e en slan d o p p o s i t e th e W e ll e s le y I s l a n d s . The e x a c t b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e i r c o u n t r y a r e h a r d t o d e t e r m in e and t h e map s h o w s t h e c o n c l u s i o n s d r a w n f r o m a c o l l a t i o n o f s o u r c e s such as S h a rp ( 1 9 3 5 ) , T i n d a l e (1 9 4 0 ) and C a p e l l (1 9 6 3 ) and varying r e p o rts of inform ants. From m o s t a c c o u n t s i t s e e m s t h a t Y u k u l t a t e r r i t o r y d i d not s t r e t c h as f a r s o u th as t h e N ic h o ls o n R iv e r b u t went s o u t h - w e s t as f a r a s t h e s t a r t o f t h e h i l l y c o u n t r y and s o u t h - e a s t a s f a r a s a s e r i e s o f c r e e k s and w a t e r h o l e s : W i l d H o r s e C r e e k ( p i r i l a ) , L i l y W a t e r h o l e ( wi ni pi nt a) , F l y i n g f o x W a t e r h o l e ( kuJtapara-ti yatYarpa) a n d T a r p o t C r e e k . Burket o w n w a s M i n g i n c o u n t r y n o t Y u k u l t a c o u n t r y a n d some i n f o r ­ mants say t h a t Y u k u lta t e r r i t o r y went alm ost as f a r e a s t as th e A lb e rt r i v e r w hereas o th e r s say t h a t i t did not c ro ss th e N icholson R iver. T he w e s t e r n b o u n d a r y s e e m s m o r e c e r ­ t a i n , a l t h o u g h a fe w i n f o r m a n t s c l a i m e d t h a t i t d i d n o t go b e y o n d C l i f f d a l e C r e e k ( Kata Iarpka) . N e i g h b o u r i n g t r i b e s a r e s h own on t h e map. R o th 's p o s i ­ t i o n i n g o f th e N guburindi along th e N ich o lso n R iv e r f i t s in w i t h t h e i n f o r m a t i o n g a t h e r e d on t h i s t r i b e a n d i t s l a n g u a g e . T h e t r i b e l i s t e d a s N j a n g g a on t h e map p o s e s t h e b i g g ­ e s t problem . Some i n f o r m a n t s c l a i m e d t h a t t h i s wa s t h e name u s e d by t h e Garawa p e o p l e t o r e f e r t o t h e Y u k u l t a and t h a t t h e c o r r e c t name f o r t h i s t r i b e w a s Y a n g g a r a l a . Curr (1886: 1 1 : 2 9 6 - 7 ) p u b l i s h e d a word l i s t f o r a Y a n g a r e l l a t r i b e whose p o s i t i o n he g i v e s as b e i n g 'e a s t w a r d o f t h e N i c h o l s o n R i v e r and b e t w e e n t h a t and t h e c o a s t ' . Of t h e w o r d s i n t h i s l i s t , 80 p e r c e n t a r e c o g n a t e w i t h Y u k u l t a w o r d s . S h a r p ' s map ( 1 9 3 5 : 1 5 9 ) shows t h e Y a n g k ala t r i b e a s t h e w e s t e r n n e i g h b o u r of th e Y ukulta t r i b e . O 'G rad y , V o e g e lin and V o e g e lin (1966: 5 4 ) l i s t Y a n g g a l a s a n a l t e r n a t i v e name f o r N j a n g g a . Yang g a l , h o w e v e r , i s t h e l a n g u a g e now s p o k e n by t h e f o r m e r i n ­ h a b i t a n t s o f F o r s y t h I s l a n d who may h a v e o r i g i n a l l y b e l o n g e d t o t h e Y a n g k a l a t r i b e on t h e m a i n l a n d . I t seems l i k e l y t h a t t h e r e i s j u s t one d i a l e c t , say Y anggal, w ith a l t e r n a t i v e names: Y a n g k a la , Y a n g a r e l l a , N j a n g g a r a , N j a n g g a l a , N jan g g a , and t h a t o t h e r t r i b e s c o u ld have r e f e r r e d to t h e Y u k u lta p e o p le as Njangga b e c a u se of th e s i m i l a r i t y of th e languages. 1.4

SOCIOLINGUISTIC INFORMATION

The Y u k u l t a h ad a s u b s e c t i o n s y s t e m o f s o c i a l o r g a n i ­ s a t i o n w i t h t h e p r e f e r r e d m a r r i a g e b e i n g b e t w e e n a man a n d h is m o th e r's m o th e r's b r o t h e r 's d a u g h te r 's d aughter. They h a d e i g h t name s u b s e c t i o n s known a s p u l t a ' h a i r + A B S ' w h i c h a re l i s t e d below. T h e r e a r e s e p a r a t e n a m e s f o r men a n d women a n d t h e f e m i n i n e f o r m s a r e l i s t e d b e l o w e a c h c o r r e s ­ ponding m a sc u lin e term . papar i rr i nupar ima

ya kamiri

puralapi nuraIama

parit YpaIap i niwanama

t^aminYanYi

194

Yukulta pa!yariny i nulyarima

kamaraQi nimarama

karj ala napalama

pulanYi Q u l a n y ma

Reference to these subsections can be found in two articles by Lauriston Sharp; 'Semi-moieties in North-western Queensland' Oceania 6, No 2, December 1935 and 'Tribes and totemism in North-east Australia' Oceania 9, No 4, 1939. 1.5

PRESENT SITUATION

As with many Australian Aboriginal tribes Yukulta num­ bers were greatly reduced by massacre and disease. Horri­ fying stories abound in this area regarding the treatment of the Aboriginal people by the whites and certain missions forcibly discouraged the practice of Aboriginal cultural activities and the use of the language so that today only a few of the older people speak the language well enough to be useful informants. Thus the Yukulta language is doomed to extinction. In 1969 when information for this study was gathered only about twenty people spoke Yukulta as a first language and all of these were over forty. The children can understand the language but do not care to speak it. 1.6

PAST INVESTIGATIONS

Very little has been done on Yukulta. Thomas Coward and Edward Curr collected lists of words in the Burketown area some of which bear resemblance to Yukulta words (p p . 296-299 of Curr, 1886, Vol. II). Within the last twenty years or so a few tapes have been made by E.H.Flint and C.R.Osborne, and in 1969 and 1970 the writer collected material for an M.A. thesis (Keen 1972). These tapes and phonemic transcripts are lodged in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, on open access. The bulk of the material is elicited but there are also twelve stories of a legendary nature and about twenty smaller texts.

2,

PHONOLOGY

2.1

PHONEMES AND THEIR REALISATIONS

The phoneme inventory for Yukulta,in Table 2.1, looks typical for an Australian language. It has the common Australian three vowel system with significant length and each stop has a corresponding nasal at the same point of articulation. A six-term system of stops and nasals occurs and it includes post-alveolars and two laminal series: 1amino-dentals and lamino-palatals. (For a more detailed dis­ cussion of Yukulta phonology, see my M.A. thesis, Keen 1972.) 2.1.1

CONSONANTS.

Stop phonemes in Yukulta are consistent!

2.1 TABLE 2 . 1

Phonemes and t h e i r r e a l i s a t i o n s

-

Phoneme

195

inventory

CONSONANTS

bilabial stops nasals laterals rhotics s emi - vowel s

a p i c o - p o s t - laminoalveolar ( i n t e r ) l a mi n o apicoalveolar (re tro fle x ) dental p a la ta l

P m

t n

t

n 1

dorsovelar

t

tv

k

n

ny

0

y

w

i

r

r

VOWELS close open

front i, i:

back u, u: a , a:

v o iced fo llo w in g a hom organic n a s a l but e lsew h ere v o iced a n d v o i c e l e s s v a r i a n t s may o c c u r i n f r e e v a r i a t i o n . The s t o p phonemes a r e most o f t e n r e a l i s e d a s v o i c e l e s s , l e n i s and u n a s p i r a t e d . T h e r e a r e o n l y t wo l a t e r a l p h o n e m e s ; / I / a n d / I / a n d i n a consonant c l u s t e r [ Jj a n d [ l y ] o ccu r as a llo p h o n e s of /I/: [ J j o n l y o c c u r s b e f o r e a l a m i n o - d e n t a l ; a n d [ | Y] o n l y o c c u r s before a lam in o -p alatal stop or n asal. T h e p h o n e m e / r / i s m o s t o f t e n r e a l i s e d a s an a p i c o a l v e o l a r f l a p [ r ] . The t r i l l e d p r o n u n c i a t i o n [ r ] o c c u r s o n l y in a c o n so n a n t c l u s t e r and in f r e e v a r i a t i o n w ith t h e f l a p . The f o l l o w i n g m i n i m a l ( o r n e a r m i n i m a l ) p a i r s d e m o n s t r ­ a t e phonemic c o n t r a s t s in w o r d - i n i t i a l and i n t e r v o c a l i c p o s ­ i t i o n s ( i ) betw een a p i c o - a l v e o l a r and a p i c o - p o s t a l v e o l a r jc o n so n an ts; ( i i ) betw een l a m i n o - d e n t a l and l a m i n o - p a l a t a l c o n s o n a n t s ; and ( i i i ) b e t w e e n r h o t i c s . m

- IV

t a k a It a ' r o u n d ' tapaku|ta 'collarbone'

kata 'a g a i n ' katara ' w a t e r l i l y seed'

IV

-

/n/

nalta 'head' narka ' b u r i a l g r o u n d '

mananta ' l i g h t c l o u d ' manamana ' s u g a r - b a g b r e a d

/I /

-

/ J/

l a r a l t a 'black cockatoo' la r ty iy a 'wide'

kalarapka 'mosquito' kajara 'c h a r c o a l '

/ t /

-

/ 1 y/

tuQalta ' s t i c k ' t y u Qa r p a n t a ' s t o m a c h '

katara ' r i v e r ' k a tYa ka ty a ' s o n '

/n/

- /

naQkunali ' g r a s s h o p p e r ' nyupari ' t o b a c c o '

manara ' b a i t ' man^ara ' h u s k '

ny/

ir/ - I V

katara ' r i v e r ' katara ' n e s t '

Some c o n s o n a n t d i s t i n c t i o n s a r e n e u t r a l i s e d o r m i n i m i s e d i n f a s t s p e e c h , f o r e x a m p l e , / 1/ a n d / r / b o t h t e n d t o b e c o m e t h e f l a p p e d a l v e o - p a l a t a l r h o t i c , [ r ]. T h e p h o n e m e / I / may b e

196

Yukulta

realised as a flapped lateral [l] and /r/ may be realised as apico-post-alveolar flap[r]. 2.1.2 VOWELS. Vowels have a wide range of allophonic vari­ ation, conditioned by the environment in which they occur. For example, a vowel is slightly lengthened when it occurs in a stressed syllable and tends to be centralised in an unstressed syllable. A nasal tends to nasalise an adjacent vowel and a retroflex imparts its quality to the preceding vowel. No vowels are more than half-rounded and there is, for example, very little difference in lip position between front and back vowels. Long vowels occur in less than five per cent of the vocabulary and there is some restriction on their occurrence but not enough to make them entirely predictable. For exam­ ple, no word has a long vowel in the final syllable nor in an affix. Two thirds of the words found to contain long vowels had the long vowel in the first syllable. The following minimal pairs illustrate the phonemic contrast between long and short vowels:

2.2

/ i/ - / i:/

titVara 'dorsal fin' tirtYara 'you-2 sit down'

/a/ - /a:/

malipinta 'after-birth' ma:Ii 'turtle'

/u/ - /u:/

puta 'behind' pu:ta 'pull-DESID

PHONOTACTICS

A word in Yukulta begins with a consonant and ends with a vowel, but a root can end in any consonant except /p/, /1/ or /r/. There are medial diconsonantal or triconsonantal clusters but no vowel clusters and so a word has the follow­ ing format: CfVi(C2 V 2 ) n

where n > 0

Cp is any single consonant (see 2.2.1). C2 is any single consonant or a cluster of up to three con­ sonants (see 2.2.2). is any short or long vowel. V 2 may be any short vowel, or a long vowel except when (i) V 2 is in the final syllable; (ii) V 2 is in the syllable of a suffix; (iii) is a long vowel. Words commonly consist of three or four syllables and must have at least two syllables. Words were found with as many as eleven syllables but this is unlikely to be the upper limit. 2.2.1 PHONEMES IN WORD-INITIAL POSITION. Relative probab­ ilities of occurrence in Cq position are based on a sample of 250 words, selected by taking every fifth word in the lexicon.

197

2. 2 Phonotactics p t t t tY k

m n n n nY 0

16.0% 0.4% 6.8% > 52.8 3.6% 7.6% 18.4% _

N ote

th a t

/r/

was

not

15.2% 0.4% 1.6% 0.4% 8.8% found

>

26.4

r r

0.4%

i

0 .8%

1

2.4% J

y

w to

occur

>

3.6%

6 .0% > 17.2% 11.2%

in

since apico-alveolars occur less frequently in word-initial position than do other consonants, it is possible that an initial /r/ could be found within a larger corpus. 2.2.2 CONSONANT CLUSTERS. Possibilities for diconsonantal clusters between vowels appear to be as follows: (a) homorganic nasal-plus-stop (b) homorganic lateral-plus-stop (c) apical nasal (n or n) followed by labial or velar stop or nasal (p, k, m or q ) or lamino-palatal stop (tY); and lamino-palatal nasal (nY) followed by labial stop (p) (d) lateral (I or I) or apico-alveolar rhotic (r) followed by labial, velar or laminal stop or nasal (p, k, m, p, t, tY, n, nY) or by semi-vowel (w or y). Some gaps are present in the data; these may well be 'accidental gaps' that a larger corpus would fill. The actual set of clusters found is: a. b. c.

mp It np

nt

El

n Yf Y

np nm

no

ntY nt Y

1P

1k

11y

It

!k

1m 1m rm

10

iP

io

ItY

It

OP nYp d.

pk

nt It nk nk

rp

rk

ni

nt

In

1w 1w rw

1y

rt rtY cluster / r t / was found in only one example: t u r t a r a ' s e a weed'. The cluster / t Y p / was found in two examples: p a r i t Y p a l a p i 'male subsection name' and p a r i f Y p a r a 'sandalwood but it quite commonly occurs intermorphemically. The clus­ ter /1y / is a sequence of / l / + / y / not a lamino-palatal phon­ eme. For example, in correcting my pronounciation, an in­ formant broke the word p u l y i l i r i 'spindle' into syllables as follows: pu l +y i + l i + r i . Cluster possibilities are increased across a morpheme boundary, by nm nm nYm pm

np

nYp

and

tp,

!y

Three triconsonantal clusters occur just in: /rpk/

p a r p k a r a 'waterlily' k i y a r p - k a 'two-ABS' k a t a l a r p - k a 'Cliffdale Creek-ABS'

/rmp/

kiyarm-pakara

/Imp/

palmpiya p u l mp a r a y ul m p u r a

' t wo- GEN'

'tomorrow' 'grasshopper' 'long' fand words derived from it)

198

Yukulta

2.3

STRESS

Stress can be predicted according to the following rules. Primary stress falls on the first syllable and secondary stress falls on the penultimate syllable of the word except for the following modifications: (i) a non­ initial syllable containing a long vowel receives primary stress. (ii) Words with compound stems have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary stress on the first syllable of each subsequent morpheme unless it is a redup­ licated morpheme in which case it also receives primary stress. 2.4

MORPHOPHONOLOGY

2.4.1 ASSIMILATION AND REDUCTION RULES. The following rules are applied where an unpermitted phoneme sequence would otherwise result from affixation. Let P represent any phoneme: P^ stem-final, Pn suffixinitial Let S represent any stop and N represent any nasal. I. e.g.

Assimilation.

(a) S + N

N + N

QawitV (to breathe, Vi) + rjawitY -> QawinY-QawitY 'to pant'

(b) N + S -* Ng + S (where Ns is a nasal assimilated to the place of articulation of the stop) e.g.

kiyaro + -pakara -> kiyarmpakara 'belonging to two' two + GEN

II. Phoneme loss. e.g.

Pi + P2

?2

waoalk + -wari -> waQalwari 'without a boomerang' boomerang + PRIV patapu + - i n -*■ patapin 'thumb, big toe' big + NOMLSR

Other morphophonemic rules are mentioned at appropriate places in the morphology chapter. 2.4.2 COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION OF LAMINO-DENTALS AND PALATALS. Yukulta has both lamino-dental and lamino-palatal stops and nasals, but looking at the morphology, a general rule emerges which suggests that Yukulta may have originally had a single laminal series, thus providing further evidence in support of the theory that Proto-Australian had a single laminal series (Dixon 1970). Many morphemes in Yukulta have pairs of allomorphs with one member having a lamino-dental as its initial consonant and the other a lamino-palatal. The following rule applies to such pairs: the lamino-dental allomorph occurs following /a/, the lamino-palatal occurs following / i/, and either can occur following /u/. For example, the dative case has allomorphs -inYt^a— nta (3.2.1c), the reciprocal has allomorphs -nYtYu— ntu (3.5.3e) and the kinship suffix has allomorphs -tYu~-tu (3.2.3e). The verbaliser/indicative has similar pairs of alio-

2.4 Morphophonology

199

morphs (3.5.3b) and the general rule applies here also, with one notable exception: the -tYv form may follow a verb root ending in /a/to derive an intransitive verb. (See 3.5.3; stem-forming affixes, adverbs and reflexive verbs.) Other evidence crops up here and there throughout the language. For instance, on addition of a non-absolutive suffix to stems ending in /Vt/ the following rules apply to a /1/ that is followed by /i/: /a t/W a t/ / it/-*/ ifY / /u t/^/u t/

tapkawalat-a

t apkawa I a t - i lu

man+plenty-ABS

man+plenty-ALL

qit-a

qit

wood-ABS

wood-ALL

y —i lu

yalput-a

yaI p u t - i I u

meat-ABS

raeat-ALL

Looking at the distribution of phonemes within the word, nasal laminals show a similar complementary distri­ bution in initial position. The combinations / n a / , / n Y u / , /nY i/ occur but not /n i/, / n u / , / n Y a / , neither is there any word beginning with /t i/ although many begin with /tYi/.

3. M O R P H O L O G Y 3.1

PARTS OF SPEECH

The following word classes can be distinguished in Yukulta: nominal (noun, adjective) pronominal (free and bound personal pronoun) verbal (verb, adverb) locational words time words particles int erj ections 3.1.1 NOMINALS. Parts of speech belonging to the nominal word class are marked by case inflections from the nominal case system (3.2.1). Nouns function as the head of a noun phrase and adjectives provide qualification of this head. Adjectives take case inflections in agreement with that of the noun head. The category of 'adjective' includes posse­ ssive, demonstrative, interrogative and locative though all except the latter can function as head of a noun phrase as well as adjectivally. Possessives have the same form as non-nominative free personal pronouns (3.3.1) i.e. they consist of a pronoun root plus a number marker plus the genitive suffix {-wan} plus a case inflection. The genitive marks the possessor and the case suffix agrees with that of the possessed noun. Possessive adjectives are listed below in absolutive case: Qit^inta 'my' Qakuruwanta 'our-DU-INC' Qarawanta 'our-DU-EXC'

Qumpanta

'your'

niwanta

kirwanta

'your-DU'

pirwanta

'his' 'their-DU'

200

Yukulta

Qakuluwanta 'our-PL-INC' Qalawanta 'our-PL-EXC'

kiI want a 'your-PL'

piIwanta 'their-PL'

The demonstrative roots t a t in 'there' and t a n 'here' can be used adjectivally to mean 'that one there' or 'this one here' (as in (1) ) . The interrogative roots t y i na 'where' and paka 'who' can be used adjectivally as, for example, in (2) and (14). Before the first sentence examples are presented, it should be pointed out that tense and transitivity are expr­ essed within the clitic complex that follows the first con­ stituent in the clause. This accounts for some of the strange-looking glosses. It should also be noted that the glossing is based on the morphology and the case form ERG(ative) has two distinct syntactic functions. It repre­ sents A as in (2) and locative as in (3). Other apparent oddities such as the lack of an ergative for A in (1) will be explained later in the text. There are three different case paradigms in Yukulta, one for nouns, one for free pronouns and one for bound pronouns, each paradigm exhibiting a different pattern of syncretisms. This makes for some difficulty in reading the examples. The reader is directed to Table 3.4 where the three paradigms are set out. (1)

p a : t ya-ku I u w a -n ip k i

ta tin ta

pirwanta

p it iya

pawu

bite(Vtr)-us(INC)+PL-he+PAST that+ABS their+DU+ABS bad+ABS dog+Aj That nasty dog of theirs bit us (2)

pakaya

m a k u y a - ka n t a

k ur k a y a k u l i

who+ERG woman+ERG-TR+PAST take Which woman took the fish?

fish

Locative words only occur in a locative noun phrase and take local case suffixes (3.2.1b). They qualify a noun by denoting place in relation to it. This sub-class incl­ udes words such as ya Ik a t - i Ju 'underneath-ALL ', t y a t i n t Y - i j u 'behind-ALL', wa I m a t - i I u 'on top of-ALL'. (3)

tY a tin ty i

pampiri-pka

pita

w itit^a

behind+ERG humpy+ERG-PRES wood+ABS stay+IND The wood is behind the humpy

(4)

t ya t i n t y i l u

pam pirilu

put i ka

behind+ALL humpy+ALL throwfIMP Throw it behind the house! (5)

k i I a ka

t y a t i n t ^ i napa p a m p i r i n a p a

fetch+IMP behind+ABL humpy+ABL Get it from behind the humpy!

3.1.2 PRONOMINALS. Personal pronouns have both a free form and a bound form. The bound form is obligatory, and only a few sentences also include the free form pronoun. Third person is normally expressed by the demonstrative (rather than by the third person free form pronoun) : tatinta that one+ABS

(or tan if referring to this one as distinct from 'that one')

tat inkiyarpka that one+two+ABS

dual form

3.1 t a t i nt a

t ^at i

Parts of speech 201

plural form

that one+ABS lot

From an evolutionary point of view it could be consid­ ered that the gradual predominance of the bound form pronoun rendered the free form largely redundant and it has been retained mainly for its help in avoiding ambiguity or adding emphasis. For example, (6) would be ambiguous without the addition of the free form pronoun because the bound pronoun -npu can refer to either second or third person. In (7-8) the free form adds emphasis to the pronoun. (6)

pa I a t a - p a - n p u - p a n t i k i l t a

hit-I-you-I+FUT you+PL+ABS I will hit you(pl).

(7)

pata-panta

kurka,

pama

I+ABS-I+PAST take Mum (Who took father's spear?) (8)

nY i p k a - t u - y i k a r i

I took it, Mum

palata

p i f Y i n t a mayara

you+ABS-my-you+TR+PRES hit+IND my+ABS You hit my friend, you did

friend+ABS

The case system for free form pronouns is discussed in 3.3.2. Bound form pronouns have separate case forms which include an accusative case (see 3.3.3.) Unlike many Australian languages, Yukulta has no dis­ tinction in form between 'who?' and 'what?'. Both are re­ presented by the form paka which must occur in sentence-init­ ial position: (9)

paka-0-tun ipki

pitY intY uju

who?-ABS-me+he+FUT me+COM Who will come with me? (10)

p a k a - 0 - y i kant i

wara

come

tiya

what?-ABS-you+TR+FUT eat What will you eat?

3.1.3 VERBALS. A verb is the constituent in a sentence which represents the action or state of being and it is marked by a mood inflection (see 3.5.2). Verb categorisa­ tion is dealt with in 3.5.1. Verbs can be defined according to semantic reference as follows: (i) Transitive verbs require an instigator or a perceiver which is animate. (11) Intransitive verbs have no motivator of the action, rather the action is carried out through the medium of the subject. Such verbs mostly refer to movement or to physical state of being. (iii) Middle verbs have an experiencer involved in an emot­ ion or mental experience expressed by the verb. These act­ ions are done in relation to an object which is the indirect 'cause' of the emotion or experience. Adverbs also belong to the verbal word class and are derived from adjectives by the addition of the verbaliser/ indicative (3.5.3(d)).

202

Yukulta

3.1.4 LOCATIONAL WORDS. These function as local qualifiers. Stationary location is marked by absolutive case and move­ ment is marked by the allative. Locational words may func­ tion adjectivally within a locative N P , as in (14). (11)

ta t i n-ta-Qanta

w ar u n t a

kurifYa

there-ABS-I+PAST goanna+ABS see+IND I saw a goanna over there (12)

kawa

tan-ki Iu

come! here-ALL Come here!

(13)

tYina-0-n^i

w iti

where-ABS-you sit Where are you sitting? (14)

fYina-ya

pampiri-pka

w i t i t va

where-ERG house+ERG-PRES sit+IND Which house is he (sitting) In?

3.1.5 TIME WORDS. Words referring to an unspecified point of time or time-span take the absolutive case suffix and those referring to a specific time take the locative syntac­ tic case (expressed via the ergative-locative case form). (15)

tutar-a-pka

waratYa

always-ABS-PRES walk+IND He's always walking about

(16)

pa Imp i - y a - p a n t i la:fYa makur ar a tomorrow-ERG-I+FUT spear+IND wallaby I'll spear a wallaby tomorrow

3.1.6 PARTICLES. a. b. c. d. (17)

These are uninflected.

They include:

introducers e.g. munYi 'okay, alright, now' conjunctions e.g. kamu 'and, so, but, then, or' which joins words within a noun phrase or sentences within discourse (4.12.2) the negative particle wa Iira (see 4.5.3) the interrogative particles kuya and kala (see 4.9.1) munY i - p a p a n t i

yi:t^a

miyalta

kamu wapal ka

okay-you+I+FUT give+IND spear+ABS and boomerang+ABS Okay, I'll give you a spear and a boomerang (18)

p it^in ta

miyajta

kurkaka

kamu ma k u r a r a

my+ABS spear+ABS take+IMP and wallaby Take my spear and kill a wallaby

pa I aka

kill+IMP

3.1.7 INTERJECTIONS. These have no syntactic function. Some common ones are: yuwuyi 'that's right' pari 'oh, okay then' yakayi 'well, I never did', 'ouch', 'wow' p i 'yes' w a I ira 'no '

'goodness me',

'oh, dear me',

3.2 3.2

Noun morphology

203

NOUN MORPHOLOGY

A n oun o r an a d j e c t i v e c o n s i s t s o f a r o o t p l u s a c a s e i n f l e c t i o n from t h e n o m in a l c a s e s y s te m . A d erivational s u f f i x can o p t i o n a l l y be in c l u d e d b etw een r o o t and i n f l e c t ­ ion . 3 .2 .1 THE NOMINAL CASE SYSTEM. i n f le c tio n s a re as follow s: ABSolutive ERGative/LOCative DATive ALLative ABLative

C anonical

forms of

the

case

{ - fa }

{ - i ya} { - inYfYa} {- i lu} {- i napa}

T h e g e n i t i v e {-wakaran} a n d t h e c o m i t a t i v e {-wulu} a r e m a j o r d e r i v a t i o n a l s u f f i x e s w h i c h h a v e some c a s e - l i k e f u n c t i o n s a n d c o u l d , u n d e r some c i r c u m s t a n c e s , b e i n t e r p r e t e d a s g e n ­ i t i v e c a s e ( 3 .2 .3 b ) and p u r p o s iv e c a s e ( 3 . 2 . 3 c ) r e s p e c t i v e l y . Case s u f f i x e s can a l s o have a s e c o n d a ry d e r i v a t i o n a l f u n c t ­ ion ( 3 . 2 . 2 f ) . T a b le 3 .4 in 3 .3 .4 com pares th e nom inal c a se system w ith th e pronom inal c a se system . So m e p o i n t s o f in te r e s t are: (i) f r e e - f o r m p r o n o u n s h a v e no e r g a t i v e c a s e b u t h a v e a . n o m i n a t i v e c a s e c o v e r i n g a l l o f S A and 0 f u n c t i o n s ; ( i i ) bound form s o f t h e p ro n o u n h av e a s e p a r a t e form w ith 0 f u n c t i o n which c o u ld be l a b e l l e d ' a c c u s a t i v e ' . (a) A b so lu tiv e allom orphs:

{- t a }, h a s

eight

phonologically

conditioned

- y a , - r a , -wa, 0 o c c ur on v o w e l - f i n a l stems ~ f a , - f a , k a , - a o c c ur on c o n s o n a n t - f i n a l stems V o w e l-fin a l stem s a re n o rm a lly unm arked, b u t s y l l a b i c s u f f ­ i x e s can b e a d d e d t o s t e m s c o n s i s t i n g o f two s y l l a b l e s . The f o l l o w i n g a l l o m o r p h s a p p l y t o s u c h w o rd s : -ya a f t e r -ra after -wa a f t e r The

i e . g . kant i - y a ' w i f e ' a t a q k a - r a ’man' u Qawu-wa ' d o g '

follow ing

allom orphs

apply

to

consonant-final

stem s: -fa -fa - ka -a

a f t e r I, n e . g . t a k a l - t a ' r o u n d ' f Y uI a ma r uk a n- ta ' s h o r t - n e c k t u r t l e ' a f t e r I, n m i y a l - t a ' s p e a r ' k a n k a n - t a 'mad' after q kalaraq-ka'mosquito' a f t e r r, t , k t a m u r - a ' s h o r t ' , q i t - a ' w o o d ' , wi k- a ' s h a d e '

(b ) E r g a t i v e and l o c a l ca s e s u f f i x e s . E r g a t i v e / l o c a t i v e {—i y a }, w i t h a l l o m o r p h s - i ( y a ) ~ - y a ~ - k i ( y a ) ~ - t Y i ( y a ) ~ - q k i(ya) A l l a t i v e {—i j u }, w i t h a l l o m o r p h s —i | u — Iu — k i I u ~ - f Y i I u ~ - q k i I u A b l a t i v e { - i n a p a } , w i t h a l l o m o r p h s - i n a p a — napa— k i n a p a ~ - f Y i n a p a -q kinapa Let the (i)

The f o l l o w i n g r u l e s g o v e rn a l l o m o r p h i c c o n d i t i o n i n g : V r e p r e s e n t th e f i r s t vowel o f th e c a s e s u f f i x and C f i r s t consonant. Then VO*C f o l l o w i n g a stem e n d i n g i n a vowel e . g . maku-ya,

'woman-ERG

204

Yukulta

(ii) V OVC following a stem ending in a non-nasal consonant, e.g. kamar-ilu. 'stone-ALL' (iii) VOkVC/tyVC following a nasal consonant e.g. warun-kilu, 'goannaALL'; q it Vin-ty i]u, 'my-ALL'

Rule (i) has an exception as follows: a stem ending with the sentence clitic {-ma} 'stative/interrogative' follows a rule VOQkVC, e.g. (19)

tyaQki n-ma-qkiya tar]ka-ya-I kar i war]a Ika karmata some-STAT-ERG man-ERG-PL+TR+PRES boomerang+ABS carry+IND Some men are carrying boomerangs

The choice of-kVC or -tyVC is morphologically def ined. Demonstratives and most nouns take suffixes beginning with /k/ e.g. tat in-kilu 'that-ALL' Possessive adjectives, genitive nouns and a small group of miscellaneous words take suffixes beginning with /ty/, e.g. Qumpan-ty iIu 'your-ALL' Qamatu-karan-tyi{u 'mother+KIN-GEN-ALL' kapan-tVilu 'sand-ALL' malupin-tYi 'grandson-ERG' w in iQ in-ty iIu 'winipinta (name of lagoon)-ALL' tyat in-tY iIu 'behind-ALL' tyapkin-ty i 'someone-ERG'

(c) Dative {-inytya} has two allomorphs: -inVt^a follows a stem ending with a consonant or with the vowel / i/ , e.g. tatin-inyt^a 'that-DAT' kant i + -inYtya kantinYtYa 'wife+DAT'

-nta occurs elsewhere, e.g. pawu-nta 'dog-DAT' makurara-nta 'wallaby-DAT'

3.2.2 CASE FUNCTIONS. Using the conventions followed in the Handbook we define ABSOLUTIVE as the case that marks intran­ sitive subject (S) and transitive object (O) functions. It is in opposition to ERGATIVE, which marks transitive subject (A) function. DATIVE is the case that marks beneficiary, the 'object' in a middle sentence and the deep object in a semi-transitive sentence. (a) Absolutive. of this case:

Sentences (20-1) illustrate the function

(20)

kanki pawu-wa-Qka wititya dog-ABS-PRES lie(Vi)+IND grass+ERG The dog is on the grass

(21)

katar i1u pawu-wa-panti Qutitya dog-ABS-I+FUT throw(Vtr)+IND river+ALL I'll throw the dog in the river

(b) Ergativ e-looative. The form {- iya} marks both ergative case and locative case and will henceforward be referred to as ergative case unless its locative-marking function re-

3.2 Noun morphology

205

quires particular emphasis. Locative function is discussed in 3.2.2(d) below so that it can more easily be compared with the local cases. (22-5) illustrate the function of the erg­ ative as the agent of a transitive sentence. (22)

Q a wu - y a - r QU - k a n t a

p a : t ya

dog-ERG-them(DU)-TR+PAST bite(Vtr)+IND The dog bit them two (23)

tir-iy a (c r

tir-i)-k a n ta

snake-ERG-TR+PAST The snake bit the boy

(24)

p a : t ya

mant uwara

bite(Vtr)+IND boy(ABS)

Q it y i n t y i kantatu-ya-kanta

wulanta

kurka

my-ERG father-ERG-TR+PAST food+ABS bring(Vtr) My father brought some food (25)

marantyan a -ya -kar i

mirara

wulanta

kanatya

marantyana-ERG-TR+PRES good+ABS food+ABS cook(Vtr)+IND MarantMana is cooking some good food

Subjects such as 'wind, fire, cyclone' can take the ergative case but most inanimate subjects (e.g. 'stone, stick, knife') cannot. If, for example, one tries to elicit a sentence such as 'The stick hit the dog’ it is turned round so that it means literally, 'someone, having a stick, hit the dog.' In this sense the ergative has instrumental implication by virtue of its association with the agent. (See also 4.10.2d). (26)

qity

—i y a - k a n t a

kuralata

p u l mp a r a

fire-ERG-TR+PAST scatter+IND grasshopper+ABS The fire scattered the grasshoppers (27)

watu -ya-kanta

k a p u t y i - 1u t a

ta tin ta

wa r u r u q u

smoke-ERG-TR+PAST blind-cause+IND that+ABS turkey The smoke blinded that turkey (28)

pa I a t a - 1kant a

pawuwa , t u p a l - u l u - y a

hit+IND-they+TR+PAST dog+ABS, stick-COM-ERG The stick hit the dog. (Lit: they, having a stick, hit the dog.)

Ergative is also used to mark the deep object in a semi-transitive sentence to avoid a double dative NP occurring. See (34b) . (c) Dative. Examples of the dative functioning as benefici­ ary include: (29)

t anma- na

y a ku li tapka-nta

this+STAT-him fish man-DAT This fish is for that man (30)

p a w u - n t a - r j a n t i rjut i

kamara

dog-DAT-I+FUT throw stone+ABS I'll throw a stone at that dog

In (31-2) the dative functions as the object of a middle verb : (31)

. . . kamu-y i Qka k a m p u r i t y a t a t i n - i n ^ t ^ a

t upa I - i nYf^a

and-PAST talk+IND that-DAT ...and he talked to that tree

tree-DAT

206 (32)

Yukulta pu I w i t V a - k a t i

tir-in y t^ a

feel fright+IND-I+PRES snake-DAT I'm frightened of snakes

The dative has an important secondary function as a marker of the deep direct object in a semi-transitive sentence. Compare (33a) and (33b). However, if there is also a regu­ lar dative NP in the sentence, the object appears in the ergative-locative case. Compare (34a) and (34b). (34b) is a semi-transitive sentence because it has an irrealis subject-object combination (see 4.5.5). (33a)

tapkaya-kari

pawu

palata

man+ERG-TR+PRES dog(ABS) hit(Vtr)+IND The man is hitting the dog

(33b)

w a l i r a - p k a ta p k a r a pawu-nta p a l a t a

NEG-PRES man+ABS dog-DAT hit+IND The man isn't hitting the dog

(34a)

(34b)

makuya-kari kanat^a n i w a n - i n y t y a t irku 1- i nYt ^a wu 1a n t a woman+ERG-TR+PRES cook+IND her-DAT husband-DAT food+ABS The woman is cooking food for her husband pamatu-yarpka-rawa-ra

kanatYa

wujanki

ki rwa

mother-two+ABS-you-NONSG cook+IND food+ERG you+BEN kunawuna- nt a

child-DAT" Your mothers are cooking food for you two children

(d) Ergative-locative, allative and ablative cases. These local case suffixes indicate location or locomotion in a direction 'to', ’from’ or 'away from’ or they have a second­ ary function as complementisers which derive a noun phrase complement (4.10.2). The ergative case can have a locative function in that it indicates state 'where at' or movement within an area (see (35-6)) and it can also occur together with the genitive suffix to indicate 'place in relation to something' (as in (37)). On pronominal NPs the locative case is marked by a similar genitive form (3.3.2d) and the form which resembles the ergative-locative of the nominal system marks the deep object of a semi-transitive sentence (3.3.2b). (35)

kamar a-pka w a l m a t - i

w a rikiki-ya

stone-PRES on top-ERG hat-ERG The stone is on top of the hat (36)

tira -p ka

parit^a

w alm at-i

w iti

stay k a ma r - i

snake-PRES crawl+IND on top-ERG stone-ERG The snake is crawling over the stone (37)

kijaka

ta tin ta

tupalta

yalkat-iya

wu I a n - p a k a r a n - t ^ i

fetch+IMP that+ABS stick+ABS under-ERG food-GEN-ERG Get that stick from under the tucker! (Lit: at the place belonging to the food)

The allative {-iIu} indicates movement from A to B, as in (38), and the ablative {-inapa} indicates movement 'from, out of' or 'off', as in (39):

3.2 Noun morphology (38)

qutika

kamara

207

w alm at-ilu w a r ik ik i- lu

throw+IMP stone+ABS on top-ALL hat-ALL Throw the stone on top of the hat!

(39)

t^irmaka

kamara

wa I mat - i napa wa r i ki k i - n a p a

lift+IMP stone+ABS on top-ABL Take the stone off the hat!

hat-ABL

Sometimes the difference between the ergative-locative and the allative is not immediately obvious to a person con­ ditioned by the English language. In (40) the ergative case means that the man is walking within the area of the grass whereas the allative would mean that he is walking from point A to point B over the grass. In (41) the ergative case emphasises the fact that the bag is positioned on the stone whereas the allative would emphasise the movement onto the stone. (40)

taqkara-qka

warat^a

kankiya

(kankilu)

man+ABS-PRES walk+IND grass+ERG (grass+ALL) The man is walking on (over) the grass (41)

makuya-kari

yiit^arm a

payiki

kamari

(kamarilu)

woman-TR+PRES put bag stone+ERG (stone+ALL) The woman puts her bag on (onto) the stone

(e) Local cases with verbal form: { - w u l a t a } , - w a l i t Y a . The verb w u l a t a means 'to take off' and it can combine with a noun to form a compound verb. (See (42a).) However, it also has a function similar to that of the ablative case suffix, as in (42b) and (43). It seems to be interchangeable with the ab­ lative case suffix, as in (43), but there may be a differ­ ence in meaning similar to that existing between the loca­ tive and allative case. There are two allomorphs : - w u l a t a agrees with a transitive verb a n d - w u l a t Y a agrees with an intransitive verb. (42a)

wala-wulaka

tuqalta

mouth-take out+IMP stick+ABS Take that stick out of your mouth! (42b)

tuqalta

w ala -w u la ta

pulaka

stick+ABS mouth-take out(Vtr) pull! Take that stick out of your mouth! (43)

patinta-kati

milatVa

kuIukuIu-wuIatYa

(kuIukuju-napa)

west-I+PRES return+IND Corinda-from (Corinda-ABL) I've just come back from Corinda out west

Another verbal form - w a l i t Y a expresses direction 'away from' something and is probably related to the verb w a r i t Y a 'to be absent, to disappear.' (45a) represents a greater experience of fear, by comparison with (45b): (44)

t^aw i t ^ a - k a t i

qawu-walitYa

run+IND-I+PRES dog-AWAY FROM I'm running away from the dog (45a)

kunawuna-qka p u l w i t Y a

t a t i n-wa I i t ^ a

child-PRES feel fear+IND that one-AWAY FROM The child is frightened of him

208

(45b)

Yukulta kunawuna-pka p u l w i t ^ a

ta tin -in y t^a

child-PRES feel fear+IND that one-DAT The child is frightened of him

(f) Secondary case functions. Cases have a secondary func­ tion where they act as derivational suffixes, for example, the allative case can be added to a verb which then belongs to a local N P , as in (46). Other case suffixes are used as complementisers in a noun phrase complement and take further case suffixation (see 4.10.2). (46)

panma-kati

wara

I+STAT-I+PRES go

k u } ka q k—i I u t ^ a n i - t y a n i t ^ - i j u

bulrush-ALL search-ALL

ku 1u : ku I u : t y —i I u

dig-ALL I'm going to look for some bulrushes to dig up

3.2.3 NOMINAL DERIVATIONS. Yukulta has various stem-form­ ing affixes which derive a nominal stem from a noun or an adjective. These are discussed below. See 4.4.1 for de­ rivation of nominal stems from verbs. Compound noun and adjective stems may involve a noun root followed by an adjective or verb root: m ara l-p iti

'deaf'

ear-bad

yalpu-kapa

'hunter'

meat-find

Proper nouns commonly have compound stems: ki n y f ^ a - t y a w i t y a

'Name of a person'

bush fire-run(Vi)

[a] Reduplication. This may affect the lexical or grammat­ ical meaning of a root which normally occurs singly. It can derive an adjective from a noun, e.g. t ^ u l t a 'bone-ABS', t ^ u It a - t y u It a 'bony'; or it can pluralise a word e.g. k i y a r p k a 'two+ABS', k i y a r p k a - k i y a r p k a 'four'. These nouns and adjectives are formed by reduplication of the whole word but pronouns have only the first two syllables reduplicated, as in: (47)

(48)

Q ity i-p ity inta yaku kat u-I ipka waratya my-my+ABS older sister-PL+PAST go(Vi)+IND All my sisters have gone paka-p ak ay a-I kar i

k u r i t y a t a t i nta

pawu

who?-who?+ERG-they+PRES see+IND that+ABS dog Who are those people looking at that dog?

Some nouns only occur in reduplicated form e.g. kul-kul-ta 'bush-lemon tree' "-ÄBS

Reduplication can be a means of producing an onomatopeoic effect, and often occurs in names of insects and birds, e.g. parmu-parmu 'hornet', k ur i r a - k u r i ra 'mud-cricket'. [b] Genitive. This marks alienable possession (see 4.2.6 for examples of this, and also of inalienable possession). There are two genitive forms; { - w a n } and { - w a k a r a n } . The latter may be derived from { - w a n } plus part of the verb k a r p i t Y a 'to keep or possess'. Allomorphs of {-wan} are:

3.2 Noun morphology

209

- t ^ i n following / i / -mpan following /u /

-wan elsewhere A l l o m o r p h s of {-wakaran}

are:

- k a r a n following a vowel - p a k a r a n following a nasal - w a k a r a n elsewhere

Loss of final /n/ occurs if there is an unmarked absolutive case because a word cannot end in a consonant. The { - w a n } form of the genitive is added to a nominal with inanimate reference and implies 'belonging to' e.g. t i l a n - w a n - t a (long ago-GEN-ABS) 'ancestor'. (49)

panma Ia : Iu-mpan-ta I+STAT south-GEN-ABS I'm a southerner

This form when added to a pronoun root, derives a non-nomin­ ative personal pronoun (3.3.1a) or a possessive adjective (3.1.1). (50-4) illustrate the use of the possessive adjec­ tive. Alienable and inalienable possession are dealt with in 4.2.6. (50)

t a t i nma-y i kan t a

p it^in ta

that+STAT-you+TR+PAST my+ABS Did you take mine?

(51)

tanma

qit

^ i nt a

kur ka

take

wapal k a

this+STAT my+ABS boomerang+ABS This is my boomerang (52)

k u y a - t u - y i kar i

qit

V i nt a pawu

INTERR-me-you+TR+PRES my+ABS Did you see my dog yesterday? (53)

(54)

dog

kuri

paruntaya

see

yesterday

fYamp i I a t a - p a n t a pawu q i t Y i nt Yu Iuya t ^ a w u l u y a

kick+IND-I+PAST dog my+COM+ERG I kicked the dog with my foot

foot+COM+ERG

tiri-ka n ta

taput^u

pa:tYa p i f Y i n t a

snake+ERG-TR+PAST bite+IND my+ABS The snake bit my older brother

older brother

The { - w a k a r a n } form of the genitive marks all the constituents in a possessive noun phrase (4.2.6). In this capacity it has a function similar to that of a case suffix although it is itself followed by a case suffix. The head of the poss­ essive noun phrase has animate reference. (55)

ta tin ta

miyalta

k i la k a pumpan-pakaran-t^ i

that+ABS spear+ABS get+IMP your-GEN-ERG markatu-karan-fy i

pampir-i

father's sister-GEN-ERG humpy-ERG Get that spear from(at) your aunty's humpy!

This form has another case-like function when, together with the ergative, it marks locative case within the pronominal system. (3.3.2d). Here it implies 'place in relation to someone'.

210

Yukulta

(56)

muruku

y i - . t Ya r ma k a

mintaya

parawan-pakaran-tY i

woomera put down+IMP beside+ERG us(EXC)+DU-GEN-ERG Put that woomera down beside us!

(c) Comitative and privative. Comitative { - w u l u } and priva­ tive - w a r i derive an adjectival stem which then takes case suffixation in agreement with the noun which it qualifies. The comitative has the following allomorphs: -pkulu following allative case or following {-ma} 'stative/ interrogative' -wuju following a stem ending in a vowel -kulu/-tyu]u following a nasal (morphologically distinguished, see 3.2. lb) -ulu elsewhere

Privative w a r i 'without' bears resemblance to the negative particle wa I i ra and may be related to the verb w a r i t y a 'to be absent, to disappear'. It is a complement of the comitative (compare (58a) and (58b)) but has a narrower range of syn­ tactic possibilities. (57)

pitiya-pka

tanta

waQa I ka ,

m irawari-0

kinYinwari-0

bad+ABS-PRES this+ABS boomerang+ABS good+PRIV-ABS form+PRIV-ABS This boomerang is no good, it doesn’t have a good shape (58a)

panma-kati p a wu - w u l u - 0 I+STAT-I+PRES dog-COM-ABS I have a dog

(58b)

panma-kati

pawu-wari-0

I+STAT-I+PRES dog-PRIV-ABS I haven't got a dog

Comitative means 'having' in the sense of being 'associated with' something or someone rather than marking possession (see (59)). it can refer to actual or potential association. (59)

p i t y intY-ulu

wapkut-u I u-pka

waratya

my-COM brother-COM-PRES walk+IND H e ’s coming with my older brother

The form {-wulu} recurs in other parts of the data where it has been labelled desiderative mood (3.5.2), implicator (4.10.2b) and comitative (4.10.2d). There is some argument for postulating a purposive case marked by this form which would then form a third type of object N P . In particular the verb t y a n i t y a 'to look for something' appears to take an object marked by comitative which could be interpreted as a purposive case but which is probably thought of by a native speaker as representing 'potential having'. (60)

(61)

kamp i I a r i -wu ] u - k u r kar i tYani sugarbag-COM-we+DU+TR+PRES search We're going looking for sugarbag t a p k a - r i p k a wara

, w a r u r u p - u Ju - r k a r i

t ya n i t ya

man-DU+PAST go turkey-COM-DU+TR+PRES search+IND Those two men have gone out looking for a plains turkey

3.2 Noun morphology

211

Some middle verbs can take comitative as an alternat­ ive to dative. Compare sentences (62/3) and (64/5) below. The informant's translations did not reveal any difference in meaning. The verb t Y a n i t y a 'look for' can also take the dative (see 3.5.1b). (62)

jat itVa-kat

I

man t u w a r a - w u Iu

wait+IND-I+PRES boy-COM I'm waiting for the boy

(63)

ja titY a -ka ti

mantuwara-nta

wait+ LND-I+PRES boy-DAT I'm waiting for the boy (64)

pulupul-ulu

n it-u ju -ka ri

marinYmaritYa

baby-COM name-COM-I+PRES think(Vm)+IND I'm dreaming a name for the baby (65)

p i t y i n- i nYtYa pamat u - n t a - k a t i

mar i n^mar i tYa

my-DAT mother-DAT-I+PRES think+IND I'm thinking of my mother

(d) Number-marking suffixes. Number is normally marked by dual or plural suffixes on the pronoun root or the bound form pronoun (3.3.1). But, if the number needs emphasising, there are several methods for doing so: (i) addition of a numeral to a noun phrase, to express a specific number; (ii) reduplication to emphasise plurality (see 3.2.3a); (iii) addition of a number-marking suffix (listed below) to a nominal with animate reference. 'two', with allomorphs i y a r p ~ - y a r p ~ - k i y a r p — t y i y a r p ~ Rules for conditioning are the same as those for the ergative case suffix (3.2.1b). Examples include t a p k a - y a r p , 'man-two'; p i t Y i n - t Y i y a r p 'my-two' . {-iya rp } -pkiyarp.

(66)

"j;aputa

ta p u ta p i t y i n -t Yi y a r p - k a ,

older brother+VOC jtaputayi

my-two-ABS taDutay i -yarpku ,

older brother+VOC

-two+VOC

k i y a r p k a papaya-panta

palata"

two+ABS devils-I+PAST hit+IND "My two older brothers, I killed two devils!"

{-walatl 'big mob', with allomorphs - p a l a t following a nasal consonant e.g. p i t y i n - p a l a t -walat elsewhere e.g. maku-walat 'big mob of women' (67)

p i t Y i n-pa I a t - a

y a k u k a t u - i i pka

'my-pl'

wa r a t Ya

my-all-ABS older sister-PL+PAST go+IND All my sisters have gone (68)

t a p ka-wa I a t - i - I k a r i

pita

talmata

man-al1-ERG-PL+TR+PRES wood+ABS chop+IND Lots of men are chopping wood

-tYala collective plural, e.g. (69)

. . . tY i nkat Y i nka t Y a - k a n t a

pu 11 i t Ypu 11 i t Ya

puImpa-tYala

follow-follow+IND-TR+PAST throw+throw+IND grasshopper-all ...he followed all the grasshoppers, throwing things at them

212

Yukulta

It is possible that {walatl is reserved for human beings and -tVala for fauna and flora with a collective meaning such as 'flock', 'herd', 'bunch'. - Q a r p a , collective dual(?),denotes that two people are acting together as one, as in (70). The people involved must be closely related either through kinship ties or through some common bond of experience, e.g. k a p k u l - p a r p a means 'grand­ father and grandson'. The term k a p k u j t a t u refers to 'son's children' (male speaker). Note ma y a - p a r p a ('friend-couple'), 'friendly' i.e. two people feeling a common bond of friend­ ship .

(70)

yakukatu-parpa-rat i

wa:tYa

sister-couple-they+PRES sing+IND The sisters are singing (in unison)

(e) Other stem-forming affixes. {-tu}, kinship marker. This morpheme marks most kinship terms and is followed by a case inflection except for absolutive which is unmarked. It has the following allomorphs: -tu

following a e.g. pa ma - t u 'father's brother's wife'

'mother',

- f Y u following / i / or /u/, e.g. k ak u - t Yu 'mother's brother'.

papi-fYu

'mother's sister', 'father's mother' ;

See the vocabulary for a complete listing of roots which take {-tu}. No kinship terms end in a non-nasal consonant and only three were found ending with /n/. These take the following suffixes: p i p k a n - p u 'brother's children' (female speaker) 'son' (male speaker); k i r k u n - k u , 'daughter's daughter' (female speaker) 'sister's daughter's daughter' , m a l u p i n - t a 'daugh­ ter's son '. The following kinship terms are not marked by a kinship suffix and most of them are unmarked for absolutive case. Otherwise they take suffixes according to the rules for the absolutive (3.2.1a): k at u- wa

'son, daughter, sister’s child' (female speaker), 'nephew, -ABS niece' (male speaker) kant i - y a 'wife' -ABS y amp i - y a 'husband's father' (female speaker), 'daughter-in-law, -ABS son-in-law' (male speaker) m a l u p i n - t a 'daughter's son' -ABS t irku Ii 'husband ' ka [t V iruIu 'sister's husband' wapkutu 'older brother' (female speaker) pa 1katyI 'sister' (male speaker) tawula 'daughter's husband' tYipana 'mother-in-law' (male speaker)

When addressing a person the root form of a kinship term is used unless there is a special 'vocative' term of address as distinct from that used when talking about that person to someone else. For example, a woman addresses her brother's son by the term k a f Y a - k a t Y a but refers to him as p i p k a n p u . (See also (66) where t a p u t Y u 'older brother' becomes t a p u t a ( y i ) . )

3.2 Noun morphology

213

-ri, proper noun marker. This suffix marks a compound nomi­ nal stem as being the name of a person, e.g. m a p u - p a r k i t y a - r i is a name meaning 'someone good at spearing fish'. - i n , - I i t , nominalisers. These suffixes may be added to a nominal root as in the following examples, e.g.

patap-in 'thumb or big toe' big-NOMLSR

kapka-lit 'language' word-NOMLSR

- m i r a , intensifier. The root of the adjective m i r a r a ' g o o d ' can be suffixed to an adjectival stem to act as an intensi­ fier, e.g. k a i k a n - m i r a 'very sick'.

(f) Order of stem-forming suffixes. The suffixes - i n , - l i t , and { - t u } always follow the root, then come the number-mark­ ing suffixes, then the genitive suffix which always immedia­ tely precedes the case suffix and has itself a secondary case function. The following word is an example of this order: ya ku ka-t u-yarm-pa karan-t^i 'belonging to two sisters-ERG' sister-kinship-two-GEN-ERG

3.3 PRONOUN MORPHOLOGY 3.3.1 FREE PRONOUNS. A free pronoun consists at least of a root plus a case suffix and, in its maximal form, it also includes an inclusive marker, a number marker and a genitive stem-forming affix. Table 3.1 gives the free pronoun para­ digm. Note that O 2 is used to designate the object in a semi-transitive clause, as distinct from the object of a transitive clause, Op. [a] Pronoun roots and stems. ROOTS (excluding lsg NOM and 2sg NOM): pi qu

ni

1st person singular 2nd person singular 3rdperson singular

pa 1st person non-singular 2nd person non-singular pi 3rd person non-singular ki

The genitive suffix { - wa n } is added to non-nominative pro­ nouns preceding the case suffix, e.g. k i - r - w a n - t Y i napa 'youDU-GEN-ABL'. The following rules then apply: 0i QU ni,

pa,

ki,

+ { - wa n } + { - wan} p i , + { - wan}

-* pi + —t y i n -> pu + -mpan -* n i , pa, k i ,

pi + -wan

[b] Number. Non-first person pronoun roots have separate singular and non-singular forms but number is also marked by dual and plural number markers. Singular is unmarked. Dual (DU) { - r a } with allomorphs - r a ~ - r u ~ - r Plural (PL) { - l a } with allomorphs —I a— I u — I

Forms - r , - I occur following i 3 p i ) ; - r u , - l u following u (i.e. in and - r a , - l a following a (i.e. in 1

(i.e. in 2 du, 1 du inc and 1 du exc and 1 p i

du, 2 p i , inc); exc).

3 pi

[c] Inclusive-exclusive . Non-singular first-person pronouns referring to the speaker plus addressee(s) are marked by the suffix -ku 'inclusive' (INC); exclusive (EXC) is unmarked.

214

Yukulta TABLE

3.1-

first person

N0M(S,A,01) Qata obj (o 2)

BEN LOC ALL ABL

qit

Y i nt Y I q i t y u(wa) q i t y i npakaranty i q i t y i n t y i 1u q i t Y i n t y i napa

Free pronoun paradigm SINGULAR second person

third person

nY i q ka Qumpant Yi Qumpa( r a) Qumpanpakarant y i Qumpanty i 1u Qumpanty i napa

niya n i want Y i n i w a ( r a) n iwanpakaranty i n i wantY i 1u n i want Y i napa

DUAL second person third person exc Qa kura para kira pira Qa kuruwant Yi Qarawant^i kirw antYi pirwantVi Qarawa kirwa(ra) pirwa(ra) Qa kuruwa pa kuruwanpa k a r a n t Y i Qarawanpa karanfY i ki r wanpakar ant y i p i rwa npa ka ra n i QarawantYi j u kirwantYi I u pirw antYilu Qakur uwant y i I u Qa kuruwa nt y inapa Qarawant Y i napa ki rwanfY i napa first person

inc

NOM OBJ BEN LOC ALL ABL

PLURAL second person

first person inc NOM OBJ BEN LOC ALL ABL

third person

exc

QaIta kiIta Qa k u I t a Qa ku I uwant Y i Qa l awant Y i ki I wantY i QaIawa k i I w a ( ra) Qa k u I uwa Qa ku I uwa npa ka ra nt y i Qa I a w a n p a k a r a n t y i QalawantYilu k i I wa nt Y i ] u Qa ku I uwantY i I u

3.3.2 CASE SYSTEM ON FREE PRONOUNS. forms are straightforward: OBJ LOC ALL ABL

p i I ta pi Iw a(ra) p i I want y i I u

The following case

-ty i -pakarantYi —t Y i ! u -tYinapa

BEN is simply -wa or -wara with non-singulars; that is, it deletes the final -n of the genitive augment -wan, and optionally adds -ra. The same process applies to 2 sg and 3 sg whereas 1 sg stem q i t Y i n forms an irregular BEN Q i t y u(wa). NOM is - t a with plural pronouns, together with loss of the vowel from the preceding plural marker — Iu— la. It is (3 with duals but note that 1 du inc NOM is Qakur a, rather than the expected Qakuru (which occurs in all other cases). Sing­ ular NOM forms are irregular: 3 sg n i y a , from root ni, and for 1 sg and 2 sg there are suppletive NOM forms Qata and nYiQka (the regular roots are Q i - and qu - ) . (a) Nominative is the case that marks intransitive subject (S), transitive subject (A) and transitive object (Op). (71)

Qata-kati

w ititY a

I+NOM(S)-I(S)+PRES sit(Vi)+IND I'm sitting down (72)

t i y a t Ya- Qar i

Qata

eat(Vtr)+IND-I(A)+PRES I+NOM(A)

3.3 Pronoun morphology

215

I'm having a feed (73)

t Y i nka ka- nki

pat a

follow(Vtr)+IMP-me(0 ) I+NOM Follow me!

(b) Objective marks the deep object in a semi-transitive sentence (O2 ) and has the same form as one of the allomorphs of the ergative-locative case in the nominal paradigm (3.2.1b). Within the nominal case system, the ergativelocative is borrowed to mark the deep object in a semi­ transitive sentence if a dative NP already occurs in the sentence. This is to avoid doubling up on dative NPs because the deep object is normally marked by the dative. (3.2.2c). There are three different case paradigms in Yukulta, one for nouns, one for free pronouns and one for bound pro­ nouns, each paradigm exhibiting different syncretisms. This makes for some difficulty in reading the examples. The rea­ der is directed to Table 3.4 where a chart of the three paradigms is provided. (74)

t a t i nki yarQka-rawa

tYinkatYa

kirwan-tYi

that+two+ABS-NONSG follow(Vtr)+IND you+DU+GEN-OBJ(O2) Those two are following you two (75)

t a t i n t a - t u - 1 ay i

pul tamura wu:tYa

qit

Y i n—t Y i

that+ABS-me-they+FUT three+ABS give(Vtr)+IND me+GEN-OBJ(O2) Those three will give it to me (76)

pa I a t a - r a w a - r a y i

kilwan-tYi

pultamur-i

hit+IND-NONSG-NONSG+FUT you+PL+GEN-OBJ(02) three-ERG Those men will hit you three

(c) Benefactive marks the 'indirect' object or 'beneficiary', as in ( 7 7 ) and the 'object' in a middle sentence, as in (78). These functions are the same as those of the dative in the nominal system except that the benefactive does not mark the deep object in a semi-transitive sentence as does the dative. (77)

Qukuwa

kilaka-tu

pi t Yu- wa

water+ABS fetch+IMP-me(OBL) me-BEN Get me some water! (78)

ta t inkiyarpka-rawa-[at i

kirwa-ra

that+two+ABS-NONSG(OBL)-wait(Vm) you+DU+GEN-BEN Those two are waiting for you two

(d) Locative, allative and ablative. Locative case marks location in the sense of 'place in relation to someone.' (79)

nY i q k a - t u-nY i

wi ti t^a

q 11Y

j n-pa karant Y i

you+NOM-me-you sit+IND me+GEN-LOC 'You're beside me'

The locative suffix is made up of the genitive allomorph - pa k a r a n plus —tYi which is the form used for the objective case. A similar form is used within the nominal system as an alternative locative form (3.2.2d). The allative and ablative case suffixes are similar to the -tYVC forms in the nominal case system (3.2.1b) and

Yukulta

216

TABLE 3.2 - Case forms of the bound pronoun first person

second person

third person

singular

-ta(FUT), - ka(NON-FUT)

-yini(FUT), -nYi(NON-FUT)

-ni ( F U T ) , 0 (NON-FUT)

non-sing

- k u ( I N C ) , -Qa(EXC)

-wu

singular

— rja

-yi

0

- k u ( I N C ) , -oa(EXC)

-wu

0

0

0

s «

a

J

1

non-sing

singular 0 (ACC>

-nk

non-sing singular

OBL


1 sing. See, for instance, ( 8 1 ) .

3.3 Pronoun morphology

217

TABLE 3.2 - Allomorphs of non-singular object-person markers

singular subject with:

first person object OBL

second person object ACC OBL

DUAL OBJECT

-kuruwa(INC) -parawa(EXC)

-rpu

-rawa

-rpu

-wuruwa

PLURAL ^OBJECT

-ku 1uwa(INC) -pa 1awa(EXC)

-npu

-1 awa

-npu

-wu1uwa

-kura (INC) -para (EXC)

-ru

-rawa

-ru

-wu ra

•
{ - I nVtVa}

{-ra }

.

LOC

-pakaranty i

ALL

- t y i i u

{ - i 1u }

ABL

-fYinapa

{ - inapa}

>

-tu

{- i (ya) }

-r + -wu -* - r~QU (dual) -I + -wu -> -npu (plural) -r + -wu -> -ru ( n o n-singular)

Singular versus non-singular. Although there are dual and plural forms of the bound pronoun the main emphasis in Yuk­ ulta is on the division of person markers into singular and non-singular. Singular forms are unmarked whereas non-sin­ gular forms are marked as dual, plural or non-singular. If there is a non-singular subject the object is marked as non-singular but if the subject is singular then dual and plural object-person forms are distinguished. Singular person markers make a greater number of dis­ tinctions than do non-singular markers. For example, sin­ gular object-person markers have separate accusative forms for second and third person whereas non-singular markers have the same form to mark both (see Table 3.3). Singular subject-person markers have nominative-intransitive versus nominative-transitive forms, and future versus non-future forms whereas non-singular markers do not make these dis­ tinctions (see Table 3.2). First person versus second and third person. There is also an emphasis on the division between first person and nonfirst person in that some second and third person forms are identical while the first person form is different. For example, the non-singular accusative forms; -rpu (dual), -npu (plural) and -ru (non-singular) mark both the second person and the third person, and the non-singular form, -wu marks third person oblique and second person nominative. 3.3.6 ORDER OF PERSON MARKERS. Within an intransitive con­ struction the oblique form precedes any other form of the bound pronoun. Within a transitive construction person markers are not ordered in terms of case but in terms of person: the first person precedes the second person which precedes the third person. There is one apparent exception to this rule where

3.3

Pronoun morphology

219

a non-singular third person precedes a singular second per­ son as in (84). In this case the order is the same as that of a semi-transitive sentence where the oblique form marking the object precedes the nominative-intransitive form which marks the subject. (84) kurit^a-rQ U -yikari look+IND-them(DU)(0)-you(A)+TR+PRES You're looking at them-dual

(85)

kur i t ^ a - Q a - r p u - k a r i

look+IND-I(A)-them/you(DU)(0)-TR+PRES I'm looking at them/you-dual

Note that the dual form -tqu is used in (85) to mean either second person or third person and the same applies to the plural form - n p u . 3.4 THE CLITIC COMPLEX. This comprises a bound form pronoun or a combination thereof (Tables 3.2, 3.3) plus a transiti­ vity marker (3.4.3.) plus a tense-aspect marker (3.4.4.). It is obligatory and is suffixed to the first constituent of the sentence. Tables 3.5 and 3.6 show a paradigm of realis and irrealis forms. Only the subject-person forms are included and these have both a transitive and an intransitive form. It should be noted that in presenting the paradigms of realis and irrealis clitic complexes, the clitic pronouns for S and A are shown along with the transitivity marker -ka and the tense marker. It was pointed out in 3.3.6 that in a semi-transitive (anti-passive) clause the order of clitic pronouns is: oblique before nominative. Thus in a semi-transitive clause the S pronoun directly precedes the transitiv­ ity marker (where present) or the tense marker. However, in a transitive construction the order of bound pronouns is de­ termined by a hierarchy of 1 >2 >3. This means that where 1 acts on 2 or 3, or where 2 acts on 3, the sequence will be

2^

3Q (except for 2sg acting on 3 non-sing)

and A will not be next to the transitivity marker. Thus in (94b) we find -Qa+rou+ka+nti

i+them+TR+FUT 'I'll [see] them'

3.4.1 REALIS AND IRREALIS ASPECT. For the moment let us consider irrealis aspect as referring to an action which has little or no likelihood of occurrence as compared with an action of realis aspect which has relatively greater likeli­ hood of occurrence. Aspect is defined more fully in chapter 5; diagram C in 5.2.1 illustrates the relation between as­ pect, tense and transitivity. (86a), (87-8) illustrate rea­ lis aspect and (86b,c), (89-91) illustrate irrealis aspect. There is a recurring division found in the data between

220 Yukulta TABLE 3.5 - Paradigm of realis forms of the subject (S & A) clitic

Sg

Sldu inc exc CD D. inc pi exc Sg

first

TRANSITIVE second

third

first

INTRANSITIVE second

-par i

-y ikar i

-kar i

-kat i

-nV i

third -pka(t i)

-kurkar i -wur kar i -rkar i -par kar i

-kura(t i) -wura(t i) -rat i -para(t i)

-ku 1kar i —Qa 1kar i -wu 1kar i - 1kar i

-ku1a(t i) -pa 1a(t i) -wu 1a(t i) - 1at i

-pant i

-lay i

-yinipki

-nipki

-y ikant i -kant i

inc exc

-kur kant i -parkant i -wurkant i -rkant i

-kuray i -paray i

-wuray i

-ray i

inc Pi exc

-ku 1kant i -pa 1kant i -wu 1kant i - 1kant i

-ku 1ay i -pa 1ay i

-wu1ay i

-1 ay i

Sg

-panta

-kay ipka

-nY ipka

-y ipka

-kur kanta -par kanta -wurkanta -rkant a

-kur ipka -par ipka

-wur ipka

-r ipka

-ku 1kanta -wu 1kanta -pal kanta

- ku 1ipka -pa 1ipka

-wu1ipka

-

past a.

^ du

inc exc

inc Pi exc

TABLE 3.6

-

-y ikanta

-kanta

-

1kanta

Irrealis forms of the subject (S

TRANSITIVE V_____ ____________________

present

£

1ipka

A) clitic

INTRANSITIVE j

V

as for the intransitive present realis as for the intransitive future realis

future

_____________________________________A ______ f

past

as for the transitive future realis

singular , , inc dual exc -i inc plural exc -1

first -kayipki

second third -yinipki -nipki

-kur ipki ... . . -wuripki -paripki -ku 1ipki pal ipki

~WU

.. . . 1^ 1

... -ripki —

,. .. 11Qki

realis and irrealis aspect. The imperative mood has realis and irrealis forms in both the transitive and intransitive categories (3.5.2) and subject-object combinations can be interpreted as having both realis and irrealis forms corres­ ponding to their transitive and intransitive forms respect­ ively (5.1.3). The desiderative mood has separate realis and irrealis forms only within the intransitive category (4.7.1, 4.7.2) and the dichotomy is preserved within the transitive category by the use of the anti-passive trans­ formation to generate an irrealis construction.

3.4 The oX'it'ic complex

221

Note that specific forms of the subject clitic for irrealis aspect exist only within the intransitive past tense category and that these are quite similar to intransitive future tense forms. Within the transitive category, tran­ sitive future tense forms are used to mark past irrealis, and intransitive future (present) tense forms are used to mark future (present) irrealis; thus future and present irrealis sentences have intransitive form although they have a tran­ sitive verb (see 4.5.1). (86a)

wu I a n t a - p a r i food+ABS-I+PRES(Realis) I'm cooking tucker

kanatya cook+IND

(86b)

kanata-kati w u la n in y tya cook+DES-I+PRES(Irrealis) food+DAT I'd like to cook some tucker

(86c)

w alira -kati kanatYari wujaninYtYa NEG-I+PRES(Irrealis) cook(Vtr)+NEG IND food+DAT I'm not cooking tucker

(87)

pa I t a - p a I ipka war a t Ya we+PL+NOM-we(EXC)PL+PAST(Realis) go+IND We all went

(88)

t a p k i I u - k a y i pka wara mu nkupay i napa here+ALL-I+PAST(Realis) go(Vi) Burketown+ABL I came here from Burketown

(89)

w i t i tYa-ma I t a - w u r i q k i stay+IND-INTERR+also-you+DU+PAST(Irrealis) Why didn't you stay too?

(90)

p a r u t Y i - kay i q ki tira ltitY a now-I+PAST(Irrealis) slip(Vi)+IND I nearly slipped (Lit: I might have slipped just now)

(91)

mar i t y a - ku I uwa-n i Qk i kampur i t Y u r k a hear+IND-us(INC)+PL-he+FUT(Irrealis) talk+iND+PART He might be listening to us talking

3.4.2 DELETION OF THE CLITIC COMPLEX. The clitic complex marks aspect and the only sentences which do not include it are those which emphasise a permanent, timeless state of affairs. For example, (92) expresses 'competence' as com­ pared with (93) which expresses 'performance'. Note that the actor in (92) is marked by the absolutive case not the ergative case and so this sentence has more of the quality of a non-verbal statement. Deletion of the clitic complex has a similar function for nominal sentences (see 4.1.3). A set of instructions need not include the clitic complex (see (248) in 4.12.1 and Text 3). (92)

k u l u wa n t a m i r a l a t a k a t a r a bird+ABS make+IND nest+ABS Rainbirds make nests

(93)

ku I u w a n k i - k a r i m i r a l a t a katara bird+ERG-TR+PRES make+IND nest+ABS The rainbird is making a nest

222

Yükulta

3.4.3 THE TRANSITIVITY MARKER. This followsthe subject/ object clitics. It has the canonical form {-ka}, and marks a sentence as transitive; it has the allomorphs -Qa~-ka. Allomorph -qa only occurs when the -qa form of the bound pronoun is combined with the -npu form. This is pro­ bably just a kind of alliterative agreement. (Compare sen­ tences (94a) and (94b)). (94a)

q a t a - q a +n p u +q a + n t i

kuritVa

I+NOM-I+them+TR+FUT see+IND I'll see them(or you)-plural (94b)

qata-qa+rqu+ka+nt i

kuritVa

I+NOM-I+them+TR+FUT see+IND I'll see them(or you)-dual

When a first person singular subject occurs with an un­ marked singular object no transitivity marker is present, as in (95). However, there are many other indications of tran­ sitivity . (95)

kur itya-qa+0+r i see+IND-I(A)+him(0)+PRES (Transitive form of the tense-aspect I see him marker)

(Note that this $> has generally been omitted in the text to simplify the presentation). The allomorph -ka occurs in all other transitive sen­ tences . 3.4.4 TENSE-ASPECT MARKERS. Table 3.7 shows all forms of the tense-aspect markers, which come at the end of the clit­ ic complex. Note that transitive and intransitive forms are divided into realis and irrealis forms to mark aspect. It will be seen that the transitive realis future tense marker -nt i also marks past tense, irrealis aspect. The rea­ son for this is discussed in 5.1.1. Compare also the in­ transitive past tense irrealis form -(y)iqki and the future form -iqki which is used to mark realis and irrealis intran­ sitive future and also to mark transitive irrealis future. The future tense morpheme {-iqki} has the allomorphs -y i— iqki. The -iqki form occurs with singular second and third person subjects and -yi occurs elsewhere. The present tense morpheme {—ti} is used to mark transi­ tive irrealis as well as intransitive realis and irrealis aspect. It has the allomorphs - q k a ( t i ) ~ - t i ~0 . The zero real­ ization is preferred but otherwise - q k a ( t i ) occurs only with a third person singular subject and - t i occurs elsewhere. 5.2 deals with the relation between tense-aspect forms and the concepts of time and aspect. 3.5

VERB MORPHOLOGY

A verb is a word which takes an inflection indicating mood. Sentence clitics are the only other suffixes which can occur on the verb stem. Tense markers form part of the clitic complex and are not specifically verbal suffixes. 3.5.1

TRANSITIVITY.

Verbs can be categorised as transitive

3.5

Verb morphology

223

TABLE 3.7 - Tense-aspect markers TRANSITIVE

INTRANSITIVE

past

present

future

past

present

future

realis

-nta

-r i

-nt i

- iQka

{-t i}

{- Iq k i}

irrealis

-nt i

{-til

{- irjki }

— iq k i

{-til

{- iq k i}

or intransitive by their derivation (3.5.3) or by their con­ jugation pattern (Table 3.8). Of a total dictionary of 1,250 items, 344 were verbs and of these 55% were intransi­ tive and 45% were transitive. (a) Intransitive verbs - Class 1 and Class 2. On syntactic grounds the intransitive category can be further subdivided into Class 1 and Class 2 verbs. Class 1 verbs occur obli­ gatorily with an S NP and comprise the bulk of the intran­ sitive verbs (Vi). Class 2 verbs have an S NP plus an obli­ gatory dative NP and include only a small number of verbs, referred to here as middle verbs (Vm) and listed below. These verbs only take an animate subject. This list could probably be extended upon more detailed examination of the data already collected and more work needs to be done in this area. Iatit Va wait for someone/something piIkaI itya be sorry for someone pulwit^a be frightened of someone/something marinYmarit Ya dream of or think of someone/something paltYifYa fall on someone/something kampuritYa talk to someone

(b) Transitive verbs. In a transitive sentence transitive verbs occur obligatorily with both an 0 NP marked by absolutive case and an A NP marked by ergative case (4.1.2), but in a semi-transitive sentence these verbs behave as Class 2 intransitive verbs, that is, the 0 NP is marked by dative case and the A NP is marked by absolutive case (see 4.5.1). The verb tYanitYa is somewhat irregular in that it can function as a middle verb instead of as a transitive verb, as in (96a). When it does have a transitive clitic complex it takes an object marked by the comitative derivational suffix as can some other middle verbs - see (96b) and 3.2.3c. (96a) t^an it^a-kat i mant uwara-nta look+IND-I+PRES boy-DAT I'm looking for the boy

(96b)

tYanit^a-pari ma nt uwara-wu 1u look+IND-I+PRES boy-COM I'm looking for the boy

There is a subtle difference in meaning between (96a) and (^Gb) which is hard to express in English. The comitative in (96b) signals 'potential association'.

224

Yukulta TABLE 3.8 - Conjugation patterns

indicative (IND) imperative (IMP)

realis

J

realis(IMP) ][irrealis(HORT)

desiderative]frealis(INTENT) [irrealis(DESIRE) (DES)

transitive, e.g.

intransitive, e.g.

kuri 'to see'

wara 'to walk'

kur ifYa

waratYa

ku r ika kuriki

waratYa waratY i

kur ita kur ita

waratYu 1u warata

3.5.2 CONJUGATION. Yukulta has two distinct conjugation patterns which correlate with transitive and intransitive categories of verbs; these are shown in Table 3.8. Note that there are realis and irrealis forms of the imperative and desiderative moods and that the indicative mood has irrealis aspect when negated (Table 3.9). Further explana­ tion and examples are given in 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8. Mood inflections are suffixed to a verb root. Table 3.9 shows the forms for each mood. Indicative and imperative mood suffixes have both a - t a form and a - t Y a form and these generally obey the following morphophonemic rule which is similar to the general morphophonemic rule stated in 2.4.2. - t a follows / a /

and / u / , e.g. k u r k a t a get(Vtr)+IND, k i r w i l u t a put out (fire) (Vtr)+IND

- t Y a elsewhere.

e.g. Q u t i t Y a throw (Vtr)+IND, p a : f Y a bite (Vtr)+IND, warfYa go quickly (Vi)+IND

There are, however, a few exceptions e.g. t i y a t Y a eat(Vtr), k i n a t Y a drop something (Vtr); one striking exception to this rule raises the question whether the indicative mood suffix might not be better treated as a verbaliser (see 3.5.3(b)). The negative indicative suffix - t a r i ~ - t Y a r i ~ 0 may be de­ rived from the privative stem-forming suffix - w a r i . When the verb has past reference the negative indicative is unmarked. Note that negation neutralises the distinction between transitive and intransitive forms of the imperative and de­ siderative moods. This parallels the fact that a negativeindicative sentence takes intransitive form due to the anti­ passive transformation (4.5). The hortative-imperative dis­ tinction is also neutralised on negation. Note also that there is only one form of the transitive desiderative out that the realis-irrealis distinction is evident from the construction, the irrealis form being set in a semi-transitive sentence (4.7.2). 3.5.3 VERBAL DERIVATIONS. The mood inflection on a verb can be omitted when the action has past reference. It may also sometimes be omitted to improve the rhythmic feel e.g. with a reduplicated root, (155b), or when the verb is final word in an interrogative sentence, (13). A verbal stem may consist of more than one nominal or verbal root and it may

3.5

225

Verb morphology

TABLE 3.9 - Mood inflection INDICATIVE

realis -ta-tYa ~0

AFFIRMATIVE

IMPERATIVE trans intrans realis (IMP)

-ka

-ta~ -tYa

realis , , (INTENT)

-ta

-u u

irrealis |(HORT)

-ki

irrealis -t i~ -tYi , __I (DESIRE)

, ”ta

, _ta |

V

NEGATIVE

DESIDERATIVE trans intrans

irrealis -tari~ -t Yar i~0

irrealis

-na

V

realis irrealis

-naqkulu -nata

have a stem-forming affix. (3.5.3(c)). (a) Compound verbs. The compound stem may involve a nominal root plus a verbal root: pulpul-ulata pluck (Vtr) feather-take off(Vtr)+IND

wuru-Qutit^a be born (Vi) sharp-throw(Vtr)+IND

Or a reduplicated verbal root: tYani-tVanitVa look-look+IND

search for something (Vtr)

kampur i-kampur ifYa talk-talk+IND

chat (Vi)

Or a reduplicated verbal stem: palat-palata beat up (Vtr) hit-hit-IND

pu {titY-puItitVa throw-throw+IND

stone someone (Vtr)

Reduplication intensifies the action or state represented by the verb so that the speed or continuity of the action is stressed: (97)

wartYa-wartya-y iqka tula: -tu Ia :fYa tyaw i-fYaw itya-y iqka quick-quick+IND-PAST descend-descend+IND run-run+IND-PAST He got down smartly and ran for his life

(b) Verbaliser/indicative. In some cases the indicative mood appears to function as a verbaliser in that the - t Y a form is chosen to represent an intransitive verb thus over­ riding the morphophonemic rule mentioned in 3.5.2. For example, in the transitive verb k u r a l a t a 'to scatter' the rule is obeyed but in the intransitive verb k u r a l a f Y a 'to spread' the - f Y a form follows / a / . This phenomenon also occurs in the derivation of adverbs and reflexive forms of verbs, see (d) and (e) below. (c) Stem-forming affixes. The affix -arma derives a verb when added to a noun or to a verb following the verbaliser/ indicative. Vowel loss occurs to prevent a VV sequence: kantuwa + blood+ABS

-arma -> kantuwarmatYa, bleed (Vi) +IND

ta 11 it Va + -arma -* ta 11 itYarmata, stand something up (Vtr) stand(Vi)+IND

226

Yukulta

p i Iwata + break into(Vtr)+IND

arma -»■ p iIw a t a r m a t a , burst something (Vtr)

This affix has a causative meaning and is similar in form to the participle - a r p a (4.10.2). Other stem-forming affixes derive a verb from a nominal root. The causative affix -Iu derives a transitive verb and -wa derives an intransitive verb: kapufY i - Iu - t a blind(ADJ)-cause-IND

blind someone (Vtr)

kaputt i-wa-ta blind-become-IND

go blind (Vi)

Other stem-forming affixes (VBLSR) are -la, -ma, {—t i}. {—t i} follows a nominal root ending in a consonant (see below) and the other affixes follow a root which ends in a vowel. Note that all of the latter end in /a/ and they derive a transi­ tive verb when they are followed by the -ta form of the ver­ bal iser /indicat ive . If, however, they are followed by -t^a they then derive an intransitive verb. e.g,

ni-la-ta, name someone (Vtr) n i-la -tY a ,

identify oneself (Vi)

{-til derives an intransitive or transitive verb. allomorphs are:

Its

-ti following /I, n/ e.g. pupkaI-ti-t^a 'sit with one knee up (Vi)' knee-VBLSR-IND -ti following /I, n/ e.g. mipuI-ti-t^a 'threaten (Vtr)' eye-VBLSR-IND -fVi following /r/ (/r/ + /t/ is not permitted) e.g. yuImpur-tY i-tYa 'stretch out (Vi)' long-VBLSR-IND

(d) Adverbs. Not many adverbs are included in the corpus and they can often not be distinguished from a verb i.e. they have a verb or adjective root plus the verbaliser/indi­ cative e.g. war t Ya can mean either 'quickly' or 'go quickly' (see also 4.3.2). Other adverbs are derived from adjectives by adding the verbal stem-forming affix -la to the adjective root followed by a form of the verbaliser/indicative. The -t^a form of the verbaliser/indicative is chosen to agree with an intransitive verb as in (98). (98) mant uwar ama-y i pka m i r a - l a - t ^ a wirkafYa boy+STAT-PAST good-VBLSR-IND play(Vi)+IND The boy used to dance well

(99)

kuya-yikanti

tanta

wapal k a

m ira-la-ta

INTERR-you+TR+FUT this+ABS boomerang+ABS good-VBLSR-IND put i

throw(Vtr) Can you throw this boomerang well?

(e) Reflexive and reciprocal verbs. Not enough data was col­ lected on these to make a very detailed study but one point worth noting is that some reflexive verbs are derived from transitive verbs by substituting the -t^a allomorph of the

3. 5 Verb morphology

227

verbaliser/indicative for the - t a allomorph. This only occurs when the verb root ends in /a/, as in the examples below, and it is not known how other reflexives are formed. mijiyata 'cut' m i J i y a t V a 'cut oneself'

palata ' h i t ' p a l a t Y a 'stab head during mourning

rites'

The reciprocal stem-forming suffix { - n Y f Y u } verb root to derive a reciprocal verb:

is added to a

- n Yt Yu follows a verb root ending in / i /, e.g. k u r i - n Y t Y u

other' - n t u occurs elsewhere, e.g. f Y a m p i l a - n t u 'curse each other'

'see each

'kick each other', t Y u - n t u

Note the similarity of the reciprocal to the dative -nta-inYtYa. A reciprocal verb could be thought of as a kind of middle verb with its object merged into it. (f) The interrogative verb pakawat a 'do what is formed by adding the stem-forming affix -wa 'become' to the interro­ gative pronoun, paka 'who?, what?', e.g. (100)

Qa ka w a t a - k u I ay i

pal mpimaQki

what?+become+IND-we(INC)+PL+FUT tomorrow+INTERR+ERG What'll we do tomorrow?

A. SYNTAX 4.1

SIMPLE SENTENCES

Simple sentences in Yukulta are patterned on either a transitive or an intransitive construction. The difference between these is shown up most clearly in the clitic complex which has a transitivity marker (3.4.3) and both transitive and intransitive forms of the tense-aspect marker (3.4.4). Every sentence has at least a topic NP which may be represented by a free form or just within the clitic system. The topic NP can be either S NP or 0 NP and is marked by absolutive case (or nominative on a pronominal NP). 4.1.1 THE INTRANSITIVE CONSTRUCTION. The intransitive con­ struction is most easily recognised by the presence of in­ transitive forms of the tense-aspect marker. Intransitive verbs fall into two classes according to their syntactic function (3.5.1) so there are two types of intransitive const ruction: (a) The intransitive sentence. An intransitive sentence has a Class 1 intransitive verb (Vi) and a noun phrase mark­ ed by absolutive case which functions as the subject (S function). On pronominals the nominative case marks S function (3.3.2a). (101)

tar)ka-ra-Qka waratYa

man-ABS-PRES walk(Vi)+IND The man is walking

228

Yukulta

(b) The middle sentence. A middle sentence has a class 2 intransitive verb (Vm), an absolutive noun phrase function­ ing as subject, and a noun phrase marked by dative case which functions as intransitive object. (102)

t a r ] k a - r a - Q k a p i ] ka I i t ^ a

kuna wun a - n t a

man-ABS-PRES empathise+iND child-DAT The man is sorry for the child (103)

pulwitYa-oka

Q it^in ta

katu

yutayuta-nta

be frightened+IND-PRES my+ABS daughter sea-DAT My daughter is frightened of the sea

4.1.2 THE TRANSITIVE CONSTRUCTION. This is most easily recognised by the presence of the transitivity marker {-ka} and the transitive form of the tense-aspect marker. A transitive sentence has a transitive verb, a noun phrase (the A NP) marked by ergative case and functioning as agent, and a noun phrase (the 0] NP) marked by absolutive case and functioning as transitive object. Pronominal NPs are marked by nominative case. (104)

taoka-ya-kar i

kunawuna-0 pa l a t a

man-ERG-TR+PRES child-ABS hit(Vtr)+IND The man is hitting the child

The semi-transitive sentence, although it has a transitive verb, is patterned on an intransitive construction and has the same form as a middle sentence (see 4.5.1). 4 .1 .3 THE NOMINAL SENTENCE. A nominal sentence has no verb. It has a topic noun phrase marked by absolutive case, the first constituent of which is marked by the stative clitic {-ma}. The comment noun phrase may be marked by ab­ solutive or dative case.

(105)

tan-ma-0-r)ka

wuruwulu-0

m iyalulu-0

this-STAT-ABS-PRES

sharp+COM-ABS

spear+COM-ABS

He (106)

has

a

sharp

spear

qan-ma-0-kat i

m iya[w ari-0

I-STAT-ABS-TR+PRES I haven't (107)

(108)

got

a

spear+PRIV-ABS

spear

t a t i n-ma-0-Qka

Qamanta

that

one-STAT-ABS-PRES

hungry+ABS

He's

hungry

tan-ma-0-pa-0

ya ku li-0

Qumpan- i nYt ^a t i r k u l - i n Y t Y c

this - S T A T - A B S - y o u (0BL)-PRES

fish^ABS

your-DAT

This

fish

is

for

your

husband-DAT

husband

Nominal sentences normally contain a clitic complex but when they refer to a permanent state of affairs the clitic complex is deleted to form a tenseless statement. Compare the following sentences with those above. (108) and (112) are interesting to compare because they reflect the import­ ance of ritual obligation in Aboriginal culture. The use of the clitics in (108) indicates that the item is a spon­ taneous gift rather than a repetition of the formal pattern of gift-giving as in (112).

4.1 (109)

Qaka

tanma

taQka

who

this+STAT

man

Who's ( H O )

tapkara

pit^inta

katuwa

that+STAT

man+ABS

my+ABS

son+ABS

man's

(112)

my

son

tanma

patapu

muntamura

this+STAT

big

island+ABS

This

is

a big

island

tanma

yakuli

rji fVi ni n V t ^ a

yampinVt^a

this+STAT

fish

my+DAT

father-in- law+DAT

This

is

fish

229

man?

tatinma That

( H I )

this

Simple sentences

for m y

father-in-law

Not all verbless sentences are nominal sentences. Some have an underlying verb which is ’understood'. For example, the verb wititVa 'to exist, stay, lie' may be omitted from any sentence with a locative noun phrase or a location word. (113)

tira-pka

kamari

snake+ABS-PRES

stone+ERG/LOC

The

snake

is

on

the

( w i t it^a)

stone

4.1.4 THE MINIMAL VERBAL SENTENCE. NPs in S, A and 0 func­ tions are obligatory in the sense that, even if they are not physically present, the catalyst contains implicit reference to them. Thus the minimal verbal sentence consists of the verb suffixed by the catalyst and referred to as the verb phrase word. (114)

w a r a t Y a - p a - 1— iq ka w a l k + I N D - w e (E X C ) - P L - P A S T We walked

(115)

kur itYa-ku-r-ka-r i see+IND-we(INC)-DU-TR-PRES We

two

are

looking

4.1.5 WORD ORDER. The verb phrase word can be expanded by the addition of A, S and 0 NPs in agreement with the cata­ lyst, by local NPs, adverbs and particles. Particles always occur as the first word in a sentence and adverbs usually occur next to the verb. Local NPs have great positional variation and, although the order of other NPs also varies, a preferred order does emerge in relation to the verb, as follows: intransitive middle transitive

S S A

V V V

0 oL

When no A is present in a transitive sentence the preferred order OV but VO is often heard and when the S NP is not present in a middle sentence VD is the preferred order. AOV is also quite commonly found. 4.2

NOUN PHRASES A noun phrase consists of an obligatory head slot which

230

Yukulta

can be filled by a pronoun, or by a noun plus optional qual­ ifiers chosen from the nominal word class. The head is marked by a case inflection which serves to indicate the function of the NP and qualifiers take case inflections in agreement with that of the head. Word order within NPs is very free except that the in­ terrogative qualifier can only occur as the first constitu­ ent in a sentence. Qualifiers tend to precede the head but if there are two or more, one of these may follow the head. (116)

p a k a - 0 ta£inma-pka ta:;£a:ta who-ABS that+INTERR-PRES travel+IND Who's that walking along?

(117)

pa : t Ya-ku 1uwa-n i p k i ta tin ta pirwanta pawu-0 pitiya bite+IND-us(lNC)+PL-he+FUT that+ABS their+ABS bad+ABS dog-ABS That nasty dog of theirs might bite us(pl)

(118)

Qumpanta pawu-0 pat a p u - 0 - t , u - y ipka p a : t 7 a your+ABS dog-ABS big-ABS-me-PAST bite+IND Your big dog bit me

4.2.1 NOUN PHRASES IN A FUNCTION. The A NP is marked by the ergative case (3.2.2b) and functions as the agent in a transitive sentence. Personal pronoun constituents are marked by nominative case (3.3.2a). 4.2.2 NOUN PHRASES IN 0 FUNCTION (a) The 0^ NP is marked by the absolutive case (3.2.2a), or nominative case for personal pronoun constituents. It functions as the object in a transitive sentence (4.1.2): (119)

mut a- 0

Qita-kanta

kijata

ta tin k i

niwant^i

much-ABS wood+ABS-TR+PAST fetch(Vtr)+IND that+ERG his+ERG kant i ya

wife+ERG That wife of his fetched a big mob of wood

(b) The O 2 NP is marked by dative case and functions as the object in a middle sentence (4.1.1b) or the object in a semi-transitive sentence (4.5.1). On pronominal NPs, how­ ever, the benefactive case marks the object in a middle sentence (3.3.2c) and the objective case marks the object in a semi-transitive sentence (3.3.2b). (120)

pa { t y i t ^ a - y i q ka

wajm atilu

n i w a n i n y f V a f Y a r t y a r i nYl ^ a

fail(Vm)+IND-PAST on top+ALL his+DAT w a y i r i nYfya

mate+DAT He fell on top of his beaten-up mate (121)

w a lira -ka ti

tiyatV ari

wulaninYfya

NEG-I+PRES eat(Vtr)+IND+NEG food+DAT I'm not eating any tucker (122)

I at i fYa-rja I a

pumpara

wait(Vm)+IND-we(EXC)+PL you+BEN We're waiting for you

beaten+DAT

4.2 Noun phrases (123)

wa I i ra-Qa I awa-n i q k i

pa I a

palawantVi

231

pujtamuri

NEG-us(EXC)+PL(OBL)-he+FUT hit(Vtr) us+PL+GEN+OBJ three+ERG He didn't hit us three

4.2.3 NOUN PHRASES IN S FUNCTION. The S NP is marked by the absolutive case (or nominative for pronouns) and it functions as the subject in an intransitive sentence (124), or a middle sentence (125), or the topic in a nominal sen­ tence (126) . (124)

pawuwa-p ka

wa 1uw i t Y a

dog+ABS-PRES bark(Vi)+IND The dog is barking (125)

pu 1t a m u r a - n a - w u 1a ki 1t a kutiwit i you+PL+NOM three+ABS-him(OBL)-you+PL before pu I w i tYa

be frightened(Vm)+IND You three used to be frightened of him before (126)

tatinm a

tapkara y a t i l t a

that+STAT man+ABS strong+ABS That man is strong

4.2.4 NOUN PHRASES IN BENEFACTIVE FUNCTION. The benefact­ ive NP is marked by dative case (3.2.2c), or benefactive case for pronominal NPs (3.3.2c), and it functions as the optional beneficiary in all sentence types. (127)

tanma

wapalka-pa

pumpani nYt Ya kunYa n t a

this+STAT boomerang+ABS-you(OBL) your+DAT

little+DAT

ma nt uwarant a

boy+DAT This boomerang is for your little boy (128)

tanma

yakuli

kirwara

this+STAT fish’ you+DU+BEN This fish is for you two (129)

t a t i n i n Y t Y a m a n t u w a r a n t a - p a I ka n t a y i : t Y a

tapujta

that+DAT boy+DAT-we+PL+TR+PAST give+IND crab+ABS We gave that boy some crabs (130)

waratYa-tayi

pama t un t a

p i t Y i n i n Y f Y a kantatunta

go+IND-I+FUT mother+DAT my+DAT I'm going to my mummy and daddy

father+DAT

The dative NP in (130) signifies more than just destin­ ation. It has benefactive overtones because of emotional connotations which make the semantic connection between the constituents quite strong, e.g.'I'm going to mummy and daddy for their love and protection which they want to give m e . ' wa r at Ya 'go' takes the allative case for pure destination or goal of motion (see 3.2.2d). 4.2.5 NOUN PHRASES IN LOCAL FUNCTION. A local NP serves to locate the event represented by the verb. It is marked by a local case suffix which indicates 'state to or from' or 'motion to or from', or by the ergative case with locative function (3.2.2d).

232 (131)

Yukulta pulaka

m iyalta

tatinkinapa

pat a p u n a p a y a k u j i n a p a

pull+IMP spear+ABS that+ABL big+ABL Pull the spear out of that big fish! (132)

kur i t y i I u - k a y i pka

war at Ya k a l k a n k i l u

see+IND+ALL-I+PAST go+IND

sick+ALL

fish+ABL

kunawunal u

child+ALL

t a t i npakarantY i I u t a p k a k a r a n t ^ i I u

that+GEN+ALL man+GEN+ALL I went to see that man's sick baby

4.2.6 NOUN PHRASES IN POSSESSIVE FUNCTION. A possessive noun phrase consists of a possessed noun (NP head) and a phrase representing the possessor (having animate reference) which qualifies this head. Ail constituents of the qualify­ ing phrase are marked by the genitive suffix { - w a k a r a n } foll­ owed by a case suffix which agrees with the case of the possessed noun. The possessive NP marks alienable possess­ ion, as distinct from inalienable possession. The latter is expressed by juxtaposition of the word representing the whole (or genus) plus that representing the part (or spec­ ies) and both constituents take the same case suffix. Com­ pare (132-4) which represent alienable possession with (135-8) which represent inalienable possession. (133)

ma n t uwa r ak a r a p a ma t u- p k a puka kutiwit i this+GEN boy+GEN mother-PRES die(Vi) long ago This boy's mother died a long time ago

(134)

Quku kilaka t a t in p a k a r a n t y i t a p k a k a r a n t Y i pamp ir i water get+IMP that+GEN+ERG man+GEN+ERG humpy+ERG Get some water at that man's humpy!

(135)

tatinma

tanpakara

ma k u r a r a t Y a r a

that+STAT wallaby foot+ABS That's a wallaby track (136)

k un a w u n a - 1i pka w i t i f Y a papaya kitili child-they+PAST sit+IND turtle+ERG back+ERG The children were sitting on the turtle's back

(137)

t u 1a : t u 1a : tYa k i r i k i n a p a

tupalinapa

descend+IMP fig+ABL tree+ABL Get down off that fig tree! (138)

p a w u y a- k a n t a

pa:t^a

p itY in ta

dog+ERG-TR+PAST bite+IND my+ABS The dog bit my mother's leg

4.3

pamatu k u l t u r a

mother lower leg+ABS

VERB PHRASES

4.3.1 CONSTITUENTS. In an intransitive sentence the verb phrase consists of the verb with optional modifiers (4.3.2) and in a middle sentence the verb phrase has a dative NP as well which, if not actually present, is referred to in the clitic complex. In a transitive sentence the verb phrase has an obligatory 0 NP which may be present in the construc­ tion, or only referred to by the clitic complex. 4.3.2 VERBAL MODIFIERS. Verbs can be modified by adverbs or by another verb. The 'adverb' is derived by adding a

4.3

Verb phrases

233

verbal stem-forming affix to an adjective root (3.5.3d) or by adding the verbaliser/indicative suffix to the root: (139)

wilwatYa-Qka

ta :ta :ta

slow+IND-PRES travel+IND He's travelling slowly

(140)

wartVawartya-Qka waratYa quick+IND-PRES go+IND He's walking fast

In a case where juxtaposed verbs are closely linked semanti­ cally and have the same inherent transitivity one of the verbs has a modifying function similar to that of the adverb. (141)

qamat u-y iqka p i}p ijiIiwata lapit^a mother-PAST fly(Vi)+IND get up(Vi)+IND Mother bird took off into the air (i.e. Mother bird flyingly got up)

(142)

kantatu-n iqki

wara

wampalmatYa

father+ABS-he+FUT go(Vi) hunt(Vi)+IND Father will go hunting

4.4

WORD LEVEL DERIVATIONS

4.4.1 NOUNS DERIVED FROM VERBS. A noun may be derived from a verb by the addition of the stem-forming suffix -n to the verb. The derived nominal stem then takes normal case in­ flection, e.g. kapa + -n -> kapanta find(Vtr)

hunter+ABS

The allative case suffix may be added to a verb to form the head of a local N P . This only occurs in sentences where the verb implies movement. (143)

waratYa-kati

kur ity i[u

go+IND-I+PRES look+ALL I'm going to have a look

(144)

m iIat Ya-kay iqka

qumpantYilu kur itY iIu

return+IND-I+PAST you+ALL I came back to see you

see+ALL

A verb can also be nominalised by the addition of a complementiser to the verbal stem and it then takes case infl­ ection in agreement with the head of the noun phrase which it complements. (See 4.10.2.) 4.4.2 VERBS DERIVED FROM NOUNS. A verb may be derived by adding a stem-forming affix to a nominal root. These verbalisers are discussed in 3.5.3c and include -lu transitive causative, -wa intransitive causative, {-ti} following a nom­ inal root ending in a consonant and -la, -ma, following a nominal root ending in a vowel. No specific meaning can be given for the last three and they derive either a transitive or an intransitive verb depending on the form of the verbaliser/indicative (see 3.5.3c). 4.4.3. THE RECIPROCAL VERB. A reciprocal verb is derived by adding the suffix {-nYtYu} to a verbal stem (see 3.5.3e

234

Yukulta TABLE 4.1 - Case substitutions

transitive semi-transitive

nominal A 0

pronominal free pronoun bound pronoun

ERG ABS

A NOM NOM

ABS DAT/ERG

0 NOM OBJ

A NOM NOM

0 ACC OBL

for morphological rules). This derives an intransitive verb which could be thought of as a Class 2 verb (Vm) with its object merged into it. (145)

4.5

pu Jt i n^ t ^ u t a - I i q ka waqalkulu la : n t u t a - I iqka hit+RECIP+IND-they+PAST boomerang+COM spear+RECIP+IND-they+PAST m i ya I u } u spear+COM They speared one another (with spears) and hit one another with boomerangs

THE ANTI-PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION

The anti-passive transformation is an important syntac­ tic process in Yukulta which 'reduces' the surface transi­ tivity of a sentence by reassigning the A NP with intransi­ tive subject (S) function and the 0 NP with intransitive (indirect) object function. Compare: (146)

kuqu I - i - 0 - k a n t a part^a mosquito-ERG-him(ACC)-TR+PAST bite(Vtr)+IND A mosquito bit him

(147)

kuquI-ta-tu-yiqka partYa mosquito-ABS-me(OBL)-PAST bite(Vtr)+IND A mosquito bit me

Table 4.1 shows case substitutions made by the anti-passive transformation on both nominal and pronominal NPs. 4.5.1 THE SEMI-TRANSITIVE SENTENCE. From Table 4.1 it can be seen that a semi-transitive sentence has an A NP marked by absolutive case and an 0 NP marked by dative case and that therefore the form of a semi-transifive sentence is similar to that of a middle sentence (4.1.1b). A pronominal A NP is marked by the nominative case and the O NP is marked by the objective case which has a form similar to that of the ergative-locative of the nominal case system. Note that the nominal 0 NP is marked by the ergative/locative case when there is a benefactive NP in the sentence. This is to avoid having two NPs marked by the dative (3.2.2c). Examples of semi-transitive sentences are included in 4.5.3-4.5.6. 4.5.2 IRREALIS ASPECT. The anti-passive transformation occurs under the following conditions: (i) When a sentence situated in the non-past has the feature of negation. (ii) When a desiderative sentence has irrealis aspect. (iii) When irrealis subject-object combinations occur.

4.5

The anti-passive transformation

235

(iv) When a sentence has a conditional clause or expresses doubt, uncertainty or some kind of subjunctive mood. These conditions all have one factor in common which is that of irrealis aspect. Aspect is a rather elusive concept not clearly evident at first from surface structure form but when an overall view of the language is taken it is evident that there is an important underlying aspectual system in Yukulta. (See Dia­ gram C in 5.2.1.) Aspect is shown up either by the exist­ ence of separate realis and irrealis forms (3.4.1) or, with­ in the transitive category, by separate constructions, the semi-transitive construction having irrealis aspect and the transitive construction having realis aspect. Realis aspect represents an actual event or one with a high potential of occurrence. Irrealis aspect represents an event which has either no potential of occurrence or whose potential is sig­ nificantly lower than that of an event with realis aspect. Section 5.1 analyses the anti-passive transformation from a semantic viewpoint and highlights the underlying similarity of these conditions. The following discussion gives exam­ ples of the different types of semi-transitive sentence gen­ erated by the anti-passive transformation. 4.5.3 NEGATION. Negation is discussed more fully in 4.6 but what is of interest here is that the anti-passive transfor­ mation does not occur when a negative sentence has past tense reference, only if it is non-past. In other words such a sentence is not considered to have sufficient 'irrealisness' to trigger off the transformation. The reason for this is discussed in 5.1. The following three sentences all have the feature of negation but note that whereas (148-9) are semi-transitive sentences, (150) does not show the semi-transitive con­ struction. However, the past tense has been transformed to a future tense in (150) to indicate that it has increased in irrealisness. (See also 4.6.) (148)

walira-kati

kuritYari

p u mpani nYf ya m i y a l i n Y f y a

NEG-I+PRES see(Vtr)+IND+NEG your+DAT I can't see your spear

(149)

walira-tayi

k a p a t a r i pumpan i nYt ya m i y a l i n y f y a

NEG-I+FUT find(Vtr)+IND+NEG your+DAT I won't find your spear

(150)

walira-panti

spear+DAT

kapa pumpant a

NEG-I+FUT find your+ABS I didn't find your spear

spear+DAT

miyalta

spear+ABS

4.5.4 IRREALIS DESIDERATIVE. A desiderative sentence with irrealis aspect expresses a lower degree of desire than one with realis aspect and it becomes a semi-transitive sentence whereas the realis sentence has transitive form (see also 4.7.2 and 5.1.2). (151a)

kurita-pa-0-ri see(Vtr)+DES(REAL)-I(tr)-you(ACC)-PRES I expect to see you

236

Yukulta

(151b)

kurita-paka

see(Vtr)+DES(IRREAL)-you(OBL)+I(intr) I'd like to see you

4.5.5 SUBJECT-OBJECT COMBINATIONS. The combination of the following subject-object pairs determines the anti-passive transformation: (a) a non-singular first person object (or indirect object) combined with any A, as in (152a), (153a); (b) a non-third person object combined with a third person, subject, as in (154a), (155a). Schematically the combinations requiring anti-passive can be represented as follows: 3, 2 > 1 non-singular 3 > 2, 1

Table 5.1 compares realis and irrealis subject-object com­ binations and section 5.1.3 provides a semantic interpre­ tation of this data. (152a)

p a w u - 0 - k u I u w a - y i q ka

p a r t Ya

dog-ABS-us(OBL)-PAST bite(Vtr)+IND The dog bit us

(153a)

pa Im p iya-QaIawa-yinipki wu:tYa tomorrow-us(OBL)-yo u(NOM)+FUT give(Vtr)+IND Tomorrow you will give it to us

(154a)

pa I m p i y a - t u - n i q ki

wu: t Ya

tomorrow-me(OBL)-he(NOM) give+IND Tomorrow he will give it to me

(155a)

t a t i n t a - r a w a - r i pka

kurit^a

kilw ant^i

that+ABS-you(OBL)-they(NOM)+PAST look(Vtr)+IND you+PL+OBJ Those fellows are looking at you lot

Compare these sentences with the corresponding examples below which have transitive form: (152b)

Qawuya- r QU- kant a

pa:tYa

dog+ERG-them(DU)(ACC)-TR+PAST bite+IND The dog bit them two (153b)

pa Imp i y a - n k - i - k a n t i

wu:tYa

tomorrow-me(ACC)-you(NOM)-TR+FUT give+IND Tomorrow you will give it to me (154b)

pa Imp i y a - Q a - 0 - n t i

wu : t Ya

tomorrow-I(NOM)-you(ACC)-FUT give+IND Tomorrow I'll give it to you (155b)

ki I t a - w u I kar i

kurlkuri

ta tin ta

t y at i

You+PL+NOM-you+PL+TR+PRES see(Vtr) that+ABS lot You lot are staring at them

4.5.6 CONDITIONAL AND DUBITATIVE SENTENCES. Conditional sentences and those expressing doubt and uncertainty or some kind of subjunctive mood probably provide a fourth condition for the anti-passive transformation but not enough data was collected to have actual proof of this. The closest evid­ ence would be a sentence such as (156) whose conditional clause is marked for past tense by the future form of the

4.5 The anti-passive transformation

237

tense-aspect marker. This suggests that a non-past transi­ tive conditional clause would have the form of a semi-tran­ sitive sentence. (156)

t a t i n-maoa l a- Qant i k u r i

k a mu - k a y i Qk i

t Yawi f Ya

that-if-I+FUT see(Vtr) and-I+PAST(IRREAL) run(Vi)+IND If I'd seen it I would have run away (15/)

mar i t Y a - y a n a - k u I u w a - n i p k i

pa I a n t u t a r p a n t a

h ea r+IND-migh t-we+PL-h e+FUT(IRREAL) fight+RECIP+PART+DAT He might hear us fighting

4.6 NEGATIVE SENTENCES Negation is marked in a sentence by selecting the neg­ ative form of the mood suffix and adding it to the verb stem. (See Table 3 . 9 in 3 . 5 . 2 . ) Negative-desiderative sentences are dealt with in 4 . 7 . 3 and negative-imperative sentences in 4 . 8 . 4 . A negative-indicative sentence is marked b y the mood suf­ fix - t a r i , - t Y a r i ~ 0 and as well b y the negative particle wa I i ra which occurs as the first word of the sentence. The ( b ) examples are negative versions of the indicative sentences. (158a)

put i y a t Y a - p k a

sleep(Vi)+IND-PRES He's sleeping (158b)

walira-pka

putiyatYari

NEG-PRES sleep+IND+NEG He isn't sleeping (159a)

talmata-kari

pita

chop(Vtr)+IND-TR+PRES wood+ABS He's chopping wood (159b)

walira-pka talmatari

pitYinYt^a

NEG-PRES chop+IND+NEG wood+DAT He isn't chopping wood

When negated, sentences with present and future tense reference are transformed to semi-transitive sentences by the anti-passive transformation, as in (159b) and (160b). However a sentence with past tense reference retains its transitive form but there is a tense substitution from past to future, (161b). This signifies an increase in irrealisness but not one significant enough to trigger the anti­ passive transformation. 5.1.1 explains why, from a semantic viewpoint, the anti-passive transformation does not apply in this case and 5.2.1 has a diagrammatic representation of the negative transformation (Diagram C). No confusion in mean­ ing arises between a sentence with negative-past reference and one with negative-future reference because the latter has semi-transitive form. (160a)

t a I ma t a - p a n t i

pita

chop+IND-I+FUT wood+ABS I'll chop the wood

Yukulta

238 (160b)

w a lira -ta yi

talm atari

qit

V i n^t ^ a

NEG-I+FUT chop+IND+NEG wood+DAT I won’t chop the wood (161a)

ta Imata-qanta

Qita

chop+IND-I+PAST wood+ABS I chopped the wood (161b)

wa I i r a - Q a n t i t a l m a ( t a )

Qita

NEG-I+FUT chop(IND) wood+ABS I didn't chop the wood

When the verb refers to a negative action in the past it is either marked by the affirmative indicative or is un­ marked as in (161b). (This could be another device showing that sentences in the past have not as high a degree of irrealisness as those in the non-past).

4.7

DESIDERATIVE SENTENCES

A desiderative sentence is marked by the addition of a desiderative mood suffix to the verb stem. (See Table 3.9.) There are both realis and irrealis forms of the desidera­ tive made evident by the form of the mood suffix or the type of construction that the sentence is patterned on. 4.7.1 REALIS-DESIDERATIVE. A realis-desiderative sentence takes the mood suffix -ta when the verb is transitive and - u l u when the verb is intransitive. The suffix - u l u is also used as an allomorph of the comitative derivational suffix (3.2.3c) and as a complementiser (4.10.2b). As realis-desiderative mood it expresses a degree of desire approaching purposefulness, intent or expectation. This mood can also imply abruptness or rudeness, it can accentuate a command, serve to remind someone of his duty, or can advise a certain course of action. (162)

w ar a t V u I u - k a t i

go(Vi)+DES-TR+PRES I intend to go (163)

tiyata-Q ari

kuruntawulu

eat(Vtr)+DES-I+PRES barramundi+COM I am going to have a feed of barramundi

Here -uluis used as a comitative not as desiderative and this is perhaps another argument for the postulation of a purposive case (see 3.2.3c), i.e.,certain desiderative verbs could take a complement marked by a purposive case. (164)

maritVala!

taQka-Qari m a rit^ a

kampuritYarpa

listen+IMP+PL man-I+PRES hear+DES talk(Vi)+PART Be quiet! I want to hear what that man's saying (165)

m i} iyata-y i kari

tanta

pirka

cut(Vtr)+DES-you+TR+PRES this+ABS string+ABS It's a good idea to cut this string (Lit. You expect to cut this string)

4. 7 Desiderative sentences (166)

pat i t a - t u - r k a r i

239

yalputa

carry+DES-me-DU+TR+PRES meat+ABS Those two ought to carry the meat for me

4.7.2 IRREALIS-DESIDERATIVE. The irrealis-desiderative mood is marked by the suffix -ta on both transitive and in­ transitive verbs, and the transitive verb is set in a semi­ transitive construction rather than a transitive construc­ tion. The irrealis-desiderative expresses a lesser degree of desire than the realis desiderative. It can suggest that the expectation of an action being completed or experienced is reduced due to outside factors as, for example, in (171). (167)

w arata-tayi

go(Vi)+DES-I+FUT I'd like to go (168)

t iyata-kat i

eat(Vtr)+DES-I+PRES I'd like a feed (169)

kawata-kat i

makuraranta

cook(Vtr)+DES-I+PRES wallaby+DAT I'd like to cook a wallaby in a ground oven by an old lady) (170)

I a r t ^ i I u ka - n a w a j a r a

(Said wistfully

taman i n ^ t ^ a - p a p u : t a

widen+IMP-him mouth+ABS tooth+DAT-you pull+DES Open your mouth for him, he wants to pull your tooth out

The use of the irrealis form in (170) implies a gentle coax­ ing rather than a strong order. (171)

waratYala!

kanata-kat i

w u la n in Y tya

go(Vi)+IMP+PL cook+DES-I+PRES food+DAT Go away, I want to cook some tucker [and I haven't a hope of doing it if you don't stop annoying me]

4.7.3 NEGATIVE-DESIDERATIVE. Desiderative sentences having the feature of negation can have either realis or irrealis aspect but the transitive-intransitive distinction is neu­ tralised and all negative-desiderative sentences are patt­ erned on an intransitive construction. Negation is marked by the suffix - n a which is added to the verbal stem and followed by the desiderative suffix. The negative-desiderative mood suffixes are - n a q k u l u , realis; - n a t a , irrealis (172) waranata-tayi go(Vi)+NEG+DES-I+FUT I don't want to go

(173)

t iy a n a t a - k a t i eat+NEG+DES-I+PRES I don't feel like eating

(174)

w a r a n a q k u 1u - k a t i go+NEG+DES-I+PRES

I'm trying to go (but I don't expect I'll be able to)

(175)

t iyanaqkuju-kat i kuruntawulu eat+NEG+DES-I+PRES barramundi+COM I can't eat barramundi (i.e. I haven''t any intention it because it's taboo to me.)

240

Yukulta

4.8

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

An imperative sentence is marked by adding the impera­ tive form of the mood suffix to the verbal stem (see Table 3.9). The clitic complex is either reduced or deleted as follows: tense-aspect markers and transitivity markers are deleted number markers and object-person markers remain subject-person markers are deleted except where there is a first person non-singular object or a non-singular addre­ ssee . The imperative never takes the anti-passive because when considered in relation to the mood hierarchy, it has the greatest degree of realisness (see 5.3.1). 4.8.1 REALIS IMPERATIVE. This is marked by the suffix -ka on transitive verbs and -ta or -t^a on intransitive verbs. (176) and (177) compare imperative sentences with their indicative counterparts; (178-80) illustrate how much of the clitic complex remains in imperative sentences. ( 176a)

nY i o ka-y i kar i

ta tinta

pawu pa 1ata

you(S)-you+TR+PAST that+ABS dog You're hitting that dog (176b)

pal aka

ta tinta

hit(Vtr)+IND

pawu

hit+IMP that+ABS dog Hit that dog! ( 177a)

nyipka-nyi t ^ a w i t Y a you(S)-you run(Vi)+IND You're running

( 177b)

t ^ a w itya

run+IMP Run! (178)

marika-ru

tatinta

tyat i

listen+IMP-them that+ABS lot Listen to them! (179)

mar i ka-nk-u 1a

listen+IMP-me-you+PL Listen to me(you pi)! (180)

k u r i k a - p a 1awa-yi

look+IMP-us+PL-you(S) Look at us !

4.8.2 IRREALIS IMPERATIVE (HORTATIVE). This is marked by the suffix -ki on transitive verbs and-t i or —tY i on intran­ sitive verbs. It is a gentler, less definite imperative than the realis form and indicates encouragement, suggest­ ion, concession. (181)

yani

ka 11at i

pufa

first stalk+HORT behind Let's sneak up behind (them)

(182)

ta:IitY}

wulaninyt^a

come homed-HORT food+DAT Ask him for dinner! (i.e. suggest that he come home for dinner)

4.8 Imperative sentences (183)

palaki

ta fin ta

241

qawu

hit+HORT that+ABS dog Let him hit that dog!

4.8.3 THE IMPERATIVE PARTICLE. Yukulta has an imperative particle, kawa , which is common to many Australian languages. It takes a number suffix referring to the addressee. ( 184 )

kawa- r a

come-DU Come here! (you two)

4.8.4 NEGATIVE-IMPERATIVE SENTENCES. The examples below compare imperative and negative-imperative sentences. As with the desiderative the negative suffix -na replaces the indicative suffix. (185a)

waratYa go+IMP Go!

(185b)

warana go+NEG Don't go!

(186a)

pa 1a ka hit+IMP Hit him!

(186b)

pa 1ana hit+NEG Don't hit him!

(186c)

pa 1ana w it ikara hit+NEG stay+IMP+DU Stop it, you two, don't hit

h i m !

The negative force of a command may be emphasised by using the imperative form of the verb witifYa which is normally in­ transitive but which becomes transitive by the addition of the transitive form of the imperative or hortative suffix, as in (186c), and witiki, 'let him be!'. 4.9

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

4.9.1 SENTENCES REQUIRING A YES-NO RESPONSE. A sentence is transformed to a yes-no question by the addition of (a) an interrogative particle; or (b) an interrogative clitic; or (c) a rising intonation. (a) kuya, k a l a . The most common way of framing a yes-no question is by the addition of an interrogative particle, kuya or k a l a , as the first constituent in the sentence. No distinction has been observed between these two particles. (187a)

warafYa-wurayi

go(Vi)-you+DU+FUT You two are going

242

Yukulta

(187b)

kuya/kaIa-wurayi

warat Ya

INTERR-you+DU+FUT go+IND Are you two going? (188a)

m i ya I t a - y i kant a

kuritYa

spear+ABS-you+TR+PAST see+IND You saw the spear (188b)

k u y a / k a I a - y i kant a

kuri

miyalta

INTERR-you+TR+PAST see Did you see the spear? (189)

kuya

pumpanma

spear+ABS

pawu m i r a r a

INTERR your+STAT dog good+ABS Is your dog a good one? (190)

k u y a - n Yi

wuiankulu

INTERR-you food+COM Have you got any tucker?

(b) -na. The interrogative clitic -na derives a yes-no ques­ tion when suffixed to the first word of the sentence, pre­ ceding the clitic complex. (191)

(192)

warat Ya-na-ray i go+IND-INTERR-DU+FUT Will they two go? qukuwa- na- y

i k ar i

kutamatYa

water+ABS-INTERR-you+TR+PRES drink+IND(Vtr) Are you drinking some water? (193)

t i r k u I iwu I u -n a - n Y i

hushand+COM-INTERR-you Are you married?

(c) -ma. The interrogative clitic -ma can occur on any con­ stituent in the sentence and although it can occur as the sole interrogative marker in the sentence it usually occurs optionally in sentences which are already marked by the in­ terrogative particle. This would suggest that -ma serves to emphasise the word to which it is suffixed by marking it as the focus of the question. (In Yukulta {- ma} also functions as a stative clitic - 4.11.2.) Interrogative forms -ma~-mpa— pa are found in other Australian languages (Aranda and Dyirbal have -ma, Pitta-Pitta has - p a , Roth (1897a:28). (194)

k u r i k a - n k - i -ma

marayitYa

look+IMP-me-you-INTERR know+IND Don't you know me? (195)

kuya-yikari

pay i -ma

marit^a

INTERR-you+TR+PRES fight-INTERR hear+IND Did you hear the fight? (196)

w a r a r a - Q k a wampa Imat^a-ma

far-PRES hunt+IND-INTERR Did he go far on the hunting trip?

(d) A short verbless sentence may be transformed to a yesno question by substituting a rising intonation for the falling intonation of the declarative sentence.

4.9 Interrogative sentences ( 197)

pamanta-nY i t hungry+ABS-you | Are you hungry?

(198)

tanma yaku[i pumpa-0 this+STAT fish you-BEN Is this fish for you?

243

4.9.2 INFORMATION QUESTIONS. Addition of one of the follow­ ing interrogative words as the first word of the sentence derives a sentence requiring some information in response. Only the root form of the verb is used in such questions. (a) Interrogative words based on the root tYina: t Y ina where at? tY itY ina where to? fYinapa where from? fYinamulu how many? t^inamuIinta when?, how many times? (199)

tY inamu Iinta-n iq k i milafYa when-he+FUT return+IND When will he come back?

(200)

t Y it Y ina-p ka warafYa where to-PRES go+IND Where’s he going?

(b) Interrogative words based on the root Qaka: paka who?, what?, which? pakanta-pa why?, in what state? pakawafa to do what? (201)

pakanta-pa nYima what+DAT-STAT you+STAT What's the matter with you?

4.10 SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 4.10.1 CLAUSES INTRODUCED BY A CLITIC. Several types of subordinate clause are introduced by a clitic which is nor­ mally suffixed to the first constituent of the sentence, preceding other clitics. This provides a qualifying or mod­ ifying link between the main clause and the subordinate clause. Note that in (203) the 'reason' clitic follows the first word and the tense clitic follows the first constitu­ ent . (a) Reason clauses . These are introduced by the clitic -aka 'because'. Loss of the vowel occurs when it is suffixed to a vowel-final stem. (202)

pu kawafa-n ip ki , papayaka-pka ka Ika die+IND-he+FUT very+because-PRES sick He might die because he's very sick

(203)

fYaw i f Y a - p a I ipka

, pi 11Y i na ka

tira -yip ka

wi f i

run+IND-we+PL+PAST , alive+because snake+ABS-PAST lie wayini

road+ERG/LOC We ran away because there was a live snake on the road

244 (b) tic

Yukulta

Conditional clauses. These are introduced by the cli­ meaning 'if' or, literally, 'state-when'. Only a few examples of conditional clauses were obtain­ ed and there were no examples with transitive verbs with non-past reference. It would be interesting to obtain some as it is likely that such conditional clauses would have the form of a semi-transitive sentence. Note that (204) has a conditional clause marked with the future form of the tense-aspect marker - n t i instead of the past form - n t a and that the main clause is marked by the irrealis form of the past intransitive tense-aspect marker, - i q k i . - maqal a

(204)

t a t i n-maqa Ia - k u r k a n t i k u r i

,

k amu- k ur i q k i

palatYa

that-if-we+DU+TR+FUT see and-we+DU+PAST get hit(Vi)+IND 'If we'd watched that fellow coming we would have got beaten up' (205)

p ur i t Y a ma q a l a - n i q k i

,

kinatYa-patayi

come+IND+if-he+FUT , tell+IND-you+I+FUT 'If he comes I'll let you know'

(206)

wunmaqaIa-niqki pa 11V 11Va wit itVa—ku Iay i rain+if-he+FUT fail+IND If it rains we'll stay

stay+IND-we+PL+FUT

(c) 'Relative’ clauses. Yukulta has no true relative clause construction. It uses subordinate clauses introduced by the particle q a l a as equivalents of English relative clauses and adverbial clauses of time. q a l a may appear cliticised to the head word of the subordinate clause (as in (209)), or at the head of the subordinate clause (as in (208) or as in (207) where it serves as host to the clitic complex). (207)

kurit^a-raw ariqki

,

t a t i nkiyarqka

see+IND-you(N0NSG)+they+FUT that+two+ABS

qala-wuriq ka q a Ia-you+DU+PAST

ta : t a : ta

go home+IND They would have seen you when you were coming home

(208)

tanma-kat i

w ititY a

wukuwawukuwata

here+STAT-I+PRES sit+IND work+IND mara

, q a l a nYi ma-nYi

, q al a you+STAT-you

w ititY a

empty-handed sit+IND I'm sitting here working while you do nothing

(209)

tY in a -q ka

maliyanta

, pa Ia t a - q a Ia - y i k a r i

where-PRES possum+ABS , hit+IND-qaIa-you+TR+PRES Where's the possum which you killed? (210)

kilaka

ta tin ta

, m i ya I t a - q a I a - p a q a r i

m i ra I a

get+IMP that+ABS , spear+ABS-qaIa-you+TR+PRES make Get that spear which I made for you (211)

tYina-qka

ta tin ta

taqka-qa I a-pakar i

m iyalta

where-PRES that+ABS man-qaIa-you+TR+PRES spear+ABS yi:tYa give+IND Where's that man who gave you the spear? (212)

t^ina-qka tatinta taqka , yi :tYa-qaIa-nayikari where-PRES that+ABS man , give+IND-qaIa-him+you+TR+PRES

4.10 Subordinate clauses 245 TABLE 4.2 - Complementis ers

participle implication result NEG

verb-marker

object-marker

-arpa

- i y a (ERG/LOC) - i n a p a (ABL)

-u 1u

-uju (COM)

-i n Y t ya

- i n Y t y a (DAT) - i n y t Ya (DAT)

-mara

mi ya I t a

spear+ABS Where’s that man whom you gave the spear to?

(213)

kuya-yikanta

kuri t a t i n t a

maku

,

INTERR-you+TR+PAST see that+ABS woman , t i ra-pa la-kanta

pa:tYa

snake+ABS-paIa-TR+PAST bite+IND Did you see that woman who was bitten by the snake? ('Did you see that woman bin get bitten with a snake?')

(213) is not a passive construction in Yukulta. The infor­ mant was asked to translate the sentence 'Did you see the woman who was bitten by a snake?'. (214) was given as an alternative and has a participial NP complement. The infor­ mant's English translation is given in brackets. (214)

kuya-yikanta

kurj t a t i n t a

maku

, tirinY fY a

INTERR-you+TR+PAST see that+ABS woman , snake+DAT pa : t Yu r ka

bite+IND+PART+DAT . Did you see that woman being bitten by the snake? ('Did you see that woman get bite by snake?')

4.10.2 COMPLEMENT CLAUSES. NP complementation is a common form of subordination. If we consider Si as the sentence underlying a main clause and S 2 as the sentence underlying a subordinate clause then the complement clause is a noun phrase derived from S 2 which qualifies the head of a noun phrase in Sq. The noun phrase complement is derived by adding a complementiser (see Table 4.2) to the verb in S 2 , following the indicative mood suffix; this nominalises the verb so it be­ comes the head of a noun phrase. The resultant NP comple­ ment takes case suffixation in agreement with the head of an NP in Si and so functions like an adjectival qualifier. It always occurs following Si- This means that it may be sep­ arated from the NP head that it qualifies. Complementisers signify the kind of link between Si and S 2 • Table 4.2 lists the forms of the complementiser occurr­ ing on the deep verb and the deep object of S 2 . Participles can usually be translated by the English gerundive affix -ing. The participle -i signifies that the point or span of the event represented by S 2 occurs simultan­ eously with, and parallel to, that represented by Si whether the event occurs in the past, present or future. The parti-

246

Yukulta

ciple - a r p a signifies that the action represented by S 2 has a different duration from that of Sp so that, while they both may intersect, they do not parallel each other over the whole time span. The implicator -ulu is similar to an allomorph of the cornitative derivational suffix and marks the NP complement as having actual or potential association with the NP head in S-l . The result forms differ somewhat from other forms in that the clitic complex may occur on them. The negative form could be translated as 'lest' (see 4.10.2c). (a) Participial NPs. These occur when the verb in Sp has some perceptual reference or relates to the emotional state of the actor. The following sentences are complex sentences with participial NP complements. The comma separates S-p from the NP complement. (215a)

kur i t Y a - k a n t a

t a t i nk i y a r p ka , w i r k a t V i

look+IND-TR+PAST that+two+ABS dance+IND+PART He saw them dancing (all the time they were dancing) (215b)

kur i t ^ a - k a n t a

t a t i nkiyarpka

, w irkat^arpa

look+IND-TR+PAST that+two+ABS dancedlND+PART He saw them dancing (part of the time they were dancing) (216)

papanara-par i

marit^a

tanki

munt amur i

curlew+ABS-I+PRES hear+IND this+ERG island+ERG wamati

kampur i kampur i t ^ i

loud+PART talk+IND+PART I can hear the curlews singing out on this island (217)

kunYtVakunytyawata-kat i t a : t a : t i

tired+become+IND-I+PRES go home+IND+PART I get tired on the return journey (218)

p i I ka I i t ^ a - p a ka

, m iyalinapa

feel sorry(Vm)+IND-you+I

spear+ABL

taIatarpa

break(Vtr)+IND+PART I'm sorry I broke your spear

In (219a) the NP complement is in unmarked absolutive case in agreement with maku, 'woman' whereas in (219b) the com­ plement is marked by dative case which agrees with an un­ filled dative NP in S^. (219a)

tapkaya-kanta

kurit^a

maku

man+ERG-TR+PAST see+IND woman

, kunawunanapa

child+ABL

t Yampi I a t a r p a

kick+IND+PART The man saw the woman kick the child (219b)

tapkaya-kanta

k u r i t Y a maku , kunawunanta

man+ERG-TR+PAST see+IND woman

child+DAT

t Yamp i I a t a r p a nt a

kic k+IND+PART+DAT The man saw the woman get kicked by the child

When the participial complementiser - i y a would be followed by the dative case the form - u r k a is used. Thus - i y a + - i n ^ t ^ a -> - u r k a

4.10

Subordinate clauses

247

Compare (220a/b). The latter is a semi-transitive sentence in which the deep object of the sentence complement would be marked by the dative case. (220a)

kuritVa-Qari

, muruku-ya

miralat-i

see+IND-I+PRES woomera-ERG make+IND-PART I'm watching him making a woomera

(220b)

kuritVa-kurara

, muruk-urka

miralat-urka

see+IND-us+they woomera-ERG+DAT make+IND-PART+DAT They're watching us making a woomera

(b) Implicated NPs. These are often translated into English as purposive but this does not mirror exactly the relation­ ship between Si and S 2 . In (221), for example, it is not so much that the fire was lit 'with the purpose of' cooking the wallaby but that 'having the wallaby' implied 'lighting a fire' to cook it on. The comitative can be thought of as 'potential having'; in (222) and (224), for example, the potential of becoming associated with food implicates the 'f o l l o w i n g '. (221)

tar) kaya-kar i

Qita

kanat^a

man+ERG-TR+PRES fire+ABS prepare+IND

, ma kurara-wu Iu-ya wallaby-COM-ERG

kanat^-uIu-ya cook+IND-COM-ERG The man lit the fire in order to cook the wallaby (222)

ty inkatya-r)a Ikanta , wu Ian-ku Iu-ya follow+IND-we+PL+TR+PAST food-COM-ERG We followed [you] for some food

(223)

mi:lata-kari

, mi:ty-u[u-ya

delouse+IND-TR+PRES lice-COM-ERG He's looking for lice

(224)

t i:tya—tay i

makat-ulu

sit+IND-I+FUT rest+IND-COM I'll sit down and have a rest

(c) NPs marking result. In the following sentences the sub­ ordinate clause is an intended future result of the action of the main clause. (225)

kira

warafya-na , tat in- inYt^a makuraranta pu 1t 11y inYtya-y i

close go+IND-him that+DAT wallaby+DAT hit+IND+DAT-you Go close to that wallaby, so that you can hit him

(226)

yararamatya-I at i

, kunawunanta tyirmanymara

whisper+IND-they+PRES child+DAT wake+IND+LEST They are whispering so as not to wake the child

(227)

munyi tiyaka

tanta

wulanta , oamanYmaraya

now eat+IMP this+ABS food+ABS be hungry+IND+LEST+ERG Eat this tucker now so you won't be hungry

(d) Comitative or instrumental NPs. These could be consid­ ered as NP complements formed from a nominal sentence and are marked by an allomorph of the comitative derivational suffix {-wuju}. (228) contains what could be considered as an instrumental NP but the instrumental function of the spear is only implied by virtue of its association with the agent. Thus the ergative case agrees with the NP head in Si,

248

Yukulta

it is not a specific instrumental marker. (230). (228)

Jart^a-kant i

ta tin ta

ma k u r ar a

Compare with

, wur-ulu-ya

spear+IND-TR+FUT that+ABS wallaby

sharp-COM-ERG

m i y a [ - u Ju-ya

spear-COM-ERG He will spear that wallaby with a sharp spear (229)

tapka-ya-kanta

pawu p a l a t a

, tupal-ulu-ya

man-ERG-TR+PAST dog hit+IND stick-COM-ERG The man hit the dog with a stick (230)

paruntaya-kat i

m iliya tya

, na yip i-u lu

yesterday-I+PRES cut myself+IND knife-COM Yesterday I cut myself with a knife (231)

taralaka

, p u mp a n t ^- u I u - y a m a l - u l u - y a

peel+IMP your-COM-ERG hand-COM-ERG Peel it with your fingers! (232)

k unawuna- pant a w u rt Ya

, kuItapar-uIu-ya

child-I+PAST give+IND flying fox-COM-ERG I gave the child a flying fox (233)

k unawuna- pant a m a n t i t y a

, kuItapar-uIu-ya

child-I+PAST deprive+IND flying fox-COM-ERG I took the flying fox from the child (234)

tyilm aka

k a n t a t u wapa I k-u I u - y a

ask+IMP father boomerang-COM-ERG Ask father for a boomerang

4.11 PARTICLES AND CLITICS Particles and clitics provide logical or modal-type qualification of a sentence. 4.11.1 PARTICLES. These are non-inflecting words which occur as the first constituent of a sentence. These have mostly been dealt with already in other sections and include the following: kamu 'conjunction' (3.1.6, 4.12.2) mun^i 'introducer' (3.1.6) waI i ra 'negative' (4.6) kuya, k a l a 'interrogative' (4.9.1) pa I a 'temporal' (4.10.1c)

4.11.2 CLITICS. These are added to the end of the first constituent of the sentence and they can be grouped as follows: (a) tense, person, etc. clitics; (b) main clause clitics; (c) subordinate clause clitics. (a) The elitics for p e r s o n t e n s e s eta. with in 3.4.

have been dealt

(b) Main clause clitics are normally suffixed to the first constituent of a sentence preceding the tense and person clitics, but some stylistic variation can occur, as in (237), (238). Main clause clitics include { - m a } , - i t a , - y a n a .

4.11 Particles and clitics

has the allomorphs -ma~-pa and marks 'Stat­ or 'interrogative' ( 4 . 9 . 1 c ) The clitic — ita marks a sentence for continuous aspect and loss of / i/ occurs when it is suffixed to a vowel-final stem. It is sometimes found suffixed to the catalyst and, in such cases, it serves to emphasise the continuity of the act ion.

The

clitic

249

ive'

{ - ma}

(4 .1 .3 )

(235)

p iltV in ita -Q ka

w iti

alive+CONT-PRES stay(Vi) He's still alive (236)

pamat Yar i t a - k a t i

hungry+NEG+IND+CONT-I+PRES I'm not hungry yet (237)

w u ku wa t a - k a t i - t a

work+IND-I+PRES-CONT I'm still working (238)

t Yan i t Y a t a - p a I ka r i —t a

look+IND+CONT-we+PL+TR+PRES-CONT We're searching for him - yana

indicates doubt.

(239)

(240)

(240) is a semi-transitive sentence.

pukawata-yana-n ipki die+IND-might-he+FUT He may die n i y a - y a n a - p a r a w a - n i pka

fY inka

p a r a wa n f Yi

he+NOM-might-us(OBL)+DU—he+FUT follow(Vtr) us+DU+GEN+OBJ He might follow us two

(c) Subordinate clause clitics mark the subordinate clause (S2 ) in a compound sentence and normally occur on the first constituent of the sentence, preceding the clitic complex. They include: -aka reason 'because' -QaI a temporal 'when, while' -mapala conditional 'state-when, if'

4.10.1 gives examples of sentences using these clitics. 4.12 SYNTAX OF DISCOURSE There appears to be no restriction governing the com­ bination and number of non-nuclear constituents in any one sentence as long as the sentence generated is semantically feasible. Sentences may be strung together to form a com­ pound sentence in several different ways. The sentences below illustrate different types of compound sentence and the comma marks the division between S^ and S 2 . They all translate the meaning: 'I'm sitting making a spear.' (241a)

w i t i t Y a —kat i , m i y a [ t a - p a r i

m iralata

sit+IND-I+PRES spear+ABS-TR+PRES make+IND (241b)

pata-kat i

w i t i t Ya , kamu- par i

m iyalta

m iralata

I+NOM-I+PRES sit+IND and-TR+PRES spear+ABS make+IND

250

Yukulta

(241c)

w it it Y a - k a t i , m ira la ta m iyalta sit+IND-I+PRES make+IND spear+ABS

In (241c) note that, although S 2 is transitive it is still included in the verb phrase of S-^ and the compound sentence is marked by the intransitive form of the clitic complex. Thus, in a structural sense, S 2 is dependent on and there may be some corresponding distinction in meaning which is not brought out in the English translation. These sen­ tences may represent degrees in the status relationship between the two sentences of the compound. 4.12.1 COMPOUND SENTENCES FORMED BY JUXTAPOSITION. Compound sentences can include simultaneous or successive actions performed by the same or different actors and this is usu­ ally indicated by a simple process of juxtaposition of the sentence with optional deletion of the S or A NP in S 2 if it is identical with that of S]_. If, however, the verb in Si refers to a perceptual state then S2 is transferred to a participial noun phrase complement, as in (220a). Compare (241c) above with (220a), which is repeated here. (244-247) have imperative, negative and interrogative sentences as S 2 - (248) is typical of discourse where a set of instructions or an imaginative, impersonal description is given. In such sentences the verb is marked by indica­ tive mood and there is no clitic complex. (220a)

k u r i t ^ a - Q a r i , murukuya m iralati see+IND-TR+PRES woomera+ERG make+IND+PART I'm watching him making a woomera

(242)

fanta-kula t i : tVa , q u t i t Y a watuku there-we+PL sit+IND throw+IND line Let's sit down here and throw our lines in

(243)

ta tin m a kamara-qka t a l i n Y m i r a , kat a that+STAT stone+ABS-PRES heavy+good again qa I u t a - k u I k a r i tYirmata try+IND-we+TR+PRES lift+IND That stone is really heavy, we'll try once more to lift it

(244)

k a mp u r i k a , £ a : l i t Y i tankilu talk+IMP come+HORT here+AT,L Tell him to come here!

(245)

p i I ka I i t Y a - k a t i , wa I i r a - t u kant i ku I ma sorry+IND-I+PRES NEG-me+TR+FUT bring over I'm sorry he didn't bring it over to me

(246)

w a l i r a - q a n t i k u r i , qa k a - p a y i q ka pa I a NEG-TR+FUT see who-you+PAST hit I didn't see who hit you

(247)

t a :m i t ^ a - r u k a n t a taqkaya , kuya-wu I ka n t a ask+IND-them+TR+PAST man+ERG INTERR-you+PL+TR+PAST kapa kunawuna find(Vtr) child The men asked them if they found the child

(248)

kapat a tYata find+IND one

wa r ur uqu turkey

, pultit^a, hit+IND

palata qutitYa kill+IND throw+IND

4.12 Syntax of discourse 251 rnut u kat i j u

car+ALL Find one (plains) turkey, hit him, kill him, throw him in the car

4.12.2 COMPOUND SENTENCES FORMED BY ADDITION OF A CONJUNCTION Main clauses may be joined by the conjunction kamu as in: (249)

mawur i n a p a - r i pka

] a p i t ^a

k a mu - r i p k a

Mawura+ABL-DU+PAST get up+IND CONJ-DU+PAST ta:£a:ta

pa:Iu

travel+IND west+ALL They got up from Mawura and travelled west (250)

t a t i nta-panta

pawu k u r i t V a

kamu-pka

parutYi

there+ABS-TR+PAST dog see+IND CONJ-PRES now I saw a dog over there but it's gone now (251)

yanmapa I a - n i p k i

warit^a

kamu-nipki

waraf Ya

go+IND palmpiya

today+if-he+FUT be absent(Vi)+IND CONJ-he+FUT tomorrow+ERG p u r i t Ya

come+IND If he's away today then he'll come tomorrow (252)

pata-kati

w ititY a

k a mu - pa r i

miya[ta

m iralata

I+NOM-I+PRES sit+IND CONJ-TR+PRES spear+ABS make+IND I'm sitting and making a spear

4.12.3 COMPLEX SENTENCES. These may involve subordinate clauses and are marked by a clitic (see 4.10.1), or a complementiser (see 4.10.2), or both, as in (253). These suffixes indicate the type of relationship between the main clause (Sp) and its dependent clause (S2). Further details are given in 4.10. (253)

w i t i t ^ a - p a r i pka

,

p a k an a t a ,

k u n t Y a k u n Y t Ya wa t a rp a k a

sit+IND-we+DU+PAST fish+NEG+DES become tired+IND+PART+because We didn't want to go fishing because we were tired

5,

S E M A N T I C I N T E RPRETATIONS

The following chapter is a discussion from a semantic viewpoint of interesting features arising out of the syn­ tactic material (especially from 4.5). These interpretat­ ions are, of necessity, language specific (and I must stress that I have not kept up with recent developments in ling­ uistic theory since completing my MA thesis in 1972). 5.1

IRREALIS ASPECT AND THE ANTI-PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION.

The anti-passive transformation is a very interesting syntactic process in Yukulta which serves to reduce the surface transitivity of a transitive sentence and occurs under certain conditions which are listed in section 4.5.2. These conditions are similar in that they all have a certain degree of irrealis aspect (see 4.5.2). Let us now compare the negative examples from 4.5.3 with their affirmative

252

Yukulta

counterparts: (148a)

kurifVa-Q ari

pumpanta m i y a l t a

see+IND-TR+PRES your+ABS I see y o u r spear

(148b)

w a lira -ka ti

kurityari

spear+ABS

pumpan i nYtya m iya 1 inYt'^a

NEG-I+PRES see+ I N D + N E G your+DAT I can't see y o u r spe a r

(149a)

(149b)

kapata-pant i pumpanta m i y a l t a f i n d + I N D - T R + F U T y o u r + A B S s p e a r+ABS I w i l l find y our spe a r w a lira -ta yi

kapatari

p u mp a n i ny f y a m iya [ inYtya

NEG-I+FUT find+IND+NEG your+DAT I w o n ' t find y o u r s p e a r

(150a)

kapata-panta

w a lira-panti

spear+DAT

pumpanta m i y a l t a

find+IND-TR+PAST your+ABS I f o u n d y o u r spear

(150b)

spear+DAT

s p e a r+ABS

kapa pumpanta m i y a l t a

NEG-TR+FUT find y o u r + A B S I d i d n ' t f ind y o u r spear

spe a r + A B S

Note that, although all the (b) examples are negative, (150b) remains as a transitive construction whereas (148b) and (149b) are transformed to semi-transitive sentences. Why doesn't the anti-passive transformation occur in (150b)? 5.1.1 NEGATION AND REDUCTION IN REALISATION POTENTIAL. When negated (148) and (149) describe something that has no likelihood of occurring, whereas (150) describes something that could happen, thus the latter has a greater degree of realisness and so remains as a transitive sentence. Note, however, that the tense marker shifts from past to future to indicate that some reduction in realisness does occur under negation. Thus it appears that a significant reduc­ tion in realisness is required to trigger off the anti­ passive transformation, and that only negative sentences with non-past reference qualify. Realisness is rather a vague term and in order to have something more concrete to work with it is hypothesised that the anti-passive transformation applies when there is a significant reduction in the realisation potential of an action. Realisation potential is defined as the innate po­ tential inherent in the verb for the effect of the action to be completed, experienced or transferred onto the goal. So, for example, when a transitive sentence is negated the transference potential of the verb is 'blocked' thus neg­ ation reduces the power of the verb so that its inherent transitivity is not fully realised. This is shown in the surface structure either by (i) the transformation of the sentence to a semi-transitive sentence; or (ii) by tense substitution. 5.1.2 IRREALIS DESIDERATIV E . A desiderative sentence with irrealis aspect represents a significantly lower degree of realisation potential (desire) as compared with one with realis aspect (intent, expectation.) Thus transitive desi-

5. 1 Irrealis aspect and the anti-passive transformation 253 TABLE 5.1 - Subject-object combinations subj ect

o b j ect

REALIS

1

_

(transitive)

2

lsg

2

3

3 IRREALIS

1

(intransitive)

2

3

3 -

1 n-sg

n

(exc) 2

3 ]_1 n - s g

(exc

and

inc)

derative sentences having irrealis aspect undergo the anti­ passive transformation. 5.1.3 DISTANCE BETWEEN PERSONS. The following discussion analyses subject-object combinations and shows how the theory of reduction in realisation potential applies to the irrealis combinations which trigger off the anti-passive transformat ion. At first it seemed that there were only surface struc­ ture reasons (and there are quite plausible ones such as ambiguity due to zero realisations). However, a paper by McConvell (1976) gave inspiration to look further for an underlying reason. The analysis needs to take into account two kinds of comparison: (i) the relation of the speaker (ego) to the subject (actor); and (ii) the relation between the subject and the object. (The term 'subject' is used loosely here to include both transitive agent and intransitive subject and so refers to the actor in both these situations. Likewise the term 'object' refers to the goal.) Table 5.1 compares realis and irrealis combinations. Note that sentences with a first person subject always have transitive form and all sentences with a third person sub­ ject have intransitive form except those which also have a third person object. On the other hand, a,ll sentences with a second person subject have transitive form except those with a first person non-singular object. Therefore there appears to be some evidence of the existence of a person hierarchy in terms of the distance of the subject from the speaker; 1 >2 >3. That is, the speak­ er, ego, is closest to a first person subject because there is either total or partial identification with the subject; 'I' or 'we' (inclusive or exclusive). A second person sub­ ject is presumably within hearing distance of ego and a third person subject is the most remote. This hierarchy is also reflected in the ordering of person markers in a tran­ sitive sentence (see 3.3.6). An hypothesis could now be formulated stating that any sentence with a combination involving a subject higher on the hierarchy than the object, or equal to the object, takes transitive form and that any sentence with a subject lower

254

Yukulta

on the hierarchy takes intransitive form. However, from Table 5.1 it can be seen that the 2 + 1 combination does not conform to the hypothesis; thus some modification is required to account for all the data. Let us therefore consider the relation between subject and object. Diagram A represents an attempt at explanation in terms of the distance between the subject and the object relative to the speaker. The speaker, ego, is represented by the centre of the circle and the three concentric circles represent first, second and third person subject or object. A solid line represents the effects of the action which originate from the subject and travel in the direction of the object. A broken line represents the distance between ego and the subject. Diagram A(i) shows all combinations occurring in a transitive construction. Diagram A(ii) shows all combinations occurring in an intransitive construction. Diagram A(i) shows that the distance from 2 to 1 is the same as that from 1 to 2 which would suggest that this might be why both combinations appear in a sentence with transitive form. (See (153b) and (154b) in 4.5.5.) However, the distance of 2 to 3 is equal to that from 3 to 2 yet the 2+3 combination has transitive form whereas the 3+2 combination has intransitive form. (See (155a) and (155b) in 4.5.5.) The difference between them is that circle 3 is further away from the centre (ego) than circle 2, so we might say that any action originating from the outer circle is considered as intransitive. However, when both the subject and the object are third person the sen­ tence has transitive form (see (152b)). In this case, both the subject and the object are 'equidistant' from ego and, from ego's point of view there is no significant dis­ tance between the subject and the object. Therefore, to the speaker, the distance is equivalent to that from circle 1 to circle 3. It appears, therefore, that two factors are involved; the distance from ego to the subject and that from the subject to the object. If the total distance is signifi­ cantly large this represents a significant reduction in realisation potential. Thus the anti-passive transformation generates a semi-transitive sentence and subject-object combinations occur within an intransitive environment. This interpretation would now cover the case of a sub­ ject occurring with a first person non-singular object (152a) and (153a) in 4.5.5. In such a situation the effects of the action travel from the subject to two objects which increases the total distance. (The distinction made in Australian languages between the inclusive and the exclusive first person may be related to this notion of 'distance'.) Diagram B is a linear version of Diagram A and shows that any subject-object combinations involving a total distance of 3+1 or greater have irrealis aspect and are set in an intransitive construction. The only exception to this is the transitive imperative sentence which does not undergo the anti-passive transformation even when subjectobject combinations are greater than 3+1. (Compare (254a/b)

5.1

I r r e a l i s a sp e c t and th e a n ti- p a s s iv e tra n sfo rm a tio n

DIAGRAM A : R e l a t i v e

distance

from s u b j e c t

to o b je c t

(i) realis combinations

3 + 1 n—sg (exc)

3 + 1 n—sg (inc)

2 + 1 n—sg (exo,

(ii) irrealis combinations

255

256

Yukulta DIAGRAM B - Linear representation of 'total distance' 1

2

3

1+2 O -----realis combinations

1+3

irrealis combinations 3+1 n-sg(inc) distance > 3+1 n-sg(exc)

n-sg(exc)

below.) The nature of a command is such that it implies a tighter relationship between subject and object because the speaker is expecting an immediate reaction from the address­ ee (see also 5.3.1). For this reason the total 'distance' could be considered as less than that of a non-imperative sentence involving the same person combinations. Therefore the imperative sentence retains its transitive form because no significant reduction in realisation potential occurs. (254a)

kur i ka-Qa I awa-y i look(Vtr)+IMP-us+PL (OBL)-you(A) Look at us (pi exc) !

(254b)

k u r itYa-qaIawa-nYi look+IND-us+PL(OBL)-you(S) Y o u ’re watching us (pi exc)

5.1.4 THE ANTI-PASSIVE RULE. The above discussion has attempted to show that the conditions determining the anti­ passive transformation are all similar in that they impose a significant reduction in the realisation potential of the

5.1

Irrealis aspect and the anti-passive transformation

257

event. Thus, a rule could be suggested stating: the anti­ passive transformation occurs when there is a significant reduction in realisation potential which results in a re­ duction in surface transitivity manifested by tense substi­ tution, case substitution, or adoption of irrealis subjectobject combinations. (See also 5.3.1.) The reduction is significant in a slightly different way in each case: (i) Negation represents a blockage of transfer or completion of an action but if the potential still exists for the event to happen at some other time then negation is not signifi­ cant enough to cause the anti-passive transformation. (ii) The desiderative mood has two degrees of desire as can be seen from the existence of separate forms within the intransitive category. The irrealis form expresses the lower degree of desire and has a reduced degree of realisa­ tion potential in that it represents less assurance that transfer or completion of the event will occur. Within the transitive category the realis-irrealis dichotomy is mani­ fested by opposition of the transitive sentence with the semi-transitive sentence, the latter being a product of the anti-passive transformation. (iii) Subject-object combinations involve varying degrees of distance over which the effects of the action must travel. The greater the distance, the greater the reduction in real­ isation potential, and an irrealis combination represents a reduction significant enough to cause the anti-passive trans­ formation to occur. A similar interpretation can be applied to case; there is greater 'distance' between absolutive and dative cases than between ergative and absolutive cases; thus the effects of an action have a further distance to travel within a sentence with intransitive form. In this way the semi-transitive sentence adopts a more widely spaced case frame to represent a reduction in realisation potential. 5.2

DEEP ASPECT

The anti-passive transformation in Yukulta points to a need for postulating the existence of an underlying contin­ uum which relates concepts of time, aspect and mood and which is reflected at a surface level by a transitivity con­ tinuum which is cut at varying points depending upon the relation between the inherent transitivity of the verb and the realised transitivity of the sentence. Thus, a verb may be inherently transitive but the anti­ passive transformation can set it in an intransitive con­ struction and so tense-aspect and mood forms are selected from the intransitive category rather than the transitive category. What appears on the surface structure as a trans­ formation from one category to another is represented, in the deep structure, as a slide down a scale to a lower deg­ ree of realisness, and the more significant reductions in realisation potential are manifested by an apparent neutral­ isation of the transitive-intransitive division. The com­ plement transformation (4.10.2) reduces the surface trans­ itivity of a sentence by placing the verb in a nominal en­ vironment so it cannot realise its innate verbal capacity.

258

Yukulta DIAGRAM C : Deep aspect and the scale of realisness realisness

deep aspect

transitive category

tense-aspect markers

[-irr]

[+irr]

[-irr ]

intransitive category

[+irr]

irrealisness

Thus the complement transformation reflects a greater reduc­ tion in realisation potential than the anti-passive trans­ formation . 5.2.1 THE SCALE OF REALISNESS. Let us now plot tense ideas along the scale of realisness according to their de­ gree of realisation potential. Past ideas have the highest degree and future ideas the least and when they have the feature of negation (+N) the gap between past and non-past is increased. Diagram C represents the deep aspect system and shows the interrelation between tense, aspect and transitivity. The solid vertical line represents the transitivity contin­ uum superimposed over the scale of realisness (the dotted line extending above and below it). To the left of this line is the deep structure and to the right is the surface structure. The solid horizontal line divides transitive and intransitive forms and so represents the cut made in the surface structure according to the realised transitivity of the sentence (as expressed by the relation between the verb and the noun phrases.) The broken line represents a conceptual division in the transitivity continuum, that is, tense ideas above the line are associated with a verb with inherently high degree of transitivity (Vtr) and those be­ low the line are associated with a verb with lower inherent transitivity (Vm or Vi). The dotted lines represent a

5.2 Beep aspect DIAGRAM D :

259

The time-cycle

NOW

realisness

irrealisness

division in the scale of realisness and show that, within each transitivity category, tense ideas in a negative en­ vironment have a lower degree of realisation potential (re­ presented by the feature [+irrealis]) than those in an affir­ mative environment ([-irr]). The arrows in the diagram illus­ trate tense substitutions made by the negative transformation and shows that they all occur in the one direction. 5.2.2 ASPECT AND TIME. As illustrated in Diagram C, tense forms in Yukulta not only mark tense but refer also to tran­ sitivity and to aspect and so they mark not just the time at which an action takes place but also the degree of realisa­ tion potential of that action. Diagram D represents the aspect-time relationship in terms of a time-cycle. Thus it is postulated that a Yukulta speaker thinks of time as a cyclical concept rather than as a linear progression. Any point made upon the circumference of the circle is considered as NOW by Ego. A diameter line drawn at that point represents the scale of realisness rang­ ing from realisness at point NOW to irrealisness at the opposite side of the circle. If Ego's mind moves in a clockwise direction a future concept is realised, if his mind moves in an anti-clockwise direction it becomes a past tense idea. At the furthest point from NOW these tense ideas merge into irrealisness.

260

Yukulta

5.3

HIERARCHIES

Patrick McConvell's 1976 paper on 'Nominal hierarchies' provided inspiration for me to look at Yukulta in this light and I found that several nominal hierarchies did exist as well as tense-aspect and mood hierarchies. All of these are manifestations of an underlying hierarchy ranked in terms of degree of realisation potential and referred to above as the scale of realisness. 5.3.1 TENSE AND MOOD HIERARCHIES. Tense ideas can be superimposed upon the scale of realisness,as in Diagram C, according to their degree of realisation potential;thus a tense hierarchy exists which reflects an underlying deep aspect system. Ideas of mood can also be related to this hierarchy One can think of mood as a continuum with the imperative having the greatest degree of realisation potential, the desiderative having the least and the indicative in between as a neutral mood. Thus, the imperative transformation sig­ nifies an increase in realisation potential and the desid­ erative transformation signifies a decrease. 5.3.2 NOMINAL HIERARCHIES. The anti-passive and the com­ plement transformations bring about a reduction in transit­ ivity which reflects an underlying reduction in realisation potential and, by observing the effects of these on the surface structure, it is evident that nominal hierarchies do exist. (a) Case. Case substitutions made by these transformations can provide a clue as to the ordering of cases within the hierarchy. For example, the anti-passive transformation replaces the ergative case with the absolutive and the absolutive with the dative (or locative) and the complement transformation replaces the absolutive with the ergative/ locative or ablative. Thus we start to see some sort of ordering in terms of degree of realisation potential and it can be said that a case hierarchy does exist. This is also reflected in the surface structure by the fact that, in an intransitive construction, person markers are ordered acc­ ording to the case hierarchy, the unit lower on the hier­ archy preceding that which is higher on the hierarchy. (b) Person. Person hierarchies are best discovered by ob­ serving the effects of the anti-passive transformation on sentences with varying subject-object combinations. This was discussed in 5.1.3 and the conclusions made were that: (i) a person hierarchy exists in terms of the distance of the subject from the speaker so that the first person ranks highest, followed by the second person, followed by the third person; and that (ii) a person hierarchy exists which takes into account the total distance of speaker to subject and subject to object and which ranks each subject-object combination in terms of degree of realisation potential (see Diagram B). When subject-object combinations occur within a trans­ itive construction person markers are ordered according to

5.3 Hierarchies

261

the 1irst hierarchy and the unit higher on the hierarchy precedes the unit lower on the hierarchy. (c) Humber. The anti-passive transformation always takes place in sentences with a first person non-singular object; thus there is only an oblique form of this bound pronoun whereas the singular first person has both accusative and oblique forms. It would seem, therefore, that singular num­ ber ranks higher than non-singular number. The dual-plural distinction does not appear to be very significant at a deep level because it is neutralised when the anti-passive trans­ formation takes place and is replaced by the singular versus non-singular distinction. 5.3.3 THE PRINCIPLE OF REDUCTION OF REALISATION POTENTIAL. The discussion above has attempted to show how each of the nominal hierarchies and the tense and mood hierarchies are related to the scale of realisness which is ranked in terms of degree of realisation potential. The principle of re­ duction of realisation potential states that any significant reduction in degree of realisation potential is manifested by a reduction in surface transitivity. This is marked by substituting a case, person, number, tense or mood lower on the hierarchy for one which was higher on the hierarchy.

TEXTS The following texts include two narratives and one set of instructions told by Alice Gilbert. TEXT

1 -

Pap i y a p a - p u I uku

Pap i y a p a - p u I u k u is an old man from the Nguburindi tribe and, according to the narrator, p a p i y a means 'you-two fell­ ows' in the Nguburindi language. The suffix - p u l u k u is a common one in that language and is sprinkled throughout the text to give the feeling of the Nguburindi language. 1.

Pap i yapa-r}u I u ku ka I ap i n t a - y i Qka

l ap 11Y a

k a mu - yi p k a warat Va

dry country+ABS-PAST get up+IND and-PAST go+IND Papiyapa-puluku got up from Kalapinta and went [The word Kalapinta refers to a particular area of barren land, ('perish country')] 2-

kantatu

father

, p a ma t u - k a n t a

tyilm ata

mother-TR+PAST ask+IND

, kur^awuNya

little+COM+ERG

ma n t uwa r aw u Iuya

boy+COM+ERG* and asked the father and mother if (he could take) the little boy 3.

kamu

kunyawul uya

and

little+COM+ERG girl+COM+ERG

puliwawuluya

kunawunawuI u y a

child+COM+ERG

, wayirulu

mate+COM

k u r kat u I u

take+COM and the little girl (with him) for company (i.e. as help-mates):

262

Yukulta

4.

w ala ka-tu kunYa kunawuna w a y i r a - p a r i kurkata let go+IMP-me little child mate+ABS-I+PRES take+IND 'Let those little children come with me as my mates.

5.

pat i t a - t u - r k a r i yalputa , pawu-pa l a y i - t u - k a n t i kapa carry+DES-me-DU+TR+PRES meat+ABS dog-when+FUT-me-TR+FUT find pant Y i I t ^ a r a y i QantYiltYara+FUT

They want to carry the meat for me when my dog, pantYiltYara, finds it (for me) [in Yukulta the tense suffix -yi does not normally follow -pa Ia or a noun and this unusual positioning suggests that it is another device used to give the feeling of a 'foreign' language.] 6.

pa:tYa-kari pawuya y a l p u t a bite+IND-TR+PRES dog+ERG meat+ABS (When) the dog catches the game

7.

kila-kara pala-kara y i:ty a r m a minim ankilu get-IMP+DU hit-IMP+DU put in net+ALL you-two get it, kill it and put it in the net-bag.'

8.

pari-kula wa r a t Ya t a : t a okay-we(inc)+PL go+IND travel+IND 'Okay, let's go walkabout.'

9.

pawar i - p a r a t i , pawariwata-parrpkata thirsty-we(exc)+DU+PRES thirsty+become-we+DU+PAST+CONT 'We're thirsty, we've been thirsty for a long time.'

10.

0, tanta-kuluwa puku , yani ja tit^a ra pap i y a p a - p u I u ku Oh, here+ABS-us+PL+DAT water first wait+IMP DU you two-puluku 'Oh, here's some water for us, just wait, you two.

11.

puku-pari k ulurtY a papiyapa-puIuku l a t i t Y a r a water-I+PRES dig+IND you two-puluku wait+IMP+DU I'll dig for water, you two, wait on.

12.

yalputa karp i k e r a - p u I u ku pawuwa k u r i ka r a - p u I u ku meat+ABS mind+IMP+DU-puluku dog+ABS see+IMP+DU-puluku p a n t Y i I t Y a r a - p u I u ku pantYiltYara-puluku

Look after the meat, watch that dog pantYiltYara! 13.

pampu-rawa-pari k u Iu : tYa-puIuku well-DU+BEN-I+PRES dig+IND-puluku I'll dig a well for you two.'

14.

ku I u : f Y a - k a n t a ku I u : t y a - k a n t a k u l u it ^ a y a lk a -y ip k a warifYa dig+IND-TR+PAST dig+IND-TR+PAST dig+IND down-PAST disappear+IND He dug and dug and dug, he went down out of sight;

15.

kamu-na-rkanta kuritYa tYamata k a r p i t Y a and-him-DU+TR+PAST see+IND sort+IND belong+IND and they sorted through those (goannas) of his.

16.

kampur i t Y a - r i p ka napant a t a n t a talk+IND-DU+PAST ? here+ABS They talked like this,

17.

kant i p a n t a y i nYf Yuta k a n t i p a n t a y i wife+?+RECIP+IND wife+? '’ calling each other sweetheart:

tirk u li husband

Text 1 18.

mar itya-na-rQu-kar i

263

kant i pantay i nyt^ut iya

h e a r + I N D - I N T E R R - y o u two-TR+PRES wife+?+RECIP+PART+ERG

papiyapa-QUIu ku you tw o -Q u lu k u ' C a n h e h e a r y o u two c a l l i n g

19.

t ant a

yalputa t i r k u l i

each o th e r sw e e th e a rt? '

yal put a

, kant iya watapa

t h i s + A B S meat+ABS h u s b a n d meat +ABS wi f e +ABS g o a n n a '(N o, w e ' r e t a l k i n g a b o u t) t h i s h u sb an d and w i f e g o a n n a . '

20.

kant iya

yal puta kamu t i r k u l i

wi f e+ABS meat+ABS a n d husband 'W ife and h usb an d g o a n n a . '

21.

yal puta meat+ABS

ah ma Iaka-Qu I u ku kant i pantay i nytYuta-pa-QU I uku-Qanta ah ? -Q u lu k u

w i f e + ? + R E C I P + I N D - y o u ( O B L ) ? - q u I u k u - I +P AS T

mar itYa-QU I uku hear+IND-rjuluku 'Ah, I t h o u g h t I h e a r d you c a l l i n g

22.

ku Iu : t ya- kant a

each o th e r

sw eetheart.'

parut ^ i -y i qka ya I ka wari

dig+IND-TR+PAST now-PAST down d i s a p p e a r He w e n t o n d i g g i n g a n d t h e n h e d i s a p p e a r e d b e l o w .

23.

put itYa-wuruwa—kanta

matalka

thr ow+I ND- t hem( OBL) +DU- TR+PAST mud+ABS He t h r e w mud ( u p ) t o t h e m .

24.

t a t i nta-Qu I u ku

kur i kara-Qu I u ku

mata I ka-pu Iu ku

t h a t + A B S - p u l u k u s e e + I M P +D U - Qu l u k u mu d + ABS - Qu l u k u p u t i t Y u r k a - p u I u ku throw+IND+PART +DAT-QU I u ku ' S e e t h a t mud I t h r e w ( u p ) ! '

25.

kurukuku::: kurukuku

yani-puluku Iat i t Y a r a - Q U I uku f i r s t - Q u I u k u w a i t + I MP +DU- QUI u k u

qukunta-QuIuku

papiyapa-QUIuku

water+DAT-Quluku you two-Quluku 'Kurukuku ( P i g e o n c a l l ) ' . ' J u s t w a i t f o r t h e w a t e r f i r s t , you two f e l l o w s . ' [ B i r d s g a t h e r a r o u n d a t t h e s m e l l o f w a t e r . ]

26.

kamu-kanta

pilwarma

Quku

kamu-yipka piyatYa

and-TR+PAST b u r s t w a t e r and-PAST And h e b u r s t t h e w a t e r a n d h e f l o a t e d

27.

o ut i t ya- kant a

pukuya

p 1ka t i t y a

swim+IND f l o a t + I N D (up).

wampal i l u

thr ow+IND-TR+PAST w a t e r + E R G l and+ALL The w a t e r t h r e w h i m o n s o l i d g r o u n d .

28.

wa nYt ^ i t ^a-y i Qka kamu-kanta

kuri . . .

cl i mb+ I ND- PAST and-TR+PAST l o o k He c l i m b e d o u t a n d l o o k e d a r o u n d . . .

29.

30.

31.

wa I i ra .

warat^a-r i Qka

N othing. Nothing.

go+IND-DU+PAST. w h e r e - y o u + D U - o u l u k u y o u t w o - o u l u k u T h o s e two h a v e g o n e . ' W h e r e a r e y o u , y o u two f e l l o w s ? '

t ^ i na-wura-ou I u ku

pap iyapa-ou I u ku

t^ i ty i na~ou I u ku tyaw i t y a - o u I u ku y a I puta-ou I u ku kurkata-ou I uku where to -o u lu k u run+IND-ouluku game+ABS-ouluku f e t c h + I N D - o u l u k u ' W h e r e a r e y o u r u n n i n g t o w i t h my b e e f ? ' kamu-rkanta

kiyaroki taokaya kapa , yulmpuri taokaya

and-DU+TR+PAST two+ERG

man+ERG f i n d

t a l l + E R G man+ERG

2 64

Yukulta nawukarayarqki

Nawukara+two+ERG And two men found him, two tall scrub men. 32.

yul mp u r a t a q k a r a

nawukara

nita

tall+ABS man+ABS nawukara name+ABS Tall men named nawukara (scrub men). 33.

k a mu - r k a n t a

palata

pukalaritYa

and-DU+TR+PAST hit+IND kill+IND And they killed him stone dead.

TEXT 2 1 .

Ki y a rq ka papaya

'The

two

kiyarqka qapaya-riqka

d e v il-d e v ils '

tY ilm antuia

waratYulu

two+ABS devil+ABS-DU+PAST ask+RECIP go+COM The two devil-devils decided to make a move.

2.

k u n Y t Y a k u n Y t Y a w a t a - r i qka t Y a t a n a p a t a n t a

tired+become+IND-DU+PAST one+ABL

natanapa

here+ABS camp+ABL

w i t i tYarpa

stay+PART (Because) they were tired of staying in the one place. 3.

mawurinapa-riqka

lapitYa

kamu-riqka

ta :ta :ta

pa:lu

Mawura+ABL-DU+PAST get up+IND and-DU+PAST travel+IND west+ALL wanYfYitYa wam pa liju

climb+IND land+ALL They got up from Mawura and travelled west overland. 4.

ta :ta -riq k a

ki nYpat a - r ka n t a

qawu

travel+IND-DU+PAST call+IND-DU+TR+PAST dog As they travelled they called out to (their) dog: 5.

tYina-kuruwa

qakuruwanta

qawu

where-us(inc)+DU(OBL) our+INC+DU+GEN+ABS dog 'Where's our dog?'

6.

tYutYutYufYu

ki nYpaka

tYutYutYutYu call+IMP 'Call him: tYutYutYutYu....' 7.

kawa-qarawa

qarawantYulu

wayira

qawu

come-us(exc)+DU(OBL) us(exc)+DU+GEN+C0M mate+ABS dog 'Come with us, dog, old fellow' 8.

yu k u r i t ^ a - r k a n t a

kiss+IND-DU+TR+PAST They kissed him. 9.

yukurika-tu

qakuruwanta

qawu

kiss+IMP-me(0BL) our(inc)+DU+GEN+ABS dog They kissed him. 'Kiss me, our dog.'

10.

p a r u f Y i - r i qka

[a pitY a

ki } a t a - r k a n t a

mirkiji

then-DU+PAST get up+IND fetch+IND-DU+TR+PAST net Then they got up, fetched the net

11 .

kampur i t Y a - r k a n t a

say+IND-DU+TR+PAST and said:

265

Text 2 12.

qawu

, yuluta

dog

w a r t Y a w a r t Y a war at Ya y u l u t a

go ahead+IND quickly+IND

taqkara

kapaka

, natara

man+ABS find+IMP kapaka

go+IND

pataqu

c.amp+ABS big

kamu-qarawa

y ut i t ^ i

go ahead+IND in front+ERG

nata taqkawa I a t pakar a

camp man+PL+GEN

milatYa

ki nat ^ i I u

find+IMP and-us(exc)+DU(OBL) return+IND tell+ALL 'Dog, you go on ahead quickly, go on ahead and find a man, find a big camp belonging to a lot of men and come back and let us know.' 12.

kamu-rkanta

kapa w i k a

kunYara

w i ka

and-DU+TR+PAST find shade+ABS small+ABS shade+ABS And they found a little shady spot. 14.

t i : t Y a - r i q ka

makat a

sit down+IND-DU+PAST rest+IND And sat down to rest. 15.

tanta-kura

t i : t Ya

makatulu

latitY a

pataqunta

here+ABS-we(inc)+DU sit down+IND rest+COM wait+IMP big+DAT qawunt a

dog+DAT 'Let's sit down here for a rest and wait for our big dog.' 16.

tanta-pa

p at a p a t a q u w i k a

here+ABS-you(OBL) west big wika-pa

tanta

wiqawiqa

shade+ABS dark shade

pata

shade+ABS-you here+ABS west 'Here to the west is a big shady spot, a really good shady spot here (west).' 17.

pata-kura

wikuntut^a

west-we(inc)+DU sit in the shade+IND 'Let's sit in the shade over west.' 18.

munYi , t a n t a - k u r a

wara

Okay, here+ABS-we(inc)+DU go 'Righto, let's go here.' 19.

k a mu - r i q k a

t i : t Ya

w ikiya

wikuntutYa

makata

and-DU+PAST sit down+IND shade+ERG sit in shade+IND rest+IND And they sat down in the shade and rested. 20.

yakayi

kunYtYakunYtYawata-kat i

Oh dear, tired+become+IND-I+PRES 'Goodness me, I'm tired.' 21.

q akur a

munYi

qanYmal t a

we(inc)+DU now I+also+ABS 'That makes two of us now.' 22.

wunta-kuruwa

pa i t Y i. k u r i ka

walmu

rain+ABS-us+DU(OBL) fall. look+IMP up! 'Rain's falling on us. Look up!' 23.

w a l i r a - q k a wunwari

,

t i : t Ya

wikuntutYulu

NEG-PRES cloud+PRIV sit down+IND sit in shade+COM 'There aren't any clouds, sit down in the shade.' 24.

kay i , t a n t a - t uy i qka

pa 11Y i t Ya wunta

,

kurika

walmu

hey here+ABS-me(OBL)+PAST fall+IND rain+ABS look+IMP up 'Hey! Rain fell on me here, look up!'

266

Yukulta

25.

tanta-kuruwa walmu kun^a kunawuna here+ABS-us(inc)+DU(OBL) up little(ABS) child(ABS) 'There’s a little child up here for us.

26.

q a k ur u wa n t a kunawuna- kuruwa walmu t a n t a our (inc)+DU+GEN+ABS child-us(inc)+DU(OBL) up here+ABS Our child is sitting up here,

27.

w i t i t y a k u n t u t V a t ^ i nt i ya sit+IND hide+IND leaves+ERG hiding (amongst) the leaves.'

28.

kawa , kawa , kunYa kunawuna come here! come here!, little child 'Come here, little child!'

29.

w a r a t Y a - t a y i Q i t y i n t y u|u qam at u Iu -q a r i go+IND-I+FUT my+COM mother+COM-I+PRES 'I'll go with my mummy;

30.

t Yan i t Y a n i t Y a k a n t a t u l u look-look+IND father+COM I'm looking for my daddy.'

31.

qata-paka qamatu q a t a - p a k a I+NOM-you(0BL)+I motherI+NOM-you(OBL)+I 'I'm your mummy.' 'I'm your daddy.'

32.

qata-paka qamatu , qata kantatu-paka I+NOM-you(0BL)+I mother I+NOM father-you(OBL)+I t u I a : t Ya come down+IMP 'I'm your mummy', 'I'm your daddy. Come down!'

33.

w a:::: qamat unt a q itY in in ^t^a -ta y i boo-hoo mother+DAT my+DAT-I+FUT 'Boo-hoo, I'll go for my mummy.

34.

] i k i r ka I at Ya I i ki r k a I a t Y a - k a t i q i t Y i n i n Y t Y a qamat unt a cry+IND cry+IND-I+PRES my+DAT mother+DAT ka n,t a£unla father+DAT I'm crying and crying for my mummy and daddy.'

35.

kawa t u l a : t ya t a t i na ka- paka w a n Y t Yi t Ya come here! come down+IMP there+because-you(OBL)+I climb+IND 'Come down here, otherwise I'll climb up for you.'

36.

pari wanYtY i t Y a - n a go on climb up+IMP-him(OBL) 'Go on, climb up to h i m . '

37.

tanta lat itYa-na tu q alu lu ya I kat i here+ABS wait+IMP-him(OBL) stick+COM below+ERG 'Wait down here for him with a stick,

38.

qata-kat i yu I ut a wanYt Yi k i l a t i l u kamu m a r i k a - n k i I+NOM-I+PRES go ahead+IND climb get+ALL and listen+IMP-me(ACC) ka ku ka ku ka ku kakukakukaku I'll climb on up to get him and you listen for me (to sing out) kakukakukaku.

kantatu father

w a ra tya go+IND

Text 2 39.

pa I a t a - p a I a - p a n t i

k akukakukaku

267

kamu pa I aka . papaya

hit+IND-when-I+FUT kakukakukaku and hit+IMP devil When I hit him: 'kakukakukaku' then you hit him, devil. 40.

kamu

tYart^aluka

m irk ili

yirtYarm aka

and smash up+IMP net+ERG put+IMP And beat him up and put him in the net.' 41.

pi

munYi-panti m a r i.

tYina

kapka t a t i n t a

yes now-I+FUT understand. where word that+ABS 'Yeah, I get it now. what's that word again?' 42.

kakukakukaku , p a k u r u w a n t a

ya I p u t a - k u r k a n t i

pa I a

kakukakukaku our(inc)+DU+GEN+ABS beef+ABS-we(inc)+DU+FUT hit 'Kakukakukaku, we'll kill that game.' 43.

w a n Y t Y i t Y a wajmu

climb+IMP up 'Climb u p !' 44.

k amu- kant a

pa la y u t a r a

and-TR+PAST hit

palta

kunYaya

crown+ABS head+ABS little+ERG

kunawunaya t Y a r t 7 a [ u t a

nalta

child+ERG

head+ABS fall+IND-PAST

smash+INü"

palata-kanta

,

pajtY itYa-yipka

palata-kanta

I aku I n a n a t ^ a - k a n t a

hit+IND-TR+PAST hit+IND-TR+PAST ’ palata

?+IND

-TR+PAST

i : : : : , t Y a r t ^a I u t a t a t i n t a niwanta w ay ira , i:::: smash+IND that+ABS his+ABS mate+ABS t^ata

hit+IND papaya

devil+ABS other Then, the little boy hit (the devil) on the top of his head, smashed his head in, he fell down and that other devil, his mate, bashed him and bashed him and smashed him all up. 45.

p it^in ta

mayara-pari

palata...

my+ABS friend+ABS-I+PRES hit+IND 'I've killed my friend! 46.

p it^in ta

m u p k i t ^ i - p a r i mayara

pa I a

my+ABS own-I+PRES friend+ABS hit I've killed my own friend! 47.

yani

lat it^a

kunYa

, kunawuna p a t a - p a k a

w a n Y t ^i

first wait+IND little boy I+N0M-you(0BL)+I climb Just you wait, little kid, I'm coming up to get you.' 48.

k amu - y i pk a

niya

wanYt^it^a t a t i n t a

tYata

papaya

and-PAST he+NOM climb+IND that+ABS other devil And that other devil climbed up . 49.

kamu- kant a

pa I a t a t i n t a

and-TR+PAST hit

nalta

pa 11y i t y a - y i p ka w a l m a t i l u

that+ABS head+ABS fail+IND-PAST

niwaninYt^a t Y a r t 7 a r i n ^ t ^ a

on’top+ALL

w aylrinYt^a

his+DAT smashed up+DAT mate+DAT And was hit on the head and fell down on top of his beaten-up mat e . 50.

n i w a n i n Y t ^ a way i r i n Y t ^ a - y i p ka pa ] t Y i

hit+DAT mate+DAT-PAST Fell on his mate, he did.

fail

268 51.

Yükulta pira-riQ ka

witi

tatuqka

they+DU-DU+PAST stay together+ABS They lay together. 52.

war t ^ a - y i q ka. t u I a : £u I a : t ^a kunYa

mant uwara

i:

quickly-PAST descend+IND little boy Quickly the little boy got down. 53.

kunYa

mant uwar a q a w u w a l i t Y a

i:

pat aquwaI i t ^ a

little(ABS) boy+ABS dog-away from big-away from The little boy got down quickly away from the big dog. 54.

w a r t ^ a w a r t ^ a - y i q ka t u I a : t u I a : t Ya t ^ a w i t ^ a w i t ^ a - y iqka

quick+quick-PAST descend+IND run+run+IND-PAST And ran for his life away from the big dog. 55.

kamu- kant a

qarakapa

n i wa n t a t a p u t ^ u

kiyarqka

and-TR+PAST meet his+ABS older brother two+ABS And he met his two older brothers. 56.

kunat u

q itY

i nta

, tanta-kuruwa

younger brother my+ABS qakinta

here+ABS-we(inc)+DU(OBL)

kunatu

our(inc)+NOM(VOC) younger brother ’My little brother, here's our little brother.' 57.

ta puta

, taputa

qit

Y i ntY i y a r q k a

, t a p u t a q i t Y i ntY i y a r q k a

older brother+VOC my+TWO+ABS 'Brother, brother, my two older brothers!' 58.

qit

Y i nt a kunat u

pi 11Y i nt a

my+ABS younger brother alive+ABS 'My little brother, alive!' 59.

taputayi

,

t a p u t a y i y a r q ku

,

kiyarqka

older brother+VOC older brother+VOC+two+VOC two+ABS qapaya-qanta

pa l a t a

devil+ABS-I+PAST hit+IND 'Brothers, two brothers, I killed two devil-devils.' 60.

k i y a r q k a - y i ka n t a

pala,kunatu

qitY in ta

two+ABS-you+TR+PAST hit brother my+ABS 'You killed two, my brother!' 61.

t Yi na-rat i

where-DU+PRES 'Where are they? ' 62.

ta tin ta -ra ti

witi

t^art^ara

minkiya

tuqali

there+ABS-DU+PRES stay smashed+ABS trunk+ERG tree+ERG 'There they are, all smashed up at the foot of the tree.' 63.

kanta-para

ku r i t Y i I u wara

consequently-we+DU see+ALL go 'Then let's go and have a look.' 64.

kawa k u r i t a - w u r k a r i

t^a rt^a ra

qapaya

,

come see+DES-you+DU+TR+PRES smashed+ABS devil 'Come, you want to see the smashed-up devil-devils, 65.

tanta-qanta

pala , t a p u t a y a r q k u

here+ABS-I+PAST hit older brother+two+VOC I killed them here, brothers!'

Text 2 66.

QItV i nt Y I kunatuya my+ERG y ounger brother+ERG ' You d i d t h a t , my l i t t l e b r o t h e r ! ' [The use o f th e e r g a t i v e h e re im p lie s p r a i s e , b r o t h e r did t h a t ! ' ]

67.

269

kira

kanakara

taput uyarqku .

e.g.

kala-wura

'My y o u n g e r

pifYulu

you+DU burn+IMP+DU b r o t h e r + t w o + V O C INTERR-you+DU wood+COM ' B u r n t h e m , yo u two b r o t h e r s . Have you g o t a l i g h t ( w o o d ) ? '

68.

wa I ira . t y i Iata-qarkar i no

.make f i r e ( w i t h

firesticks)+IND-we+DU+TR+PRES

kuruwaIa f irestick 'No, w e ' l l make a f i r e w i t h

69.

wartYa

firestick s.'

kanta taputYuyarqku

t^ilakara

kuruwa la

quickly then b r o t h e r + t w o + V O C m a k e f i r e + I MP + D U f i r e s t i c k ' B e q u i c k t h e n , b r o t h e r s , ma k e t h e f i r e w i t h ( y o u r ) f i r e s t i c k s .

70.

tankiyarqka

papayayarpka-rati

patapulu pawu[u

t h i s + t w o + A B S d e v i l +t wo + A B S - DU + P R E S big+COM T h o s e two d e v i l - d e v i l s h a v e a b i g do g .

71.

patapu pawu-nipki waratYa

dog+COM

pa : tYa-kuIuwaniqki

big d og - h e + F UT come+IND b i t e + I N D - u s ( i n c ) + P L + h e + F U T ( O B L ) T h e b i g dog m i g h t come a n d b i t e u s ,

72.

tatinta

pirwanta

piti

t h a t + A B S t hei r+DU4GEN+ABS b a d t h a t n a s t y dog o f t h e i r s . '

73.

warfYawart^a-kurkar i

pawu dog

kanat^a

qu ickly-w e(i nc) +D U+TR+PR ES burn+IND ' W e ' l l b u r n them q u i c k l y . '

74.

pari

kanaka

r i g h t o b ur n + I MP 'R ighto, burn them .'

75.

76.

pari

tYaw ifYawitYa nYima

righto 'Okay,

run+run+IMP you+STAT younger b ro th e r you r u n a l o n g , l i t t l e b r o t h e r .

yut i t y i

kunYa

i n front+ERG l i t t l e Run o n a h e a d l i t t l e

77.

y u t i t y i-qara

kunatu

, kunatu

tYaw i tYaw i fYa

b r o t h e r run+run+IJIP brother.

puta-paqara

t a p u t y u wara

i n fr ont +ERG- we +DU b e h i n d - y o u ( O B L ) + w e + D U b r o t h e r We t wo b r o t h e r s w i l l come b e h i n d .

78.

kurika

come

ya I iwartYawartYa

l o o k + I M P up quickly L oo k up q u i c k l y ! '

79 .

kur i kar a

ya I i

look+IMP+DU up ' L o o k u p , y o u two!

80.

ta :ta

qamatu tanta-kuruwa

tra v e l+ IN D m other here+ABS-we(inc)+DU(OBL)

|a:nta f r o m s o u t h+ABS

ku natu younger b ro th e r H e r e ' s m other coming to w a rd s us from t h e s o u t h ,

little

bro th er.'

270

81.

Yukulta kulakula , q i t Y i nt a kulakula , t y i na-t urkanta

kapata ,

d arlin g

fin d + IN D

my+ABS

kunatu

d a rlin g

where-me(OBL)+DU+TR+PAST

tYina

y o u n g e r b r o t h e r w here ' D a r l i n g , my d a r l i n g , w h e r e d i d t h e y f i n d (y o u f o r m e ) , y o u n g e r b ro th e r, w here?'

82.

kunat i ya-kanta

kiyarpka papaya pala

y o u n g e r brother+ERG-TR+PAST two+ABS d e v i l h i t ' L i t t l e b r o t h e r h a s k i l l e d two d e v i l - d e v i l s . '

83.

kulakula , pi t Y i n t a katYakatya , katYakatYa p i tY i nta d arlin g my+ABS son 'My d a r l i n g b o y , my b o y . '

84.

kurkata-parkant i

son

my+ABS

wartYawarfYa patapuwa I i t ya pawuwalitYa

take+IND-we+DU+TR+FUT q u i c k l y b ig+ a w a y fro m dog+away from We w i l l t a k e him q u i c k l y away fro m t h e b i g d o g .

85.

patapu pawu t a t inkiyarmpakara qapayayarmpakara-pka b ig

dog

that+two+GEN

devil+two+GEN-PRES

pi 11Y i nta alive+A BS T hose two d e v i l - d e v i l s ' b i g dog i s a l i v e .

86.

waratya wartyawartya-ku Ia

ta:ta

go+IMP q u i c k l y - w e ( i n c ) + P L tr a v e l + I N D L e t ' s go q u i c k l y !

87.

kawala

wartYawartya p i t y ip i t y i nta katu

come+PL q u i c k l y my+my+ABS 'Come on q u i c k l y my s o n s .

88.

kuI akuIawaIa-tu

so n

p i t Y i nt a pu:rpa p i tY i p i t Yi nta katu-kula

d a r l i n g + a l l - m e ( O B L ) my+ABS

all

my+my+ABS

so n -w e(in c)+ P L

wara go L e t ' s a l l g o , my d a r l i n g s o n s .

89.

t a :ta-kuI a

J a : Iu pu:rpa , patapulu t r a v e l + I N D - w e ( i n c ) + P L south+ALL a l l big+ALL

na ta l u- kul a

t a :t a

camp+ALL-we(inc)+PL t r a v e l+ I N D L e t ' s a l l go home s o u t h t o o u r b i g camp.

90.

t i : t Ya

mutakaranty i y u t a y i t a wi t it Ya

ya Ia I i t Ya

s i t down+IND mob+GEN+ERG am ongst stay+ IN D glad+IN D S i t t i n g down a m o n g st a mob ( o f o u r p e o p l e ) , f e e l i n g h a p p y .

91.

ta:m i t ya-rukanta

mutaya

tapkaya makuya

ask+IND-them(ACC)+TR+PAST many+ERG man+ERG woman+ERG Many men and women a s k e d them :

92.

kuya-wu I kanta

kapa kunYa

kunawuna

interr-you+PL +T R+PA ST f i n d l i t t l e c h i l d 'How d i d you f i n d t h e l i t t l e c h i l d ? '

93.

niwanta t a p u t y u

tanta-ripka

wara kapatiju

his+ABS o l d e r b r o t h e r this+ABS-DU+PAST go

pakuluwanta

find+ALL

kunawuna , pakuluwanta

o u r ( inc)+PL+GEN+N0M c h i l d

pi l t Yi n t a

our(inc)+PL+GEN+NOM alive+ A B S

kunawuna c h ild 'H i s o l d e r b r o t h e r s h e r e w ent t o f i n d o u r c h i l d , is a l i v e ! '

our c h ild

271

Text 2 94.

kamu-liQka

wirkat^a

waqari

Oit^inpakara

and-they+PL+PAST dance+IND corroboree+ERG my+GEN kunawunakara m a nt uw a r ak a r a waqara

, oitYinpakara

child+GEN

boy+GEN

kunawunakara

kunatukara

child+GEN

younger brother+GEN corroboree+ABS two+ABS

tYatara

song+ABS

my+GEN

waqara

qapaya-kanta

kiyarqka

pa l a t a

other+ABS devil-TR+PAST hit+IND And they danced a corroboree and sang about how the youngest boy had killed two more devil-devils.

TEXT

3 -

HOW TO MAKE LILYSEED DAMPER.

Instructions are given using the indicative form of the verb and no clitic complex is present. 1.

mipulalat,a

kapupa

kajalu

£alunkilu

papkira

w u: f V a

peel+IND black seed bed+ALL bark+ALL pile+ABS give+IND Shell the seeds into a bark coolamin until you get a pile of them. 2.

yi:tVarm ata

tanata

kila ta

pirara

put down+IND leave+IND get+IND flat stone+ABS Leave them and get a big flat stone (to use as grinding mortar). 3.

ki [ a t a

takujulta

w irin ta

get+IND mussel+ABS shell+ABS Get an (empty) mussel shell (to use as a kind of spoon) . 4.

tyirm afa

katara

yi:tVarm ata

piraralu

pick up+IND seed+ABS put down+IND stone+ALL Scoop up some seeds and put them on the flat stone. 5.

kila ta

kunYa

kamara

kutayit^a m ip u lilin ta

get+IND little stone+ABS grind+IND brown seed+ABS Get a little stone and grind the seeds. 6.

kutayit^a

katara

m ip u lilin ta

walmu t a l u n k i l u

grind+IND seed+ABS brown seed+ABS high bark+ALL Grind more seeds and fill up the bark coolamin. 7.

kuwakuwamata k u r a l a t a

t^ulkuwa

mix up+IND spread+IND ashes+ABS Mix up a damper, spread the ashes out. 8.

yirtVarmata

malmuwa

larwata

[atitV a

na:tVulunta

put down+IND damper+ABS cover up+IND wait+IND cook+COM+DAT Put the damper down in the ashes, cover it over and wait for it to cook. 9.

wanVf y i t y a r m a t a

p a t a q u malmuwa

ascend+cause+IND big damper+ABS Take the big damper out of the fire. 10.

yi:tyarm ata

talunki[u

ku lit^a

qukuju

put down+IND bark+ALL wash+IND water+COM Wash it in the bark coolamin. 11.

yi:tyarm ata

purmatulu

put down+IND dry+COM Put it down to dry.

272

Yukulta

12.

t i y a t ya p u jp a tya

eat+IND get full+IND Eat it and fill yourself up.

VOCAB U L A R Y ALPHABETICAL VOCABULARY The alphabetical order employed in this listing is as follows: a, a : , w, y.

i,

i :,

k,

I,

I,

m,

n,

n,

n,

ny , q , p,

r,

r,

t,

t,

t,

t Y , u,

u:,

Word class membership is indicated by: Ad j Adv Dem Loc Int N

Part

adj ective adverb demonstrative locational word interj ection noun particle

k a k a k a , N: spear grass k a k a t i t y a , N: grub k a k i t Y a , Vintr: to vomit k a k u t Y u , N: mother's brother k a l a k a t i r i , N: fresh-water

crocodile ka Ia Ia w u r i t Y a , Vintr:

to show

oneself k a l a l w a r a , N: siblings k a l a q i n t a , N: dry country k a l a r a , N: open (place), beach;

Adj: cleared k a l a r a q k a , N: mosquito (black) k a l a r i w a t a , V: to be in an open

place kalata, Vtr: to cut, butcher (meat) ka Ia t a r m a t Y a , Vintr: to turn round, turn over ka I i n Y t Yu t a , Vintr: to grow (grass) ka I i t Y a , Vintr: to jump; (of kangaroo) hop k a l i k a l i t Y a , Vintr: to hop ka Ika Ik a , N: shag k a l k a l u t a , Vtr: to make someone sick, cause sickness ka Ik a n t a , Adj : sick k a l k a t a , Vintr: to feel sick ka Im a n t a , N: tree goanna k a l Q i t y a , Vintr: to shade eyes with hand k a l t a t a , Vintr: to sneak up

Pron Time V Vintr Vm Vrec Vtr

-

pronominal time word verb intransitive verb middle verb reciprocal verb transitive verb

k a l t Yu r u , N: water goanna k a [ a , Part: interrogative k a l a r a , N: coal, charcoal * .

\V

ka I117a , Vtr: to cover ka Ima ka I m a r a , N: mistletoe (fruit) ka I p u r i q k a r a , N: big rain k a l t Y i r u l u , N: sister's husband

(man) k a l u w a , N: bark (of tree) k a l w a r a , N: fighting stick, nulla

nulla kamara, N: stone, hill k a m a r a q i , N: subsection name (man) k a m p i l a r i , N: sugarbag (bees' nest) kampura, Adj: white (yellow) k a mp u r i t Y a , Vintr: to talk; Vm: to

talk to someone kamputa, N: pandanus fruit kamu, Part: and, so, but, or, then k a n i q a r a t u , N: husband's mother k a n t a , Part: consequently kant a k a n t a , N: open country k a n t a I i t Y a , Vintr: to be alone k a n t a t u , father, father's

younger brother k a n t a t i y a n t a , Adj: mean k a n t i t Y a , Vtr: to nurse (baby) k a n k u l u l u , N: lizard k a n t u q k a , N: jabiru bird kananka I i nta , N: Forsythe Is. k anat Ya, Vtr: to cook k a n k a n t a , Adj: mad, insane

Alphabetical vocabulary kankanwat a, Vintr: to get lost k a n k a r i n Y a , N: stone-knife ka n ku ]t a , N : jaw ka nqar a, N: cockatoo feathers

(worn on headband) k a n t a , N: grass (generic) kant i n t a, Adj: female (plant) kant i p a n t a y i n Y t V u t a , Vrec: to call

each other sweetheart kant i y a , N : wife k a n t u k a n t u , Adj: red; N: white

man kant uwa, N: blood k a n t u w a r m a t Y a , Vintr: to bleed k a nt Y aI aw i , N: widower k a n t ^ a r a , N: silver bream k a n t Y u r a , N: sin, wrong-doing k a n t Y u r u l u , N: sinner k a n Y t Ya r a , N: shake-a-leg

(a dance step) k a n Y t ^ a w a t a , Vintr: to shake-

a-leg (dance clapping knees together) kaqala, N: subsection name (man) kaqka, N: word kaqkalita, N: Yukulta, language, speech ka Q ka j it^u, N: father's father k a q k u l q a r p a , N: grandfather and grandson couple k a q k u l t a t u , N: son's children (man) kaqupa, N: black seed k a p a n t u t a , Vrec: to find each other k a p a n t a , N: sand k a p a n t a , N: hunter k a p a r a , Adj: flat k a p a t a , Vtr: to find (also of spirit 'finding' the womb) k a p i l w a , N: wild shallot kap i I i r i , N : white ochre k a p i l i t ^ u , N: mother's younger sister k a p i n a , N: carpet snake kapul i r i , N: white clay k a p u r p a , Adj: red hot kaput Y i , Adj : blind k a p u t Y i l u t a , Vtr: to blind someone k a p u t Y i w a t a , Vintr: to become blind k a r a ma t a , Vtr: to show something to someone karamatVa, Vintr: to show itself (of sun) k a r i n t a , N: echidna k a r i t Y a , Vintr: wake up, stir

273

k a r k a l a m a , N: garfish k a r k a r a , N: chest k a r k a y i , N: white river gumtree k a r ma t a , Vtr: to hold on to k a r m a t u n t a , N: low tide k a r m i t a , N: liver k a r p i t ^ a . Vtr: to keep k a r a r a w a t a , Vintr: to fall over k a r i y a l i t Y a , Vintr: to sort out

into piles k a t a l a r p k a , N: Cliffdale Creek k a t a r a , N: river k a t a r a , N: nest, bed k a t i r a , N: yamstick k a t a , Time: again k a t a n k a t a n t a , N: peewee k a t a r a , N: waterlily seedpod k a t u r p a , N: fishing line k a t u r a t Y i n t a , Adj: seated with

legs out in front k a t u r a t Y i w a t a , Vintr:

to sit with legs out in front k a t u w a , N: daughter, son (of woman), nephew (of man) k a t ^ a k a t ^ a , N: son, brother's chil­ dren when addressed (woman speaker) k a w a , Int: come! k a w a t a , Vtr: to cook Kapamaristyle, bury in earth oven k a w i t Y a , Vintr: to shift one­ self k a y a r a n Y i , N: name of corroboree kay i , Int: Hey,' k a y i k a y i t Y a , Vintr: to be fully awake kayulta, N: yam k i ! i p k i I i p m a t a , Vintr: to squeal k i l k i l t a , N: small freshwater catfish k i l p u r m a t a , Vintr: to sulk k i I t a , Pron: you (plural) (nomina­ tive) kilwanta, Pron: your (plural) ki Iw iIta , N: gills kilata, Vtr: to get, fetch kinaqara, N: pupil (of eye) kinat^a, Vtr: to tell (story, news) kiniqara, N: little wasp kiniqka, N: grey sandfly kiniqkara, Adj: oldest kiniQkarawata, Vintr: to grow up (of person) kinpanY i, N: widow kinatYa, Vtr: to drop some­ thing k i nat^armata, Vtr: to knock some­ thing down

274

Y u k u lta

ki n Yi n t a , N: s h a p e , f o r m ki nYpat a, V t r : t o c a l l kinYtVa, N: b u s h f i r e k i r a , P r o n : y o u two ( n o m i n a t i v e ) k i r i k a , N: w i l d f i g t r e e k i r i k i r i p a l a t a , V: t o c l a p b o o m e r ­ angs

(fast

clap at

end o f d a n c e )

k i r i y u l u n t a , N: bow p a r t o f r a f t k i r k a , N: n o s e kirkunku,

N:

d a u g h te r 's daughter

( o f woman) k i r m i t i l i m i t i l i , N: b a t k i r p i t Y a , V in tr : to c l e a r nose k ir w ik ir w i, A dj: burnt k i r w i j u t a , V tr: to put out ( f i r e ) k i r w i t a , N: d a r k n e s s , no l i g h t ,

extinguished f i r e V i n t r : t o d i e down, t o wa ne ( o f moon) k i r a , Loc: c l o s e b y , n e a r k i t i I t a , N: b a c k ki wa l i t Ya , V i n t r : t o c r o s s ( w a t e r ) kiwar i nYf ^ut a, V r e c : t o w a k e e a c h o t h e r up ki wa r i f Ya , V i n t r : t o wa k e ki ya r p ka , A d j : two kuka, N: s o r e , wound kukulata, V tr : to wipe kukul af Ya, V i n t r : t o w i p e o n e s e l f kukuwi : nt a , N: s a l t w a t e r c r o c o d i l e kukuw i : nkukuw i : nt a , N: g e c k o l i k e an a l l i g a t o r k u l a k u l a , N: d a r l i n g ku I i r a , N : dew f i s h k u l i f Ya , V t r : t o w a s h k u I maku I mat Ya , V t r : t o c a r t so me ­ thing k u l p a l a w u r u , N: m a g p i e k u l p a r i , N: r e d - b e l l i e d s h a r k k u l u r u n a , N: b u s h f i r e k u l u t u , N: d r e s s , c l o t h e s ( f r o m English: clo th es) k u l u w a n t a , N: r a i n b i r d k u l u w a r a , N: l i t t l e b l a c k s n a k e , death adder ku I u : nYfYuta, V r e c : t o s c r a t c h each o th e r kul u:tYa, V tr: to d ig , s c r a tc h k u Iu : k u Iu : t Y a , V tr : to d ig k u j a la t a , V tr: to s p l i t something kujatYa, V in tr : to u r i n a t e k u l a w i , N: f a t h e r w h o s e c h i l d d i e s k uj i :nYm at a, V in tr : to dance (of women) k u l i p i p i , N: b u t t e r f l y k u i i t Ya , V t r : t o f i l l up kulkarjka, N: w i l d p e a n u t , bulrush kirwifYa,

k u j k u l t a , N: b u s h - l e m o n t r e e k u l k u y a , N: w i l d p o t a t o k u J p i l a t Y a , V i n t r : t o d u c k down, dive (in to w ater) k u l p i y a , Adj: i n s i d e k u l t a Q a r a , N: f l y i n g f o x k u j t u r a , N: l o w e r l e g k u j u k u j u , N: C o r i n d a ( p l a c e name) k u l u l u Q k a , N: h e a r t o f c a b b a g e tree k u I w i k a , N: m o t h e r w h o s e c h i l d dies kumakuma, N: b l a c k s t r i p e ( o n b r o l g a ' s head) kumarju, N: c a v e kumpi I a k u m p i I a , N: c o l o u r e d beetle kump u n a y u I i t Ya , V i n t r : t o b e fatally ill kumumu, N: c h a r c o a l kumunt uQU, N: c e r e m o n i a l h a t kunamuta, A dj: v e r y s m a ll k u n a n k u n a n t a , N: l i t t l e f i n g e r , toe k u n a m a r a , N: ' s u g a r b a g ' b e e , n a t i v e bee kunanYfYa, N: c r a b h o l e k u n a p i p i , N: L a n d c o r r o b o r e e kuna t u, N: y o u n g e r b r o t h e r , younger s i s t e r kunawuna, N: c h i l d kunkuwa, A d j : r a w , u n r i p e kunpakunpa, N: f r e s h w a t e r crocodile kunpuku, N: u r i n e kunpur a, N: w i l d c u c u m b e r kunt i t Ya, V t r : t o t i e u m b i l i c a l cord (F orsythe I s . language) kunupar a, N: b u t t o c k s kunt a I a r a I a r a , N: s a n d g o a n n a k u n t u I i y a n t a , N: r e f e r e e ( i n a fight) kuntumatYa, V i n t r : t o c l a s p hands behind back kunt uQka, N: c h e s t k u n t u Qk i , L o c : b e h i n d kunt uf Ya, V i n t r : t o h i d e kunt Yi wa£a , V i n t r : t o r u n away w i t h man ( i m p l y i n g s e x u a l intercourse) k u n u m u l a , N: c o u n t r y n e x t t o Kiwakara kunYaJut a, V i n t r : t o t e a s e ( h a i r ) ( l i t . t o make s m a l l ) kunYamira, A d j : v e r y l i t t l e kunYara, A d j : l i t t l e kunYpatYa, V t r : t o b r i n g kunYtYakunYfYa , A d j : t i r e d

A l p h a b e t i c a l v o c a b u la r y k u n y t V a k u n Y t V a I i t ^ a , Adv: i n a t i r e d way kunYtY akunytY awata, V i n t r : to become t i r e d k upa I ij i , N: s k e l e t o n k u p u l t a , N: m o s q u i t o ( g r e y , l o n g legged) k u p u l t a , N: e l b o w kupuruma, N: s t o n e k n i f e k u r a l a l a , N: m a r b l e t r e e kuralata, V t r : to s c a t t e r , s p r e a d k u r a l a t Ya , V i n t r : t o b e s p r e a d o r scattered kuraya, N: y e l l o w o c h r e kur ayawuraya , A d j : y e l l o w kur i nYt Viita , V r e c : t o l o o k a t each o th e r k u r i r a k u r i ra, N: m u d c r i c k e t k ur i t Ya , V t r : t o s e e , l o o k a t kurkamal a, A d j : t h o u s a n d s kur ka t a , V t r : t o g e t k u r k u l i y a , N: r i f l e f i s h kurkuj u, N: n e w - b o r n b a b y b o y kurmul t a, A d j : q u i e t kur pul ka, N: n e w , g r e e n g r o w t h kur pul u, N: w a t t l e s p e c i e s kur upa t a , N: h a i r s t r i n g kurukuku, N: t o p - k n o t p i g e o n kur unt a, N: b a r r a m u n d i kurupa, N: s t a r kurura, N: t y p e o f t r e e kuruwa, N: e g g k u r u w a I a , N: s p i n d l e ( f o r f i r e making) k u t i k u t i , N: r e d b i l l k u t i t a , N: c i r c u m c i s e d man ( r e s p e c t term) k u t u t u , N: f i s h i n g p l a c e k u t a l a l k a , N: w h i p - t a i l stingray k ut a I i y a t a , V t r : t o c h o p i n half kutam atya, V in tr: to d rin k kutayitya, V tr: to bake k u t i t a w a , N: b e a r d e d s m a l l man w i t h r e d l e g s , N g u p u r i n t i man kut it i , N: p a n d a n u s n u t k u t i w i t i , Ti me : a w h i l e a g o , lo n g ago k u t u k ut u I u t a , V t r : t o make s o m e ­ o n e o r s o m e t h i n g go a r o u n d k u t u j u , N: h e a r t kut ur ukut ur u, N: s a n d c r i c k e t ku t y i ka , N: n o v i c e k u t y i k u t y i , N: p e n i s ku t y i t y I , N: b a b y a n i m a l , b i r d k u t y p i : mat a, V i n t r : t o s k i p k ut Yul ur u, N: w i l d t u r n i p

275

kuwakuwamata, V t r : t o sw in g some­ t h i n g r o u n d , w r i n g n e c k , mi x up k u w a n t a , N: f i r e s t i c k ( n o t c h e d base) k u w a t a , V t r : t o t i e up k u :ty a , V in tr: to b a th e o n e se lf Ia I a t a , V t r : t o d r o p la la tY a , V in tr : to p ick around fo r food ( e . g . of a b r o l g a ) l a l 1 1 y a , V i n t r : t o s h o o t up ( f r o m w ater) l a p a t a , V t r : t o t r e a d on I a r a 11 a 11 i n t a , N: i n e d i b l e t u b e r l a r a l t a , N: r e d - t a i l e d b l a c k cockatoo la r i Iar itY a , V tr: to t r y hard to l a y (egg) l a r i f y a , V t r : to l a y (egg) Ia r w a t a , V t r : t o c o o k ( i n a g r o u n d oven) l a w a r k a t a , V t r : t o h o l d up I impal impa, N: s h o v e l - n o s e s h a r k ] a I a : t y a , V i n t r : t o f a l l down d e l i b ­ e r a t e l y (as of c h ild in a tantrum) lamuwa, N: o r n a m e n t ma d e f r o m w allaby te e th j a p u r p a n t a , Loc: t h e o t h e r s i d e l a p i t y a , V i n t r : t o g e t up ] a r t y i ] u t_a , V t r : t o o p e n ( m o u t h ) , widen l a r t y iya, A dj: w ide l a r i t a , Loc: s o u t h s i d e J a t i n Y t y u t a , Vrec: to w a it f o r each other I a t i t Y a , Vm: t o w a i t I a t i t y a r m a t a , V t r : t o ma ke s o m e o n e w a i t f o r you j a t y u r i n t a , N: t o d d l e r J a f y u r i t y a , V in tr : to le a r n to walk, toddle la :J u , Loc: s o u t h ( a l l a t i v e ) !a : ü t u t a , V rec: to s p e a r each o t h e r J a : n t a , Loc: from s o u t h l a : r a m a t y a , V i n t r : t o yawn J a : t y a , V t r : to s p e a r , to sew, t o s t i n g (of bee) I i ka I i ka , Adj : c r y i n g j i k i r k a I at Ya, V i n t r : to c r y , s o b , we e p j i la l i l a t a , V t r : t o k e e p someone awake I ip u n ity a , V in tr: to l i c k o n e se lf l i p u r k a , N: l i t t l e d r o p l i r k a r a , Adj: d r y , empty Iirk a w a ta , V in tr : to dry up, be dry l i y a t i , Loc: f a r e a s t

276

Yukulta

Ii:nta, Loc: from the east lukutu, N: oak tree l u j m a t Y a , Vintr: to shake (head) IuIuka, N: circumcised man iuQkuwa, N: black duck lupulu, N: cotton tree I u r a t Y a r m a t a , Vtr: to frighten, intimidate I u r a , N: fat m a k a l p i f Y a , Vintr: to flash

(lightning) makar ka, N: antbed makat a, Vintr: to have a rest m a k u n t u n t a , N: kangaroo tail

(thumped on ground for sound effect during corroboree) ma k ur a r a , N: river wallaby makut Ya, Vtr: to light fire makuwa, N: woman mal amal a, N: fresh-water oyster m a l a n t a n t a , N: afterbirth m a l a r a , N: salt-water m a l a r a , N: green frog m a l i p i n t a , N: after-birth m a l i r m a l i r a , N: centipede m a l k i r k i , N: bull-ant malmuwa, N: lily-seed damper m a l u p i n t a , N: daughter's son m a l a l a w i r i , N: fresh-water catfish m a j i y a n t a , N: possum m a i k u t a r a , N: sleepy-fish m a [ k u t Y a , Vintr: to feel sick because negative vibrations have been directed towards one m a j q a n t a , N: adolescent girl m a l t a, N: hand, finger maJ t ak umat Y a , Vintr: to clap hands (in corroboree) m a l t u n t u n t a , N: Bentinck Island m a j t u w a , N: fresh-water crayfish m a j t Y u r m a t a , Vintr: to spit (of rain) malukara, Adj: cunning, smart, clever at hunting and gathering ma]uruqkura, N: mother kangaroo majyalata, Vtr: to give someone a hand mamarpa, N: mother and daughter couple mampuku, N: small-mouthed fresh­ water catfish mamp un t a , N: brown stingray mamu k ar a , N: bailer shell m a n a r a , N: bait m a n a n t a , N: light cloud m a n k a r a , N: body

m a n k a r p a t a q u , Adj: well-built m a n k a r u l u , Adj: fat (lit. with

body) m a n p u k u l t a , N: splitjack m a n t a l a t a , Adv: hard, very much manamana, N: 'bread' of the sugar-

bag honey m a n tik iri,

N: dance step where knees are clapped together m a n t u w a r a , N: adolescent boy m a n Y a r a , N: husk m a n Y t Y u l a r i , N: hair net (for young boys) m a n Y t Y u r a , N: cabbage tree m a r j k a t a , N: jelly-fish r naQur maQur a , Adj: striped, pretty m a p u n t a , N: heavy dew m a p u r a , N: light dew m a r a l m i r a , Adj: with good hearing m a r a l p i t i , Adj: deaf, naughty (child) m a r a l t a , N: e a r m a r a 11 i t Y a t a , Vtr: to remember m a r a Q u I a t a , Vtr: to dream m a r a Q u I a t Y a , Vintr: to be dreaming m a r a r j u r a , N: a dream, 'dreamings',

totems m a r a p a l t a , N: big boomerang m a r a t Y a , Vtr: to point out,

indicate m a r a y i t Y a , Vtr: to know something mar i n Y m a r i t Y a , Vm: to dream of/

think of someone (i.e. to tune * into their vibrations) m a r i n Y t Y u t a , Vrec: to listen to each other maritYa, Vtr: to listen, hear; Vintr: to think, feel m a r k a t u , N: father's elder sister m a r a k u r a , N: wrist m a r a Q u m a t ^ a , Vintr: to wave m a r a r a , Adj: empty m a r u m a r u , N: plain lily ma r u wa , Adj: blunt m a t a m p a r w a t a , Vintr: to get cramp m a t a r a , N: river wattle tree m a t a l a f Y a , Vintr: to rub something on someone mat a I k a , N : mud mata I pa I a t Y a , Vintr: to roll one­ self in the mud ma t a Ip a n t i t Y a , Vintr: to get bogged in mud m a t Y a , Vtr: to stick hand into mud (to pull up lily roots etc). m a t Y a r i , N: navel m a t Y a r m a t Y a r a , Adj: big mob m a t Y a w u I u I u w a t a , Vintr: to be foot-

A lp h a b e tic a l vocabulary sore m e t y i m a t y i , N: t a i l ( e . g . o f kangaroo) r r. ct yi mat yi pa r ma wu j u , N: f i l e stingray m a t y i t y i , N: m a t c h e s mewura, N: p l a c e - n a m e m e w u r a t y i n t a , N: b a r b e d f i g h t i n g spear meyaku, N: c r a b meyarpataQU, A d j : f r i e n d l y meyara, N: f r i e n d , c o u n t r y ma n ma y a wi t y a , V i n t r : t o s wi n g ar ms m e : I i , N: s m a l l s h o r t - n e c k e d swamp t u r t l e m i I i t i t i , N: g i d d y b e a d and v i n e m i I m i r i , N: l a p m i I m i r i m a I u t a , V t r : t o p u t on l a p m i l t a , N: p o i n t ( o f s p e a r ) m i l t a n t a ( w a l t a r a ) , N: h a l f moon m i l a n t a , N: l a s s o , h e a d r o p e mil atya, V i nt r : to r e t u r n mi I i y a t a , V t r : t o cut mil i y a f y a , V i n t r : t o c u t o n e s e l f m i t t i t ya , V t r : t o s h a r p e n mi maf ya, V i n t r : t o become a father m i n a l t a , N: b u r n t c o u n t r y mi n a n a , N: l a n c e wood m i n i r i , N: b u t t o n mi n p a r a , N: c u t s , boo me r a n g s c a r s on h e a d m i n t a , N: b o t t o m , b u t t o c k s m i n t a y a , Loc: b e s i d e mi n i ma n t a , N: h a n d n e t mi n k a r ma t a , V i n t r : t o a c t a s mi d wi f e mi n k u wa n t a , N: b u s h b e l t m i nmi nt a , N: s p a r k m i n t a , N: t r u n k o f t r e e ; w a i s t m i n t a l i t a , N: l y i n g down p o s i t ion mi n t a I i t y a t a , V i n t r : t o l i e down ( s i d e on) m i n t i t y a , V t r : t o b e s i t t i n g on somet hi ng m i p u l a l a t a , Vtr: to peel m i p u j i l a t a , V t r : t o wake some one m i p u j i l i n t a , N: br own s e e d ( o f waterlily) m i p u j k a , Ti me: a day mi puI kuI uwa t a , V i n t r : t o c l o s e eyes mi p u I m i p u I w a t a , V i n t r : t o f e e l sleepy m i p u j m i r q a n t a , N: s p e c t a c l e s m i p u l t a , N: eye m i p u i t i t y a , Vtr: to t h r e a t e n

277

someone mi p u r a , N: e y e b r o w, ( e y e l i d ? ) mi p u r w a t a , V i n t r : t o b l i n k mi p u r w a t a , V t r : t o make s o me t h i n g well m i p u r w i t y a , V i n t r : t o wi n k m i r a l a t a , V t r : t o make ( e . g . b o o me r a n g ) ; Adv ( f o r V t r ) : w e l l m i r a l a t y a , V i n t r : t o make o n e s e l f l o o k good; Adv ( f o r V i n t r ) : w e l l m i r a l u t a , Adv: t o do s o m e t h i n g well m i r a p a t y a , Ad j : g o o d - l o o k i n g m i r a r a , Ad j : good m i r a r a l a t y a , V i n t r : t o b e good mi rawat a, V i n t r : t o g e t b e t t e r , i mp r o v e , m a t u r e mi r i m a I u t a , V t r : t o p ut o u t s i d e m i r i w a t a , V i n t r : t o come o u t s i d e m i r i y a , Loc: o u t s i d e m i r k i j i, N: n e t ( e . g . m o s q u i t o n e t ) mi r a ma t y a , V i n t r : t o s h i n e ( o f s un) m i r i I i t y a , V t r : t o wi p e ( f a c e ) m i r i j u t a , Vtr: to c l ea n m i r i r a , Ad j : c l e a n mi t it i , N: w h i t e woman ( l o a n f r o m En g l i s h mi s sus) m i t i t i n t a , N: m e d i c i n e m i t a r a , Ad j : d i r t y , muddy m i t y i I t a , N: f i s h n e t m i t y u r k a , N: t e a r s m i y a l a q k a , N: new s h o o t ( o f p l a n t ) mi y a I a q k a I i t y a , V i n t r : t o s h o o t up ( p l a n t ) m i y a j t a , N: s p e a r ( g e n e r i c ) mi y a mi y a , N: c a t e r p i l l a r , wood gr ub mi : l a t a , V t r : t o d e l o u s e ( h a i r ) , l o o k f o r l i c e ( groom) m i : t a , N: l o u s e mu k u l a , N: a n k l e b o n e m u l i y a l a n t a , N: s i t - u p b a b y ( i . e . a t s i t t i n g up s t a g e ) m u l i y a l a t y a , V i n t r : t o s i t up mu I n a n m u I n a n t a , Ad j : n o i s y m u l n a n t a , N: n o i s e m u l n a t y a , V i n t r : t o make n o i s e mu I u mu I u , N: b u mb l e b e e mu l u r w a t y a , V: t o be j e a l o u s m u l a m a l a r a , Ad j : br own mu IkuI i t y a , V i n t r : t o s q u a t m u l k u l u t a , V t r : t o r o l l up mu j k u r j a t a , V i n t r : t o g e t cr amp mu l u p k a , N: p l a i t e d s t r i n g mumat a, V i n t r : t o t h u n d e r mumunar a, N: b u l l r o a r e r m u n i r a , N: n i p p l e mu n k a t a , N: s a d d l e

278

Yukulta

munkitilta,

N: d u g o n g t a i l (p o rtio n th a t is shared out r i t u a l l y ) munkuwa, N: h o l e mun p u r a , N: p e r i w i n k l e mu n t a , N: b o t t o m , b a s e m u n t i n t a , N: s e a t munt ya l i, N: p o u n d e r ( f o r c r a c k ­ i n g s e e d s and g r a i n ) munYtYaqu, A d j : s t r a n g e munur a, N: l i t t l e b l a c k a n t munt a mur a, N: i s l a n d munt uj ut a, V tr : to bend munt umunt u, A d j : c r o o k e d mu n t u wa t a , V i n t r : t o b e n d mi i n t u n t u n t a , N: m a g g o t m u n u l a t ^ a , V i n t r : t o r e s t on o n e ’ s elbows munuqki , N: a r m b a n d munuwa, N: u p p e r a r m munYi, P a r t : O . K . , a l r i g h t muqki t Yp i r i , N: o w n e r o f c o r r o b o r e e m u p k i t ^ i , A d j : own mu q k u l u l u , N: b i g t i - t r e e b a r k coolamin m u q u t i : t Y a , V i n t r : t o s i t i n mud m u r a n t a , L o c: f u r t h e r on mur iw i Iw i I t a , N: t y p e o f s h e l l m u r p a n t a , N: gum mur uku, N: w o o me r a mu r u q u mu r u q u , N: l i l y r o o t mut a I i t Y a , V t r : t o make s o m e o n e w o r k , t o t e l l s o m e o n e t o do something m u t a r a , Adj : s e v e r a l , many mu t a wa t a , V i n t r : t o b e b u s y mu t u k a , N: c a r mut YumutYu, N: f r e s h w a t e r r o c k cod m u w a t a , N: d i n g h y ( l o a n f r o m E n g lis h motor) naqkunali,

N:

grasshopper

na I pa I t a w u ] u, N: b r o l g a n a l p a t i w u l u , Adj: g r e y - h a i r e d n a l t a , N: h e a d n a l w i t ^ a , V i n t r : t o nod h ea d n a q a l a ma , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman) n i m a r a m a , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman) n ' ldiu r a N: g r a s s f i b r e s ( t o b e made i n t o s t r i n g ) n i r i y a , N: t u r t l e s h e l l n u l y a r i m a , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman) n u q a r i m a , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman)

nuralama, (woman)

N:

s u b s e c t i o n name

nakitpila,

Adj: naked ( l o a n from E n g lish naked fello w ) nal ata , V tr: to pick o ff namat Ya, V i n t r : t o s u f f e r n a p i n a p i , N: w i f e ' s b r o t h e r n a r k a , N: b u r i a l g r o u n d n a r k i r i t Y a , V tr : to b u r y , d ig n a t a m a r w a t a , V i n t r : t o camp o u t n a t a r a , N: camp n a t a r a , N: s p i n i f e x n a wu k a r a , N: s c r u b - m a n nay ip i , N: k n i f e ( l o a n ) na: t^ a, V in tr : to b urn, burn s e l f n i l a t a , V t r : t o name s o m e t h i n g n i l a t ^ a , V in tr : to i d e n t i f y o n e s e lf ninatYa, V tr : to count out n i t a , N: name n i w a n a m a , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman) n iya, Pron: h e , she, i t (nominat ive) n u k a r a , N: c h i n nunumu, N: s a l t w a t e r c r a b n u p a r a , N: h u s b a n d a n d w i f e c o u p l e n u r u n u r u , N: woman who h a s h a d a baby i I a i I a , N: s p a c e b e t w e e n t o p teeth n Y i m p i l t a , N: wood c h i p s f o r kindling n Yi n i mi , N: n i g h t a n t , m o t h nY i nt i r i , N: s c r u b w a t t l e n Yi p k a , P r o n : y o u ( s i n g u l a r ) n Y i r i y a , N: p u b i c h a i r n Y ü Q a r i , N: t o b a c c o n ^ u r a n y u r a , Adj: h a z y , o v e r c a s t n Yu r a n Yu r a wa t a , V i n t r : t o c l o u d over (sky) n Y u r a r a , N: smoke

p a k a , I n t e r r o g a t i v e P r o n : who? rjakata, V i n t r : t o f i s h q a k a w a t a , I n t e r r o g a t i v e V: do w h a t ? q a k i n m a n t a , N: Daddy q a k u l t a , P r o n : we ( p l u r a l ) i n c l ­ usive

q a k u r a , P r o n : we ( d u a l ) i n c l u s i v e q a I a q a I a ma f Y a , V i n t r : t o p a n t , have tongue hanging out plait a , V: t o p l a i t dew f i s h praying m antis we ( p l u r a l ) e x c l u s i v e

q a I k a r a , N: q a I k a r a p a Ia t q a l k u wa , N: q a l t a r a , N: q al ta , Pron:

Alphabetical vocabulary p a l a l u l t a , N: fan-shaped shell Qa{ i n i t a , Time: short while ago p a i u t a , Adv: to try to do pama, N: Mum p a m a n t a , Adj: hungry p a m a t u , N: mother, mother's sister p a ma t y a , Vintr: to be hungry p a m p a r w i t Y a , Vintr: to 'shake-a-

leg' (type of dance) Q a m p i r a , N: humpy, hut pampuwa, N: a well r j a n t a p k a , N: groin panampa, N: black husk p a n k i y a , N: side of face, cheek p a n k i y a t Y a , Vintr: to avoid

mother-in-law (by placing hand at side of face) p a n a l a , N: corella p a n a r a , N: fork (in branch, river) p a n i m a , N: fighting stick p a n p a n t a , N: three-cornered jack p a n t i n t a , N: bank of river p a n Y m a t a , Vintr: to tell a lie p a n Y t Y a l t a , N: flames, light p a p k i r a , N: heap, pile p a p k u j t a , N: hole p a p a k u , N: big frog p a p a n a r a , N: curlew p a p a y a , N: devil, spirit, ghost p a p a y a , Adj: very p a r a , Pron: we dual exclusive p a r a k a p a t a , Vtr: to meet p a r a p a r a , Adj: hot (weather) p a r a r a , N: forehead p a r a r i : t Y a , Vintr: to mob someone (lit. to (give) fore­ head) (as of children eagerly clambering over you when they meet you) paratakaIta, N: blue-tongue lizard p a r a w u n t a , N: blue fish p a r i l i t Y a , Vintr: to be patient pa r i r a , Adj: warm p a r i t Y p a Ia p i , N: subsection name (man) p a r i t Y u , N: mother's mother p a r i y a l a t y a , Vintr: to talk English p a r k a k u l i r a , Adj: greedy p a r k u t a t a , Adj: strong ( o f person) p a r k u w a k Adj: hard p a r k u w a t a , Vintr: to be strong p a r m a n t a t u , N: son's children (woman speaking) p a r m u p a r m u , N: potter's wasp

parpara,

279

N: footstep, noise vibrat­ ing through ground p a r p a t u , N: type of shell pa r wa t a , Vintr: to loaf about, be lazy pat a 11 a , N: pandanus tree p a t a , Pron: I (nominative) p a t a t a r p a , N: couple of mother-inlaw and daughter-in-law p a t a t a t u , N: son's wife p a t a t a , N: large, male kangaroo p a t iIkarmatYa, Vintr: to have hands on hips pat iIt a , N: hip p awa r i , Adj: thirsty p a wa r i wa t a, Vintr: to be thirsty pawatYa, V: to forget, to become unconscious p a w i nt a, N: Dog Story Place pawi nYmi ra, Adj: long-winded pawi nYpawi t ya, Vintr: to pant paw i t a , N: lungs p a wi t Y a , Vintr: to breathe p a w i t Y p i t i , Adj: short-winded pawulumatya, Vintr: to yawn pawuwa, N: dog payamatya, Vintr: to look at some­ one but fail to recognise them p a y a n t a t u , N: father's sister's daughter, mother's brother's daughter (girl cousin) payapaya, Adj: lazy p i , Int: yes p iIn a n t a , N: waves pilnatya, Vintr: to break (of wave), to hit shore p i I t 11 Y a , Vintr: to cough p i m i j u , N: morningtime p i m i m a t Y a , Vintr: to fall (of night); to become night time. Adv: tonight, night time p i m itY ita , N: early p i m i y a , N: night p i p k a r a , N: couple of grandmother and granddaughter p i r p u t a , N: fly p i r u k a , N: bead necklace p i r w i t Y a , Vintr: to look behind p i t a , N: fire, firewood p i t a p i t a , N: bitter part of sugarbag puk u Iapuk u Ia , N: gecko pukuita, N: beef-wood (small-leaf) pukuwa, N: water pulmuwa, Adj: fresh (of water) pulyiliri, N: spindle pulanYma, N: subsection name (woman) pula:ku, N: wild banana

280

Y u ku lta

Q u l i w a , N: l i t t l e g i r l Q u l k u r i , N: c o r r o b o r e e p o l e Q u Iu latV a, V i n t r : to r i p open (belly) q u j u l u , N: a f a m i l i a r s m e l l Q u m a l t a , N: s i n g l e p e r s o n Q u m u w a , N: b l a c k QunyuQunyu, N: m e s s a g e s t i c k Q U Q u k a , N: n e w s , g o s s i p QUQutitya, V i n t r : to y a rn Q u p i n a , N: l o n g - l e a f b e e f w o o d Q u r in t it y a , V in tr : to be cold QurmatYa, V in tr: to sn o rt Q u r u l k u , N: b r o w n hawk Q u r u m a , N: b u d o f l i l y f l o w e r Quruwa, A d j: c r i p p le d Q u t i t y a , V t r : to th row quw i n a t y a , V t r : t o know s o m e o n e Q u y a r a , N: f i s h s c a l e s q u y u I q u y u 11 a , A d j : m i s c h i e v o u s QU:rpa, Adj: a l l Qu:rpaluta, V tr: to f i n i s h p a k a l a , N: b l a c k h e a d , p i m p l e pa I a I a n y i , N: o l d man p a l a n t u t a , Vrec: to f i g h t (each other) pa I a q k a l i , N: b r o w n s n a k e p a l a r a , Adj: w h i t e p a la t a , V tr: to h i t , to k i l l palatY a, V in tr: to h i t o n e s e lf ( d u r i n g m ourning r i t e s ) , to get k ille d pa I a t Y p a I a f y a , V i n t r : t o h i t o n e ' s head w i t h y a m s ti c k p a li y a ta , V tr: to squeeze (skin) p a l k a , N: s m a l l m u l l e t p a l k a t y i , N: s i s t e r ( o f man) p a l m p i y a , Time: to m orr ow p a lm p iy a q i m i j u , Time: to m o rro w morning pa Imp i y a r a t i , T i m e : d a y a f t e r tomorrow pa I n a t y a , V t r : t o k n o c k o y s t e r s o ff rocks p a l t a r a , N: c r a c k , m a r k p a l t u w a , N: r e d o c h r e p a l t a , N: e y e l a s h e s ; g r e e n p a r t of tuber pa It i t y a , V t r : t o d r o p s o m e t h i n g p a l w i t y a ( p a Iw i t y p a I w i t y a ) , V i n t r : to b l i n k p a j a j u t a , V tr : to heap s o m e th in g , t o p u t i n a h e a p , t o p i l e up p a l a q a t y i , N: h e r m i t c r a b p a l a y u , N: name o f c o r r o b o r e e p a J p a l t a , Adj: l i g h t ( i n w e ig h t) p a j p a 11y i t y a , V i n t r : t o f a l l o f f

(of

leaves,

grass) to f a l l , to b r e a k ( f r o m f a l l i n g ) ; Vm: t o f a l l on s o m e o n e / s o m e t h i n g pamata, V t r : t o s m e l l pamitya, V in tr : to tak e le a v e of body (of s p i r i t ) pampararawata , V i n t r : t o s q u e a l pampuruku, N: Dog d r e a m i n g c o r r o ­ boree pantara, N: l i p panaqara, N: c a b b a g e - t r e e s p e a r panapa, Adv: s t r a n g e p an ik in t a , N: p a n n i k i n pankimira, N: swamp c o u n t r y pankiya, N: s m a l l w a t e r h o l e ( f i l l e d by r a i n ) panta. T i m e : s o o n pantara, N: a k i n d o f t r e e pankaltit^a, V i n t r : to s i t c r o s s legged panmara, N: w h i t e h e a d b a n d ( made of strin g ) pantara, N: b a s k e t p a n t i t y a , V i n t r : to choke pantumala, N: c a r p e t s n a k e pan{y i panty i , N: h a t p a n t y i t Y a , V t r : t o h o l d someone back panuwa, N: t y p e o f b u l r u s h p a n y p a t ^ i , N: b i g g r e e n p a r r o t p a n Y t y i y a , N: w i l d t u r n i p p a n y fy ity a , V in tr: to sm ell paqalanta, N: c u t ( i n t r e e ) paqara, N: s e a t u r t l e p a q a r i n y i , N: s u b s e c t i o n name p a p i { y u , N: f a t h e r ' s m o t h e r p ar i , I n t : o h , o k a y t h e n , go on p a r i n t a , N: b a b y a t c r a w l i n g s t a g e p ar i t ^ a , V i n t r : t o c r a w l p a r i f y p a r a , N: ' s a n d a l w o o d ' parkala, N: b i g l e a f t i - t r e e p a r k i t y a , V tr: to h i t head w ith boomerang parmaka I a n t a , N: s p i d e r ( g e n e r i c ) parqkara, N: w a t e r - l i l y parpi nat a, Adv: h a r d , v e r y much parul uju, N: s p o t t e d b r e a m paruntaya. T i m e : y e s t e r d a y pa ru nta ya ra ti , Time: day b e f o r e yesterday parwatYa, V t r : t o b e d e n i e d so me ­ th in g because of taboo parw ify a, V in tr : to s h i v e r parw i typarw i f y a , V i n t r : t o s h i v e r , f e e l bad parakura, N: r e d a n t paramatta, V i n t r : t o s n o r e

pa ] ty i t y a . V i n t r :

Alphabetical vocabulary

parut^i. Time: now peruwa, N: pelican petinta, Loc: from the west pat, it y i. Loc: far west pet a, Loc: west petitYa, Vtr: to carry pataka, N: belly (external) patakalinYa, N: plains kangaroo petal iyanta, Adj: brown patapinta, N: thumb, big toe patapu, Adj: big pat it Y iI iI i, Ad j : red petiwulu, Adj: grey-haired pat iwuIuwata, Vintr: to grow old patiya, N: animal fur; grey hair pat uwa, A d j : soft patu waltara, N: new moon pat^ali, N: hair-belt (worn by men) pawujtin^t^uta, Vrec: to spit at each other pawultitYa, Vintr: to spit pawuwa, N: spittle, saliva payayuImpura, N: big oyster payiki, N: dilly bag (loan from English bag) payimara, Adj: grumbler payipurinYtYuta, Vrec: to be angry at each other payipuritYa, V: to be angry (lit. to come out fighting) payiwulu, Adj: grumbler pay iwuIuwata, Vintr: to grumble, complain payiya, N: a fight, trouble pa:Ju, Loc: west-ALL pa:tYa, Vtr: to bite; Vintr: to smoke; Vintr: to go down (of tide) pika, N: flank, kidneys, flesh near ribs pikaI itYa, Vintr: to float pi Ia rit Y a , Vtr: to empty, tip out pilikanta, N: billy-can pilirmafYa, Vtr: to paddle (canoe) pilmanta, N: movement pilmafYa, Vintr: to move (of thing) pilturka, N: bloodwood pilta, Pron: they (plural) (nominative) piltara, Adj: generous piltira, N: locust (bellbeetle)

281

piIwatarmata, Vtr: to burst some­ thing pilwata, Vtr: to break into some­ thing piIirumpurumpu, N: sunset pijkalit^a, Vm: to feel empathy for someone, to be upset about some­ thing p i Ipara, N : ankle piJpawurkita, Adj: ankle deep p i Ip i I i I iwata, Vintr: to fly pii+Yinta, Adj: alive pilt^it^a, Vintr: to be alive, to be conscious pinkara, N: beeswax p int ir i, N: anything used as seat pinYt^ara, N: march fly pi nY t Y Ir i, N: grey-leaf river titree pipkanpu, N: son, daughter (of man), brother's children (of woman) pira, Pron: they two (nominative) pirara, N: big flat stone used for grinding block pirifYa, Vtr: to winnow (by blowing husks and rubbish from seeds) p ir iy a , N: flat woomera pirka, N: plaited string p irm iri, N: bony bream p irmumar itYa , Vtr: to cuddle, to hold close pirmupitiwata, Vintr: to miss some­ one (to long to see someone or something) pirfYilka, N: actions, dance steps p irtY iImuta, Adj: mischievous, active pirtYiImutawata, Vintr: to be busy pirtYiIpitiwata, Vintr: to feel dopey pirila, N: Wild Horse Creek p ir i Ita, A d j : calm piri:ri, N: silver-leafed coolibah p itar iw itar i, N: smelly grass piti:nta, N: boy toddler pita, N : a smell pitariya, N: fresh period just after rain pitiliri, N: wasp, hornet pitiluta, Vtr: to lose something pitimarara, N: thunder pitirika, N: mountain kangaroo pitiya, Adj: no good, bad pitYarpa, N: dugong p itY ir i, N: a crack piyatYa, Vintr: to swim piyuka, N: dry leaves and twigs used

282

Yukulta

to k in d le

fire

p u k a l a r i t Va , V t r : t o k i l l pukara, A d j : b a d , r o t t e n pukat Yi , N: w h i t e s e a h a w k pukawata, V i n t r : t o d i e pul a ka , N: c a t t l e ( l o a n f r o m English bullock)

pul a nYi , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (male) pul a t a , V t r : t o t a k e o f f ( a r t i c l e o f c l o t h i n g ) ( l o a n from E n g l i s h pull) p u l a t ^ a , V i n t r : t o come u n d o n e (hair) pul mi r a , A d j : ' s t r a i g h t h e a d ' c o n c e r n i n g m a r r i a g e (a c o u p le are 's t r a i g h t head' i f they a re in the a p p ro p ria te m o i e t i e s to en a b le a sa n c ­ tioned marriage) pul mpara, N: g r a s s h o p p e r (generic) p u l p i t i , Adj: n ot ' s t r a i g h t ' p u l t a , N: h a i r o n h e a d a n d body p u 1 i p u I t v i , N: r a t p u I t ^ i t a , N: a b a l l ( p r o b a b l y l o a n from E n g l i s h ) p u 1 1 y I y a , Loc: i n a c o r n e r p u l u m p a r a , N: h a i r on h e a d p u I u m p u I U Q k a , N: w i l d p l u m p u lu q k a , Adj: r i p e , cooked p u lu r if y a , V in tr & V tr: to lose leaves pu I u r k u r k u m a t a , V t r : t o r o l l on p a l m , t o r u b w i t h h a n d s ( e . g , o f n u t t o remove husk or d i r t ) p u l w i t V a , Vm: t o b e f r i g h t ­ ened p u l a w a n t a , N: c o r r o b o r e e ground p u ] ipuI i , N : gun p u |Q it'/a, V in tr: to f e e l around ( i n mud) ( f o r w i l d t u b e r s , e t c ) p u l p a n t a , Adj: f u l l ( w ith tu c k e r ) p u jp a ty a , V in tr: to f e e l f u l l ( w it h food o r d r i n k ) , to s w e l l p u l p u l t a , N: f e a t h e r p u l p u l u l u , N: b i r d ( l i t : w i t h feathers) p u j p u j u l u , N: l i l y f l o w e r p u j t a , N: t e s t i c l e s p u lt a m u r a , Adj: t h r e e p u jt i n y f y u t a , Vrec: to throw something a t each o th e r p u l t i t ^ a , V tr : to th row s o m e th in g , shoot, h i t (with m is s ile )

p u I t i t Y p u J t i t Y a , V tr: to s to n e someone p u l u k u l a t a , V t r : t o rub p u l u k u l a f y a , V i n t r : to rub o n e s e l f p u l u l u l a t a , V in tr: to pluck (b ird ) p u l u p u l u , N: b a b y p u n j u r p u n t u r a , A dj: rough p u n u r a , N: emu a p p l e p u n k a n t a , N: r i t u a l g i f t ( s u c h a s t h a t given to m o th e r-in -la w ) punV pata, V t r : to blow p u n Y ty ik a rm a ty a , V in tr : to have hands c la s p e d behind neck p u n y f y i y a , N: b a c k o f n e c k , n a p e p u Q k a la n ti:ty a , V in tr: to k n eel pup ka I t a , N : k n e e p u p k a lt if y a , V in tr : to s i t w ith o n e k n e e up p u p u n a , N: t i g e r s n a k e , b l a c k snake p u r a l a r j i , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (man) p u r a r a , N: h e e l p u r a r i , N: g r a s s u s e d t o make string p u r i t y a , V i n t r : t o come o u t , emerge p u r k u n t a , N: f l o w e r b u d ; c h e s t m arkings, c i c a t r i c e s purmata, V in tr : to crouch behind s o m e t h i n g , d u c k down ( b e h i n d bush) p u r f y imaI a , N: r a i n b o w p u r u l w a , N: l i l y r o o t p u r u m a n t a , N: y e l l o w - f a c e d w h i p snake p u r u t u t u , N: g o a n n a p u r i y a , N: g u t ( o f f i s h ) p u t i k a n t a , N: c a t ( l o a n f r o m English pussycat) p u ti y a ty a , V in tr : to s le e p p u t u l t a , N: b l a c k l i l y p u t a , Loc: b e h in d p u t a t a : t a , V in tr : to walk b ack­ wards p u t a p u t a , A d j: s o a k i n g wet p u f y a k i n y a , N: k a n g a r o o r a t , r o c k w allaby p u t y a r i , N: g r e y - l e a f w a t t l e p u t y i r i n t a , N: c o u s i n - s i s t e r p u t y 11 y i , N: o r p h a n p u y a p a , N: f l o w e r ( g e n e r i c ) pu:m ata, V in tr : to be dry p u :n Y ty u t a , V rec: to push each other p u :ty a , V tr: to p u ll pu: ty p u : t y a , V tr: to drag

A lp h a b e tic a l vocabulary r a ^ a r a . N: s w e a t r a ^ a r wa t a , V i n t r : t o be h o t r i k a r a , Adj : warm ( p e r s o n ) r i n i r i m i , N: f i l e s n a k e t a k u l i t a , N: l e f t s i d e t akuwa ( J i t a ) , N: l e f t h a n d ( s i d e ) t a l a p a n t a , N: c o o l a m i n u s e d a s baby's crad le

t a l a t i n t a , N: o l d man d u g o n g t a l a t u , N: w i l d c o r n t r e e t a I i ya , Ad j : h e a v y t a l k u r k a , N: k o o k a b u r r a t, a I q i t y a , V i n t r : t o b l o w ( o f wind)

t a l p a r a , N: h e a d o f s p e a r , top of t r e e t,a It i t y a , V i n t r : t o s t a n d u p , be s t a n d i n g

t a It itV a r m a ta , V tr:

to stan d s o m e t h i n g up t a l u n t a , N: b a r k ( o f f t i - t r e e ) talurmata, V in tr: to clap lap ( o f women)

t a I u r p a I a n t a , N: k n e e l i n g position t amarj ka, N: f a t h e r a n d s o n ( couple) t a m p i r i , N:

spear

shaft

t a n t a m a n t a , N: c y c l o n e t a n t a w a , N: s m a l l t i - t r e e coolamin t a n t a w u , N: t a r t a r pa, N: (Carissa t a p u t ^ u , N:

tapuwat^a,

bark

stum py-tail liz a rd k u n k erb erry shrub Brownii) older brother V t r : t o p u t on

(clothes)

£ ar a lata , V tr: to skin t a r a r a , N: s k i n t a^ukuwa^a, V i n t r : t o t i e together

ta£.uluta, V tr:

to g a th e r , put t o g e t h e r , h e a p up t a ^ u r j a i a , V i n t r : t o g e t cramp ^atupka, L oc: to g e t h e r t a t a r a , N: l o w e r a r m j ^ a t a wu k a r a , N: p u mp k i n h e a d (fish) J a w a l t a , N: yam ( b i t t e r s p e c i e s ) j ^ a w a r k u n t a , N: d r y s e a s o n j ^ awar a, N: m a r s u p i a l m o u s e i ^ awuj a, N: s o n - i n - l a w ta w u lu ^ a , V t r : to sw allow (some­ thing) t a w u r a , N: t h r o a t , ( f r o n t o f ) n e c k J a H i t V a , V i n t r : t o c ome , go home

283

ta : I itV a rm a ta , V tr: to b rin g home t a : t a , V i n t r : t o go ( w a l k a b o u t ) t a : t a : t a , V i n t r : t o k e e p on walking t i : m p a , N: s i l v e r m u l l e t t u k a n t a . N: w h i s k e r s , b e a r d , m o u s ­ tache t u k a r a , N: p a p e r b a r k t i - t r e e t u k a wa , N: h o n e y e a t e r t u k u l t u k u l , N: g r e y p i g e o n t u l a i t ^ a , V i n t r : to d e s c e n d , climb down tuntuwa, A dj: n a rr o w t u nt,u n k i , N: b o t t o m p a r t o f l i l y t u n k i n t a , Time: s u d d e n l y tunkinwaratYa, V i n t r : to a r r i v e suddenly t u n k u k u , N: w i l d b e r r y t u p a l t a , N: s t i c k t u p a l t a , N: s a l t - w a t e r o y s t e r t u p u l u w a n t a , N: b l a c k b r e a m t u r u p k a , N: a c o l d t u t a r a , Time: a l w a y s tu :tV a , V in tr : to swear, curse

t a k a l t a , A dj: round t a ^ ^ a , V i n t r : to wear c l o t h e s , to get dressed t i l t i t V a , V i n t r : to limp t i I t ^ a Iuta, V in t: to s t r a i g h t e n t i l t ^ a r a , Adj: s t r a i g h t t i r k a l i n t a , N: c r e e p e r , v i n e t i r k a l i t ^ a , V i n t r : to c r e e p (v i n e ) t a k a l t i t y a , V tr: to h id e t a k a n t a , A d j: awake t a k a r a r a , N: m i d d a y t a k u l t a , N: w h i t e n u t o f k a p i l w a t a k u l u l t a , N: f r e s h w a t e r m u s s e l t a l m a t a , V t r : t o chop t a l t i n t a , N: h o l d e r , b l o c k ( f o r g r i n d i n g on) t a l w a t V i , N: b r o l g a t a j a n t a , A dj: b ro k e n t a l a t a , V tr: to b reak t a m a n t a , N: t o o t h t a m a r a r a , N: b o a t tarn i ya , Adj : b l u n t t a m p a r a , N: d a m p e r ( l o a n f r o m English) tam u lata, V in tr : to h u rt tamura, A d j: s h o rt t a m u r i n t a , L o c : a s h o r t way t a n a t a , V tr: to leav e something t a n t a , Dem: h e r e , t h i s o n e t a n Y t y a l m a , N: g i a n t g o a n n a

284

Yukulta

t a q a k u l t a , N: c o l l a r b o n e t a q a k u l t a , N: y e l l o w - j a c k t r e e t a q k a l u r a , N: g r u n t e r ( f i s h ) t a q k a r a , N: man t a q k u l k a r a , N: l i z a r d s p . t a p k u Q k a , N: o y s t e r t a p u l t a , N: b i g s a l t w a t e r c r a b t a p a n t a , N: r i v e r m u s s e l t a r a , N: t h i g h t a r a r a , N: h e a v e n s , t h e f i r m a m e n t t a r a t a , V i n t r : t o warm o n e s e l f t a r k a : n p a I t a , N: f r o g s p . t a r m a j u t a , V t r : t o p u t on l a p t a t i n t a , Dem: t h e r e , t h a t one t a t a r a r a , N: p l o v e r t a w a l t a , N: c a t t l e - b u s h t a w u n t a , N: town t a y a r a , A d j: c l e a n (water) t a : I p i, Adj: quiet t a : l p i w a t a , V i n t r : to keep q u i e t ta :m i nYtyuta , Vrec: to as k each other t a : m i t y a , V tr: to ask about something t i k a m a l u t a , V t r : t o p u t on shoulder t i k a r a , N: s h o u l d e r t i I a n t a , A dj: old t i l a n w a n t a , Adj : v e r y o l d t i l a r a , Time: l o n g t i m e ago t i l a t i l a , N: w a t e r - s c o r p i o n t i n k i I i , N: g a l a h t i n a y a , N: d i n n e r t i p i r i t i p i r i , N: b i g g r a s s h o p p e r t i r a , N: s n a k e t i r a l t a , Adj : smoot h t i r a l t i t ^ a , V in tr: to s l i p t i r i p i jmat^a, V in tr : to clap b oo me r a n g s ( d u r i n g d a n c e) t i r i p i j t a , N: s i g n a l o f boom­ e r a n g t o s t a r t o r end d a n c e t i r i r m a t a , V tr: to c i r c l e round (to catch fish ) t i r i r i r i , N: g r a v e l t i r i w a l t a , N: l i t t l e f r e s h - w a t e r perch t i r k u l i , N: h u s b a n d t i r k u j i n t a , A d j: ma l e ( p l a n t ) t i r k u j i w u l u , N: m a r r i e d woman ( l i t : husband-having) t i r p a t a , V tr: to s t r i n g ( s h e l l s ) on n e c k l a c e t i r i t i r i , N: p e e - w e e t i t i m a t a , V t r : t o push t i t y a r a , N: d o r s a l f i n t i t y i r a r a , N: s a l t p a n , c l a y p a n t i w a l t a , N: t r e e ( g e n e r i c )

t i y a , N: t e a t i y a t Y a , V t r : to ea t t i : r i , N: brown n u t o f k a p i l w a t i : t y a , V i n t r : t o s i t down t u k a t ^ i , N: woman' s ' p o s s u m ' ( c o v e r s g e n i t a l s , worn a t ceremonies) t u k u t u k u , Ad j : damp t u l a n t a , Ad j : f a t ( p e r s o n ) t u l a t y a , V in tr : to get f a t t u l k a , N: g r o u n d , d i r t t u l k a r p a , N: t u r t l e egg t u l k u l u , Adj : d u s t y t u l k u r i t y a , V in tr : to get l i g h t ( l i t : se e ground) t u l m a r a , N: c o u n t r y ( wh e re b o r n ) t u j t a , N: f a e c e s t u l u l m a t a , V tr: to f r i g h t e n , fo o l t u lw a ta , V tr: to e x c r e te tumuwa, N: s a n d r i d g e t u n k u l t a , N: s c r u b t i - t r e e t u n a m a r a , N: s i l v e r - l e a f box- wood t u n t u n t a , Adj : l a r g e , f a t , enor mous t u q u n t U Q u n t a , Ad j : d i r t y t u p a l k a r i , N: b i g w h i t e - l e a f man­ grove t u p u r k a , N: b i g b l a c k - s c a l e m u l l e t t u r t a r a , N: s e a weed t u r u r u , N: w h i t e c r a n e t u r w a : nY t^ u ta , Vrec: to c h a s e each other tu r w a : t y a , V tr: to chase; V i n t r : to rag e (of f i r e ) f y a k a l a t a , V t r : t o c l e a r u p , make room t yakaj ut a, V t r : t o p a r t ( b u s h e s ) tYakaraqu, N: l i t t l e swamp c r a b t^akara, N: p l a c e , s p a r e room ( i . e . a f r e e space) t y a l a p a nt a , N: f l o o r t ya l i r a q u , N: b e l l p l a n t t y a I i t y a r m a t a , V t r : t o p u t some­ thing in t y a l q a n a , N: t o n g u e t ^ a I u n y t ^ a I u n y t ^ i , N: s u b i n c i s e d man t y a l a n t a , N: g i a n t g o a n n a ty a m a r ity a , V in tr : to sta n d s t i l l listening t^am ata, V tr: to s o r t out t yami r ^ a n y i , N: s u b s e c t i o n name (woman) t YampakiI i ki I i , N: p o l i c e m a n b i r d t^arrpatu, N: m o t h e r ' s f a t h e r , m o th e r 's b r o t h e r ' s son tyampatuyampatu , N: c o c k r o a c h

Alphabetical vocabulary

tYamp i I ant uta , V r e c : t o k i c k e a c h other t yampiI at a , V t r : t o k i c k tYampi latYamp i l at a, V t r : t o k i c k (repeatedly) tYani tYa, V t r : t o l o o k f o r , s e a r c h t ^ani t^ani tVa, V t r : to lo o k c a r e ­ fully tYanYtYarawa , N: p e r c h t Yaqki nt a, N: somebody, some p l a c e t YaquIat Ya , V i n t r : t o stomp i n c o r r o b o r e e (men) t Yapata, A d j : f l a t ( s t o n e ) tYapunuqkatY i , N: b o o t t Yarpantu, N: w h i t e c o c k a t o o t Yar pi kal a, N: e a g l e - h a w k t Yarpi ya, N: s h i e l d t Yar t Yaj ut a, V t r : t o smash s o m e t h i n g up tYartYara, A d j: s ma s h e d - u p t Y a r a , N: f o o t , paw, t r a c k t Yar ar i t Ya, V t r : t o warm up ( on f l a m e ) t Ya r i r u l u , N: f l a t - t a i l s t i n g r a y t Yari t Ya, V i n t r : t o a c h e tYaruruqka, N: r o o t s , h o l l o w (of tre e ) f Yat ara, A d j: o n e , o t h e r fYatapu, N: emu, c a s s o w a r y t Yat arka, N: crow tYat i , A d j : l o t t Y a t i n t a , N: t h e b a c k ( o f some­ t h i n g ) , back of hand, top of foot t Y a t i y a t i , N: b l o c k f o r p o u n d i n g n u t s on tYatYawura, N: b i g s a l t - w a t e r catfish t Y a w i l a w i l a , N: t h e o u t s i d e , end *bit t Y a w i t Y a , V i n t r : t o r u n , r u n away t Yawi yal at a, V t r : t o s p i t some­ t h i n g o u t ( f o r e i g n body) t Ya: ra, Loc: r i g h t h e r e t Y a : t Y a , V t r : t o go i n s i d e , e n t e r t y i k i t y a , V tr: to s e t a f i r e (ready fo r lig h t in g ) t Yi l at a, V tr: to l i g h t f i r e (w ith firesticks) t y i l i l i t Y i l i l i , N: g u t s , i n t e s t i n e s t y i I i r a , N: g u t t a p e r c h a t y i Im an tu ta , Vrec: to as k ea ch other t Yi l mat a, V t r : t o a s k t Yi mata, V t r : t o m i s s s e e i n g something tYim itYa, V tr: to squeeze t Y i m p i k i natYa , V t r : t o s wi ng

285

and c r a c k ( b i r d t o b r e a k neck ) tY i namuI i n t a , Time: when tYinamulu, I n t e r r o g a t i v e : how many t Y i n a r a , N: f r i l l e d l i z a r d fYinkatYa, V tr: to f o llo w f Y i n p i r a , N: s t e e p b a n k , a s c e n t (hill) t Y i n t a , N: f l e s h a c r o s s tummy t Y i n t i r i t Y i n t i r i , N: w i l l y w agtail t Y i n t i y a , N: l e a f , b u s h t Y i n Y t Y i y a w a t a , V i n t r : to grumble a t, t e l l off t Y i q k a j t a , N: s c r u b b y - c o u n t r y , bush t Y i p a n a , N: m o t h e r - i n - l a w ( o f man) t Y i p i r w i : f Y a , V i n t r : to d r e s s for corroboree t y i r i y a , N: d i n g o t y i r k a l i t a , Loc: f a r n o r t h , north side f Y i r k a r a , Loc: n o r t h t y i r k a : n t a , Loc: f rom t h e n o r t h f Y i r k u j u , Loc: n o r t h ( a l l a t i v e ) t y i r m a t a , V t r : t o l i f t , wake f Y i r m i n t a , N: r u b b i s h f Y i r w i i t a , N: g i l l s tY i t i t I , N: young boy t Y i t a l i t Y a , V i n t r : t o p e e r , bend to lo ok a t something t Yit Yi n a , I n t e r r o g a t i v e : wher e t o ? t Y i t Y u p a , N: r e d o c h r e t Y i w i [ i , N: w h i s t l e d uc k tY iy u r itY a , V i n t r : to s h u f f l e f e e t (dance) t Y u ka f Y uk a, N: s a l t - w a t e r c a t f i s h f Y u k i t Y u k i , N: f o w l ( l o a n from E n g l i s h chook) t Y u k i y a , N: c o o l a m i n t Y u k u I u , N: m e s s ma t e t r e e tYu I k u n a t Y a , V i n t r : t o s n e e z e t Y u l k u w a , N: a s h e s , f l o u r f Y u l m u t a , A d j: bony ( e . g . of f ish) t y u l p u l t i n t a , N: a x e , tomahawk t Y u l t a , N: b o n e t y u 1 1 a t Yu 11 a , A d j : b o n y , s k i n n y t Y u I a m a r u k a n t a , N: s h o r t - n e c k turtle t Y u j u t a , V t r : t o t e l l someone t o do s o m e t h i n g t Y u I u w a r a , N: ho o k boome r a ng t Y u I w i r i , N: s i s t e r - i n - l a w tYumputYumpu, N: d r a g o n f l y

286

Yukulta

tYumulunta,

N: honey tYun^iita, Vrec: to swear at each other (cf. t u : t Y a ) tYunkumat Ya, V: to answer t Y u n Y t Y u t u t u , N: a type of bird which has its nest on the ground f Y u p a r p a n t a , N: stomach (internal); deep t Y u p k a y i , N: master of ceremonies for corroboree t Y u r k a r a , N: little green-leaf mangrove t Y u r m a l i t Y a , Vtr: to hold someone under the water t Y u r m a t a , Vintr: to drown t y u r u w a l u t a , Vtr: to lay on lap (ritual laying of object on lap) f Y u t a t a , N: little sleepy rock rod t Y u t i f Y a , Vintr: to bounce on knees (dance step) t Y u t u l u , Adj: dusty t ^ u t u w a , N: dust t ^ u w a r a , N: white gum-tree (on ridge) fYu:ra, N: goanna camp wakutafYi, N: organ-grinder lizard w a l a m a p i , N: subincised man wa Ia k a n t a , N: lagoon w a l a p i n t a , N: flock, herd w a l a Q k a r a , N: adam's apple, throat (interior) wa Ia t a , Vtr: to send, let some­ thing go w a l i r a , Part: no, not w a l i r a l u t a , Vtr: to destroy some­ thing, spoil, ruin something or someone w a I i r a j u f Y a , Vtr: to find nothing w a l i r a w a t a , Vintr: to disintegrate, die wa Ii f Y a , Vtr: to get hold of wa I i w i r i , Adj: clear (after rain) (cloudless sky) w a l k a , N: bush oven w a l k a t Y a , N: flipper of turtle (may be borrowed from Lardil) wal puwa, N: raft, bark canoe w a l t a r a , N: moon; grub (shaped like half-moon) w a l w u r i f Y a , Vtr: to take out of bush oven w a l a r a , N: mouth, beak w a j i t ^ a , Vtr: to take out of ashes w a l k u r a , N: achilles tendon w a l k u w a j k u , N: hair-band (of women)

w a l m a t i , Loc: on top of, over waI mu j i t a , Loc: top-side waImu I i t a t a , Vintr: to lie on

one's back Vtr: to build ( e . g . house), to fill up w a l m u r i t Y a , Vintr: to look up waj muwa, A d j : high, full w a Im u w a t a , Vintr: to rise, get higher w a l p i t a , N: something strange or unknown, stranger w a l u n a r a , N: swamp turtle w a i u r u r u , N: mast w a j u r a , N: noise w a l u t a , Vtr: to hunt away, to chase w a l u w i t Y a , Vintr: to bark, shout wamata , Vintr: to sing out, yell; Adv: loud wampa Ia tY i, N: mainland wampal mat^a, Vintr: to hunt w a mp a l t a, N: land wampana, N: scorpion wampara, N: (white man) clothes w a mp i t a, N: wombat (loan from English) wampurwaItYitYa, Vintr: to be lying down want a Ip i , N: whisker salmon want,un u , N: water-rat w a n p u l t a , N: sand-frog w a n t i r i r i m a t a , Vintr: to circle round to net fish w an a l a, N: feathers worn in armband wanatYa, Vtr: to dislike w a n a t Y i , N: men's possum w a n t i y a , Adj: thin (of person) wanuru, N: mother with newborn baby (respect term) w a n Y i n t a , N: devil w a n ^ t ^ i Ii t ^ a , Vintr: to have sexual intercourse w a n Y t Y i f Y a , Vintr: to ascend, climb up w a n Y t ^ it ^ a r m a t a , Vtr: to take out w a p a l k a , N: hook boomerang wapa Iw ir k a n t a , N: dancer wapara, N: song, corroboree w a p k u t u , N: older brother (of woman) wapkutuma, N: shooting star w a p k u t Y u ru wa n t a , N: knife grass wapkuwa, N: red-bellied shark w a p u r u Iu p u Ia y a , Adj: clever w a p a n i t Y a , Vintr: to go hunting walmuluta,

Alphabetical vocabulary wa p a nt a, A d j : ready for a fight w a p i r a , N: queen fish w a r a k u t u , Loc: not far w a r anY f Y a, N: stone axe w a r a r a , Loc: long way w a r a f Y a , Vintr: to walk, come, go (depending on context) wa r a wa r a, N: the bush w a N t ^ a , Vintr: to disappear, to be absent warkuwa, N: sun, day warmara, N: wind warmat Ya, Vintr: to b l e e d w a r f Y a , Vintr: (to go) q u i c k l y (also Adv) w a r f Y a l u t a , Vtr: to hurry someone w a r f Y a w a r t Y a , Vintr: (to go) faster (also Adv) w a r u n t a , N: giant goanna w a r i k i k i , N: hat w a r i l t a , N: thunder storm w a r u r u p u , N: bustard (plains turkey) w a t a l k a , N: sword shark w a t a m a r a , N: feather decoration (used by men in corroborees) w a t u w a , N: steam, smoke w a t a p a , N: small goanna w a t a t a , N: shoulder w a t i k i r i , N: old woman w a t i r a , N: wild grape w a t u k a r a , N: girl who is new-born w a t u k u , N: fish, hook, wire, iine w a t u n t a , N: bandicoot w a t u t u , N: type of shell w a f Y i t ^ u r a , N: armpit hair, underarm smell w a t Y u r a , N: armpit w a w u l t a , Adj: a few wawunt a, N: nest for little bee way i n i , N : road w a y i r a , N: mate wayuwa, Adj: few (things) w a : f Y a , Vintr: to sing wika, N : shade wikuntufYa, Vintr: to sit in the shade w i l a l i t Y a , Vintr: to hang w i l a l u t a , Vtr: to hang up w i l a w i f Y a , Vtr: to rinse clean, to shake (dirt off) w i l p a k i n t a , N: high tide w i j p a k i f Y a , Vintr: to rise (of tide) wijwafYa, Vintr: to walk slowly;

287

Adv: slowly w i n i k a n t a , N: rib winipinta, N: Lily Waterhole (name of lagoon) w i p a w i p a , N: good shade w i r i nku I u w i r i nku [u , N: beetle (generic) (lit: with shell) w i r i n t a , N: shell, money w i r k a f Y a , Vintr: to play, dance w i r k a t Y a r m a t a , Vtr: to joke with (relation) w i r k a y u k a t Y a , Vtr: to play about with something w i r w i r a , N: shore, ribs w i r a r a , Time: for a little while w i r i t Y u , N: whistle bird w i r u w a , N: type of shell w i t a p k u r a . N: ironwood w i t i f Y a , Vintr: to stay, live, exist w i t ^ a , Vtr: to scrape (lit: to make a small sharp movement e.g. n a l w i f Y a 'nod head' from n a l t a 'head') w i :rikatYikatYi, N: big freshwater catfish wukuwa, N: work (loan from English) wulata, Vtr: to take out, off (only found as part of a compound verb) wulkura, N: neck-bone wulukulata, Vtr: to rinse wulanta, N: vegetable food wulpiriri, Adj: fat (meat) wulpulpu, N: feathers worn on hairbelt wu 11umpa11Yinta, N: turn-over baby (i.e. a baby who can turn himself over) wu 11umpa11Y it^a, Vintr: to turn over wultuqata, Vintr: to lie on stomach wujtunta, N: hook on boomerang, woomera w u l u l t a , N: storm cloud wumpuI i y a t a , Vtr: to break in two wu n k u r a , N: windbreak w u n k i , N: year, wet season w un t a , N: rain, cloud w u p i f Y a , Vtr: to steal w u r i l k a , N: green mountain parrot w u r k i n t a , N: back-bone w u r k u r u p u , Adj: dark w u r u k a l a , N: prawn, shrimp w u r u l u p u , N: dead body, corpse w u r u j u t a , Vtr: to sharpen something w u r u p u t i t Y a , Vintr: to give birth (lit: sharp throw) wuruwa, Adj: sharp; cheeky, nasty w u r u wu r u , N: prickly-bush

288

Yukulta

wurara, Time: for a long time wurumulta, N: bait wurunta, N: young man (fully initiated) wutira, N: lagoon coolibah wutalka, N: whip-tail stingray wutaltVi, N: flesh wu:t^a, Vtr: to give wu:tuntuta, Vrec: to share some­ thing yakamiri, N: subsection name (man) yakayi, Int: we]l I never, goodness me, ouch, wow yakit^iri, N: wet season yakukatu, N: older sister yakuli, N: fish (generic) ya Ia I itYa, Vintr: to be glad, pleased ya Ia Iu, N : dawn ya Iamat^a, N: sunrise yalaQalu, N: midnight yalirinta, N: 'heaven', good country yaI ita:tanta, N: aeroplane (lit: up-go) ya Iiwuju, N: salmon ya I iya, N: sky; Loc: up yaIka, Loc: down yalkarinYa, N: whirlwind yalkaii, Loc: underneath yalmira, N: near sunset yaluntawata, Vintr: to get dark, late yalwata, Vintr: to sink down yalputa, N: meat, game yamatYari, N: woman's corroboree yampara, N: soft flesh underneath chin yampiya, N: father-in-law (of man and woman); son-in-law (of man) yampiyarpa, N: couple of fatherin-law and son-in-law yanaparpanta, Adj: new ya n i, Time: first yanta, Time: now yanwakitYa, Vintr: to leave body (of spirit) yapalaya, N: late afternoon yaramanta, N: horse yarampawatYa, N: corroboree yariyalta, N: twig, little branch yararamata, Vintr: to whisper yarawu, N: sugar yat iIta, Adj: strong ya:ta, N: yard (loan from English) ya ;t I{uta, Vtr: to make someone

laugh ya:tutYa, Vintr: to laugh yilmira, N: tough skin yilmirulu, N: dugong (lit: with tough skin) yiIpiIka, N: fingernail, toenail yipiti, N: coolamin yiriwiwi, N: umbilical cord yitatawata, Vintr: to play about, make fun y itatay itata, Adj: kind yi:t^a, Vtr: to give yi:tYarmata, Vtr: to put down yu kaniwu:tya , Vtr: to lasso some­ thing yukit^a, Vintr: to float yukuritYa, Vtr: to kiss yukurinYt^uta, Vrec: to kiss each other yukururu, N: any container yuI itYa, Vtr: to mime (animal, bird) yulkalitYa, Vintr: to be for ever yulmpura, Adj: long, tall yuImpur inta:ta, Vintr: to keep on walking (go for a long walk) yulmpurinta, Time: for a long time yu Impure it^a, Vintr: to stretch yulupara, N: hole pierced in sep­ tum yululu, N: red seed in water-lily pod yuluta, Vintr: to go ahead, go first yuluwa, N: flood water yuna, Time: first (cf. yuluta) yupulta, N: fruit yuritYa, Vintr: to move (of person) yurityarmata, Vtr: to move some­ thing yuruI ita, N: right side yuruwaIawata, Vintr: to be shy yuru Iu, N: milky way yut ita, Time: before yutitY i, Loc: in front yutantYi, Adj: pregnant yutara, N: crown (of head) yutara, N: big waterhole, swamp; container yutawar iwata, Vintr: to feel guilty, ashamed yutawata, Vintr: to go inside yutayita, Adj: middle toes and fingers; in between yutay itYa:tYa, Vintr: to get into the middle of something yutayuritYa, Vintr: to feel nauseated

Alphabetical vocabulary

289

yirayuta, N: sea, salt water yuwuyi, Int: that's right yuwariwari, N: sign (telling that yu:mpata, N: a whistle woman is pregnant) yu:mpanYmat^a, Vintr: to whistle yuwat^a, Vintr: to wake up yu:rpu, Loc: long way yuwit^a, Vintr: to move out ofsight yu:ta, Time: first

VOCABULARY BY SEMANTIC FIELDS NOUNS A - Body parts nalta, head yutara, crown (of head) puita, hair of head, body pulumpara, hair of head palkara, plait patiya, grey hair (also animal fur) parara, forehead mipujta, eye mipura, eyebrow palta, eyelashes kinapara, pupil mityurka, tears kirka, nose, face yulupara, hole pierced in septum maralta, ear pankiya, cheek kanku 11a, jaw nukara, chin yampara, soft flesh under chin walara, mouth, beak pantara, lip tukanta, beard, moustache tamanta, tooth nY iIa i l a , space between top teeth tyalpana, tongue pawuwa, saliva, spittle tawura, (front of) neck walapkara, throat (inter­ ior), Adam's apple punytViya, nape, back of neck wulkura, neck bone tikara, shoulder watata, shoulder tapakujta, collarbone watyura, armpit watyit^ura, armpit hair, underarm smell munuwa, upper arm tatara, lower arm kupulta, elbow marakura, wrist

malta, hand, finger tyatinta, back of hand, top of foot yuru(lita), right hand (side) takuwa(j ita), left hand (side) patapima, thumb, big toe ('big one') yutayita, middle fingers or toes kunankunanta, little finger or toe y iIp i Ika , nail kuntupka, breast munira, nipple karkara, chest minta, waist, trunk of tree winikanta, rib wirwira, ribs, shore pika, flank, flesh near ribs, kidneys qat i!ta, hip pataka, belly (external) tyinta, flesh across tummy matyari, navel yiriwiwi, umbilical cord tyuparpanta, stomach (internal) kut u Iu , heart paw ita , lungs karmita, liver tYil il ityi! il i, guts, intestines kit iIta, back wurkinta, backbone kunupara, buttocks minta, buttocks, bottom m iIm ir i, lap tara, thigh pupkalta, knee kultura, calf, shin, lower leg p iIpara, ankle mukuja, ankle bone piIpawurkita, ankle deep (Adj) walkura, achilles tendon tyara, foot, paw, track purara, heel kutyikutyi, penis puita, testicles nYiriya, pubic hair pantapka, groin malipinta, after-birth malantanta, after-birth

290

Yukulta

tulta, faeces kunpuku, u r i n e mankara, body wuruluQU, d e a d b o d y , c o r p s e kin^inta, s h a p e , form t ^ a w i l a w i l a , o u t s i d e , end b i t pululu, a f a m i l i a r s m e l l pita, a smell tarara, skin y i Im i r a , t o u g h s k i n t ^u l t a, bone kupa] i I i , s k e l e t o n kantuwa, b l o o d jura,

fat

wuta 11Vi , f l e s h rapara, s w e a t purkunt a, c h e s t m a r k i n g s , cicatrices

kuka, s o r e , wou n d mi npara, c u t s , s c a r s made b y boo me ra ng on h e a d paka l a , b l a c k h e a d , p i m p l e t ur upka, a c o l d taku ! i t a , l e f t s i d e yurulita, r ig h t side

B - Human classification t a pk a r a , man makuwa, woman nurunuru, woman who h a s h a d a b a b y wanuru, woman w i t h new b a b y (respect

term)

pul upuj u, b a b y wat ukara, n e w - b o r n g i r l kurkul u, n e w - b o r n b o y wui tumpaItY i n t a , ' t u r n - o v e r baby '

muliyalanta, ' s i t - u p ' baby pari nt a , ' c r a w l ' b a b y lat^urinta, t o d d l e r kunawuna, c h i l d p i t i : n t a , boy t o d d l e r t y it it I , l i t t l e b o y puI i wa , l i t t l e g i r l maj pant a, a d o l e s c e n t g i r l mantuwara, a d o l e s c e n t b o y kut ^i ka, n o v i c e wurunt a, y o u n g man ( f u l l y initiated)

pumal t a, s i n g l e p e r s o n kapant a, h u n t e r k u t i t a , c i r c u m c i s e d man (respect

term)

Jujuka, c i r c u m c i s e d man t Ya I un Vt y a I u nYt y i , s u b i n c i s e d man w alamapi,

(p ro b a b ly borrowed

from L a r d i l ) ,

s u b i n c i s e d man

pa Ia I a n y i , o l d man t i r k u l i w u l u , m a r r i e d woman ( l i t : husband-having) o l d woman k i n p a n y i , wi dow kantya Iaw i , w i d o w e r kul awi , f a t h e r w h o s e c h i l d d i e s kul wi ka, m o t h e r w h o s e c h i l d d i e s put y i t y i , o r p h a n ka nt ukant u, w h i t e man ( l i t : r e d ) mit it i, w h i t e woman ( l o a n f r o m English missus) papaya, d e v i l , s p i r i t , g h o s t walpita, s t r a n g e r mayara, f r i e n d , f e l l o w c o u n t r y m a n wa y i r a , m a t e t y a p k i n t a , s o m e b o d y , some p l a c e

watikiri,

C

-

Kinship

kakutyu, m o t h e r 's o l d e r b r o t h e r pamatu, m o th e r, m o t h e r ' s o l d e r sister kapi I i t y u , m o t h e r ' s y o u n g e r s i s t e r k an ta tu , f a t h e r , f a t h e r ' s younger brother markatu, f a t h e r ' s e ld e r s i s t e r p a r ity u , m o th e r's mother tyampatu, m o th e r's f a t h e r , m o th e r's b r o t h e r ' s son p apifyu, f a t h e r ' s mother kapkalifyu, f a t h e r 's fa th e r wapkutu, o l d e r b r o t h e r (f e m a le speaking) t a p u t y u , o l d e r b r o t h e r (m ale s p e a k ­ ing) yakukat u, o l d e r s i s t e r p a l k a t Y i , s i s t e r ( o f man) kunatu, y o u n g e r s i b l i n g k a l a l wa r a , s i b l i n g s pama, Mum paki nmant a, D a d d y ( ? ) , ' O u r F a t h e r ' katyakafya, son, b r o t h e r 's ch ild ren , when a d d r e s s e d (woman s p e a k i n g ) pi pkanpu, s o n / d a u g h t e r (man s p e a k ­ i n g ) , b r o t h e r ' s c h i l d r e n (woman speaking) k a t u w a , s o n / d a u g h t e r (woman s p e a k ­ i n g ) , n e p h e w (man s p e a k i n g ) kirkunku, d a u g h t e r 's d au g h ter (of woman) t i r k u ] i , husband kant i ya, w i f e patatatu, s o n ' s w ife kajtyirulu, s i s t e r ' s husband (of man) k a n ip a r a tu , h u s b a n d 's mother

Vocabulary by semantic fields n a p i n a p i , wife's brother q a r m a n t a t u , son's children (of

woman) kaqkultatu, son's children (of man) maluqirita, daughter's son tawula, son-in-law t^ipana, mocher-in-law (of man) tYulwiri, sister-in-law yampiya, father-in-law (of man or woman), son-in-law (of man) q a y a n t a t u , father's sister's daughter, mother's brother's daughter (girl cousin) putViririta, mother's sister's daughter, father's brother's daughter (cousin sister) n u p a r a , husband and wife couple mamar pa, mother and daughter couple t a m a q k a , father and son couple q i p k a r a , granny and granddaughter couple k a q k u l q a r p a , grandfather and grandson couple y a m p i y a r p a , father-in-law and son-in-law couple q a t a t a r p a , mother-in-law and daughter-in-law couple

D - Mammals p a t i y a , animal fur k a r i n t a , echidna (porcupine) t a w a r a , marsupial mouse w a t u n t a , bandicoot m a j i y a n t a , possum q a t a t a , large male kangaroo p i t i r i k a , mountain kangaroo m a j u r u q k u r a , mother kangaroo m a k u r a r a , river wallaby p u t Y a k i n Y a , rocx wallaby,

kangaroo rat wallaby living in flat country, plains kangaroo p u f t Y i p u l t Y i , rat w a n t u n u , water-rat w a m p i t a , wombat (loan from English) matY i m a t y i , tail (e.g. of kangaroo) t Y I r i y a , dingo qawuwa, dog k u t ^ i t Y i , baby animal k u j t a q a r a , flying fox/fruit bat p a t a k a Ii n Y a ,

291

k irm it iI i m i t i I i , insect-eating bat y a r a ma n t a , horse pul a k a , cow, bullock (loan from

English) putikanta,

cat (loan from English pussycat) p i t Y a r p a , dugong m u n k i t i l t a , tail end of dugong (portion for ritual sharing) t a l a t i n t a , old man dugong y i l m i r u l u , dugong (lit: with tough skin) walaqinta, flock, herd

E - Reptiles ku kuw i: n t a , saltwater crocodile k a l a k a t i r i , freshwater crocodile kunpakunpa, freshwater crocodile w a l u n a r a , swamp turtle p a q ar a , sea turtle t u l k a r p a , turtle egg t Y u J a m a r u k a n t a , short-necked turtle w a l k a f Y a , flipper of turtle q a r a t a k a [ t a , bluetongue lizard w a k u t a t Y i , organ-grinder lizard t Y I n a r a , frilled lizard t a n t a w u , stumpy-tail lizard t a q k u l k a r a , lizard sp. k a n k u l u l u , lizard sp. p u r u t u t u , goanna sp. ka I mant a, tree goanna k a l t Y u r u , water goanna k u n t a I a r a I a r a , sand goanna t a n Y t Y a l m a , giant goanna w a r u n t a , giant goanna t Y a [ a n t a , giant goanna wat a p a , small goanna t Y u r r a , goanna camp k u k u w i : n k u k u w i : n t a , gecko like an alligator qukulaQukula, gecko Tira, snake kapina, carpet snake rimirimi, file snake p a n t u m a l a , carpet snake purumanta, yellow-faced whip snake kuluwara, death adder pupuna, black snake, tiger snake palaqkali, brown snake malara, green frog qapaku, big frog tarka:npaIta, frog sp. wanpulta, sand-frog F - Birds pu[pu|ul_u, bird (generic) (lit: with feathers)

292

Yiikulta

ku ty itV i, bird, baby animal kuruwa, egg katara, bird's nest (in tree) pu|pu[ta, wing feather tYatapu, emu or cassowary na Ipa ItawuIu, brolga taIwaty i, brolga kumakuma, black stripe (on brolga's head) kantuQka, jabiru paruwa, pelican kaIka1ka, shag papanara, (eastern) curlew waruruqu, plains turkey (= bustard) panala, corella kurukuku, topknot pigeon tukultukul, grey pigeon t ifit iri, peewee (alternative name is mudlark) katankatanta, peewee ( = mudlark) kulpalawuru, black-backed magpie tyatarka, crow talkurka, laughing jackass (= kookaburra) tyintiritv int ir i, willy wagtail tyarpantu, white (sulpher-crested) cockatoo laralta, red-tailed black cockatoo tinkiIi, galah Qurulku, brown hawk tyarpikala, eagle hawk pukatyi, white sea hawk Iupkuwa, black duck ty iwi[i, whistler duck kuluwanta, rain bird kutikuti, redb ill panypatyi, big green parrot wurilka, green mountain parrot tukawa, honey-eater tatarara, plover tururu, white crane tyampaki[iki[i, policeman bird wirityu, whistle bird tyukityuki, fowl (from English chook) tyunytyututu, bird which has its nest in the ground

G - Fishes3 etc yakuli, fish (generic) tYukatyuka, salt water catfish tYatyawura, big salt water catfish mala|awiri, freshwater catfish kiIkiIta, small freshwater catfish wi:rikatyikatyi, big freshwater catfish

mampuku, small-mouthed freshwater catfish kulira, palkuwa, dew fish kurunta, freshwater barramundi pirmiri, bony bream kanfyara, silver bream parululu, spotted bream tupuluwanta, black bream taQkalura, grunter tyany{yarawa, perch tiriwalta, little freshwater perch tyutata, little sleepy rock cod mutyumutyu, freshwater rock cod QanQanta, three-cornered jack parawunta, blue fish wapira, queen fish tatawukara, pumpkin head (fish) tupurka, big black-scale mullet palka, small mullet ti:mpa, silver mullet wantaIq i, whisker salmon yaI iwuIu, salmon malkutara, sleepy-fish manpukulta, splitjack karkalama, garfish kulpari, waqkuwa, red-bellied shark watalka, sword shark kurkuliya, rifle fish kutalalka, whip-tail stingray mampunta, brown stingray tyarirulu, flat-tail stingray wutalka, whip-tail stingray I impal impa, shovel-nosed shark titYara, dorsal fin ty irwi[ta, gills quyara, fish scales puriya, gut (of fish) maltuwa, freshwater crayfish wuruka[a, prawn, shrimp kunanYtya, crab hole mayaku, crab palaqatyi, hermit crab taqulta, big saltwater crab t^akaraqu, little swamp crab tapanta, freshwater mussel takululta, freshwater mussel payayuImpura, big oyster tupalta, saltwater oyster maIamaI a , freshwater oyster taqkuqka, oyster munpura, periwinkle mur iwiIwiIta, type of shell qalalulta, fan-shaped shell qarpatu, type of shell wiruwa, type of shell maqkata, jelly-fish tilatila, water scorpion

V ocabulary by s e m a n tic f i e l d s H - In s e c ts makarka, antbed m a Ik irk i, b u ll ant munur a, l i t t l e b l a c k a n t parakura, red ant n ^ i n i m i , n i g h t a n t , moth p i t i l i r i , h o r n e t , wasp ( v a r i o u s sp.) QarmuQarmu, p o t t e r ' s wasp k i n i q a r a , l i t t l e wasp mul umul u, b u mb l e b e e wampana, s c o r p i o n ma I i r m a l i r a , c e n t i p e d e m u n t u n t u n t a , maggot q i r q u t a , (common) f l y p i n Y t Y a r a , ma rc h f l y kiniqka, grey sa n d fly kuQuIta, mosquito (grey, lo n g le gged k a l a r a q k a , mosquito (black) tYumputYumpu, d r a g o n f l y kuIipip i , b u tt e r f l y k a k a t i tYa , gr ub m i y a m i y a , wood g r u b , c a t e r ­ pillar par makaI a n t a , s p i d e r ( g e n e r i c ) t i p i r i t i p i r i , big grasshopper pulmpara, g r a ssh o p p e r ( g e n e r ic ) naQkunali, grassh o p p e r m i : t a , head l i c e pi 11 i r a , l o c u s t kumpilakumpila, co lo u re d b e e t l e kur i r a k u r i r a , mud c r i c k e t k u tu r u k u t u r u , sand c r i c k e t q a l t a r a , praying mantis w i r i n k u I uwi r i n k u I u , b e e t l e (gen eric) ( l i t : with s h e ll) tYampat uya r npa t u , c o c k r o a c h k u na m a r a, n a t i v e b e e s ( v a r i o u s s p . ) wawunta, n e s t fo r l i t t l e bee k am pilari, sugarbag (bees' nest) t Y u m u l u n t a , b e e s ' honey p i n k a r a , b e e s wa x

I - Language s cerem ony e t c . karjka, word kaqkal i t a , l a n g u a g e , speec h QUQuka, n ews , g o s s i p n i t a , name QunYuQUivu, m e s s a g e s t i c k yuwariwari, sign ( t e l l i n g th a t woman i s p r e g n a n t ) yu:mpata, a w h is tl e wa Q a r a, s o n g ( v a r i o u s s t y l e s ) m a r a q u r a , d re a m, ' d r e a m i n g ' , totems mui l n a n ta , n o i s e

293

qarqara , f o o t s t e p , n o i s e v i b r a t i n g t h r o u g h ground

wal ura, n o i s e kantYura, w r o n g - d o i n g kantYurulu, a p e r s o n who commits an o f f e n c e o r u n s a n c t i o n e d a c t tion ( l i t : w ith wrong-doing) payi ya, f i g h t , t r o u b l e kunt u I i y a n t a , r e f e r e e ( i n a f i g h t ) narka, b u r i a l g r o u n d punkanta, r i t u a l g i f t ( s u c h a s t h a t given to m o th e r -in - la w )

l a - C orroboree kumuntuQU, c e r e m o n i a l h a t pantY i pantY i , h a t rnumunara, b u l l - r o a r e r panmara, w h i t e h e a d b a n d made o f string

qi ruka, b e a d n e c k l a c e wa[ kuwa[ ku , h a i r b an d made f rom p la ite d grass

( f o r women)

manYtYulari, h a i r n e t ( f o r young boys)

lamuwa, w a l l a b y t e e t h s e t i n b e e s ­ wax ( wor n on h e a d b a n d )

kanqara, c o c k a t o o f e a t h e r s (worn on h e a d b a n d )

watamara, f e a t h e r d e c o r a t i o n ( f o r men a t c o r r o b o r e e )

munuqki, ar mband wanala,

f e a t h e r s worn i n ar mband

kurupata, h a i r s t r i n g p a t Ya l i , m e n ' s b e l t (made f rom human h a i r ) wulpulpu, f e a t h e r s worn i n patYali wanatYi, m e n ' s possum ( c o v e r s g e n i t a l s , made f rom possum o r wallaby h a ir) t ukat Yi , woman' s possum mupki t Ypi r i , owner o f c o r r o b o r e e pulawanta, c o r r o b o r e e g r o u n d Qul kuri , c o r r o b o r e e p o l e kut i t awa, s m a l l b e a r d e d man w i t h r e d l e g s ( N g u p u r i n t i man) pi l mant a, movement pi rtYi l ka, a c t i o n s , dance s t e p s yarampawatYa , c o r r o b o r e e warja Iw i rkanta , d a n c e r tYuqkayi, m a s t e r o f c e r e m o n i e s f o r c o r r o b o r e e . (Family of person who made up t h e d a n c e s . O r d e r s p e o p l e t o p r e p a r e f o r d a n c e . Can d r i v e them by f o r c e i f n e c e s s a r y . Tyuqkayis p a i n t th e d a n c e r s , ta k e t h e i r meals, e t c . ) makuntunta, k a n g a r o o t a i l , u s e d i n

294

Y u k u lta

c o r r o b o r e e f o r s ound e f f e c t ( thumpe d on g r o u n d ) t i r i p i l t a , s i g n a l o f b oome ra ng t o s t a r t o r end d a n c e k an Y t Ya ra , (men o n l y ) i n i t i a t i o n shake-a-leg m a n t i k i r i , (women) c l a p k n e e s t o g e t h e r and s l i d e f o r w a r d . F o rb id de n to u n i n i t i a t e d boys y a m a t y a r i , w o ma n ' s c o r r o b o r e e k a y a r a n y i , w o ma n ' s c o r r o b o r e e p a l a y u , name o f c o r r o b o r e e k u n a p i p i y a l k a w a r a , Land corroboree pampuruku, Dog d r e a m i n g c o r r o b o r e e I n s e c r e t c o r r o b o r e e s men s i n g o u t ' O i ' when f i n i s h e d . One old lady answers ' O i ' . All men s q u e a l ' K a : ' . P raise for the best dancer: k i t i t it i t i t i t i ___

J - A r te fa c ts 3 e tc w a q a l k a , hook boome r a ng t Y u j u w a r a , hook boome r a ng m a r a p a l t a , b i g boome r a ng ka[wara, f i g h t i n g s t i c k , n u lla n u l l a (heavy c l u b ) Qanima, f i g h t i n g s t i c k k a t i r a , yamstick (digging stick) m iyalta, spear (generic) mawuratY i n t a , b a r b e d f i g h t i n g spear m i l t a , p o i n t (of spear) tamp i r i , s p e a r s h a f t t a l p a r a , h ea d o f s p e a r mur uku, s p e a r t h r o w e r , woomera p i r i y a , f l a t woomera w u l t u n t a , hook on bo o me ra ng , woomera tYarpiya, sh ie ld t Y u I p u [ t i n t a , a x e , tomahawk war an^tYa, s t o n e axe kankarinYa, s to n e k n i f e kupuruma, s t o n e k n i f e kuruwala, s p i n d l e ( f o r f i r e ­ making) q u Iy i I i r i , s p i n d l e kuwanta, f i r e s t i c k pirka, p la ite d s trin g p u r a r i , g r a s s used in s t r i n g making n i n t u r a , g r a s s f i b r e s ( t o be made i n t o s t r i n g ) mul up ka , p l a i t e d s t r i n g

minkuwanta, bush b e l t m i[a n ta, la s s o , headrope katurpa, fis h in g lin e wurumulta, b a i t manara, b a i t w a t u k u , f i s h , h oo k , w i r e , l i n e m it ^ i lta , fish in g net mi n i r n a n t a , hand n e t m i r k i l i , n e t ( e . g . mosquito n et) walpuwa, b a r k c a n o e , r a f t ki r iyu I u r i t a , bow p a r t o f r a f t p a y i k i , d i l l y bag ( f r o m E n g l i s h bag) pantara, basket y u k u r u r u , any c o n t a i n e r muQ k u l u| u, b i g t i - t r e e b a r k cool ami n tantawa, small t i - t r e e bark coolamin t ^ u k i y a , coolamin t a l a p a n t a , coolamin used as b a b y 's cradle y i p i t i , coolamin, dish m u n tY a Ii, pounder p i r a r a , b i g f l a t s t o n e u s e d as grinding rock t a l t i n t a , h o ld er, block t Y a t i y a t i , b lo c k f o r pounding n u ts on mamukara, b a i l e r s h e l l niriya, tu r tle shell m untinta, seat p i n t i r i , an y th in g used as a s e a t tY irm inta, rubbish

European ite m s wampara, ( w h i t e man) c l o t h e s ku I u t u , c l o t h e s tY apunuqkatY i, boot mit i t, i n t a , m e d i c i n e nY upari, tobacco n ayipi, knife p an ik in ta , pannikin pilikanta, billycan p u l i p u l i , gun ( E n g l i s h b u l l e t ) t a m p a r a , damper mat y i t ^ i , m a t c h e s t a w u n t a , town wukuwa, work t i naya, dinner tamarara, boat mut uka , c a r muwata, d i n g h y ( f r o m E n g l i s h mo t or ) yaI i t a : t a n t a , a e r o p l a n e (lit: up-travel) tiy a , tea t Yu lkuwa , f l o u r , a s h e s w a l u r u r u , ma st

Vocabulary by semantic fields warikiki, hat m in ir i, button m ipuIm irqanta, spectacles (lit: eye-shiny) munkata, saddle

K - Fire, Food, Water yalputa, meat, game animal wulanta, vegetable food (tucker) yarawu, sugar manarnana, 'bread' of the sugarbag q it a q ita , bitter part of sugarbag malmuwa, lily-seed damper pita, fire, firewood piyuka, dry leaves and twigs used to kindle fire nYimpilta, wood chips used as kindling minminta, spark kuluruna, bush fire kumumu, charcoal kalara, coal, charcoal tYulkuwa, ashes (cold) waIka, bush oven nYurara, smoke watuwa, steam, smoke QanYtYalta, flame, light Qukuwa, (fresh) water lipurka, little drop yutayuta, salt water, sea q iInanta, waves malara, saltwater yuluwa, floodwater katara, river waI a ka nt a , lagoon qampuwa, well pankiya, small waterhole (filled by rain) kututu, fishing place yutara, swamp mapunta, heavy dew mapura, light dew

L

-

Celestial, weather

warkuwa, sun, daytime qimilu, morning time ya Ia Iu, dawn yalamatYa, sunrise qimitYita, early takarara, midday yapalaya, late afternoon yalmira, near sunset pi I irumpurumpu, sunset yaluntawata, Vintr, to get dark, late qimiya, night time yalaqalu, midnight

295

k i r w i t a , darkness, no light, ex­ tinguished fire wika, shade w i q a w i q a , good shade w a l t a r a , moon (= curl-grub) m i l t a n t a ( w a l t a r a ) , half moon p at u w a l t a r a , new moon k u ru p a , star waqkutuma, shooting star y u r u l u , milky way p u r t Y i m a l a , rainbow y a Iiy a , sky, up t a r a r a , heavens, the firmament w u n t a , cloud, rain ka Ip u r i q k a r a , big rain p i t a r i y a , fresh period just after rain manant a, light cloud, nimbus w u l u j t a , heavy cloud t a n t a m a n t a , cyclone warmara, wind y a l k a r i n Y a , whirlwind p i t i m a r a r a , thunder w a r i l t a , thunderstorm k a r m a t u n t a , low tide w i l p a k i n t a , high tide t a w a r k u n t a , dry season w u n k i , year, wet season ya k i t Y i r I, wet season

M - Geography t u l m a r a , one's country n a t a r a , camp t Y a k a r a , place, spare room q a m p i r a , humpy, hut w u n k u r a , windbreak t Y a l a p a n t a , floor way i n i , path, road tuIka, ground, dirt, earth w a m p a l a t Y i , mainland w amp a l t a , land rnuntamura, island k a p a n t a , sand (generic) tumuwa, sand ridge mat a Ika , mud kapiliri, white clay, white ochre p a lt u w a , red ochre t Y i t Y u p a , r ed o c h r e kuraya, yellow ochre t i t Y i r a r a , s a ltp a n , claypan tYutuwa, dust Qaqkulta, hole munkuwa, hole p a l t a r a , c r a c k , m ark p i t y i r i , crack kumaqu, cave qaqkira, heap, pile

296

Yukulta

kamara, hill, mountain, stone, rock, pebble t iririri, gravel pantinta, bank of river tYinpira, steep bank, ascent (hill) kalapinta, dry country tyiQka[ta, bush, scrubby country pankimira, swamp country kantakanta, open country minalta, burnt country warawara, the bush kalara, clean, open place, beach yalirinta, good country, 'heaven' kananka Iinta, Forsythe Island majtuntunta, Bentinck Island katalarpka, Cliffdale Creek kulukulu, Corinda kunumula, country next to Kiwakara pawinta, dog story place winipinta, Lily waterhole mawura, Mawura

N - Arboreal, etc tiwalta, tree (generic) kanta, grass (generic) ty iQ ka 11a, scrub kurpulka, new growth tyint iya, leaf , bush panara, fork (in branch, river) tupalta, stick yariyalta, twig, little branch t^arurupka, root puyapa, flower (generic) purkunta, flower bud miyalapka, new shoot (of plant) kaluwa, bark manYara, husk panampa, black husk papalanta, cut in tree tyiI ira, guttapercha yupulta, fruit parpkara, waterlily (various sp.) putulta, black lily marumaru, plain lily mipulilinta, brown seed (of waterlily) katara, waterlily seedpod puruma, bud of lily flower murupumurupu, lily root purulwa, lily root tuntunki, bottom part of lily yujulu, red seed in waterlily pod patalta, pandanus tree kamputa, pandanus fruit kutiti, pandanus nut manytyura, cabbage tree kululupka, heart of cabbage tree

p a n a p a r a , cabbage tree spear t ^ u w a r a , white gumtree (on ridge) k a r k a y i , white river gumtree mu r p a n t a , gum t u n a ma r a , silverleaf box k u r a l a l a , marble tree p i l t u r k a , bloodwood mi nana, lancewood p u k u | t a , beefwood (small leaf) p u p i n a , long leaf beefwood p a r i t ^ p a r a , sandalwood p i r i : r i , silver leafed coolibah w u t i r a , lagoon coolibah w i t a p k u r a , ironwood l u k u t u , oak tree [ u p u l u , cotton tree t a p a r p a , kunkerberry shrub

(Carissa Brownii) k u r p u l u , wattle sp. (Acacia etc)

e.g. mulga, gidgea, myall, brigalow ma t a r a , river wattle tree ny i nt I r i , scrub wattle p u t y a r i , grey-leaf wattle t u k a r a , paperbark ti-tree t u n k a l t a , scrub ti-tree p a r k a l a , big-leaf ti-tree p i n y t V i r i , grey-leaf river ti-tree t a l u n t a , bark (off ti-tree) t u p a l k a r i , big white leaf mangrove {yurkara, little green leaf man­ grove k u l k u l t a , bush lemon tree k u r u r a , type of tree wur uwur u, prickly-bush t a w a l t a , cattle-bush n a t a r a , spinifex kakaka, spear grass w a p k u t V u r u w a n t a , knife grass p i t a r i w i t a r i , smelly grass t a w a l t a , yam (bitter) k a y u l t a , yam kutyuluru, wild turnip panytyiya, wild turnip k u l k u y a , wild potato l a r a I t a I t i n t a , inedible tuber k a p i l w a , wild shallot t a k u l t a , white nut of k a p i l w a t i : r i , brown nut of k a p i l w a k i r i k a , wild fig tree t a l a t u , wild corn tree k u l k a p k a , wild peanut, bulrush w a t i r a , wild grape t u n k u k u , wild berry p u I u mp u I u p k a , wild plum p u n u r a , emu apple k u n p u r a , wild cucumber

Vocabulary by semantic fields tirkalinta, creeper, vine mi I it it i, giddy bead and vine ka Imaka Imara , mistletoe (fruit) kapupa, black seed manamana, bread of the sugarbag panuwa, type of bulrush tYalirapu, bell plant turtara, seaweed

0 - ADJECTIVES Number t^atara, one kiyarpka, two pultamura, three mutara, several, many wayuwa, few (things) w a w u 11a, few t ya t i , a lot matYarmatYara, big mob kurkamala, thousands t Y i n a m u I u , how many? Qu:rpa, all

Co lour pumuwa, black wurkurupu, dark kampura/paIara, white kurayawuraya, yellow kantukantu, red pat itY i I iI i, red mulamalara, brown pataliyanta, brown

Dimension pata p u , big tuntunta, large, enormous kunYara, little kunYamira, tiny kunamuta, very small yulmpura, long, tall tYuparpanta, deep marara, empty tamura, short wuIpir ir i, fat (meat) tulanta, fat (person) mankarulu, fat (lit: with body) m a n k a r p a t a p u , well built wantiya, thin (person) tYu 11at Yu ita , bony, skinny tYulmuta, bony (e.g. of fish) lartYiya, wide tifntuwa, narrow t i I t Y a r a , straight muntumuntu, crooked (path), twisty takalta, round

Physical property rikara, warm (person) par ir a , warm parapara, hot (weather) kapurpa, red hot kirwikirwi, burnt kurmulta, quiet (conditions) p ir i Ita, calm waI iwiri, clear (after rain) putaputa, soaking wet, wet tukutuku, damp nYuranYura, hazy, overcast munYtYapu, strange panapa, strange I ir kara, dry parkuwa, hard patuwa, soft ta I iy a , heavy pa Ipa Ita, light (weight) w u r u w a , sharp tamiya, blunt maruwa, blunt kapara, flat tYapata, flat (stone) tiralta, smooth punturpuntura, rough tupuntupunta, dirty mitara, dirty, muddy t u I k u I u , dusty t Yut u Ju , dusty mapurmapura, striped, pretty mirira, clean t Ya rt Ya ra , smashed up talanta, broken pulmuwa, fresh (of water) kayara, clean (of water) tayara, clean (of water) pulupka, cooked (meat), ripe kunkuwa, raw, unripe pukara, rotten

Age and value y a n aparpanta, new t i Ianta, old kinipkara, oldest tilanwanta, very old, ancient (na I)p at i w u I u , grey-haired mirara, good pit iy a , bad

Human properties, etc ta:lpi, quiet (of animates) takanta, awake mu InanmuInanta, noisy pawinYmira, long-winded maralmira, with good hearing mirapatYa, good looking

297

298

Yukulta

y itatay itata, kind pi Itara, generous mayarpataqu, friendly malukara, cunning, smart wapuruIupuIaya, clever wapanta, ready for a fight payiwulu, grumbler payimara, grumbler par ka ku I ira , greedy kankanta, insane payapaya, lazy puyuIpuyuIta, mischievous pirtYilmuta, mischievous, active kantat iyanta , mean wuruwa, cheeky, nasty (sharp) mupkitVi, own yat iIta, strong parkutata, strong (of person) pi {t y inta, alive puruwa, crippled ka Ikanta , sick pawitYpiti, short-winded kunYtYakunYtYa, tired yutantYi, pregnant pamanta, hungry pawar i, thirsty I ika [ ika , crying pulpanta, sated, full (with tucker) maralpiti, deaf, naughty (child) kaputYi, blind kantinta, female (of plants) tirkulinta, male (of plants) pulpiti, not straight (of marriage) pulmira, straight-head (of marriage) munYtYapu, strange panapa, strange katuratYinta, seated with legs out in front

nakitpila, naked (English naked feller)

VERBS (Note: full details concerning transitivity will be found in the alphabetical vocabulary) P - Motion waratYa, go, walk, come pamitYa, take leave of body (of spirit) yanwakitYa, leave body (of spirit) wilwatYa, walk slowly wartYa, go quickly wartYawartYa, go faster pilmatYa, move (of thing)

yurifYa, move (of person) t a : I itYa, come, go home t a :t a , go (walkabout) ta:ta:ta, keep on walking wapanitYa, go hunting kawitYa, shift tYaifYa, go in, enter yutawata, go inside warifYa, disappear fYakalata, clear up, make room pur ifYa, come out, emerge miriwata, come outside mi Iat ^a , return ka IatarmatYa, turn around wuItumpaItYifYa, turn over putatarta, walk backwards tYinkatYa, follow yuluta, go ahead, go first wampalmatYa, hunt turwaitYa, chase kaltat a, sneak up wantiririmata, tirirmata, circle round to net fish latYuritYa, toddle paritYa, crawl kut^piimata, skip (also in dance) ka I itYa, jump, hop (of kangaroo) ka I ika I itYa, hop (in dance) tYital itYa, bend to get a better look purmata, duck down (behind bush), crouch behind something piIpiIiIiwata, fly tYawitYa, run, run away kuntYiwata, run away with man kankanwata, get lost paitYitYa, fall kararawata, fall over la|a:tYa, fall down deliberately (as of a child in a tantrum) t iraItitYa, slip pa Ipa 11YitYa, fall off (of leaves, grass) wanYtYitYa, climb up, ascend walmuwata, rise, get higher wilpakitYa, rise, come up (of tide) tula:tYa, climb down, go down pa:tYa, go down (of tide) yutayitYa:tYa, get into the middle of something ku:tYa, bathe oneself mat a Ipa IatYa, roll oneself in mud piyatYa, swim pikaIitYa, float yukitYa, float yaIwata, sink down ku [pi Iat Y a , dive (into water)

_

Vocabulary by semantic fields Ia Iitya, shoot up (from water) p iIirmatYa, paddle kiv.a I itYa, cross (water) maItakumatYa, clap hands (in corroboree) t irkaI 11^a, creep, spread (of vine) wirkatVa, dance (men), play kan^tYawata, dance the initiation shake-a-leg (men) ku ii:nVmata , dance (of women) pamparwitYa , stand still and shake-a-leg tir ipiI matYa , clap boomerangs (during dance) tYapulatYa, stomp in dance (men) tY'yurit^a, shuffle feet to right and left (in dance) (women) tY ’pirwi:tYa, dress oneself for corroboree fYutitYa, bounce on knees, feet parallel (dance step) Q - Rest wititYa, stay (at a place), remain, to be yulkalitYa, be for ever kanta IitYa, be on one's own mintitYa, be sitting on something mu IiyaIat^a, sit up t i:tYa, sit down yuImpurtYitYa, stretch, sit with legs stretched out katuratYiwata, sit with legs out in front pankaltitYa, sit cross-legged mu jkuI itYa, squat puqkaltitYa, sit with one knee up muQutiit^a, sit in mud wikuntutYa, sit in shade qarwata, loaf, be lazy muntuwata, bend taltitYa, be standing kalariwata, be in an open place tYamaritYa, stand still listen­ ing puqka Iant i:tYa , kneel makata, have a rest wila IitYa, be hanging minta I itYata, lie down (side on) wampurwa11YitYa, be lying down walmu|itata, lie on one's back wultupata, lie on one's stomach munulafYa, rest on one's elbows pikaIi tYa, float

299

kuralatYa, be spread R - Induced motion yi:tYarmata, put down w iIa Iuta , hang up tYirmata, pick up, lift, wake lalatYa, pick around for food (e.g. of a brolga) lawarkata, hold up karmata, hold on to kuntumatYa, clasp hands behind back tYurmal itYa, hold someone under water p irmumaritYa, cuddle, hold close karqitYa, keep pat itYa, carry ta:IitYarmata, bring home yuritYarmata, move something walata, send, let something go waluta, hunt away kurkata, take, get wuqitYa, steal kunYpatYa, bring kuImakuImatYa, cart ki lata, fetch, get walitYa, get hold of pa kata, fish tanata, leave something laritYa, lay (e.g. egg) larilaritYa, try hard to lay (egg) yi:tYarmata, put down mirimaluta, put outside tYaIitYarmata, put something in pu:tYa, pull pulata, take off (clothes) (loan from English pull) pu:tYpu:tYa, drag titimata, push pu:nYtYata, push each other qutit Ya, throw PuttitYa, throw at, shoot yukaniwu:tya , lasso tYimata, miss takaltitYa, hide something kuntutYa, hide oneself p it iIuta, lose kinatYa, drop something pa 11 itYa, drop kinatYarmata, knock down kapata, find tatuluta, gather, heap up, put to­ gether pa la Iuta, heap up kariyalitYa, sort into piles tYamata, sort out kutukutuIuta, make something or someone go around kuwakuwamata, swing something round

30 0

Yukulta

t Y i m p i k i n a t Y a , swing round and

crack (to break neck of bird etc) t a 11 i t Y a r m a t a , stand something up t y u r u w a l u t a , put on lap (in rituals) tarmaluta, put on Lap tirpata, string shells on necklace walwuritYa, take out of bush oven walitYa, take out of ashes wanYt^itYarmata, take out wartV'aluta, hurry someone wu:fYa, yi:tYa, give wu:lunluta, share parwafYa, be denied something because of taboo

p a l t Y i t Y a , be broken mat a I p a n t i t Y a , be bogged p i l w a t a , break into p i I w a t a r m a t a , burst t a l a t a , break k u i a l a t a , split w u m p u l i y a t a , break something in two l a r t y i Iu t a , widen l a l a t a , drop p i l a r i t Y a , tip out, empty k u r a l a t a , scatter p u l u l a t Y a , rip open (belly) t ^ a r t Y a l u t a , smash up l a r w a t a , roast, cook (in ground

oven)

S - Affect pa lata, hit (with open hand), kill palat^a, get killed, hit oneself (during mourning rites) pa Iantuta, fight (each other) pukalaritYa, kill pa latYpalatYa, hit one's head with yamstick pu[titYa, hit (with missile), throw, shoot parkitYa, hit one's head with boomerang palnatYa, knock oysters off rock qilnatYa, hit, shove, break (of wave) kalata, butcher (meat) kuwakuwamata, wring neck t^ampiIata, kick pantYitYa, hold someone back kaputYiluta, blind someone kalkaluta, make someone sick tYimitYa, squeeze paliyata, squeeze (skin) lapata, tread on, stand on kutaliyata, chop in half la:tYa, pierce, stab, spear, sew narkirit^a, bury, dig kulu:tYa, dig (with hands), scratch, scrabble ku Iu :nYfYuta, scratch each other kuIu :kuIu:tYa, dig talmata, chop m i I i yata, cut miliyatYa, cut oneself mi It itY a , sharpen wuruluta, sharpen wit^a, scrape, make a small, sharp movement muntuluta, bend kuwakuwamata, mix up

k a w a t a , bury in earth oven ma k u t Y a , light fire t ^ i l a t a , light fire (with firestick)

tYikitYa, to set a fire (ready for lighting) k a n a t Y a , burn, cook (tr) k u t a y i t Y a , bake n a r t Y a , burn (intr) t u r w a : t Y a , rage (of fire) { Y a r a r i t Y a , warm (on flame) k i r w i l u t a , put out fire k u w a t a , tie up t a t u k u w a t a , tie together k u n t i t Y a , tie umbilical cord k a I i t Y a , cover m a t a l a t Y a , rub something on someone p u l u k u l a t a , rub p u l u k u l a t Y a , rub oneself k u k u l a t a , wipe k u k u l a t Y a , wipe oneself m i r i I u t a , clean k u I it Y a , wash wilawitYa, rinse clean, shake (dirt

off) w u l u k u l a t a , rinse, wash p i r i t Y a , winnow

kurt^a, wash oneself, bathe m i r a l a t a , make (e.g. boomerang) w a l m u l u t a , build (e.g. house),

fill up (lit: high-causative) ku I i t Ya , fill up t a p u w a t Y a , put on (clothes) t a : t Y a , wear (clothes), get

dressed na Ia t a , pick off m i p u l a l a t a , peel t a r a l a t a , peel, skin mu Ik u [ u t a , roll up p u Iu r k u r k u m a t a , roll on palm, rub

in hands (to loosen dirt or crack husk of nut etc)

Vocabulary by semantic fields

mutaI i t Ya, make someone w o r k , t e l l someone t o do s o m e t h i n g pa I kar apa I a t a , p l a i t kunYa l ut a , t e a s e h a i r ( i n t r ) p u l u lu la t a, pluck (bird) tYakal ut a, p a r t (bushes) k i r i k i r i p a I a t a , t o c l a p boom­ erangs r a p i d l y as s i g n a l to b e g i n o r end d a n c e t a l p i t Y a , bl o w ( o f wind) Weather verbs mumata, t h u n d e r m a k a l p i t ya , f l a s h ( o f l i g h t ­ ning) maltYurmata, s p i t (of r a i n ) m i r a m a t Y a , s h i n e ( o f sun) State verbs panYtYitYa, s m e l l ( i n t r ) k i r w i t Y a , d i e down ( o f f i r e ) I i r k a wa t a , be d r y pu: ma t a , b e d r y pa r kuwa t a , be s t r o n g p u r i n t i t Y a , be c o l d puluritYa, lo s e leaves puJ pa t Ya , be f u l l , s w e l l r a p a r w a t a , be h o t tulkuritVa, get l ig h t ( l i t : see ground) t u l a t Y a , become f a t wa r i t Ya , b e a b s e n t T - Attention Ia t i t Y a , w a i t p a r i l i t Y a , be p a t i e n t I a t i t Y a r m a t a , make someone w a i t f o r you kuri t Ya, s e e , lo o k a t payamatYa, l o o k a t someone t r y i n g t o i d e n t i f y them pi rwi t Ya, lo o k b ehind wa I mu r i t Ya , l o o k up t Ya n i t Ya , l o o k f o r , s e a r c h p a r a k a p a t a , meet wa I i r a j u t Y a , f i n d n o t h i n g ka r a ma t a , show s o m e t h i n g t o someone k a I a I a wu r i t Y a , show o n e s e l f k a r a m a t ^ a , show i t s e l f ( o f sun) maritYa, th in k , f e e l ( i n t r ) ; h e a r , l i s t e n to ( t r ) m a r i n Y m a r i t Ya , dr ea m o f , t h i n k of mar i nYt Yut a, l i s t e n t o e a c h other

301

yuI 11Ya, mime ( a n i m a l , b i r d ) p i r m u p i t i w a t a , t o m i s s someone maratYa, p o i n t o u t , i n d i c a t e m a r a y i t Y a , know p u w i n a f Y a, know someone m a r a I t i t Y a t a , remember pawafYa, f o r g e t , become u n c o n ­ scious U - Talking_, etc k a m p u r i fY a , s p e a k , t a l k p a r i y a l a t ya , t a l k E n g l i s h k i n a f Y a , t e l l ( s t o r y , news) panYmata, t e l l a l i e puputitYa, yarn t Y u l u t a , t e l l someone t o do some­ thing taim itY a, ask tY iI m a ta , ask tY ilm a n tu t a , ask each o th e r t YunkumatYa, a n s w e r m ipult itYa, t h r e a t e n k i n Y p a t a , c a l l someone n i l a t a , name s o m e t h i n g waluwit^a, shout, bark wamata, s i n g o u t , y e l l pampararawata, squeal t u : t Ya, s w e a r tY u n tu ta , c u r s e each o th e r pay i w u I u w a t a , g r u m b l e tY i n Y t Y i y a w a t a , g r u m b l e a t some­ o n e , t e l l them o f f yararam ata, whisper wa:tYa, sing yu:mpanYmat Ya, w h i s t l e ninatY a, count out w irkayukatY a, p la y about w ith wirkatY arm ata, joke kant i p a n t a y i n Y t Y u t a , c a l l e a c h other sweetheart y i t a t a w a t a , p l a y a b o u t , make f u n m u l n a t Y a , make a n o i s e t a r l p i w a t a , keep q u i e t V - Corporeal t iyatYa, eat p a : t Y a , b i t e , smoke pawuItitYa, s p it t a w u l u t a , s w al l o w p a n t i t Y a , choke k a n t i t Y a , n u r s e (baby) k ut a ma t Ya , d r i n k pamatYa, be h u n g r y k a k i t Y a , v o m i t u p , o pe n up ( o f s e e d pod) m a r a p u l a t Y a , d r ea m ( i n t r ) m a r a p u l a t a , dr ea m ( t r )

302

Yukulta

lartYiluta, open (mouth), widen something pulatYa, come undone (hair) la:ramatYa, yawn pawulumatYa, yawn pamata, smell (tr) panYtYitYa, smell (intr) kirpitYa, clear nose tYawiyalata, spit out (a foreign body) punYpata, blow QawitYa, breathe paw inYpawitYa, pant pa IapaIamatYa, pant (of dog or person out of breath) tYulkunatYa, sneeze pi It itYa, cough purmatYa, snort paramatYa, snore lipunitYa, lick oneself yukuritYa, kiss yukurinYtYuta, to kiss each other wanYtYiI itYa, to have sexual intercourse kuntYiwata, run away with man (implying sexual intercourse) wuruputitYa, give birth mimatYa, become a father minkarmata, act as midwife miyaIapkaIitYa, shoot up (of plants) mirawata, mature (of fruit) (intr) tamuIata, get hurt matYawuIuIuwata, get footsore tYaritYa, ache kalkata, feel sick matamparwata, get cramp mulkupata, get cramp tatupata, get cramp kantuwarmatya, bleed yutayuritYa, feel nauseated parwitYa, feel bad, shiver parw itYparwitYa, feel bad, shiver namatYa, suffer (intr) kumpunayuI itYa, be fatally ill mirawata, get better wa Iirawata, die pukawata, die tYurmata, drown ki Ipurmata, sulk IikirkaI atYa, cry, sob, weep kiIipkiIipmata, squeal ya:tutYa, laugh ya:tilu£a, make someone laugh

mipurwitYa, wink mipurwata, blink palwitYa, blink (eye) pa IwitYpaIwitYa, blink (eye) mipuIkuIuwata, close one's eyes kunYtYakunYtYawata, become tired mipuImipuIwata, feel sleepy putiyatYa, sleep kayikayitYa, be fully awake yuwatYa, wake up (intr) kiwaritYa, wake up (intr) karitYa, wake up, stir (intr) mipulilata, wake someone up IMali lata, keep someone awake kalpitYa, shade eyes with hand kaputYiwata, become blind warmatYa, bleed kulatYa, urinate tu Iwata, excrete nartYa, burn oneself tarata, warm oneself na Iw itYa, nod head lulmatYa, shake head mara pumatYa, wave mayawitYa, swing arms matYa, stick hand into mud (to pull up lilyroots etc) pankiyatYa, avoid mother-in-law by placing hand at side of face patiIkarmatYa, have hands on hips pulpitYa, feel round (in mud for tubers etc) pulukulata, rub (tr) pujukulatYa, rub oneself mirilitYa, wipe face mirijuta, clean pu nYt Y i.karma +Ya, have hands behind neck talurmata, clap lap (of women) tYip irwi:tYa, dress for corroboree pi[kaI 11Ya, feel sorry for someone wanatYa, dislike yuruwaIawata, be shy mulurwatYa, be jealous pulwitYa, be frightened IuratYarmata, frighten, intimidate tululmata, frighten, fool miralatYa, make oneself look good miraraIatYa, be good ya Ia IitYa, be pleased, happy mutawata, be busy pirtY iImutawata, be busy payipuritYa, be angry (lit: come out fighting) pay ipurinYtYuta, be angry at each other pirtYiIpitiwata, feel dopey

Vocabulary by semantic fields p i11y it^a, be alive, conscious yutawariwata, feel guilty, ashamed malkut^a, feel sick because nega­ tive vibrations have been directed towards one W - Adverbial Qaluta, try to do Qu:rpaluta, finish walirawata, finish (life), disintegrate wart^a, hurry up wart^awartYa, go faster manta lata, do hard, very much parpinata, do very much kunytyakunYt^a Iit^a, do in a tired way mipurwata, make well miraluta, do well malyalata, lend a hand

X - LOCATION tYirkara, north tYirkuiu, north (allative) t^irkaI ita, far north, north side tYirka:nta, from the north side larita, south side la: lu, south (allative) la:nta, from the south Iiyati, far east li:nta, from the east pata, west pa:lu, west (allative) pat ityi, far west patinta, from the west tYa:ra, right here kira, near, close by muranta, further on warara, far, long way yu:rpu, long way tamurinta, a short way warakutu, not far ya Iiya, up ya Ika , down

303

p u l t Y i y a , in a corner k u l p i y a , inside kunt uQki , behind p u t a , behind t a t u p k a , together I a Q u r q a n t a , the other side m i n t a y a , beside (cf. mi n t a

bottom) miriya, outside wa[mu I ita, top side walmati, on top of, over yalkati, underneath yutitYi, in front

Y - TIME t'/ inamu Iin t a , when p a r u n t a y a , yesterday p a r u n j a y a r a t i, day before yesterday yanta, now tutara,

a l wa y s

wurara, for a long time y u l m p u r i n t a , for a long time wirara, for a little while mipulka, one day (approx.) p a l m p i y a , tomorrow palmpiya pimilu, tomorrow morning pa Imp iyarati, day after tomorrow kata, again k u t i w i t i , a long time ago yut i J a , before t i l a r a , long time ago p a l i n i t a , short while ago p a n t a , soon t u n k i n t a , suddenly y a n i , first y una, first y u : t a , first

Z - INTERJECTIONS 0 i, yes waIira , no yakayi, well I never, goodness me, ouch, wow kayi, hey

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I wish to thank the informants who not only taught me their language but also made me aware of a set of values of which western man is sadly lacking in appreciation. Alice Gilbert was my main informant and other inform­ ants were Cora Peters, May Ned, Victor Walden, Major Walden, Alice Walden, Lizzie Daylight, Bessie Daylight, Bessie Booth, Lily Kurrabubba, Jacko Douglas and Dick Brookdale. Many of

304

Yukulta

these people are getting very old or have now died. I wish to thank the staff of Doomadgee Mission and Mornington Island for their hospitality and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies which provided a grant and helped to finance field trips.

A UTHOR'S NOTE This grammar is based on my Monash University M.A. thesis (Keen 1972) which has been considerably revised in order to highlight particular points of interest arising from the anti-passive transformation. I have been out of linguistics proper since 1972 and have not been able to take account of recent developments, so the theoretical points ma.de tend to be language specific and are not an attempt at postulating universals. This work is dedicated to the memory of Mrs Alice Gilbert whose vast knowledge of Yukulta and wonderful en­ thusiasm in teaching it, provided both the bulk of the material and the inspiration to continue with this study.

3 06

Map 4

KALA LAGAW

fM t. A d o lp h u s

YATAY p

Point if

^A lb a n y Island Somerset

ITHUNYA|S|' Red Island Point #Bam aga

.YARAYTYAN,

Orford Hay

loydong Cays

URADHI UTYANGIKWATHIYA MUTYANTHI

/

.Musgrave

W UDHADHI

ANGUTHIMRI

Map 4

Uradhi Dialects and Neighbouring Languages (dialect boundaries shown by —

—

are very rough)

Uradhi by Terry Crowley

1.

THE L ANGUAGE AND ITS S PEAKERS

1.1

LINGUISTIC TYPE

The three Uradhi dialects described in this study (i.e. Atampaya, Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu) are all fairly uniform in phonology, though for dialects of an Australian language they are unusual in that they have a fricative series of consonants (consisting of ß, 5 and y) contrasting with the stop series, and also possibly a fourth vowel phoneme, in the mid-vowel area. They are not as aberrant as the langu­ ages south of Port Musgrave however, which have nasal vowels and other phonological features which are unusual for an Australian language. The Uradhi dialects studied allow, in fact even prefer, words to begin with vowels, and in surface form at least, to end with consonants (though relatively few underlying forms have final consonants). The unusual aspects of the phonologies of the Uradhi dialects with respect to the bulk of Australian languages can be explained by a series of phonological changes operat­ ing on a 'typically Australian' proto-language. This langu­ age has been reconstructed in part by Hale (1964; 1976a,b), and is generally referred to as proto-Paman (after the re­ constructed word *pama 'person'). There are two other re­ const ructable stages between the modern Uradhi dialects and proto-Paman, these being proto-Northern Paman (the ancestor to various languages such as Umpila, Linngithigh, Kaantju, Anguthimri etc) and proto-Uradhi (the ancestor to the Ang­ kamuthi, Yadhaykenu, Atampaya and other dialects). Operating over word boundaries, we find in all the Uradhi dialects a well-developed set of sandhi rules (i.e. rules which change the final segment of a word). These derive various surface forms from a single underlying form. Sandhi rules are seldom encountered in such a well-developed form elsewhere in Australia. The phonologies of the Uradhi dialects are rather unus­ ual, but their grammatical systems appear to be rather clos-

308

Uradhi

er to those of most other Australian languages. The morph­ ology is entirely suffixing. The noun case system positi­ vely marks the ergative/instrumental, dative, allative/ locative and ablative/causal. There is also optional accu­ sative marking for nouns referring to humans and the larger birds and animals. The pronoun system contains 'long' and 'short' forms, though the extent to which this system is developed is not uniform for all three dialects. The category distinctions made in the pronoun paradigm can be expressed by the fea­ tures: (i.e. whether or not the speaker is inclu­ ded); (i.e. whether or not the hearer is included); and ^minimal> vs. . The traditional categories of person, number, and inclusiveness vs. exclusiveness can be applied, but the result is a less elegant statement of the system. There is no precise parallelism of function between the cases of nouns and the cases of pronouns. There is a set of reflexive particles derived from the pronouns. The verbal systems of the Uradhi dialects faithfully reflect an original three-way tense contrast (with past, present and future), though in some dialects, mergers have taken place to produce a two-way contrast, past/non-past. There are four verb conjugations and also four irregular verbs. There is no pronominal incorporation into the verb phrase. The Uradhi dialects have a fairly rigid Subject-ObjectVerb word order pattern. The surface syntax of the case system is absolutive-ergative for nouns and nominativeaccusative for pronouns. 1.2

TRIBAL AND LANGUAGE NAMES

The present study is a salvage description of all the Uradhi dialects still spoken at Cowal Creek settlement (ten kilometres from Bamaga, North Queensland). There is consid­ erable linguistic variation within the group under consid­ eration, but as the variation seems to be around a single basic phonological and grammatical mould, they are describ­ ed in one study rather than a whole series of very similar sketches. Data has been gathered on Yadhaykenu (originally spoken in the east coast area of the peninsula), Angkamuthi (of the west coast of the peninsula) and Atampaya (one of the inland dialects). Data from various old sources is also taken into account in the relevant sections, especially 1.3 and 1.6. There are notable lexical differences between the var­ ious Uradhi dialects. The cognate figures for the three dialects studied in the field indicate a variation of up to 35%: Yadhaykenu 78% Angkamuthi 72% 65% Atampaya

There are also systematic phonological correspondences between the various dialects, which are outlined in 2.5. In syntax, there are no real differences. The morphologies

l.U

Tribal and language names

309

often differ in details, but never in significant points. In the absence of any well-established indigenous name to refer collectively to the dialects being studied (except perhaps the Creole term 'Langgus', the use of which has been preempted for reference to the Western Torres Strait langu­ age by Bani and Klokeid (1972)), I will refer to them generically as the Uradhi dialects. It will be noted from the map that this name actually refers to only one of almost a dozen attested dialects in the northern Cape York Peninsula area. However, as the Uradhi dialect is the only one so far known linguistically in recently published material (Hale 1976b), the name Uradhi is also (somewhat arbitrarily) adop­ ted as the general name for the language as a whole. (The name Uradhi, incidentally, is the comitative form of the demonstrative ura 'this' in the Atampaya (and Uradhi proper) dialects (3.2.2). The name therefore refers to the language 'having ura' as the word for 'this'.) 1.3

TERRITORY AND NEIGHBOURS

The Uradhi language covers an area from the northern side of Port Musgrave along the west coast of the peninsula as far as Cape York, and from an area just below Cape Gren­ ville, north to the Cape. The area also includes the inland areas (i.e. the upper Ducie River and all areas north) and all the islands adjacent to these areas along the coast (notably: Crab Island, Red Island, Possession Island, M t . Adolphus Island and Turtlehead Island). The map shows the area covered by Uradhi, and also the surrounding languages. There are three main linguistic groups adjacent to the Uradhi language. To the north, we have the Western Torres Strait language (known as Kala Lagaw Ya), spoken in various dialects. The only islands in Western Torres Strait where Kala Lagaw Ya was not spoken were those close to the main­ land, i.e. Crab Island, Red Island, Albany Island, M t . Adol­ phus Island etc. For information on Kala Lagaw Ya, refer to Bani and Klokeid (1972). To the south, there are two dis­ tinct linguistic groups: the Umpila-Uyungkuthi-Kaantju-Ya'u group to the south-east; and the phonologically very abberant Mpalitjanh-Anguthimri-Luthigh-Linngithigh group to the south-west. For information on the former group, refer to O'Grady (mss.), Harris and O'Grady (1976), Thompson (1976a, b,c,d), and Rigsby (mss.); and for the latter group, Hale (1964, 1976a) and Crowley (1981). Of all the groups adjacent to Uradhi, the mainland groups to the south are most closely related. These langu­ ages are all related in Hale's Paman subgroup, which does not include the Torres Strait language. The lexico-statistical figures below show roughly the degree of linguistic relationship between Uradhi (Atampaya dialect) and neigh­ bouring languages: Kala Lagaw Ya (Saibai dialect) 6.5% (data from Dana Ober, A.N.U.) Anguthimri 21.4% (data from Crowley, 1981) Umpila 20.8% (data from O'Grady, mss.)

Within the Uradhi language itself, we are able to re-

310

Uvadhi

cognise a fair degree of local-grouping. We will probably never know to any full degree of accuracy what all the local groups were, since although we have quite a number of rich sources, there are still gaps and there is also a great deal of inter-source contradiction. What I have done is to try to resolve as many of the contradictions as possible by discussing the issues with as many informants as was prac­ tical, and to put together a general picture. Apart from informants encountered in the field, data on local-grouping is available from Roth (1910), Meston (1896), McConnel (1939-40) and Sharp (1939); see 1.6. The area of greatest confusion seems to be the Cape York tip area, where white settlement first took place. In the region referred to locally as the 'Seven Rivers' area (the seven rivers being the Jardine, MacDonald, Skardon, Doughboy, Ducie and Jackson Rivers, and Crystal Creek), which constitutes the very narrow coastal stretch from the northern side of Port Musgrave as far as the Doughboy River, and also the inland area of Crystal Creek and the middle Jardine River, were the apkamut i-speaking people. The non­ coastal apkamut i of the Jardine River were alternatively call­ ed yampayiiljapu or utuSanamu (meaning 'leaf people' and 'scrub dwellers' respectively). The apkamut i have previously been referred to in the literature by the name p k a mu t i ('Gamiti' in Roth (1910:96),'Ngkamadyi' in McConnel (1939-40:60) and 'Nggammadi' in Sharp (1939:257)), which was used for the apkamut i by the CV-dropping groups to the south of Port Musgrave (Crowley 1981:146). Inland from the a p k a mu t i in the Skardon River area, Hale places the u r a 8 i dialect (after whom the language as a whole has been named). To the east of the u r a S i , along the course of the upper Dulhunty and Ducie Rivers, and inland presumably as far as the Richardson Range, were the uljap i kwat i y a . Inland from the a pk a mu t i in the MacDonald River and Cockatoo River area were the at ampaya, who were named after the MacDonald River that runs through their country. In the south-eastern area we have less information on the location of the various local groups, though the ling­ uistic evidence leaves no doubt that local groups did exist. Informants, when questioned about this area, could offer few answers. Evidently, the Cape Grenville, Margaret Bay (locally called Makkan Bay) and MacMillan River area was occupied by the wuöaöi people (spelt 'Otattie' in Meston (1896:739), 'Otati' in Seligmann and Pimm (1907), 'Wo:tati' in McConnel (1939-40:55) and 'Wotadi' in Sharp (1939:257)). There were evidently several local groups within this area, though the geographic bounds of these are now lost. However we do have three wuSaSi vocabularies, which differ lexically to a marked degree. Adjacent to the wu5a8i , in the area known locally as 'White Sands' (i.e. Double Point and nearby areas of Shelbourne Bay), were the rruj^ant i (McConnel's 'Mu:tyati'). The informants consulted regarded m u ^ a n t i and wuSaöi as closely related dialects (both of which are now extinct). Presumably the mu t an t i extended inland as far as the Richardson Range, where they met the territory of the uljap i kwat i y a . Between White Sands and the Escape River along the

1.3 Terri torxj and neighbours

311

Coral Sea coast was the original home of the yaöaykenu and the y a r a y lja n a . The writer's yaöaykenu informant gave his home country as Cairncross Island and the adjacent mainland area (around Orford Bay). The yaöaykenu home area also extended south to Boydong Cays and the mainland area of Hunter Point (and presumably met the m u ta n t i further south). The y a ra y lja n a apparently occupied the coastal area to the north of Orford Bay. These people have been referred to in the literature previously as 'Yaraidyana' in McConnel (1939-40:55) and 'Yaraikäna' in Ray (1907b). (Ray's placement of y a ra y lja n a on his map around Bamaga is quite mistaken.) Very early in the history of white settlement of the peninsula, the yaray1,ana and the yaöaykenu migrated to the Somerset area as the original Cape people became extinct. Both Sharp (1939) and the writer's yaöaykenu informant make reference to this migration. The remaining mainland area, i.e. the actual Cape area and also the Jacky Jacky Creek and Cowal Creek drainage areas, was occupied by the yumukuplji group which seems to have consisted of the following local groups, at least some of which had their own dialects: iplj i : nuyuljapu - Cowal Creek y a n ta y k e n u - Bamaga, Red Island Point i t u p l j a - Red Island papljinamu - Peak Point k u ta (Jardine's 'Gudang', Meston's 'Gootung' and

Sharp's 'Gudang') - Somerset

(Note that kuta is apparently the term used by the Torres Strait Islanders to refer to the mainland people. This would account for the informants' ignorance of the name. No Aboriginal name was, however, known.) The yatay occupied Albany Island and M t. Adolphus Island. 1.4

SOCIOLINGUISTIC INFORMATION

Except for 1.4.4 there was little direct elicitation of anthropological data, though facts that came up in general conversation and linguistic elicitation which were consider­ ed to be of particular interest were noted. Some of the observations below also come from published results of an­ thropological research carried out in the 1930s (Sharp 1939; McConnel 1939-40). 1.4.1 TOTEMISM AND SOCIAL GROUPING. According to data supplied by Sharp (1939:258-61), the Uradhi-speaking socie­ ties constituted a separate group as far as their totemic system was concerned. He states that the 'Yathaikeno' type of totemic organisation was typified by: (i) an absence of named sections or moieties; (ii) the presence of patrilineal local totemic clans and (iii) the assignment of taboo per­ sonal totems from the mother's clan by divination after puberty. 1.4.2 MATERIAL CULTURE. Absent from this area were the boomerang and the shield, common to many areas of Australia.

312

Uradhi

1.4.3 OUTSIDE CULTURAL INFLUENCES BEFORE EUROPEAN CONTACT. This area is unusual in that it is one of the few areas in Australia to have undergone considerable cultural diffusion from cultures outside Australia. This influence does not, however, extend to language, except very marginally. For­ eign influences came from the Malay archipelago, the Torres Strait Islands, the island of New Guinea, and Polynesia. The Malay influence came from direct contact with Malay sailors who were trading in trepang before and after white contact; this began in earnest in the 1860s. The cultural and linguistic impact of the Malays was minimal except that it was they (and not the Europeans) who introduced card­ playing and the associated terminology. There are also some Malay words in use in the Creole English that is spoken on the peninsula - see Crowley and Rigsby (1979:205-7). All other foreign influences (i.e. New Guinea, Poly­ nesia, Torres Strait Islands) came through social contact between mainland Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The areas of strongest influence from the Strait are the coastal regions between the Wenlock River and Cape York on the west coast and the entire east coast of the peninsula, as shown in the map. Inland areas were less strongly in­ fluenced. Introduced cultural items include: (i) Sweet potato. This was cultivated by the Aborigines before white contact. The sweet potato came from Torres Strait at the end of a long diffusional chain from the Americas, Polynes­ ia, and then the island of New Guinea. The introduced term is ukumal a, a regular adaption of the word kuma Ia used through­ out much of the area where the sweet potato has diffused. (ii) Taybo singing and dancing. Traditional a p l j i r i singing and dancing is now uncommon, as the Island styles (them­ selves imported from Polynesia) have become dominant in the northern peninsula area. The topics of songs composed in the last century are generally sea-faring rather than the traditional animal and land stories. (iii) Sailing techni­ ques. The use of the dug-out outrigger canoe derives from the Torres Straits. (iv) Kuyam story. The story associat­ ed with the Island culture hero kuyam has spread down the west coast of the peninsula as far as the Wenlock River and beyond. (v) Material artefacts. The use of sleeping plat­ forms, hollow communal pipes, cylinder ear ornaments, and methods of preserving the dead derive from the Torres Strait area. This also includes the use of grass-skirts for ceremonial dances. (vi) Physical characteristics . There has obviously been long-term intermarriage between the Islands and the mainland, which has increased consid­ erably since white contact. Many 'Aborigines' now have distinctly Melanesian characteristics, especially with frizzy hair, contrasting with the usual straight hair of local Aborigines. 1.4.4 AVOIDANCE STYLE. The informant for the Atampaya dia­ lect was able to provide some data on a special avoidance style used among his people. He reported that this style was in fact used throughout the entire Uradhi dialect group, even though the Yadhaykenu and Angkamuthi informants had never heard of it.

1.4 Socio Unguis tic information

313

Other reports of avoidance styles in the Cape York Pen­ insula area come from: Linngithigh (extensive),Kok-Per (lim­ ited), Oykangand (extensive), Kuuku-Ya'u (very limited), Thaayorre (very limited), Wik-Mungkanh (extensive), Dyirbal (extensive), Yidiny (extensive), Gugu-Badhun (very limited), Warungu (extensive) and Guugu-Yimidhirr (extensive). The avoidance style in Atampaya has no name. One sim­ ply says ayu i kya ' I am speaking everyday style’ and ayu u l a n t i m a l ' I am speaking avoidance style'. The choice of style to be used in conversation had to be absolute. One could not mix the two. If mistakes were made, and styles were mixed, the speaker was chastised and his mistake was pointed out by his peers or those older than him. The resulting embarrassment would ensure that the mistake was not repeated. As in many Australian societies, the Cape York people held to very strong taboo relationships with certain rela­ tives. To the Atampaya, one's taboo relatives were: w i n t i p a n u - spouse's sister imupu - spouse's brother ayußan - spouse's mother a mant i öi - spouse's father

Thus, taboo relations included mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. Since one's spouse was often determined before birth or in early childhood, one's in-laws were known from an early stage, and the knowledge of the ritual of the particular relationship could be acquired over a number of years before the marriage took effect. In the Uradhi-speaking societies, one was never allowed to speak to one's taboo relations (though the prohibition did not apply reciprocally - although they were taboo to you, you were not necessarily taboo to them). Circumstances could, however, make communication with taboo relatives necessary. This situation is catered for by the use of the avoidance style. Should one wish to communicate with one's spouse's family, one would speak to someone else within hearing distance of them, signalling the fact that one is not addressing that person but is in fact addressing an in­ law by switching to the special style, which is always clearly marked from the everyday style. One would address the involved bystander in the second person, even though one is not actually speaking to him or her. Thus, for example, one might say to someone near a taboo relative: uwunu anpapiyu 'don't climb up.'' (everyday style), and be ordering that person not to climb. But if one says instead: uwunu ay/anakumari 'don't climb up.'' (avoidance style), to the same person, one is in fact telling one's in-law not to climb up. That the third person is not intended as a real referee but as a substitute is shown by the fact that if the only other person present apart from one's self and one's taboo in-law were a deaf person or a newborn baby (or even a dog), one would still address this person (or animal) rather than the in-law. Should one be alone with one's in-law and wish to communicate, one would speak through a rock, or a tree, once again in the avoidance style. It seems that the special avoidance style was learned

314

Uradhi

gradually from childhood by being exposed in daily life to conversation 'pairs' involving taboo relationships. How­ ever, although in all probability one knew the identity of one's future in-laws, there was no obligation to use the special style with them until the relationship was cemented with the formal taking of a spouse. In order to use the avoidance style correctly, one had to replace every non-grammatical item (except kinship terms) with a special lexical item, e.g. head old

man

Everyday style

Avoidance style

wapun

w u t pa k a n u

w u t pu

aya:mu

possum

u la n

ilja k u ra

brolga

u nt y a : ra

dilly-bag

a 1a r k u 5 i akum i

river

ataßa

a n p i nu

iSampaya

one

nipim a

i n u Q ku

eat

upye

ampapa

tomorrow

p u p u Q u nma

umantan

The grammatical system of the two styles is identical. The avoidance style corpus that was assembled contains about 200 lexical items. For more details see 5.1. 1.5

PRESENT SITUATION.

None of the Uradhi dialects is spoken by more than a handful of elderly people, and a number of the dialects are possibly already extinct, particularly in the Cape York area and the Shelbourne Bay area. The language is actively used, however, between those people who do speak it, even if they speak different dialects. The language as a whole, in 1975 when the research for this study was carried out, would probably have had less than a dozen speakers, living mostly at the Cowal Creek settlement near Bamaga, and poss­ ibly also scattered around a few other Cape York settle­ ments, and even in Cairns. I wish to thank Willie Somerset, Roy Stevens and Larry MacDonald for providing the informa­ tion upon which this study is based. The predominant language of everyday communication used at Cowal Creek is a variety of English derived from the 'jargon' English reported by Ray (1907a) in the Torres Strait at the turn of the century. This jargon developed into a stabilised pidgin under the influence of the infam­ ous 'dormitory system' in Queensland, whereby Aboriginal children were forcibly separated from their parents and brought up under a prohibition against speaking any langu­ age other than English (or some apparent variety of English) The pidgin then underwent creolisation as the majority of the people no longer spoke the original Aboriginal languages Subsequent pressure from the standard variety of English has resulted in the development of a post-creole continuum. For details of the nature of Cape York Creole, and the kinds of sociolectal variations expressed in the language, see Crowley and Rigsby (1979).

1.6 Past investigations 1.6

315

PAST INVESTIGATIONS

As mentioned in 1.4, the Uradhi-speaking area has been subject to comparatively vigorous anthropological investi­ gation, mostly in the 1930s (Sharp 1939; McConnel 1939-40). There has, however, been much less in the way of specifi­ cally linguistic studies carried out. Some dialects are known only by name, and for others we have only short and inaccurate word lists with little or no grammatical informa­ tion. Linguistic data on dialects of Uradhi are in Jardine (1886), Meston (1896, mss.), Shanahan (mss:46-8), Roth (1900 mss.), Ray (1907b), Seiigmann and Pimm (1907), McCreedy (1934), Tindale (1938 mss.), Capell (1956), Laade (1963 tape), Sayers and Godfrey (1964 mss. and tape), West (1965 tape), and Rigsby (1972 mss.). There is only one phonetically accurate published source for any of these languages, and that is Hale (1964, 1976a) on the Uradhi dialect proper. These sources, however, contain very little grammatical information. The present writer has also published an article on the sandhi rules of the three dialects described in this study (Crowley 1980).

2, P H O N O L O G Y 2.1

PHONEMES AND THEIR REALISATIONS

All of the Uradhi dialects studied share the same pho­ neme inventory with one possible minor exception that will be mentioned below. The only significant differences be­ tween the dialects are phonotactic, and these differences are all the result of a number of rather recent and locali­ sed phonological innovations. The basic consonant inven­ tory is presented in Table 2.1. Among the consonants, there is no phonological distinc­ tion between voiced and voiceless stops, though phonetically both variants are to be found for all places of articulation in all of the dialects. The realisation rules for the stops differ slightly in each dialect. Word-initially, voiceless allophones predominate in all dialects, though voiced vari­ ants do sometimes occurr in free variation, e.g. /paw ari/ /kim pi/

'man's name' 'name o f place near Cape Y o r k '

[p a w a rip '- baw arip'] [k im b ip ~ gimbip ]

In the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects, voiceless allo­ phones predominate in all other environments, i.e. intervocalically and in word-medial consonant clusters. In the Atampaya dialect however, in post-nasal position, only voiced variants are found; in all other environments, voiceless allophones predominate, e.g. / i ku / /wutpu/

'bandicoot' ' o l d man'

Atampaya

Angkamuthi & Yadhaykenu

[ i kup ] [wutpup]

[iku p ] [w u tp u p ]

316

Uradhi TABLE

stop nasal fricative lateral trill semi-retroflex continuant semi-vowel

/ anpapi/ /wampa/ /w arki/

2.1

- Uradhi consonant inventory

bilabial

apicoalveolar

P m

t

apicointerdental

lamino- lamino- dorsodental palatal velar

t n

n

P

1 r

5

k

P

0

5

Y

C y

'climb-PRES' 'float-PRES' 'spike'

[anb a p in '] [ wambapj [w arkip/ J

w

[a npapip'] [ wampap] [warkiQ / ]

When / k/ or / q / is followed or preceded by /y/, there is a tendency for the sound to be fronted in the direction of [1j] and [p] respectively, in all three dialects. The con­ trast between the clusters and the laminal phonemes is, how­ ever, maintained by the presence of the semi-vocalic on/offglide never found with the laminal consonants. The follow­ ing examples (from the Atampaya dialect) illustrate this: /akyun/ /upyen/

' camp' 'eat-PAST'

[ a kyu n ~ al; yu n ] [ u p y en ~ upyen ]

(There is no phonemic opposition between /1;y/ and /py/ on the one hand and /ky/ and /py/ on the other.) In the Angkamuthi dialect (but not in the Atampaya or Yadhaykenu dialects), the alveolar stop can have a slight rhotic release, together with a slight retraction of the tongue towards a retroflex articulation, when there is a following /u/ , e.g. /antu/ /wuntu/

'canoe' 'crooked'

[antrup] [wuntrup]

Nasals are realised for the most part as ordinary nasal continuants with oral closure at the same point of articu­ lation as the corresponding stop. It should be pointed out that in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects, the opposi­ tion between /n/ and /p / is neutralised in word-final posi­ tion, with the archiphoneme being realised as a laminopalatal nasal. The fricative phonemes are always realised as voiced sounds: /ß/ is always realised as a voiced bilabial frica­ tive, and never as a labio-dental; /6/ is an apico-interdental sound; /y/ is a 'smooth' velar fricative, i.e. one without noticeable accompanying vibration of the uvula as we often find in the production of velar fricatives (e.g. in German). The phonemes represented by / w / and /y/ are glides produced at the labial-velar and laminal points of articu­ lation respectively. The lateral / i/ in the Atampaya and Angkamuthi dialects

2.1 Phonemes and their realisations

317

TABLE 2.2 - Vowel inventory

high mid low

front i(:)

back u(:) e(:) a(:)

is an apico-alveolar sound in all environments. In the Yadhaykenu dialect however, when it follows a long back vowel (i.e. /a:/ or / u :/) , it is realised as a retroflex flap [d], and when it follows a short back vowel, [l] and [d] are in free variation, e.g. /ana: Iu/ /ipula/

'come-PRES' '2non-sg-N0M'

[ana:dup] [ipulaq ~ ipudap]

The rhotics /r/ and /p/ are distinguished by the fact that /r/ is a trilled or flapped apical sound whereas / p/ is a slightly retroflexed continuant sound. The /r/ phoneme in the Atampaya dialect is more likely to be articulated with a single flap of the tip of the tongue against the al­ veolar ridge, while in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dia­ lects, it is more likely to be strongly trilled. Since the consonant inventories of the three dialects studied are identical, it seems pointless to duplicate sets of minimal and sub-minimal pairs. Because Atampaya is the dialect on which the most data has been assembled, the following pairs are given from this dialect to illustrate the distinctive functions of the contrasts mentioned above. /p/ - /ß/

IV - /5 /

/v - /5 / / k/ - / v/

IV - IV IV ~ IV /ty/ /ky/ l\l lr/ - IV -

IV - /I/ /P/ - /w/ /n/ - IV - /p/

/n/

/apida/ 'father's mother' /watal/ 'bite-PRES' /atampan/' 'axe' /akumi/ 'dilly bag' /at in/ 'cover-PAST' /aturup/ 'soft' /upljul/ 'grass lizard' /atjara/ 'rat, mouse' /apa:ra/ 'road' /ama:pa/ 'place name' /aßu/ 'cheerio' /papan/ 'strong' /anuta 1/ 'puff-PRES'

/aß i/ 'swafnp ' /waöa/ 'crow' /aöampa/ 'long yam species /ayumu/ 'centipede' /ati/ 'mother's father' /aljura/ 'shark species' /untya/ 'lie down-PRES' /akyan/ 'shark' /ama:pa/ 'place name' /ama:lu/ 'person-ERG' /awup/ 'bark-PAST' /papan/ 'blue dove' /apura/ 'mouth'

The Uradhi vowel inventory is set out in Table 2.2. The status of the mid vowel /e(:) / is a definite problem in the analysis of the phonology of the Uradhi dialects. It is attested in only a very small number of words, most fre­ quently in the Atampaya dialect, and only very occasionally in the Yadhaykenu dialect. It has never been attested in the Angkamuthi dialect, and all words recorded with an /e/ in either of the other dialects have an /a/ in the corres­ ponding position in the Angkamuthi form. Its phonemic status, as being distinct from /a/ in the Atampaya dialect, is shown by the minimal pair: /inan/ 'fishhawk'

/ inen/ 'vagina'

318

Uradhi

This is the only attested minimal pair, as the sound is of very low frequency. (The status of /e:/ is even more margin­ al; there are no attested minimal pairs.) The only other dialect known to have this sound is the Uradhi dialect pro­ per for which data has been presented by Hale (1976b). It should be noted that the sound represented as /e/ is realised phonetically as a mid front unrounded vowel [e], though occ­ asionally it is centralised and realised as a schwa [0 ]. The remaining three vowels are clearly phonologically distinctive in all three dialects. Vowel length is also clearly distinctive in all dialects. The vowel /a/ undergoes little allophonic variation from the IPA value of [a], except when the consonant follow­ ing it is a lamino-palatal or a cluster of a velar sound followed by /y/ in which case the vowel is fronted, often with a noticeable [Y] off-glide, e.g. /akyun/

'camp'(AT)

[aB^kyun]

Also, if there is a following cluster of a velar sound foll­ owed by /w/, the vowel may be accompanied by a [w] offglide, e.g. /akwanumu/

'dingo'

[aWkwanumuq]

For the other vowels, there is little noticeable allophonic variation from the IPA values, except that / i/ and /u/, when long, are lowered slightly to [1 :~e: ] and [u:~o:] respectiv­ ely, in all three dialects. The following minimal pairs (from the Atampaya dialect) can be presented to indicate the distinctive nature of the three basic vowels (ignoring the problematic mid vowel). / i/ — / i/ — /a/ -

/a/ /u/ /u/

/ iku/ /ima/ /apljul/

'bandicoot' 'bluebird' 'ashes'

/aku/ /uma/ /upljul/

'lice' 'fire' 'grass lizard'

The distinctive nature of vowel length is illustrated by the following pairs (again, from the Atampaya dialect): /ala/ /apiSa/ /wula/

'night owl sp.' 'father's mother' 'jaw, cheek'

/a: la/ /api:ya/ /wu:la/

'mother's younger brother' 'red apple' 'father's father'

Long vowels in the Atampaya and Yadhaykenu dialects are restricted to the first syllable of disyllabic words and to the first two syllables of longer words. The only except­ ions are where length is introduced by a lengthening suffix, such as /-:namu/ 'genitive' (3.2.2), /—:nißa/ 'reciprocal' (3.4.4) and /—:ni/ 'reflexive' (3.4.4) in the Atampaya dia­ lect; /-:(t)pa/ 'reciprocal' (3.4.4) and /—:nt i/ 'reflexive' (3.4.4) in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects; -:yma 'cornitative' in Angkamuthi (3.2.2); and /—:ta/ 'excessive' (3.4.4) in all dialects, or when the suffix itself contains a long vowel, as is the case with cornitative /-i:ma/(AT), and 'hither' /—a:Iu/ (3.4.4) in all dialects. In the Angkamuthi dialect, length is much less restri­ cted, and even in underived forms there can be phonologi­ cally distinct long vowels in final syllables, which is not the case in the other dialects, e.g. /uyuwa:/

'hard beefwood'

2.1

Phonemes and their realisations

319

It will be shown in 2.5 that such long vowels in the Angkamuthi dialect are derived from earlier sequences of a short vowel followed by /I/, which is still reflected in the other dialects.

2.2

PHONOTACTICS

The basic generalisations about the phonotactic patt­ erns of the three Uradhi dialects under discussion are the same, though there are often differences in detail. Gener­ ally speaking, it is the Atampaya dialect which allows the greatest range of phonotactic possibilities (and which is closest to the reconstructable proto-Uradhi language). 2.2.1 WORD-INITIAL POSSIBILITIES. In the Atampaya dialect, word-initially, we can have any segment with the apparent exceptions of /ß/, /p/, /e( :)/ (which is marginal in any case) and /u:/. It is not possible to make a generalisation to cover this set of exceptional phonemes, and this restriction could simply be the result of having a restricted corpus. A count of the whole Atampaya lexicon of over seven hundred items (including avoidance style forms) reveals the follow­ ing statistical frequencies word-initially: p t t

5 k

5

Y r C

1 y

w

1.8% 0.7% 0.4% 0.7% 0.8%

-

0.1% 0.6%

►

0.3% 3.4% 1.5%

y 5.2%

3.0% 12.6%

> 15.6%

4.4%

m n n

7.3% 0.6% 0.6%

0

0.3%

8 .8%

0.7% i i: u a a:

13.6% 0.4% 21.8% 29.0% 0.5%

> 65.3%

Thus, the only common word-initial segments are: the bilabi­ al nasal and stop; the two semi-vowels; the liquids /[/ and /I/, but not /r/; the short vowels (except /e/ ). These cover initial segments of over 93% of the items recorded in the lexicon for the Atampaya dialect. The tendency noted above to avoid certain consonants word-initially in Atampaya is even more noticeable in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects, where we find initial segments almost totally limited to the vowels, the semi­ vowels and the bilabials. There are also very few instances of initial liquids in these two dialects. The following figures give the word-initial possibilities in the Yadhay­ kenu and Angkamuthi dialects.

320

Uradhi

p t t \ k

AN 4.0% ' 0.8% 1.0% > 8.5% 1.5% 1.2% _

Y 3.1% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 2.0%

Y 1

0.3% 1.5%

0.7% 3.9%

y w

9.3% ' ‘23.3% 14.0%

m n

AN 8 . 0%1 0.6% J 8 .6%

i 13.4%] a 28.0% L 57.8% u 16.4%

J

9.0% 13.0%

9 8% 1 i:0% } io-3%

13.0%] 26.0%l55.0% 16.

0%J

The Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu figures here are of the same order; it can be seen that there is a complete loss of ini­ tial /n/, /p/, /§/, /r/ and /p/ in both dialects. All other segments apart from: the bilabial nasal and stop; the semi­ vowels; the lateral; and the short vowels, are of marginal occurrence in word-initial position. Initial stops other than / p/, which are all of rather marginal occurrence in all three dialects, tend to occur mainly in just two lexical groups: (a) loan words, either from English or the languages to the south-west of the Uradhi-speaking area such as Anguthimri, both of which allow initial consonants. Examples of words that have apparently been borrowed from languages to the south-west and which have initial stops include: Atampaya

knife cigarette

ki pi Ijuyußa

Angkamuthi

ki p i ljuyußa

Yadhaykenu

(Anguthimri)

y ip i jjuyußa

ki pi ljuyußu

(Note that these words are fairly obviously borrowed. The languages to the south-west have undergone such drastic phonological changes that any cognate forms inherited from the proto-language look very different from the Uradhi f o r m s .) (b) place names. Words of this type have a most unusual tendency for initial stops; the occurrence of such forms is far higher than for the rest of the lexicon. No reason can be suggested for this, except to note that proper nouns in many languages seem to exhibit aberrant phonological systems in some respects. Thus, if items included under (a) and (b) were excluded from consideration, the figures for word-initial stops in all three dialects would be closer to zero. 2.2.2 WORD-FINAL POSSIBILITIES. There is comparatively little inter-dialectal variation with respect to the wordfinal phonotactic possibilities in Uradhi. Basically, the possibilities are: (i) any of the short vowels (excluding the marginal vowel /e/ from consideration); (ii) in Angkamuthi, also any of the long vowels; (iii) the non-peripheral nasals, i.e. / n/, /n/ and /p/ (with the opposition between word-final /n/ and /n/ being neutral­ ised in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects); (iv) the lateral /!/ in the Atampaya and Yadhaykenu dialects

2.2

Phonotactics

321

TABLE 2.3 - Uradhi two-member consonant clusters t

p

m n n

mp np

(mt)

£ (m£)

k

S

ß

Y

nk

nm

0k

(pm) (Qm)

nt

o

y

w mw

np

my ny

nt

ny

P

0 r

m

(mk)

rp

r k

rß

rY

1k

Iß

'Y

py oy ry

C

cy

1

t £

ly

tp

ty

ty

J

P

(pm)

k

(km)

5v

py ky

ß 5 Y y

QW

pw kw

ßy 5y yy

yk

yp

ym

w

wy

(but not in the Angkamuthi dialect). (It should also be noted that there is a single word in the Atampaya dialect with final /y/, i.e. /watay/ 'd u g o n g '.) The preference in all three dialects is therefore clearly for word-final vowels. The figures for the word-final p o ss ­ ibilities in the three Uradhi dialects are presented below. I M

/u/ /a/ / i:/ /u:/ /a: /

Atampaya 16.8%] 22.1% ?• 76.9% 38.0 %J -

A ngkam uthi 8.2%] 19.1%? 67.0% 39.7%J 0.7%1 0.7% > 7.6% 6.2% J

Yadhadkenu 11.4%] 21.6% > 73.3%

40.3%J 0 . 2%1 1.0%J

1 .2 %

/y /

71/ /n/ /p/ /n/

“ : « }

6-o%

10.2%] 4.6%f 17.1% 2.3%J

-

8.5%

15.8% 9.6%

10.7 %J

6 .3%1

17.0%

2.2.3 INTERVOCALIC CONSONANT CLUSTERS. Intervoc a ii ca l ly , in all three dialects, there is a restricted set of conson­ ant clusters, usually of two, and occasionally also of three consonants. It should be noted that there are no word- i ni ­ tial or word-final consonant clusters allowed in any of the Uradhi dialects. The clusters that are attested in these dialects all conform to the same set of generalisations. The possible consonant clusters are: (i) a nasal followed by a homorganic stop; (ii) /n/ followed by any peripheral stop or nasal; (iii) /r/ followed by any peripheral stop or fricative; (iv) /I/ followed by any peripheral stop or f ricat ive except / p/;

322

Uvadhi

(v) /t/ followed by/p/; (vi) any consonant followed by /y/ (except that there are no sequences of /yy/) ; (vii) any peripheral stop or nasal followed by /w/; (viii) /y/ followed by any peripheral stop or nasal except /q/. Table 2.3 summarises the two-member consonant cluster poss­ ibilities in Uradhi dialects. (Note that clusters which are attested in only single lexical items are given in brackets in the table. Such clusters are excluded from the generalisations given above.) Some three-member clusters are encountered in the cor­ pus also. These invariably involve any of the consonant clusters included within the generalisations just stated, with either a preceding or a following semi-vowel. We therefore find clusters such as the following: /ymp/, /nty/, / n ty /, /tpw /,

2.3

/ Q k w/ .

STRESS

The stress rules throughout the Uradhi dialects appear to be fairly uniform. The most important generalisations regarding stress are: (i) Primary stress is placed on the antepenultimate syllable, (i.e. third syllable from the end), of a word that contains only short vowels. Words of three syllables or less are therefore stressed on the initial syllable. Examples (from the Atampaya dialect): / ama/ / f ku / / 'n tin u / /t,u^ußa/ / umuy anu/ / u k umal a/ /ayparumpiwa/

'person' 'bandicoot' 'story-place of brown snake' 'cigarette' 'nose' 'sweet potato' 'sparrowhawk'

(ii) In the case of words containing long vowels, it is always the long vowels that receive primary stress, regard­ less of their position in the word. (Note that it is possi­ ble to have a word that contains two primary stresses.) The following examples (again from the Atampaya dialect) are chosen to illustrate this: / i t I : na / / ama: ka/ / t a : r a : namu/

2.4

thigh' message stick reef-GEN'

MORPHOPHONEMICS

2.4.1 SANDHI AND MORPHEME BOUNDARY PHENOMENA. All of the Uradhi dialects are very rich in phonological rules which operate utterance-finally, at the ends of words in continu­ ous speech and morpheme-finally when another morpheme has been added. A set of sandhi rules has been noted for the Anguthimri language to the south-west of Uradhi in Crowley (1981), but in this language these rules are only rather

2.4

Morphophonemics

32 3

marginal processes. Although the rules in the two languages are similar, as are the structural conditions for the appli­ cation of these rules, the phonotactics of the Anguthimri language ensures that the structural conditions for the app­ lication of the rules are seldom met, whereas in the case of Uradhi, the phonotactics has changed such that the rules are maximally used. In Uradhi, practically every utterance shows some evidence of the application of such rules. The sorts of effects these rules can have is shown by the foll­ owing range of forms that can be encountered for the absolutive form of the word for 'tree' in different structural environments: [yuk] [ yu ku ] [ yukuo ] [ yu ku k ] [ yu ku? ]

Practically all words in the language have at least two different forms, depending on the environment in which they occur. There are some differences between the three dia­ lects studied with regard to the actual changes brought about in word-final and morpheme-final environments. Atampaya is the dialect which appears to have the most far-rea­ ching set of rules. (Note that the evolution of the Uradhi sandhi rules was discussed in Crowley (1980).) [a] Atampaya. The phonological rules operating over word boundaries and morpheme boundaries in the Atampaya dialect are discussed below as they affect each segment or class of segments that occurs word-finally. The first set of rules deals with underlying final vow­ els. When forms with final vowels appear in continuous speech with a following form (either a following independent word, or a following morpheme within the same word), there are different realisations depending on the nature of the initial segment of the following form. The following alter­ nations can be noted: (i) When the following form has an initial consonant, the final vowel is unchanged. (ii) When the following form has an initial vowel, the final vowel is obligatorily deleted. The rule therefore states: I. V + 0 / __ V (iii) When final vowels are found on words in isolation (i.e. at the end of a word in elicitation or when used vocatively), and when they are found in sentence-final position, the vowel is followed by a nasal segment. After either /a/ or /u/, the nasal that is added is [q ], while after / i/, it is the fronted velar nasal [o' ]. The rule therefore has the form: 0 0

II.

0

////

(where ## signifies the end of an utterance). take the following underlying forms:

Thus, if we

324

Uradhi / ama/ /yuku,/ / iwi/

'person' 'tre e ' 'morning

bird'

we find the following respective variants: 'person' 'tree' 'morning bird'

before C

before V

utterance-finally

ama yu ku iw i

am yu k iw

amao yu kuQ i w i n/

These are illustrated by the following sets of examples over word boundaries: (1)

yu ku wampa tree-ABS float-PRES yuku wampap The tree is floating

(2)

yuku ana- : I u tree-ABS go-PRES-HERE y uk a n a : I uq The tree is coming

(3)

ur a a: ni this-ABS what-ABS ur a : n ir / What's this?

The operation of these rules within words over morpheme boundaries is illustrated by the following morphological derivations: upye- a I -> upyaw m a t a - u ö u r u ->■ ma t uöur up ipi-aljana -* ipalj anap a k w a - i : m a -* akwi rmap apu5a-apu5a ->■ apuöapuöap

eat-PRES' hand-thick (=palm of hand) water-spring (=spring)' spear-COM 1' bone-REDUP (=skinny)'

It should be noted that when morpheme-final / i/ is followed by a vowel-initial suffix (rather than a free form), the vowel is not deleted, but changes instead to /y/ by the rule: III.

i -> y / _ _

V

Thus : lanpi-al -* l a n p y a w

'flog-PRES'

The second set of rules in the Atampaya dialect deals with underlying final /n/: (i) In utterance-final position (as defined above), there is no change to the /n/. (ii) When the following form begins with a consonant, there are two changes that can apply. Firstly, the /n/ can be deleted: IV.

n + 0 / ___ C

or secondly, an epenthetic / a / can be added between the /n/ and the following consonant: V.

0 -+ a /

n ___ C

(Note that these two rules are optional, and that the /n/ can also remain unchanged in this environment.)

2.4 Morphophonemics

325

Ciii) When the following form begins with a vowel, the /n/ optionally shifts to the rhotic /r/: r / These changes over word boundaries are illustrated below: VI.

(4)

ayu

mutup

a p a - n nani - mun

lsg-NOM grub-ABS dig-PAST [apa 1 -j apan > [apanaj

ayu mut

ground-ABL

nanimun

I dug the grubs from the ground (5)

upki-al mayi - wapun u p y e - a l f l y i n g fox-ERG f r u i t - A B S eat-PRES [mayiwapurl Ur) yaW [may i w a p u n j ur|yaw

The flying fox is eating the fruit

The application of these rules within words is illustrated by the following derivations: wapu n-apu3a

fwapu napuSapl [wapurapuöapf

'head-bone (=skull)'

wa pu n-wußu

[wapunwußup ] ya / XI. The following examples illustrate rules over word boundaries: (6)

uiu

ama

upki n

3sg-N0M flying fox-ABS fly-PRES

ul

J"u 0 k i f l l \uQky /

amap

The flying fox is flying

326

Uradhi

TABLE 2.4 - Atampaya final morphophonemia alternations final segment

utterance-finally

-a -u -i -n -aY 1 -uYf -iY -1

—a

-n

-0 -0 -0* -n/-r

-VY

-VY/-V/-VYa

-VY/-0

- iY -w

- i Y / - y a / - iYa -w

- iY/—y — /—0 -1

-in'

ayußa

prevocalically

-a -u -i -n/-0/-na

q

-UQ

*Except that i

(7)

preconsonantally

wat ay

y before bound forms

akyi-n

lsg-NOM dugong-ABS see-PAST ayußa

wat I , k watayf

. . a ky I n 7

I saw a dugong

(8 )

mant i n

^u y u ö i

ironwood-ABS tall-ABS

fmant in 1 mant i nal [ mantya J

£uyuö i o'

The ironwood is tall

(9)

wat ay

wuQkama

dugong-ABS raw-ABS f wat a y 1 Jwatayal [wat a J

wuQkamaQ

The dugong is raw

The final set of rules in the Atampaya dialect deals with underlying final /I/. The alternations to be noted are: (i) In utterance-final position and preconsonant ally be­ fore a free form, /1/ is realised as /w/. Thus:

(ii) When there is a following vowel, the segment is un­ changed. So, note the following examples: ( 10 )

aöa I

nan i-qu

hole-ABS ground-OBL aSaw n a n ipu p

There is a hole in the ground (11)

a m a - : l u a5al

apa-al

man-ERG hole-ABS dig-PRES ama : I a5aI

aQaw

The man is digging a hole

(It should be noted that the changes to final segments when there is a following bound morpheme are normally rather idiosyncratic, and the particular changes that take place

2.4 Morphophonemics

327

TABLE 2.5 - Angkamuthi final morphophonemic alternations final segment

utterance-finally

-V -V: -N*

-V/-VQ/-V -V:/-V:q -N

preconsonantally -V -V: -Na/-N

prevocalically -0/-VQ “V :o -N

*Note that N is used as a cover symbol for /n/ and /P /

depend on the actual suffix involved. Morpheme-final changes to forms ending in the various consonants are there­ fore discussed at the appropriate points in section 3 when the various morphemes are discussed. Vowel sequences behave more regularly when a suffix is added and are accordingly discussed above.) Table 2.4 summarises the sandhi and morpheme-final alternations in the Atampaya dialect. [b] Angkamuthi. A summary of the Angkamuthi alternations is presented in Table 2.5. The rules dealing with Angkamuthi final short vowels state that: (i) Vowels with a following consonant undergo no change. (ii) When there is a following bound form that is vowelinitial, a final short vowel is optionally deleted (rule I above). The alternative in the latter case is to add /q / after the final vowel. Thus: XIII.

0 -* o / V _

(iii) Utterance-finally, there may be either no change to a final short vowel, or rule XIII may apply. There is a further alternative, in that the vowel may be nasalised, thus : XIV.

v

-> V / __ //#

The following examples illustrate the application of these rules: (1 2 )

uypup

i ß a :ma

fly-ABS fly-PRES uypup

T i ß a : ma 1 < i ß a :ma 1 [ i ß a : mapj

The fly is flying around (1 3 )

mupa

ya ka-n

child-ABS jump-PAST mupa yakan

The child jumped

(14)

mupa

a n a -n

child-ABS go-PAST fmuD j

4 ^anan [mupaqj

The child went

When the final segment of a form is a long vowel, the alternations to be noted are:

328

Uvadhi

(i) When there is a following consonant, there is no change. (ii) When the following form is vowel-initial, rule XIII applies obligatorily. (iii) Utterance-finally, rule XIII optionally applies. We therefore find examples such as the following: (15)

uka:

upiri

foot-ABS painful-ABS fupirn uka:p

a / N ___ C

For example: (18)

mutan

yaka-n

grasshopper-ABS jump-PAST ( mup n "I • (mutanaj

yakan 7

The grasshopper jumped

[c] Yadhaykenu. Table 2.6 summarises the Yadhaykenu final alternations. This system is obviously very close to the system for the Angkamuthi dialect just described. The rules dealing with final vowels are identical, except that utterance-finally there is no option for nasalisation of the vowel by rule XIV. (There is one further slight difference however, and that is that semi-vowels in this dialect are classed with the vowels, as a conditioning environment, rather than with the consonants as in the other dialects.) The rules dealing with final /p/ are the same as in the Angkamuthi dialect also. Underlying final /I/ is lost utterance-finally and bef­ ore consonants, with compensatory lengthening of the vowel. Before vowels and semi-vowels however, the underlying /I/ undergoes no change, e.g. (19)

ayu

atal

ya-ma

lsg-NOM fishingline-ABS throw-PRES ay(up)

atal

yama(p)

I am fishing (20)

ur a

atumu

atal

this-ABSlsg-GEN-ABS ur(ap)

a t u m( u p )

fishing line-ABS

ata:

This is my fishing line

2.4 Morphophonemics

329

TABLE 2.6 - Yadhaykenu final morphophonemic alternations final segment

utterance-finally

-V -n

preconsonantally -V -0 -pa/-p -V:

-V/-Vp -0 -P -V:

-n -VI

prevocalically

-0/-Vp -r -P -VI

Underlying final /n/ is lost in all environments except before vowels and semi-vowels, when it is realised as a nas­ alised [r], e.g. (21)

apun

yarka-n

wallaby-ABS jump-PAST apur yarka

The wallaby jumped

(Note that although [n] is not one of the realisations of this segment, it is treated underlyingly as /n/. Phonetic [n] and [f] are actually in complementary distribution, with the latter occurring before a following vowel in word-final position, and the former occurring elsewhere.) 2.4.2 NASALS BECOMING STOPS. There is an optional rule in Uradhi that applies to all surface occurrences of word-final nasals (including those inserted by the rules described in 2.4.1), which states that in certain environments the nasal becomes a homorganic unreleased voiceless stop. This is a variable rule: some environments are more likely to cause the rule to apply than others, and there is also some vari­ ation with the same speaker in different utterances. The nature of the consonant or consonant cluster preceding the final nasal in that syllable partially conditions the appli­ cation of the rule. The more 'nasal' this consonant or consonant cluster, the less chance there is of this rule applying. Thus, if the preceding consonant is a nasal, the nasals-becoming-stops rule will not apply. Thus (with exam­ ples from the Atampaya dialect): /apan/

[apan]

'dig-PAST'

If the preceding consonant is a stop (the least 'nasal' of the consonants), the rule is most likely to apply, e.g. /at in/

[at it ~ at in]

'cover-PAST'

If it is a consonant that is intermediate in nasality bet­ ween a stop and a nasal (i.e. a fricative, lateral, rhotic or semi-vowel), the stopping rule may apply, though the nasal realisation is more frequent. Thus: /luwu/

[luwup ~ luwuk]

'stonebird'

The rule of nasals-becoming-stops is clearly a rule of assi­ milation, in which the final nasal 'harmonises' in nasality with the consonant preceding in the syllable. It should be noted that in the Yadhaykenu dialect, the nasal-stopping rule is slightly different in that a velar nasal, when undergoing this rule, may become either [k] or

330

Vvadhi

[?],

rather than just [k], e.g. /w inta/

[wintaQ ~ w in ta k ~ w in t a ? ]

'arm'

2.4.3 -t- EPENTHESIS. The Uradhi dialects all share an op­ tional rule of the form:

xvi.

0

+ t / y ___

P

which inserts [t] between /y/ and /p/ in a cluster. Thus, we find forms such as the following in the Atampaya dialect: /aypan/ /uypup/ /aypara/

[aypan ~ a y t p a n ] [uypup ~ u y t p u p ] [ayparap ~ a y tp a r a p ]

'stone' 'fly ' 'green f r o g '

This rule can also be invoked to explain the allomorphy of the distributive/reciprocal suffix in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects (3.4.4). The suffix in these two dial­ ects has the following allomorphs: /-ypa/ with stems ending in -a or -u /— :(t)pa/ with stems ending in -i

Note the following derivations involving this suffix in these two dialects: /yupka/ /aru/ / wi I i / /at i /

/yupkaypa/ /aruypa/ / w i I i : ( t ) pa / / a t i : ( t ) pa/

'cry-DIST' 'hit-RECIP’ 'run-DIST' 'cover-RECIP'

The underlying form of this suffix can be set up as /-ypa/ in all positions. The general -t- epenthesis rule just presented could then optionally apply to the cluster in the suffix. In 2.4.4 it is mentioned that there is a rule which deletes /y/ between / i/ and a consonant, and lengthens the / i/ when it is short. This therefore accounts for the length of the vowel in the suffix. The epenthetic [t ] inserted originally as a purely phonetic process is now phonologised by the loss of the conditioning environment, thereby producing the al­ ternative forms of the distributive/reciprocal suffix on / i/- final stems, i.e. /-:pa/ or /-:tpa/. 2.4.4 -y-DELETION. There is a rule which applies to delete /y/ when it appears between / i/ and a consonant. When the preceding / i/ is short, this is lengthened. The rule can therefore be stated as: XV II.

j j y}

-

i:

/ _

C

This rule is involved firstly in the derivation of the dis­ tributive/reciprocal suffix in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects as mentioned in the preceding section, and secondly in the derivation of the comitative 1 forms of the same dialets, where the suffix /-:yma/ becomes /-:ma/ after /1 / (3.2.2). 2.5

HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY Uradhi in its various dialects has innovated in a num-

2 .5 TABLE 2 . 7

H is to r ic a l phonology

331

- R e fle x e s in Uradhi o f proto-Raman i n i t i a l consonants Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhadkenu

0/w

0/w

0/w

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes y/w

0

0/

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes 1

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes y

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes y

m

0/m

0/m

*0

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes q

0

0

*P

g e n e r a l l y 0, sometimes n

0

0

*w

0

0

0

*y

0/y

0/y

0/y

*r

C

y

y

*p *k ~k-jj

b e r o f w a y s on t h e p r o t o - P a m a n p h o n o l o g i c a l s y s t e m r e c o n ­ s t r u c t e d by H a l e ( 1 9 7 6 a ) . There has been, in p a r t i c u l a r , f a i r l y l a r g e s c a l e d ro p p in g and l e n i t i o n o f i n i t i a l c o n so n ­ a n t s , i n t e r v o c a l i c l e n i t i o n o f s t o p s , and m e rg e r o f v a r i o u s a p i c a l s e g m e n t s a s / 1/ . A d is c u s s io n of th e m ajor changes t h a t appear to have tak en p la c e in th e t h r e e d i a l e c t s under d i s c u s s i o n i s p r e s e n t e d below. ( i ) I n i t i a l d r o p p i n g and l e n i t i o n . There has been a very s t r o n g te n d e n c y in th e t h r e e d i a l e c t s u n d er s tu d y to drop i n i t i a l c o n s o n a n t s , o r t o l e n i t e t h e m t o s ome o t h e r c o n s o n ­ a n t i n t h e same g e n e r a l a r e a o f a r t i c u l a t i o n . T h e s e c h a n g e s h a v e b e e n more t h o r o u g h l y a c t e d o u t i n t h e A n g k a m u th i and Yadhaykenu d i a l e c t s t h a n in t h e Atampaya d i a l e c t . Table 2 . 7 shows t h e c o n s o n a n t s t h a t h av e been r e c o n s t r u c t e d w ordi n i t i a l l y i n p r o t o - P a m a n by H a l e , a n d t h e i r r e f l e x e s i n t h e modern U ra d h i d i a l e c t s . T h e s e c h a n g e s a r e i l l u s t r a t e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g exam­ ples : P r o t o - P a m a n

A t a m p a y a

A n g k a m u t h i

Y a d h a y k e n u

* p a : q ka 1

ayal

aya; wat a ulan ata uma

aya 1 wat a ulan ata uma y a 1a n manu ay i ayu ampu u 1u

* * * *

paija ku 1a n k a 1j a ku n a

> > > > >

*qampu * p u 1u

> > > > > > >

* p i p ima * wuna

> >

* 1 j u ma * ij a 1a n *manu *may i * qayu

wat a u 1a n yata wu n a uma 1a 1a n ma nu may i ayu qampu u 1u nipim a una

y a 1a n ma nu ay i ayu ampu u 1u i p ima u na

i p i ma una

' shoulder' 'b ite ' ' possum ' 'ro tte n ' ' excrem ent 'fire ' ' to n g u e' ' th ro at' 'fo o d ' ’ lsg-NOM ' 'to o th ' ' 3sg-N0M ' 'one' ' l i e down'

332 *yana *yuku *puQka

Uradhi > > >

ana yuku pupka

ana yuku yupka

ana yuku yupka

'go, come' 'tre e' 'cry'

( i i ) I n t e r v o c a l i c l e n i t i o n . The f r i c a t i v e s e r i e s r e f e r r e d t o a b o v e i n 2 . 1 o r i g i n a t e d from t h e l e n i t i o n o f s t o p s and n a s a l - s t o p c l u s t e r s in c e r t a i n w ord-m edial en v iro n m e n ts. V e la r so u n d s became /y /, l a m i n o - p a l a t a l so u n d s became /5/ and b i l a b i a l so u n d s became /ß /. T h e r e a p p e a r t o be two m ain l e n i t i n g environm ents w o rd -m e d ia lly . F i r s t l y , th e s e changes t o o k p l a c e when t h e r e w a s a p r e c e d i n g l o n g v o w e l i n t h e f i r s t s y l l a b l e o f a word ( a n d t h e vowel was t h e n g e n e r a l l y shortened), e .g . Proto-Paman * p a: Qka 1 > > * ka: 1ka > * p u : Qka > * p i : ku > * p i : pa-

Atampaya aya 1 a lya uya w i : yu -

Angkamuthi aya: a lya uya wi : y u i ßaoa

Yadhay kenu aya 1 al ya uya wi : yu ißa5a

' shoulder' 'f a l l, die' ' smell' 'rib , side' 'father'

S e c o n d ly , th e s e changes took p la c e fo llo w in g a s h o r t in t h e second. s y l l a b l e of a word, e •g • Proto-Paman > *kutaka > *wapapa

Atampaya ufaya ataßa

Angkamuthi utaya at aßa

Yadhaykenu utaya at aßa

vowel

' dog' 'riv e r'

( i i i ) Laminat s h i f t . A number o f t h e e x a m p l e s g i v e n a b o v e show t h a t t h e r e h a s b e e n a g e n e r a l s h i f t o f t h e l a m i n o p a l a t a l s of proto-Pam an to la m in o - d e n ta l s in U ra d h i. (A l­ t e r n a t i v e l y , t h e p ro to -P am an forms s h o u l d in t h e s e c a s e s be r e c o n s t r u c t e d a s h a v i n g l a m i n o - d e n t a l s , a n d t h e m o d e r n 1ami n o - p a l a t a l s would have to have e v o lv e d s e p a r a t e l y . ) ( i v ) A p ica l merger. I n t e r v o c a l i c a l l y , th e proto-Pam an a p i ­ c a l s e g m e n t s * t , * r , * p a n d s o m e t i m e s a l s o *1 m e r g e d a s / 1 / in t h e modern la n g u a g e . A l s o , i n c l u s t e r s i n w h i c h *1 p r e c e d e d a n o t h e r c o n s o n a n t , t h e *1 h a s a l w a y s s h i f t e d t o / 1/, e . g. Proto-Paman * 0 u 1a > > *yuru > *wa papa > *ij u 1p i > *ma pa > * ku t a ka

Atampaya uta yutu at aßa 1ut p i mata utaya

Angkamuthi uta yutu at aßa 1ut p i mata utaya

Yadhaykenu uta yutu at aßa 1ut p i mata utaya

' l a t e r on' ' elbow' 'riv e r' 'b e lly ' 'hand' ' dog'

(I hope to p u b l i s h a t a l a t e r d a t e a d e t a i l e d s tu d y of th e h i s t o r i c a l phonology of a l l th e U radhi d i a l e c t s u sin g a l l e x i s t i n g p u b l i s h e d and u n p u b l i s h e d d a t a , and t o p r o v i d e a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e p r o t o - l a n g u a g e from w hich a l l t h e s e d i a l e c t s a r e d e s c e n d e d . The c h a n g e s b e t w e e n p r o t o - P a m a n and p r o to - U r a d h i w i l l a l s o be exam ined. There are s e v e ra l pro­ blem a r e a s t h a t need to be lo o k e d a t , p a r t i c u l a r l y w ith r e s p e c t t o t h e e v o l u t i o n o f 1a m i n o - p a l a t a l s and a p i c a l s in U radhi. P r e s u m a b l y some o f t h e a b o v e c h a n g e s w e r e c o n d i t ­ io n e d c h a n g e s , w hich would a c c o u n t f o r t h e p r e s e n c e o f such s e g m e n ts in t h e modern l a n g u a g e . The c o n d i t i o n i n g f a c t o r s have not y e t been e s t a b l i s h e d . )

3.1

Parts of speech

333

3, MORPHOLOGY 3.1

PARTS OF SPEECH

A word in Uradhi belongs to one word-class only, though class membership can be changed by the various derivational processes described in 3.2.2 and 3.4.4. Membership for each part of speech can be defined by syntactic and morphological criteria, as well as by semantic content. Words in Uradhi first of all fall into two very broad categories: the lexical words on the one hand and the gramm­ atical words on the other. Each class of lexical words is open-ended, whereas each system of grammatical words is closed. The grammatical words consist of: pronouns; parti­ cles, such as uwunu 'don't', a^ama 'not', u y a Q u / u y a m a 'again', and the reflexive particles; interrogatives; demonstratives ; and interjections. These grammatical words are all charac­ terised by the fact that they are never replaced by special forms when one is speaking in the avoidance style discussed in 1.4.4 and 5.1. Lexical words (except for kinship terms) on the other hand, are invariably replaced by a special avoidance word in the appropriate circumstances. The syntactic and morphological characteristics of these five non-lexical word classes are discussed below: Pronouns inflect for case, though there are some differences between the pronominal and nominal case systems. Pronouns differ from nouns further in that all members of this class can be described componentially, with the features , and vs. . Pronouns also differ from nouns in that they never occur in a noun phrase with an adjective, as can happen with a noun. Particles never inflect. There is little in common semanti­ cally between members of this class except that many express the vague idea of modality (i.e. negation, etc). (This class in some ways seems to be a kind of rag-bag, comprising items that cannot really be said to belong anywhere else.) Interrogatives include all words that seek information. These forms can also sometimes have indefinite functions, as in many Australian languages. Demonstratives inflect for case. They differ from pronouns in that they express proximity relative to the speaker. Interjections are forms that can exist alone as a normal utterance, yet which do not require other forms to accompany them in a construction to constitute an acceptable utterance. The four open lexical word classes are: Nouns constitute what is probably by far the largest of all the word classes in the language. Nouns generally refer to concrete objects such as: people and animals; parts of the body (of both humans and non-humans); trees and other plants and parts thereof; aspects of the environment (e.g. 'rain', 'river', 'fire', 'ground' and so on); cultural artefacts used in everyday and ceremonial life; and names of particu­ lar people and places. Abstract concepts are not usually

334

Uradhi

expressed in Uradhi as nouns, though kinship terms, which are abstract in that they give names to a relationship that exists between two people, are nouns. Non-observable and imaginary objects such as spirits and taboo places are also expressed as nouns. Syntactically, a noun can act as a sub­ ject, an object or a complement to a verb. Nouns mark case according to the absolutive-ergative system. Adjectives can potentially take the same case suffixes as nouns, though they rarely do, unless the head noun is ab­ sent (by ellipsis or some other kind of deletion). Syntac­ tically, an adjective is only an optional constituent in a noun phrase, while the noun is obligatory. Adjectives are also able to take the verbalising suffix -ma. The semantic difference between nouns and adjectives is that the former express concrete concepts, the latter only the qualities possessed by these objects. Semantic parameters expressed by adjectives are: speed (e.g. fast, slow); dimension (long, deep, small); physical property (heavy, cold, good-looking); colour (black, white, red); human propensity (greedy); value (good, bad); age (new, young); and number (one, many). Some states, however, are expressed by intransitive verbs. Verbs all inflect for tense in main clauses, and in subor­ dinate clauses it is the verb which marks the subordinate status of the clause. Semantically, they express: motion; state; change of state; vocalisation; thought; noise-making; body functions; impact and violence; holding and transfer. Time and -place words are all uninflectable, but differ from the class of particles in that they require lexical replace­ ment in the avoidance style. 3.2

NOUN MORPHOLOGY

3.2.1 CASE INFLECTIONS. Tables 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 present the major allomorphs and the major morphological changes brought about by the addition of case inflection suffixes in the three Uradhi dialects under study. Exemplification of each inflection, and detailed discussion of the often rather complex allomorphy, is given in the remainder of this sect ion. [a] S-function. All nouns in isolation, and also all nouns functioning as the subject of an intransitive verb, are marked by zero inflection, e.g. (22)

ukyin paka- n i pi -mu n (AT) snapper-ABS jump-PAST water-ABL The snapper jumped out of the water

(From this point on, the underlying forms only are given. It must be remembered however, that all words in the langu­ age are subject to alternations in the final segments according to the nature of the following segment and its position in the utterance. For details of these alternat­ ions, refer to 2.4.1.) Equational-type sentences also have noun phrases with zero marking, e.g.

3.2

Noun morphology

335

TABLE 3.1 - Atampaya case inflections after -V

s 0 A Dative Ablative General oblique

-0 -0/-na -q ku/-mpu/-ntu -yu -mun -QU

TABLE 3..2

S

0 A Dative disyllabic polysyllabic Ablative General oblique

-

after -C (with -C generally being lost before suffix)

-0 -0/-na - Q ku/-nt u/-nt u/-a 1 -wyu/-ntyu/-yu -mu n — W Q U / — pU / — U

Angkamuthi case inflections

after -V

after -V:

after -C

-0 -0/-na? -q ku

-0 -0/-na ? -ntu with -V:^V

-0 -0/-na? -up ku

-yu -ku -mun

-yU

-QU

-QU

-(u) ku -(u)ku -mun -pu with -C->0

-ku -mun with -V:^Vn

TABLE 3.,3 - Yadhaykenu case inflections

S

0 A Dative disyllabic polysyllabic Ablative General oblique

(23)

after -V

after -C (with -C generally being lost before suffix)

-0 -0/-na? - Q ku/-mpu/-ntu

-0 -0/-na? -ntu/-ntu/ - 1

-yu -ku -mun -QU n

-yu/-p1ju/- 1u/—:kyu -kyu/-p1ju/-lu/-:kyu -mun with -|-*n -pun

ampinampi unma (AT) hair-ABS black-ABS [Your] hair is black

Nouns used vocatively are also marked by zero, e.g. (24)

umpa.' wutpu! (AT) hey old man-ABS Hey, old man!

[b] 0-function. The vast majority of occurrences of nouns as objects of transitive verbs in Uradhi are marked by zero, and so coincide in form with nouns in the S-function. (Thus, the nominal case system is of the absolutive-ergative type, as the transitive subject function of a noun is positively

336

Uradhi

marked.) e .g . (25)

ayu mina upye-n (AT) lsg-NOM meat-ABS eat-PAST I ate the meat

However, nouns referring to humans (e .g .ama 'person', anpapu 'husband', wutpu 'old man') and larger animals, birds and fish (e.g. a k u r p u 'red kangaroo', u t a y a 'dog' and wuyanu 'emu'), but not inanimate objects, plants, and smaller animals, birds and fish, are sporadically marked with the suffix which has the basic form - n a . The use of this suffix is adequately attested only in the Atampaya dialect, and even in this dialect it proved difficult to elicit new examples of nouns with this marking. Consequently, the paradigm for nouns with this marking is only partially known. The basic form in the Atampaya dialect appears to be - n a . with the preceding consonant being deleted after consonant-final stems (though no nouns with final -I , -p and -y could be eli­ cited with this marking). No attempt is made to describe the allomorphy of this suffix in the Angkamuthi or Yadhaykenu dialects. An example of a sentence in a text provided by the Atampaya informant which contains this suffix is presented below: (26)

wi l u

antipe-n

wuyanu-na

hip-ABS spear-PAST emu-ACC The emu was speared in the hip

[c] A-function. To mark the subject of a transitive verb in Uradhi, and also to mark the instrumental function of a noun, the noun is marked by a variety of phonologically and morphologically-determined suffixes to distinguish it from the zero-marked absolutive. As there is considerable dia­ lectal variation in the forms of these suffixes and their distribution, the three dialects will be discussed separ­ ately. ATAMPAYA. The A-function marking is achieved by deleting the final consonant of the stem, and adding one of the following suffixes. (Note that a final semi-vowel is not deleted before the addition of a suffix in this dialect.) original stem-final segment -I -n —n -p

A-function suffix -ntu -ntu -a I -p ku , -a I - p k u , -mpu, - n t u

-V, -Vy

(When the vowel-initial A-function marker -a I is added, the resulting vowel sequence is resolved by the phonological rules presented in 2.4.1). The following examples illus-; träte the allomorphy of the A-function suffix with stems ending in -I, -n and -n. stem

A-function

ukur a 1 iwan

u kurant u i want u

Ca P a 2

papal

upki n

up k y a 1

'brown snake 'mosquito' 'blue dove' 'flying fox'

3.2 Noun morphology

337

When a word ends in a vowel or -p , the A-function suff­ ix is of a rather unpredictable nature. There is no appar­ ent phonological or semantic conditioning involved in the choice of suffix. Nouns must therefore be simply assigned membership in a declension class, which is included in the dictionary entry for the particular item. Nouns with stemfinal vowels belong in Declension I (taking the allomorph -pku), Declension II (taking the allomorph -mpu) or Declension I I I (taking the allomorph -ntu). The following lists give some examples of each of the three declensions: I (-pku)

II

iku ' b andicoot ' wutp u 'old man' mupa 'child' ikampara 'croco di le' amukuSi

'friend'

ay u m u u taya upata wutpuSi a Q ka Q ka

(-mpu) 'cen tipede' 'dog' 'catfish' 'beefh awk' 'kookab u r r a '

aru

I l l(-ntu) 'axe'

- : namu ' g e n i t i v e su ffix' upu 'g arfish' ipamu 'fish trap' akwanumu 'dingo'

(The only - y - final noun in this dialect, w a t a y 'dugong', is a member of Declension I .) The largest of the three declen­ sions is Declension I . There is one partial phonological correlate to these three declension classes, however, and that is the fact that Declension III comprises only - u - final nouns. (However, it can be seen from the examples given above that not all -ufinal nouns belong to this declension.) Historically, mem­ bers of this class may have had a final -I which was then lost. (The -ntu allomorph would then be perfectly predict­ able.) On the surface, it is often actually quite difficult to differentiate between forms which are underlyingly -ufinal and forms which end in -u I . In continuous speech when the following word has an initial consonant, the phonologi­ cal rules discussed in 2.4.1 will derive surface -uw from underlying -ul, and leave underlying -u unchanged. This is clearly a situation in which the underlying -I might be lost as the surface forms were difficult to distinguish phoneti­ cally. (Unfortunately, the historical data assembled so far neither supports nor contradicts this suggestion.) There is considerably less data on the allomorphy of the A-function marker with -p-final nouns. (It was pointed out in 2.2.2 that nouns of this type are comparatively rare.) The only forms attested in the A-function are given below: stem A-function iß up 5a Iap kup uypup

iß up ku 5a Iap kup ku uypa I

'father' 'crayfish' 'fly'

It is clearly impossible to generalise from such a limited set of data. The Atampaya dialect has, in addition, two irregular vowel-final nouns which mark the A-function by suffixing -:Iu, thus: stem

A-function

ama may i

ama : iu m a y i: Iu

'person' 'f o o d '

ANGKAMUTHI. The A-function marker is considerably simpler in its allomorphy than that just described for the Atampaya

338

Uradhi

dialect.

The set of allomorphs is: stem-final segment

A-function suffix

-C -V -V :

-u q ku -q k u V:-*V and

add - n t u

Thus, we simply add -u q k u to consonant-final stems, -q k u to forms with final short vowels, and - n t u to forms ending in long vowels, after shortening the vowel. (Stems ending in -V: in this dialect correspond to stems ending in -VI in the Atampaya and Yadhaykenu dialects, hence the parallelism in allomorphy for this suffix.) Examples include: stem

A-function

iwan apmap a kurpu mupa u ka:

i wanuqku apmapuq ku a kur puq ku mupaq ku u kant u

'mosquito' 'sandfly' 'red kangaroo' 'child' 'foot'

This dialect, however, has a greater number of nouns attested as having irregular marking of the A-function than is the case in the Atampaya dialect. There are three nouns which mark this function by suffixing -lu.and one by suffixing - t u , e . g . stem

A-function

ama u t ay a uqupu upuq ka

ama 1u u t a y a 1u uqupu 1u u puqkat u

'person' 'dog' 'mother' 'elder brother'

The form wat i : 'dugong ' is also irregular as its A-function is expressed by w a t i : q k u rather than by * w a t i n t u as we would expect. (There is a clear historical explanation for this irregularity, however, as the final long vowel in this case derives from an earlier -Vy, while all other final long vowels derive from earlier -VI, as was mentioned above.) YADHAYKENU. The A-function is expressed by deleting a final consonant of the stem and adding the following suffixes: original stem-final segment -1 -n -P

-v

A-function suffix -nt u -ntu -7" -qku,

-mpu,

-ntu

(The behaviour of stems with final long vowels, which are very rare in this dialect, is unfortunately not known.) Note that-p-final stems have an alternative form in which the consonant is not deleted, and the suffix-uqku is added, as is the case in the Angkamuthi dialect. (Alternatively, this could be the result of dialect mixture from the speak­ er's knowledge of the other dialect.) As in the Atampaya dialect, vowel-final nouns must be assigned membership to one of three declensions. No gener­ alisations can be made about the membership of these class­ es. (Even the observation in the Atampaya dialect that Declension III contains only-u-final nouns does not hold for this dialect.) Some examples of nouns belonging to each

3.2 Noun morphology

339

of the declensions are given below: I(-Q ku ) i t i:nki 'small pigeon' mupa 'saliva' wutpu 'old man' ita 'snake'

Il(-m p u ) mawapa 'shark' alu 'crab'

III atanti unt armu amatinu

(-ntu) 'fire s tic k ' 'w ife' 'g irl'

(Note that there is generally (but not always) a correlation between declension membership in the different dialects.) In the Yadhaykenu dialect, there is also a small set of irregular nouns which mark the A-function by either -1u or -tu. Those nouns which are attested as behaving in this way are : stem

A-function

ama utaya apura i kanpa upuQ ka

ama 1u u t a y a 1u a p u r a 1u i kanpat u upupkat u

'person' 'dog' 'blue tongue lizard 'crocodile' 'elder brother'

From the preceding discussions of the allomorphy of the A-function marker, it is clear that there is consider­ able unpredictability in the choice of allomorphs (recall from 2.2.2 that most words are vowel-final in these dia­ lects, and that it is with vowel-final forms that there is the greatest degree of unpredictability). From the compara­ tive data, it would seem most unlikely that this unpredict­ ability derives from an earlier phonologically-conditioned regularity that has been disguised by later sound shifts (with the one possible exception that was mentioned concern­ ing the membership of Declension III in the Atampaya dial­ ect). All the evidence from the Northern Paman languages in general in fact points to there having been considerable un­ predictability in the allomorphy of the suffix marking the A-function in the proto-language itself. Examples of sentences in which the subjects of transi­ tive verbs are marked by the ergative suffix are presented below: (27)

yila-pku

upkerni

aSi-n

w u p u np i - p u

(AT)

green turtle-ERG egg-ABS lay-PAST sand-OBL The green turtle laid its eggs in the sand (28)

wutpu-pku

uma

apa-n

(AT)

old man-ERG firewood-ABS pick up-PAST The old man picked up some firewood

The same suffix is used to express the instrumental function, i.e. the means by which an action is performed, e. g. (29)

aru-ntu

ula uma ute-n (AT) axe-INST 3non-sg-N0M firewood-ABS chop-PAST They chopped the firewood with an axe

Ergative and instrumental must, however, be recognised as distinct cases, since they have the following differences in behaviour: (i) Instrumental noun phrases, but not ergative noun phra­ ses, can appear in a sentence with an intransitive verb, e.g.

340

Vradhi

(30)

ulu aru-ntu uta-:ni-n 3sg-N0M axe-INST cut-REFL-PAST He cut himself with an axe

(31)

a p up a - p k u u l a i ßakya (AT) drum-INST 3non-sg-N0M dance-PRES They are dancing with drums

(ii) Sentences with ergative sation to take place, whereby shifts to the absolutive. In instrumental noun phrase does ture similar to: (32)

(AT)

noun phrases allow reflexivithe ergative noun phrase a reflexivised sentence, the not change. So, from a struc­

a m a - : l u untawu y u k u -p k u aru-p (AT) man-ERG woman-ABS stick-INST hit-PAST The man hit the woman with a stick

we can derive: (33)

ama yuku-pku ari-:ni-n (AT) man-ABS stick-INST hit-REFL-PAST The man hit himself with a stick

(iii) The instrumental noun phrase is comparatively free in its placing within the clause and is similar in its behav­ iour to other complement noun phrases. The ergative noun phrase, however, is relatively fixed in its placing, and generally occurs as the first constituent in a transitive clause. (See 4.1.1 for further discussion and exemplifi­ cation of these points.) [d] Dative. The Uradhi dialects mark the dative case in slightly different ways, though it is fairly clear that the various suffixes all go back to an original *-ku, which is the dative marking in a great many languages of Australia. The allomorphy of the dative-marking suffix for each of the three dialects under study is presented below. ATAMPAYA. Dative is marked by deleting the final consonant of the stem (but retaining final -y in the one form in which it occurs, as mentioned in [c] above), and adding the follow­ ing suffixes: original stem-final segment

-1

dative suffix -wy u -ntyu

-' Dn lJ -P

-yu >>

1

1

>

-Yu

The following examples illustrate the dative forms of nouns in the Atampaya dialect: stem

dative

a5a 1 akyun i pan ißup uma wat ay

aSawyu akyuntyu i pantyu ißuyu umayu wat ayyu

’hole’ ' camp’ ’ eye ’ ’ father ’f i r e ’ ’ dugong

3.2 Noun morphology

341

ANGKAMUTHI. Dative allomorphy depends partly on the nature of the final segment of the stem, and partly on the number of syllables in the word. The following forms mark the dative case: final segment —V (:)

suffix with disyllabic stems

suffix with stems of three or more syllables - ku -u ku -u ku

-Yu

p-*y + - k u -u ku

-P -n

That is, with disyllabic vowel-final stems (either with fin­ al short vowels or long vowels), the dative is marked with -yu , whereas with longer vowel-final stems, the dative is marked by - k u . All-n-final stems simply add - u k u , as do - p final forms of three syllables or more. Disyllabic -p-final forms change the -p to - y and add - k u , thus: stern

dative

uma a kurpu u ka : a ka nt i : a5up amputumup ampun wulj upapun

uma yu a kurpu ku u ka : y u a kant i : ku a ö u y ku amputumupuku ampu nu ku wulj upapunu ku

'fire' 'red kangaroo' 'foot ' 'wongai plum' 'money' 'red apple' 'passionfruit' 'coconut '

YADHAYKENU. The allomorphy for the dative suffix is set out below. The final consonants of consonant-final stems are deleted before these suffixes are added.

original stem-final segment(s)

suffixes with disyllabic stems

suffix with stems of three or more syllables

-yu -y u

-V -P -n - u 1/ - a 1 -i 1

-k u - kyu ------------------- v -:k y u

"P W u

(replaces final 1)

(The behaviour of forms with final long vowels in the dative is again not known .) Note, therefore, the following examples stem

dative

yu ku ut uöa aypap amputumup aplj i n up k u : pu n wanta 1 yap i 1

yu kuyu u t u ö a ku aypayu amputumu kyu aplj i p j u up ku : puplj u wanta 1u yap i : kyu

'stick' 'bush' 'stone' 'red apple' 'honey' ' coconut ' 'scrub yam' 'bream'

In Uradhi, the dative case covers a very wide range of functions : (i) the purpose of an action, e.g. ( 34 )

u lu ip i-y u in tu -p a papa-a 1 (AT) blue dove-ERG 3sg-N0M water-DAT look for-PRES The blue dove is looking for water

342

Uradhi

(35)

ayu

akurpu-ku

ana

(AN)

Isg-NOM red kangaroo-DAT go-PRES I am going for red kangaroo

(ii) the beneficiary of an action, e.g. (36)

apuö a ulu ipante-p anpapu-yu up u mu - y u (AT) bone-ABS 3sg-N0M bury-PAST husband-DAT 3sg-GEN-DAT She buried the bones for her husband

(37)

akurpu

ama - y u

a n tip e -ri

(AT)

red kangaroo-ABS man-DAT spear-IMP Spear a red kangaroo for the man.'

(iii) complement of adjectives and intransitive verbs which express feeling, desire or emotion, e.g. (38)

ulu

untumu-yu

i 5aß a

( AT)

3sg-N0M thunder-DAT afraid-ABS He is afraid of thunder (39)

ayußa

ayuyma-n

ama- y u ,(AN)

lsg-NOM dream-PAST man-DAT I dreamt about the man (40)

ay u ßa

unta:mu-ku

u ripa :n i

(AN)

lsg-NOM woman-DAT sorry-ABS I am sorry for the woman (41)

ulaßa

upupu-yu

apl; i : m a - n

( AT)

3non-sg-N0M mother-DAT rejoice-PAST They were rejoicing for [their] mother (42)

ay u ßa

ip i-yu

arya-al

(AT)

lsg-NOM water-DAT want-PRES I want some water (43)

ulußa

a t i : n a ayuypu

(AN)

3sg-N0M lsg-DAT dislike-ABS He dislikes me

(iv) motion along, through, past or over something, e.g. (44)

ula

ana-n

ulumu-yu

( AT)

3non-sg-N0M go-PAST road-DAT They were walking along the road (45)

ay u ßa

yata yuku-yu (AT) lsg-NOM go past-PRES tree-DAT I am going past the tree

(46)

ay u ßa

(47)

ay u ßa

wumu- yu a w u ^ i - y u ana-n (AN) lsg-NOM around-DAT house-DAT go-PAST I went around the house utu5a-yu

ana-n

(AT)

lsg-NOM bush-DAT go-PAST I went through the bush

(This function of the dative essentially expresses motion at a place, and contrasts with the general oblique case des­ cribed in [f] below, which expresses motion towards a place or rest at a place.) [e] Ablative .

The ablative marker has the following forms

3.2

Noun morphology

34 3

in the dialects under s tudy: ATAMPAYA. The suffix is -mun throughout, and is added to a stem in which there is often modification of the final consonant. The modifications that apply are set out b e l o w H

-n

1

-p

. -n ->

-y

Stems with final -n, -y and -V remain unchanged, e.g. stem ablative ipi ip imun 'water' watay wataymun 'dugong' a kup a kuymun 'skin' ipan ipanmun 'eye' a kyan akyanmun 'shark' a5a 1 aöanmun 'hole' ANGKAMUTHI. The suffix is again invariably -mun, which is added to a modified stem. The stem modifications are again with respect to final segments +

-y

> 1

+

>1

c

-p For example: stem wuqa umap alja : apan

ablative wuqamun umaymun aljanmun apanmun

'sun ' 'whiteman' 'cloud' 'grass'

YADHAYKENU. The rules for the expression of the ablative are very similar to that of the Atampaya and Angkamuthi dialects. The suffix is invariably -mun, added to a stem that is modified in the following ways: -p

->

-y

For example: stem

ablative

yu ku apu 1

yu kumun apunmun y i :y i n m u n umaymun

y i :Y 1n umap

'tree' 'wallaby' 'beach' 'whiteman

The following sentence illustrates the use of the abla­ tive to express motion away from a place: (48)

u t a y a - m p u ap uda a ö a n - mu n a m p i - n (AT) dog-ERG bone-ABS hole-ABL take out-PAST The dog took the bones out of the hole

The ablative also expresses a range of other meanings: (i) the cause of a state of affairs, e.g. (49)

ay u

wuqa- mun

ima:ru-ma-n

lsg-NOM sun-ABL tired-VBLSR-PAST I am tired from the sun

(AT)

344 Uradhi (50)

ulußa karuka-mun ayarima (AN) 3sg-N0M beer-ABL sick-ABS He is sick from beer

(51)

alißa aQkuQkun-ma-n umpi5a-mun ldu.inc-NOM satiated-VBLSR-PAST oyster-ABL We are satiated from oysters

(AT)

(ii) the complements of fear and shame, e.g. (52)

untuymu-mun iöalßa (AN) thunder-ABL afraid-ABS [He] is afraid of thunder

(53)

umaypanu uöißa ama-mun (AN) girl-ABS ashamed-ABS man-ABL The girl is ashamed of the man

(Note that in [d] it is pointed out that the fear complement can also be expressed by the dative case. The difference in meaning in such cases is not known.) (iii) to express 'made of' something, e.g. (54)

umuqka-mun upunQa-n iqamu (AT) loya cane-ABL make-PAST fish trap-ABS The fish trap is made of loya cane

(55)

ayußa awanti ata apan-mun (AN) lsg-NOM dilly-bag-ABS weave-PRES grass-ABL I weave dilly-bags from grass

(iv) rarely, to indicate the method of transport, e.g. (56)

ulu ura-qu anma-n yantu-mun 3sg-N0M this-OBL go-PAST canoe-ABL He came by this canoe

(AT)

(Note that this function is normally expressed by the comitative suffix described in 3.2.2.) [f] General oblique. The general oblique case expresses a very wide range of semantic functions in all the dialects of Uradhi. Its realisations and functions are described below. Stem-final consonants (except -y) are deleted in the Atampaya dialect before the addition of the general oblique suffix, which has the following allomorphs: original stem-final segment -I

general oblique suffix -qu after u-; -wqu elsewhere

-y -V

-u -qu

The examples below illustrate this allomorphy in the Atam­ paya dialect: stem

general oblique

ayal wapun ipan

ayawqu wapupu ipapu

'shoulder 'head' 'eye'

3.2 akup wat ay ipi

akupu wat ayu I p i qu

Noun morphology

34 5

'skin' 'dugong' 'water'

Again in the Angkamuthi dialect, stem-final consonants are deleted and the following suffixes are added to express the general oblique case: original stem-final segment

general oblique suffix

- V ( :)

-QU

This allomorphy is illustrated in the following: stem

general oblique

ani yanta: apa n a kup

an ipu y a n t a : pu apapu a kupu

'ground 'hill' 'grass' 'skin'

In the Yadhaykenu dialect, to express general oblique case, a stem-final consonant is deleted, and the following suffixes are added: original stem-final segment -

-V

}

general oblique suffix

1

-pun

}

-pun

(In this dialect the behaviour of forms ending in long vow­ els in the general oblique is not known.) Examples illus­ trating the allomorphy are: stem

general oblique

yat i yanta I y i : y in amputumup

y a t i pun yantapun y i : y i pun amputumupun

'river' 'hill' 'beach' 'red apple'

The general oblique case expresses a very wide range of semantic functions in all of the Uradhi dialects. It expre­ sses a variety of locative-type functions all indicating location at a place, e.g. (57)

mayi-upke:ni walyapa-pu (AT) scrub yam-ABS gully-OBL There are scrub yams in the gully

(58)

wupu-pu intya (AT) buttocks-OBL sit-PRES [He] is sitting on his backside

(59)

ul umu- pu an a - n (AT) road- OBL go-PAST [He] walked along the road

(60)

ulu ama pana-pu intya (AT) 3non-sg-N0M man-ABS friend-OBL stay-PRES They are staying with their friends

TIhe general oblique also expresses the following functions:

346

Uradhi

(i) the point to which an action is directed, e.g. (61)

ama akyu-pu ana-n (AT) man-ABS camp-OBL go-PAST The man went to the camp

Note, however, that with place names this allative function is expressed by zero-marking on the noun, e.g. (62)

ayu ip}i:nu ana (AT) lsg-NOM Cowal Creek-ABS go-PRES I am going to Cowal Creek

(See also text III, line 8.) (ii) the indirect object of ditransitive verbs such as u 'give', e.g. (63)

ayußa ama-pu mina u-kal (AT) lsg-NOM man-OBL meat-ABS give-PAST I gave the man some meat

It should also be noted that the general oblique suffix can be used to derive place names from common nouns. The following place names were given by the Atampaya informant: stem

derived place name

amput umup ar kaymu marapi

'red apple' 'dingo' 'bamboo'

amput umupu a r kaymupu m a r a p i qu

Presumably, there is some characteristic association between a particular place and the referent of the noun from which the place name is derived. 3.2.2 NOMINAL DERIVATIONS. Uradhi has at its disposal a number of means for deriving a nominal (either a noun or an adjective) from one or more noun stems. There is also a way of deriving nouns from verbs, but this is discussed in 4.2. The nominal-deriving suffixes in Uradhi are discussed below. [a] Comitative 1. There is a comitative suffix, 'with', which has the form -i:ma in the Atampaya dialect. This suffix is added to noun stems, and if the stems are consonant-final, the consonant is deleted first. The phonological rules affecting the resulting stem-final vowels (described in 2.4.1) then apply normally. The only exceptions are -Ifinal nouns in which the suffix is -ima, with no loss of the final consonant, e.g. stem

comitative 1

ama yu ku amp i aypan i ßup umpa 1

ami :ma yuki:ma a m p i : ma aypi:m a i ß i : ma ump a 1 ima

'person' 'stick' 'yamstick' 'stone' 'father' 'carpet snake

In the Angkamuthi dialect, final consonants are deleted, and the following suffixes are added: original stem-final segment -P

comitative 1 suffix

3 .2 -V:

Noun morphology

347

-yma

T h a t i s , -yma i s a d d e d a f t e r f o r m s w i t h a n d -:yma i s a d d e d t o o t h e r f o r m s , e . g . stem

c o m it a t i v e 1

ama yu ku amp i u ka : aypap

a m a : yma yu k u : yma ampi:ma u k a : yma a y p a : yma

final

long vowels,

' person' 'stick' ' ya ms t i c k' 'foot' 'stone'

F i n a l l y , i n t h e Y a d h a y k e n u d i a l e c t , we f i n d e x a c t l y t h e s a me a l l o m o r p h y a s i n t h e A n g k a m u t h i d i a l e c t . T h e r e i s o n e a d d i t i o n a l p o i n t t o n o t e h o w e v e r , a n d t h a t i s t h a t t h e comi t a t i v e 1 s u f f i x o f - l - f i n a l n o u n s i s - ima , e . g . stem

c o m it a t i v e 1

ama yu ku amp i u ka 1 aypap

a ma : yma yu k u : yma a m p i : ma u k a 1 ima a y p a : yma

' person' 'stick' ' yams t i ck' 'foot' 'stone'

( N o t e t h a t t h e r e i s a - y - d e l e t i o n r u l e o p e r a t i n g b e t w e e n i: and m i n t h e Angkamuthi and Ya dhaykenu d i a l e c t s , a s d i s c u s s ­ ed in 2 . 4 . 4 . ) C o m i t a t i v e 1 forms b e l o n g t o D e c l e n s i o n I I . [ b ] C o m i t a t i v e 2. There i s a second c o m ita tiv e s u f f i x in U r a d h i w h i c h a g a i n h a s a r a n g e o f a l l o m o r p h s w i t h s ome d i a ­ lectal differences. In t h e Atampaya d i a l e c t , t h e c o m i t a t i v e 2 s u f f i x h a s n o t b e e n a t t e s t e d on s t e m s w i t h a n y c o n s o n a n t b u t -I ( a s t h i s s u f f i x wa s p a r t i c u l a r l y d i f f i c u l t t o e l i c i t and o c c u r r e d c o m p a r a t i v e l y r a r e l y in t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l ) . On an - I - f i n a l s t e m , t h e f i n a l c o n s o n a n t i s l o s t and t h e s u f f i x i s —5 i , a s i t i s on i n v a r i a n t v o w e l - f i n a l s t e m s , e . g . stem ita ukural

c o m it a t i v e 2 i t aSi ukuraSi

' s na ke ' 'brown s nake'

In t h e Angkamuthi d i a l e c t t h e a l l o m o r p h y o f t h i s s u f f ­ ix is b e tte r recorded. T h e f o r m s o f t h i s s u f f i x on d i f f e r ­ ent c l a s s e s of stems are: s t e m - f i n a l segment - V ( :) -n -p Thus,-ti

is

c o m it a t i v e 2 s u f f i x -ti -ati -p->0 + - t i

a d d e d t o v o w e l - f i n a l s t e m s , a n d —a t i -n. S t e m s w i t h f i n a l -p d e l e t e t h e g. c o m it a t i v e 2 stem karu ka 'beer' karukat i u ka: 'foot' u ka : t i ' mo s q u i t o ' iwan iwanat i aypap ' stone' aypat i

after

forms

F i n a l l y , in t h e Yadhaykenu d i a l e c t a l s o , t h e c o m i t a t i v e 2 a l l o m o r p h y i s n o t f u l l y k nown. Following vowels, the s u f f i x i s - t i , as in t h e Angkamuthi d i a l e c t . Stems w i t h

34 8

Uradhi

final -I delete the -I and add —t i, while stems with final -n add -t i. (The comitative 2 suffix has not been recorded on -p -final nouns.) e.g. stem

comitative 2

k a r u ka i wa n umpa I

karukat i iwant i umpati

beer ' mosquito' carpet snake

(Note that comitative 2 forms belong to Declension I.) It should be noted that the comitative 2 suffix is com­ paratively rare in the data, and I was unable to establish the difference in meaning between the two comitative forms. Both suffixes in fact seem to be used with very similar functions, expressing quite a wide range of meanings, as detailed below. The meanings encountered are: (i) to have something, whether it is a quality or possession, e.g. (64)

amp inamp i-5 i winta (AT) hair-C0M2-ABS arm-ABS [He] has got hairy arms

(ii) to be carrying something, which is not being used act­ ively as an instrument for carrying out an action, e.g. (65)

ama

uy aqu a n m a - n - a : l u

akw a-i:m a

(AT)

man-ABS back go-PAST-HERE spear-COMl-ABS The man came back with a spear

(iii) to be carrying something which is being used passively in an action (can also be marked by oblique case), e.g. (66)

ulu

uqku:pun

an taypa-a:lu

paya-:yma

( Y)

3sg-N0M coconut-ABS carry-PAST-HERE bag-COMl-ABS He brought the coconuts in a bag

(iv) to express an excess of something, e.g. (67)

pi :y in

aypa-i:ma

( AT)

beach-ABS stone-COMl-ABS The beach is too stony (68)

ura akyun ita-i:ma (AT) this-ABS place-ABS snake-COMl-ABS This place is full of snakes

(69)

yuku

ula

m ina-i:m a

(AT)

tree-ABS 3non-sg-N0M bird-COMl-ABS The tree is full of birds

(v) to express a state, e.g. i p a n - wu y p u uma mupa

'bad eyes 'fire' 'child'

(Atampaya dialect): i pan-wuypu-5i uma-6i m u p a - 5 i, mupa-i:ma

'blind' 'hot' 'pregnant'

The comitative forms can of course occur with non-zero case marking, e.g. (70)

a m a - : l u m in a - i: ma-mpu y u k u antaßa-pa (AT) man-ERG meat-COMl-ERG stick-ABS carry-PRES The man with the meat is carrying a stick

3.2 Noun morphology (71)

349

m u p a - i : m a - : namu

mina (AT) child-COMl-GEN-ABS meat-ABS It is the pregnant [woman's] meat

[c. Privative. The Uradhi dialects all have a privative suffix, 'without'. In the Atampaya dialect, vowel-final stems express the privative by adding either -kyama or -ytkyama, while consonant-final stems add -ukyama. In the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects, the allomorphy for the privative suffix is the same: stem-final segment

suffix with disyllabic forms

-V

^ - ( y a ) kanu “ ‘ ” '

-C

suffix with longer forms

_ - a : rka nu

- (

kaf kanu^

Following vowel-final stems therefore, we can add - k a nu, or, in the case of disyllabic stems, -yakanu and in the case of longer forms -kakanu. Consonant-final stems in both dialects express the privative by adding - a r t k a n u . The privative suffix expresses the absence of the stem noun referent. Thus: (72)

a m a - : l u qampu-kyama-q ku mina

uqye- al

(AT)

man-ERG tooth-PRIV-ERG meat-ABS eat-PRES The toothless man is eating the meat

(73)

ura

yuku

untawu-:namu

mupa-yukyama-: namu

(AT)

this-ABS stick-ABS woman-GEN-ABS child-PRIV-GEN-ABS This stick belongs to the childless woman

(The examples presented above also indicate that the priva­ tive suffix can be followed by case suffixes, and the geni­ tive suffix, which is also derivational. Note that (72) shows that the privative suffix belongs to Declension I with respect to its choice of ergative allomorph.) [d] Genitive. Genitive markers in Australian languages are often considered to be one of the set of case markers. Syn­ tactically, in the Uradhi dialects, however, the genitive marker parallels the derivational comitative and privative suffixes described above in that: (i) it is itself obligatorily marked for one of the cases discussed in 3.2.1. (See 4.4.1 for examples. It will be noted that the genitive suffix belongs to Declension III with respect to the choice of ergative allomorph.) (ii) it relates one noun phrase to another noun phrase in­ stead of relating a noun phrase to a verb phrase. The allomorphy for the genitive suffix is discussed below. In the Atampaya dialect, the genitive is expressed by deleting all final consonants (including -y) and adding -:namu. Nouns with final vowels simply take -:namu, e.g. stem

genitive

i npalja 1 watay unmun

i npa^a: namu w a t a : namu unmu: namu papa: namu 5a 1aqku : namu ama: namu ipi:namu

Ca PaH 5 a 1aq kup ama ipi

' b r earn'

'dugong' 'beetle' 'blue dove 'crayfish' 'person' 'water'

350

as

Uradhi

In t h e Angkamuthi d i a l e c t , follow s:

the g e n itiv e

is

genitive s u ffix -namu -anamu

s t e m - f i n a l segment ~V(:) -C T h u s , a f t e r a n y v o w e l , we s i m p l y s o n a n t we a d d -anamu, e . g . stem ama u ka: umap apan

allom orphy

a d d -namu,

genitive amanamu u ka: namu umapa namu apananamu

and a f t e r

a con­

' person' ' foot' 'whiteman' 'grass'

Th e g e n i t i v e a l l o m o r p h y i n t h e Y a d h a y k e n u d i a l e c t The a l l o m o r p h s a r e s e t o u t b e l o w r a t h e r more c o m p le x . s t e m - f i n a l segment

s u f f i x with d i s y l l a b i c stems

s u f f i x w i t h stems o f t h r ee or more s y l l a b l e s

-namu v -nmu/-namu - V I - ^ - V : - + -namu -n a m u , w i t h - n n - -> - n -anamu

-V -1 -n -P

Thus, a f t e r degem inating vow el-final stem s always and l e n g t h e n

)

we a d d -namu ( w i t h t h e r e s u l t i n g - n n - s e q u e n c e t o - n - ) , a n d a f t e r -p we a d d -anamu. D isyllabic s t e m s a d d e i t h e r -namu o r -nmu, w h i l e l o n g e r a d d -namu. S t e m s w i t h f i n a l -I d e l e t e t h e -I t h e p r e c e d i n g v o w e l b e f o r e a d d i n g -namu, e . g . -n

stem

genitive

wut pu u ta y a umpa 1 unmun umap

wutpunmu, wutpunamu utayanamu umpa: namu unmunamu umapanamu

' o l d man' ' d og ' ' c a r p e t snake 'b e etle' ' whiteman'

Th e g e n i t i v e s u f f i x i s g e n e r a l l y u s e d t o e x p r e s s t h e a l i e n a b le p o s s e s s o r of som ething (s e e 4.4 fo r a d is c u s s io n of a lie n a b le vs. in a lie n a b le p o s s e s s io n ), e .g . ama-:namu u ta y a (AT) man-GEN-ABS dog-ABS t h e m a n 's dog

However, i t i s p e r h a p s m i s l e a d i n g t o u s e t h e t e r m ' g e n i t i v e ' t o r e f e r t o t h i s s u f f i x , a s i t i s f r e q u e n t l y u s e d i n a much w ider n o n -g e n itiv e sen se. T h i s s u f f i x a p p e a r s t o mean b a s ­ ic a lly 'p e rta in in g t o '. Such a g l o s s w o u ld f i t b e t t e r w i t h o th er observed uses of t h i s s u f f ix : ( i ) The d e r i v a t i o n o f g l a c e n a m e s . T h e r e i s an A t a m p a y a d i a l e c t t e r m waya r e f e r r i n g t o a t y p e o f s p e a r , a n d t h e r e i s a p l a c e name d e r i v e d f r o m t h i s n o u n o f t h e f o r m waya:namu. ( i i ) The e x p r e s s i o n o f l o a n c o n c e p t s . S o m e t i m e s , a n i n t r o ­ d u c e d c o n c e p t c a n b e e x p r e s s e d b y u s i n g t h i s s u f f i x on a n o u n r e f e r r i n g t o s o m e t h i n g t h a t i s i n s ome way a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e new c o n c e p t . Atamapaya exam ples a r e : ip i manu w aöinu

'w ater' 'th ro a t' 'cooking'

i p i : namu m a n u :namu w a5inu:nam u

'billy-can' 'handkerchief' ' f r y i n g pan'

3.2 Noun morphology

351

(iii) The expression of lost thoughts. Often in elicitation, if an informant was asked for a specific name that he could not think of, he would give an alternative while he was thinking. For instance, when asked the name for 'water snake', one Atampaya informant said, while thinking, ipi-:namu 'something to do with water', and when asked the name for 'scrub turkey', he gave utu5a-:namu 'something to do with the bush'. (Refer also to text II, line 51.) [e] Compounding. Compound stems are those in which two roots are placed in direct juxtaposition and in which there is only a single instance of case marking. In the case of compounds involving two noun roots, it is the case marking that distinguishes compounding from the structurally similar inalienable possession construction. In the latter constru­ ction, both of the juxtaposed nouns may take case markings (4.4.2). There would appear to be some genuine fuzziness, however, in deciding whether a particular noun-plus-noun juxtaposition should be treated as an’ example of inalienable possession, or of noun-noun compounding. The clearest evi­ dence for compound status is when the meaning of the two items together cannot be predicted from the meanings of the individual constituents, e.g. (Atampaya dialect): may i may i na n i yat i ip an mata

'food' 'food' 'ground' 'creek' 'eye' 'hand'

upk e : n wa p u n mupa mu t up 1u t p i wuq ku

i 'egg' 'head ' 'child' 'shin' 'stomach' 'knee'

m ayi-up ke :n i may i - w a p u n nan i-m u pa y a t i - m u t up i p a n - 1u t p i mata-wupku

'long yam sp 'fruit, seed 'dust' 'lagoon' 'eyeball' 'wrist'

Compounds may also be of the noun-plus-adjective type. Such constructions can be clearly distinguished from noun phrases containing adjectives (which also follow the noun, as pointed out in 4.1.2) by the fact that in compounds case is only marked once, on the final constituent. In adjecti­ val constructions however, case is obligatorily marked on the noun, and only optionally on the following adjective. In addition, there is considerable semantic unpredicability in the interpretation of compounds of this type. Examples of such compound constructions in the Atampaya dialect in­ clude : !ipa iut p nu ka 1 warki umuyanu uöumpup wuq ku wapun

'liver' 'stomach ' 'foot ' 'spike 'nose' 'back' 'knee' 'head'

wuypu mapka ip 1-51 papan upamu puyuSi puyuSi nipima

'bad' 'short' 'water-C0M2' 'hard' 'flat' 'long' 'long' 'one'

1ipa-wuypu 1utp i-mapka nukal-ipiöi warki-papan umuyanu-upamu uöumpup-puyuSi wup ku-puyuöi wapun-nipima

'stomach' 'stormbird' 'black duck' 'kingfisher' 'spoonbill' 'taipan' 'night curlew 'spotted stingray'

(Note that the phonological rules presented in 2 .4.1 regul-

arly apply to all compound forms.) [f] Reduplication. This is a very marginal process in the derivational morphology of Uradhi nouns and adjectives. There is only one example of a form derived by reduplication apuöa

’bone'

apu5a-apu5a

'skinny' (AT)

352

Uradhi

The vocabulary does contain examples of reduplicated forms for which there is no attested unreduplicated root form, e.g. a k i t a - a k i t a 'ear wax' and a k a r a - a k a r a 'green frog' in the Yadhaykenu dialect; there are no attested forms * a k i t a and * a k a r a with related meanings. (Note also that some re­ duplicated forms must date from a time prior to the appli­ cation of the initial-consonant deletion rules mentioned in 2.5 as we find numerous forms such as ampi nampi 'hair' (in the Atampaya and Angkamuthi dialects in this case) which presum­ ably derives from *namp i-namp i . ) 3.3

PRONOUNS AND DEMONSTRATIVES

It was mentioned in 3.1 that there are five classes of non-lexical forms, all of which share the characteristic that they are not lexically replaced in the avoidance style of speech (1.4.4). Of these classes of non-lexical items, three inflect for the nominal categories of case, i.e. pro­ nouns, demonstratives and interrogatives. The behaviour of these forms is presented below. 3.3.1 PERSONAL PRONOUNS. The Uradhi pronominal paradigm has forms for the first, second and third persons. The third person pronouns are genuine pronouns, and not demonstrative forms, as is the case in many Australian languages. (See 3.3.2 for discussion of the different behaviour of the dem­ onstrative forms.) Personal pronouns in Uradhi exist only as free forms; there is never any pronominal incorporation with reduced forms being attached to other parts of speech, as in some Australian languages. All of the Uradhi dialects have what can be called distinct 'long' and 'short' forms of the pronouns in the nominative paradigm, and in some accusative forms. In the nominative forms, the long form involves the addition of -ßa or - l a . In the long accusative forms, we find that there is sometimes addition of - p a before the accusative suffix - n a in those forms which contain the suffix, and addition of -ßa to the pronoun when there is no accusative -na. I am not aware of the conditions that determine the choice between the long and short forms of pronouns, except that slower, more deliberate speech almost invariably produces the longer forms. The nominal and pronominal case systems differ quite markedly in the nature of their formal case-marking, and the range of functions expressed by the various cases. The differences that can be noted are: (i) for nouns the S and A-functions are expressed by separ­ ate cases (i.e. absolutive and ergative respectively), whereas for pronouns these two functions fall together as the 'nominative' case. (ii) the O-function, which is expressed by the same case as the S-function (absolutive) with most nouns (except option­ ally those referring to humans and larger animals, birds and fish as mentioned in 3.2.1), obligatorily has separate pro­ nominal case marking, ’accusative'.

3.3 Pronouns and demonstratives

353

(iii) whereas nouns express the purposive and benefactive functions by a single case, 'dative' (3.2), these are expressed by separate case forms in the pronominal paradigm. The purposive pronominal functions are expressed by the same case as the general oblique, whereas the benefactive is ex­ pressed separately by the benefactive case. There is no formal distinction between dual and plural in most of the non-singular pronouns of Uradhi. However, it is very common to find the pronouns modified by numeral ad­ jectives to express number. (These are, in fact, the only adjectives which can modify a pronoun.) These numeral adjectives are: 'tw o' ’ many'

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

uSyama ilßan

u5ima ilßan

Yadhaykenu uöima ipjantu

The numeral adjective always follows the pronoun. Both forms usually inflect for case, though the case marking may be left off the numeral. Thus, we find examples such as the following in the Atampaya dialect: (74)

anaßa

u5yama

ana-:lu

lplinc-NOM two-ABS go-PRES-HERE We [two] are coming

(Further examples of this can be found in text II, lines 1 and 32.) The pronoun paradigms in Tables 3.4-6 give the full pronominal systems for the three dialects studied. Note that the genitive forms of the pronouns are considered along with the case-marked forms because there are some obvious irregularities in the forms.which require separate listing. There is considerable regularity in the forms of the non-nominative pronouns in all three dialects, if we exclude from consideration the singular accusative forms. We can set up various oblique roots to which the pronominal case affixes can be added. The roots that we need to recognise for the three dialects are set out in Table 3.7. The suffix­ es which are attached to these root forms are given in Table 3.8. (Note the neutralisation of the opposition in the non-singular forms between benefactive and general oblique/dative cases in Angkamuthi.) It should be noted that some of these pronominal case markers are identical or very similar to the canonical forms of case markers found on nouns, as summarised in 3.2.1. The accusative marker - n a is the same as the -na optionally used to mark O-function on nouns referring to humans and larger animals. The genitive marker -mu compares with the genitive marker on nouns, which is canonically -namu. The general oblique/dative marker - na on pronouns is quite different from the corresponding nominal suffixes -qu and - y u / - k u . The general oblique marker on non-singular pronouns -pu is simi­ lar in form to the corresponding nominal marker -q u . The canonical form of the ablative marker on nouns is -mun, which is similar (but not identical) to the ablative marker on pronouns.

354

cp

fU C ID

CP d CL E m

o 3

d

E

§ « CT — 3 3

w LI CQ

— — 4 -1 — (0 (0

•

7

to to ro to

I 03 -M c s l cs)

(0 I I ^ ( 0 0 er NOM.(SA)

i

er er 3

3 — 4 -1 — (0 03

(0 c (0

CL E 03

Ü o d ö •H *H

00 cn |

er

(0

(0 (0 CD. CD.

ro to to — CD. CD. CD. W

•

00 3 cß x

3

X 3 O Q03 —

Cß Csl

• d

GO 33 i—|

o

in o) a

d

I

d GO o co c

CO CO

C/3

03 03

03

03

W

X X X X

H

H H

o 2 N

CO J

H

H K)

355

356

Uradhi TABLE 3.8 - Uradhi pronominal oblique case markers

accusative genitive general oblique/dative sg non-sg benefactive ablative

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

-na -mu

-na -mu

-na -mu

-na

-na -n$u -pi; u -tpun

-na -p u

-pu -ntyu -nmu n

-p^u -pun

When the comitative or privative suffixes described in 3.2.2 are added to pronouns, the root form that is used is the one presented in Table 3.7. The traditional analysis of pronoun systems into cate­ gories of person (first, second and third), number (singu­ lar, dual and plural) and inclusive vs. exclusive, does not seem to produce the most economical statement of the pronom­ inal system for this language. The traditional setting-out for the pronominal system would be: 1

sg -

2

-

3

-

du inc exc

pi -

A more elegant analysis of such an apparently unbalanced system (e.g. the use of the dual/plural and inclusive/excl­ usive oppositions each distinguishing only a single pair of forms) can be obtained by using only three variables instead of the eight separate labels given above. The new labels would simply be:



Thus:



minimal

augumented

lsg 1du .inc 2sg 3sg

lnon-sg.exc lpl.inc 2non-sg 3non-sg

The only possible argument against applying this kind of analysis to Uradhi is that the 'dual' form patterns morphologically with the 'plural' rather than the 'singular' forms in its choice of general oblique/dative suffix, as shown in Tables 3.4 - 3.6 above. (It should be noted that there is also a set of reflex­ ive particles derived from pronouns by adding -ma to the pronominal root and reduplicating the resultant form. The form of these, and their syntactic behaviour, is discussed in detail in 4.3.1.)

3. 3 Pronouns and demonstratives

357

TABLE 3.9 - Demonstrative paradigms

absolutive ergative/instrumental dative/benefactive accusative general oblique ablative genitive

proximate

distant

u ra uraqku urayu ura(na) uraqu ur amun ur anamu

a 1u a 1uq ku a 1uy u a 1u ( na ) a 1uqu a 1umun a 1umu

3.3.2 DEMONSTRATIVES. There are two demonstratives in Uradhi, and they have the same forms in all three dialects under study. They are: ura alu

'proximate (this)' 'distant (that)'

The paradigms also appear to be the same for all dialects, and are set out in Table 3.9. The ergative/instrumental forms indicate that the demonstratives behave like Declen­ sion I nouns in that they take the -qku suffix (3.2.1). The accusative optionally takes -na when these demonstratives have human reference or refer to a larger animal, bird or fish (as noted for nouns in 3.2.1). The other case suffixes are: dative/benefactive general oblique ablative genitive

-yu

-qu -mun -namu/-mu

The distant demonstrative genitive form a Iumu is irregular in that it does not follow the pattern for nominal case infl­ ection; the usual genitive suffix is - namu (3.2.2). Other­ wise, these case inflections are the same as the correspond­ ing canonical forms for nominal case inflections. 3.3.3 INTERROGATIVES. ed for Uradhi are: a:ni a:r i a n t a : na antaSiqa ant ua : ni ma

The basic interrogative forms attest­

'what', asking about things and animals 'who', asking about people 'how many', asking about number (attested in the Atamapaya dialect only) 'when', asking about time (attested in the Atampaya dialect only) 'where', asking about place 'what's the matter'

Of these, a : n i m a 'what's the matter' and a n t a g i q a 'when' do not take any case inflections. The interrogative of place must always occur with a case inflection expressing one of the local cases, i.e. dative, general oblique or ablative. The paradigms for this interrogative in the three Uradhi dialects are set out in Table 3.10. The remaining interrogative forms take the full range of noun case suffixes, with some degree of morphological

358

Uradhi

TABLE 3.10 - I n t e r r o g a t i v e s

dative g e ne r a l o bl i qu e ablative

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

ant uy u antuQU antumun

antuyu ant uqu antumun

an tunt u antuqun antumun

TABLE 3 .11 - P a r a d i g m f o r

absolutive ergative dative ablative ge ne r al o bl i que genitive

a :ni

’

what

r

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

a : ni a : n i 1u a : n iyu a : n imun a : n i qu a : n i : namu

a : ni a : n i 1u a : n i yu a : nimun a : n i qu a : nin(a)mu

a :ni a : n i q ku a : n iyu a : nimum a : niqun a : ninamu

TABLE 3 .12 - P a r a d i g m f o r

S-function 0-function A- f un ct i on dative ablative g en e ra l o bl i qu e genitive

o f place

a : ri

’who ’

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

a:r i ant uö i na a : ri5u ant uö iyu ant u ö imun ant uö i q u a : rimu

a:r i a : r in a a : r i öu a : r iyu a : rimun a : r i qu a : rimu

a:r i a : r i na a : ri 3u a : r i yu a : rimun a : r iqun a : r imu

TABLE 3.13 - P a r a d i g m f o r

a nt a : na 'how many '' i n Atampaya d i a l e c t Atampaya

absolutive ergative dative ablative g e ne r a l o bl i que genitive

anta : na anta : na nt u antai: nayu anta : namu n anta : naqu anta : n a : namu

Note t h a t the paradigm f o r t h i s i n t e r r o g a t i v e form i n t he o t h e r two d i a l e c t s i s not known

irregularity.

The interrogative paradigms for a : ni 'what', 'how many', are shown in Tables 3.11-

a :ri 'who' and a n t a : n a

3.13. Morphological irregularities in the interrogative para­ digms are: (i) the Atampaya and Angkamuthi ergative suffix for a:ni 'what' is -lu rather than one of the regular allomorphs mentioned in 3.2.1.

3.3 Pronouns and demonstratives

359

(ii) the ergative suffix on a:ri 'who' is -5u in all dia­ lects, which is a form of the ergative not found on any noun. (iii) 'who' in Atampaya has suppletive roots a:ri— and antuSi-; regular case suffixes are still evident. It should also be noted that the interrogatives a : n i and a : r i also carry indefinite functions, e.g. a : n i can mean 'something' as well as 'what'. 3.4

VERB MORPHOLOGY

3.4.1 TRANSITIVITY. All verbs in Uradhi are either trans­ itive or intransitive. There are, however, derivational means for changing transitivity (see 3.4.4). There is one case in the Atampaya dialect of a verb that has slightly differing (but still clearly related) roots to express transitivity contrast: 'hide(TR)' 'hide(INTR)'

UQaßa

UQ aßi

The Atampaya dialect is the dialect for which the wideest body of data has been assembled. Of a total lexical corpus of roughly 600 items, about 115 items are verbs. The breakdown of the verbal corpus for transitivity value is: transitive intransitive ditransitive

63% 32% 5%

The figures for the other two dialects are roughly compar­ able, though the size of the corpus in both cases is some­ what smaller. 3.4.2 CONJUGATIONS. In each of the Uradhi dialects, every verb is assigned membership in one of four basic conjuga­ tions. There are only four verbs in the language that do not fit into these groups, and these can be considered irregular. (The paradigms for the irregular verbs are pre­ sented later in this section.) Tables 3.14 - 3.16 present the inflectional suffixes for all regular verbs in the three dialects according to conjugation membership. In Tables 3.14 - 3.16, some alternative forms will be noted in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects. The choice of allomorph depends on the number of syllables in the verb stem. Thus* we find the following alternations in the Angkamuthi dialect: IMP(II) FUT(IV) IMP(IV)

disyllabic verb stem -r i -Qka

-YU

trisyllabic or longer stem -t i -ka -ku

The following alternations occur in the Yadhaykenu dialect: disyllabic verb stem FUT(11/IV) FUT(III) IMP(II) IMP(III)

trisyllabic or longer stem

-Q ka - p a p ka

- ka - p a ka

-r i -yi

-t i -t i

360 Uradhi TABLE 3.14 - Atampaya verb conjugations

PAST PRES FUT IMP

la

lb

II

III

IV

-ya 1 -ma -ma q ka

-ka 1 -ma -map ka -t i

-n -a 1 —awa -ri

-P

-n

—pa -pap ka -y i

- p ka -yu

-Si

-0

TABLE 3.15 - Angkamuthi verb conjugations

PAST PRES FUT IMP

la

lb

II

III

-ya: -ma -map ka

- ka : -ma -mapka -t i

-n

-P

-n

-0

-pa - p a p ka -yi

-0

-Si

- pka

IV

-(p)ka -yu/-ku

TABLE 3.16 - Yadhayk enu verb conjugations

PAST PRES FUT IMP

la

lb

Ic

II

III

-yal -ma -map ka

- ka 1 -ma -mapka -t i

-na -1 a 1 - n a p ka

-n -a 1 -(p)ka —r i / —t i

-P

-n

- pa - p a ( p ) ka -y i/-t i

-0

-Si

-Si

-yu

IMP (IV)

IV

-(p)ka -yu/-ku

-ku

It should be noted that there are also two derivational suffixes which vary according to the conjugation class of the verb: these are the nominalising suffix - n u / - p u (4.2) and the reciprocal suffix (3.4.4; 4.3.2). The nominalising suffix is - pu on verbs belonging to conjugation III, while with all other verbs it has the form - n u . Incidentally, in the case of irregular verbs and verbs belonging to conjuga­ tion I this derivational suffix is added to the imperative form of the verb rather than to the root form as with verbs in conjugations II, III and IV. The reciprocal suffix has the following conjugationally determined forms (in the Atampaya dialect only): -:nißa -yßa

on verbs in conjugations I, II and IV on verbs in conjugation III

It should also be noted that when sequences of two vowels are created over a morpheme boundary by the addition of a vowel-initial suffix (noting below that all verb stems end in vowels), these vowel sequences are dealt with by the normal phonological rules presented in 2.4.1. Thus (from the Atampaya dialect): anta-al a ti-a l upye-al

-> a n t a l -* a t y a l upyal

'leave-PRES' 'cover-PRES' ’eat-PRES'

Some examples of verb conjugations from each of the

3.4

Verb morphology

th r e e d i a l e c t s a r e p r e s e n te d below. The f i r s t e x a m p l e s comes from t h e Atam paya d i a l e c t .

set

of

p a st

pres.

fu t.

imp.

la

waya 1

wama

wam ap ka

waö i

'b u rn ,

lb

u ka 1

uma

u m a p ka

ut i

II III IV

'give'

P ima n

p ima 1

pimawa

P im ari

't w i r l '

1a p u p

1a p u p a

1a p u p a p k a

1a p u y i

'b lo w '

pupkan

pupka

p u p k a p ka

pupkayu

The f o l l o w i n g e x a m p l e s Angkamuthi d i a l e c t :

illu strate

verbal

p a st

pres.

fu t.

imp.

wa y a :

wama

w a m a p ka

waö i

'b u rn ,

lb

uka

:

uma

u m a p ka

II II III IV IV

apan

apa

a p a p ka

ut i apar i

'give' 'dig'

u 1ß a r a p a n

u 1ß a r a p a

u 1ß a r a p a p k a

u 1ß a r a p a t i

'p u li'

w a t up

wat upa

w a t u p a p ka

wat uyi

'row '

wuöa

w u ö a p ka

wuöayu

'craw l'

anpap i

a n p a p i ka

a n p a p i ku

'c lim b

wuöa n

F in ally ,

in

examples

from t h e Y a d h ay k en u d i a l e c t

past

pres.

fu t.

imp.

la

waya 1

wama

w a m a p ka

waö i

lb Ic II II Til III IV

u ka 1

uma

u m a p ka

ut

ma n a

m a 1a 1

m a n a p ka

maö

ayan

aya 1

a y a p ka

ayar i

muypapan umpwap

m uypapa1

m u y p a p a ka

umpwapa

u m p w a p a p ka

m uypapati umpwayi

IV

cook'

u p '

are: 'burn,

i

uyurup

uyurupa

u y u r u p a ka

wuöa

w u ö a p ka

uyuruti wuöayu

i p i p i ka

i p i p i ku

ip ip i

in th e

cook'

'give'

i

wuöa n i p ip i n

cook'

'c ry '

in flectio n

la

anpap

361

'p ic k up' 'kick' 'rub ' 'b reak ' 'rub ' 'craw l' ' swim'

We w i l l now go on t o d i s c u s s t h e m e m b e r s h i p a n d t r a n s i t i v i t y of th e se four c o n ju g a tio n s in the th re e d i a l e c t s . ( i ) C o n ju g a tio n I . T h i s i s a v e r y s m a l l c o n j u g a t i o n , com­ p r i s i n g o n l y a v e r y s m a l l number o f m o n o s y l l a b i c t r a n s i t i v e verbs. ( I t s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t t h e s e a r e t h e o n l y m on o­ s y l l a b i c v erbs in th e lan g u ag e .) C onjugation la com prises: Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

wa Ca

wa ?

wa ya

' b u r n , cook' 'throw '

C o n j u g a t i o n l b c o m p r i s e s o n l y t h e v e r b u ’g i v e ’ , w h ic h o ccu rs in a l l th r e e d i a l e c t s . C onju g atio n Ic i s a t t e s t e d o n ly i n t h e Yadhaykenu d i a l e c t , and th e n o n ly w i t h t h e v e rb ma ' p i c k u p ' . (T his verb i s t r e a t e d as c o n ju g a tio n I b e c a u s e o f t h e s i m i l a r i t y in i t s i m p e r a t i v e form. O therw ise, i t s b e h a v i o u r i s somewhat a b e r r a n t . ) ( i i ) C o n ju g a tio n I I . T h i s seem s t o b e an o p e n - e n d e d c o n j u ­ gation. I t is predom inantly t r a n s i t i v e in a l l th r e e d i a ­ l e c t s , a s t h e f o l l o w i n g f i g u r e s s h o w: Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

tra n s itiv e 84% 86% 85%

in tra n sitiv e 14% 3% 12%

di tra n sitiv e 2% 11% 3%

( a t t e s t e d membership) (49) (37) (40)

362

Uradhi

Verbs belonging to this conjugation most frequently end in -a, with some ending in -i and -e. There are no -u-final verbs in this conjugation: 0 82% 81% 73%

Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

-1 16% 19% 27%

-e 2% 0% 0%

-u 0% 0% 0%

(iii) Conjugation I I I . This conjugation is much smaller than conjugation I I . It too is a predominantly transitive conjugation: Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

transitive 84% 75% 90%

intransitive 5% 25% 10%

ditransitive 11% 0% 0%

(attested membership) (19) (4) (10)

Whereas conjugation II contains no verbs with final - u , the verbs in this conjugation predominantly end in -u. In fact, all -u-final verbs in the language fall into this class. There are, however, some -e and ”0 — final verbs in this con jugation (but none with final -i ) • Thus : -a 47% 25% 50%

Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

-i 0% 0% 0%

-e 16% 0% 0%

-u 37% 75% 50%

(iv) Conjugation IV . Of the four conj ugations, this is the only one that is predominantly intransitive. The following figures show the transitivity breakdown for this class of verbs in all three dialects: Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

transitive 0% 19% 0%

intransitive 100% 76% 100%

ditransitive 0% 5% 0%

(attested membership) (17) (21) (17)

This conjugation further contrasts with conjugations II and III in that it contains a much higher proportion of verbs with final -i; thus: -a 47% 76% 53%

Atampaya Angkamuthi Yadhaykenu

-i 53% 24% 47%

-e 0% 0% 0%

-u 0% 0% 0%

(Note that full conjugational details are not known for all attested verbs. Of the 115 verbs attested in the Atampaya dialect (see 3.4.1) the full conjugational details have been established for only 80.) The three dialects studied all share the same basic set of irregular verbs, these being: ana ina apa una

go, come 'sit, stay' 'stand ' 'lie down, sleep

The inflectional paradigms are also almost identical for all the three dialects, thus:

3.4 past

pres.

fut.

imp.

a nan i nan apa n unan

ana ip1,a ap^a upija

a nap ka iptapka a p t a p ka upxap ka

a nt i i nayu a nayu u nay u

Verb morphology 363

' g o , come' ' s i t , stay' ' stand' ' l i e down, s l e e p

The only inflectional differences are that the Atampaya dia­ lect has the following present and future forms different from the other dialects for the verbs i na 'sit, stay' , apa 'stand' and una 'sleep, lie down': pres.

fut.

i ntya antya u nt y a

intyapka antyapka untyapka

'sit, stay' 'stand' 'lie down, sleep'

(It should be noted that in all dialects the irregular verb ana 'go, come' has the alternative regular form anma, which is a conjugation IV verb.) 3.4.3 INFLECTIONAL CATEGORIES. The Uradhi dialects have a three-way tense system, as indicated in the paradigms pre­ sented in the preceding section. It should be noted however, that the Uradhi dialect proper of the same language, des­ cribed by Hale (1.2) evidently has only a two-way tense contrast between past and non-past, the future forms being lost. The tense suffixes generally correspond to the standard definitions attached to the terms: present, past and future. The past tense refers to events that became real some­ time prior to the time of utterance, whether continuously or non-continuously, e.g. (75)

upkip-upku

ayi-apun

upye-n

(AN)

flying fox-ERG food-head('fruit')-ABS eat-PAST The flying fox ate/was eating the fruit (76)

mupa yupka-n (Y) c h i l d - A B S cry- PAST

The child cried/was crying

The present tense indicates either that the activity is taking place at the time of utterance, or is a general existential, e.g. (77)

mupa

aplja (AT) child-ABS stand-PRES The child is standing up

(78)

ula

utaya

awu-pa

(AT)

3non-sg-N0M dog-ABS bark-PRES The dogs are barking/Dogs bark

It should be noted that in narratives, however, the present tense markers are often used to express the past or the immediate future. Refer to text II, line 10 for an example of this. The future tense inflections are used to indicate that an event is not real at the time of utterance, but will at some time subsequent to the time of utterance become real, e.g.

364 JJradhi (79)

u I ußa a m a - :l u anißa aru-papka 3sg-N0M man-ERG lsg-ACC hit-FUT The man will hit me

(AT)

The imperative suffix is used to indicate both positive and negative imperative. The prohibitive particle is used be­ fore the imperative form of the verb in all three dialects to express prohibition, and has the form uwunu, e.g. (80)

ura-QU i na-yu (AT) here-OBL sit-IMP Sit here!

(81)

uwunu u r a - p u i n a - y u (AT) don't here-OBL sit-IMP Don't sit here!

There is a final inflectional suffix of the form -ra, which appears to be invariable for conjugation. It is attested only in the Atampaya dialect, and is of very in­ frequent occurrence in the corpus. It means to do something habitually, with no tense reference, e.g. (82)

ayußa wata-ra ipi-pu (AT) lsg-NOM bite-HABIT water-OBL I bite in the water (said by a crocodile)

3.4.4 VERBAL DERIVATION. Verbal derivation categories in Uradhi can be expressed in one of three ways: reduplication; post-stem derivational suffixation; and post-inflectional suffixation. Each of the three dialects employs these three processes to slightly differing degrees. [a] Reduplication. This process is employed to a great extent only in the Angkamuthi dialect; in the Atampaya and Yadhaykenu dialects it appears to be only a peripheral pro­ cess . The reduplication that is attested in the Angkamuthi dialect is only partial reduplication. The rule states that we must repeat the first post-vocalic sequence of -C(C)V- or -C(C)glide-. If there is a glide it becomes a vowel in the Thus : tongue position (e.g. y becomes i ) wi 1i aoa ipip i wampa i kya uplja upya

w i 1i 1i apapa ip i p i p i wampampa i kikya up^ap^a upipya

'r u n ' 'dig' 'swim' 'float' 'speak' 'sleep, lie down 'eat'

The semantic effect of reduplication is to introduce the idea of continuity or haphazardness in an action. Thus: ( 83)

u I aßa wi I i I i (AN) 3non-sg-N0M run-REDUP-PRES They are running all over the place

(See also text III, line 23). [b] Derivational suffixes. Uradhi has the following'suffixes which are used to derive verbs from other verbs or other parts of speech. Note that these suffixes change the con-

3. 4 Verb morpho logy

365

TABLE 3.17 -Uradhi verb -deriving suffixes

Reflexive Reciprocal/ distributive Excessive Nominal inchoative Adj ectival inchoative Verbal/adj ectival causative Nominal causative

Atampaya

Angkamuthi

Yadhaykenu

Conj ugation

-: ni - : n i ßa/-yßa

- : nt i -ypa/-:(t)pa

- : nt i - y p a / - : (t)pa

IV IV

- : ta -upunma

-:ta -upu nma

- : ta -upunma

IV II

-ma

-ma

-ma

IV

-(na)pa

- ( na)pa

- ( na)pa

II

-upupa

-upunpa

-upunpa

II

jugation membership of the verb to which they are attached, as indicated in Table 3.17. The two allomorphs of the reciprocal/distributive suffix that can be noted above for the Atampaya dialect are determined by conjugation membership, as mentioned in 3.4.2. Thus: — :n ißa -yßa

on verbs in conjugations I, II and IV on verbs in conjugation III

In the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects, the two allo­ morphs are phonologically conditioned, i.e. -ypa -:(t)pa

on verbs with final -a or -u on verbs with final -i

(For other discussion of the forms of this suffix, see 2.4.3 and 2.4.4.) The remaining suffixes have only single allomorphs (ex­ cept that the causative - n a p a occasionally appears to freely alternate with - p a ) . A number of these suffixes do, however, cause certain changes in the root to take place. All -efinal verb roots in the Atampaya and Yadhaykenu dialects, for instance, change the -e to - a when the following suffix is one that lengthens the final vowel of the root. Thus (in the Atampaya dialect): ute

'cut'

uta-:ni u t a - : n ißa

'cut-REFL' 'cut-RECIP'

The verb a ru 'hit' is irregular as its root becomes a r i in the same set of environments. Thus (in the Atampaya dialect): aru

'h it'

a ri-:n i a r i - : n ißa

'hit-REFL' 'hit-RECIP'

Most of these suffixes are generally found on verbs whose roots are vowel-final; the regular phonological pro­ cesses affecting final vowels operate over morpheme bound­ aries when these derivational suffixes are added (2.4.1). Some of these suffixes are, however, also found on nouns and adjectives, which may have final consonants, and when the suffix itself has an initial consonant (as is the case with

366

Uradhi

and - ( n a ) o a then the preceding consonant is generally lost. The behaviour of the suffix -ma is well attested. After the deletion of the stem-final consonant, we find that the suffix has a number of allomorphs, as indicated below. In the Atampaya dialect, final consonants are deleted and the following suffixes are added: -ma

original stem-final segment

-ma

form

-V

-ma

-n -n

-nma

-P

-yma ?

For example: -ma form wuypuma paljuyma i t a nma

stem wuypu

CaiuP ita n

'bad' 'dry' ' sharp'

In the Angkamuthi dialect, -p is changed to -y before the addition of -ma . Elsewhere the suffix is simply added to the stem form. In the Yadhaykenu dialect, the changes are the same except that with -I-final forms, the -1 is lost and the preceding vowel is lengthened with the addi­ tion of -ma. The -(na)Qa suffix evidently causes the preceding con­ sonant also to be lost, but the full details of its allomorphy are not known, e.g. stem ita n

-n a p a form ita n a p a

's h a rp '

Host of these suffixes have syntactic functions, i.e. they change either word class membership or verb transiti­ vity, and so they are discussed in more detail and with examples in 4.2 and 4.3. However, there are two non-syn­ tactic suffixes in the above set: the 'distributive' suffix and the 'excessive' suffix. These are discussed below. The distributive suffix coincides in form with the reciprocal suffix. (It should be noted however, that the reciprocal suffix in the Atampaya dialect does not appear to have this dual function as a distributive marker, and expresses only the reciprocal meaning.) When used with a transitive verb, this suffix expresses the reciprocal; when used with an intransitive verb however, it expresses the idea that an action takes place in a random fashion over a large area or over a long period of time. Thus: yuQ ka i kya wampa wi l l

'cry' 'speak' 'float' 'run'

yuQ ka -yp a ik y a - y p a wampa-ypa wi 1 i - : ( t ) p a

'cry a lot/all the time 'chatter' 'swell up' 'run about all over the place'

(However, the reciprocal meaning that is expressed when this suffix is added to a transitive verb is clearly related in meaning to the distributive meaning just described.) There is also an excessive suffix which has a purely lexical function. This suffix indicates that an action is

3.4

Verb morphology 367

done to a great extent. The suffix is not very well attes­ ted, though one example can be given: wata

'bite'

wata-:ta

'bite a lot'

[c] Post-inflectional suffixation. The Uradhi dialects all have a suffix with the allomorphs -lu— a :Iu— e:lu, which appears as a post-inflectional verbal suffix. The realisa­ tion rules for this suffix are the same in all three dia­ lects. The distribution of the three allomorphs is as follows: ( i ) -lu is found after an imperative suffix to regular verbs belonging to conjugations II, III and IV, e.g. ikya-yu-lu alya-ri-lu

'speak-IMP-HERE' 'fall-IMP-HERE'

(ii) —e:Iu is found on the imperative form of irregular verbs and verbs belonging to conjugation I, e.g. u-ti-e:Iu

'give-IMP-HERE'

(iii) -a:lu is found-after all other inflectional suffixes. Suffixes ending in -p and -I first delete the final conson­ ant before adding -a:lu, e.g. a Iy a - n - a :Iu a n t a ß a - p - a :Iu -> a n t a ß a r l u a T y a - a I - a : Iu + a 7 y a : l u

'fall-PAST-HERE' 'take-PAST-HERE' ' f all-PRES-HERE'

(Note that vowel sequences created by these morpheme sequen­ ces obey the phonological rules presented in 2.4.1.) The suffix which has these allomorphs indicates that the action expressed in the verb takes place in the direct­ ion of the speaker. It therefore only appears on verbs which express motion or transfer, or which involve direction. It should be noted that there are some verb roots in the language which are unspecified for direction, with direction being expressed only by this suffix, e.g. ana antaßa

'go, come' 'take, bring'

See text I, line 6 and text II, line 13 for examples of this suffix.

A.

SYNTAX

From chapters 2 and 3, it can be seen that although there are some differences between the various Uradhi dia­ lects, these are, for the most part, fairly minor. The phonological differences are not great, and in 2.5 it is shown (in outline) that these are the result of comparative­ ly late changes on proto-Paman. In morphology, although there are quite a few differences in the actual forms used to express particular categories, the categories themselves are almost identical for all three dialects. In any case the morphological forms, when they do differ, are generally clearly derived from a single original form by the normal phonological changes of that particular dialect. In syntax,

368

Uradhi

there appears to be no evidence at all of any significant variation among the three Uradhi dialects. 4.1

CONSTITUENTS AND CONSTITUENT ORDER

4.1.1 THE SIMPLE SENTENCE. The basic structure of a non­ complex declarative sentence in the Uradhi language is: NP

V

S

INTR

or: npa

A

NP„ 0

V TR

That is, if the verb is intransitive, it is preceded by a zero-marked noun phrase which expresses the S-function (3.2.1), e.g. (84)

yuku wampa (AT) stick-ABS float-PRES The stick is floating

(85)

apan api:ma (AN) grass-ABS grow-PRES The grass is growing

If the verb is transitive, it is preceded by a noun phrase marked with the A-function suffix (3.2.1), and between this noun phrase and the verb is a noun phrase marked with the O-function suffix, either -0 or na (3.2.1), e.g. (86)

utaya-mpu u5umpup iyanapa-n (AT) dog-ERG back-ABS break-PAST The dog broke [the other one's] back

(87)

ayußainaßa akyi-n (AT) lsg-NOM 2sg-ACC see-PAST I saw you

Thus, the Uradhi language is basically the S-V, A-O-V type. As can perhaps be imagined in a language that obliga­ torily and unambiguously marks syntactic noun phrases by morphological means within the noun phrase, there is a cer­ tain amount of freedom of constituent order, though there is certainly none of the freedom of word order that is found in languages to the south, e.g. Dyirbal (Dixon 1972) and Bandjalang (Crowley 1978). The orders presented above are clearly the most frequently attested, and speakers, when repeating a sentence they have produced in a different order, will generally switch to this standard S-V, A-O-V pattern. In the following paragraphs, the various types of deviations from this basic pattern are discussed. (i) Deletion of constituents. One of the normally obliga­ tory noun phrases can be deleted in a sentence if the lin­ guistic or non-linguistic context enables the hearer to in­ fer the identity of the deleted noun phrase. The following example illustrates deletion of the subject of an intransi­ tive verb in two consecutive sentences of text:

4.1 (88a)

uta :lu -m pu

Constituents and constituent order

wakya-a:lu

uquitiu

umupu

369

(AT)

eaglehawk-ERG send-PRES-HERE 3sg-GEN-ABS son-ABS The eaglehawk is sending his son here (88b)

uyaou a n m a - n - a : l u (AT) back go-PAST-HERE [His son] came back here again

The second sentence means that it was the son of the eaglehawk who came back, though the noun phrase upumu umupu 'his son' does not appear in (88b). Such sentences are common in textual data. In transitive sentences, either of the obligatory noun phrases (but apparently not both) can be deleted under the following conditions: (a) if we can make an inference as to the identity of the NP from the situational or linguistic context, e.g. (in consecutive sentences from a text): (89a)

ulu

ak u r p u

i pan-wuypu-5 i

3sg-N0M red kangaroo-ABS eye-bad-C0M2-ABS The red kangaroo was blind (89b)

ulu

ana-n

ayparumpi wa

3sg-N0M go-PAST sparrowhawk-ABS The sparrowhawk went along (89c).,,

akurpu umpi-n (AT) red kangaroo-ABS kill-PAST [The sparrowhawk] killed the red kangaroo

(b) if we wish to leave the deleted noun phrase unstated, as some kind of unspecified noun phrase, e.g. (90)

mupa

lanpi-al (AT) child-ABS flog-PRES The child is being flogged [by someone]

(ii) Order switching. Apart from deletions such as those just mentioned, the corpus does include sentences which de­ viate from the pattern described above in that while all constituents are present, the order followed is not A-O-V. So, sentences such as: (91)

ama-:lu mup^e-p utaya (AT) man-ERG kick-PAST dog-ABS The man kicked the dog

have been recorded. These should be regarded as stylistic variants about which the present writer is in a position to say little. Order changes appear to be a feature of narra­ tive discourse when a speaker 'recaps' the participants in the previous clause (e.g. text I, lines 2, 3). Textual examples of this description actually include a wide range of possible orders, e.g. 0-A-V (Text 1:17); O-A-V (11:57); A-V-0 (11:41); and V-S (111:32). The preferred word order would appear to be the S-V, A-O-V order, as evidenced by its overall frequency of occurrence, especially in 'de-contextualised' speech (i.e. elicitation) . (iii) Dislocation. One of the techniques of stylistic variation commonly found in texts is to refer pronominally to the participants of an event before the verb, using the

370

Uradhi

preferred order (i.e. with the subject preceding the object), and then after the verb to introduce one of the third person participants specifically, separated from the first part of the sentence by an intonation break indicated below by a comma. This 'dislocated' afterthought construction is ill­ ustrated by the following: (92)

ulu ipuka-wa ,ama (AT) 3sg-N0M drown-FUT man-ABS The man will drown

(93)

ulußa anißa wata-n , utaya-mpu 3sg-N0M lsg-ACC bite-PAST dog-ERG The dog bit me

(AT)

Simple sentences can contain, in addition to the obli­ gatory noun phrase constituents mentioned above, one (or more) complement noun phrases in any other case marking, as described in 3.2. It is difficult to generalise about the position in a sentence of a nominal complement since there appears to be a great deal of variation. Perhaps, in view of this fact, we should not assign any basic position for nominal complements, and should allow complements to appear at a variety of positions in the sentence, subject only to the general constraint that some other complex con­ stituent not be interrupted. The following examples illus­ trate the occurrence of complements in sentence-final, medial and initial position: (94)

ama uyapu anma-n-a:lu yantu-mun man-ABS back go-PAST-HERE canoe-ABL The man came back by canoe

(95)

ulußa UQumu-Qu pana-QU intya (AT) 3sg-N0M 3sg-GEN-0BL friend-OBL stay-PRES He is staying with his friend

(96)

awulji-QU wutpu-:namu-Qu ulußa intya (AT) house-OBL old man-GEN-OBL 3sg-N0M stay-PRES He lives in the old man's house

(AT)

It should be noted that this kind of freedom of placement is one of the features by which the instrumental case can be distinguished formally from the ergative case (as mentioned in 3.2.1). So, compare (30) with: (97)

ulu uta-:ni-n aru-ntu (AT) 3sg-N0M cut-REFL-PAST axe-INST He cut himself with an axe

(98)

aru-ntu ulu uta-:ni-n (AT) axe-INST 3sg-N0M cut-REFL-PAST He cut himself with an axe

The sentences that have been described have all been verbal sentences, i.e. sentences in which there is an obli­ gatory verbal constituent. Uradhi also has, as a basic simple sentence type, a non-verbal sentence in which there is a noun phrase with marking for S-function, and a follow­ ing unmarked adjective. Thus: ADJ

4.1

Constituents and constituent order

371

This type of construction is illustrated by the following: (99)

mupa ayarima child-ABS sick-ABS The child is sick

(100)

ampinamp i CUYU5i hair-ABS long-ABS [My] hair is long

Sentences of this type normally consist of a noun phrase with a following adjective. It is also possible, however, to have a sentence consisting solely of a noun phrase with an existential meaning, e.g. (101)

ikampara (AT) crocodile-ABS There are crocodiles

(See text I, line 1 where this example occurs in context.) 4.1.2 NOUN PHRASE CONSTITUENCY. The noun phrase constitu­ ent can have any of the following structures: A.

IST/2ND PRONOUN (+ DEMONSTRATIVE)

B* ( 3rd °pronoun VE } (+ GENITIVE Np) (+ N0UN) (+

adjective )

Thus we can have a pronoun, usually by itself, but the first person pronouns, and sometimes the second person forms, can be followed by a demonstrative. The only appropriate demonstrative will of course be the proximate demonstrative ura (3.3.2). The third person pronouns ulu(ßa) '3sg' and ula(ßa) ’3non-sg' have never been attested with a following demonstrative. (The logical choice of demonstrative in this case would be the distant form alu.) A noun phrase can also have a nominal head rather than a pronominal head. In this case there is an optional deter­ miner slot that can be filled by either of the demonstra­ tives just mentioned, or one of the third person pronouns, acting as number markers. Thus: u Iußa ama 3sg-N0M person ulaßa ama 3non-sg person

'person'

'people'

A genitive noun phrase (3.2.2) can also precede the head. Following the head, we can have an adjective. Note that nouns carrying the comitative and privative suffixes (3.2.2) behave in the same way as adjectives. The genitive behaves quite differently from the comitative, privative and other adjectival forms in terms of its placement within the noun phrase and this is perhaps an argument against treating the genitive construction as an adjectival construction, though syntactically in all other respects the genitive seems to differ little from the comitative and the privative. Case marking in the noun phrase is applied obligatorily to the head constituent and it optionally applies concordially to the bracketed constituents. Thus:

372 (102)

Uradhi utaya- mpu amapma(-mpu)

uSumpup

iyanapa-n

(AT)

dog-ERG big(-ERG) back-ABS break-PAST The big dog broke [the other dog's] back

4.2

WORD-LEVEL DERIVATIONS

In this section derivations which change the syntactic class of a lexical item are presented (see also 3.4.4). The following suffixes are productively employed in Uradhi: (i) - n u / - p u . All of the Uradhi dialects add a suffix which has the allomorphs - n u or pu to derive a noun from a verb. On verbs which belong to conjugation III, the form is - p u ; elsewhere it is - nu (3.4.2). It should be noted that in the case of irregular verbs and verbs belonging to conjugation I the suffix - n u is added not to the verb stem but to the imp­ erative form of the verb. The noun that is derived in this way refers to either the name of the action itself or to the performer of the action, e.g. ut i waö i ant i i pu ka am i aru

'giver, giving' 'cook, cooking' 'one who goes, going 'drowning' 'listener, listening 'hitter, hitting'

ut i nu wa5i nu a n t i nu i pu kanu am i nu ar u p u

give-IMP cook-IMP go-IMP drown listen hit

Such derivec nouns are occasionally found in sentences in their absolutive form, e.g. (103)

unma - n u

u 1ußa

papan

(AT)

swim-NMLSR-ABS 3sg-N0M strong She is a strong swimmer (104)

uQumu

i ka nma

wanti-nu

(AT)

3sg-GEN-N0M cook-NOMLSR-ABS good-ADJ-PRES His cooking is good (105)

ayu

unußa

akyi-n

i p ip i -nu

(at)

lsg- N0M 3sg-ACC see-PAST swim-NMLSR-ABS I could see him swimming

Such nominalised forms in the absolutive, however, are com­ paratively rare. It is more usual to find nominalised verbs in the non-zero cases. Only the ablative, dative and geni­ tive are attested (and quite possibly this exhausts the list of non-zero cases that can follow - p u / - n u ) . When the ablative follows the nominaliser, there is clearly no ablative meaning in a local sense, but there does seem to be a related meaning, e.g. (106)

ant u ßa

i k y a -n u - m u n

apama-ri

(AT)

2sg-N0M speak-NOMLSR-ABL be silent-IMP Stop talking! (107)

u I ußa

i n a - n u - mu n

apa-n

(AT)

3sg-N0M sit-NOMLSR-ABL stand-PAST He stood up after having been sitting

There is clearly a change from one state or action to ano-

4.2 Word-level derivations

373

ther, i.e. silence from speaking; standing from sitting. When the genitive suffix (3.2.2) is used with a nominalised verb, the meaning is that the verb 'pertains to' the noun phrase. This means that the noun phrase in the sen­ tence is used for the purpose of the action expressed by the verb, e .g . (1 0 8 )

u ra

yuku

a p a - n u - : namu

(AT)

this-ABS stick-ABS dig-NOMLSR-GEN-ABS This stick is for digging (1 0 9 )

u ra

ip i

U Q y e -n u -: namu

(AT)

this-ABS water-ABS drink-NOMLSR-GEN-ABS This water is for drinking

The nominalised verb very frequently occurs in the dat­ ive in a complex sentence construction. This expresses a purposive relationship between two clauses. (See 4.5 for more detailed discussion of this construction.) (ii) -m a /-u p u n m a. There is a suffix which appears in its 'long' form as -upunma, and as -ma in its 'short' form in all three of the Uradhi dialects under study. These suffixes can be added to either a noun or an adjective to derive an intransitive verb, e.g. unma Capan wut pu 1u kup

ca5un

unma-upunma papan-upunma wut pu-ma 1u kuy-ma pa^uy-ma

'black' 'strong' 'old man' 'blood' 'dry '

'become black' (AT/AN/Y) 'become strong'' (AT) 'be old' (AT/AN/Y) 'be red' (Y) 'be dry' (AT)

The data suggests that the long form may be more clearly an inchoative verbaliser, while -ma may simply derive an adj­ ective from a noun. However, the corpus contains numerous examples of adjectives carrying this long form which do not have an obvious inchoative meaning. The precise difference between the two verbalising suffixes will have to remain unstated. (iii) -u p u n p a (AT) /-u p u Q a (AN/Y) . This suffix (which again causes the regular morpheme-final phonological rules to apply) is added to an adjective to derive a transitive verb with a causative meaning. Incidentally upu p a /u p u n p a also exists as a verbal root with the meaning 'do, make, build', e.g. (1 1 0 )

uwunu u p u n p a - r i

(AT)

don't do-IMP Don't do it.'

The following items illustrate the causative derivational function of -u p u p a as a suffix (in the Atampaya dialect): unma papan

'b la c k ' 's tro n g '

unma-upuQa papan-upupa

'b la c k e n ' 's tre n g th e n '

Uradhi also has a number of productive means for deriv­ ing adjectives from nouns. The morphological realisations of these various suffixes and the functions they express were discussed in some detail in 3.2.2. The suffixes inclu­ ded in this category are the two comitatives, the privative and the genitive.

374 Uvadhi (iv) - n a q a / - q a . The conditioning factors of either form of this suffix are unknown. It is attested on adjectival roots in Uradhi, and derives a transitive verb with a causative meaning, e.g. (111)

ayußa

inaßa u kulj i - 5 i - q a - n (AT) lsg-NOM 2sg-ACC ear-C0M2-CAUS-PAST I reminded you

(112)

ayußa

yuku ita-naqa-n (AT) lsg-NOM stick-ABS sharp-CAUS-PAST I sharpened the stick

The difference in meaning between the - ( n a ) Q a causative on adjectives and the suffix described in (iii) above is not known. (Note that the - ( n a ) q a suffix also occurs as a verba] causative (4.3.4). The same is not true of - u p u q a / - u p u n q a . ) 4.3

PROCESSES AFFECTING TRANSITIVITY

Some derivational processes in Uradhi affect the tran­ sitivity of the verb and therefore also cause the casemarkings on the core noun phrases to change. These process­ es are the reflexive, reciprocal, false reflexive, and causative derivations (see Table 3.17 in 3.4.4). 4.3.1 REFLEXIVE. To express the reflexive form of a tran­ sitive verb in Uradhi the verb takes the suffix —:ni (AT) or —:nt i (AN/Y). This suffix changes a verb from transitive to intransitive, so the subject of a verb carrying this suffix will be in the zero-marked S-function. Contrast the tran­ sitive construction in (113) with the intransitive construc­ tion of the derived reflexive verb in (114): (113)

a m a - :l u akurpu

u mp i - n

(AT)

man-ERG red kangaroo-ABS kill-PAST The man killed the red kangaroo

(114)

ama

um pi-:ni-n

man-ABS kill-REFL-PAST The man killed himself

There is also a special set of pronominal forms which can be used to express the reflexive. These forms are de­ rived in all dialects by adding -ma to the short form of the nominative pronouns (except in the first person singular, where the accusative root is used), and then reduplicating this form. Thus: lsg ldu.inc lpl.inc lnon-sg.exc 2sg 2non-sg 3sg 3non-sg

a n i ma - a n i ma a I i ma-aI ima anama-anama ampuma-ampuma a nt uma-ant uma i puma-i puma uIuma-uIuma uI ama-uIama

(Note that these forms undergo the regular morpheme-final phonological rules of the language, so the actual forms

4.3 Processes affecting transitivity

375

appear as ani mani ma, a l i m a l i m a , anamanama etc). These reflexive forms optionally appear in the slot in the sentence reserv­ ed for the object noun phrase (i.e. between the subject and the verb). However, the verb is still marked as being re­ flexive by —:n i / —: nt i and the subject of the verb is still marked as being an intransitive subject. Thus: (115)

(116)

ama u l uma - u l uma u y a - : n i (AT) man-ABS 3sg-REFL smell-REFL-PRES The man is smelling himself uwunu ant uma- ant uma u m p i - : n i - y u

(AT)

don’t 2sg-REFL kill-REFL-IMP Don't kill yourself

Although these forms are formally clearly related to pro­ nouns and also make the same person/number distinctions, they are assigned to the class of particles by virtue of the fact that they do not function in the clause as nuclear nominal arguments to the verb (i.e. the subject of the verb is still marked in the S-form). Quite possibly, these re­ flexive particles developed to avoid ambiguity because a sentence such as (117) is ambiguous between the reflexive reading and the 'false reflexive' reading: (117)

ama

uya-: n i

man-ABS smell-REFL-PRES a. The man is smelling himself (reflexive) b. The man smells/is smelly (false reflexive)

The false reflexive construction is discussed below. (It should be noted that such a set of reflexive particles based on pronominal forms is a feature of the Uradhi dia­ lects that is atypical of Australian languages.) 4.3.2 RECIPROCAL. There is a reciprocal morpheme on tran­ sitive verbs in Uradhi that also affects sentence transiti­ vity. In the Atamapaya dialect, there are two allomorphs that are determined by the conjugation membership of the verb. With conjugation III verbs the allomorph is - y ß a , while with all other verbs it is - : n i ß a . In the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects however, the allomorphs are purely phonologically determined. Stems ending in -u or - a take a - y p a allomorph, while -i-final stems take - : ( t ) p a . The re­ ciprocal suffix derives an intransitive verb from a transi­ tive verb, e.g. (118)

ul aßa utaya uöyama a : n i - y u uya-:nißa (AT) 3non-sg-N0M dog-ABS two-ABS what-DAT smell-RECIP-PRES Why are these two dogs smelling each other?

It was mentioned in 3.4.4 that in the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykenu dialects (but apparently not the Atampaya dia­ lect) this suffix can also be added to an intransitive verb to express a distributive meaning, e.g. (119)

ul aßa

mupa

w i I i —: t pa

(Y)

3non-sg-N0M child-ABS run-DIST-PRES The children are running all about the place

This is the only morphological difference between the three dialects of which I am aware.

376

Uradhi

4.3.3 FALSE REFLEXIVE. The reflexive suffix discussed in 4.3.1 is also used quite productively in Uradhi with a 'false reflexive' or 'anti-causative' function. Sentences of this construction have an intransitive verb with an absolutive subject that expresses the patient role. There is no agent role expressed in such sentences, e.g. (120)

ul aßa

mupa

uqaßa-:ni-n

(AT)

3non-sg-N0M child-ABS hide-REFL-PAST The children were hiding (121)

mata

u ta-:ni-n

(AT)

hand-ABS cut-REFL-PAST [My] hand was cut (122)

ulu

utaya

uya-:ni

(AT)

3sg-N0M dog-ABS smell-REFL-PRES The dog smells (i.e. is smelly) (123)

a I ßa

w u ri-:n i

(AT)

wind-ABS spin-REFL-PRES The wind is spinning (i.e. there is a whirlwind) (124)

wuqa-mun aypan

apapaqka-: n i-n

(AT)

sun-ABL stone-ABS split-REFL-PAST The stone split from the sun (125)

rninti

aQka-:ni-n (AT) scab-ABS peel-REFL-PAST The scabs peeled off

4.3.4 CAUSATIVE. By adding the suffix -(na)qa to an intran­ sitive verb (but not a transitive verb), we can create a transitive verb meaning 'to make someone/something do some­ thing'. Thus, from ( 1 2 6 ) we can derive a causative sentence such as (1 2 7 ) : (126)

(127)

ama ura-qu ina-n (AT) man-S here-OBL sit-PAST The man sat here a m a - : l u mupa

ina-naqa-n

ura-qu

(AT)

man-ERG c h i l d - A B S s i t -CAUS-PAST h er e- OBL The man s a t t h e c h i l d down h e r e

4.4

POSSESSION.

Uradhi fairly clearly and consistently distinguishes between two kinds of possession. On the one hand there is inalienable possession, where two NPs are in a part-whole relationship or cannot be transferred from one owner to another, and on the other hand we have alienable possession, where there is no part-whole relationship, and where there is a clear owner-chattel relationship. Kin-terms, it would appear, enter into formal alienable-possessive constructions. 4.4.1 ALIENABLE POSSESSION. The owner of a transferrable chattel (such as a house, or spear) is marked in Uradhi by the 'pertaining to' suffix, the allomorphy of which is given in full in 3 . 2 . 2 . The canonical form of this suffix is -: namu.

4.4 Possession

377

The noun referring to the chattel itself generally (but not always) follows the noun marked by - : n a m u . Thus (from Atampaya): u t a y a - : n a m u mina

ama-:namu

akwa

dog-GEN meat the dog's meat

man-GEN the man's

spear spear

Such a construction functions as an N P , and like any other NP an alienable genitive construction can be found in a non­ zero case slot. Examples of non-zero cases on genitive NPs are: (128)

ulu

awul j i -Qu

wut p u - : namu-QU

intya

(AT)

3sg-N0M house-OBL old man-GEN-OBL live-PRES He lives in the old man's house (129)

w u t p u - : namu-mun ya n t u - mu n a n t a ß a - p

(130)

ura

(AT) old man-GEN-ABL canoe-ABL take-PAST [They] took [it] out of the old man's canoe at umu-: namu pana-: namu mina (AT) this-ABS lsg-GEN-GEN-ABS friend-GEN-ABS meat-ABS This is my friend's meat

(Note that (128) illustrates that the possessor sometimes follows the possessed N P .) Where there is an ergative or instrumental added to a genitive, the marker is - n t u (AT) or - q k u (AN/Y),e.g. (131)

ula

ani

w u t p u - : namu-ntu

u } a n p i - mp u a r u - p

3non-sg-N0M lsg-ACC old man-GEN-INST club-INST They hit me with the old man's club

(AT) hit-PAST

4.4.2 INALIENABLE POSSESSION. This kind of possession is normally expressed by juxtaposition, with the ’whole' first and the 'part' second, thus: apuSa wußu 'bone marrow' bone marrow wapun wußu

'brains'

head marrow yuku wapun stick head

'end of stick'

uluyup itaya 'coolibah flower' coolibah flower

ipi unmu 'noise of rain' rain noise mita wa5u 'armpit smell' smell armpit umaypanu wumpu

'girl's urine'

girl urine

Often, the 'whole' is a person (i.e. ama 'man', u n t a: mu 'woman' etc) or a pronominalisation of a noun referring to a person. In the above inalienably-possessed examples, the two nouns are juxtaposed and may function as a compound unit inflect­ ing only on the last noun, but when the inalienable posse­ ssor is human, whether it be expressed nominally or pronom-

378

Uvadhi

inally, the two parts are normally separated, and b o v h are marked for case. (See also 3.2.2 for a discussion of the behaviour of compound nouns with respect to case marking.) Examples are: (132)

ayußa

akup

upiri

(AT)

lsg-NOM skin-ABS sore My skin is sore

(133)

ayußa

ipi

unmu

ami-n

(AT)

lsg-NOM rain noise-ABS hear-PAST I heard the noise of the rain

(134)

afuna

(135)

ayu unußa akyi-n ipipi-nu lsg-NOM 3sg-ACC see-PAST swim-NOMLSR-ABS I saw him swimming

ipa-pu nani -mupa alya-n (AT) Isg-OBL eye-OBL ground-child('dust')-ABS fall-PAST Dust got into my eyes

(AT)

It will be observed from the last example that an action (i.e. i p i p i n u 'swimming') is considered to be alienablypossessed. 4.5

COMPLEX SENTENCES

The verbal nominaliser - n u / - p u discussed in 4 . 2 is the suffix by which a wide range of types of subordinate sen­ tences are expressed. The verb of a subordinate sentence is expressed as a nominalisation of this type, and different kinds of semantic relationships between main and subordinate clauses are expressed by adding different case suffixes to the nominalised verb. It would appear that of the case marking suffixes discussed in 3.2.1, a nominalised verb ex­ pressing subordination can appear in the absolutive, dative, ablative and genitive cases (though as far as is known, not in the ergative/instrumental, accusative and general obli­ que) . (It should be noted in this discussion of complex sen­ tences that elicitation of a distinct relative clause con­ struction proved fruitless. The fairly considerable textual corpus that was assembled also suggests that Uradhi has no distinct relative clause construction.) 4.5.1 ABSOLUTIVE-MARKED SUBORDINATE VERBS. A verb that is marked for subordination by - n u / - p u and has zero-marking in­ dicates that the event expressed in the subordinate clause takes place at the same time as the event in the main clause Example (135) could therefore perhaps be analysed as: (136)

ayu

unußa

akyi-n

ipipi-nu

(AT)

lsg-NOM 3sg-ACC see-PAST swim-NOM-ABS I saw him while he was swimming

ABLATIVE-MARKED SUBORDINATE VERBS. A subordinate verb in - n u / - p u marked by the ablative suffix ( 3 . 2 . 1 ) ex­ presses the idea that the event expressed in the main clause follows on temporally from the event expressed in the sub4.5.2

4.5 Complex sentences

379

ordinate clause, or occurs as a result of the event express­ ed in the subordinate clause, e.g. (137)

ula

ama-n

una- nu- mun

(AT)

3pl-N0M wake up-PAST sleep-NOMLSR-ABL They woke up from having been sleeping

(See also (106) and (107) above.) 4.5.3 GENITIVE-MARKED SUBORDINATE VERBS. The nominalised verb in - n u / - p u with a following genitive suffix only seems to appear in existential sentences of the type: This is an X for Y-ing

That is, the clause is subordinated to a verbless main clause, and the subordinate clause expresses the fact that the object mentioned in the main clause is used for the purpose of the action mentioned in the subordinate clause. Refer to (108) and (109) above for examples of this con­ struction . 4.5.4 DATIVE-MARKED SUBORDINATE VERBS. The most frequentlyattested subordinate sentence type found in the corpus is that in which the verb is nominalised by the morpheme - n u / - p u , and carries the dative suffix -yu(AT) or -yu/-ku (AN/Y) (3.2.1). Constructions of this type express a purposive or consecutive relationship between the event expressed in the subordinate clause and the event expressed in the main clause, e.g. (138)

ul ußa

mi na

i 5 i n i Qa—n

ama - n u - y u

(AT)

3sg-N0M bird-ABS chase-PAST fly-NOMLSR-DAT He chased the bird and it flew/so it would fly (139)

ul ußa

ana-:lu

anißa

mupte-pu-yu

(AT)

3sg-N0M go-PRES-HERE lsg-ACC kick-NOMLSR-DAT He is coming and he will kick me/to kick me

It should be noted that nominalised verbs in the dative can be used in main clauses to express either the desiderafive or hortative, e.g. (140)

ayußa

upye-nu-yu

(AT)

lsg-NOM drink-NOMLSR-DAT I want to drink [something] (141)

ulu

mupa

yupka-nu-ku

(AN)

3sg-N0M child-ABS cry-NOMLSR-DAT Let the child cry

Perhaps the semantic factor common to the purposive/consecu­ tive functions of this construction in subordinate clauses and the desiderative/hortative functions in main clauses is the fact that such clauses all seem to express some kind of irrealis mood. Associated with the derivation of subordinate clauses carrying the dative-marking, as in (138) and (139), there is a shift in the case-marking of some noun phrases. When there is a noun phrase in the patient role in a transitive main clause, the marking is either the zero-absolutive form or the -na accusative form, as discussed in 3.2.1. The same

380

Uradhi

semantic role in a subordinate clause of this type, however, is expressed by the dative case. So, compare the noun aöal 'hole' in (142), where it has absolutive marking, to (143), where it is marked dative: (142)

ul ußa

aSal

aqa-al

(AT)

3sg-N0M hole-ABS dig-PRES He is digging a hole (143)

ul ußa

ana-:lu

a5aw-yu

aqa-nu-yu

(AT)

3sg-N0M go-PRES-HERE hole-DAT dig-NOMLSR-DAT He is coming and will dig a hole/to dig a hole

The corpus does not contain sufficient information to state absolutely the restrictions on the functions of two coreferential noun phrases in such subordinate constructions. Examples (136) and (138) show that there can be identity between a main clause 0 NP and an S NP in a subordinate clause. (137) exemplifies the case where there is cross­ clause identity of S NPs, while (139) and (143) are exam­ ples of complex sentences in which S and A NPs are treated as being syntactically equivalent for the purposes of NPdeletion. Since the - n u / - p u forms of the verbs are so clearly nominal forms (see also 4.2), it could be argued that the subordinate clauses in (143) and other examples are actually a type of inalienable possession. It will be remembered from the discussion of inalienable possession in 4.4.2 that the two noun phrases need not be in direct juxtaposition, as long as they both agree for case. A possible argument against this kind of analysis would be the behaviour of pronouns in dative subordinate clauses. While absolutive nouns shift to the dative in this con­ struction, there is no corresponding shift of either nomin­ ative or accusative pronouns to the dative. Thus in (139) the object of the subordinate clause has accusative mark­ ing, and the following is quite ungrammatical: (144)

* u I ußa

a n a - : lu

a t a n t y u mupl j e- pu- yu

(AT)

3sg-N0M go-PRES-HERE lsg-DAT kick-NOMLSR-DAT He is coming and he will kick me/to kick me

(It is not known whether subordinate clauses marked for the ablative (and also the genitive) as described above also participate in this object case-agreement process.) 4.6

SENTENCE PARTICLES, ETC.

This section discusses the non-inflecting items in Uradhi. Such particles are of two types: (i) those which require lexical replacement in the avoidance style; (ii) those which do not require replacement and are in this res­ pect treated as grammatical items (3.1). The 'grammatical' particles are of two types: (a) Interjections. Those noted in Uradhi are: akay(AT/AN/Y) , ipa(AN) - expression of surprise (e.g. sudden pain, dropping something, seeing or hearing something unusual) yi - in answer to a question you are not interested in answering or

4.6 Sentence particles, etc

381

do not know the answer to - to attract someone's attention; also a greeting at meeting pa (AT), i pa (AN), amu (Y) - to express agreement with the speaker, or to confirm to the speaker that one is listening apama - to express disagreement with the speaker kok o - an expression of pleased surprise aßu - an expression of parting a:ni - a request for repetition because one has not heard or understood to - indicates that a story is finished umpa

Two of these interjections also function lexically. They are: a:ni which is the absolutive form of the interrogative asking about things (i.e. 'what'); and amu (Y) which occurs in sentences such as: (145)

ay u ßa

amu

(Y)

lsg-NOM too Me too

and still carries its int erjectional meaning of agreement with the speakers. (b) Sentence particles occur within a sentence, whereas in­ terjections only occur alone, as separate utterances. Sen­ tence particles perform various functions in the sentence, though none take case inflections. Those particles found in the corpus are listed below with examples: uk unu (146)

-

indicates that an action or state is complete, e.g. ulu

uk unu

uqye-n

( AT)

3sg-N0M comp.action eat-PAST He has eaten everything (147)

ayu

uk unu

amu

(Y)

lsg-NOM comp.act ion same I am just the same uwunu, 'don't' - appears with an imperative verb to express prohibition, e.g. (148)

uwunu

antußa a n t i

( AT)

don't 2sg-N0M go-IMP Don't go!

'not' - negates any constituent except an imperative verb, e.g. apama,

(149)

ay u ßa

apama a m i - a l

lsg-NOM not I can't hear uyaqu/uyama (150)

( Y)

hear-PRES

with a verb, this expresses 'still, back, again'

ayußa

uy a qu a n m a - n - a : l u

lsg-NOM back I came back

(AT)

gc-PAST-HERE

uyu - preceding a verb, this expresses the idea of 'trying':

382

Uradhi

(151)

ul ußa

uyu

ikya-n

(AT)

3sg-N0M try speak-PAST He tried to speak a j a n (AN/Y),ap1ja (AT) - with any kind of constituent this expresses exaggeration of degree, e.g. (152)

mupa

atjan

wi l l

(Y)

child-ABS a lot run-PRES The children are running a lot (153)

ur a - QU

atjan

ipi

(AN)

here-OBL a lot water [There is ] a lot of water here (154)

aljan

aßukup

(Y)

a lot big [it's] very big tama

- precedes a constituent that is in focus or emphasised,

e.g. (155)

tama

anaßa

i naßa

apki-n

(Y)

emphasis lplinc-NOM 2sg-ACC spear-PAST Vie speared you (156)

tama

apama

(AT)

emphasis not Definitely not.' yantamantama - indicates that an action was performed in vain or for no reason, e.g. (157)

ulu

anißa

yantamantama

aru-p

(AT)

3sg-N0M lsg-ACC for no reason hit-PAST He hit me for nothing

Also included in this set of grammatical particles are the reflexive particles that were discussed and exemplified in 4.3.1.

Finally, we have the time and place markers, which do require lexical replacement in the avoidance style. These items are invariant in form, except that the time markers and some of the place markers occasionally take an optional -ma suffix, which does not change the meaning in any known way; and the place markers ampya (AT), a k i n t a (AN/Y) 'up' can take the general oblique and ablative cases. The time and place markers attested in the three dia­ lects are listed under Y and X in the Vocabulary by Seman­ tic Fields.

5.

SEMANTICS

It is not possible to give an explicit description of any part of the semantic structure of Uradhi due to the comparatively brief period of contact I had with the langu­ age. There are, however, certain sets of data of a seman­ tic nature that I would like simply to present, and which may be utilised in some wider study at some future date.

5.1 Avoidance style 5.1

383

AVOIDANCE STYLE

It was mentioned in 1.4.4 that there was a special avoidance style of speech in Uradhi that was used when speaking with one's ayußan 'spouse's mother', a m a n t i ö i 'spouse's father', w i n t i p a n u 'spouse's sister' and imupu 'spouse's brother'. This avoidance style appears to be very similar in its linguistic features to the Dyalnguy styles that have developed in the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns areas to the south as reported by Dixon (1972, 1977a). That is, the avoidance style requires that only non-grammatical items be replaced by a special lexical item, and also that in the avoidance style lexicon, there is not the same degree of semantic distinction as in the 'everyday' style. A full study of the lexical correspondences between the everyday style and the avoidance style would presumably reveal much about the semantic taxonomies that speakers of the language operate with, in much the same way that Dixon's (1971) study of the Dyirbal avoidance style reveals features of the sem­ antic structure of that language. Only one of the speakers of an Uradhi dialect was act­ ually able to remember any avoidance terms (Larry MacDonald, who speaks the Atampaya dialect). He was, in fact, only able to remember about two hundred items, and in some cases was unsure as to whether one of a pair of synonyms belonged to the avoidance style or the everyday style. (It should be pointed out that the speaker himself referred to everyday terms as 'straight' language, and avoidance terms as 'cross' language.) However, of the data that was recorded in the avoidance style, there was clearly a reduction in the number of sem­ antic distinctions that were made vis-a-vis the everyday style. For some items, there does appear to be a one-to-one correspondence between lexical items in the two styles, e.g. everyday style

avoidance style

wapun iy iri akyan

wut pakanu wuljal piwiyal

’ head' 'sore, ' moon'

b lis te r'

Very often, however, there is a many-to-one correspondence between the two styles, with the avoidance style having a generic term covering a number of specific terms in the everyday style (which itself may not have a generic term covering the class as a whole), e.g. avoidance style

everyday style ut a y a a kwanumu apu5 i p wa1 ita nan i nan i -mupa wanka i tan u ka pa antara i k u : namu i Iß i i 5amu

'dog' ► ’dingo' 'brown s n a k e s p .' 'snake (generic)'^ 'g r o u n d ' 'd u s t ' 'mud' 'blady grass' 'spiky grass' 'spear grass' 'band i c o o t grass' 'tall gra s s s p .' 'grass ( g e n e r i c ) '

upawi p u Si wayinmu

■

awapa

>

utpumu

384 Uradhi everyday style muyu I marap i

avoidance style 'pandanus 'bamboo'

wu ku5 i

There are many lexical correspondences between the two styles that reveal taxonomies that are not obvious to non­ speakers of the language. Correspondences of this type include the following: everyday style ipan ukulj i napka n a p k a - i np i r i a yanapuöa 1aya ip i wumpu a ru aypan awulj i a kyun

avoidance style 'eye' 'ear' 'mouth' 'lip' 'chest' 'waist' 'water' 'urine' 'axe' 'stone' 'house' 'camp'

}

an ima nu

}

a p u ra w a Iya pa

} }

a y a ta ka atampap u kamu

It should be noted that dences of lexical items between the two styles in which it is not clear that there is any real taxonomy being revealed, as the forms in the everyday style that are expressed by a single lexical item in the avoidance style are so semanti­ cally different, e.g. avoidance style

everyday style yapi a kurpu amp i imaljaka

forehead' red kangaroo' yamstick' grey kangaroo'

ulj up kumu ayampara

It is possible, however, that these correspondences still reflect some taxonomy that is real for speakers of the language if we allow for the possibility that words may be grouped together on the basis of semantic 'association', often on the basis of culture-specific knowledge. In light of this, for instance, it is interesting to note that the last item just presented in the avoidance style, ayam para, is also the avoidance-style equivalent for u n ta im u 'woman'. The yamstick is typically a woman's implement, and for this reason could be grouped with the term for 'woman'; it is possible also that the grey kangaroo is mythologically associated with women (though this is pure speculation on my part). It should be noted that the general principle of lexi­ cal economy in the avoidance style is also facilitated by the greater use of regular derivational processes to pro­ duce a range of stems from a single root. For instance, from the avoidance style root imi 'go, come', the verb im inapa is derived by adding the causative suffix -n a p a (4.3.4) to mean 'take, bring'. There are also two forms: i I yanu i Iya pa

' e lb o w ' ' cut'

which suggest the unattested verb root

i l ya

meaning some-

5.1 Avoidance style

385

thing like 'bend, break'. The form with -nu would be deriv­ ed as a result of nominalisation to produce the meaning 'bending = elbow' (4.2), while the -Qa is an alternative form of the causative suffix, producing the meaning 'cause to break = cut' (4.3.4). There is evidence that some avoid­ ance style terms are expressed as compounds, whereas the corresponding everyday style terms are morphologically simpie,

e.g.

everyday style

avoidance style

aplju 1

a p k a : 1a m p a - i pu nt i nu fire

utunmutunma

1a s h e s '

-?

wu^a-wutu

'p o r c u p i n e

back-crooked

Apart from the semantic observations that can be made by observing the correspondences in the lexicon below, there are some other interesting observations to be made by com­ paring the lexical items found in the two styles. With regard to the phoneme inventory, the two styles appear to be identical. (There are no forms in the avoid­ ance style attested with e, however, but as this is a margi­ nal phoneme in any case, it could simply be the result of too narrow a corpus.) The distribution of phonemes and the consonant cluster possibilities appear to be the same in the two styles. There is one interesting phonological differ­ ence between the two styles however, and that is the average number of syllables per word. Everyday style words are on average considerably shorter than words in the avoidance style, as the following figures for corresponding vocabularies between the two styles show: everyday style 1

syllable

2

syllables

1.5 %

avoidance style -

55.5%

13.0%

3

29.0%

47.0%

4

10.5%

27.0%

5

3.0%

10.0%

6

0.5%

2.0%

7

-

0.5%

8

-

0.5 %

There are two possible explanations for this: (i) It is possible that there is a general principle that no (or as few as possible) everyday style lexical items should be used in the avoidance style, even those with a totally different meaning. By making the two styles differ to some extent phonotactically, the possibility of acciden­ tal coincidences of form between the two styles is consid­ erably reduced. This seems to be a fairly weak argument. (ii) A second, and more likely, possibility is that many of the avoidance terms may in fact be diachronically (or even synchronically) polymorphemic, but because of the narrow scope of the data, the morpheme break cannot be detected. It was mentioned above that to maintain the principle of lexical economy, derivational means are employed in the avoidance style while the corresponding everyday style term may be morphologically simple. There is a suspiciously

386

Uradhi

large number of nouns with final syllables - S i and - n u (sugg­ esting that they are derived by means of the comitative 2 (3.2.2) and nominalising suffixes (4.2) respectively), and there is a similarly suspicious large number of verbs with final -Qa or - n a p a , which is the form of the causative suff­ ix (4.3.4). The proposed root forms are, however, not att­ ested, so this suggestion must remain pure speculation. Perhaps a brief note could also be made regarding the origins of avoidance style vocabulary that is not derived morphologically in some way. I am not in a position to propose a detailed account of the development of the avoid­ ance style vocabulary. However, the following observations can be made: (i) Some avoidance style vocabulary items can be reconst­ ructed to a fairly early stage. There are, for instance, some regular cognates between avoidance terms in Uradhi and everyday style forms in the Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri to the south around Weipa (Crowley 1981), e.g. Anguthimri ßac i yyud i

gya

Uradhi avoidance style aß i5a 'belly' 'bush' iyunt i 'native cat ipka

(The Uradhi forms more closely reflect the proto-language; for details of the phonological changes that have taken place in Anguthimri, see Crowley (1981).) (ii) Some avoidance style vocabulary in the Atampaya dia­ lect is used as everyday vocabulary in other dialects of the same language. For instance, the avoidance term for ampi nampi 'hair' is upapupa, which is also the everyday term for ’hair' in the Yadhaykenu dialect. (iii) The everyday term for 'horse' is mur uku, which is of unknown origin (though a similar form, mar uku, is found in the Anguthimri language to the south). The corresponding avoidance term is i yaraman, which is a regular phonological adaptation of the form yaraman that is commonly used for 'horse' in eastern Australian languages. The full set of avoidance style items that has been recorded, with their everyday equivalents (and English glosses in parentheses) is given below, with the avoidance style terms listed in alphabetical order. (Note that the alphabetical order that is used is the same as that used for the general vocabulary. Note also that the word-class specifications for the avoidance terms are expressed in the same way as in the general vocabulary.) aßa, Vtr I I : a n t a (put down) a ß i ö a , N: l u t p i (belly) a ß i ö a l a , N: yuku (tree) a ß u t y a , N: upupu (breast), wuna

(excrement) a5ampa, N: mayi (vegetable food), panant i (plains yam) , m a y i - u p k e : n i (scrub yam), u r k a n (stringy yam), mutunmanu (honey) aSuma, Vintr I I : ina (sit) ayanakuma, Vintr I I : anpapi

(climb up) ayumpa, Vtr I I I : apa (dig) akakyawa, N: i n t a : n i (wasp) akama, Vintr I I : apkwa (crawl) a k a mp a ö i , N: 11 i : na (thigh) a k a t i p a n u , N: umpa I (carpet snake) a l a S i p a , Vtr I I : ami (hear) a l i n a , Adj : a n i : m a (alive) amaya, Vintr: w a n t i (burn) amayanapa, Vtr I I : wa (burn, cook) a ma y i n, Adj: wupkama (raw)

5.1 ampapa, Vt r I I : upye ( e a t , d r i n k ) ampapanu, N: mata (hand) ampuljaka, Adj : wuypu (bad) amuntima, V i n t r : aplj i :ma ( r e j o i c e ) anayanu, N: nukal ( f o o t ) ani manu, N: ipan ( e y e ) , ukulji ( e a r ) ani l j aka, N: wuyanu (emu) a n p i n u , N: a t a ß a ( r i v e r ) anpup, N: apkapka ( kooka bur r a ) a n t u ö i mp u r u ß a p a n u , N: umuyanu ( nose) a p k a : l a mp a , N: uma ( f i r e ) apka : Iampa-i punt i nu , N: aplj u I (ashes) apkuma, V i n t r I I : ama ( f l y ) apkyayma, N: wi : yu ( r i b ) a n t u , Adj: unma ( bl a c k ) a n t u , N: wa5a (crow) a p a : r a , N: u I umu ( r oad) ap i nt i , Vt r I I : ußanapa (blow) a p i n t i , Adj : amapma ( l a r g e ) apl j aöi , N: a ki mpa t a ( c h i l d ) api j aSi , Adj : a ki mpa t a ( s ma l l ) apijaka, V t r : a 5 i ( g i v e b i r t h t o) a p u r a , N: napka ( mout h) , napka-inpiri (lip) a pya pa , Vt r I I : a t a ( t i e ) , wata (bite) a r a w a - a r ^ w a , Adj : ukya r uya r a (lightweight) a t p a l i p a n u , N: ikampara (crocodile) a t p a n , N: wula ( cheek) at ampap, N: aypan ( s t o n e ) , a r u (axe) a t u ß u ö u , Vt r I I I : wupinapa ( push) awapa, N: nani ( g r o u n d ) , wanka (mud), nani -mupa ( d u s t ) a y a ö i n , Adj : f ut u ( dead) ayampar a, N: unt a: mu (woman, w i f e ) , ima^aka ( g r e y k a n g a r o o ) , ampi ( ya ms t i c k ) a y a t a k a , N: wumpu ( u r i n e ) , ipi ( wa t e r ) aya: mu, N: wutpu ( o l d man) aya: mu, Adj : pupal ( whi t e ) a yi Si , Vintr I I: alya ( f a l l , die) i ßat apkuma, V i n t r I I : ißakya ( dance) iSampaya, N: akumi ( d i l l y - b a g ) i yußapa, V i n t r I I : i nt u ( l o o k f o r ) i y u n t i , N: ut uöa ( bush) i ku n t u p a , Vt r I I : u ( gi ve ) i k y a l i t a , N: apu5a (bone) i l y a n u , N: yut u (elbow) i l y a p a , Vt r I I : u t e ( c u t )

A v o id a n c e s t y l e

387

i Iyapanumu, Time : ut a (later on) i ma r i , N II: a t a n t i (firestick) imi, Vintr IV: ana (go) i mi napa, Vtr II: a n t a ß a (take) i nupku, Adj: ni pi ma (one) ipka, N: atamuSi (native cat) inamuöi, N: urußu (land goanna) i napkwi nu, N: wukan (nape of neck) i p a r i , Vintr IV: a p k a : r i (laugh) i p 1 , i : n i k i , N: a p l j a l a n t i n u (boy) i pa na pa , Vtr II: apa (pick up) i p i Ii Ii , N: uljUp (blood) i p u n t i n u , N: l a l a n (tongue) i t a l y a , N: a y a I (shoulder) i t i , N: y a n t u , (canoe) i ^ a k u r a , N: ul a n (possum) iyar aman, N: muruku (horse)

laka, Vtr III: muplje (kick) lalapapa, Vtr II: pa (throw) lanun, N: mupa (saliva) maßun, N: untumu (thunder) m a l i , Vintr IV: wunta (vomit) ma Ii , N: manpatawa (bat) mal kup, Adj: upkun (heavy) manmata, N: a t a ß a - p u p a l (Torres

Strait pigeon) ma nt a r i ma , Vintr I I : paka (jump) ma nt a wi puöi , N: wupa (sun) markuyman, Adj: i ma: r u (tired) ma ya nt i nu, N: manu (throat) ma yi n t in u k a : Ii , N: a ö a I (hole) ma : l u , N: yampa (leaf) mi na ypur a , N: wuputyul (water

goanna) m i n t i p a , Vtr: a5a (hurt) mußuma, Vtr: a p i n t a (enter) mumpu, N: akyamu (frill-neck

lizard) mup^aya, N: akup (skin) mutan, Adj: papan (strong) muyan, Adj: mapka (short) pa t u r i ma , Vintr II: pupka (cry), ukya (shout)< pawunt i nu, Adj: r a t i n u (bald) pi ßup, Adj: ukyant up (cold) pi myal , N: tawupa (knife) p i w i y a l , N: akyan (moon) pumpuma, Vintr II: apa (stand) p u t u n p i 5 i , Adj: puyuSi (long) u ßa pk a , N: w i Iu ( hi p) ußi l a mu, N: mina (meat) ußupußu, Adj: a t u 5 i (rotten) uyuma, Vintr: una (sleep, lie down)

388

Uradhi

uyunta, N: aljara ( r a t ) ukamu, N: akyun ( c a m p ) , awuj i (house)

ukatapanu, Adj : ikanma ( good) ukunu-ukunu, Time: anpapt,ama ( l o n g t i m e ago)

Lilantima, V i n t r I I : i kya ( s p e a k ) umantan, Time: pupupunma ( to mo r ro w) uminta, N: i t i k i y i ( b l a c k a n t ) umpampinu, N: a I ßa (wi nd) umpatukußi, N: uyap ( g r e e n a n t ) , uypup ( f l y ) umupanu, N: ama (man) unapka, N I I : a t al ( f i s h i n g l i n e ) unmapa, V t r I I : akyi' ( s e e ) unt ya: ra, N: alarkußi ( b r o l g a ) unupunmukuöi , Ad j: anpap^amuku5i (new) upkußuyuma, Time: apljayaßuma (yesterday) u p k u ö i p a , V t r I I : wukya ( c h a s e ) upku:nupa, Vtr I I : a t i (cover) u p a w i p u ö i , N: akwanumu ( d i n g o ) , u t a y a (dog) upapupa, N: ampinampi ( h a i r ) upapljapa, V t r I I : aru ( h i t ) upaya, N: wupku ( k n ee ) ut k i : n i , Adj: ußißa ( asha med) utpumu, N: iöamu ( g r a s s , gen) , itan ( b l a d y s p . ) , ukapa ( s p i k y s p . ) , antara ( s p e a r s p . ) , iku:namu ( b a n d i c o o t s p . ) , il ß i ( t a l l s p .) utumu, N: mupka ( a n t b e d ) utakanu, N: aöarampinu ( a r m p i t ) utaya, V i n t r I I : i pi pi (swim) uljaßap, Adj : aturup ( s o f t ) uijirima, Adj : ayarima ( s i c k )

5.2

uljupkumu, N: akurpu ( r e d k a n g a r o o ) , yapi ( f o r e h e a d ) uwamu, N: akwa ( s p e a r ) uyußatuöu, N: iku ( b a n d i c o o t ) walaman, Adj: wampan ( s w ol l e n) wal ya f a, N: ayanapußa ( c h e s t ) , laya ( w a i st ) wanpaßi, Ad j : wuntu ( c r o o k e d ) wanpaßipa, V t r I I : wari ( s p i n ) w api la , N: uyara ( n a v e l ) wapi:tantumapk i n, N: upußipu (rainbow)

w a t k i : n i , A d j: iöaßa ( a f r a i d ) wayinmu, N: 11 a ( s n a k e , g e n . ) , apuSipwal ( brown sn?.ke) wintamwintama, N: uppi ( s t a r ) witanma, Ad j : wupama ( a n g r y ) wit i , Adj : pal,up ( d r y ) wukußi, N: muyuI ( p a n d a n u s ) , marapi (bamboo) wul i ßa, N: pampu ( t o o t h ) wu I ißayaraw i nma, A d j : luka ( b l u n t ) wuI i y a , N: apura ( b l u e - t o n g u e lizard)

wuluyma, A d j: aya ( s o u r ) wunpul, N: ul, i : ra ( w h i p s n a k e ) wunpa, N: upke:ni ( egg) wupanu, N: a y p a I ( m u s c l e , c a l f ) wupunpi, N: p i : y i n ( b e a c h ) wutpakanu, N: wapun ( h e a d ) wutanpup, N: wapukwal ( g h o s t ) , ukwal ( s h a d e ) wulja-wutu, N: utunmutunma (porcupine)

wuljal, N: i yi r i ( sore) wu:pama, Vintr I I : wampa ( f l o a t )

BODY-PART METAPHOR

Uradhi appears to have quite a number of words which refer to both some part of the human body, and parts of trees, artefacts or geographical features, with some kind of metaphorical relationship between the two. In some cases, the terms themselves simply have two (or more) meanings with a central meaning referring to a body part, e.g. central meaning

winta

(AT/AN/Y)

mata (AT/AN/Y) wapun (AT), apun (AN/Y) manu-kapi (AT/Y) umuyanu (AT) ampu (AN/Y) wuntup (AN/Y)

arm hand he a d windpipe nose tooth back

metaphorical extension branch of t r e e , o u t r i g g e r of canoe o u t r i g g e r of canoe end o f s o m e t h i n g cave bow o f c a n o e bow o f c a no e s t e r n o f c a no e

5.2 Body-part metaphor

389

In other cases, the body-part term is found in a compound with some other term, e.g. (AT)

uma-1a 1an fire-tongue

'flame'

yati-mut up creek-shin

’lagoon, lake'(AT/AN)

TEXTS The following texts have been chosen to illustrate the grammatical constructions described in the grammar. A text from each of the three dialects under study is presented, each in two forms. In the first form, the under­ lying representations are given, and these are followed by a morpheme-by-morpheme gloss. Below this are surface forms which are actually spoken. All tapes of texts along with transcriptions and trans­ lations (in varying degrees of sophistication) recorded in Uradhi, have been deposited with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, P.0. Box 553, Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601, Australia. People interested in having access to these tapes can contact me. TEXT I - THE CROCODILE AND THE BLUE-TONGUE This text was recorded from Larry MacDonald in the Atampaya dialect. 1.

i kampara

crocodile-ABS i kanparap

[There was a] crocodile 2.

i k a n p ar a

ikya-n

apura-pu

crocodile-ABS speak-PAST blue-tongue-OBL i ka n p ar a p

...

i k y a r apurapup

The crocodile spoke to the blue-tongue 3.

apura-pu

ikya-n

i k a n p ar a

blue-tongue-OBL speak-PAST crocodile-ABS apur ap

i k y an

i kanparap

The crocodile spoke to the blue-tongue 4.

apura-pu

ikya-n

/atuna

pampu

u-ti

blue-tongue-OBL say-PAST lsg-DAT tooth-ABS^give-IMP apur ap

i k y a n / a t u n a pamp u t i p '

He said to the blue-tongue: ’Give me [your] teeth!’ 5.

pampu

atuna

u-ti

tooth-ABS lsg-DAT give-IMP pamp a t u n u t i p '

'Give me [your] teeth!'

390

6.

Uradhi atuna

Qampu

u-ti-e:lu

l s g- DAT t o o t h - A B S g i v e - I M P - H E R E

a t una pamp u t y e : l u p ' G i v e me [ y o u r ] t e e t h '

7.

ant ußa

orait

2sg-N0M a l r i g h t - A B S

a nt uß orait ' You a r e a l r i g h t '

8.

antußa

ura-QU

ipi-pu

intya

2sg-N0M t h i s - O B L w a t e r - O B L l i v e - P R E S

antuß uraQ i p i p intyap ' You l i v e

9.

ayußa

in the w a te r'

ura

yampa-pu

lsg-NOM h e r e l e a f - O B L

ayuß ura yampapup 'I

10.

am h e r e

ayußa

in the le a v e s '

wa t a - n

lsg-NOM b i t e - P A S T

ayußa wat an 'I b i t '

11.

a nt u

atanmun pampu

a:ni-yu

antaßa-pa

2sg-N0M l s g -A B L t o o t h - A B S w h a t - D AT

take-PRES

ant atanmuna pamp a : n i y a n t a ßa pa p 'Why a r e y o u t a k i n g

12.

ayu

ura

[my] t e e t h

from me?'

yampa-pu

lsg-NOM h e r e l e a f - O B L

ay ur a yampapup 'I

13.

am h e r e i n t h e b u s h '

apama no

a pamap 'No'

14.

atuna u - t i —e : Iu lsg-DAT give-IMP-HERE atun ut ye: I u ' G i v e t h e m t o me.' '

15.

ayußa

ur a

ipi-pu

i nt ya

lsg-NOM h e r e w a t e r - O B L l i v e - P R E S

16.

ayuß ur i pi p

i nt ya p

'I

in the w a te r '

liv e here

ipi-pu

ayußa

i nt ya

w a t e r - O B L lsg-NOM l i v e - P R E S

pampu-i:ma tooth-COMl

i pi p ayuß i nt ya pampi:map 'I

17.

live

i n t h e w a t e r w i t h my t e e t h '

pampu

apura-mpu

atuna

tooth-ABS blu e-to n g u e-E R G

pampup . . .

apuramp a t u n ukaw

' T h e b l u e - t o n g u e h a s g i v e n me h i s

18.

ayußa

wata-ra

i pi - pu

lsg-NOM b i t e - H A B I T w a t e r - O B L

ayußa wa t a r i pi pup 'I b ite

u- kal

l s g- D A T g i v e - P A S T

in the w a te r'

teeth'

T e x ts 19.

apura

ikya-n

/antußa

ura

i pi-pu

391

intya

b l u e - t o n g u e - A B S say-PAST 2sg-N0M h e r e wat e r -OBL l i v e - P R E S

apur ikyan antuß ur i p i q intyaq The b l u e - t o n g u e s a i d :

20.

ayußa

ura

' You l i v e h e r e i n t h e w a t e r '

yampa-pu intya

lsg-NOM h e r e l e af - O B L l i v e - P R E S

ayuß ura yampap intyap 'I

l i v e here in the bush'

T e x t 1 - T r a n s la tio n .

T h e r e was a c r o c o d i l e who s a i d t o t h e b l u e t o n g u e : ' G i v e me y o u r t e e t h . ' ' (The b l u e - t o n g u e r e p l i e d : ) 'You a r e a l r i g h t , you l i v e i n t h e w a t e r , b u t I l i v e i n t h e b u s h and I b i t e ( w i t h my t e e t h ) . Why a r e you t a k i n g my t e e t h f rom me a s I am h e r e i n t h e b u s h ? No ( I w o n ' t g i v e them t o y o u ) ' . (The c r o c o d i l e s a i d : ) ' G i v e them t o me! I l i v e in the w ater w ith t e e t h . The b l u e - t o n g u e h a s g i v e n me h i s t e e t h and I b i t e i n t h e w a t e r ' . The b l u e - t o n g u e s a i d : 'You l i v e i n t h e w a t e r and I ' l l l i v e i n t h e b u s h ' .

T e x t 1 - Tlotes 1 3

7

9 14 15

This i s an e x i s t e n t i a l se n te n c e . One-word s e n t e n c e s o f t h i s t y p e a r e commmonly u s e d t o i n t r o d u c e s t o r i e s . Refer to 4 .1 .1 . The s p e a k e r ' s r e p e t i t i o n s a r e n o t e d i t e d o u t b e c a u s e t h e y p r o v i d e examples o f a c c e p t a b l e w o r d - o r d e r p e r m u t a t i o n s as d i s c u s s e d i n 4.1.1. The c h a n g e i n s p e a k e r from t h e c r o c o d i l e t o t h e b l u e - t o n g u e i s not s i g n a l l e d in th e t e x t . The noun yampa ' l e a f ' i s u s e d by t h e s p e a k e r t o mean ' b u s h ' i n th is story. Again, t h e change i n s p e a k e r i s n o t marked. In t h i s l i n e the cro co d ile is speaking. I t appears t h a t th e b l u e - t o n g u e e v e n t u a l l y acceded to the c r o c o d i l e ' s r e q u e s t and h a n d e d o v e r t h e t e e t h , t h o u g h t h i s i s n o t e x p l i c i t l y s t a t e d in th e s t o r y . The c r o c o d i l e now a p p e a l ' s t o be t a l k i n g t o h i m s e l f , a n d h i s mo no lo gu e c o n t i n u e s u n t i l l i n e 18.

TEXT II - THE EMU AND THE PLAINS TURKEY This text in the Yadhaykenu dialect was told by Willie Somerset. 1.

ulaßa

uöima

ana-n

wantal-u

3non-sg-N0M two-ABS go-PAST s c r u b yam-DAT

ulaß uSim ana wanta I u [ T h e r e w e r e ] two o f them g o i n g f o r s c r u b yams

2.

mupa

ipljantu uwup-anamu

c h i l d- AB S many-ABS p l a i n s turkey-GEN-ABS

mupap ipjantu uwupanamu The p l a i n s t u r k e y h a d many c h i l d r e n 3.

ulaßa

ana-n

3non-sg-N0M go-PAST

uI aß anan They [ b o t h ] went

4.

ulaßa

u5ima

wantal-u

apa-n

3non-sg-N0M two-ABS s c r u b yam-DAT dig-PAST

392

Uradhi u l a ß uöima w a n t a l

aqa

They both dug for scrub yams 5.

wantal-u

aqa-n

aqa-n

aqa-n

scrub yam-DAT dig-PAST dig-PAST dig-PAST wa n t a l

aqan aqan aqa

[They] dug on and on for scrub yams 6.

u I ußa

urkul

anpa^a a n a - n

3sg-N0M emu-ABS before go-PAST u l uß u r k u l

anpalj ana

The emu went first 7.

uma

ulu

wa-yal

fire-ABS 3sg-N0M burn-PAST umaq u I u w a y a :

He lit a fire 8.

alyu:mala

ikya-n

/ a li

child-ABS say-PAST

w an t a l

a ß a -a l

ldu.incl-NOM scrub yam-ABS cover-PRES

uma-qun

fire-OBL alyurmal

ikyan / a l i

wantal

aßa:

[One of his] children said: the fire' 9.

u l aßa

aptjUl

umaqu

'We are covering the scrub yams in

yakyara-upunqa-n

3non-sg-N0M ashes-ABS spread out-CAUS-PAST ul aßa apl j u:

yakyarupunpa

They spread out the ashes 10.

uma-pun

ulaßa

ap l j u - q u n

w an t a l

anta-al

fire-OBL 3non-sg-N0M ashes-OBL scrub yam-ABS put down-PRES umaqun u l aß a apljuqu w an t a l

anta:

They are putting the scrub yams into the ashes 11.

aßa—a I

cover-PRES aßa :

[They] are covering [them over] 12.

u l aßa

a5i-n

a5i-n

a5i-n

3sg-N0M wait-PAST wait-PAST wait-PAST u I aß a ö in a 5 i n a 5 i

They waited and waited 13.

uwup a n a - a : Iu p l a i n s turkey-ABS come-PRES-HERE uwup a na : Iu

The plains turkey is coming 14.

antu

wantal a n t a i n a

aßa-n

2sg-NOM scrub yam-ABS how many-ABS cover-PAST a nt u w an t a l

a n t a : n aßa

'How many scrub yams.have you covered?' 15.

ayu

mata-qku

aßa- n

lsg-NOM hand-INST cover-PAST ayu mat apk aßa

'I covered [them all] with my hands' 16.

uyama

back

ayu

mata

wanti-al

lsg-NOM hand-ABS burn-PRES

Texts uyam ayu mata w a nt y a :

'I burnt my own hands' 17.

ayu

apl j ul

ma t a- p u n a p k y a - a l

lsg-NOM ashes-ABS hand-OBL

?

-PRES

ayu apl j u: matapun a p k y a :

'I am ?-ing the ashes in my hands' 18.

antußa

aßa-ri

mata-pku

2sg-NOM cover-IMP hand-INST antußa a ß a ri

mat apku

'You cover [them] with [your] hands' 19.

pa

yes pa

'Yes' 20.

ayußa

a:ni-yu

want!-a I

lsg-NOM what-DAT burn-PRES ayuß a : n i y u w a nt y a :

'Why should I burn [my hands]?' 21.

antußa

aypa-ri

2sg-NOM touch-IMP antuß a y p a r i

'You touch [them]' 22.

ayu

mat a- pk u

aßa-a I

want aI

lsg-NOM hand-INST cover-PRES scrub yam-ABS ayu mat apk aßa:

wa n t a :

'I am covering the scrub yams with my hands' 23.

uIu

aßa-n

3sg-NOM cover-PAST u I aßa

He covered [them] 24.

akay akay akay akay

ow

ow

ow

ow

akay akay akay akay 'Ü W , OV7 , o w , o w .' '

25.

u pa- pk u

mat a- p k u

other-INST hand-INST upapku matapku

[He used the] other hand 26.

akay akay akay akay

ow

ow

ow

ow

akay akay akay akay

'Ow, ow, ow, ow.' ' 27.

antu

ani

wipupa-n

2sg-NOM lsg-ACC trick-PAST a n t a n i w i pupa

'You tricked me' 28.

mata

urku-:namu

apkutu-upunma-n

hand-ABS emu-GEN-ABS short-INCHO-PAST matap ur ku: namu apkutupunma

The emu's hands became short

393

394

Uradhi

29.

yuku u lu apka-n sticlc-A B S 3sg-N0M t a k e out-PAST yukuQ ul aQka He t o o k o u t a s t i c k

30.

ayußa

ura

aßa-al

yuku-pku

lsg-NOM th is -A B S cover-P R E S

stick -IN S T

ayuß ur aßa: yukupku ' I w i l l cover [th em ] w ith a s t i c k ' 31.

a I ißa

uyama ana

ldu.inc-N O M b a c k

go-PRES

a I iß uyam ana 'We w i l 1 go b a c k ' 32.

ulaßa

uSima

ana-n

3non-sg-N0M two-ABS go-PAST

u Iaß u5 im ana They b o t h w ent 33.

want a I

ar)a-n

ana-n

apa-n

s c r u b yam-ABS dig-PAST dig-PAST dig-PAST

want a I apan aQan apa [ T h e y ] dug and dug s c r u b yams 34.

ulu uwup anpa^a ana-n 3sg-N0M p l a i n s tu rk ey -A B S b e f o r e go-PAST u lu uwup anpalj ana The p l a i n s t u r k e y w ent f i r s t

35.

uSayki

ulu

upipa-n

urku-ntu

c h ild -A B S 3sg-N0M hide-P A ST emu-ERG

uSayk ul upipa urkuntu The emu h i d t h e c h i l d 36.

urku-ntu upipa-n emu-ERG

alyu:mala

hide-P A ST ch ild -A B S

urkunt upipa alyurmala The emu h i d t h e c h i l d 37.

ulu

uöima

antaßa-p

3sg-N0M two-ABS take-PA ST

aßa-pun camp-OBL

ul u5im antaßap aßapu He t o o k two [ c h i l d r e n ] t o 38.

ulu

uwup

t h e camp

uyapu a na - a: l u

3sg-N0M p l a i n s tu rkey-A B S

back

come-PRES-HERE

uI uwup uyap a na: Iu The p l a i n s t u r k e y i s coming b a c k 39.

apkumu

mupa

antuntu

2sg-GEN-ABS c h ild -A B S where-DAT

apkumu mupap antuntu 'W here [ h a v e ] y o u r c h i l d r e n [ g o n e ] ? ' 40.

ayußa

umpi-n

apudama

lsg-NOM k i l l - P A S T t o g e t h e r

ayuß umpin apuSama ' I h a v e k i l l e d th e m '

41.

ayußa

a 5 1-a I

u5ima

lsg-NOM keep-PRES two-ABS

ayuß aöya: uöim ayki ' I am k e e p i n g two c h i c k s '

ayki chick-A BS

T exts

42.

antußa

umpi-ri

tu

2sg-N0M k i l l - I M P

too

antuß umpiri tu ' You k i l l 43.

ulu

[yours] too!'

mupa

UQumu

aru-p

3sg-N0M 3sg-GEN-ABS c h i l d - A B S h i t - P A S T

Ion'plain t a : k i (I NST

plains

turkey)

ul upumu mupap arup Ion p l a i n t a : k i The p l a i n s

44.

aru-p

turkey h i t h is

aru-p

children

aru-p aru-p

hit-PA ST hit-PAST h it-PA ST h it-PA ST

arup arup arup arup [He] h i t 45.

u5ima

[ t h e m ] a nd h i t

[them]

anta-n

two-ABS l e a v e - P A S T

uöim anta [He] l e f t

46.

urkul

two

ikya-nalyu:mala-ku / ipula

emu-ABS s a y - P AS T

urkul

child-DAT

ikyan alyurmalaku / ipul antupu

The emu s a i d t o h i s

47.

ana- a: Iu

children:

'Where a r e you a l l ? '

ipula

go-PRES-HERE 2 n o n - s g - N 0 M

ana: I ipula ' You a r e

48.

antu

coming'

anißa

a:ni -yu

wipupa-n

2sg-N0M l s g- ACC wh a t - DAT t r i c k - P A S T

ant aniß a:niyu wipupa 'Why d i d y o u t r i c k m e ? '

49.

ayu

atumu

mupa

umpi-n

lsg-NOM l sg-GEN-ABS c h i l d - A B S k i l l - P A S T

ay atumu mupap umpin ' I h a v e k i l l e d my c h i l d r e n ' 50.

ulaßa

uöima

ikya-n

3non- s g- NOM two-ABS s p e a k - P A S T

ulaß u5im ikya They ha d a d i s c u s s i o n 51.

antußa urkul

ani-nmu

2sg-NOM emu-ABS gro u n d - GEN- ABS

antuß urku: aninmu ' You w i l l b e a g r o u n d - d w e l l e r , 52.

pa yes pa 'Y es'

53.

ayußa

anpa:-pun a^al-pun

Emu'

amama

lsg-NOM a b ov e- O B L c l o u d - O B L f l y- R EDUP - P R ES

ayuß anpa; pun aljapun amamap 'I w ill 54.

antu-pun?

2non-sg-N0M where-OBL

fly

above th e c lo u d s '

p a , ay u uku n u amu y e s lsg-NOM c o m p . a c t i o n a l s o p a a y u kun amu 'Yes, I a g re e c o m p l e te l y '

395

396 55.

Uradhi ayußa

utu5a-ku

ila:na-ka

lsg-NOM bush-DAT walk around-FUT ayuß u t a ö a k

ilarnaka

'T will walk around through the bush' 56.

ama

ayu

akyi-al

ayu

wi:yu-ma

a na - p k a

man-ABS lsg-NOM see-PRES lsg-NOM beside-INCHO-PRES go-FUT amaQ ay a k y a l

ayu w i : y u m anapka

'When I see a man, I will fly' 57.

inaßa

a ma- I u

umpi-al

2sg-ACC man-ERG kill-PRES inaß amaI

umpya:

'The man can kill you' 58.

ayußa a nqal-w ali:p lsg-NOM s h a r p - s i g h t e d - A B S ayuß a n q a : wa I i :p

'I am sharp-sighted' 59.

a n i ßa

a ma- I u

apama a q k i - a l

lsg-ACC man-ERG not

spear-PRES

an iß ama I apam a q k y a :

'The man cannot spear me' 60.

ayu

aljan

wi I i

lsg-NOM a lot run-PRES ayu aljan w i I i

'I can run a lot' 61.

pa,

ayu

amama-ka anpima

yes lsg-NOM fly-FUT pa,

above

ayu amamak anpima

'Yes, I will fly above' 62.

ayu

w ili-q ka

ani-pun

lsg-NOM run-FUT

ground-OBL

ayu w i I i q k a n i q u

'I will run on the ground' 63.

apama a n i ß a

not

ama - I u

aypa-al

lsg-ACC man-ERG touch-PRES

apam a n i ß amaI

aypa:

'The man cannot touch me' Text II - Translation. The plains turkey and the emu went for scrub yams. The plains turkey had many children. They went and they dug up some yams. The emu went away first and lit a fire and one of the chil­ dren said: 'We will cover the yams in the fire.' They spread out the ashes, put in the yams and covered them over. They waited, and then the plains turkey came along and said: 'How many yams have you covered?' The emu said: 'I have covered them all with my hands and I burnt my hands. You cover some with your hands.' (The plains turkey said:) 'Yes, but why should I get burnt? You touch the ashes.' (The emu said:) 'I will cover the yams with my hands.' The emu went and covered them with his hand and called out: 'Ow.'', and then he used the other hand and called out: 'Ow, you have tricked me.' The emu's hands had become shorter. He took out a stick and said: 'I will cover them with a stick, and then we will go back.' They both went and dug some more yams. The plains turkey went first. The emu (stayed and) hid his children leav­ ing two in the camp. Then the plains turkey came back (and said:)

Texts

397

'Where have your children gone?' (The emu said:) 'I have killed them all, and I am just keeping two chicks. You must kill yours too.' The plains turkey hit his children until only two were left. The emu said to his children: 'Where are you all?' They all came. (The plains tur­ key said:) 'Why did you trick me? I have killed my own children.' They had a discussion. The plains turkey said: 'You will be a ground—dweller, Emu, and I will fly above the clouds.' (The emu said:) 'Yes, I agree completely. I will walk around through the bush.' (The plains turkey said:) 'When I see a man, I will fly away and you will be killed.' (The emu said:) 'I am sharp-sighted; the man cannot spear me; I can run a lot.' (The plains turkey said:) 'I will fly above.' (The emu said:) 'I will run on the ground. The man cannot touch me.' Text II - Notes 1 The participants in the story are not identified until later in the text. 2 This is another existential sentence (4.1.1), meaning literally, 'There were many children of the plains turkey.' 10 It is very common for the present tense forms to be used in narra­ tives for events in the past, and sometimes in the immediate future, as illustrated in this sentence. 16 The use of uyama 'back' expresses the fact that it was his own hands that got burnt. 17 The meaning of the verb apkya is not known. It could perhaps mean 'hold '. 25 This sentence simply consists of an instrumental noun phrase to indicate that he used his other hand. 33 Note the repetition of the verb to indicate continuation of an act­ ion. There are several examples of this type in this text. 35 This sentence illustrates the process of pronominal foregrounding mentioned in 4.1.1. The pronoun ulu '3sg-N0M' is coreferential with the noun urku-ntu 'emu-ERG' which appears after the verb. 41 Note the natural occurrence of an A-V-0 sentence. 42 At this stage the narrator lapses into English, using the word 'too'. 43 The narrator again uses English. This example is rather more interesting, however, as the Uradhi form for Iop plain ta:ki would have been uwu-I 'plains turkey-ERG'. The Creole instrumental mark­ er lop is used in this phrase as an ergative marker, with the noun phrase occurring in a very non-English clause-final position. 51 The genitive suffix definitely does not have a possessive meaning here (3.2.2) . 53 The reduplicated form of ama 'fly', i.e. amama is used to express the notion: 'fly about'. 55 Note the use of dative to express 'through the bush' (3.2.1).

TEXT III - COOKING FOR THE SOLDIERS This is a non-traditional story told by Roy Stevens in the Angkamuthi dialect. 1

umap ana-a: Iu European-ABS come-PRES-HERE umap a na:Iup The Europeans came

2

anaßa sain lplinc-NOM sign

398 Uvadhi

anaßa sain We signed up 3.

mi:na

mark-ABS

anaßa

anta-n

lplinc-NOM put-PAST

m i : n a q anaßaq a n t a n

We put [our] mark 4.

ayußa, Larry Martin, Martin Ropeyarn, Johnny Mamoose lsg-NOM Me, Larry Martin, Martin Ropeyarn, Johnny Mamoose

5.

alu

ukunu

anaßa

that-ABS comp.action lplinc-NOM a l u q ukunur) anaßaq

That was all of us 6.

ul aßa

upina

ana-n

anpalja p u t u - q u

ina-n

3non-sg-N0M other-ABS go-PAST before boat-OBL stay-PAST ul aßaq u p i n a q anan anpaljaq p u t uquq

i nan

The others went before and stayed on a boat 7.

anaßa

uyama-n

lplinc-NOM stay behind-PAST anaßaq uyaman

We stayed behind 8.

put u

ana-a:lu

ana:na

an^aßa-p

mularaya

boat-ABS come-PRES-HERE lplinc-ACC take-PAST Thursday Island put uq a n a : l u q a na : n a q ant aßap m u l a r a y a q

The boat came and took us to Thursday Island 9.

anaßa

anma-n m u l a r a y a

lplinc-NOM go-PAST Thursday Island anaßaq anmana mu l a r a y a q

We went to Thursday Island 10.

awulj i

ana:na

u- k a

house-ABS lplinc-ACC give-PAST awulj iq ana : naq u ka :

[They] gave us a house 11.

u r a - n a ama

mi:na-:yma

aßukup

this-? man-ABS mark-COMl-ABS big-ABS ur anaq ama m i : n a : y m a q aßukup

There was a man with big stripes 12.

an a : n a

aramu

u-ka:

lplinc-ACC clothes-ABS give-PAST a n a : n a q aramuq u k a : q

[They] gave us clothes 13.

t ar awul j i

aqkutu

winta:p

uka:namu mutupanamu

trousers-ABS shorts-ABS shirt-ABS shoe-ABS long socks-ABS t ar awul ; iq a q k u t u q w i n t a : p

uka:namuq mutupanamuq

[There were] trousers, shorts, shirts, shoes and long socks 14.

u n t u - : p u n ayußa

aramu

in ti-n

there-ABL lsg-NOM clothes-ABS buy-PAST u n t u : p u n ayußaq aramuq

intin

Then I bought [some] clothes

Texts 15.

umap-upku

ati:na

u-ka:

European-ERG lsg-DAT give-PAST umapupkup a t i : nap u k a : p

A European gave me [some] 16.

u n t u - : p u n ayu

ana-n

nau now

there-ABL lsg-NOM go-PAST u n t u : pun ay a nan nau Then I went 17.

ayi

u l a : mu

wa-ya:

umap-anamu

food-ABS 3non-sg-GEN-ABS cook-PAST European-GEN-ABS a y i 0 u l a : mu waya: p umapanamuQ

[i] cooked the Europeans' food 18.

ki^ina-pu

ayu

apa-n

u nt u

yuta-pu

aßukup

kitchen-OBL lsg-NOM stand-PAST there house-OBL

big

k i l j i n a p u p ay apan u n t u y u t a p u p aßukup

I stood in the kitchen there in the big house 19.

ayu

wa - y a :

wa-ya:

wa-ya:

ayi

u l a: mu

lsg-NOM cook-PAST cook-PAST cook-PAST food-ABS 3non-sg-GEN-ABS umay-ku

European-DAT ayu waya:

waya:

waya:

a y i p u l a: mu p umaykup

I cooked and cooked and cooked the food for the Europeans 20.

umap

upina

European-ABS

other-ABS go-PRES-HERE food-ABS lsg-NOM give-PAST

ana-a:lu

ayi

ayu

u-ka:

umap u p i n a p a n a : l u p a y i p ay u k a : p

Other Europeans would come and I would give them food 21.

ayu

ul a: p1j u

u-ka:

lsg-NOM 3non-sg-DAT give-PAST ay ul a: p1j up u ka : p

I gave [it] to them 22.

ul aßa

ana-n

upina

ana-a:lu

3non-sg-N0M go-PAST other-ABS come-PRES-HERE ul aßap anan u p i n a p a n a : l u p

They would go and others would come 23.

amama

amama

amama

get up-REDUP-PRES get up-REDUP-PRES get up-REDUP-PRES amamap amamap amamap [They] would all get up 24.

ama

u p i p ya

ama

upipya

aßukup

man-ABS eat-REDUP-PRES man-ABS eat-REDUP-PRES big-ABS amap u p i p y a amap u p i p y a aßukup

People were eating lots the whole time 25.

unma:wa

wupaypa

nighttime daytime unma:wap wupaypap

Night [and] day 26.

wuntup

atumu

ma:ru-ma-n

back-ABS lsg-GEN-ABS tired-INCHO-PAST wuntup atumu ma:ruman

My back got tired

399

4 00

27.

Uradhi ama

up i na

apama a n a - a : l u

man-ABS other-ABS not

come-PRES-HERE

amap u p i n a p apamap a n a : I up

Another man did not come [to take my place] 28.

ayußa

ipima

a p l j a pl j a

kiljina-pu

lsg-NOM one-ABS stand-REDUP-PRES kitchen-OBL ay u ßa p

ipimap apljapljap

kiljinapup

I was standing [there] on my own in the kitchen 29.

ayußa

ayi

wa-ya:

ayi

wa-ya:

lsg-NOM food-ABS cook-PAST food-ABS cook-PAST ayuß a y i

wa y a:

ayi

waya:p

I cooked and cooked food 30.

31.

u n t u - : p u n ay u ßa ana-n fo transpot there-ABL lsg-NOM go-PAST (for transport) u n t u : p u n a y u ß a p a nan fo transpot Then I went to [work for] transport u n t u - : p u n ay u

putu-pu

yarka-n

there-ABL lsg-NOM boat-OBL jump-PAST u n t u r p u n ay u

putupu

yarkan

Then I jumped onto a boat 32.

ana-n

ay u ßa

ipljh nu

go-PAST lsg-NOM Cowal Creek an an ay u ßa p

iplj i : nup

I went [to] Cowal Creek 33.

iplj i : nu fa:m Cowal Creek farm-ABS iplj i : nup fa:m [At] Cowal Creek [there was a] farm

34.

ayi

ulaßa

a5a:-pu

anta-n

food-ABS 3non-sg-N0M hole-OBL put-PAST ayip

ulaßap aöa:pup antan

They used to plant food in holes Text III - Translation. The Europeans came (to Cowal Creek) and 4 signed up (with the army) along with Larry Martin, Martin Ropeyarn and Johnny Mamoose. That was all that went. The others had gone before and were on a ship, and we had stayed behind. A ship came and took us to Thurs­ day Island. We went there and they gave us a house. There was a man with big stripes who gave us clothes: trousers, shorts, shirts, shoes and long socks. Then I bought some clothes and a European gave me some clothes. Then I went and cooked food for the Europeans. I stood in the kitchen there in the big building and cooked food for the Europeans. Others would come and I would give them food; they would go and others would come, then they would all get up (and go). People were eating the whole time, day and night. My back got tired, but there was no one to take my place. I would stand there on my own in the kitchen cooking food. Then I went to work for Transport and from there I got on a boat and went to Cowal Creek. At Cowal Creek there was a farm where they used to plant food in holes. Text III - Notes 1 8

Note again the use of the present tense as narrative past. The place name m u l a r a y a 'Thursday Island' is not marked to express the general oblique case. This is a regular feature of place names,

Texts

10

11

14 16

17 18 21 23

30

401

as pointed out in 3.2.1. The use of the accusative to express the indirect object seems un­ usual, as the dative is normally used (cf. Text I, line 4). This is not a mistake however, as the same feature is found also in line 12 of the present text. The function of the -na suffix is unknown. It is clearly not an accusative marker, as the sentence is an existential one. The stripes referred to are the stripes of a senior army officer. Note the use of u n t u : p u n 'from there' as a discourse device meaning 'then'. The narrator uses the English nau in association with u n t u : p u n to express a sequence of events. The pronoun ul ar mu foregrounds the noun umapanamu, which occurs in the 'afterthought' construction mentioned in 4.1.1. The 'big house' referred to is the famous Grand Hotel of Thursday Island. The indirect object of the verb u 'give' is here expressed with the usual dative case, (cf. line 10 where the accusative is used). Note the use of the reduplicated form to indicate the large number of people involved, and the fact that the action took place cease­ lessly, with soldiers coming and going the whole time (3.4.4). Note the narrator's lapse into English.

VOCABULARY ALPHABETICAL VOCABULARY The following vocabulary contains a full listing of all checked lexical items in Uradhi. The alphabetical order followed is: a, a : , ß, u : , w, y.

5,

e,

e:,

y,

i,

i :,

k,

I , m,

n,

q,

n, p ,

p,

r,

p, t ,

t,

$,

u,

For each item, full specification of dialect distribu­ tion and word-class membership is given where this is known. In parentheses following an item is the attested dialect distribution using the following abbreviations (as in the grammar): (AT) - attested in the Atampaya dialect; (AN) - attested in the Angkamuthi dialect; (Y) - attested in the Yadhaykenu dialect.

Attestations in more than one dialect are expressed by means of a slash, e.g. (AT/AN) - attested in both the Atampaya and Angkamuthi dialects.

Word-class membership is indicated by: N - noun Adj - adjective Vtr - transitive verb Vintr - intransitive verb

Part - particle Int - interjection Time - time marker Place - place marker

For nouns and adjectives, the declension membership which determines the choice of the ergative allomorph is indicated

402

Uradhi

by the Roman numerals I, II and III on vowel-final forms (3.2.1). For verbs, the conjugation membership is also in­ dicated by Roman numerals, with subscript letters where necessary. Irregular verbs are marked by 'irr' (3.4.2). Proper names are included in the alphabetical list, but not in the vocabulary by semantic fields. Grammatical words such as pronouns and demonstratives are in neither list they are fully discussed in the grammar, section 3.3. Par­ ticles are included in the alphabetical list (see also 4.6). aßa, (AN/Y), N: place, camp aßa, (AN/Y), Vtr II: cover, bury a ß a - a ö a l , (Y), N: burial ground aßa-a5a :, (AN), N: burial ground aßa-mapa, (AN), N: cliff a ß a n t a , (Y), Vtr III: split a ß a : 5 i , (AN/Y), N: scrub hen aßa: yma, (AN/Y), Adj: hollow a ß t , (AT/AN/Y), N: swamp a ß i 5 a , (AN/Y) N: intestines aß i I, (Y), N: name aßu, (AT/AN/Y), Int: cheerio, an

expression of parting aßukup, (AN/Y), Adj: large, big a5a, (AT), Vtr II: hurt a 5 a I, (AT/Y), N: hole aöampa, (AT), N: long yam sp. aSapa, (Y), Vtr: chase, hunt for aöapama, (AT), Place: in the middle aSapwant a, (AT), Vtr II: plant a Sar ampi nu, (AT), N: armpit a 5 a :, (AN), N : hole a ö e : n i , (AT), Vintr IV: stop

still (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: give birth to, lay egg, wait for, keep a 3 i p , (AN/Y), Adj: hungry a 5 u 5 a : , (AN), Adj: sick a5up, (AN/Y), N: money aya, (AT), Adj: sour, salty a y a , (Y), N: axe a y a I, (AT/Y), N: shoulder ayanapuSa, (AT), N: chest a y a r i , (Y), N: spotted stingray a y a t i p u , (AN/Y), Adj: heavy, large a y a : , (AN), N: shoulder ayu, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: fond of, desirous of ayumpa, (AT) , N: clothes ayumu, (AT/AN), N II: centipede, spider ayun, (AT/AN/Y), N: bailer shell ayuripanu, (AT), N: medium-sized bee sp. ayuyma, (AN), Vintr IV: dream, be in love ayuypu, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: not fond

a5i,

of, not desirous of, dislike a y u : l a , (AT/Y), N: forest bloodwood a k a , (AT), N: root of tree a k a y a , ( Y ) , N: large eaglehawk a k a n t i : , (AN), N: wongai plum a k a n t y a l , (Y) , N: wongai plum a k a r a - a k a r a , (Y) , N: green frog a k a r i , (Y) , N: white ibis a k a ^ u t a w a , (AT), N: hammer bird a k a y , (AT/AN/Y), Int: expression

of surprise akayma, (AT/AN/Y), Place: down, beneath a k a : n t u , (AN/Y), Place: downwards a k a : p u , (AT), Place: downwards a k i m p a t a , (AT/AN), Adj: small; (AT) N: child a k i n t a , (AN/Y), Place: up a k i t a - a k i t a , (Y) , N: ear wax a k i t a y a , (AT), N: ear wax a k i l j a , (AT/AN), N: house, church a k u , (AT/AN/Y), N: tick, lice a k u m i , (AT), N: dilly-bag, marsup­ ial's pouch, white fish a k u n , (AN/Y), N: vagina a k u p , (AT/AN/Y), N: skin, bark of tree akup-apa, (AT), Vintr.irr: be j ealous a k u r p u , (AT/AN/Y), N: red kangaroo a k u t i y a , (Y), N: willy-wagtail a k u y u , (AT), Adj: jealous a k w a , (AT), N: spear a k waß ap , (AT), N: sour white apple akwanumu, (AT), N III: dingo ak y a mu, (AT), N: frill-neck lizard a k y a n , (AT/AN), N: moon a k y a n , (AT), N: shark a k y a n - a y a t i p u , (AN), N: full moon a k y a nmu , (AN/Y), N: frill-neck lizard a k y a p a n i , ( A T ) , Vintr IV: finish a k y a r a m a , ( A T ) , Vintr II: spread a k y a : n a , ( Y ) , N: moon a k y a : n a - a p u ö a , ( A T ) , N: full moon a k y i , ( A T / A N / Y ) , Vtr II: see, look at

Alphabetical vocabulary akyun, (AT), N: place, camp ala, (AT), N: night-owl sp. alapkara, (AT), N: death adder alapkata, (AN/Y), N: death adder alapkup, (AN/Y), N: crayfish, prawn a Iant i, (AT), N: sweat a Iap i, (Y), Vintr IV: vomit, sp it alarkuSi, (AT), N: brolga alaljipa, (Y), Vintr II: bark alßa, (AT/AN/Y), N: wind alßa, (AT), N: worm alßa-ayara, (AT/AN/Y), N: monsoonal wind alßa I, (AT), N: plain alßamu, (AT), Adj: small a Iya, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr II: fall, die alya5a, (AT), N: fern a Iyap, (AT/AN), Adj: clever alyari, (AN), N: white-tail stingray alyu:mala, (Y), N: child alu, (AN/Y), N II: small crab sp. alwu, (Y), N: yellow-tail bee ama, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr IV: fly, get up, wake up ama, (AT), N (erg: ama:lu): man, person ama, (AN/Y), N (erg: amalu): man, person ama-a5aI, (AT), N: burial ground ama-apu5a, (AT/AN/Y), N: skeleton amalitaöi, (AT), N: old lady amantiöi, (AT/AN/Y), N: spouse's father amapma, (AT), Adj II: large, big amatinu, (AT/Y), N III: girl ama:ka, (AT/Y), N: message stick ama: pa, (AT), N: place nameami, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: hear, listen to ami, (AT/AN/Y), N: mother's mother amiöa, (AN/Y), N: mother's mother am in, (AT), N: mother's mother amintapii, (AT), N: king parrot ampa:mu, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: male ampi, (AT/AN/Y), N I: yamstick, large-leaf wattle sp. ampi, (AT), Vtr II/IV: take out ampimana, (Y), N: clearing ampinampi, (AT/AN), N: hair

4 03

ampu, (AN/Y), N: tooth, bow of canoe ampun, (AT/AN/Y), N: passionfruit amputumup, (AN/Y), N: red apple amputumupu, (AT/AN/Y), N: Place name ampya, (AT), Place: up amu, (Y), Int: expression of agree­ ment, also amu ku5i, (AT), N I: friend ana, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr.irr: go, come ani, (AN/Y), N: ground, dirt, sand, sugar ani-unupku:, (AN), N: dust anipa, (AN), Vtr II: spill anki, (AN/Y), Vtr II: spear anma, (AT/AN), Vintr IV: go, come anpaI, (Y), N : eye anpal-atan, (Y), N: eyebrow anpaI-waIi:p, (Y), Adj: sharpsighted anpal-wunpa, (Y), N: eyeball anpapu, (AT/AN/Y), N: husband anpapi, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr IV: climb up anpapja, (AT), Adj: new anpapi;a(ma) , (AT), Time: long time ago; (AT), Place: in front of anpapljamu ku5 i, (AT), Adj: new anparamu, (AT), N: crayfish sp. anpafa, (AN), Adj: satisfied anpati, (Y), N: porcupine anpalja(ma), (AN/Y), Time: long time ago; Place: in front of anpa:, (Y), Place: above anpa:ntu, (Y), Place: upwards anpima, (Y), Place: above anpu, (AN), N: bonefish anpup, (Y), N: kookaburra anpu:, (AN), N: plains wallaby anta, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: leave, put (down) antaya, (AN/Y), N: black teatree antanapa, (AT), Vtr II: drop antawapu, (AT), N: war spear ante:Ii, (AT), N : log antu, (AN/Y), N: canoe antu5i, (AT), N: heart antu:n, (AN/Y), N: heart anupu, (AT), Vtr III: squeeze apa, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: dig aparnpa, (AT), N II: oar apka, (AN/Y), N: mouth apka, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: peel, open, take out apka-inpiri, (AN), N: lip ap ka-i:3a, (AN/Y), N: beard apka-i:Sanamu, (AN), N: razor

404

Uvadhi

apkapka, ( A T ) , N I I : k o o k a b u r r a aqkapa, (Y) , N: h a t a q k a t a , (AN), N: n a t i v e c a t apkalja, ( Y ) , N: f r e s h w a t e r c a t f i s h apkayma, ( A N / Y ) , V i n t r IV: s i n k , d r o wn

apka:ri,

( A T / A N / Y ) , V i n t r IV: l a u g h a qk i , (Y ), V tr I I : sp ear a p k i l j i , (AN) , N: h a n d k e r c h i e f ( L o a n ) aqku, (AN), N: a n k l e apkukya, (AN), V i n t r IV: a s k apkuQkun, ( A T ) , Adj : s a t i a t e d apkup, ( AT / AN/ Y) , N: q u e e n f i s h aQkutumala, ( Y ) , N: b u l r u s h e s aqkutu, ( AN/ Y) , A d j : s h o r t ; ( AN) , N: s h o r t s a q k u : l a , ( A T ) , N: a n k l e , bow o f canoe apkwa, (AT), V t r I I I : c r a w l a q u p u S i , ( A T ) , N: b l a c k i b i s a q u r u p y a l , ( A T ) , N: w h i t e - t a i l stingray a q w a r a , (AT/ AN) , N: q u a i l a q w a : , (AN), N: eye a q w a : - a p a n , (AN) , N: e y e l a s h a q w a : - a t a n , ( AN) , N: e y e b r o w a p w a : - m u n t a , (AN) , N: e y e b a l l a q y a I , ( A T ) , N : name a n a , (AT / AN/ Y) , N: b r e a t h , p i m p l e , wart a n a : y m a , (AN/ Y) , A d j : a l i v e a n i : m a , (AT), A d j: a l i v e a n t a ß a , (AT/Y), V tr I I I : t a k e , carry, bring a n t a r a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: s c o r p i o n , flame, spear grass an ta yp a, ( AN/ Y) , V t r I I I : t a k e , carry, bring a n j j p e , (AT), V t r I I : s p e a r a n t u , ( Y ) , N: r e d c l a y antumt ip, (Y) , N: s e a m u l l e t ant up, ( AN/ Y) , N: p e n i s a nut a, ( A T ) , V i n t r I I : p u f f apa, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: c h i n apa, (AT / AN/ Y) , V i n t r . i r r : s t a n d apan, ( AN/ Y) , N: g r a s s ( g e n e r i c ) a p a n - a y a t a , ( AN) , N: b u l r u s h e s apan-yampa, ( AN) , N: t e a - l e a v e s apanuma, ( A T ) , A d j : s t r a i g h t apa:mu, (AN), N: s p o t t e d s t i n g r a y a p a : r a , ( A T ) , N: r o a d ap i : , (AN) , N : name apman, ( A T ) , N: s a n d f l y apmap, ( AN/ Y) , N: s a n d f l y aplja, ( A T ) , P a r t : t o o mu c h , a l o t apijayaßuma, ( A T ) , T i m e : y e s t e r d a y aplja I , ( A T ) , N: m i l k w o o d

aplj a I ant, i nu , ( AN) , N: b o y apijaramu, (AN) , N: w h i t e c r a n e apijin, ( AN/ Y) , N: h o n e y , l a r g e s t bee s p . a p l j i r i , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: c o r r o b o r e e song a p l j h k a , ( AN) , V i n t r IV: r e j o i c e , be happy a p l j i - . ma , ( A T ) , V i n t r I I : r e j o i c e , be happy apljul, ( A T / Y ) , N: a s h e s a p t u : , (AN) , N: a s h e s apura, ( A T ) , N: m o u t h apa, ( A T ) , V t r I I : p i c k up apaöapa, (AN) , V t r I I : k n o c k o v e r apakura, ( A T ) , N: w a t e r s n a k e apakya, (AN) , V i n t r I I : r i s e , come up a p a I , ( Y ) , N: b a s k e t s n a k e a p a m a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , V i n t r I I : b e silent apanu, ( AT/ AN), N: h o n e y c o m b a p a p a n t i , ( Y ) , V i n t r IV: r o l l a p a ra , (AN) , A d j : f l a t apapaqka, ( A T ) , V t r I I : s p l i t , bash a p i , ( A T /A N/ Y) , N: f a t h e r ' s m o t h e r a p i 5 a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: f a t h e r ' s mother a p i : y a , ( A T ) , N: r e d a p p l e a p i :m a , ( AN) , V i n t r I I : g r o w apuöa, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: b o n e a p u 5 a - a pu 3 a , ( A T ) , A d j : s k i n n y apu5a- wußu , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: m a r r o w apuSama, ( A T / A N/ Y) , P l a c e : together apuSi npal , ( Y ) , N: b r o w n s n a k e s p . apuöi pwal , ( A T ) , N: b r o w n s n a k e s p. apul , ( Y ) , N: p l a i n s w a l l a b y apulukup, ( A T / A N ) , A d j : k n o w l e d g e ­ able apun, ( AN/Y) , N: h e a d , e n d o f som ething, w allaby apun- apu5a, (AN/Y), N: s k u l l a p u n -i p im a , (AN/Y), N: s p o t t e d stingray apun-wußu, ( AN/ Y) , N: b r a i n ap ur a, ( AT/ AN) , N I I : b l u e - t o n g u e lizard apura, ( Y ) , N ( e r g : apur a I u): blue-tongue liz a rd apu:kup, ( Y ) , A d j : k n o w l e d g e a b l e ar a Si , ( A T ) , A d j : l a r r i k i n aramu, ( Y ) , N: s h o r t - n o s e b a n d i ­ coot aramu, ( AN/ Y) , N: c l o t h e s araplji, (Y) , N: u m b r e l l a p a l m

Alphabetical vocabulary aratanu, (AT), N: spear gum arya, (AT), Vintr II: want arira, (AT/AN), N: bird (generic) arka, (AN/Y), N: spear arkaöarku, (Y) , N: turtledove arkawap, (AN), N: porcupine arkaymu, (AN/Y), N: dingo arkaymuQU, (AN/AT/Y), N: place name aru, (AT), N III: axe aru, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr III: hit apama, (AT/AN/Y), Part: not, no apinta, (AT), Vtr: enter a puplj i, (Y) , N: yellowfruit a pupa, (AT/AN/Y), N I: drum ataßa (AT/AN/Y), N: river, feather ataßa-pupa I, (AT), N: Torres Strait pigeon ata5a, (AT), N: barramundi ataya, (AT), N: red clay atal, (AT/Y), N: string, rope, fishing line atampan, (AT), N: axe atampara, (AT), N I: spider, centipede atampata, (Y), N: spider, centipede atamuöi, (AT), N: native cat atantayaöi, (AT), N: red-neck f inch atapkal, (AT), N: hollow digging stick atanti, (AN/Y), N III: blue gum, firestick ataraöeri, (AT), Adj: wrinkled, rough atata, (Y), Vtr II: pour atata, (Y), N: ant orchid atayan, (AT), N : fog ata:, (AN), N: string, rope, fishing line ati, (AT/Y), Vtr II: cover ati-yampa, (AT), N: tea-leaves atimari, (AT), N: leech at ip i, (AT), Vtr IV: follow at i:p , (Y), N: trevally at par ipu, (AT), Adj: flat atpa:ntu, (AN/Y), Place: towards the horizon ata, (AN/Y), Adj: rotten at a, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: tie, weave atamu5i, (AT), N: native cat atanakaöi, (AT/Y), N: masked owl atata, (Y), N: spike, quill atawup, (Y), N: butterfly

405

ataya, (AT), N II: scorpion atayma, (AT). Vintr II: rise ati, (AT/AN/Y), N: mother's father ati5a, (AT/AN/Y), N: mother's father atita-atita, (AN), N: curlew atiya, (AT/Y), N: Burdekin duck atu5i, (AT), Adj: rotten aturup, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: soft, weak atjal, (AT/Y), N: cloud, sky aljan, (AN/Y), Part: too much, a lot aljana (AT), N: spring aijanpa, (AN), Adj: cold aijara, (AT), N: rat, mouse aijaraki, (AN), N: rat, mouse aljawi, (AT/AN/Y), N: ear, mushroom aljawiti, (AN), N: umbrella palm aljawiti, (AN), Adj: sorry a1,aw it inaqa , (AN), Vtr II: remind alja:, (AN), N: cloud, sky aljika, (AN/Y), N: cigarette ajj in, (AN) , N: egg aijitaka, (AT), N: saltwater aljitawa, (AT), N: dragon-fly aijura, (AT/AN/Y): N: black-fin shark, swordfish awa, (AN), Vtr: cover awant i, (AN/Y), N: dilly-bag awanti-ita, (AN), N: basket snake awawa, (Y), Vtr III: pull awa:yma, (AT/AN/Y), Place: outside awu, (AT), Vintr III: bark awunpuöa, (AN/Y), N: chest awunumu, (AT), N: fish-trap awulja, (AN), N: breast awuij i , (AT/AN), N: house aya, (AT/AN/Y), N: tin, can aya, (Y), Vtr II: kick ayaI, (AT/Y), N: noise, fever, sickness ayama, (AT/AN), N: flesh ayampa, (Y), N: high tide ayanaya, (AT), N: maggot ayapki, (AT), N: root ayara, (AT/AN/Y), N: rainy season, sparrowhawk ayarima, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: sick ayalja, (Y), N: Christmas, novice t ime ayi, (AN/Y), N: vegetable food ayi-apun (AN/Y), N: fruit, seed ayißara, (AT), Adj: tired ayinamu, (AN), Adj: greedy ayki, (AT/Y), N: chick aypa, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: hold, touch

406

Uradhi-

a ypa I , ( A T ) , N: m u s c l e , c a l f aypan, ( A T ) , N: s t o n e , money aypap, ( A N / Y ) , N: s t o n e aypap-yutumanu , ( Y ) , N: q u a r t z aypara, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N I I : g r e e n frog

ayparumpiwa, ( A T ) , N: s p a r r o w h a w k aypura, ( A T / Y ) , N: m a g g o t ayußan, ( AT ) , N: s p o u s e ' s m o t h e r ayußap, ( AN/ Y) , N: s p o u s e ' s m o t h e r ayun, (AT/ AN), N: s e a , w a v e s , f l o o d ayup, ( Y ) , N: n a t i v e a l m o n d a yura , ( A T ) , N: t i d e a : l a , ( A T ) , N: m o t h e r ' s y o u n g e r brother ( A T / A N/ Y) , I n t : r e q u e s t repetition a r n i m a , ( Y ) , V t r I I : do a : y p a , (Y), V tr I I : s p i l l

a:ni,

ö a l a p k u p , (AT), N ( e r g : Salapkupku): c r a y f is h ,

for

prawn

y akant yal , ( A T ) , N: w o n g a i p l u m yantu, ( A T ) , N: c a n o e yata, ( A T ) , A d j : r o t t e n , s m e l l y y ipi,

( Y ) , N: k n i f e

ißaöa, ( AN/ Y) , N: f a t h e r ißakya, ( A T / Y ) , V i n t r IV:

dance, play i ß a I , ( A T / Y ) , N: s o n g i ß a l i k y a , (AN), V i n t r IV: d a n c e , play i ß a : , (AN), N: song i ß a : m a , (AN), V i n t r I I / I V : f l y i ß i ö i , ( A T ) , N: b l u e gum i ß u p , ( AT ) , N ( e r g : i ß u p k u ) : father iöaßa, ( A T ) , A d j : a f r a i d i Sa l , ( A T ) , N: e e l i öal ßa, ( AN/ Y) , A d j : a f r a i d iöamu, ( AT ) , N: g r a s s ( g e n e r i c ) i 5 a : , (AN), N: e e l i5inipa, (AT), V t r I I : c h a s e , hunt for i yal , ( A T ) , N: s m a l l p a r r o t s p . iyanapa, ( AT/ AN), V t r I I : b r e a k i yayki , ( A T ) , N: s m a l l p a r r o t s p . ikama, ( AN/ Y) , A d j : g o o d , c l e a n ikampara, ( AT ) , N I : c r o c o d i l e ikamu, ( A T ) , N: b l a c k k a n g a r o o ikanma, ( A T ) , A d j : g o o d , c l e a n ikanpa, ( AN/ Y) , N ( e r g : ikanpatu): crocodile i k u , (AT / AN/ Y) , N I : s h o r t - n o s e bandicoot

i k u I u ß a , ( A T ) , N: s i d e i k u n a m u , ( AN/ Y) , N: b a n d i c o o t grass i k u : n a mu , ( A T ) , N: b a n d i c o o t g r a s s i k y a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: l a n g u a g e i k y a , ( A T / A N / Y) , V i n t r IV: s p e a k i k y a y a n t a m a , (AT), A d j: s h i n y , clean, b rig h t i k y a m i , (AT), V t r I I : h e a r , l i s t e n to i k y a m i p k y a , (AN) , V i n t r I I : b a r k i k y a y p a , ( A N / Y) , V i n t r I I : c h a t t e r i l a p k a , ( A T / Y ) , N: m a h o g a n y i Ia : n a , ( Y ) , V i n t r I I : w a l k a r o u n d i I ßa I , ( Y ) , A d j : l o n g i l ß a l a k u p , ( AN) , A d j : l o n g i l ß a n , ( A T / A N) , A d j : many i l ß i , ( A T ) , N: l o n g , t h i n g r a s s s p . i I y u I , ( Y ) , N: s h ad e i I yu : , ( A N ) , N : s h a d e i I i 5 a , ( A T ) , N: a n t o r c h i d ima, ( A T ) , N: b l u e b i r d i ma l j ak a , ( A T / A N / Y ) , N: g r e y kangaroo i m a y k i , ( A T ) , N: b l u e b i r d i ma : I i , ( A T ) , N: w h i t e c r a n e im a :r u , (AT), Adj: t i r e d i m u n t a l , ( A T ) , N: s h e l l f i s h ( g e n ­ e r i c ) , t y p e o f w o o me r a imupu, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: s p o u s e ' s brother i n a , (AT/AN/Y), V i n t r . i r r : s i t , s ta y , 1iv e i n i m i ö i , ( A T ) , N: r i g h t h a n d i n m u I , (Y) , N: b l a c k b o y p a l m i n m u : , ( AN) , N: b l a c k b o y p a l m i n m u : l u , ( A T ) , N: b l a c k b o y p a l m i npa I , ( A T / Y ) , N: t a i l i n p a r a , ( AN) , N: l u n g i n p a l j a l , ( A T ) , N: b o n y b r e a m i n p a : , (AN), N: t a i l i n p u r a , (AN), N: l i l y i n p y a I , ( Y ) , N: s m a l l p a r r o t s p . i p a m a y k i , ( A T ) , N: p e e w e e i p a mu , ( A T ) , N I I I : f i s h t r a p i n a , ( A N / Y ) , N: m e a t , m u l l e t i n a - a p i : , ( AN) , N: f i s h ( g e n e r i c ) i n a - i l j u : yma , ( Y ) , N: f l y i n g f i s h i na m a , ( Y ) , A d j : n a k e d i n a n , ( A T ) , N: f i s h h a w k i n a n t u p , ( Y ) , N: l a n d g o a n n a i n e n , ( A T ) , N: v a g i n a i n i , ( A N / Y) , N: w a t e r s n a k e i n i ^ u k u S i , (AT), N I I : g r o p e r i n t a n , ( Y ) , N: w a s p , h o r s e f l y , marchfly i n t a - . n i , ( AT / AN) , N I I : w a s p ,

A lp h a b e tic a l v o c a b u la ry 4 0 7 h o rs e fly , marchfly i n t i , ( A N ) , V t r I I : buy i n t i r u i , (AT/AN/Y) , N: s t o r y p l a c e o f br own s n a k e i n t u , (AT/AN/Y), V i n t r I I I : l o o k for i n y a , (AT/AN/Y), N: f a t h e r ’ s sister i p a , (AN), I n t : e x p r e s s i o n o f s u r p r i s e or agreement i p l j a n t u , (Y) , A d j: many i p 1 j i : n u , (AT/AN/Y), N: p l a c e name, Cowal C r e e k iplj uya, ( AT) , N I I : s t i n g i n g tree i pj up, ( AT), N: b e a c h goa nna i piju:nu, (AT), N: r e d a n t b e d ipa I aka, (AN), V i n t r IV: s p l i t ipamu, ( Y ) , N: b l a c k k a n g a r o o i pan, (AT), N: b e e h i v e i p a n t e , ( AT), V t r I I I : b u r y i pan, ( A T ) , N: e y e i p a n - a t a n , (AT), N: eye br ow i pan—I ut p i , (AT), N: e y e b a l l i pan- munt a, (AT), N: e y e b a l l i pan- wuypu, (AT), N: b a d e y e s i p a n - wu y p u 5 i , ( AT), A d j : b l i n d i p a n t a r a , (AT), N: me ss ma t e i p a : t a , (AN), V t r I I : c u t , chop i p i , (AT/AN/Y), N I : w a t e r , r a i n i pi - a l j a n a , (AT), N: s p r i n g i p i - i n p a l , ( Y ) , N: s a l t w a t e r i p i - i n p a : , (AN), N: s a l t w a t e r i p i - mu t u p, (AT), N: l a k e i p i —u I i : p , ( AN/Y) , N: s t r o n g d r i n k i p i ö i , ( AT), N: b e a c h sa go i pi ma, (AN/Y), A d j: o n e i p i p a pa , ( AT), V t r I I : wash i p i p i , ( AT/ Y) , V i n t r I I I : swim i p i r i - i p i r i , (AN/Y), N: brown pigeon i p i : n a m u , (AT), N: b i l l y c a n i p u k a , ( AT), V i n t r I I : s i n k , drown i p u n u, ( Y ) , N: t o n g u e i r i m p i , (AT), N: r o o t o f g r a s s i r i l j a , (AN), N: r a z o r (Loan) i p i , ( Y ) , N: s l e e p i t a , (AT/AN/Y), N I : s n a k e , s h a r k i t a —uI i : p , (AN/Y), N: t a i p a n i t a S i , (AT), N: b u l r u s h e s i t a p k a l , ( A T / Y ) , N: s c r u b t u r k e y i t i 5 a , (AT/Y), N: g r a s s h o p p e r i t i k i y i , (AT), N: b l a c k a n t i t i m a n , ( AT), N: k a p a m a r i t r e e i t i m a p , (AN), N: k a p a m a r i t r e e i t i n t i , (AT), N: f i s h ’ s f i n

t i n t i , ( Y ) , N: ma ngr ove t i : n k i , (Y ), N I : sm all pigeon t p a I , ( A T / Y ) , N: t e a r s t p a : , (AN), N: t e a r s t u , (AN), N: t e s t i c l e s t u , (AT), N: boxwood t u ß a , (AT), N: t h o r n , p r i c k l e t u ß a p k a . (AT), V t r I I : smoot h t a y a , (AT), N: f l o w e r t a I , ( A T ) , A d j : dee p t a m a y k i , (AT), N: s m a l l e s t b e e s p . t a mu , (AT), N: y o u n g e r b r o t h e r o r sister t a n , (AT), N: b l a d y g r a s s t a n , (AT), A d j: s h a r p t a n p a , (AT), N: s c r u b w a l l a b y t a r i , (AN), Ad j : s l ow t a y u , ( AN) , N: f o g t i n , (AN), N: t h i g h , r o o t o f t r e e t i p a , (AT), N: s h a k e - a - l e g corroboree t i t i r i , (AT/AN), N I : w i l l y w agtail t i : n a , (AT/Y), N: t h i g h , r o o t o f tree t i : n a : n a m u , (AT), N: t r o u s e r s t i : n k i , ( Y) , N: s m a l l p i g e o n s p . J a I, (AT), N: s p l i n t e r j a n , (AT), N: b l a d y g r a s s J a n k a , ( Y) , N: b l a d y g r a s s J a n p a , (AT/AN/Y), N: s c r u b w a l l a b y J i S u p k a , (AT), V t r I I I : h e a p up J i y a , (AT/AN/Y), N: M o r et o n Bay fig J i n , ( Y) , N: s c r a t c h i n g , a b r a s i o n J i t i , (Y) , N: t h o r n , p r i c k l e J u p , (AN/Y), N: f e a t h e r J u : p , (Y) , N: l o n g - c l a w e d c r a b s p . w a I , ( Y ) , N: t e m p l e wamanaqa, (AT), V t r I I : s h a k e wan, (AT/AN/Y), N: m o s q u i t o , j a b i r u wapa, (AT), N: t e m p l e wapa na, (AT), A d j: d r u n k w a: , (AN), N: t e m p l e w a: n a , ( Y ) , A d j: d r u n k w i , (AT), N: m o r n i n g b i r d wup, ( Y) , N: e a r w u p -m a n a ö i , (AT), A d j: d e a f wur u, ( Y ) , N: g r e e n t u r t l e yamu, (AN/Y), N: i s l a n d y a r a , (AT), N: s e a g u l l y i , (AN/Y) , N: n o s e y i , ( A T ) , N: s l e e p y i £>a, ( AN), N: s n o t y i r i , (AT/AN/Y), N: s o r e , b l i s t e r y u p a , (AN), V t r I I : c h a s e , h u n t for

4 08 Uvadhi i y u p , ( Y ) , N: f l a t - t a i l s t i n g r a y i y u : n t a , ( AN) , N: w a t e r g o a n n a i : r a , ( AT / AN/ Y) , N: l o n g s p e a r , s p e a r w a t t l e , l a r g e o wl s p . , seasnake i : r u n , ( A T ) , N: m o p o k e , b l a c k tea tree k a l a i j i , ( Y ) , N: d r i n k i n g g l a s s (Loan) k a r u k a , ( AT / AN/ Y) , N: b e e r , s t r o n g d r i n k (Loan fr om g r o g ) k a r u k a ö i , (AT), A d j : d r u n k (Loan) k a r u k a t i , ( AN/ Y) , A d j : d r u n k ( L o a n ) k a t a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: c a r d s ( L o a n ) k a t a m a r a , ( AN/ Y) , N: w i l d b a n a n a k i m p l , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: p l a c e n e a r Cape York k i p i , ( AT / A N ) , N: k n i f e k i l j i n a , (AN) N: k i t c h e n ( L o a n ) [ k o k o ] , (AT / AN/ Y) , I n t : e x p r e s s ­ ion of p le a s e d s u r p r i s e k u r i t i p a , (AN), N: j a m t r e e k u y u r u , ( AT) , N: h a r p o o n l a k a p u , ( AT/ AN), N: j a i l , h a n d c u f f s (Loan from l o c k - u p ) l a k u n , ( A T ) , N: i n t e s t i n e s l a l a n , ( A T ) , N: t o n g u e l a n p i , (AT), V t r I I : f l o g , b e a t l a p u , (AT), V t r I I I : blo w l a y a , ( A T ) , N: w a i s t l a : l a , ( A T / Y ) , N: w h i t e c o c k a t o o I i mp a n u , ( Y ) , N: w a r s p e a r I i p a , (A T ), N: l i v e r l i p a , (AT), Adj : p r e g n a n t l i p a - w u y p u , ( A T ) , N: s t o m a c h l u k a , ( A T / Y ) , Adj I : b l u n t , l a m e lukukup, (Y), Adj: re d l u k u p , ( AN/ Y) , N: b l o o d , w i n e l u k uy ma , ( Y ) , V i n t r IV: b e r e d l u p u , (AT/ AN) , N: b o i l l u t p i , ( AT / AN/ Y) , N: b e l l y I u t p i - m a p k a , ( A T ) , N: s t o r m b i r d I u t p i - m a p k a y k i , ( A T ) , N: s t o r m b i r d l u t u y m a , ( A T ) , V i n t r IV: b e straight l u l j a , ( AN/ Y) , N: b l u e a n t b e d I u wu , ( A T / Y ) , N: s t o n e b i r d l u y a p , (AT), A d j: s u r p r i s e d ma, ( Y ) , V tr I c : p i c k u p m a ß a r a , ( A T ) , N: s h e l l f i s h s p . m aöa:ya, ( Y ) , Adj: c l e v e r m a k y a : n a , ( Y ) , A d j : many m a k y a : r a , ( A T ) , N: w i l d b a n a n a m a l a , ( Y ) , N: f i g s p .

malantapka, ( A T ) , V i n t r I I : h i c c u p ma I u , ( A N / Y ) , A d j : d e e p manara, ( A N / Y) , A d j : d i r t y , b l a c k manma, ( A T ) , N: d a r k n e s s manpatawa, ( A T ) , N: b a t mantin, ( A T ) , N: i r o n w o o d mantip, ( A N / Y ) , N: i r o n w o o d manti p, ( A T ) , N: b a r r a m u n d i mantyan, ( A T / Y ) , N: s c a r manu, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: t h r o a t manu-kapi, ( A T / Y ) , N: w i n d p i p e , c a v e manu- uki ri , ( A T / A N / Y) , N: c o u g h manunamu, ( AN) , N: h a n d k e r c h i e f manu:namu, ( A T ) , N: h a n d k e r c h i e f mapka, ( A T / A N ) , A d j : s h o r t mapkama, ( A T ) , N: s t u m p o f t r e e mapku, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: mango ( L o a n ) mapkuSi, ( A T ) , N I I : v i n e s p . manta, ( A T ) , N: s t r e n g t h mant ari , ( A T ) , A d j : f a s t manta:pa, ( AN) , V t r I I : s e n d marapi, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: b a m b o o , p i p e marapipu, (AT/AN/Y) N: p l a c e name mari, ( Y ) , N: w h i r l w i n d mapa, ( A N / Y) , N: g u l l y mapi, ( Y ) , N: s n a p p e r mata, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N I : h a n d , o u t ­ r i g g e r of canoe ( A T ) , N: k n u c k l e ( A T ) , N: l i t t l e fin g e r, fourth finger mata-apuSa, ( A T /A N/ Y) , N: w r i s t mata- aya, ( A T /A N/ Y) , N: m i d d l e finger mata-ikama, ( Y ) , N: p a l m o f h a n d mata-imunta I , ( A T ) , N: f i n g e r n a i l mat a - i pari ma , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: i n d e x finger ma t a - i t a mi k i , ( AN) , N: l i t t l e finger m a t a - i t a m u , ( Y ) , N: f o u r t h f i n g e r m a t a - u ö u r u , ( A T ) , N: p a l m o f h a n d m a t a - u k y a m a , ( A T ) , N: t h umb m a t a - u k y a n p a t u p , ( AN) , N: f o u r t h finger mata-u^uma, ( A N / Y ) , N: thumb mata-wupku, ( A T ) , N: w r i s t ma t a - y a t a l , ( Y ) , N: f i n g e r n a i l ma t a - y a t a : , (AN) , N: f i n g e r n a i l mat a- yi pa, ( AN) , N: p a l m o f h a n d matamaka, ( A T ) , A d j : s t i c k y matinmu, ( A T ) , N: w o b b e g o n g matu, ( AN/ Y) , N: p o r p o i s e malj'a, ( AT) , N: b o s s ( L o a n f r o m m a s t e r ) mawapa, ( AN/ Y) , N I I : s h a r k maya: kal a, ( Y ) , N: m a g p i e maya:kawa, ( A T ) , N: m a g p i e

mata-ali:pi, mata-amayki,

Alphabetical vocabulary

mayi, (AT), N (erg. mayirlu): vegetable food may i-inaqanu, (AT), N: bread may i-ip1,uqu-i pant epu , (AT), N: damper mayi-u q ke:n i, (AT), N: scrub yam mayi-uypup, (AT), N: largest bee sp. mayi-wapun, (AT), N: fruit, seed ma:ru, (AN/Y), A d j : tired minaypura, (AT), N I: policeman mina, (AT), N: meat, bird, game animal mint!, (AT), N: scab m inti, (Y), N: flat-back turtle m inti5i, (AT), N: loggerhead turtle miti-miti, (AN), N: sparks, wind-blown ashes mita, (AT/AN/Y), N: smell m ita, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: sweet, fresh miwin, (AT), N: scales of fish miyiöa, (AT), N: snot m i :na, (AN/Y), N: paint, mark, scar muku, (AN/Y), N: stone crab mu ku5 i, (AT), Adj: new mularaya, (AT/AN/Y) N: place name (Thursday Island) muQka, (AT/AN/Y), N: red antbed muqkaSi, (AT), N: kangaroo rat muqkaI, (Y), N: kingfisher munta, (AT/AN/Y), N: charcoal, hot coals muJjtatinu, (AT), N: currawong mupa, (AT/Y), N I: saliva, beer mupayu, (Y), N: beer muplje, (AT/AN), Vtr III: kick mupa, (AT/AN/Y), N I: child mupa-i:ma, (AT), Adj: pregnant mupaöi, (AT), Adj: pregnant mupaypa, (Y), Adj: slippery muruku, (AT/AN/Y), N: horse mupaöi, (AT), Adj: good-looking mupa:p, (AN/Y), Adj: good-looking mupi, (AN/Y), N: string, rope mutitan, (AT), N: curlew mutuma, (AN/Y), Vintr II: stop still, be silent mutunmanu, (AT), N: largest bee s p ., honey mutup, (AT/AN/Y), N: shin mutupanamu, (AN), N: long sock(s) mutan, (AT/AN/Y), N: grasshopper

409

mutapa, (AT/AN/Y), N: blackbird mutup, (AT/AN): worm, grub muypamaI, (AT), Adj: crazy muypaqa, (Y), Vtr II: rub muypap, (AT), Adj: slippery, smoo th muyu I, (AT/Y), N: pandanus muyu:, (AN), N: pandanus nani, (AT), N: ground, dirt, sand, sugar nani-mupa, (AT), N: dust naqkapußu, (AT), N: Moreton Bay fig qampapetinu, (AT), N: mountain parrot qampu, (AT), N: tooth nalun, (Y), N: sea, wave(s) napka, (AT), N I: mouth naqka-alya, (AT), Vintr II: be full (bag, basket etc) naqka-aqka, (AT), Vtr IV: open napka-inpiri, (AT), N: lips naqka-i:5a, (AT), N: beard napka-i:5 a :namu, (AT), N: razor nap ka5i, (AT), Adj: yawning nipima, (AT), Adj: one nu ka I, (AT), N: foot nukaI-amayki, (AT), N: fourth toe, little toe nukal-aya, (AT), N: middle toe nukal-aypal, (AT), N: calf of leg nuka I- imunta I, (AT), N: toenail nukaI - iparima, (AT), N: second toe nu kaI - ipi5 i, (AT), N: black duck nu kaI - Iipa, (AT), N: sole of foot nukaI-ukyuma, (AT), N: big toe nukal-wutu, (AT), N: heel nukinmapa, (AT), N: shoe

pa, (AT), Int: expression of agreement, yes pakya, (AT/AN), N: bag (Loan) palapkin, (AN), N: blanket (Loan) palawa, (AT), N: flour (Loan) palawuru, (AN/Y), N: flour (Loan) pana, (AT), N: friend panikin, (AT/AN/Y), N: cup (Loan) paraypan, (AN), N: frying pan (Loan) pawari, (AT/AN/Y), N: man's name paya, (Y), N: bag

410

Uradhi

p a y p a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: p i p e , p a p e r (Loan) pi l a , (AN), N: p i l l o w ( L o a n ) pi I i k i n , (AN), N: b i l l y c a n ( L o a n ) P i P "5 i I , (Y) , N: p e n c i l ( L o a n ) p i p a , ( Y ) , N: p a p e r ( L o a n ) p i r i t i , (AN), N: b r e a d ( L o a n ) pi l j i mara, (AT), N: t r e v a l l y pul aka, (AT/ AN/ Y), N: cow ( L o a n from b u l l o c k ) pul a pki nu, (AT), N: b l a n k e t ( L o a n ) p u l a : p k i n , ( Y ) , N: b l a n k e t ( L o a n ) p u I u , (AN), N: b u l l e t ( L o a n ) put u, (AT/AN/Y), N: s a i l b o a t , d inghy (Loan from b o a t ) pulj i , (AT/ AN/ Y), N I: c a t ( L o a n from pussy)

r a : r a , (AT), N: soap t r e e rumpun, (AT), N: c l u b , g u n r u : r a , ( AT) , N : j u i c e pa, ( A T ) , V t r l a : t h r o w , s p i l l paka, ( A T ) , V i n t r IV: j u mp pakanu, ( A T ) , Adj : b r i g h t pakuSi , ( A T ) , N: l e f t h a n d pakyara, ( A T ) , A d j : s p r e a d o u t pakyarapa, ( A T ) , V t r I I : s h a r e o u t pamp i , ( A T ) , V t r I I : t a k e o u t panta I , ( A T ) , N : h i l l papkwa, ( A T ) , V t r I I I : k n o c k o v e r panant i , ( A T ) , N: p l a i n s yam papan, ( A T ) , A d j : h a r d , r o u g h , strong p a p a n - u p u n m a , (AT), V i n t r : b e c o me s t r o n g p a p a n - u p u p a , (AT), V t r : strengthen p a p a n , ( A T ) , N: b l u e d o v e p a t a 5 a , ( AT ) , N: s o f t b e e f w o o d p a t i n u , (AT), A d j: b a l d , b a r r e n palj' up, ( A T ) , A d j : d r y paij Uy-ma, ( A T ) , V i n t r : b e d r y p i k a : p k a , (AT), V t r I I : t i c k l e pima, (AT), V t r I I : t w i r l p i n p a n a p a , (AT), V t r I I : p o u r p i p a n , ( A T ) , N: l i g h t n i n g p i : Y i n , ( A T ) , N: b e a c h p u y u 5 i , (AT), A d j: l o n g , t a l l p u p k a , ( A T ) , V i n t r IV: c r y p u p k w a n i , ( A T ) , N: s e a m u l l e t s p . p u p up , ( A T ) , N: w a t e r gum p u p a l , (AT), A d j: w h i t e pupu p u n ma , ( A T ) , T i m e : t o m o r r o w p u t u , ( AT ) , A d j : d e a d tampa,

( AN) , N: d a m p e r ( L o a n )

t a p a r a , ( AN) , N: t u r t l e ' s f l i p p e r t i k a t a , ( Y ) , N: t i c k t i n t a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: r i f l e t i n t u , ( Y ) , N: t e n t ( L o a n ) t i p k i , ( Y ) , N: d i n g h y ( L o a n ) tuwa,

(AN) , N:

store

(Loan)

tam a,

( A T / A N/ Y) , P a r t : e m p h a s i s ( A T / A N / Y ) , N: t r o u s e r s (Loan) t awupa, ( AT/ AN) , N I I : k n i f e t aympara, ( AN) , N: f r y i n g p a n ( L o a n ?) t a : r a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: r e e f t i n p a p a , ( Y ) , N: l o w t i d e t i p k i l i t i , (AN) , Y: s i n g l e t ( L o a n ) t i r i l j i , (AN) , N: d r e s s ( L o a n ) t i : mp u , ( AT/ AN) , N: l o n g - n o s e bandicoot [ t o ] , ( A T / A N/ Y) , I n t : e x p r e s s i o n of conclusion of sto ry t ukyunu, ( A T ) , N: a r m b a n d t u I u , ( A T ) , N: c r o w b a r t u r i y a , (AN) , N: c r o w b a r

t arawul j i ,

I j a r a , (Y) , N: s e a g u l l ljuyußa, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: c i g a r e t t e , t o b a c c o (Loan) l j ukukat i , (AT), N: t u r t l e d o v e 1ju:ra, (AN), N: j u i c e 1j u:tu, ( Y) , N: s h i r t ( L o a n ) u,

( A T / A N/ Y) , V t r l b : g i v e ( A T /A N/ Y) , V t r I I : b l o w , extinguish (fire ) ußantamu, ( A T ) , N: s w e e t p o t a t o ußanu, ( A T ) , A d j : c o l d u ß i 7 ( A T ) , N: l i c e ußI , (Y ), V tr I I : p r i c k , s c r a tc h u S a y k i, (Y), Adj: s m a l l ; (Y), N: c h i l d u ö i ß a , ( A T / A N/ Y) , A d j : a s h a m e d , shy, embarrassed uöi ma, ( A N / Y ) , A d j : two uöumpup, ( A T ) , N: b a c k , b a c k b o n e uSumpup- puyu5i , ( A T ) , N: t a i p a n uSuru, ( A T / Y ) , A d j : t h i c k uSyama, ( A T ) , A d j : t wo u y a , ( AT / AN/ Y) , V t r I I : s m e l l uya, ( AT / AN/ Y) , N: w a t t l e s p . uyara, ( A T / A N/ Y) , N: n a v e l uyußi nu, (AT/ AN) , N: h u n t i n g s p e a r u k a , ( A T ) , N: f r e s h w a t e r c r a b ukaI , ( Y ) , N: f o o t u k a l - a y a , ( Y ) , N: m i d d l e t o e uka I - i par ima, ( Y ) , N: s e c o n d t o e u k a l - i t a mu , ( Y ) , N: f o u r t h t o e

ußanapa,

Alphabetical vocabulary 411 u k a l - u t u , ( Y) , N: h e e l uka I-uljUma, ( Y) , N: b i g t o e u k a l - y a p w a n , ( Y ) , N: s o l e o f f o o t u k a i - y a t a l , ( Y ) , N: t o e n a i l u k a p a , (AT), N: s p i k y g r a s s ukal jaya , (AT/AN/Y), N I : l a r g e crab sp. ukaljawa, ( AT) , N I : h o r s e f l y , marchfly u k a : (AN), N : f o o t u k a : - a y a , (AN), N: m i d d l e t o e u k a : - a y p a : , (AN), N: c a l f o f l e g u k a : - i p a r i m a , (AN), N: s e c o n d t o e u k a : - i t a m i k i , (AN), N: l i t t l e t o e u ka : - u k y a n p a t u p , (AN), N: f o u r t h toe u k a : - u t u , (AN), N: h e e l uka: -u1; uma, (AN), N: b i g t o e u k a : - y a t a : , (AN), N: t o e n a i l u k a : - y i p a , (AN), N: s o l e o f f o o t u kar na mu, (AN), N: s h o e u k a r p a t i , ( Y ) , N: s e a g u l l u k i r i , (AT), V i n t r IV: cough u k i t a y a , (AT), N: e a r wax u k u ß i , ( Y) , N: e e l u k u k a n t i , ( Y ) , N: b l i s t e r u k u l y u , (AT), N: b l u e a n t b e d u k u l u , (AN), N: cuckoo u k u l u y u , ( AN/ Y) , N: c uc koo u k u l u : , (AN), N: T o r r e s S t . p i g e o n ukumaI a , (AT/AN/Y), N: s w e e t p o t a t o ( l o a n f rom P o l y n e s i a n kuma I a) ukumanapa, (AT), V t r I I : s t a n d u ku ma n t a n , (AT/AN/Y), Time: t omo r r ow ukumpur a, (AN), N: b l a c k f l y i n g fox u k unu, (AT/AN/Y), P a r t : completed a c t i o n u k u r a , (AT/AN/Y), N: l e a t h e r head t u r t l e , m o t h e r 's b r o t h e r u k u r a I , (AT), N: br own s n a k e sp. u k u r a : , (AN), N: brown s n a k e s p . u k u r u , ( Y ) , N: seaweed u kulj i , (AT) , N: e a r u k u I j i S i p a , (AT), V t r I I : r e m i n d u k wa l , (AT), N: s h a d e , sha dow, reflection u k y a , ( AT), V t r I I I : l i g h t ( f i r e ) u k ya , (AT), V i n t r IV: s h o u t u k y a 5 a , (AT), V t r I I I : show u k y a I , ( Y ) , N: dew ukyaI, (Y ), A d j: l i g h t (in weight) u ky an , (AT), N: dew u k y a n p a r i , ( Y ) , N: l o n g - t a i l

pheasant u k y a n t u p , (AT), A d j : c o l d , wet u k y a r u y a r a , (AT), A d j: l i g h t ( in w eight) u k y a : , (AN), N: dew u k y a : , ( Y) , V t r I I : show u k y i n , (AT), N: s n a p p e r u k y u l , (AT), N: smoke, s t e am u l a , (AN/Y), N: c h e e k u l a n , (AT/AN/Y), N: possum u l a p k u l a , ( AT /Y ) , N: m o r s e t r e e ulapljamu, (AT/AN), N: nunda t r e e u l a r i , ( Y ) , N: n unda t r e e u l ß a r a p a , (AT/AN), V t r I I : p u l l u I y i n, ( Y ) , N: s n o t u l i , (AT), A d j: c r a z y , a n g r y u l ima, ( Y) , V i n t r I I : g r owl u l i : p , (AN), N: p o i s o n u I i : p , (AN/Y), A d j: c r a z y , a n g r y u l k i n , (AN), N: s a l i v a u l u y u p , (AT/AN/Y), N: c o o l i b a h ulumu, (AT/AN/Y), N: r o a d u l u y ß a , (AN), V i n t r IV: c o p u l a t e u I u : I u , ( Y ) , N: b l u e f l y uma, (AT/AN/Y), N I : f i r e , f i r e ­ wood u m a - l a l a n , (AT), N: f l a m e uma öi , ( AT ) , A d j : h o t umap, (AT/AN/Y), N: E u r o p e a n , w h it e ma n umap, (AN), N: s w e a t umaypanu, (AT/AN), N: g i r l umi r I 5 i , (AT), N: w h i t e a p p l e u m i t i p , (AN/Y), N: w h i t e a p p l e umpa, (AN), V t r IV: f o l l o w umpa, (AT/AN/Y), I n t : hey.' umpa öi , ( Y) , N: l i l y u m p a I , (AT/Y) , N: c a r p e t s n a k e u mpa :, (AN), N: c a r p e t s n a k e ump i, (AT/Y), V tr I I : k i l l umpi 5a , (AT/AN/Y), N: o y s t e r umpi p, (AN), N: m o r n i n g b i r d umpu, (AN/Y), N: u r i n e u m p u : r i , (AN), V t r IV: p r i c k , scratch umpwa, ( Y ) , V t r I I I : b r e a k umuyanu, (AT), N: n o s e , bow o f canoe u m u y a n u - p u y u S i , (AT), N: s p o o n b i l l umuya nu-upa mu, (AT), N: s p o o n b i l l umunti, (Y), Adj: r o t t e n umupka, (AT), N: l o y a ca ne umupu, (AT/AN/Y), N: s o n , d a u g h t e r umuru, (AT), N: widow u m y a I , (AT/Y), N: j a m t r e e u n a , (AT/AN/Y), V i n t r . i r r : s l e e p , l i e down

412

Uradhi

una, (AT), Vtr III: swallow unawantinu, (AT), N: white ibis uni:na, (AT), N: butterfly unkal, (Y), N: messmate unka:, (AN), N: messmate unma, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr IV: swim across unma, (AT/AN/Y), Adj I: dirty, black unma-upunma, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr: become black unma-upupa, (AT), Vtr: blacken unmayuwa, (Y), Time: in the night unmakya(ma), (AT/AN/Y), Time: yesterday unma:wa, (AT/AN), Time: in the night-time unmu, (AT/AN), N: noise unmun, (AT/AN/Y), N: beetle unpara, (Y), N: loya cane unpu, (Y), N: taro, curlew unpaluku, (Y), N: blue dove unp i, (AT/Y), N I : star untawu, (AT) , N II: woman untawuntunan, (AT), N: whirlwind unta:mu, (AT/AN/Y), N III: wife woman unta:rka, (Y) , N: cyclone unti, (Y), N: mangrove bird sp. unt i:5a, (AT/AN), N: beach sago, long-tail stingray untumtip, (AN), N: flying fish untu:pi, (Y), Vtr IV: enter unupku:, (AN), N: smoke, steam upaßa, (AT), Vtr II: hide upaßi, (AT), Vintr IV: hide upata, (AT/AN), N II: fresh­ water catfish upkama, (AN/Y) , Adj: raw upke:ni, (AT), N, egg upke: ni-imunta I, (AT), N: eggshell upkin, (AT), N: red flying fox upkip, (AN/Y), N: red flying fox upkun, (AT/AN), Adj: heavy upkuyma, (AT/AN/Y), Place: close to upku:pku, (AN), N: star upku:pun, (Y), N: coconut upkwal, (AT), N: messmate bark upkyal, (Y), N: shoulder upumyaI, (AT), N: kidney upupu (AT/AN/Y), N (erg upupu Iu) : mother upya, (AN), Vtr II: eat, drink upye, (AT/Y), Vtr II: eat, drink

uni, (AN/Y), N: excrement unta, (AN/Y), Vtr II: catch untapunta:namu, (AT), N: taro untapu, (AT/AN), N: river coconut, waterbag untara, (Y), N: long tom unta:pa, (AT/AN), N: long tom unte, (AT), Vtr III: shout at uütiöapa, (AT), Vtr II: prick, scratch u,Qtuya, (AT/Y), N: pine tree untumu, (AT), N: thunder untumu:namu, (AT), N: praying mantis untuymu, (AN/Y), N: thunder untuymu-mata, (AN/Y), N: lightning untuymunamu, (AN/Y), N: praying mantis upa, (Y), Adj I: other, different up ipa, (Y), Vtr II: hide upina, (AT/AN), Adj: other, different upij iI, (Y) , N: brolga uplj i:, (AN), N: brolga upljUl, (AT/Y), N: grass lizard upljuma, (Y) , Adj: straight uplju:, (AN), N: grass lizard upukuSi, (AT), N: pelican upupa, (AN), Vtr II: hide upupkup, (Y), N: white-tail stingray upupu, (AN), N: breast, milk upupu, (AN), Adj: sweet, fresh upupu-ru:ra, (AT), N: milk upupu-lju:ra, (AN), N: milk upupu-yu:ra, (Y), N: milk upupukup, (AN), N: pelican upuput i, (Y), N: jewfish upura, (AT), N: black crane upamu, (AN), N: very small bee sp. upamu, (AT), Adj: flat upanta, (AT), N: sea mullet upantin, (AT/AN/Y), N: elder sister upapantapu, (AN), N: spiked stingray upapupa, (Y), N: hair upiri, (AT/AN/Y), N: poison, medicine upiri, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: painful, stinging, sore upu, (AT), N III: garfish upu, (Y), Vtr III: twirl upuöi, (AT), N: rainbow, striped water snake upuSipu, (Y), N: rainbow upukma, (AT), Adj: fast upumu, (AT), N: joey

Alphabetical vocabulary 4 1 3 upunmanu, (AT), N, Adj: fat upunqa, (AT), Vtr II: make, do upuqa, (AN/Y), Vtr II: make, do upuqka, (AT/AN/Y), N (erg: u p u p k a t u ) : elder brother u p u w a l ip, (AN), N: spotted

stingray upuya, (AT), N: barracouta upwaka, (AT/AN/Y), N: pig u r a , (AT), N: whipsnake urapampu, (AN), Adj: sharp u r i p a : n i , (AN), Adj: sorry u r k a n , (AT/AN/Y), N: stringy

yam urkuI, (Y), N: emu urku:, (AN), N : emu u r u ß u , (AT/AN), N: land goanna urußunumu, (AT), N: native almond u r u n p i y a n , (AT), N: firefly upan, (AT), N: paperbark tree u p u l , (Y), N: smoke, steam u t a , (AT/AN/Y), Time: later on, at some time in the future u t a ß u n , (AT), N: sap utaöumu, (AT), Adj: young u t a y a , (AT), N I I : dog u t a y a , (AN,Y), N (erg. u t a y a l u ) : dog utama, (AT), N: outrigger u t a n , (AT), N: corkwood u t a r a , (AT/AN), N: pus u t a : , (Y), N: small eaglehawk u t a : l u , (AT/AN), N II: small eaglehawk u t e , (AT/Y), Vtr II: cut, chop u t ip, (AN), Adj: red u t i r a , (AT), N: pig vine u t i : n a , (AT), N: cassowary u t p a p a , (AT), Vtr II: cheat, lie to, mock u t p a p a n t a p u , ( A T ) , N: spiked stingray utpaqkamu, (AN), N: black duck u t p u : m a n , (AT), Adj: lonely u t u ß a , (AT/AN), N: mangrove u t u ö a , (AT/AN/Y), N: bush utumpa, (AT/Y), N: grass tree ut unmutunma, (AT), N: porcupine utunpukya, (Y), N: firefly utupku, (AT/Y), N: black beefhawk uturu, (Y), N: small palm sp. utyal, (AT), Adj: thick u t a na p a n , (AN), N: long-tail pheasant utu, (AN/Y), N: bend

utu-wupu, (AN), N: coccyx utumaqka, (AN), Vtr II: finish utumuqkuSi, (AT), N: long-tail pheasant u t u n t a , (AN/Y), N: fishhawk u l j a l a y a l a , (AT), Adj: weak uijankama, (Y) , Adj: cold u ^ a n p i , (AT/AN/Y), N II: woomera u ^ a wa ö i , (AT), N: scrub hen utjhra, (AT), N II: whipsnake uljup , (AT) , N : blood uljUri, (AN), Adj: wet u 1 j u : t u , (AN), N: shirt (Loan) uwa, (AN), N: flat-tail stingray uwamara, (AT), N: flat-back turtle, porpoise uwatjaya, (AT), N: flat-tail stingray uwumapka, (AT), Vintr II: pass uwunu, (AT/AN/Y), Part: don’t uwup, (AT/Y), N: plains turkey uyaßa, (Y), N: native cat u y a y a y a , (Y), Place: behind uyama, (AT/AN/Y), Part: back, still, again uyama, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr II: stay behind uyamu, (AT), N: island u y a mu - u t u , (AN), N: stern of canoe uyamun, (AT/AN), Place: behind uyaqu, (AT/AN/Y), Part: back, still, again uyaqu-uyaqu, (AT/AN/Y), Time: always uyap, (AT/AN/Y), N: green ant uyawanu, (AT), N: very small bee sp. uyintap, (AT/AN/Y), N: fresh­ water turtle uyipi, (AT), Vintr IV: roll, climb down u y p a k i y i , (AT), N: yellow wasp u y p a r a , (Y), N: barramundi uy p u , (AN/Y), Adj: bad uypupa, (AN/Y), Vtr II: miss, do badly uy pup, (AT), N (erg. u y p a I) : f l y uy pup, (AN/Y), N: f l y uypul j a, (AT), N: barracouta u y u , (AT/AN/Y), Part: try u y u , (AN), N : tent uyuma , (Y), Vtr II: kapamari (cooking style) uyunpuru, (AT/AN/Y), N: butcher bird uyuru, (AT/Y), Vtr III: rub, grind uyurunti (AT/AN/Y), Vintr IV: roll,

414

Uradhi

climb down uyuwaI, (AT), N: hard beefwood uyuwa:, (AN), N: hard beefwood uyuyu, (Y), N: fog u:5a, (AN), N: milkwood w a , (AT/AN/Y), Vtr la: cook, burn w a 3 a , (AT/AN/Y), N: crow w a 5 i n u : n a m u , (AT), N: frying pan wa5u, (AT/AN/Y), N: armpit,

corner w a 3 u : p , (Y), N: cassowary w a k a , (AT/AN/Y), N: work (Loan) w a k a l , (AT), N: prawn w a k y a , (AT), Vtr I I : send w a l a , (Y), N: hunting spear w a l a p a n , (AT/AN), N: hat wa Ia :y i , (Y), Vtr I I : wash w a l a : p k i , (AN), Vtr I I : wash w a l y a p a , (AT), N: gully w a l l , (Y), A d j : shiny, clean w a l i : p , (AN/Y) Adj: smooth wal umunumu, (AT/Y), N: magpie

goose wampa, (AT/AN/Y), Vintr IV: float wampan, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: swollen, full wampanu, (AT), Adj: hollow wampaypa, (AN/Y), Vintr II: swell up wanawa, (AT), N: turtle shell wa nk a , (AT/AN/Y), N I: mud w a p a m i n t i , (AT), N: battle w a p a l j a y a, (AT), N I: European w a p k u t p u , (AT), N I: white clay w a p u k w a l , (AT), N: ghost w a n t a , (AT), Vtr I I I : sew, open want a I, (Y), N: scrub yam, barracouta w a n t a : , (AN), N: scrub yam want i , (AT), Vtr I I : burn, ripen w a n t i p a , (Y), Vtr I I : spear w a n t i n u , (AT/AN/Y), Adj: cooked wanu, (AT), Adj: other, different wanu, ( A N / Y ) , A d j : distant wap i , ( A N / Y ) , Vtr I I : drop wap1,a, ( A T ) , N: honey wa pa öa, ( A N / Y ) , N: cottonwood wapa pa, ( A T ) , N: cottonwood wap i l a , ( A T ) , N: lagoon, lake wapun, ( A T ) , N: head, end of something w a p u n - a p u S a , (AT), N: skull w a p u n - n i p i m a , (AT), N: spotted stingray

w a p u n - wu ß u , (AT), N: brain w a p u r a , (AT), Vintr III: come out w a r a ß a , (AT), N: coconut w a r k i , (AT/AN/Y), N: spike, quill w a r k i - p a p a n , (AT), N: kingfisher wapu, (AN), N: turtle sp. w a t a p a , (AN), Vtr II: throw w a t a y , (AT), N I: dugong w a t a y p u , (Y), N: dugong wat i : , (AN), N (erg. w a t i : p k u ) :

dugong w a t u , (AT/AN/Y), Vtr III: row w a t a , (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: bite w a t a n u , (AN), N: spear gum w a t a p u , (Y), N: bluegum w a l j a r a , (AN/Y), N: rat, mouse,

oar w a y u , (AT/AN/Y), N: jellyfish w a y u S i , (AT), N: river palm w i 3 u , (AT), N: stonefish w i l i , (AT/AN/Y), Vintr IV: run w i l d , (AT/AN/Y), N: hip w i l u : n t i p u , (AT), N: bee s p . w i n t a , (AT/AN/Y), N: arm, branch

of tree, outrigger of canoe w i n t a - l u k a , (AT), N: singlet w i n t a - m u p a , (Y), N: left hand w i n t a - u l j u m a , (Y) , N: right hand w i n t a - u y p u y u m u , (AT), N: bird's

wing w i n t a S i , ( A T ) , N: shirt w i n t a t u , ( A T ) , N: umbrella palm w i n t a t u S u , ( A T ) , N: umbrella palm w i n t a y m p a , ( A T ) , N: muscle w i n t a : p , ( A N ) , N: shirt w i n t i p a n u , ( A T / A N / Y ) , N: spouse's

sister w i n t i p , (AN), N: beach goanna w i nt i : Iß a m a I, (Y), N: small

turtle sp. w i n t u : l a n , (AT), N: mangrove sp. w i n t i , (AT/AN/Y), N: stringybark w i n t i p a n t a , (AT), Vtr I I : pour w i n u , (AT/AN/Y), N: snail, trochus w i n u p u p , (Y), N: saltwater catfish w i p l j u , (AN/Y), Adj: wrinkled,

rough w i p a , (AT), N: penis w i p a S i , (AT), Adj: wet w i p u p a , (AN/Y), Vtr II: cheat,

lie to, mock, trick w i t a , (AN), N: tree goanna w i t a I, (AT/Y), N: tree goanna w i y a , (AN), Vtr II: wash w i y e , (AT), Vtr II: wash w i : 5 a p , (AN), Adj: greedy w i : y u , (AT/AN/Y), N: rib, side

Alphabetical vocabulary

w i:pap, (AN/Y), Adj: skinny wußu, (AT), N: marrow wu5a, (AN/Y), Vintr IV: crawl wu5u:ntu, (Y), N: possum wuyanu, (AT), N: emu wukan, (AT/AN/Y), N: nape of neck wukara, (AT), N II: swordfish wukuyu, (AT/AN/Y), N: mopoke wukya, (AT), Vtr: chase wula, (AT), N: cheek, jaw wulap, (AN), Adj: soft, weak wuluyma, (AT), N: lily wumpa-wumpa, (Y), Adj: larrikin wumpu, (AT), N: urine wumu, (AT), N: place around wuna, (AT), N: excrement wunpul, (Y), N: grub, worm, whipsnake wuntintal, (AT), Adj: slow wuntu, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: crooked wuntup, (AN/Y), N: back, backbone, stern of canoe wupa, (AT/AN/Y), N I: sun wupa-akyinu, (AT/AN/Y), N: dry season wupa-papan, (AT), Adj: hot (of weather) wupa-yapan, (AN), Adj: hot (of weather) wupa-yapwan, (Y), Adj: hot (of weather) wupaympa, (Y), Time: in the daytime wupaypa, (AT/AN), Time: in the daytime wupkama, (AT), Adj: raw wupku, (AT/AN/Y), N: knee wupku-puyuSi, (AT), N: night curlew wunta,(AT), Vintr II: vomit, spit wunu:pku, (Y), N: black flying fox wupe, (AT), Vtr II: lick, suck wupinapa, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: push wupul, (AT/Y), N: buttocks, tail of animal wuputyul, (AT), N: water goanna wupu:, (AN), N: buttocks, tail of animal wuri, (AT/AN/Y), Vtr II: spin wurifaya, (AT), N: shooting star wuruya, (Y), N: loggerhead turtle

415

wupama, (AT), Adj: angry wupin, (Y), N: turtle egg wupunpi, (AT), N: sand wupu:p, (Y), N: salmon wut i, (AT), N: messmate bark wutpu, (AT/AN/Y), N I: old man wutpuSi, (AT), N II: grey beefhawk wutpuma, (Y), Adj: old, aged; (AT/AN/Y), Vintr: be old wutama, (AT/AN/Y), Place: over wutu, (AT), N I: bend wulju, (AT/Y) , N: medium-sized bee sp. wu1,uma, (AT/AN/Y), Adj: three wutupapun, (AN), N: coconut wuljiipu, (AT/AN/Y), N: oak tree wuya, (AT/AN/Y), N: black cockatoo wuypu, (AT), Adj: bad wuypupa, (AT), Vtr II: miss, do badly wuyunpa, (AN), N: egg wuyup, (AT/AN/Y), N: caterpillar, leech wu: la, (AT/AN/Y), N: father's father wu:la5a, (AN/Y), N: father's father wu:lan, (AT), N: father's father ya, (Y), Vtr la: throw yaka, (AN), Vintr IV: jump yakuru, (Y), N: turtle shell yakyara, (Y), Adj: spread out yalan, (AN/Y), N: tongue yampa, (AT/AN/Y), N: leaf, lung yampara", (AT), N: lung yampi, (Y), Vtr II: take out yantaI, (Y), N: hill yanta:, (AN), N: hill yapka, (AT/AN/Y), N: slope, bank yapka, (Y), Vtr III: knock over yapkap, (AT), N: salmon yana, (AN), N: wart yananti, (AN/Y), N: plains yam yani, (AN), N : axe yantamantama, (AT/AN/Y), Part: for no reason yapan, (AN), Adj: hard, rough, strong yapi, (AT/AN/Y), N: face, forehead yap iI, (Y), N : bream yapwan, (Y), Adj: hard, rough, strong yarka, (AN/Y) Vintr IV: jump yata, (AT), Vintr IV: go past yataöa, (AN), N: soft beefwood

416

Uvadhi

y a t i , (AT/AN/Y), N: river, creek y a t i - m u t u p , (AT/AN), N: lagoon,

wood, stick, log

y a t i - y a q k a , (AN), N: riverbank y a t p a n , (Y), N: whitefish y a t a l , (Y), N: shellfish

y u k u - a m p i: m a , (AT), N: fork of tree y u k u - i t a l , (AT), N: nest y u k u - i 1;a I , (Y), N: sap y u k u - m a n u t u , (Y), N: stump of tree y u k u - w a mp a n , (AT/AN/Y), N: lump

(generic), fingernail (AN), N: shellfish (generic), fingernail y a t i n u , (AN), Adj: bald, barren ya1,up, (AN/Y) , Adj: dry ya : Ia , (AN), N: white cockatoo y a :ra, (AN/Y), N: soap tree, black beefhawk yi, (AT/AN/Y), Int: expression of ignorance or lack of interest y i 5 i , (Y), N: long-tail stingray y i Ia, (AT), N I: green turtle y i m p a n u , (AN), N: war spear y i pa, (AN/Y), N: liver y i w a , (Y), N: wobbegong y i : y i n , (AN/Y), N: beach y i:pu , (AN), N: owl s p . y u ß u l , (Y), N: garfish y u ß u : , (AN), N: garfish y u k u , (AT/AN/Y), N 1: tree,

on tree yukuI, (Y), N: short-neck freshwater turtle yukuljiina, (AT), N: cigarette, tobacco y u m p i , (AN), Vtr II: kill yumpun, (AN/Y), N: club, gun yumu, (AN), N: buttocks y u q k a , (AN/Y), Vintr IV: cry y u q k u n u , (Y), N: sea mullet y u q k u : n i , (AN), N: sea mullet y u p a : , (AN), Adj: white y u p u , (Y), N: boil y u p u l , (Y), N: darkness y u p w a l , (Y), Adj: white y u r k u , (Y), N : ankle y u t u , (AT/AN/Y), N: elbow y u t u m t i , (Y), N: spiked stingray yuta, (AN/Y), N: house yutu, (AN/Y), Adj: dead y u :ra, (Y), N : juice

lake

yata:,

VOCABULARY BY SEMANTIC FIELDS NOUNS A -

Body parts

apun ( A N / Y ) , head, end, wallaby wapun ( A T ) , head, end wapun-apuöa ( A T ) , apun-apuöa ( A N / Y ) , skull wa pun- wußu ( A T ) , ap u n - wu ß u (AN/Y), b ra in a mp i n ampi ( A T / A N ) , u p aq up a ( Y ) , ha ir y a p i ( A T / A N / Y ) , face, forehead i wapa ( A T ) , i w a : ( A N ) , i w a l ( Y ) ,

temple ipan

(AT),

aqwa:

(AN),

anqal

(Y),

eye i p a n - l u t p i (A T), ipan-munta (AT), aqwa:-munta (AN), anqal-wunpa

(Y), eyeball a q w a : - a p a n (AN), eyelash i p a n - a t a n (AT), a q w a : - a t an (AN), a n q a l - a t a n (Y), eyebrow umuyanu (AT), nose, bow of canoe i y i (AN/Y) nose ukulj i (AT), iwup (Y) , ear a t a w i (AT/AN/Y), ear, mushroom

wula (AT), cheek, jaw ula (AN/Y), cheek apa (AT/AN/Y), chin apura (AT), naqka (AT) I, aqka (AN/Y), mouth n a qka -inp iri

(AT),

aq ka-inpiri

(AN) , lip n a q k a - i : 5a (AT), a q k a - i : 5 a (AN/Y), beard qampu (AT), tooth ampu (AN/Y), tooth, bow of canoe I a I an

(AT),

yalan

(AN/Y),

ipunu

(Y) , tongue mupa (AT/Y) I, saliva, beer uIkin (AN), saliva manu (AT/AN/Y), throat m a n u - k a p i (AT/Y), windpipe, cave wukan (AT/AN/Y), nape of neck a y a l (AT/Y), a y a : (AN), u q k y a l ( Y ) , shoulder a ö a r a m p i n u (AT), armpit wa5u (AT/AN/Y), armpit, corner w i n t a (AT/AN/Y), arm, branch of tree, outrigger yutu (AT/AN/Y), elbow

Vocabulary by semantic fields mata-wuqku (AT), mata-apu5a (AT/ A N / Y ) , wrist mata (AT/AN/Y) I, hand, outrigger of canoe in im i5 i (AT), winta-uljuma (Y) , right hand pakuöi (AT), winta-mupa (Y) , left hand mata-uöuru (AT), mata-yipa (AN), mata-ikama (Y), palm of hand mata-ukyama (AT), mata-u1,uma (AN/Y), thumb mata-iparima (AT/AN/Y), index finger mata-aya (AT/AN/Y), middle finger mata-ukyanpatup (AN), matait amu ( Y ) , fourth finger mata-amayki (AT), little finger, fourth finger mata-itamiki (AN), little finger mata-ali:pi (AT), knuckle mata-imuntal (AT), mata-yata: (AN), mata-yataI (Y), fingernail yata: (AN), yata I (Y), fingernail, shellfish (generic) nukaI- imunta I (AT), uka:-yata: (AN), ukal-yatal (Y), toenail upupu (AT/AN/Y) (erg. upuqulu), breast, mother awu^a (AN), breast upuqu-ru:ra (AT), upuqu-1;u:ra (AN), upupu-yu:ra (Y), milk ayanapuSa (AT), awunpuSa (AN/Y), chest wi:yu (AT/AN/Y), rib, side, beside wilu (AT/AN/Y), hip Iaya (AT), waist lutpi (AT/AN/Y), belly uyara (AT/AN/Y), navel lakun (AT), a ß i5a (AN/Y), int estines Iipa-wuypu (AT), stomach antuöi (AT), antu:n (AN/Y), heart uqumyal (AT), kidney yampa (AT/AN/Y), lungs, leaf yampara (AT), inpara (AN), lungs Iipa (AT), yipa (AN/Y), liver uöumpup (AT), back, backbone wuntup (AN/Y), back, backbone, stern of canoe utu-wupu (AN), coccyx wupul (AT/Y), wupu: (AN), buttocks, tail of animal yumu (AN), buttocks iti:ma (AT/Y), it in (AN), thigh,

417

root of tree wuqku (AT/AN/Y), knee nukal-aypal (AT), uka:-aypa: (AN), calf mutup (AT/AN/Y), shin apku:la (AT), ankle, bow of canoe aqku (AN), yurku (Y ) , ankle nuka I (AT), uka: (AN), ukal (Y), foot nu kaI — Iipa (AT), uka:-yipa (AN), ukal-yapwan (Y), sole of foot nukal-wutu (AT), uka:-utu (AN), ukaI-utu (Y), heel nukaI-ukyuma (AT), uka:-u}uma (AN), ukal-uljuma (Y) , big toe nukaI- iparima (AT), uka:-iparima (AN) , ukal-iparima (Y), second toe nukaI-aya (AT), uka:-aya (AN), ukaI-aya (Y), middle toe nukal-amayki (AT), fourth toe, little toe u k a :-ukyanpatup (AN), ukal-itamu (Y) , fourth toe uka:-itamiki (AN), little toe wipa (AT), ant up (AN/Y), penis itu (AN), testicles inen (AT), akun (AN/Y), vagina wuna (AT), uni (AN/Y), excrement wumpu (AT), umpu (AN/Y), urine akup (AT/AN/Y), skin, bark of tree ayama (AT/AN), flesh aypal (AT), wintaympa (AT), muscle apuSa (AT/AN/Y), bone ama-apuöa (AT/AN/Y), skeleton apu5a-wußu (AT/AN/Y), wußu (AT), marrow uljup (AT), blood lukup (AN/Y), blood, wine a Ianti (AT), umap (AN), sweat it pal (AT/Y), it pa: (AN), tears miyi5a (AT), iyi5a (AN), ulyin (Y), snot ukitaya (AT), akitaya (AT), akita-akita (Y), ear wax utara (AT/AN), pus iyiri (AT/AN/Y), sore, blister ukukanti (Y ) , blister iupu (AT/AN), yupu (Y ) , boil ana (AT/AN/Y), pimple, wart, breath yana (AN), wart mantyan (AT/Y), scar mi:na (AN/Y), scar, mark, paint m inti (AT ) , scab it, in (Y) , scratching, abrasions ayaI (AT/Y), fever, sickness, noise warki (AT/AN/Y), atata (Y), spike, quill

418

i np al

JJvadhi ( AT/ Y) ,

inpa:

(AN),

tail

B - Human c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ama (AT) ( e r g . a m a : l u ) , (AN/Y) ( e r g . a m a l u ) , man, p e r s o n untawu (AT) I I , woman untarmu (AT/AN/Y), woman, w i f e mupa (AT/AN/Y) I , a l y u r m a l a ( Y ) , u öayki ( Y ) , a k i m p a t a (AT), c h i l d a p t , a l a n t i n u (AN), boy wutpu (AT/AN/Y) I , o l d man a m a t i n u (AT/Y) I I I , umaypanu (AT/AN), g i r l a m a l i t a ö i (AT), o l d l a d y umuru (AT), widow umap (AT/AN/Y), wapa1,aya (AT) I , European ma^a (AT), b o s s (Loan) m i n a y p u r a (AT) I , p o l i c e m a n wapukwal (AT), g h o s t amukuöi (AT) I , pana (AT), friend

C - K in sh ip u k ur a (AT/AN/Y), m o t h e r ' s b r o t h e r , leatherhead t u r t l e a : l a (AT), m o t h e r ' s y o u n g e r brother upupu (AT/AN/Y) ( e r g . upupu I u ) , mother upupu (AN), b r e a s t , m i l k ißup (AT) ( e r g . i ß u p k u ) , iß a5 a (AN/Y), f a t h e r inya (AT/AN/Y), f a t h e r ' s s i s t e r a m i ( n) (AT), a m i ( 5 a ) (AN/Y), m o th e r 's mother a j j ( 5a) (AT/AN/Y), m o t h e r ' s f a t h e r a p i ( 5 a ) (AT/AN/Y), f a t h e r ' s m o t h e r w u : l a ( n ) (AT), w u : l a ( 5 a ) (AN/Y), f a th e r's father upupka ( AT/AN/Y), e l d e r b r o t h e r i£amu (AT), y o u n g e r b r o t h e r o r sister u p a n t i n (AT/AN/Y), e l d e r s i s t e r umupu (AT/AN/Y), s o n , d a u g h t e r anpapu (AT/AN/Y), h u s b a n d untarmu (AT/AN/Y), w i f e , woman ayußan ( AT ) , ayußap ( AN/Y) , s p o u s e 's mother a m a n t i ö i (AT/AN/Y), s p o u s e ' s father imupu (AT/AN/Y), s p o u s e ' s brother w i n t i p a n u (AT/AN/Y), s p o u s e ' s sister

D - Mammal s utunmutunma (AT), ar kawap (AN), anpati (Y), porcupine a ^ a r a (AT), a l j a r a k i (AN), r a t , mouse waljara (AN/Y), r a t , mouse , o a r a t a muöi (AT), at a mu öi (AT), a p k a t a ( AN), uyaßa ( Y ) , n a t i v e c a t put, i (AT/AN/Y) I , c a t (Loan) iku (AT/AN/Y) I , aramu (Y) , s h o r t nose b an d ic o o t t i : m p u (AT/AN), l o n g - n o s e b a n d i c o o t u l a n (AT/AN/Y), w u 5 u : n t u (Y) , possum ima^aka (AT/AN/Y), g r e y k a n g a r o o ikamu (AT), ipamu ( Y ) , b l a c k kangaroo a k u r p u (AT/AN/Y), r e d k a n g a r o o upumu ( AT ) , j o e y akumi (AT), m a r s u p i a l ' s p o u c h , w h i t e f i s h , d i l l y bag apun (AN/Y), w a l l a b y , h e a d , end a n p u: (AN), apul ( Y ) , p l a i n s wallaby i t a n p a (AT), iljanpa (AT/AN/Y), scrub wallaby mupka5i (AT), k a n g a r o o r a t akwanumu (AT) I I I , arkaymu (AN/Y), dingo u t a y a (AT) I I , u t a y a ( e r g . u t a y a l u ) (AN/Y), dog u p k i n (AT), u p k i p (AN/Y), r e d f l y i n g fox ukumpura (AN), wunu:pku ( Y ) , b l a c k f l y i n g f ox manpatawa ( A T ) , b a t muruku (AT/AN/Y), h o r s e pul aka (AT/AN/Y), cow (Loan) upwaka (AT/AN/Y), p i g

E - R e p t i l e s and A m phibians i kampar a (AT) I , i k a n p a (AN/Y) (erg. ikanpatu), crocodile wapu (AN), t u r t l e s p . u y i n t a p (AT/AN/Y), f r e s h - w a t e r turtle yukul ( Y ) , s h o r t - n e c k f r e s h w a t e r turtle mi nt i (Y) , f l a t - b a c k t u r t l e uwamara (AT), f l a t - b a c k t u r t l e , porpoise mi n t i ö i (AT), wuruya ( Y ) , l o g g e r he a d t u r t l e u ku r a (AT/AN/Y), l e a t h e r h e a d t u r t l e , m other's b ro th er y i l a (AT) I , iwuru ( Y ) , g r e e n turtle

Vocabulary by sem antic f i e l d s wintirlßamal (Y), small t u r t l e sp. wupin ( Y ) , t u r t l e egg wanawa (AT), y a k u r u ( Y ) , t u r t l e shell t a p a r a (AN), t u r t l e ' s f l i p p e r a p u r a ( AT/AN/Y), ( e r g . a p u r a l u ) , blue-tongue liz a r d akyamu (AT), akyanmu (AN/Y) frill-n eck lizard upljul (AT/Y) , uplju: (AN), grass liz a rd wuputyul (AT), i y u : n t a (AN), w a t e r goa nna ipljup (AT) , wi nt ip (AN) , b e a c h goa nna ur ußu (AT/AN), i n a n t up ( Y) , l a n d goa nna w i t a l (AT/Y), w i t a (AN), t r e e goanna i t a (AT/AN/Y) I , s n a k e , s h a r k umpaI (AT/Y), umpa: (AN), c a r p e t snake u r a (AT), u 1 ; i : r a (AT) I I , whipsnake wunpul ( Y) , w h i p s n a k e , g r u b , worm a l a p k a r a (AT), a l a p k a t a (AN/Y), d e a t h a d d e r u ö u mp up - p u yu öi (AT), i t a —uI i : p ( AN/Y), t a i p a n ap u ö ip wa l (AT), u k u r a l (AT), u k u r a : (AN), a p u ö i n p a l ( Y ) , brown s n a k e s p . a w a n t i - i t a (AN), a pa l ( Y ) , b a s k e t snake a p a k u r a (AT), i ni (AN/Y), w a t e r snake upu5i (AT), s t r i p e d w a t e r snake, rainbow i : r a (AT/AN/Y), s e a s n a k e , long s p e a r , s p e a r w a t t l e , l a r g e owl s p . a y p a r a (AT/AN/Y) I I , a k a r a akara (Y), green frog

F - Birds a r i r a (AT/AN), b i r d ( g e n e r i c ) mina (AT), b i r d , m e a t , game animal u p k e r n i (AT), alj i n (AN), wuyunpa (AN), egg u p k e : n i - imunt aI (AT), eggshell y u k u - i t a l (AT), n e s t a t a ß a (AT), f e a t h e r , r i v e r itjup (AN/Y), f e a t h e r w i nt a - uy p u yu mu (AT), b i r d ' s wing

419

ay k i (AT/Y), c h i c k wuyanu (AT), u r k u : (AN), u r k u l ( Y ) , emu u t i r n a (AT), wa5u:p ( Y ) , c a s s o w a r y a l a r k u S i (AT), upl, i : (AN), uplji i (Y), brolga i ma : Ii (AT), ap^ a r a mu (AN), w h i t e crane u p u r a (AT), b l a c k c r a n e apupuSi (AT), b l a c k i b i s u n a w a n t i n u (AT), a k a r i ( Y ) , w h i t e ibis iwan (AT/AN/Y), j a b i r u , m o s q u i t o u n t i ( Y ) , ma ngr ove b i r d s p . upukuSi (AT), upupukup (AN), pelican waIumunumu (AT/Y), m a g p i e g o o s e m u t i t a n (AT), a t i t a - a t i t a (AN), curlew unpu ( Y ) , c u r l e w , t a r o w u p k u - r u y u 5 i (AT), n i g h t c u r l e w uwup ( AT /Y ) , p l a i n s t u r k e y i t a p k a l (AT/Y), sc ru b t u r k e y uljawaSi (AT), a ß a r ö i (AN/Y), s c r u b hen papan (AT), u n p a i u k u ( Y ) , b l u e dove i t i : nki (Y) I , s m a l l p i g e o n i t i r n k i (Y ), sm all pigeon sp. a t a ß a - p u p a l (AT), u k u l u : (AN), Torres S t r a i t pigeon i p i r i - i p i r i ( AN/Y) , brown p i g e o n a t a n t a y a ö i (AT), r e d - n e c k f i n c h I jukukaj J (AT), a r k a S a r k u (Y) , turtle-dove wukuyu (AT/AN/Y), i : r u n (AT), mopoke a l a (AT), n i g h t - o w l s p . a t a n a k a ö i (AT/Y) , ma sked owl i : r a (AT/AN/Y), l a r g e owl s p . , s e a snake, long s p e a r , s p e a r w a t t l e ipamayki (AT), peewee y i : pu (AN), owl sp . uy u n pu ru (AT/AN/Y), b u t c h e r b i r d maya:kawa (AT), m a y a r k a l a ( Y ) , ma g p i e mun i a t , i n u (AT), c u r r a w o n g wa5a (AT/AN/Y), crow mut a pa (AT/AN/Y), b l a c k b i r d i m a ( y k i ) (AT), b l u e b i r d a p k a p k a (AT) I I , anpup ( Y ) , k o o k a ­ burra w a r k i - p a p a n (AT), mupkal ( Y ) , k i n g ­ fisher i i . i t i r i (AT/AN) I , a k u t i y a ( Y ) , w illy-w agtail iwi (AT), umpip (AN), m o r n i n g b i r d u k u l u (AN), u k u l u y u (AN/Y), c uc koo I a : I a ( AT /Y ) , y a : I a ( AN), w h i t e cockatoo

42 0

Uradhi

wuya (AT/AN/Y), black cockatoo amintapu (AT), king parrot pampapetinu (AT), mountain parrot iyal (AT), iyayki (AT), inpya I (Y) , small parrot s p . aqwara (AT/AN), quail lutpi-maqka(yki) (AT), stormbird akatu^awa (AT), hammer bird ayparumpiwa (AT), sparrowhawk ayara (AT/AN/Y), sparrowhawk, rainy season wutpuöi (AT) II, grey beefhawk utuqku (AT/Y), black beefhawk ya:ra (AN/Y), black beefhawk, soap tree inan (AT), utunta (AN/Y), fishhawk u t a : Iu (AT/AN) II, uta: (Y), small eaglehawk akaya (Y), large eaglehawk umuyanu-puyuöi (AT),umuyanu-upamu (At 7, spoonbill nukal-ipi5i (AT), utpapkamu (AN), black duck atiya (AT/Y), Burdekin duck utumuQkuSi (AT), utanapan (AN), ukyanpari (Y), long-tail pheasant iyara (AT), Ijara (Y) , ukarpati (Y) , seagull Iuwu (AT/Y), stonebird

G - Fishes,

etc

ina-api: (AN), fish (generic) itinti (AT), fish's fin miwin (AT), scales of fish Lipuptiti (Y) , jewfish uqata (AT/AN) II, aqka^a (Y), freshwater catfish winuqup (Y), saltwater catfish ina (AN/Y), mullet, meat upanta (AT), yuqku:ni (AN), yuqkunu (Y), antumtip (Y), sea mullet pupkwani (AT), sea mullet s p . yapiI (Y), bream inpaljal (AT), bony bream ataöa (AT), mantip (AT), uypara (Y), barramundi yapkap (AT), wupu:p (Y), salmon pi^imara (AT), at i :p (Y), trevally ukyin (AT), mapi (Y), snapper aqkup (AT/AN/Y), queenfish yatpan (Y), whitefish anpu (AN), bonefish untumtip (AN), ina-ii,u:yma (Y) , flying fish upuya (AT), uypu^a (AT), barracouta wantal (Y), barracouta, scrub yam

wukara (AT) II, swordfish in i1juku5 i (AT) II, groper w i5u (AT), stonefish upu (AT) III, yußu: (AN), yußul (Y ) , garfish akumi (AT), white fish, dilly-bag, marsupial's pouch akyan (AT), mawapa (AN/Y) II, shark ita (AT/AN/Y) I, shark, snake aljura (AT/AN/Y), black-fin shark, swordfish watay (AT) I, w a t i : (AN) (erg. watirqku), wataypu (Y) dugong matinmu (AT), yiwa (Y), wobbegong matu (AN/Y), porpoise uwamara (AT), porpoise, flat-back turtle iSa I (AT), i5a: (AN), ukußi (Y ) , eel untiröa (AT/AN), long-tail sting­ ray, beach sago yiöi (Y ) , long-tail stingray aquriipyal (AT), alyari (AN), upuqkup (Y), white-tail stingray uwa^aya (AT), uwa (AN), iyup (Y) , flat-tail stingray utpaqantapu (AT), upaqantapu (AN), yutumti ( Y), spiked stingray wapun-nipima (AT), apa:mu (AN), upuwalip (AN), apun-ipima (AN/Y), ayari (Y), spotted stingray wayu (AT/AN/Y), jellyfish imuntal (AT), shellfish (generic), woomera type yata: (AN), yata I (Y), shellfish (generic), fingernail maßara (AT), shellfish s p . ayun (AT/AN/Y), bailer shell anparamu (AT), crayfish s p . 5alaqkup (AT) (erg. SalaqkuQku), alaqkup (AN/Y), crayfish, prawn wakal (AT), prawn alu (AN/Y) II, small crab s p . ukaljaya (AT/AN/Y) I, large crab s p . uka (AT), freshwater crab muku (AN/Y), stone crab i^u:p (Y), long-clawed crab s p . umpi5a (AT/AN/Y), oyster

H - Insects,

etc

ukulyu (AT), Iulja (AN/Y), blue antbed ip1ju:nu (AT), muqka (AT/AN/Y), red antbed itikiyi (AT), black ant uyap (AT/AN/Y), green ant inta:ni (AT/AN) II, intan (Y),

Vocabulary by s e m a n t i c f i e l d s wasp, h o r s e f l y , m a r c h f l y u y p a k i y i (AT), y e l l o w wasp a t a y a (AT) I I , s c o r p i o n anl^ara ( AT/AN/Y), s c o r p i o n , f l a m e , spear grass a t a m p a r a (AT) I , ayumu (AT/AN) I I , atampata (Y ), c e n t i p e d e , s p i d e r a y a n a y a (AT), a y p u r a ( AT /Y ) , maggot uypup (AT) ( e r g . u y p a I ) , uypup (AN/Y), f l y ukaljawa (AT) I , h o r s e f l y , marchfly u l u : lu (Y) , b l u e f l y u r u n p i y a n (AT), u t u n p u k y a ( Y ) , firefly iwan (AT/AN/Y), m o s q u i t o , jabiru apman (AT), apmap (AN/Y), sandfly a l j it a w a (AT), d r a g o n f l y u n i : n a (AT), at awup ( Y ) , butterfly wuyup (AT/AN/Y), c a t e r p i l l a r , leech unmun ( AT/AN/Y), b e e t l e a t i m a r i ( AT ) , l e e c h a Ißa ( A T ) , worm mutup (AT/AN), worm, gr ub wunpuI ( Y ) , worm, g r u b , whipsnake winu (AT/AN/Y), s n a i l , t r o c h u s i t T Sa (AT/Y), mutan (AT/AN/Y), grasshopper u n t u m u : namu (AT), untuymunamu ( AN/ Y) , p r a y i n g m a n t i s u ß i (AT), l i c e aku (AT/AN/Y), t i c k , l i c e t i ka£,a ( Y ) , t i c k alwu (Y) , y e l l o w - t a i l be e w i l u r n t i p u (AT), b ee s p . i t a m a y k i (AT), s m a l l e s t b e e s p . uyawanu ( AT ) , upamu (AN), v e r y sm all bee sp. a y u r i p a n u (AT), wu^u (AT/Y), m e diu m -siz ed bee sp. m a y i - u y p up (AT), l a r g e s t b e e s p . mutunmanu (AT), a p ^ i n (AN/Y), l a r g e s t b e e s p . , honey waplja (AT) , honey a pa nu (AT/AN), honeycomb i pa n (AT), b e e h i v e X - Language, cerem ony, n oise ikya ( AT/AN/Y), l a n g u a g e a p y a l (AT), a p i : (AN), a ß iI (Y), name i ßa I ( A T / Y ) , i ß a : (AN), song

421

a p l j i r i (AT/AN/Y), c o r r o b o r e e song i t i p a (AT), s h a k e - a - l e g c o r r o b o r e e w a pa mi nt i (AT), b a t t l e ama-aöaT (AT), a ß a - a ö a : (AN), a ß a a 5a I ( Y ) , b u r i a l g r o u n d m i : n a (AN/Y), p a i n t , ma rk , s c a r apupa (AT/AN/Y) I , drum unmu (AT/AN), n o i s e aya I (AT/Y), n o i s e , f e v e r , s i c k n e s s

J - A rtefacts a t a p k a l (AT), h o l l o w d i g g i n g s t i c k amp i (AT/AN/Y) I , yam s - t i ck , l a r g e leaf w attle s p . a ma : ka (AT/Y), m e s s a g e s t i c k akwa (AT), a r k a (AN/Y), s p e a r u y u ßi nu (AT/AN), waI a ( Y ) , h u n t i n g spear i : r a (AT/AN/Y), l o n g s p e a r , s p e a r w a t t l e , l a r g e owl s p . , s e a s n a k e a nt awapu (AT), yimpanu (AN), limpanu ( Y ) , war s p e a r i munt al (AT), woomera t y p e , s h e l l ­ fish (generic) uljanpi (AT/AN/Y) I I , woomer a, c l u b at ampa n (AT), a r u (AT) I I I , ya n i (AN), aya ( Y ) , ax e k i p i (AT/AN), t awupa (AT/AN) I I , yipi (Y), k n ife a t a n t i (AN/Y) I I I , f i r e s t i c k , b l u e gum n a q k a - i : 3 a : namu (AT), a q k a - i : 5anamu (AN), i r i 1, a (AN), r a z o r (Loan) t u I u (AT), t u r i y a (AN), c r o w b a r awunumu (AT), ipamu (AT) I I I , f i s h trap a t a l (AT/Y), a t a : (AN), s t r i n g , rope, fish in g lin e mupi (AN/Y) , s t r i n g , r o p e kuyuru ( AT ) , h a r p o o n p u t u (AT/AN/Y), s a i l b o a t , d i n g h y ( Loan f rom b o a t ) t i p k i ( Y ) , d i n g h y (Loan) y a n t u (AT), a n t u (AN/Y), c a no e utama (AT), o u t r i g g e r w i n t a (AT/AN/Y), o u t r i g g e r , ar m, branch of tr e e mata (AT/AN/Y) I , o u t r i g g e r o f c a n o e , h a nd u ya mu- ut u ( AN), s t e r n o f c a no e wuntup (AN/Y), s t e r n o f c a n o e , b a c k , backbone a p k u r l a ( AT), bow o f c a n o e , a n k l e ampu ( AN/Y), bow o f c a n o e , t o o t h umuyanu (AT), bow o f c a n o e , n o s e apampa (AT) I I , o a r w a^ a r a (AN/Y), o a r , r a t , mouse akumi (AT), d i l l y - b a g , m a r s u p i a l ' s

422

Uradhi

pouch, white fish m i t i - m i t i ( AN), s p a r k s , w i n d - b l o w n ashes (AN/Y), dilly-bag munta (AT/AN/Y), charcoal, hot coals (AT/AN) , waterbag, river aptj'ul (AT/Y) , aptju: (AN), ashes coconut pakya (AT/AN), paya (Y), bag (Loan) u ky u l (AT), unupku: (AN), upul (Y), i p i : n a m u (AT), pi Ii k i n (AN) Loan, smoke, steam ljuyußa (AT/AN/Y), y u k u t , i : n a (AT), billy can waöinurnamu ( A T ) , p a r a y p a n (AN) cigarette, tobacco (Loan) Loan, t ay mp a r a (AN) Loan, at, i ka (AN/Y) , cigarette i p i (AT/AN/Y) I , water, rain frying pan at; i t a k a (AT), i p i - i n p a : (AN), aya (AT/AN/Y), tin, can i p i - i n p a i (Y), salt water k a l a t j i (Y) , drinking glass (Loan) p a n i k i n (AT/AN/Y), cup (Loan) n a l u n (Y), sea, waves ayun (AT/AN), sea, waves, flood ayumpa (AT), aramu (AN/Y), clothes p u l a p k i n u (AT), p a l a p k i n (AN), a t a ß a (AT/AN/Y), river, feather y a t i (AT/AN/Y), river, creek p u l a : p k i n (Y), blanket (Loan) wap i la (AT), y a t i - m u t u p (AT/AN), pi la (AN), pillow (Loan) wal apan (AT/AN), apkapa (Y), hat lagoon, lake nukinmapa (AT), ukarnamu (AN), shoe i p i - m u t u p (AT), lake a ß i (AT/AN/Y), swamp mutupanamu (AN), long sock(s) i t i : n a : n a m u (AT), t a r a w u t j i at,ana (AT), i p i - a t ; a n a (AT), spring (AT/AN/Y) Loan, trousers a y u r a (AT), tide t i n p a p a (Y), low tide a p k u t u (AN), shorts ayampa (Y), high tide t u k y un u (AT), armband mayi -wapun (AT), a y i - a p u n (AN/Y), w i n t a ö i (AT), u i ; u : t u (AN) Loan, fruit, seed w i n t a : p (AN), l j u r t u (Y) Loan, m a y i - i n a p a n u (AT), p i r i t i (AN) Loan, shirt bread j j r i t j i (AN), dress (Loan) w i n t a - l u k a (AT), t i p k i l i t i (AN) may i - i pi; u q u - i pant epu ( A T ) , tampa Loan, singlet (AN) Loan, damper manu:namu (AT), manunamu (AN), pal awa ( A T ) , p a l a wu ru ( A N / Y ) , f l o u r a p k i t j i (AN) Loan, handkerchief ( Loan) marapi (AT/AN/Y), pipe, bamboo nani (AT), ani (AN/Y), sugar, paypa (AT/AN/Y), pipe, paper (Loan) ground, dirt, sand tinta (AT/AN/Y), rifle u p i r i (AT/AN/Y), poison, medicine rumpun (AT), yumpun (AN/Y), gun, u Ii :p (AN), poison u p u p u - r u : r a (AT), u p u p u - ^ u r r a (AN), club pu l u (AN), bullet (Loan) u p u p u - y u : r a (Y), milk l akapu (AT/AN), handcuffs, jail r u : r a (AT), 1j u:ra (AN), y u : r a (Y) , (Loan from lock-up) juice aypan (AT), money, stone mupayu (Y), beer aöup (AN/Y), money mupa (AT/Y) I , beer, saliva p i p l j i l (Y) , pencil (Loan) k a r u k a (AT/AN/Y), beer, strong pi pa (Y), paper (Loan) drink (Loan from grog) kat a (AT/AN/Y), cards (Loan) ip i— uIi:p (AN/Y), strong drink uyu (AN), t i n t u (Y) Loan, tent l ukup (AN/Y), wine, blood a t i - y a m p a (AT), apan-yampa (AN), K - Food, fire, water tea-leaves mina (AT), meat, bird, game animal L - Celestial, weather i na (AN/Y), meat, mullet wupa (AT/AN/ Y) I , sun akyan ( AT / A N) , a k y a : n a ( Y ) , moon mayi (AT) (erg. m a y i : l u ) , a y i (AN/Y), vegetable food a k y a : na-apuöa ( A T ) , a k y a n - a y a t i p u uma (AT/AN/Y) I , fire, firewood ( A N ) , f u l l moon u m a - l a l a n (AT), flame unpi (AT/Y) I, upku : pku (AN), star a n t a r a (AT/AN/Y), flame, spear w u r i ^ a y a (AT), shooting star grass, scorpion manma (AT), yu p u l (Y), darkness

awant i unt api i

Vocabulary by sema nt i c f i e l d s ukwal (AT), s h a d e , shadow, r e f l e c t ion i IYu: (AN), i l y u l ( Y ) , s h a d e upuSi (AT), r a i n b o w , s t r i p e d w ate r snake upuöipu ( Y ) , rainbow aljai (AT/Y) , at, a : (AN), c l o u d , s ky a t a y a n (AT), i t a y u (AN), uyuyu ( Y ) , f o g ukyan (AT), ukya: (AN), ukyal ( Y ) , dew a Ißa (AT/AN/Y), wind a l ß a - a y a r a (AT/AN/Y), mo ns o o n a l winds u n t a w u n t u n a n (AT), mari ( Y ) , whirlwind u n ta:rk a (Y), cyclone ayun (AT/AN), f l o o d , s e a , waves untumu ( A T ) , untuymu ( AN/Y) , thunder pi pan (AT), u nt uymu- ma ta (AN/Y), l i g h t n i n g i pi (AT/AN/Y) I , r a i n , w a t e r a y a r a (AT/AN/Y), r a i n y s e a s o n , spa r r ow h aw k w u p a - a k y i n u (AT/AN/Y), d r y season

M - Geography,

etc

akyun (AT), aßa (AN/Y), p l a c e , camp awulj i (AT/AN), y u t a (AN/Y), house a k i t , a (AT/AN), h o u s e , c h u r c h aypap (AN/Y), tuwa (AN) Loan, store k i t j i n a , k i t c h e n (Loan) l aka pu (AT/AN), j a i l , h a n d ­ c u f f s (Loan f rom l o c k - u p ) a p a r r a (AT), uIumu (AT/AN/Y), road nani (AT), ani (AN/Y), g r o u n d , d i r t , sand, sugar n a n i - m u pa (AT), a n i - u n u p k u : (AN), d u s t wu punpi ( AT ) , s a nd wanka (AT/AN/Y) I , mud wapkut pu (AT) I , w h i t e c l a y a t a y a (AT), a n t u ( Y) , r e d c l a y a ö a l (AT/Y), a 5 a : (AN), h o l e ma nu- ka pi (AT/Y), c a v e , w i n d p i p e a Iß a I (AT), p l a i n ampimana ( Y ) , c l e a r i n g aypa n (AT), s t o n e , money aypap ( AN/Y), s t o n e

423

a y p a p - y u t u m a n u ( Y) , q u a r t z p a n t a l (AT), y a n t a : (AN), y a n t a l ( Y ) , hill w a l y a p a (AT), mapa (AN/Y), g u l l y aßa - mapa (AN), c l i f f yapka (AT/AN/Y), s l o p e , b ank y a t i - y a p k a (AN), r i v e r b a n k p i : y i n (AT), y i : y i n (AN/Y), b e a c h uyamu (AT), iyamu (AN/Y), i s l a n d t a : r a (AT/AN/Y), r e e f

N - Flora yuku (AT/AN/Y) I , t r e e , wood, s t i c k , log u t u ö a (AT/AN/Y), b u s h akup (AT/AN/Y), b a r k o f t r e e , s k i n i t i : n a (AT/Y), i t in (AN), r o o t o f tr e e , thigh a y a p k i (AT), aka (AT), r o o t w i n t a (AT/AN/Y), b r a n c h o f t r e e , ar m, o u t r i g g e r mapkama (AT), y u k u - ma n u t u ( Y ) , stump o f t r e e a n t e : I i ( AT ) , l o g yuku-wampan (AT/AN/Y), lump on t r e e y u k u - a m p i : ma (AT), f o r k i n t r e e yampa (AT/AN/Y), l e a f , l u n g i t a y a (AT), f l o w e r mayi- wapun (AT), a y i - a p u n (AN/Y), seed, f r u i t u t a ß u n (AT), y u k u - i t , a l (Y) , s a p iSamu (AT), apan (AN/Y), g r a s s (generic) ukapa ( A T ) , s p i k y g r a s s a n t a r a (AT/AN/Y), s p e a r g r a s s , s c o r p io n , flame i ku:namu (AT), ikunamu (AN/Y), bandicoot grass i l ß i (AT), l o n g t h i n g r a s s s p . i t a n (AT), iijan (AT), i1,anka (Y) , blady grass i r i m p i (AT), r o o t o f g r a s s i t a ö i (AT), a p a n - a y a t a (AN), a p k u t u m a l a ( Y) , b u l r u s h e s i 1,a I (AT) , s p l i n t e r i t u ß a (AT), i t j i t i (Y) , t h o r n , p r i c k l e wuluyma ( AT), i n p u r a (AN), umpa3i (Y), lily pupup ( AT ) , w a t e r gum ul uy u p (AT/AN/Y), c o o l i b a h a t a n t i (AN/Y) I I I , b l u e gum, f i r e stick i ß i ö i (AT), wat a pu ( Y ) , b l u e gum a r a t a n u ( A T ) , w at a nu (AN), s p e a r gum p a t a ö a (AT), y a t a 5 a (AN), s o f t b e e f wood uyuwaI (AT), uyuwa: (AN), h a r d beef wood

424

Uradhi

ayurla (AT/Y), forest bloodwood mantin (AT), mantip (AN/Y), ironwood ya:ra (AN/Y), soap tree, black beefhawk ra:ra (AT), soap tree ulaptjamu (AT/AN), ulari (Y) , nunda tree umyaI (AT/Y), kuritipa (AN), jam tree ulapkula (AT/Y), morse tree ilapka (AT/Y), mahogany wapapa (AT), wapaöa (AN/Y), cottonwood aptjal (AT), u:5a (AN), milkwood utan (AT), corkwood itu (AT), boxwood itiman (AT), itimap (AN), kapamari tree urußunumu (AT), ayup (Y), native almond yakantyal (AT), akanti: (AN), akantyal (Y), wongai plum napkapußu (AT), itjiya (AT/AN/Y), Moreton Bay fig mala (Y), fig sp. uüluya (AT/Y), pine tree ipantara (AT), unka: (AN), unkal (Y), messmate upkwal (AT), wuti (AT), messmate bark winti (AT/AN/Y), stringybark wuljupu (AT/AN/Y), oak tree utußa (AT/AN), it inti (Y), wintutlan (AT), mangrove sp. uya (AT/AN/Y), wattle sp. ampi (AT/AN/Y) I, large-leaf wattle sp., yamstick i:ra (AT/AN/Y), spear wattle, large owl sp., sea snake, long spear antaya (AN/Y), i:run (AT), black teatree upan (AT), paperbark tree utumpa (AT/Y), grass tree inmu:lu (AT), inmu: (AN), inmuI (Y), blackboy palm wintatu(Su) (AT), aljawiti (AN), araplj i (Y) , umbrella palm uturu (Y), small palm sp. wayuöi (AT), river palm muyuI (AT/Y), muyu: (AN), pandanus unti:5a (AT/AN), beach sago, longtail stingray ipi5 i (AT), beach sago yananti (AN/Y), plains yam urkan (AT/AN/Y), stringy yam

aöampa (AT), long yam sp. mayi-upke:ni (AT), wanta: (AN), scrub yam wantaI (Y), scrub yam, barracouta pananti (AT), plains yam unpu (Y), taro, curlew UQtapunta:namu (AT), taro ußantamu (AT), ukumala (AT/AN/Y), sweet potato mapkuöi (AT) II, vine sp. utira (AT), pig vine umupka (AT), unpara (Y), loya cane a Iyaöa (AT), fern unta:pa (AT/AN), untara (Y) , long tom iIi5a (AT), atata (Y), ant orchid marapi (AT/AN/Y), bamboo, pipe makya:ra (AT), katamara (AN/Y), wild banana ampun (AT/AN/Y), passionfruit apuptj i (Y) , yellowfruit umiriSi (AT), urn it ip (AN/Y), white apple akwaßap (AT), sour white apple apirya (AT), amputumup (AN/Y), red apple untapu (AT/AN), river coconut, waterbag waraßa (AT), wu1,upapun (AN), upku:pun (Y), coconut iptjUya (AT) II, stinging tree mapku (AT/AN/Y), mango (Loan) aljawi (AT/AN/Y), mushroom, ear ukuru (Y), seaweed

Abstract nouns wumu (AT), around ikuIußa (AT), side wa5u (AT/AN/Y), corner, armpit apun (AN/Y), end, wallaby, head wutu (AT) I, utu (AN/Y), bend waka (AT/AN/Y), work (Loan) iyi (AT), ipi (Y), sleep mita (AT/AN/Y), smell manu-ukiri (AT/AN/Y), cough manta (AT), strength 0 - ADJECTIVES

Number and identity nipima (AT), ipima (AN/Y), one u5yama (AT), uSima (AN/Y), two wujuma (AT/AN/Y), three iIßan (AT/AN), ip^antu (Y), makya:na (Y), many

Vocabulary by semantic fields upina (AT/AN), wanu (AT), upa (Y) I, other, different Colour unma (AT/AN/Y) I, manara (AN/Y), black, dirty puoal (AT), yupa: (AN), yupwal (Y), white utip (AN), lukukup (Y), red Dimens ion amapma (AT) II, aßukup (AN/Y), large, big alßamu (AT), akimpata (AT/AN), uöayki (Y), small puyuSi (AT), ilßalakup (AN), iiß a I (Y), long mapka (AT/AN), apkutu (AN/Y), short upunmanu (AT), N, fat apuöa-apuöa (AT), wi:pap (AN/Y), skinny ital.(AT), malu (AN/Y), deep apanuma (AT), up1,uma (Y), straight wuntu (AT/AN/Y), crooked atpäripu (AT), upamu (AT), apara (AN), flat P h ysical p r operty warnpan (AT/AN/Y), full, swollen uma5i (AT), hot wupa-papan (AT), wupa-yapan (AN) , wupa-yapwan (Y), hot (of weather) ußanu (AT), ukyantup (AT), aljanpa (AN), uijankama (Y) , cold w ipar) i (AT), uljuri (AN), wet ukyantup (AT), wet, cold pajjup (AT), yal,up (AN/Y), dry patinu (AT), yatinu (AN), barren, bald itan (AT), urapampu (AN), sharp luka (AT/Y) I, blunt, lame upkun (AT/AN), heavy ayatipu (AN/Y), heavy, large ukyaruyara (AT), ukyal (Y) , light (in weight) papan (AT), yapan (AN), yapwan (Y) , hard, rough, strong wampanu (AT), aßaryma (AN/Y), hollow aturup (AT/AN/Y), wulap (AN), soft, weak wupkama (AT), upkama (AN/Y), raw

425

wantinu (AT/AN/Y), cooked mita (AT/AN/Y), upupu (AN), sweet, fresh aya (AT), sour, salty atuSi (AT), ata (AN/Y), umunti rotten yata (AT), rotten, smelly inama (Y), naked ataraSeri (AT), wip^u (AN/Y), wrinkled, rough waIi:p (AN/Y), smooth muypap (AT), slippery, smooth mupaypa (Y), slippery waIi (Y), shiny, clean ikyayantama (AT), shiny, clean, bright pakanu (AT), bright matamaka (AT), sticky utyal (AT), uöuru (AT/Y), thick pakyara (AT), yakyara (Y) , spread out wanu (AN/Y), distant Age a n d value wutpuma (Y), old, aged utaSumu (AT), young anpap^a(muku5i) (AT), muku3i (AT), new ikanma (AT), ikama (AN/Y), good, clean wuypu (AT), uypu (AN/Y), bad mupaSi (AT), good-looking muparp (AN/Y), good-looking Human propensity alyap (AT/AN), ma5a:ya (Y), clever apulukup (AT/AN), apurkup (Y), knowledgeable muypamal (AT), crazy uli (AT), uIi:p (AN/Y), crazy, angry wupama (AT), angry iwa pa na (AT), karukaöi (AT) Loan, karukati (AN/Y) Loan, iwa:na (Y) , drunk luyap (AT), surprised iöaßa (AT), i5aIßa (AN/Y), afraid uöißa (AT/AN/Y), ashamed, shy, embarrassed aljawiti (AN), uriparni (AN), sorry ara5i (AT), wumpa-wumpa (Y), larrikin akuyu (AT), jealous ayinamu (AN), wi:5ap (AN), greedy utpu:man (AT), lonely ayu (AT/AN/Y), fond of, desirous of ayuypu (AT/AN/Y), not fond of

426

Uradhi

Corporeal ampa:mu (AT/AN/Y), male u^alayala (AT), weak Iipa (AT), mupaSi (AT), mupa-i:ma (AT), pregnant upunmanu (AT), fat apuSa-apuöa (AT), wi:pap (AN/Y), skinny apkupkun (AT), satiated anpata (AN), satisfied aöip (AN/Y), hungry ayißara (AT), imarru (AT), ma:ru (AN/Y), tired napkaöi (AT), yawning upiri (AT/AN/Y), painful, stinging, sore anpal-wali:p (Y), sharpsighted ipan-wuypuöi (AT), blind iwup-mana5i (AT), deaf luka (AT/Y) I, lame, blunt ayarima (AT/AN/Y), a5u5a: (AN), sick putu (AT), yutu (AN/Y), dead anirma (AT), ana:yma (AN/Y), alive

Speed mantari (AT), upukma (AT), fast wuntintal (AT), itari (AN), slow VERBS P - Motion and induced

motion ana (AT/AN/Y) intr.irr, anma (AT/AN) intr IV, go, come iSinipa (AT), iyupa (AN), tr II, a5apa (Y) tr, chase, hunt for wukya (AT) tr, chase unta (AN/Y) tr II, catch wapura (AT) intr III, come out apinta (AT) tr, untu:pi (Y) tr IV, enter iI a :na (Y), intr II, walk around atipi (AT), umpa (AN), tr IV, follow yata (AT) intr IV, go past uwumapka (AT) intr II, pass apapant i (Y) intr IV, roll uyipi (AT), uyurunti (AT/AN/Y), intr IV, roll, climb down apkwa (AT) tr III, wu5a (AN/Y) intr IV, crawl paka (AT), yaka (AN), yarka (AN/Y), intr IV, jump Ißakya (AT/Y), ißalikya (AN),

intr IV, dance, play ama (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, fly, get up, wake up ißa:ma (AN) intr II/IV, fly will (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, run alya (AT/AN/Y) intr II, fall, die anpapi (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, climb up atayma (AT) intr II, rise apakya (AN) intr II, rise, come up ipipi (AT/Y) intr III, swim unma (AT/AN/Y) tr IV, swim across ipipapa, wiye (AT), wiya, wala:pki (AN) waI a :y i (Y), tr II, wash ipuka (AT) intr II, apkayma (AN/Y) intr IV, sink, drown watu (AT/AN/Y) tr III, row antaßa (AT), antaypa (AN/Y), tr III, take, carry, bring wakya (AT), manta:pa (AN), tr II, send wupinapa (AT/AN/Y) tr II, push ulßarapa (AT/AN) tr II, awawa (Y) tr III, pull wuri (AT/AN/Y) tr II, spin iwamanapa (AT) tr II, shake antanapa (AT), wapi (AN/Y) tr II, drop pinpanapa (AT), wintipanta (AT), atata (Y), tr II, pour anipa (AN), a:ypa (Y), tr II, spill pa (AT) tr la, throw, spill watapa (AN) tr II, ya (Y) tr la, throw

Q - Position and induced position; giving uyama (AT/AN/Y) intr II, stay behind una (AT/AN/Y) intr.irr, sleep, lie down ina (AT/AN/Y) intr.irr, sit, stay, live ukumanapa (AT) tr II, apa (AT/AN/ Y) intr.irr, stand napka-apka (AT) tr IV, open want a (AT) tr III, open, sew apka (AT/AN/Y) tr II, open, peel, take out aypa (AT/AN/Y) .tr II, hold, touch a5e:ni (AT) intr IV, stop still mutuma (AN/Y) intr II, stop still, be silent wampa (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, float upaßi (AT) intr IV, hide upaßa (AT), upupa (AN), up ipa (Y) tr II, hide ampi (AT) tr II/IV, pampi (AT) tr

Vocabulary by semantic fields II, yampi (Y) tr II, take out anta (AT/AN/Y) tr II, put down, leave apa (AT) tr II, ma (Y) tr Ic, pick up papkwa (AT) tr III, apaöapa (AN) tr II, yapka (Y) tr III, knock over ama (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, fly, get up, wake up akyarama (AT) intr II, spread it,i5upka (AT) tr III, heap up pakyarapa (AT) tr II, share out u (AT/AN/Y) tr lb, give int i(AN) tr II, buy R - Stative pa1;uy-ma (AT) intr, be dry lutuyma (AT) intr IV, be straight napka-alya (AT) intr II, be full (e.g. bag, basket) wutpuma (AT/AN/Y) intr, be old papan-upunma (AT) intr, become strong unma-upunma (AT/AN/Y) intr, become black lukuyma (Y) intr IV, be red akup-apa (AT) intr.irr, be j ealous aplj i:ma (AT) intr II, ap} i:ka (AN) intr IV, be happy, rej oice S - Affect aru (AT/AN/Y) tr III, hit muplje (AT/AN) tr III, aya (Y) tr II, kick lanpi (AT) tr II, flog, beat a5a (AT) tr II, hurt umpi (AT/Y), yumpi (AN) tr II, kill anupu (AT), tr III, squeeze apka (AT/AN/Y) tr II, peel, open, take out antipe (AT), anki (AN/Y) , apki (Y) , wantiqa (Y) , tr II, spear apa (AT/AN/Y) tr II, dig ipante (AT) tr III, bury aSapwanta (AT) tr II, plant unti5apa (AT) tr II, umpu:ri "(AN) tr IV, ußi (Y) tr II, prick, scratch ute (AT/Y), ipa:ta (AN), tr II, cut, chop ipalaka (AN) intr IV, aßanta (Y)

427

tr III, split apapapka (AT) tr II, split, bash iyanapa (AT/AN) tr II, umpwa (Y) tr III, break itußapka (AT) tr II, smooth wa (AT/AN/Y) tr la, cook, burn wanti (AT) tr II, burn, ripen uyuma (Y) tr II, kapamari (cooking style) ukya (AT) tr III, light (fire) ußanapa (AT/AN/Y) tr II, extinguish (fire), blow ata (AT/AN/Y) tr II, tie, weave pima (AT) tr II, upu (Y) tr III, twirl wanta (AT) tr III, sew, open muypapa (Y) tr II, rub uyuru (AT/Y) tr III, rub, grind at i (AT/Y) tr II, awa (AN) tr, cover aßa (AN/Y) tr II, cover, bury upunpa (AT), upupa (AN/Y), tr II, make, do a:nima (Y) tr II, do wuypupa (AT), uypupa (AN/Y), tr II, do badly, miss papan-upupa (AT) tr, strengthen unma-upupa (AT) tr, blacken T - Attention aS i (AT/AN/Y) tr II, wait for, keep, give birth to, lay egg akyi (AT/AN/Y) tr II, see, look at ami (AT/AN/Y), ikyami (AT), tr II, hear, listen to intu (AT/AN/Y) intr III, look for ukyaöa (AT) tr III, ukya: (Y) tr II, show arya (AT) intr II, want ayuyma (AN) intr IV, dream, be in love U - Talking, etc. ikya (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, speak ukya (AT) intr IV, shout unte (AT) tr III, shout at ikyaypa (AN/Y) intr II, chatter apkukya (AN) intr IV, ask ukuIjiSipa (AT), a^awitinapa (AN), tr II, remind utpapa (AT), wipupa (AN/Y), tr II, cheat, lie to, mock ulima (Y) intr II, growl awu (AT) intr III, ikyamipkya (AN) intr II, alaijipa (Y) intr II, bark mutuma (AN/Y) intr II, be silent,

42 8

Uradhi

stop still apama (AT/AN/Y)

V

-

intr II, be silent

Corporeal

upye (AT/Y), upya (AN), tr II, eat, drink wata (AT/AN/Y) tr II, bite una (AT) tr III, swallow wupe (AT) tr II, lick, suck ukiri (AT) intr IV, cough malantapka (AT) intr II, hiccup wunta (AT) intr II, a Iap i (Y) intr IV, vomit, spit uya (AT/AN/Y) tr II, smell lapu (AT) tr III, blow ußanapa (AT/AN/Y) tr II, blow, extinguish (fire) anuta (AT) intr II, puff pika:pka (AT) tr II, tickle u Iuyßa (AN) intr IV, copulate aöi (AT/AN/Y) tr II, give birth to, lay egg, wait for, keep api:ma (AN) intr II, grow wampaypa (AN/Y) intr II, swell up alya (AT/AN/Y) intr II, die, fall ama (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, wake up, get up, fly pupka (AT), yupka (AN/Y) intr IV, cry apka:ri (AT/AN/Y) intr IV, laugh aplj i:ma (AT) intr II, aplj i:ka (AN) intr IV, rejoice, be happy akup-apa (AT) intr.irr, be jealous

W - Adverbial akyapani (AT) intr IV, utumapka (AN) tr II, finish (uyu (AT/AN/Y) Part, try)

X - LOCATION (all belong to word class Place, unless indicated) upkuyma (AT/AN/Y), close to (wanu (AN/Y) A d j , distant) atpa:ntu (AN/Y), towards the horizon ampya (AT), akinta (AN/Y), up

anpa:ntu (Y), upwards anpa: (Y), anpima (Y), above wutama (AT/AN'/Y) , over akayma (AT/AN/Y), down, beneath aka:pu (AT), aka:ntu (AN/Y), downwards anpaplja(ma) (AT) , anpa^a(ma) (AN/Y), in front of, long time ago uyamun (AT/AN), uyayaya (Y), behind awa:yma (AT/AN/Y), outside aöapama (AT), in the middle apuöama (AT/AN/Y), together (wi:yu (AT/AN/Y) N, beside, rib, side )

Y - TIME anpap^a(ma) (AT), anpa^a(ma) (AN/Y), long time ago, in front of apljayaßuma (AT), unmakya(ma) (AT/AN/Y), yesterday pupupunma (AT), ukumantan (AT/AN/Y), tomorrow uta (AT/AN/Y), later on uyapu-uyapu (AT/AN/Y), always wupaypa (AT/AN), wupaympa (Y), in the daytime unma:wa (AT/AN), unmayuwa (Y) , in the night (ayalja (Y) , N: Christmas, novice t ime)

Z - INTERJECTIONS pa (AT), ipa (AN), amu (Y), expression of agreement [koko] (AT/AN/Y), expression of pleased surprise akay (AT/AN/Y), ipa (AN), expression of surprise yi (AT/AN/Y), expression of ignorance or lack of interest a:ni (AT/AN/Y), request of repetition [to] (AT/AN/Y), expression of conclusion of story umpa (AT/AN/Y), hey! aßu (AT/AN/Y), cheerio

430

Map 5

Goold ’ Island

GIRAMAY

20 kilometres

(dialect of DYIRBAU Land above 1500 ft Cardwell

H inchinbrook Island

(dialect of WARGAMAY)

Lucinda Point

Macknade .H alifax

MANBARA Palm Taylor's Beach

Islands

Toobanna

A/It

± fo /m Margaret [

NYAWAYGI

•Bam baroo'

WARUNGU

• Coolbie

GUWABARA

Moongobulla

Rollingstone

BIRI (?)

Map 5:

Nyawaygi and it's neighbours (tribal boundaries are only approximate)

\

I

Nyawaygi by R.M.W. Dixon

1.

THE L ANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS

Four languages span the eastern coast of Queensland between Cairns and Townsville: Yidiny, Dyirbal, Wargamay and Nyawaygi. The most southerly pair, Nyawaygi and Warga­ may, have some significant similarities, but these are not sufficient to justify positing a close genetic connection. Dyirbal and Yidiny are more different, although all four languages do of course belong to the large Australian langu­ age family. I have already published book-length studies of Yidiny (Dixon 1977a) and Dyirbal (1972) while an account of Wargamay, with its dialects 'Wargamay proper' and Biyay, was included in Volume 2 of the Handbook (Dixon 1981). This description of Nyawaygi is thus (among other things) the final instalment of an areal linguistic study. Points of similarity and difference to the other languages are noted; analyses and explanations which apply in Nyawaygi in the same way as in Wargamay are not restated here, but are simply cross-referenced. 1.1

LINGUISTIC TYPE

Nyawaygi is a fairly typical Australian language with a suffixing, agglutinative structure and free word order. It has three vowels but only twelve consonants (the smallest number of any Australian language), [r] and [d] falling to­ gether as allophones of a single phoneme. Like Wargamay, Nyawaygi has significant vowel length just in the first sy­ llable of a word; but, unlike Wargamay, it does not have any monosyllabic words. All affixes are at least one syllable in extent; there are no suffixes that comprise a single consonant, as in the languages to the north. One of the most striking grammatical features is the extensive set of verbal conjugations. Nyawaygi has three open conjugations (corresponding to the two conjugations in Wargamay and in Dyirbal) but also has four small closed con­ jugations, all of whose members have monosyllabic roots.

432

Nyawaygi

(Since inflections onto these monosyllabic roots are all of at least one syllable, each verbal word is disyllabic or longer.) These conjugational patterns in Nyawaygi relate back directly to proto-Australian classes and preserve an archaic feature that has been lost in other languages of the region through the reassignment of disyllabic verbal roots in place of original monosyllabic forms. Monosyllabic verbs (from the four closed conjugations) distinguish between 'recent past' and ’sequential past', and between 'purposive' and 'sequential purposive' while polysyllabic verbs (which make up the three open conjugat­ ions) have a single inflection for the first two and another for the last two meanings. The verbal system appears to mix considerations of aspect (as in Wargamay) and tense. Verbal derivational processes form transitive stems from intransi­ tive roots and intransitive 'reciprocals' from transitive roots. Case inflections are similar to those for neighbouring languages. With nouns and adjectives Nyawaygi has a single inflection covering both dative and genitive; pronouns, how­ ever, show different inflections for these two functions. Another feature which sets Nyawaygi off from the other lan­ guages of the region is an inclusive/exclusive distinction on non-singular first person pronouns. The forms suggest that it may be a recent innovation. There is a 'split-case' system, again almost identical to Wargamay, with nouns identifying intransitive subject (S) and transitive object (0) functions (an 'absolutive-ergative' pattern), non-singular first and second person pronouns identifying S with transitive subject (A) function (a 'nom­ inative-accusative' pattern) while first and second person singular and third person non-singular have different forms for all three major syntactic functions. Time qualifiers have inflections that are formally similar to, but not iden­ tical with, those on nominals. The data on Nyawaygi is limited to word and sentence elicitation; no texts could be obtained. In view of this very little can be said about the syntax. 1.2

TRIBE, TERRITORY, SECTIONS

Nyawaygi appears to have been spoken by a single 'tri­ bal unit' (in the sense explained in Dixon 1980:29-32). Cassady (1886:424) described the territory: 'the Halifax Bay tribe occupies a tract of country fronting the shore of the bay for about fifty miles, and extending fifteen miles inland'. The northern limit appears to have been the Her­ bert River at Halifax and Ingham where Nyawaygi joined Biyaygiri; the southern limits are reported to have been near the modern township of Rollingstone. At its northern end, the western boundary ran between Toobanna, Frances Creek and Waterview Creek (which were in Nyawaygi territory) and the Stone River (which was Waruou country). To the south the Nyawaygi tract may have tapered off, effectively delimited by the Seaview Range (Mount Spec was said to fall outside the Nyawaygi boundaries).

1.2 Tribe, Territory, Sections

4 33

(The Wargamay grammar (Dixon 1 9 8 1 : 1 2 ) mentioned that Tindale ( 1 9 4 0 , 1 9 7 4 ) has erroneously ascribed the Nyawaygi territory to Wargamaygan - and also assumed that Cassady and Johnstone ( 1 8 8 6 ) refer to Wargamay, whereas the vocabu­ laries they give are clearly Nyawaygi - and mistakenly ass­ igned Nyawaygi to an inland strip.) Attached to the vocabularies in Curr's Australian Race ( 1 8 8 6 ) are two short accounts of the tribe. James Cassady said that 'it is divided into seven subtribes, called Ikelbara, Doolebara, Mungulbara, Mandambara, Karabara, Bungabara and Yoembara’ and Robert Johnstone listed ’about Halifax Bay there are six bara , or tribes, called Ikelbara, Dulenbara, Karrabara, Yauembara, Mungalbara, and Mandambara. They speak dialects of one language.’ These are plainly the names of local groups, and all involve the productive nominal suffix - b a r a ’belonging to’ (see 3 . 1 . 2 ) . Unfortunately, my infor­ mant did not recognise any of these names. There must of course have been several dialects of Nya­ waygi. My data is largely from Willie Seaton who was brou­ ght up on Waterview Creek, in the southern half of the terr­ itory, whereas Cassady and Johnstone ( 1 8 8 6 ) probably recor­ ded a more northerly dialect, from around Ingham. The Cass­ ady and Johnstone vocabularies agree 90% with each other and 7 5 - 8 0 % with the vocabulary given by Willie Seaton; the voc­ abulary gathered in 1 9 3 8 by N.B.Tindale agrees 90% with my materials. (See 1 . 4 . ) ’Nyawaygi’ appears to have been used as both a tribal and a language name. William Craig, in a letter written in 1 8 9 8 to A.W.Howitt (and quoted in Dixon 1 9 8 1 : 1 1 ) referred to this group as Nowa-gee, and said that Nowa meant ’no’. The element - g i does appear to be the productive comitative suff­ ix ’with' - 3 . 1 . 2 . A number of Australian languages are named on this pattern ’no-having’ (e.g. Dixon 1 9 8 1 : 3 , 1 9 8 0 : 42). However, Willie Seaton did not recognise ’Nyawaygi’ as being a derived form and he did not know any word paway (he gave b i y a y for ’n o ’ as does Cassady 1 8 8 6 : 4 2 9 ) . Like other tribes in the region, Nyawaygi had four sec­ tions, as follows (note that Willie Seaton said g u r g i l a and g u r g i p were synonyms): a man who is:

must marry a woman who is:

their children being:

1.

2. g u r g u ^ a y pg a n

3.

wungu

2. g u r g u ^ u 3. g u r g i I a = g u r g i p 4. ga^bawuQu

1. wungur aypgan 4. gapbawu( J y an 3. g u r g i l a y p g a n

gurg i Ia=gurg i p / gurgiIaypgan 4. g a ^ b a w u p u / g a ^ b a w u p i ya n 1. wungu/ wungur aypgan 2. g u r g u ^ u / g u r g u r a y p g a n

These are identical (allowing for differences of transcrip­ tion) with the names given by Cassady (1886:425) and by Johnstone (1886:427) except that the nineteenth century wri­ ters gave w o t e r o / w o t e r u n g a n (Cassady) and w o r d o n / w o r d o i ngan (John­ stone) in place of g a r b a w u ^ u / g a r b a w u p i y a n . Cassady and Johnstone are probably representing w u ^ u r u / wu c j u r a y p g a n ; if so they are giving a set of section names identical to those used by the Wargamaygan (see Dixon 1981:5). Willie Seaton's names g a r b a wu Qu / g a r b a wu p i y a n are used by the Giramaygan, to the north of the Wargamaygan (although the Nyawaygi section names are not identical to those for Giramaygan, the latter having

434

Nyawaygi

^ i g u n g a r a i n place of wungu - Dixon 1972:31). It is likely that these different names were in use among different local groups speaking Nyawaygi. (On one occasion Seaton said that the child of a man from section 1 and a woman from 2 would be in section 4 (not 3) and similarly 2=l->3, 3=4^2 and 4=3-EL But he did hesitate and suggest that a 3 man and a 4 woman would have children in 1 or 2. The balance of evidence suggests that the scheme set out above is the correct one.) There may have been a ('mother-in-law') avoidance lan­ guage, similar to the Jalguy (Dyalguy) style of Dyirbal (Dixon 1972:32-4) and of Yidiny (Dixon 1977a:501-7). When asked about this Willie Seaton seemed to imply the existen­ ce of such a style but simply said gayba mu : [ ; i p a 'I'm ashamed' when pressed for examples of it. Cassady and Johnstone (1886) give some useful notes on food, weapons, decoration, cannibalism, infanticide, and so on. Little information is available on the contact history of the Nyawaygi. Cassady (1886:424) says: 'In 1865, when the Halifax Bay country was first occupied by the Whites, the tribe is estimated to have amounted to about 500 per­ sons. The numbers which existed in 1880 are set down app­ roximately to have been 40 men, 30 boys over ten years, 100 women and girls over ten years, and 30 children of both sexes under ten years; in all 200 souls. This decrease my informant attributes to the brutality of the Native Mounted Police and some of the settlers, who, in the beginning, re­ lentlessly hunted down and shot as many of the males of the tribe as possible. The present excess of females over males (the common proportion in our tribes being about three males to one female) bears out this statement.' Certainly there were in the 1970s only a handful of people who identified themselves as Nyawaygi.

1.3.

SURROUNDING LANGUAGES

To the north of Nyawaygi were spoken Wargamay and Biyay (effectively dialects of a single language), to the west was WaruQU and to the south (according to Willie Seaton) Biri. Manbara was spoken on the Palm Islands group, ten miles or so to the east of the Halifax Bay coastline. Willie Seaton said that Wargamay and Manbara were the languages closest to Nyawaygi, with the western and southern languages being much more difficult to learn (he refers to the first two as 'seaside people' and the latter two as 'tableland mob'). Seaton mentioned a group called Guwabara in the Mount Spec area (and said that they had now complete­ ly died out); it is likely that this was a local group of Warugu. WaruQU and Biri were closely related (being north­ erly members of the vast 'Marie subgroup') and were totally different from Nyawaygi in grammar and vocabulary. Nyaway­ gi has at most 30% vocabulary in common with Warugu. Charles Price (1885) gathered a miscellaneous vocabulary from the various Aborigines who came into Townsville; this includes a few Nyawaygi words. Little is known of the Palm Island language. Willie

1.3 Surrounding Languages

435

Seaton averred that this was always a small tribe - of per­ haps 100 people. There is a published vocabulary by Houz6 and Jacques (1884), a word list taken down by Tindale in 1938, and a few words gathered by Peter Sutton and Tasaku Tsunoda in 1970/74 from Reggie Palm Island, the last member of the tribe. These lists are all quite similar and plainly belong to a single language. (The vocabulary in Gribble 1932:148-9 shows considerable differences and may well in­ volve a mixture of words from several languages.) The Palm Island language, Manbara, shows about 50% lexical similarity with Nyawaygi (the data is mostly nouns); there is scarcely any grammatical information although the four or five pro­ nominal forms in the sources do agree with the Nyawaygi/ Wargamay paradigm (and the few verb forms in the Manbara data do suggest that it might perhaps have had some mono­ syllabic verb roots, like Nyawaygi). Nyawaygi has 45-50% vocabulary in common with or close­ ly similar with Wargamay; the figure is about the same for verbs and for non-verbs. The morphology of nouns and pro­ nouns is very close but verbs are quite strikingly differ­ ent. The similarities are not sufficient to justify posit­ ing a close genetic relationship between Wargamay and Nya­ waygi (i.e. a small subgroup of the Australian family con­ sisting of just these two languages) but they are such that this possibility cannot entirely be discounted. (I am not hopeful that criteria will ever emerge which will disting­ uish between genetic and diffusional factors in the Dyribal/ Wargamay and Wargamay/Nyawaygi cases.) Nyawaygi has around 25% vocabulary identical or closely similar to Dyirbal. There are, however, considerable gramm­ atical differences, making it highly improbable that Nyaway­ gi, Wargamay and Dyirbal could ever be included in the same subgroup. Curr (1886;11:426) comments 'the tribe to the north of the one under consideration is called Wombelbara, and that to the south Korambelbara'. These names, which clearly concern local groups and not tribes, do not correlate with any data that I have gathered. 1.4

PREVIOUS WORK ON THE LANGUAGE

Little attempt has been made, during the hundred years or so of white contact, to record any Nyawaygi. The full list is: (1) The vocabularies of Cassady and Johnstone published in Curr's Australian Race (1886). These are of quite good quality. (2) A vocabulary of around 50 words was taken down by N.B. Tindale on 25 October 1938, probably at Palm Island. This is, like all Tindale's material, well transcribed. (3) Mrs M .L .Allingham, of Muralambeen (anglicisation of Nyawaygi name mapalmbip), Victoria Estate, near Ingham, published some vocabulary and names in Local Government, March 1964 (pp.34-5), April 1964 (pp.59,61), May 1964 (p.66) and June 1964 (p.42). These are all from Nyawaygi, but the transcription is poorish.

436

% awaygi

(4) In 1964 Don Laycock recorded some material from Roy Heron, of the wungu section (grandson of Long Heron - see 1.5) at Palm Island, later making it available to me; it is basically Nyawaygi with some admixture from Wargamay. (5) In 1974 Tasaku Tsunoda took down a handful of forms from Willie Seaton and from Gillie Cassady, making them available to me. 1.5

SOURCES FOR THIS STUDY

The material for this study comes almost exclusively from Long Heron ( y a wu r a ) and particularly Willie Seaton (bunu^a), both of whom belonged to the g ur g u ^ u section. Long Heron - also known as 'Old Man Heron' or most frequently just 'Heron' - was reputed to have been born about 1870; it seemed to me that this was quite likely. Willie Seaton must have been born before 1900, of a half-caste Malay father and a Nyawaygi mother (called j i n b a y i ) ; he was quite blind by the time I first worked with him, in 1963. Some preliminary work in Nyawaygi was undertaken in 1963/4 and 1967 while I was mainly preoccupied with Dyribal. Some words and simple sentences were recorded from Willie Seaton at Toobanna in 1963 and 1964, and from Long Heron at Warren's Hill in 1964. The visit to Heron was suggested and organised by Chloe Grant, Jimmy Murray and Mary Ann Murray, speakers of Giramay/Jirrbal from Murray Upper. (Jim­ my Murray said afterwards that Giramay and Nyawaygi were too different for him and Heron to understand the other's language and so they communicated partly in Wargamay, of which each had a smattering.) I tried eliciting through Giramay lexical items, but this was not too satisfactory because, when asked a Giramay term that was similar to the Nyawaygi item, Heron would often offer that the Nyawaygi word was 'the same', and the small but crucial difference between Giramay and Nyawaygi forms (cf.2.7) would not be recorded. Because of this, we reverted to eliciting in English with some extra explanation in Giramay. In 1967 I got some more material from Willie Seaton and then took Seaton to Warren's Hill to record him with Heron. Heron was by this time failing - his speech was slurred and difficult to understand, although beneath this he still seemed mentally alert. Seaton was, as always, helpful and easy to communicate with (despite his blindness) but his knowledge of Nyawaygi was not as good as Heron's and he sometimes needed to be prompted. Typically, during this session, I would ask how to say something, Seaton would make an attempt but then Heron would put forward some addition or alteration (but in so unclear a voice that he could be un­ derstood by no one but Seaton) and Seaton would then clearly repeat Heron's revision. Roy Heron (interviewed by Laycock in 1964 - 1.4) was present at this session but made no con­ tribution; his knowledge was obviously much less than that of the two older men. I began intensive work on Nyawaygi in 1973. Roy Heron had died (of drink, it is said) in the late 'sixties, aged around 50; Long Heron died in Ingham hospital in 1970, aged

1.5 Sources for this study

4 37

100. A score or so words were obtained from each of Gillie Cassady ( Qul uburg u) , Mr and Mrs Rennie Cassady, Paddy Payne and Alec Dennis (all living in or near Ingham) but the only real source of Nyawaygi was Willie Seaton at Toobanna. Willie Seaton was born and brought up at Waterview, and probably spoke Nyawaygi as his first language when a child. He is also fluent in English and when contacted had not sp­ oken Nyawaygi actively for many years. The tribe must have been in an advanced state of disintegration in Seaton's youth (see 1.2); he did not, for instance, at first remember the Nyawaygi name for his birthplace, on Waterview Creek! Seaton knows no other Australian language and so his material is spared contamination with Wargamay, Giramay and so on (he is thus unlike the Wargamay informants, who al­ most all tended to mix in some Giramay). He willingly ans­ wered questions about individual lexical items and gave short sentences; but he did not give texts or ever dictate, say, a sequence of four consecutive clauses. The material obtained is thus much less rich than that for Wargamay (and many times poorer than that obtained for Dyirbal). But this was, to some extent, compensated by Willie Seaton's intelligence and interest, and willingness to ex­ plain things clearly and simply. The same questions were repeated, at intervals of a year or two, in order to check and clarify important points. Gradually a fairly full pic­ ture of the language - and especially its complex verb mor­ phology, which may prove crucial in reconstruction of protoAustralian conjugations - was built up. Seaton's excellence as a teacher of the language can be exemplified by the fact that he volunteered minimal pairs. When 'worm' was asked, Willie Seaton gave rubi and then re­ marked that care should be taken to distinguish this from bubi 'swallow-IMPERATIVE'. Similarly, wu^uwu^u 'frog' was explicitly contrasted with w u r u w u r u 'ibis'. Items obtained from Heron (in 1964 and 1967) and by Laycock from Roy Heron were checked and counterchecked with Willie Seaton; items volunteered by Seaton were rechecked with him the following year. I worked intensively with Seaton in August 1973, December 1974, January 1975, December 1975, October-November 1977, September 1978, November 1980, July 1981 and May 1982.

2, PHONOLOGY Nyawaygi has only fifteen segmental phonemes, one less than its neighbours Dyirbal, Wargamay and Waruqu. Like War­ gamay (and unlike Dyirbal and Waruqu) it has contrastive vowel length, but only in the initial syllable of a word. An important phonological difference between Wargamay and Nyawaygi concerns monosyllabic forms. Wargamay allows monosyllabic nominal roots (and one monosyllabic particle) which then form monosyllabic words in the absolutive case; all these monosyllables involve a long vowel. Nyawaygi has no monosyllabic nominal roots (or particles) but it does, unlike Wargamay, have around ten monosyllabic verb roots

4 38

Nyawaygi TABLE

2.1

-

Vowel length, monosyllabic1 roots and monosyllabic verbs Dyirbal

Contrastive vowel length? Monosyllabic nominal roots? Monosyllabic words? Monosyllabic verbal roots?

Wargamay

No No No (note 1) No

Yes Yes Yes (note 2) No (note 3)

Nyawaygi Yes No No Yes

Note 1 - Dyirbal does in fact have four monosyllabic 'noun marker' forms: b a n , bam, Qan, qam. These are shortened forms of (and in alternation with) b a l a n , b a l a m , Q a l a n , q a l a m , formed from disyllabic roots b a l a - 'there' and q a l a - 'not visible' and class markers - n and -m. There are also two monosyllabic interjections qa 'yes' and qu 'alright'. (See Dixon 1972:47, 124.) Note 2 - Monosyllabic words in Wargamay all involve a long vowel. Note 3 - The irregular verb 'to sit' is best assigned a disyllabic root cj i:g i- in the Wargamay dialect but a monosyllabic root cji:- in the Biyay dialect (see Dixon 1981:49).

(seven are of the form C V :-, with a long vowel, and three just CV-, with a short vowel). But each inflection onto these verbs consists of at least one syllable, so that there are no monosyllabic words in Nyawaygi. Dyirbal, to the north of Wargamay, has no long vowels, no monosyllabic roots and no monosyllabic words. The possibilities in the three languages are contrasted in Table 2.1. 2.1

CONSONANTS Nyawaygi has the follo w i n g phonemes: stop nasal lateral

labial b m

apical n 1

laminal

dorsal

3

9

P

0

There are also: two semi-vowels - dorso-labial w and laminal y a post-alveolar (semi-retroflex) rhotic £ and, finally, a phoneme that combines rhotic and stop allophones; it is normally realised as an apico-alveolar stop [d] after a consonant and as an apico-alveolar trilled rhotic [r] in all other environments (that is, word-initially, word-finally, preconsonantally and intervocalically). Leaving aside for the moment the post-consonantal stop allophone, it seems that the rhotics are, as in Wargamay, distinguished mainly in terms of place of articulation: r is normally an alveolar trill; C is often a semi-retroflex (post-alveolar) continuant but (especially in word-final position) can involve a flap or short trill articulated towards the back of

2.1

Consonants 439

the alveolar ridge. A rhotic minimal pair is wuruwuru 'ibis', wupuwupu

'frog'.

The contrast between the four nasals, in intervocalic position, can be seen from: 3 ina 'foot' cjiga 'man'

b ina 'ear' mipa 'what'

gana gama

'plain' 'song-style'

(Note that n does not occur initially, and p is not found finally.)

2.1.1 THE [r ]—[d ] PHONEME. It is clear that a recent anc­ estor of Nyawaygi had / d / and /r/ as distinct phonemes, as do Wargamay, Dyirbal and most modern Australian languages. They would only have contrasted in intervocalic position e.g. *muray 'hair', *pudan 'black snake'; /d / also occurred initially and as second member of a consonant cluster where­ as /r/ occurred finally and as first member of a cluster (exactly as in modern Wargamay). The following changes then occurred (full exemplifica­ tion is in (B) of 2.7): (i) initial d was replaced by r e.g. *dupan> ruqan 'stinging tree'; (ii) intervocalic d was replaced by p when the following vowel was u, and by r when the following vowel was a or i e.g. *g idu I> g ipu I 'cold', *pudan>puran 'black snake ', *ba:d i- > ba:r i 'to cry '. An alveolar stop which followed a consonant did not undergo any change, so that the pronunciation of words like bund ip 'grasshopper' or ya:pin+du 'gir 1-ERGATIVE' was not aff­ ected in any way. But 'following a consonant' is the one environment in which I, r, p, y, w and n do not occur, so that plainly the most efficient phonemic solution is to group [d] with one of these six. On grounds of phonetic similarity (and diachron­ ic connection) r is plainly the strongest candidate (alth­ ough the change d >p /V-u does make p another possibility). The optimal solution is thus to group [d] and [r] as members of a single phoneme. The [d ]—[r ] phoneme could be represented as either /d/ or /r/. And, on phonetic grounds, it should be listed both in the missing 'apical stop' blank in the table at the be­ ginning of 2.1 as well as in the rhotic section, with / p/. Nyawaygi is not, strictly speaking, an exception to the gen­ eralisation that in Australian languages 'there is a one-toone correspondence between stops (excluding the glottal stop) and nasals' but it does present an unusual instance, with the 'stop' that corresponds to /n/ also having a rhotic allophone. It is, of course, possible to argue that the 'unmarked realisation' of the phoneme is [r] ('anywhere other than following a consonant') and that it must therefore be con­ sidered as primarily a rhotic, with the stop realisation be­ ing a minor allophone. In this case Nyawaygi could be said to have four nasals and only three (or t hree-and-a-quarter.') stops. Whereas Australian languages are held to be unusual (in comparison with languages from other parts of the world) in having as many nasals as stops, Nyawaygi might prove to be unique in having more nasals than stops!

440

Ilyawaygi

We prefer here not to commit ourselves to any restric­ tive specification of the phonological status of the [r]-[d] phoneme, even to the extent of refraining from allocating a single-letter symbol to it. We will, below, continue to use the phonetically-appropriate symbol in our orthography ’d ’ after a consonant and 'r ' elsewhere; this will assist pronunciation, and the recognition of lexical cognates and grammatical similarities in neighbouring languages. But it must constantly be borne in mind that [d] and [r] are phon­ ological alternates, and that they can never contrast. The [r]-[d] phoneme does have the widest distribution of any consonant in Nyawaygi; it is the only segment to appear in #-V, V-#, C-V, V-C and V-V positions. The */r/ phoneme in pre-Nyawaygi appeared only in V-#, V-C and V-V and the original */d/ phoneme in #-V, C-V and V-V. Thus, although Nyawaygi can now be described in terms of fifteen phonemes as against an original sixteen, there are almost as many functional possibilities and oppositions as before. The only loss is the contrast between d , r and ^ intervocalically; occurrences of *d in this position have been re­ distributed between r and £ (but this has not, at least in the data collected, led to any new homophones). The 'psychological reality' of the [d]-[r] phoneme can be seen in the loan form /ga:riwul/ from English 'Cardwell' see (202) below. Since [d] does not occur intervocalically in Nyawaygi, [r] - the allophone of the [d]-[r] phoneme that is applicable in this position - is used instead. (Contrast this with the treatment of loans in Dyirbal - here /r/ is used for English /t/ when non-initial and /d/ for initial /t/ in English as well as for all occurrences of English /d/. English /d/ is never rendered by /r/ in Dyirbal, or in Wargamay. See Dixon 1972:325-6.) In Wargamay /d/ and /r/ - which are there separate ph­ onemes - do have overlapping realisations; either can occa­ sionally be heard as a single tap [r] (Dixon 1981:16). The same phenomenon was noted for Yidiny (Dixon 1977a:32-3); and in addition Yidiny sometimes shows an alveolar stop (phonetically) inserted between rhotic and n. In view of this, and the phonemic connection between [d] and [r] in Nyawaygi, it is hardly surprising that [r] and [d] appear in something like free variation before an /p/ e.g. [gurgurpi ] ~ [gurgud-pi] 'pandanus-ABLATIVE'. Note though that a stop articulation has never been heard initially, finally or intervocalically, nor has a rhotic been encountered postconsonantal ly. 2.1.2 PHONETIC REALISATIONS OF OTHER CONSONANTS. An import­ ant phonetic difference from Wargamay is the articulation of laminal stop and nasal. The major allophone here is lamino-interdental, with the blade of the tongue touching both teeth and the alveolar ridge (and sometimes also the front of the hard palate) - [d], [n ]; lamino-palatal allophones [j], [p ] do occur occasionally, especially before /}/ (although they are outnumbered by interdental allophones even in this environment). Thus, laminal stop and nasal are in Nyawaygi less sharp and incisive sounds than in Wargamay (or, especially,

2.1

Consonants

441

in Dyirbal). /j/ is more likely to involve friction than in Wargamay and the laminals are harder to distinguish from apicals in Nyawaygi than in languages to the north. It might be thought that /d/ and /n/ would be more suitable symbols than /c|/ and /p / for the laminal stop and nasal in Nyawaygi. We use / 0

The small set of about ten monosyllabic verb roots has the structure CLV ( : ) -

In these structures: V i s a n y vowel ( a ,

i or u ) .

C]_ can be any consonant except apico-alveolar nasal or lateral (n or I). That is, it can be a stop, a non-apicai nasal, a semi-vowel or a rhotic (b, 3, 95 m > P> 05 w, Y5 C or r ) . The alveolar stop allophone [d ] of the /r-d/ phoneme is not found initially. can be y, I, r or any nasal other than q. it cannot be a stop, w, p or q .

That is,

C2 can be: (i) any single consonant; or (ii) a homorganic nasal-stop sequence (mb, nd, pej, qg);or (iii) a lateral or rhotic followed by a non-apical stop, nasal or nasal-stop sequence, that is, one of

444

Nyawaygi

I, r or £ followed by one of b , m, mb; g, q , gg ; p , g or p g ; or (iv) y followed by a labial or dorsal stop, nasal or nasal-stop sequence i.e. y followed by b, m, mb; g, q , or 091 or (v) the apical nasal followed by a non-apical stop (nb, ng, ng). The following clusters, which would be predicted by these generalisations, have not yet been encountered - |q , rm, rp, rpg, rpg, pmb, pp, yp; they are assumed to be 'acci­ dental gaps' in the data. Only one example is known of each of Ip, iPd» rmb> r3> rp^, eg, pm, Cg. In addition, the following clusters are attested: (vi) - n p - in gunpa Iip 'bird (generic)' and munpupu 'rock cod'. Note that for Wargamay there were three examples of - n m- and one of - n p - . We included nasals into the generalisation co­ rresponding to (v), ' n followed by a non-apical stop or na­ sal', and suggested that - n p - was an 'accidental gap' in the data collected. The Nyawaygi corpus contains only one type of nasal-nasal sequence which is scarcely sufficient basis for a generalisation of this type; but the Nyawaygi corpus is very small and there may well be no overall difference between Nyawaygi and Wargamay on this point. (vii) -wg- in gawga 'good' and ba:wga-L 'copulate with' and -rwin yirwa-L 'to shake'. Note that these are the only examples of clusters involving -w- in Nyawaygi. Wargamay behaves quite differently here, allowing -w-only as second element in a cluster: -Iw-, -rw-, -£w- (it is like Dyirbal and Yidiny in this respect). (viii) there are two examples of the cluster - mg- in bi mgay 'geese' and b u: mga- L 'to tell'. This is highly unusual for languages of the region and does not fit into the rather tightly-structured system of Nyawaygi consonant clusters described above. Other differences between C 2 clusters« in Nyawaygi and Wargamay are: (a) The Wargamay corpus includes one word "with a cluster -rpand in view of this p was included in (iii), with -Ip- and -pi- being regarded as 'accidental gaps'. In Nyawaygi there is one example of -Ip- (in a proper name), but none of -rpor -pi; in view of this p was included under (iii) above. But it may be that one or both languages do not allow intramorphernic sequences of I, r or £ followed by p, that is, they may not be identical on this phonotactic point. (b) On the basis of a handful of roots involving -ycj- and - y p g - we said that Wargamay permits clusters of y followed by p , pg or g (and regarded -yp- as an 'accidental gap' in the data). Nyawaygi does not show any sequence of y plus laminal nasal and/or stop. There is strong evidence that this is an absolute restriction in Nyawaygi, applying interand well as intra-morphemically: (i) stem-final -y is obli­ gatorily dropped before ergative -gu , locative -ga and abl­ ative - p i (3.1.1) as well as before - g a l a 'very' (3.1.2); (ii) the verbal conjugation marker -y- occurs before most infl­ ections but not before negative imperative -gam (3.5). Note also the lexical correspondence between Dyirbal m a y j a l a and Nyawaygi magala 'lightning' (2.7). A rule of 'yotic (i.e.y)

2.4 TPhonotacti.es

44 5

deletion' is stated in 2 .6 . It is interesting to compare the occurrence of 'y plus laminal nasal and/or stop' sequences in Yidiny, Dyirbal, Wargamay and Nyawaygi. intra-morphemically

inter-morphemically

Yidiny

not permitted

permitted, but stem-final -y can drop before some laminal-initial suffixes

Dyirbal

freely allowed

freely allowed; no -y dropping at all

Wargamay

permitted, but rare

possible, but stem-final -y can drop before a laminal-initial suffix

Nyawaygi

not permitted

not permitted; a stem-final -y must drop before a laminal-initial suffix

The possibilities at word-final position, C3 , are the same as for Wargamay. In position the significant point is that whereas Wargamay allows d and n but not r, Nyawaygi shows r but not d or n. We have shown that initial r in Nyawaygi is a development from *d (this d is retained as such in Wargamay). There are no known Nyawaygi cognates for any of the small number of roots in Wargamay or Dyirbal that commence with n and so it is impossible to say whether initial n was allow­ ed in an earlier stage of Nyawaygi, and if so what has happ­ ened to it. It is interesting to compare the percentages of roots (on a dictionary count) beginning with d or n in the lang­ uages of this region: initial d Yidiny Dyirbal Wargamay

initial n

8%

1.5%

4%

2%

2%

0 .7%

The proportion of initial apicals drops as one moves to the south. (The figure for initial r in Nyawaygi - 1.3% - does appear to continue the series.) There is one further phonotactic restriction on Nyaway­ gi roots. As in Wargamay, - i y - can be followed by a vowel (we have g i y i n 'wife', bi ya y 'no'; although no example of - i y u - is attested this would be expected to be possible) but not by a consonant or word boundary. That is, - i y cannot end a syllable. Suffixes have the same general structure as roots ex­ cept that they can be monosyllabic -CV(C), and they can not involve a long vowel. There are no single consonant (i.e. syllable closing) inflections in Nyawaygi (as we do have un­ marked verbal aspect -y in Wargamay, for instance). (The rather special case of 'conjugation markers' -y- and -I- is discussed in 3.5.) Across a morpheme boundary the consonant cluster possi­ bilities are effectively C3+C1, with some augmentation (e.g. ergative and locative are -ndu and - nda after a stem ending in -I , giving a cluster -Ind-, although this in fact normally reduces to - n d - ) . The only C3+C1 clusters not allowed are y+cj, y+p (see above).

446

Nyauaygi

It is interesting to investigate the possible intermorphemic clusters that involve the [r ]-[d ] phoneme. In intra-morphemic clusters r can be followed by any non-apical stop or by m or q , but d can only appear in -nd-. It seems in fact that in inter-morphemic clusters d is again confin­ ed to occurrence after n (so that when we spoke of the [r ][d] phoneme being realised as [d] 'after a consonant' we could have been more specific and said 'after n' - note that the 'sequential stems' of monosyllabic verbs involve -Ig­ or -nd- but never -Id-, see 3.5.3. ) The only suffixes comm­ encing with d are -du ergative and -da locative. But after a stem ending in -I an -n- must be inserted (and the -I can then be dropped). Similar remarks apply to stems ending in -r. Although milbir-da has been heard as the locative of milbir 'fig-tree', milbinda or mi Ib ira are more frequently en­ countered alternatives. This one example of milbirda is the only occurrence of -rd-, which would presumably involve two successive tokens of the same phoneme (in terms of the ana­ lysis suggested here). Surveying the languages north of Nyawaygi it is inter­ esting to note how often a sequence -Id- or -rd- is avoided over a morpheme boundary (it is always prohibited intramorphemically). Thus Dyirbal has -qu as a development of original *-r+du and *-l+du ergative forms; Yidiny drops a stem-final rhotic before ergative -du (obligatorily from even-syllabled and optionally from odd-syllabled stems); Wargamay sometimes has -r+du ergatives but as frequently it just drops the -d-. Similar remarks apply for locatives in all these languages. Loan words conform to the phonotactic formula given, and generally follow the principles of system-to-system mapping described for Dyirbal (Dixon 1972:325-6). Ways of rendering English /d/ were noted in 2.1.1. 2.5

PROBABILITIES OF OCCURRENCE

Relative probabilities of occurrence were calculated, from the 675-item lexicon, for initial (C]_) and final (C3) consonants. The C^ count covers all parts of speech where­ as the figures for final consonants exclude verbs. (Except for five monosyllabic forms which end in -u , all verb roots see 3.5.1). _i ’ root initial root 0.21 b 0. 14 > 0.58 3 -0.23 . 9 m 0. 13 0.03 n 0.36 > 0.56 > 0.21 0.02 0.17 P 0.06 . 0 0.07 0.09 y w 0. 12 > 0. 19 1 0.28 0.35 r 0.07 0.015 > 0.02 0.005_ C —

- -

—

—

}

2. 5 Probabilities of occurrence

447

The relative probabilities for vowels are (with initial syllable figures covering all parts of speech but the second syllable ones excluding verbs): initial syllable a i u

second syllable

0.44 0.19 0 .3 7

0.47 0.22 0.31

Just 60% of non-verbal roots end in a vowel. Note that these figures are all quite close to those for Wargamay (Dixon 1981:22); there are rather more final -m's, -p's and -r's in Nyawaygi and less final -y's. At C 2.h0m 0rga.nic nasal-stop clusters (mb, nd, pj, og) out­ number non-homorgan ic clusters ( n b , nj , ng) by about five-toone. 2.6

PHONOLOGICAL AND PHONETIC PROCESSES.

[A] Yotic deletion. As in all other languages of this reg­ ion, a sequence -iy- can only be followed by a vowel, never by a consonant or word-boundary. If an illicit sequence is generated by morpheme combinations, then the -y- is simply deleted: YOTIC DELETION RULE (a)

iy -*■ i / -C

There are only two places where this rule is known to be needed in Nyawaygi. First, to delete the verbal conjug­ ation marker -y- between an -i-final stem and a consonantinitial suffix. And second, to delete the first segment of comitative -yma-L after an -i- final stem. See 3.5.5. A further restriction on y is that it cannot occur be­ fore the laminals p and j (whatever the preceding vowel may be). To avoid sequences of this type we have YOTIC DELETION RULE (b)

y -*

0 /-

Thus, a final -y is deleted from nominal stems before erga­ tive - j u , locative - j a , ablative -pi, and -ja Ia 'very'. We could also suggest that the conjugation marker -y- is inclu­ ded in underlying verbal form before negative imperative -jam (as it is before every other verbal inflection, except 'unmarked') and then deleted by this rule. [B] Final yotic insertion. Whereas yotic deletion has the status of a phonological rule, final yotic insertion is very much a surface phonetic phenomenon, applying only to articulation in a chain of discourse (and not to, say, the citation form of words). When a word ending in -a or -u (never in -i) is follow­ ed by a word beginning with y-, then a syllable-final -y can be added to the first word. Furthermore, this -y can be added even when there is a pause (and intonation break) between the two words. Thus, for instance, the underlying sentence: (1)

payba wupa y agu- pga

wi:gagu

lsg-S now water-LOC bathe-PURP I must bathe in the water now

448

Nyawaygi

was articulated with a distinct break in the middle, but / w u [ a / still appeared as [ w u p a y ] ; (2)

Qayba wuQay/ yagupga w i : g a g u

Another example is the sentence j a w g a y / y a l g a y 'Is it a good road?' from j awga 'good' and y a l g a y 'road'. A related phenomenon is tne occasional articulation of a v after the final a or u of a word where there is a y af­ ter an earlier vowel. Thus, 'egg' has underlying form yumuyumu and is usually pronounced in this way; but it is at times articulated yumuyurnuy. Similarly, the particle 'no' varies between b iya and b i y a y ; we could take the underlying form as / b i y a / and suggest that [ b i y a y ] is due to final yotic insertion. [C] Ergative/locative assimilation. Nyawaygi nominal mor­ phology is almost entirely agglutinative, with affixes sim­ ply being added to stems. The only examples of morphophonological processes applying at a morpheme boundary are fin­ al yotic deletion, [A] above, and the assimilation of the initial segment of ergative -du and locative -da in place of articulation to a preceding nasal or y. Note that, in the case of a -y-final stem, ergative/ locative assimilation (which is conditioned by the -y) must plainly apply before yotic deletion. We get, for instance: underlying: assimilation rule applies, giving: yotic deletion rule applies, giving:

yalgay+da yalgayja yalgaja

' road-LOCATIVE'

(This assimilation of ergative/locative to a preceding nasal or y is found in the great majority of Australian languages.) There are two other phonological processes that each apply to just a single form: [D] The predicted imperative of w i : g a - 0 'bathe' would be w i : g a g a ; there is haplologic reduction to w i : g a . See 3.5.3. [ E ] Inchoative verbaliser - m b i - changes to -mb u - before rec­ ent past inflection -wapa. This can presumably be explained in terms of assimilation to the following -w-. (The change does not occur for any other -i-final stem in the -0 conju­ gation.) See 3.5.3 and 4.5.1. Finally, ergative -ndu and locative - n d a after stems ending in -I and -r could be explained in terms of underly­ ing - d u , -da and insertion of - n - . 2.7 COGNATION WITH NEIGHBOURING LANGUAGES. Systematic differences of form between words in Nyawa­ ygi and in neighbouring languages are listed here. [A] Long vowels. Cognates are known for around one-quarter of the 90 Nyawaygi forms involving long vowels. There are three main patterns. (i) Fourteen correspond to forms with long vowels in Wargamay; in one or two cases there is a cognate from Dyirbal that has a short vowel (see Dixon 1981:24-5) e.g. Nyawaygi yu:pi-0 'to grow up'

Wargamay yu:pi-

2. 7 Cognation with neighbouring languages Nyawaygi cj i:j i • 'black duck' " ju:jupu 'navel'

449

Wargamay j i:cj i : 'bird (generic)' " W cju:lujupup/ B ju:cjuru (cf. Dyirbal jucjup)

(ii) There are four examples of a long vowel in Nyawaygi corresponding to a vowel-plus-rhotic (r or p) sequence in Wargamay and/or Dyirbal: Nyawaygi ga:bu gu:ga

'three' 'neck'

w i : g a - 0 'to bathe' ga: wun 'green ant'

Wargamay, Dyirbal gapbu Wargamay g u r g a 'back o f Dyirbal g u r g a 'neck' Wargamay wipgaWargamay gapwun

neck',

(iii) There are a few examples of a long vowel in Nyaway­ gi simply corresponding to a short vowel in a neighbouring language e.g. Nyawaygi wa: paI

Wargamay, Dyirbal wapal Dyirbal, yap i n 'slim' Dyirbal, y u p a r a - y Wargamay, bimu 'father's elder brother' 'ant'(gen.) Wargamay mupinip 'small black ant'

'boomerang'

y a : pin ' g i r l ' y u : p a - 0 'to swim' b i : mu 'aunt' murpinip

Most long vowels in Nyawaygi and in Wargamay are like­ ly to go back to an early ancestor language (possibly, pro­ to-Australian) ; there are cognates with corresponding long vowels in quite distant languages. Thus, 'to see' is p a r in Nyawaygi, n a r - in Guugu-Yimidhir (from Cooktown) and n a r in the Sydney language (Dawes 1790). The corresponding form is p a g a - in Warupu, a language which has reanalysed this verb in terms of a disyllabic root (which is the original root-plus-imperative) and which has simply dropped vowel length. It may be, however, that just a few of the long vowels in modern Nyawaygi have evolved quite recently, perhaps from an original vowel-plus-rhotic sequence, as in (ii) above. There are other isolated correspondences such as Nyawaygi b i : b i , Yidiny b imb i 'father' that are suggestive of the same general trend (but of course further examples would be re­ quired, to establish the correspondence as systematic, be­ fore this pair could be taken as significant). [B] Rhotic-alveolar stop correspondences. We mentioned in 2.1.1 that in a recent ancestor of Nyawaygi a few words did begin with d- (and none with r - ) but that this d- has been replaced by r - . Thus all cognates from surrounding langu­ ages that begin with d- correspond to forms commencing with r - in Nyawaygi, and vice versa. The full set of correspon­ dences is (with the last, rather speculative line involving a nonce dropping of -b- and length non-correspondence): Nyawaygi rinu

'wintertime'

rupan 'stinging tree' ragu 'hammer bird' rubi 'worm rumban 'Ripple Creek' r u p b a - L 'to puli'

Dyirbal Dyribal Wargamay, Wargamay Wargamay Wargamay

dinu

'cool'

dupan Dyirbal dagu

dubi dumban d u : pa-

Any -d- in intervocalic position was, it seems, replaced by

450

Nyawaygi

-r- before - a or -i or by - p - before -u . The examples here are (with the seventh line involving an unexplained vowel alternation): Nyawaygi Qura 'black' garala

'dry'

Q u r a n 'black snake sp.' b a :r i -0 'to cry' Qaray ' h e r e ' w u r a - L 'to take off'

w i r i I 'asleep'

dupu 'short' wupu 'nose' g i p u I 'cold'

Dyirbal Quda '(fire) extingui­ shed, (person) dead’ Wargamay, Dyirbal g a d a l a Wargamay, Dyirbal qudan Wargamay ba:d iWargamay gaday Wargamay wuda- 'to take off, take out' Wargamay wudiI

Wargamay. Dyirba] Wargamay, Dyirbal Wargamay g i d u l

cjudu wudu

There are, of course, many examples of r and p (in intervocalic and other positions) in Nyawaygi words that correspond to the same rhotic in words from other languages. Thus y i r a 'teeth', g u r i ^ a l a 'eaglehawk', wupamba 'scrub tur­ key' and wapup 'sand' all occur in both Nyawaygi and Warga­ may; and p u b i - L 'to swallow' in Nyawaygi corresponds t o p u b i - y ’eat meat' in Dyirbal. [C] Final r . We drew attention in the Wargamay grammar (Dixon 198i:25-6) to the fact that, although Wargamay (like Nyawaygi) prohibits word-final -p, Dyirbal allows this seg­ ment to end roots and words. In cognate pairs Wargamay gen­ erally has a vowel after what is word-final - p in Dyirbal. Nyawaygi presents another solution. In two examples that occur in Nyawaygi the final -p is simply omitted: Dyirbal ^albap 'moustache' Qamip 'hungry'

Wargamay cjalbapa 'beard'

Nyawaygi ^a Iba 'beard'

rj ami pi

pami

This data is consistent with suggesting that Wargamay and Nyawaygi originally allowed - P to end all types of syllable, as in modern Dyirbal. But they do not now permit words to end in -p (although non-final syllables do still end in this segment). It will be seen that Wargamay added a vowel a copy of the previous vowel in the word - after a previously-final -p; in contrast, Nyawaygi simply dropped the -p. (But note that corresponding to Dyirbal bagup 'sword' both Wargamay and Nyawaygi have bagupu. A possible explana­ tion for this could be that the form was borrowed into Nya­ waygi from Wargamay some time after the final-p prohibition had been adopted. Note also Nyawaygi cjurcjupu 'navel' corr­ esponding to Dyirbal cj u^up.) It is likely that Wargamay and Nyawaygi would in time have done away with the -p at the end of a non-final syll­ able (thus promoting a more uniform overall picture of syllable structure). It seems that Nyawaygi is further ad­ vanced on this path - we noted under [A] that it has w i : g a 'to bathe' and g a : b u 'three' whereas Wargamay retains w i p g a - 0 and gapbu. (But note that the change g u r g a > g u : g a cannot be explained in this way; r is common at the end of final and

2. 7 Cognation with neighbouring languages 451 non-final syllables in both languages. The g u r g a case could be taken to imply that there is some quite different reason for these changes.) It is also worth noting that the Wargamay lexicon of 920 items involves 33 clusters beginning with -£ (3.6%.) whereas the Nyawaygi lexicon of 675 items has only 6 ^-initial clusters (0.9%). [D] p-r correspondences. There are a handful of cognate pairs where -p- in Nyawaygi corresponds to -r- in a neigh­ bouring language. These include: Nyawaygi baqgapa 'blue-tongue lizard' baqgupu 'fresh-water turtle' yapa 'fishing line' q u p i q g u 'in turn' (Particle) bim bipi-0 'to run'

Wargamay, Dyirbal baqgara Wargamay, Dyirbal baqguru Dyirbal y a r a Wargamay, Dyirbal q u r i Wargamay bimbirI —

and one correspondence the other way around: Nyawaygi barba-L 'to ask'

Wargamay, Dyirbal bapba-

[E] Monosyllabic verbs. Nyawaygi preserves a number of monosyllabic verb roots that undoubtedly go back to a very early ancestor (probably, proto-Australian). Its neighbours have disyllabic or longer roots for all verbs; they have taken an original root+inflection as the modern root. To quote just two examples: Nyawaygi wu-G 'to give'

ya-N 'to go'


-

>
------------------ c

— _

(U c

CO

O

(D (D (D (D (0 c? c? c? c? c?

CD

D

nQ

\_

§ |

C

1 c

CD —

3 3 C 30 — 3 3 C,

D

3 •H

£

3 c?

• —

3 c?

(0 1_ 3 3

CD C3

CP

3 3 CD C 30 L_ — 3 3 c c c

CD C3 CD C.

CO CO

CD

r - A~ )

— co — CD — — CD CD c o -------- c c CD (D CD CD CD

o' — 3 30 3 CO

3

a ) — — > . ------------- c

CD 00

(D (D CD CO (U C? O O C? C?

cd

c

1

< 0 — 0

CD 3

• ___

co

1 1

C C CD CD

3 CD 30 x n

3

C

c

••

CD CD CP CP ! ••

3

s

•H

,

C CD CD

1 c

3

3

CD CD — C 3 CD O V

O

■X3

«

3

O £

O £ (X,

i—(

w CQ

< E-
■H 4-J

C1

CD >

inan.

Ö Cl

humai

is

X

t>0

o

S3 « 1 3

3

3

3

91

-4

-4

Csl

3

Q.

&0 Ö0 3 t—1 CO CO X CO

40

S3 ^

r_

Csl

CN

on

oo

co

co

M

D a t i v e - a l l a t i v e -gu, l o c a t i v e - a v e r s i v e -da, an d a b l a t i v e -i a r e a d d e d to the o b l i q u e st ems. F or the i n t e r r o g a t i v e l o c a t i v e - a v e r s i v e is q a r n u n d a and a b l a t i v e is qarnuni (with o b l i q u e s t e m qa:n u n - ) ; d a t i v e q a : n u n g u ( stem qa:n un ~) has b e e n r e c o r d e d s e v e r a l t imes a nd q a :ngu (stem q a :n-) once.

Nyccuaygi

inc exc inc exc

464

2.4

Pronouns

465

The forms of personal pronouns and of the interrogative pro­ noun with human reference, 'who', are set out in Table 3.1. There are several noteworthy features of the 'third person singular pronoun' from Table 3.1. The most important is the occurrence of two 0 forms, papgapa is always used when referring to humans, and sometimes in the case of animals; papga (identical to the S form) is used for referring to in­ animates, and sometimes for animals. We thus have: A humansanimalsinanimates-

S

0

p u l a pg a

papga

papgapa

p u l a pg a

papga

papga

The upper line shows a three-way split, with different forms for all three major syntactic functions (just like lsg, 2sg, 3du, 3pl and the interrogative pronoun). The lower line de­ monstrates an absolutive-ergative paradigm, similar to that for nouns. It appears that the choice between the upper and lower line is not a clear-cut one, but is governed by a sem­ antic hierarchy, ranging from 'human' through various levels of 'animates' to 'inanimate'. The further up the hierarchy the referent of an NP is, the more likelihood there is of using the top paradigm, and so on. (In elicitation directed to this point Willie Seaton would allow papgapa with any type of N P . But the operation of a semantic hierarchy can be inferred from his spontaneous employment of papgapa and papga. Compare with the semantic hierarchy conditioning an exactly analogous grammatical choice in Yidiny - Dixon 1977a:181-2). The only example of just papga being used in an 0 NP with human reference was when the NP also contained another pronoun in 0 form e.g. b u l apa in (45). Despite differences of form, the 3sg pronoun in Nyawaygi appears to be semantically and syntactically parallel to 3sg in Wargamay, discussed in Dixon 1981:39-40. That is, it is essentially extrasystemic, so that 'third person sin­ gular' may be something of a misnomer. Whereas all first and second person pronouns and 3du, 3pl are strictly speci­ fied for person and number, 3sg can be used to refer to any person and to any number, although its predominant and un­ marked reference is certainly 3sg. If a 3sg form occurs in an NP by itself it must have third person reference (never first or second person) and will normally (but perhaps not necessarily) refer to just one thing - thus p u l a p g a in (46) and papgapa in (60). The more usual situation, though, is for a 3sg form to co-occur with a noun. A large number of the examples quoted in this grammar involve an NP of this nature - S function is exem­ plified in (9-10) etc, 0 function in (3), dative case in (17), genitive in (22), and ablative in (26). An example in A function is: (67)

papa

pulapga gilapcju

yaypgalapa

lsg-0 3sg-A old man-ERG hunt away-REC PAST The old man hunted me away (i.e. told me to go away)

In addition, and like 3sg pupa in Wargamay, papga can occur in an NP with a 3du or 3pl pronoun, as in (40). It can also co-occur with a first or second person pronoun;

466

Nyawaygi

thus o inba

papga

'2sg-S 3sg-S' in (19) and:

(68)

payba papga yapa wagupgu lsg-S 3sg-S go-UNMKD mangrove-ALL I'm going to the mangroves.

(69)

p i nb a y a l a p g a

pi:ga

2sg-S there-LOC sit-IMP

/ p i na

papgapa w u l g a l a g u

2sg-0 3sg-0

give-SEQU PURP

b u r i ndu

bread-ERG/INST You sit down there, and you'll be given some bread.

Just two or three instances have been obtained of which appears to be an instrumental form of the 3sg pronoun; this would involve the addition of regular instru­ mental -du to the 3sg oblique stem p a p g a n - . One example which it was possible to check up on and verify was p i n d a papgandu papa wuga 'You give it to me!'; this is a regular ’giving' construction (see 4.2.2). The 3du and 3pl pronouns, b u l a and cjana, are used pre­ dominantly with human reference although they have been ob­ tained (when elicitation was directed to this question) with nouns referring to animals. It is likely that b u l a and - i + ) or with a following suffix-initia 1 consonant (e.g.-r+n- > -ri­ e f . also assimilatory changes of the type -n+ga > - n d a ) . The most perspicuous synchronic analysis for the verbal systems of most modern Australian languages is to take the stem to end in a vowel, and to recognise a 'conjugation marker' mor­ pheme - usually a single consonant q, m, n, I, r , or y that intervenes between stem and certain inflections. This 'conjugation marker' is a reflex of the original stem-final segment. With this sort of analysis a single form can be quoted for most inflections; but for the commonest there may still be unanalysable allomorphs in the different conj ugations. Certain pA conjugations were predominantly associated with monosyllabic verbs whereas others had exclusively poly­ syllabic membership. Some modern languages - including Wargamay, Dyirbal, Waruqu and Yidiny - have eliminated all monosyllabic verb roots, reassigning them disyllabic roots which then inflect according to one of the regular poly­ syllabic conjugational patterns. Thus Dyirbal has w u g a - I 'give', b u l g a - l 'swallow', p i n a - y 'sit' and y a n u - l 'go'. In this way the monosyllabic conjugations cease to function in the language, which typically will have just two open con­ jugations - one predominantly for intransitive and one pre­ dominantly for transitive stems. The conjugation marker associated with the open intransitive conjugation is nor-

3. 5

Verbs

475

mally -y or -0 , and that for the transitive class is -I or -r . In another group of languages certain original conjugational classes have simply fallen together. Thus in most Western Australian languages the -q and -m classes have com­ bined. with -Q being used as the 'conjugation marker' for pA -Q verbs like pa:- 'see' and wu- yu- 'give' and also for bu- 'hit' which belonged to the un class in pA. In Guugu Yimidhirr, spoken 250 miles north of Nyawaygi in eastern Queensland, verbs from the pA -q and -m classes again belong to a single conjugation, but here the marker is -m. In almost all modern languages the -y class falls toge­ ther with the 0 class (relating to vowel-final stems in pA); the conjugation marker is generally 0 in Western languages (which do not as a rule permit syllable-final -y, in any case) and -y or 0 (or sometimes -n) in Eastern languages. In fact, the clear distinction between -y or 0 classes in Nyawaygi (the conjugations referred to as Y and 0 above) is the main evidence for suggesting that there were these two distinct classes in pA. Justification for relating the Nyawaygi classes to con­ jugations in other languages (and those posited for protoAustralian) is set out in Dixon 1980:382-430; this relates primarily to conjugation markers, and recurrent members of the classes (particularly monosyllabic roots in the closed conjugations). The paradigm in Table 3.3 shows the recurr­ ence of conjugation markers -!, -y, -n and -m in the appro­ priate columns. Verbs from the 0 conjugations typically show zero, where I or y appear for the other open conjugat­ ions (before a suffix-initial consonant). Only in the past form -wapa do we encounter -w -, corresponding to -I- and -yin the other classes. But it will be suggested below that this -w- may have arisen from lenition of suffix-initial -g-, and would not then be relatable to any conjugation marker. Just about every Australian language that has monosyll­ abic verb roots shows a small conjugation which normally in­ cludes pa:- (~pa-) 'see' and wu- (~pu- pu-~yu-) 'give' ; the con­ jugation marker is -q- (examples are quoted in Dixon 1980: 382-430). The G column in Table 3.3 shows no occurrence at all of -Q-. However, the occurrence of -g- in purposive -gagu (where the other closed conjugations have -pagu or magu) and in the first syllable of sequential inflections -Slga(where N and M conjugations have -nda-) is probably related to an original stem-final -p. Six of the nine inflections on pi:- 'sit' and yu:- 'lie' (column G^ in Table 3.3) are identical to those in the G column. The only differences are purposive - p a g u (identical to the N conjugation form) and sequential forms beginning with -Syala-. Since the three differences from G allomorphs all involve a laminal, we label the class G ^ . There may be some significance in the fact that all members of the G class are transitive, whereas both roots in G^7 are intransitive. The small G^ class in Nyawaygi does not obviously re­ late to any conjugational class in other Australian langua­ ges. Note, though, that there are some inflectional simi­ larities to the irregular verb ji:(gi)~ 'sit' in Wargamay (Dixon 1981:49).

4 76

Nuawaygi

In summary, six of the seven conjugational classes that can be set up for proto-Australian find reflexes in Nyawaygi; the only exception is the pA r class (Dixon 1980:402-8). On the other side of the scale, just one of the Nyawaygi classes (GY ) has no correspondent in pA (at the present stage of our understanding of the pA system). 3.5.3 ANALYSIS OF INFLECTIONAI FORMS. We can now examine the inflectional allomorphs, set out in Table 3.3, and in­ vestigate how far it is possible to explain them in terms of 'conjugation markers' (Cm ) and conjugation-independent forms of suffixes. The discussion that follows is essenti­ ally of possible diachronic developments. Unmarked, - p a . This pretty certainly goes back to pA * - p u which is realised as - p u or as - p a in modern languages. The change - u > - a here appears to be an areal one, and the u / a isogloss for * - p u almost corresponds to the u / a isogloss for singular pronoun forms ( lsg p a j u vs. papa and 2sg p u n d u - p i ndu vs. p u n d a - p i n d a etc - see Dixon 1980:344-6, 382). Reflexes of *-pu most often bear the meaning 'past' (as in Yidiny) or 'present-past' (as in Dyirbal) or 'perfect' (as in Wargamay). This inflection has been generalised in Nyawaygi so that it can be used in place of any other inflection, or in circum­ stances where none of them are applicable (in function and meaning it corresponds very closely to the unmarked inflec­ tion - y in Wargamay). Note that - p a does appear as the last syllable of 'recent past' and 'sequential past' inflections, an indication that it probably had a 'past' meaning in an earlier stage of Nyawaygi. The significant point is that - p a - far and away the commonest verbal ending in Nyawaygi - is the only inflection to have identical form for each conjugation; - p a is simply added into a verbal stem (which, as set up, ends in a vowel) without the intrusion of any conjugation marker. We can in­ fer that conjugation markers (i.e. original stem-final con­ sonants) have simply been lost before - p a . (And note that although Wargamay, Dyirbal and Yidiny allow clusters -Cpin intramorphemic positions, Nyawaygi appears not to - see 2.4. ) Positive imperative < p ~ - y g a ~ - g a ~ - n a ~ - m a . There is strong com­ parative evidence for a pA suffix * - g a . In most modern lan­ guages, the form of positive imperative is one of the surest criteria for conjugational class; that is. the con­ jugation marker (Cm ) invariably occurs in this inflection (it is often just followed by -a, as the result of the reduc­ tion - C mg a > - C ma ) . A change of this type explains two of the Nyawaygi allallomorphs *-n +g a

> -na

-m+ga

> -ma

while in the -p conjugation it is the conjugation marker that has dropped *-p +g a

> -ga

In the -y and