Category Six Man’s boomerang [vowel final noun]’s case, possessive suffixes Genitive Background concepts: final noun boomerang (GEN) case General: and genitive owner) The genitive case is suffixed to the noun that owns construction– Wutyukitj something, shown in English by eg, man’s hat. ‘s, signifies However, in Victorian Aboriginal Languages, the ownership Wutyu-kitj expression of ownership is more complex. The noun signifying the is marked by the genitive case Man-GEN suffix and the noun that is owned is marked by the appropriate possessive suffix learned earlier in 5 and 9. The possessive suffix must agree with the noun, that is, if Woman’s yamstick [consonant final noun]’s am the owner, the possessive suffix must be the ‘I’ (consonant final noun yamstick equivalent of if are the owner, the possessive ‘my’; ‘you’ owner) suffix must be and if is the owner, the ‘your’; ‘she’ Laiurrukitj possessive suffix must be ‘her’. berrkaninyuk Grammatical: Laiurruk-itj Genitive case indicates ownership. The genitive case marker/suffix is attached to the noun denoting the owner. Woman-GEN However, a genitive construction is that ‘double-marked’, yamstick-poss is, the owner has the genitive case suffix attached and the thing owned has the appropriate possessive suffix attached. In English, this would be the equivalent of ‘the man’s his hat’. Other Inalienable Background concepts: possession, juxtaposition (see expressions possession: sentences without verbs) of ownership General: inalienable Possum’s tail Inalienable possession is when the owner and the noun – possession Berrki wile owned cannot be separated, eg, the possum’s tail, the wile man’s arm, boy’s mother. They have an inherent Tail-of possum connection that cannot be changed.
Category Six Genitive (GEN) case and genitive construction– signifies ownership Man’s boomerang final noun owner) Wutyukitj Wutyu-kitj Man-GEN Woman’s yamstick (consonant final noun owner) Laiurrukitj berrkaninyuk Laiurruk-itj Woman-GEN yamstick-poss [vowel final noun]’s boomerang [consonant final noun]’s yamstick Background concepts: case, possessive suffixes General: The genitive case is suffixed to the noun that owns something, shown in English by ‘s, eg, man’s hat. However, in Victorian Aboriginal Languages, the expression of ownership is more complex. The noun signifying the is marked by the genitive case suffix and the noun that is owned is marked by the appropriate possessive suffix learned earlier in 5 and 9. The possessive suffix must agree with the noun, that is, if ‘I’ am the owner, the possessive suffix must be the equivalent of ‘my’; if ‘you’ are the owner, the possessive suffix must be ‘your’; and if ‘she’ is the owner, the possessive suffix must be ‘her’. Grammatical: Genitive case indicates ownership. The genitive case marker/suffix is attached to the noun denoting the owner. However, a genitive construction is ‘double-marked’, that is, the owner has the genitive case suffix attached and the thing owned has the appropriate possessive suffix attached. In English, this would be the equivalent of ‘the man’s his hat’. Other expressions of ownership – inalienable possession Inalienable possession: Possum’s tail Berrki wile wile Tail-of possum Background concepts: possession, juxtaposition (see sentences without verbs) General: Inalienable possession is when the owner and the noun owned cannot be separated, eg, the possum’s tail, the man’s arm, boy’s mother. They have an inherent connection that cannot be changed.
A_quick_reference_guide_to_the_grammar_of_Victorian_Aboriginal_Languages_F-12.docx