Grammatical Example Your Language Comments Feature (to be completed by the Language Team) Category One Imperative Sit down! Sit! Background concepts: Nil (IMP) verbs - Ngengi Eg. General: orders, Ngeng-i Kupaki! Instructional words for everyday use in the classroom, eg, commands, Sit- IMP Kupa-ki ‘listen’, ‘say’, ‘sit’, ‘come’, ‘go’. directives Sit-IMP No need to explain how these verbs are formed, teach them through action, gesture and repetition. Grammatical: Usually formed by adding a particular suffix to the stem, (used for instructions, orders etc.) as the imperative suffix Some languages have different suffixes (endings) for transitive and intransitive verbs and inflect for number. (See 18.) Nouns - Gal eg Background concepts: Nil ‘dog’ names of Wutyu Dog: kal General: ‘man’ things, Laiurruk Man: mar Plural is not marked on nouns. people, Woman: thanambul You can say dog’. Galk buletyi gal ‘stick’ ‘two places Stick: lart Grammatical: Reduplication: There is generally no plural morpheme in Aboriginal Yalum Reduplication: Languages, ie, no equivalent to English plural as in ‘waterhole’ ‘s’ Yalum yalum chain Child/offspring: thukuwi ‘a ‘dog/dogs’. of ponds’ Brood: thukuwi-thukuwi With some nouns, such as plural can be ‘waterhole’, A couple of men: marara indicated by reduplication, that is, repeating or duplicating Buletyi gulgurn Several men: marapan the stem word itself. This sometimes applies to inanimate ‘two young men’ Two men: objects only. Pulatja mar
Grammatical Feature Example Your Language (to be completed by the Language Team) Comments Category One Imperative (IMP) verbs - orders, commands, directives Sit down! Ngengi Ngeng-i Sit- IMP Sit! Eg. Kupaki! Kupa-ki Sit-IMP Background concepts: Nil General: Instructional words for everyday use in the classroom, eg, ‘listen’, ‘say’, ‘sit’, ‘come’, ‘go’. No need to explain how these verbs are formed, teach them through action, gesture and repetition. Grammatical: Usually formed by adding a particular suffix to the stem, (used for instructions, orders etc.) as the imperative suffix Some languages have different suffixes (endings) for transitive and intransitive verbs and inflect for number. (See 18.) Nouns - names of things, people, places Gal ‘dog’ Wutyu ‘man’ Laiurruk Galk ‘stick’ Reduplication: Yalum ‘waterhole’ Yalum yalum ‘a chain of ponds’ Buletyi gulgurn ‘two young men’ eg Dog: kal Man: mar Woman: thanambul Stick: lart Reduplication: Child/offspring: thukuwi Brood: thukuwi-thukuwi A couple of men: marara Several men: marapan Two men: Pulatja mar Background concepts: Nil General: Plural is not marked on nouns. You can say buletyi gal ‘two dog’. Grammatical: There is generally no plural morpheme in Aboriginal Languages, ie, no equivalent to English plural ‘s’ as in ‘dog/dogs’. With some nouns, such as ‘waterhole’, plural can be indicated by reduplication, that is, repeating or duplicating the stem word itself. This sometimes applies to inanimate objects only.
A_quick_reference_guide_to_the_grammar_of_Victorian_Aboriginal_Languages_F-12.docx