There is generally no verb be’ in Aboriginal Languages. ‘to My brother has a These sentences are not usually time dependent, ie, my long arm. My older brother has a older sister is tall now, was in the past and will continue to dyuwerrung datyuk. long arm. be so in the future. Waw-ek dyuwerrung Grammatical: datyuk The noun and its modifier/s (adjectives or other nouns Trial brother-my long that add more information about the main noun) are arm. simply placed side by side. This is called juxtaposition. There may be a preferred word order in your Language, ie, noun then modifier, or, modifier then noun. In the examples, the noun comes first, followed by the modifier. Past tense I run. I run. Background concepts: Present tense – indicating Barrapan General: before now Barrap-a-an Revise present Run-PRES-I Revise singular subject suffixes, in particular, the fact that the third person singular (he/she/it) is unmarked (ie, no I ran. I ran. suffix) in most Aboriginal Languages. Barrapinan Grammatical: Barrap-in-an The past tense marker replaces the present tense marker. Run-PAST-I You ran. You ran. Barrapinarr Barrap-in-arr Run-PAST-you She ran. She ran. Barrapin Barrap-in–ø Run-PAST-she
My brother has a long arm. dyuwerrung datyuk. Waw-ek dyuwerrung datyuk brother-my long arm. My older brother has a long arm. There is generally no verb ‘to be’ in Aboriginal Languages. These sentences are not usually time dependent, ie, my older sister is tall now, was in the past and will continue to be so in the future. Grammatical: The noun and its modifier/s (adjectives or other nouns that add more information about the main noun) are simply placed side by side. This is called juxtaposition. There may be a preferred word order in your Language, ie, noun then modifier, or, modifier then noun. In the examples, the noun comes first, followed by the modifier. Past tense – indicating before now I run. Barrapan Barrap-a-an Run-PRES-I I ran. Barrapinan Barrap-in-an Run-PAST-I You ran. Barrapinarr Barrap-in-arr Run-PAST-you She ran. Barrapin Barrap-in–ø Run-PAST-she I run. I ran. You ran. She ran. Background concepts: Present tense General: Revise present Revise singular subject suffixes, in particular, the fact that the third person singular (he/she/it) is unmarked (ie, no suffix) in most Aboriginal Languages. Grammatical: The past tense marker replaces the present tense marker. Trial
A_quick_reference_guide_to_the_grammar_of_Victorian_Aboriginal_Languages_F-12.docx