Warlpiri/Grammar
This page documents features of Warlpiri grammar.
Contents
Parts of Speech
| Symbol | Part of Speech |
|---|---|
| <n> | Noun |
| <adj> | Adjective |
| <v> | Verb |
| <prevb> | Preverb |
| <mod> | Clitics and Particles |
| <vaux> | Auxiliaries |
| <cnjcoo> | Coordinating Conjuctions |
Nominals
Nominals are an open class, and their meanings form a continuum. Some nominals are translatable as nouns in English, while other nominals translate as adjectives in English. The uses of nominals aren't fixed. For example, the adjective "pampa" meaning "blind" can also mean "the blind one". Thus the nominal part of speech covers both English nouns and adjectives.
Examples:
- marlu<n><sg> ↔ marlu "kangaroo"
- pampa<adj><subst><erg> ↔ pampa-rlu "the blind one"
- pampa<adj><erg> ↔ pampa-rlu "blind"
- mari<adj> ↔ mari "sad, sorry, mournful"
Verbs
Verbs are a small, closed class. They denote a variety of physical and mental actions, states and emotions. They can't appear in isolation; instead they must have a tense inflection or nominalizing affix attached.
- ka<vaux><pres><subj3sg> ↔ ka "is going" (3rd person singular)
- ka<vaux><pres><subj3du> ↔ ka-pala "(two) are going" (3rd person dual)
- ka<vaux><pres><subj3pl> ↔ ka-lu "(several) are going" (3rd person plural)
See page 150 of "A Learner's Guide to Warlpiri"
Preverbs
Preverbs are compounded with verb roots (normally placed before the verb), resulting in a large extension of the variety of verbs. Preverbs add meaning such as manner, direction and result, quantification, means or properties. They act phonologically like nominals, and some may act as nominals in isolation.
Examples:
- marlaja<prevb> ↔ marlaja "because of"
- jurnta<prevb> ↔ jurnta "away from"
- mari-jarrimi<prevb> ↔ mari-jarrimi "feel sorry for, pity"
See page 124 of"A Learner's Guide to Warlpiri" for Dative Preverbs.
Clitics and Particles
Warlpiri has a rich array of particles and clitics, which express propositional attitudes, set relations, and other relations. Particles often have scope over the whole close, while clitics usually have scope over what they are attached to. Clitics can be considered as particles that have a phonological requirement that they attach to words.
- kuyu<n>+wiya<mod> ↔ kuyu-waja (where "waja" gives emphasis)
- ngurrju<n>+wiyi<mod> ↔ ngurrju-wiyi (where "wiyi" means "first")
- kakarrara<n>+mpayi<mod> ↔ kakarrarampayi (where "mpayi" means "far")
Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries supplement the meanings associated with both the verb and the nominals, and adds meaning to the sentence in a variety of ways.
- ka<vaux><adm><subj3sg> ↔ kalaka "might; liable to"
- ka<vaux><cni><subj3sg> ↔ kajilpa "hypothetically"
- ka<vaux><pres><subj3sg> ↔ ka (used in positive statements)
- ka<vaux><neg><subj3sg> ↔ kulaka (used in negative statements)
Coordinating Conjuctions
There appear to be a small number of coordinating conjuctions in Warlpiri.
- manu<cnjcoo> ↔ manu "and"
Nominals: Number
Warlpiri has singular pronomials that refer to one person or things (no ending; <sg>), dual nominals that refer to two persons or things (by attaching -jarra to a nominal; <dual>), and plural pronomials that refer to more than two persons or things (by attaching -patu to a nominal; <plural>).
For example:
- kurdu<n><sg><abs> ↔ kurdu "child"
- kurdu<n><du><abs> ↔ kurdu-jarra "two children"
- kurdu<n><pl><abs> ↔ kurdu-patu "several children"
Case Suffixes
Warlpiri is an ergative-absolutive language, in contrast to English, which is a nominative-accusative language. The main grammatical and semantic case suffixes used in Warlpiri include the following:
| case name | ~meaning | tag | possible forms | pirli "rock" (2 vowels) | warlkurru (>2 vowels) "axe" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| absolutive | subject of intransitive verbs and object of transitive verbs | <abs> | — | pirli<n><sg><abs> ↔ pirli | warlkurru<n><sg><abs> ↔ warlkurru |
| dative | "to" | <dat> | -ku | pirli<n><sg><dat> ↔ pirli-ku | warlkurru<n><sg><dat> ↔ warlkurru-ku |
| ergative | "agent of a transitive verb" | <erg> | -ngku, -rlu | pirli<n><sg><erg> ↔ pirli-ngku | warlkurru<n><sg><erg> ↔ warlkurru-rlu |
| allative | "onto" | <all> | -kurra | pirli<n><sg><all> ↔ pirli-kurra | warlkurru<n><sg><all> ↔ warlkurru-kurra |
| comitative | "with" | <com> | -ngkajinta, -rlajinta | pirli<n><sg><com> ↔ pirli-ngkajinta | warlkurru<n><sg><com> ↔ warlkurru-rlajinta |
| elative | "out of" | <ela> | -ngurlu | pirli<n><sg><ela> ↔ pirli-ngurlu | warlkurru<n><sg><ela> ↔ warlkurru-ngurlu |
| locative | "at, in on" | <loc> | -ngka, -rla | pirli<n><sg><loc> ↔ pirli-ngka | warlkurru<n><sg><loc> ↔ warlkurru-rla |
Derivational Cases
Derivational cases are suffixes showing properties of case inflection and of derivation.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -warnu | associative, resultative | wurdujarra-yinja<assoc> ↔ wurdujarra-yinja-warnu "fiancee" |
| -panu | excessive | wawirri<excess> ↔ wawirri-panu "many kangaroos" |
| -ngawurrpa | denizen of | nyiya?<deniz> ↔ nyiya-ngawurrpa? "inhabitant of what place?" |
| -wardingki | inhabitant of | ngurra<n><inhab> ↔ ngurra-wardingki "inhabitant of (the) home" |
| -piya | like, simile-former | jarrampayi<n><like> ↔ jarrampayi-piya "like a lizard" |
| -kurlangu | possessive | kata<n><poss> ↔ kata-kurlangu "having hair" |
| -wangu | privative, negative | wirntinja-warnu<n><priv> ↔ wirntinja-wangu "uninitiated person" |
| -kurlu, -parnta, -manji | proprietive, having | wawirri<n><prop> ↔ wawirri-kurlu "with (possessing) a kangaroo" |
| -jangka | source (elative, from) | japu<n><src> ↔ japu-jangka "from the shop" |
Verb Tense
In Warlpiri, there are five classes of verbs (V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5) of varying size, and the most common tenses are the nonpast (present), future, past, and imperative. The tag <tv> will be used for transitive verbs, and the tag <iv> will be used for intransitive verbs.
| Verb Class | Verb Root | Gloss | Present | Future | Past | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | wangkami | talk | wangkami<v><iv><pres> ↔ wangkami | wangkami<v><iv><fti> ↔ wangkaji | wangkami<v><iv><past> ↔ wangkaja | wangkami<v><iv><imp> ↔ wangkaya |
| Class 2 | pakarni | hit | pakarni<v><tv><pres> ↔ pakarni | pakarni<v><tv><fti> ↔ pakaku | pakarni<v><tv><past> ↔ pakarnu | pakarni<v><tv><imp> ↔ pakaka |
| Class 3 | yinyi | give | yinyi<v><tv><pres> ↔ yinyi | yinyi<v><tv><fti> ↔ yungku | yinyi<v><tv><past> ↔ yungu | yinyi<v><tv><imp> ↔ yungka |
| Class 4 | ngarni | eat | ngarni<v><tv><pres> ↔ ngarni | ngarni<v><tv><fti> ↔ ngalku | ngarni<v><tv><past> ↔ ngarnu | ngarni<v><tv><imp> ↔ nganja |
| Class 5 | yani | come | yani<v><iv><pres> ↔ yani | yani<v><iv><fti> ↔ yanku | yani<v><iv><past> ↔ yanu | yani<v><iv><imp> ↔ yanta |
Pronomials
Pronomials in Warlpiri not only dependent on person and singular/plural, but the number also depends on whether the subject is inclusive or not.
| Meaning | Word | Form |
|---|---|---|
| I, me | ngaju(lu) | ngaju<prn><pers><p1><sg> ↔ ngaju ngaju<prn><pers><p1><sg> ↔ ngajulu |
| you | nyuntu(lu) | nyuntu<prn><pers><p2><sg> ↔ nyuntu nyuntu<prn><pers><p2><sg> ↔ nyuntulu |
| he/she/it; to him/her/it | nyanungu | nyanungu<prn><pers><p3><sg> ↔ nyanungu |
| we (you & me) | ngali(jarra) | ngali<prn><pers><p1><du><incl> ↔ ngali ngali<prn><pers><p1><du><incl> ↔ ngalijarra |
| we (him/her/it & me) | ngajarra | ngajarra<prn><pers><p1><du><excl> ↔ ngajarra |
| we (you & me & other(s)) | ngalipa | ngalipa<prn><pers><p1><pl><incl> ↔ ngalipa |
| we (them & me) | nganimpa | nganimpa<prn><pers><p1><pl><excl> ↔ nganimpa |
| you (both/two) | nyumpala | nyumpala<prn><pers><p2><du> ↔ nyumpala |
| you (more than 2) | nyurrarla | nyurrarla<prn><pers><p2><pl> ↔ nyurrarla |
| they/them (both/two) | nyanungu-jarra | nyanungu-jarra<prn><pers><p3><du> ↔ nyanungu-jarra |
| they/them (more than 2) | nyanungu-rra/nyanungu-patu | nyanungu<prn><pers><p3><pl> ↔ nyanungu-rra nyanungu<prn><pers><p3><pl> ↔ nyanungu-patu |
Auxiliary system
In Warlpiri, there are many auxiliaries, which provide a central piece of grammar. It may occur only in initial or second position in the sentence, and depending on its composition, it may either be an independent phonological word or a clitic.
Tense-like Auxiliaries
| Auxiliary | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ka | Present | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rna-jana
ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ karnajana |
| kapu | Future | ka<vaux><fti><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kapu-rna-jana |
| lpa | Imperfect | ka<vaux><pii><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ lpa-rna-jana |
| Ø | Perfect | ka<vaux><prf><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ rna-jana |
| yinga | Causal | ka<vaux><caus><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ yinga-rna-jana |
| kuja | Relative | ka<vaux><rel><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kuja-rna-jana |
| kajilpa | "if", "when" | ka<vaux><cni><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kajilpa-rna-jana |
| kala | Usitative | ka<vaux><usi><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kala-rna-jana |
| kulaka | Negative | ka<vaux><neg><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kulaka-rna-jana |
| kalaka | Admonitive | ka<vaux><adm><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kalaka-rna-jana |
Subject Auxiliaries
See Pronomials section for meaning of tag names.
| Auxiliary | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| rna | 1st person singular subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rna-jana |
| n(pa) | 2nd person singular subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj2sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-n-jana ka<vaux><pres><subj2sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-npa-jana |
| Ø | 3rd person singular subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj3sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-jana |
| rli | 1st person dual inclusive subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj1duincl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rli-jana |
| rlijarra | 1st person dual exclusive subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj1duexcl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rlijarra-jana |
| rlipa | 1st person plural inclusive subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj1plincl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rlipa-jana |
| rna-lu | 1st person plural exclusive subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj1plexcl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rna-lu-jana |
| n(pa)-pala | 2nd person dual subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj2du><obj3pl> ↔ ka-n-pala-jana ka<vaux><pres><subj2du><obj3pl> ↔ ka-npa-pala-jana |
| nku-lu | 2nd person plural subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj2pl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-nku-lu-jana |
| pala | 3rd person dual subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj3du><obj3pl> ↔ ka-pala-jana |
| lu | 3rd person plural subject | ka<vaux><pres><subj3pl><obj3pl> ↔ ka-lu-jana |
Object Auxiliaries
See Pronomials section for meaning of tag names.
| Auxiliary | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ju | 1st person singular object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1sg> ↔ ka-rna-ju |
| ngku | 2nd person singular object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj2sg> ↔ ka-rna-ngku |
| rla | 3rd person singular object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3sg> ↔ ka-rna-rla |
| ngali(ngki) | 1st person dual inclusive object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1duincl> ↔ ka-rna-ngali ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1duincl> ↔ ka-rna-ngalingki |
| jarrangku | 1st person dual exclusive object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1duexcl> ↔ ka-rna-jarrangku |
| ngalpa | 1st person plural inclusive object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1plincl> ↔ ka-rna-ngalpa |
| nganpa | 1st person plural exclusive object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj1plexcl> ↔ ka-rna-nganpa |
| ngku-pala | 2nd person dual object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj2du> ↔ ka-rna-ngku-pala |
| nyarra | 2nd person plural object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj2pl> ↔ ka-rna-nyarra |
| palangu | 3rd person dual object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3du> ↔ ka-rna-palangu |
| jana | 3rd person plural object | ka<vaux><pres><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rna-jana |
Directional Endings on Verbs
Warlpiri has a set of endings that attach to verbs and indicate the orientation of the action referred to by the verb with respect to the speaker or another point of reference. The tags <twrds>, <away>, <across> can be used to indicate the meanings "towards speaker", "away from speaker", and "past the speaker", respectively.
| Directional Ending | Meaning | parnkami "run" | yani "come/go" | karrimi "stand" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rni | towards speaker | parnkami<v><iv><pres><twrds> ↔ parnkamirni | yani<v><iv><pres><twrds> ↔ yanirni | karrimi<v><iv><pres><twrds> ↔ karrimirni |
| rra | away from speaker | parnkami<v><iv><pres><away> ↔ parnkamirra | yani<v><iv><pres><away> ↔ yanirra | karrimi<v><iv><pres><away> ↔ karrimirra |
| mpa | past the speaker | parnkami<v><iv><pres><across> ↔ parnkamimpa | yani<v><iv><pres><across> ↔ yanimpa | karrimi<v><iv><pres><across> ↔ karrimimpa |
Double Dative
Verbs like 'yinyi' "give" or 'warrirni' "look for" refer to an action that implies a goal. With these verbs, Warlpiri uses a nominal followed by a dative ending, and in the sentence there may be another nominal with a dative ending referring to the individual for whom the action is being performed. This results in the double dative.
Another use of the double dative (applying the dative to the auxiliary and the object) is when verbs can have two different meanings: 'achieved goal' and 'unachieved goal':
| Single Dative | Gloss | Form 1 | Form 2 | Double Dative | Gloss | Dative Form 1 | Dative Form 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ngarrkangku ka jarntu luwarni. | The man is shooting a dog. | ka<vaux><pres> ↔ ka | jarntu<n><sg><abs> ↔ jarntu | Ngarrkangku karlajinta jarntu-ku luwarni. | The man is shooting at a dog (trying to shoot the dog). | ka<vaux><pres><obj3sg><obj3sg> ↔ karlajinta | jarntu<n><sg><dat> ↔ jarntu-ku |
| Malikirli ka kurdu yarlkirni. | The dog is biting the child. | ka<vaux><pres> ↔ ka | kurdu<n><sg><abs> ↔ kurdu | Malikirli karlajinta kurduku yarlkirni. | The dog is biting at the child (trying to bite the child). | ka<vaux><pres><obj3sg><obj3sg> ↔ karlajinta | kurdu<n><sg><dat> ↔ kurdu-ku |
| Kurdungku ka jarntu pakarni. | The child is striking the dog. | ka<vaux><pres> ↔ ka | jarntu<n><sg><abs> ↔ jarntu | Kurdungku karlajinta jarntu-ku pakarni. | The child is striking at the dog (trying to strike the dog). | ka<vaux><pres><obj3sg><obj3sg> ↔ karlajinta | jarntu<n><sg><dat> ↔ jarntu-ku |
