Tiwi/Grammar

We based our grammar documentation on the Traditional Tiwi interpretation from Tiwi Today.

Parts of Speech

"The categories for Modern Tiwi are, in general, the same as those for Traditional Tiwi, the main differences being within the classes or sub-classes. Some classes, such as inflected verbs, are much reduced in size, while other classes, such as free verbs, are expanded." Tiwi Today

Nominals

nouns, kin nouns, adjectives, and numerals

Verbals

inflected verbs and free form verbs

Other

predicatives, locatives, temporals, adverbs, particles and interjections

Alternations

Alternation 1

Imperative mood:

• wapa<v><tv><imp><s_sg2> ↔ taapa
• wapa<v><tv><imp><s_sg2> ↔ takirimi

Alternation 2

"nonpast verbs have one of the non-past set of subject forms, but are not otherwise marked for tense. Past tense verbs are formed by a} selecting one of the past tense set of subject forms and b) inserting the past tense marker rə- wherever the subject form arries no tense meaning. (An exception to this is that rə- is inserted following pu- "they", which has a distinctively past tense meaning.)

in osborne, ru is equivalent to rri and ŋə is equivalent to ngi... but what is ŋu? There are three tenses: past, non-past, and future Past vs. Non-past:

• wapa<v><tv><nonpast><s_sg3><m> ↔ awapa
• wapa<v><tv><past><s_sg3><m> ↔ yuwapa
• pangurlimayi<v><iv><nonpast><s_sg1> ↔ ngipangurlimayi
• pangurlimayi<v><iv><past><s_sg1> ↔ ngirripangurlimayi
• kirimi <v><iv><past><s_pl3> ↔ pirikirimi

Other

• Examples not in Tiwi