Warlpiri/Grammar

This page documents features of Warlpiri grammar.

Parts of Speech

Symbol	Part of Speech
<n>	Noun
<adj>	Adjective
<vb>	Verb
<prevb>	Preverb
<mod>	Clitics and Particles
<vaux>	Auxiliaries

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<n><sg> ↔ pampa "the blind one"
• pampa<adj> ↔ pampa "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<vb><sbj3><pres> ↔ ka "is going" (3rd person singular)
• ka<vb><sbj332><pres> ↔ ka-pala "(two) are going" (3rd person dual)
• ka<vb><sbj333><pres> ↔ 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.

• waja<mod> ↔ waja "obviously"
• -wiyi<mod> ↔ -wiyi "first"
• -mpayi<mod> ↔ -mpayi "far"

do the ones that are always attached with a + xyz<n>+wiya<mod> ↔ xyzwiya

Auxiliaries

Auxiliaries supplement the meanings associated with both the verb and the nominals, and adds meaning to the sentence in a variety of ways.

• kalaka<vaux> ↔ kalaka "might; liable to"
• kajilpa<vaux> ↔ kajilpa "hypothetically"
• ka<vaux> ↔ ka (used in positive statements)
• kulaka<vaux> ↔ ka (used in negative statements)

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> ↔ kurdu "child"
• kurdu<n><dual> ↔ kurdu-jarra "two children"
• kurdu<n><plural> ↔ 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"	warlkurru "axe"
absolutive	subject of intransitive verbs and object of transitive verbs	<abs>	—	pirli<n><abs> ↔ pirli	warlkurru<n><abs> ↔ warlkurru
dative	"to"	<dat>	-ku	pirli<n><dat> ↔ pirli-ku	warlkurru<n><dat> ↔ warlkurru-ku
ergative	"agent of a transitive verb"	<erg>	-ngku, -rlu	pirli<n><erg> ↔ pirli-ngku	warlkurru<n><erg> ↔ warlkurru-rlu
allative	"onto"	<all>	-kurra	pirli<n><all> ↔ pirli-kurra	warlkurru<n><all> ↔ warlkurru-kurra
comitative	"with"	<com>	-ngkajinta, -rlajinta	pirli<n><com> ↔ pirli-ngkajinta	warlkurru<n><com> ↔ warlkurru-rlajinta
elative	"out of"	<ela>	-ngurlu	pirli<n><ela> ↔ pirli-ngurlu	warlkurru<n><ela> ↔ warlkurru-ngurlu
locative	"at, in on"	<loc>	-ngka, -rla	pirli<n><loc> ↔ pirli-rgka	warlkurru<n><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	?
-ngawurrpa	denizen of	nyiya?<deniz> ↔ nyiya-ngawurrpa? "inhabitant of what place?"
-wardingki	inhabitant of	ngurra<n><inhab> ↔ "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"

add form to "inhabitant"; lexicalize these (skip this grammar point in tests)

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 <itv> will be used for intransitive verbs.

Verb Class	Verb Root	Gloss	Present	Future	Past	Imperative
Class 1	wangkami	talk	wangkami<vb><itv><pres> ↔ wangkami	wangkami<vb><intran><fti> ↔ wangkaji	wangkami<vb><intran><past> ↔ wangkaja	wangkami<vb><intran><imp> ↔ wangkaya
Class 2	pakarni	hit	pakarni<vb><tv><pres> ↔ pakarni	pakarni<vb><tv><fti> ↔ pakaku	pakarni<vb><tv><past> ↔ pakarnu	pakarni<vb><tv><imp> ↔ pakaka
Class 3	ngarni	eat	ngarni<vb><tv><pres> ↔ ngarni	ngarni<vb><tv><fti> ↔ ngalku	ngarni<vb><tv><past> ↔ ngarnu	ngarni<vb><tv><imp> ↔ nganja
Class 4	yinyi	give	yinyi<vb><tv><pres> ↔ yinyi	yinyi<vb><tv><fti> ↔ yungku	yinyi<vb><tv><past> ↔ yungu	yinyi<vb><tv><imp> ↔ yungka
Class 5	yani	come	yani<vb><itv><pres> ↔ yani	yani<vb><itv><fti> ↔ yanku	yani<vb><itv><past> ↔ yanu	yani<vb><itv><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><sbj1> ↔ ngaju ngaju<prn><pers><sbj1> ↔ ngajulu
you	nyuntu (lu)	ngalu<sbj2> ↔ nyuntu (lu)
he/she/it; to him/her/it	nyanungu	ngalu<sbj3> ↔ nyanungu
we (you & me)	ngali (jarra)	ngalu<sbj12> ↔ ngali (jarra)
we (him/her/it & me)	ngajarra	ngalu<sbj11> ↔ ngajarra
we (you & me & other(s))	ngalipa	ngalu<sbj122> ↔ ngalipa
we (them & me)	nganimpa	ngalu<sbj111> ↔ nganimpa
you (both/two)	nyumpala	ngalu<sbj222> ↔ nyumpala
you (more than 2)	nyurrarla	ngalu<sbj223> ↔ nyurrarla
they/them (both/two)	nyanungu-jarra	ngalu<sbj332> ↔ nyanungu-jarra
they/them (more than 2)	nyanungu-rra/nyanungu-patu	ngalu<sbj333> ↔ nyanungu-rra

combined	split
1	<p1><sg>
2	<p2><sg>
3	<p3><sg>
12	<p1><du><incl>
11	<p1><du><excl>
122	<p1><pl><incl>
111	<p1><pl><excl>
222	<p2><du>
223	<p2><pl>
332	<p3><du>
333	<p3><pl>

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<pres><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ ka-rna-jana
lpa	Imperfect	ka<pii><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ lpa-rna-jana
Ø	Perfect	ka<prf><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ rna-jana
yinga	Causal	ka<caus><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ yinga-rna-jana
kuja	Relative	ka<rel><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kuja-rna-jana
kaji	"if", "when"	ka<cni><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kaji-rna-jana
kala	Usitative	ka<usi><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kala-rna-jana
kula	Negative	ka<neg><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kula-rna-jana
kalaka	Admonitive	ka<adm><vaux><subj1sg><obj3pl> ↔ kalaka-rna-jana

Subject Auxiliaries

See Pronomials section for meaning of tag names.

Auxiliary	Meaning	Example
rna	1st person singular subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj1> ↔ ka-rna-jana
n(pa)	2nd person singular subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj2> ↔ ka-npa-jana
rli	1st person dual inclusive subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj12> ↔ ka-rli-jana
rlijarra	1st person dual exclusive subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj11> ↔ ka-rlijarra-jana
n(pa)-pala	2nd person dual subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj22> ↔ ka-npa-pala-jana
pala	3rd person dual subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj33> ↔ ka-pala-jana
rlipa	1st person plural inclusive subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj122> ↔ ka-rlipa-jana
rna-lu	1st person singular plural exclusive subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj111> ↔ ka-rna-lu-jana
nku-lu	2nd person plural subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj222> ↔ ka-rku-lu-jana
lu	3rd person plural subject	ka-rna-jana<vaux><sbj333> ↔ ka-lu-jana

Object Auxiliaries

See Pronomials section for meaning of tag names.

Auxiliary	Meaning	Example
ju	1st person singular object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj1> ↔ ka-rna-ju
ngku	2nd person singular object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj2> ↔ ka-rna-ngku
ngali (ngki)	1st person dual inclusive object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj12> ↔ ka-rna-ngali
jarrangku	1st person dual exclusive object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj11> ↔ ka-rna-jarrangku
ngku-pala	2nd person dual object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj22> ↔ ka-rna-ngku-pala
palangu	3rd person dual object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj33> ↔ ka-rna-palangu
ngalpa	1st person plural inclusive object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj122> ↔ ka-rna-ngalpa
nganpa	1st person singular plural exclusive object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj111> ↔ ka-rna-nganpa
nyarra	2nd person plural object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj222> ↔ ka-rna-nyarra
jana	3rd person plural object	ka-rna-ju<vaux><sbj333> ↔ 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<vb><itv><twrds> ↔ parnkamirni	yani<vb><itv><twrds> ↔ yanirni	karrimi<vb><itv><twrds> ↔ karrimirni
rra	away from speaker	parnkami<vb><itv><away> ↔ parnkamirra	yani<vb><itv><away> ↔ yanirra	karrimi<vb><itv><away> ↔ karrimirra
mpa	past the speaker	parnkami<vb><itv><across> ↔ parnkamimpa	yani<vb><itv><across> ↔ yanimpa	karrimi<vb><itv><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 wawirri luwarni.	The man is shooting a kangaroo.	ka<pres><vaux> ↔ ka	wawirri<n><sg> ↔ wawirri	Ngarrkangku karlajinta wawirriki luwarni.	The man is shooting at a kangaroo (trying to shoot the kangaroo).	ka<dat><pres><vaux> ↔ karlajinta	wawirri<dat><n><sg> ↔ warirriki
Malikirli ka kurdu yarlkirni.	The dog is biting the child.	ka<pres><vaux> ↔ ka	kurdu<n><sg> ↔ kurdu	Malikirli karlajinta kurduku yarlkirni.	The dog is biting at the child (trying to bite the child).	ka<dat><pres><vaux> ↔ karlajinta	kurdu<dat><n><sg> ↔ kurduku
Kurdungku ka maliki pakarni.	The child is striking the dog.	ka<pres><vaux> ↔ ka	maliki<n><sg> ↔ maliki	Kurdungku karlajinta malikiki pakarni.	The child is striking at the dog (trying to strike the dog).	ka<dat><pres><vaux> ↔ karlajinta	maliki<dat><n><sg> ↔ malikiki