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21 Ngarr‐a=ngarr‐gandi wuuj‐a
nying‐ga thungal‐wurlu‐ya. 1exc.du‐DIR=1exc.duS.2sgO‐TR.FUT give‐IND 2sg‐DIR
thing‐PROP‐ERG ‘We two will give you something.’
22 Ngagurr‐a=gurru‐garri wuuj‐a
jurlamarrgan‐kurlu‐ya 1inc.du‐DIR=1inc.duS.3nonsgO‐TR.PRES give‐IND turtle‐PROP‐ERG
dathin‐a jardi. that‐ABS mobABS
‘You and I give them lot turtle.’
23 Ngamathu‐ya ganthathu‐ya=rr‐ganda wuuj‐a
mother‐ERG father‐ERG=3duS.3nonsgO‐TR.PAST give‐IND
kujiji kiyarrng‐ka.
youngABS two‐ABS
‘The mother and father give food to the young two.’
3.5 When to use Semi‐transitive sentences
Most of the time, if the Subject does an action to someone or something else, then the sentence is Transitive. But there are specific cases where the sentence will be
Semi‐transitive instead. This section discusses what the those cases are, and what the Semi‐transitive sentences look like.
The first case where Ganggalida uses Semi‐transitive instead of Transitive sentences is when the verb is a Middle verb. In the dictionary, Middle verbs are shown with the
abbreviation v.m. Some examples of Middle verbs are lardija ‘wait for’, gamburija ‘talk to’ and bulwija ‘be frightened of’. If the verb is a Middle verb, then the sentence is
Semi‐transitive, and the Subject acts on a Goal. Subjects have Absolutive endings and Goals have Dative endings:
24 Dathin‐a=yingga
lardij‐a ngugu‐ntha.
That‐ABS=3sgNTR.PAST wait‐IND water‐DAT
‘That fella waited for water.’
25 Gamburij‐a=wurruwa‐yingga dathin‐kiyarrng‐inja.
Talk‐IND=2nonsgS.2duG‐NTR.PAST that‐DUAL‐DAT
‘You talked to those two.’
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In sentences with Middle verbs, Pronoun Subjects have the Direct form, like ngarra ‘we two’ in 26. Pronoun Goals have the Dative form, like niwa ‘him’ in 27.
26 Ngarr‐a=ngarr‐ingga
lardij‐a dathin‐inja jardi‐nja.
1exc.du‐DIR=1exc.duS.nonsgG‐NTR.PAST wait‐IND that‐DAT mob‐DAT
‘We two waited for that lot.’
27 Niwa=rna‐nyi bulwij‐a.
3sgDAT=3sgG‐2sgSNTR.PRES be frightened of‐IND
‘You are frightened of him.’ The second case where Ganggalida uses Semi‐transitive instead of Transitive sentences is in
sentences whose verbs have Negative endings. You can find more about those sentences in section 3.9.
The third case is when a verb has a Desiderative ending. In those sentences, there is the option of expressing the desire in a more gentle way, by making the sentence a
Semi‐transitive. Sentence 28 is an example of a Transitive Desiderative, and the second half of 29 is a Semi‐transitive Desiderative sentence.
28 Badi‐da=thu‐rr‐garri
yarlbu‐da.
carry‐DES=1sgG‐3duS.3sgO‐TR.PRES meat‐ABS ‘Those two ought to carry the meat for me’
29 Ngawarri=ga‐di, ngugu‐ntha gurdama‐da=ga‐di.
thirstyABS=1sgS‐NTR.PRES water‐DAT drink‐DES=1sgS‐NTR.PRES
‘I’m thirsty, I should drink water.’ The fourth case where Ganggalida uses Semi‐transitive instead of Transitive sentences is
for certain combinations of who is doing what in the action. The deciding factor is the Person of Subject and ObjectGoal to remind yourself about Person, see section 2.2. Table
44 shows combinations of Subject, who is doing the action, and ObjectGoal, which is having the action done to it, and shows whether the sentence needs to be Semi‐transitive.
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Subject: 2
3 ObjectGoal: 1
Semi‐transitive 1inc Semi‐transitive Semi‐transitive
1exc Semi‐transitive Semi‐transitive 2
Semi‐transitive Table 44. Semi‐transitivity triggered by Person combinations
Examples of Semi‐transitive sentences, which are Semi‐transitive because of the Person of the Subject and Goal, are shown in 30–32. For example, in 30 the Subject is
dathinkiyarrngga ‘those two’, which is Third Person, and the action is done to ngijinji ‘me’ which is First Person. Because of that, the sentence must be Semi‐transitive.
30 Dathin‐kiyarrng‐ga=thu‐rr‐a
jinka ngijin‐ji.
That‐DUAL‐ABS=1sgG‐3du‐NTR.PRES followIND 1sg‐LOC ‘Those two are following me.’
31 Dathin‐a jardi=ba‐l‐ayi gurri
ngumban‐ji.
That‐ABS mobABS=2sgG‐3plS‐NTR.FUT seeIND 2sg‐LOC ‘That lot will see you.’
32 Jinkaj‐a=guluwa‐ni‐nggi ngaguluwan‐ji burldamurr‐i.
Follow‐IND=1inc.plG‐3sgS‐NTR.FUT 1inc.pl‐LOC three‐LOC
‘He will follow us three.’
3.6 Someone who possesses something can be a Goal
