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11 Magu‐garra bayigi=ngga gamarr‐i
wirdi, woman‐GEN bagABS =3sgNTR.PRES stone‐LOC be atIND
minda‐ya gamarr‐i.
beside‐LOC stone‐LOC ‘The woman’s bag is at the stone, beside the stone.’
Sentence 12 shows an alternative way to say where something is, by using no verb and no Clitic.
12 Magu‐garra bayigi
gamarr‐i. woman‐GEN bagABS stone‐LOC
‘The woman’s bag is on the stone.’
3.3 Intransitive actions
Many sentences in Ganggalida are Intransitive. In those sentences, the Subject does the action, but without doing it to anyone or anything. Examples are shown in 13–17. In
Intransitive sentences Subjects, like wunda in 13, have Absolutive endings. If the Subject is a Pronoun, then it appears in the Direct form, like nyingga in 14.
13 Yulmburrinda=yingga
wun‐da barljijbarljij‐a.
long time=3sgNTR.PAST rain‐ABS fall and fall‐IND
‘The rain’s been falling for a long time.’
14 Rangarrwatha=nyi nying‐ga. feel hot=2sgSPRES 2sg‐DIR
‘You’re feeling hot.’ Sometimes the Clitic will tell you exactly who is doing the action. In that case, the sentence
often has no Subject Pronoun or Subject Noun Phrase. For example, the Clitic tells you that the Subject is ‘I’ 1sg in 15 and 16, and ‘we two’ 1exc.nonsg in 17.
15 Gubarrmaja=ga‐yingga.
hurt self=1sg‐NTR.PAST
‘I hurt myself.’
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16 Yan‐da=ga‐yingga warraj‐a yarraman‐kurlu.
today=1sg‐NTR.PAST go‐IND horse‐PROP
‘I came today by horse.’
17 Balmbi‐ya=ngarr‐ayi warraj‐a dawun‐kirlu.
yesterday‐LOC=1exc.nonsg‐NTR.FUT go‐IND town‐ALL
‘We two will go to town tomorrow.’ Sentences can include many other kinds of information. Examples are when the action
happens, like yanda ‘today’ in 16, balmbiya ‘tomorrow’ in 17 and yulmburrinda ‘for a long time’ in 13, or with what, like yarramankurlu ‘with a horse; by horse’ in 16, or
where, like dawunkirlu ‘to town’ in 17.
3.4 Transitive actions
Gangglida also has Transitive sentences and Semi‐transitive sentences, where the Subject does an action to someone or something else. In Transitive sentences, the Subject does the
action to the Object. You can find out more about deciding whether a sentence should be Transitive or Semi‐transitive in section 3.5. Examples of Transitive sentences are shown in
18, 19 and 20. In Transitive sentences, if the Subject or Object is a pronoun, it will have a Direct form, like ngalda ‘we lot’ and kirra ‘you two’ in 18. Otherwise, Subjects have
Ergative endings, and Objects have Absolutive endings. 18 Ngal‐da=ngarru‐ganda
gabath‐a girr‐a. 1pl‐DIR=1exc.duS.2nonsgO‐TR.PAST find‐IND
2du‐DIR ‘We lot found you two.’
19 Magu‐ya=garri gurlij‐a
gunawuna woman‐ERG=TR.PRES3sgS.3sgO wash‐IND childABS
‘The woman is washing the child.’
20 Ganggarliju‐ya=gandi ni‐da
gabath‐a father’s father‐ERG=TR.FUT3sgS.3sgO name‐ABS find‐IND
‘The grandfather will find a name for the baby’
The verb wuuja ‘give’ is also Transitive: the Subject gives something to the Object. The words that describe the thing which is given, like jurlamarrgankurluya ‘turtle’ in 22,
have two endings: Proprietive and Ergative.
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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
