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3 How to make sentences
This section describes how sentences are made in Ganggalida. The section is divided into many individual topics, starting with some simple cases, and gradually working up to the
most complex sentences in the language. Throughout this section you will see many example sentences. Each sentence is numbered, so that it’s easy to talk about them. In the
sentences, each word is broken into its parts and labeled, and there is a translation of the Ganggalida sentence into English at the bottom. The meanings of the labels are listed in
Table 43, and you can read more about many of those ideas in sections 1 and 2.
ABL Ablative
O Object
ABS Absolutive
PRIV Privative
ALL Allative
PROP Proprietive
DAT Dative
nonsg Non‐singular Number DES
Desiderative Mood NTR
Non‐transitive DIR
Direct NEG
Negative DUAL Dual Number
pl Plural Number
du Dual Number
PAST Past Tense
ERG Ergative
PRES Present Tense
exc Exclusive Person
PROP Proprietive
FUT Future Tense
PRIOR Prior Tense G
Goal REL
Relative clause GEN
Genitive S
Subject HORT Hortative Mood
sg Singular Number
inc Inclusive Person
STAT Stative
IND Indicative Mood
TR Transitive
IMP Imperative Mood
1 First Person
IRR Irrealis Mood
2 Second Person
LOC Locative
3 Third Person
Table 43. Labels for endings and word forms
3.1 Describing what something is
Sentences 6, 7 and 8 tell you what something is. For example, sentence 6 tells you that ngijinda ngawuwa ‘my dog’ is mirrara ‘good’. In Ganggalida, this kind of sentence has
no verb and no Clitic. You just put the two descriptions one after the other, and the words have Absolutive endings.
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6 Ngijin‐da ngawu‐wa mirra‐ra. my‐ABS
dog‐ABS good‐ABS
‘My dog is good.’
7 Ngijin‐ma ganthathu
yarlbugaban‐da. my‐STATABS fatherABS good hunter‐ABS
‘My father is a good hunter.’
In sentence 8, the phrase ngijininja wanggurduntha describes a Goal — the person who something is for. Words that express the Goal have Dative endings.
8 Danthin‐ma
gunya yagurli
ngijin‐inja wanggurdu‐ntha. that‐STATABS smallABS fishABS my‐DAT
brother‐DAT ‘That small fish is for my brother.’
3.2 Describing where something is
To tell someone where something is, Ganggalida has sentences like 9–12. The thing that you’re talking about, like darrganbalda ‘frog’ in 9 or dangga ‘man’ in 10, has Absolutive
endings. The place where it is, has Locative endings. These sentences use the verb wirdi, meaning ‘be at’, and they have a Clitic.
9 Darrganbalda=ngga yarlgath‐i
gamarr‐i wirdi.
frog=3sgNTR.PRES underneath‐LOC stone‐LOC be atIND
‘The frog is under the stone.’
10 Dangga=ngga wirdi
gurlbi gumangu‐ya.
man=3sgNTR.PRES be atIND insideLOC cave‐LOC
‘The man is inside the cave.’ The Clitic always attaches itself to the end of another word in the sentence. In almost all
sentences, it attaches either to the first word, or to the end of the first Noun Phrase. A Noun Phrase is a group of words that describe a person, thing or place, like magugarra bayigi
‘the woman’s bag’ in 11.
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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
