Two months ago I wrote an article for the Royal Society of New South Wales on ‘The Aboriginal Languages of Victoria’, which filled approximately 35 pages of that Society’s Journal.[5]
The dual is very widespread in the Australian languages, but in all of those from the western part of Victoria, as well as those from a certain area in South Australia, there exists a triple number, a fact which has not been reported in any other part of the continent. I thought that a condensed summary of the grammar of the Tyattyalla language, as it is spoken on the banks of the Wimmera River, might interest members of your Society interested in linguistics.
Nouns
As in number, the nouns have the singular, the dual and the plural. The cases are declined similarly to the Wailwan, except that in Tyattyalla, the possessor and the thing possessed both assume a suffix, although it differs for each word. Here are a few examples: Wutyu, a man; gattim-gattim, a boomerang. But ‘a man’s boomerang’ is expressed as: Wutyuga gattim-gattimuk. To give the sentence greater euphony, the grammar allows that the thing possessed can be uttered first. In that case, the suffixes are transposed. So, instead of saying: Laiura lahrnuk, a woman’s camp, a more euphonic turn of phrase is used by saying, Lahrga laiurk. Laiur is ‘a woman’ and Lahr is ‘a camp’. The variations of the suffixes taken by the declined noun vary according to the last letters in the same way as in the Wailwan language, described above.
Adjectives
These follow the nouns which they affect and are subject to the same rules of declension.
Pronouns
Here, I give only the nominal pronouns.
|
Triple |
Plural |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
We, incl. |
Yurwengurrakullik |
We, incl. |
Yurwengurrak |
|
We, excl. |
Yurwendakullik |
We, excl. |
Yurwendak |
|
You |
Yurwuddakullik |
You |
Yurwuddak |
|
They |
Yurwennakullik |
They |
Yurwennak |
It is apparent, from the above table, that the triple is formed by the addition of a special ending to the plural form.
Verbs
With the conjugation of the verbs, the triple number is made by the addition of kullik to the suffix of the plural, as occurs with the pronouns. In all other cases, the verb is subject to the same variations as in the Wailwan language.
Adverbs
These are the everyday adverbs of affirmation, negation, time, place, etc. Some of them can be declined for number and person:
|
Singular: |
Where are you? |
Windyar |
|
Dual: |
Where are you? |
Windyawul |
|
Triple: |
Where are you? |
Windyatkullik |
|
Plural: |
Where are you? |
Windaty |
There are also special forms of declension for the past and the future and for all numbers and persons.
Prepositions
Like the nouns and the adverbs, some prepositions have declensions:
|
Singular |
1st person: |
Behind me |
Walmengek |
|
2nd — : |
Behind you |
Walmengin |
|
|
3rd — : |
Behind him |
Walmenguk |
It is the same for the double and triple numbers and for the plural.
Interjections and exclamations
These are not numerous but, as with the prepositions, nouns and other parts of speech, they can be declined.
|
Singular: |
Stop! |
Tyarrigi! |
|
Dual: |
Stop! |
Tyarriyiwal! |
|
Triple: |
Stop! |
Tyarriyuatkullik! |
|
Plural: |
Stop! |
Tyarriyuat! |
Numbers
One, kainp. Two, bulaty.