Martuthunira: a language of the Pilbara region of Western Australia

This thesis is a reference grammar of Martuthunira, an Australian language of the Ngayarda subgroup of Pama-Nyungan, and originally spoken in the locality of the Fortescue River in northwest Western Australia. There are now just three remaining speakers and this thesis is based on the speech of one man - Algy Paterson. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the Martuthunira language and its speakers; the traditional patterns of social organisation of the Martuthunira people, their post-contact history and the wider linguistic affiliations of their language. Chapter 2 describes Martuthunira phonology. Chapter 3 discusses a number of general theoretical issues raised by the description of Martuthunira morphology. Parts-of-speech classes are defined and the lack of an adjective/noun distinction for nominals discussed. I also argue against the establishment of a form class 'particle', preferring a plethora of idiosyncratic minor parts of speech. This chapter also describes general patterns of word structure and the organising principles of nominal suffixation. The functions of individual nominal suffixes are described in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes the forms and functions of pronouns, demonstratives and the minor nominal subclasses. Chapter 6 describes the inflectional and derivational morphology of verbs. Chapter 7 describes the class of proposition-modifying adverbs, clitics and the minor parts of speech. Chapter 8 describes the structure of Martuthunira noun phrases. The analysis of apparent ellipsis is discussed in some detail leading to a quite liberal approach to the identification of endocentric nominal expressions. Chapter 9 discusses the structure of non-verbal clauses and copula constructions. Chapter 10 describes the syntax of verbal clauses: basic clause types are presented according to a classification of predicates. The syntax of the active/passive voice contrast and the implications of double-object constructions for the assignment of grammatical relations are discussed in some detail. Finally, the strong preference for SVO word order is discussed. Chapter 11 describes complex sentences; the various types of subordinate clause marked by special verbal inflections, and the role of the passive in presenting subordinate clause pivots. Three appendices are also included. Appendix A details the phonological history of the Ngayarda languages thus setting the phonological discussion in Chapter 2 in a wider context. Appendix B provides a detailed description of the role of anaphoric demonstratives in tracking participants in text. Finally, Appendix C presents a selection of Martuthunira texts. Due to the limitations of space, I have had to leave out a substantial Martuthunira wordlist. However, I anticipate producing a Martuthunira dictionary separately

Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal

© editorial matter and organization Andrej Malchukov and Andrew Spencer 2009, chapters their several authors 2009. All rights reserved. Nyamal is an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family, originally spoken in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In Nyamal, as in many Australian languages, nominal suffixes serve a wide range of dependency-marking functions, which include but are not restricted to traditional 'case'. Nyamal has a very complex system of case marking. This complexity is due to its very strong tendency towards multiple case marking combined with variation in the case marking selected by arguments of different predicates, in different clause types, and by different patterns of case syncretism in different classes of nominals. Morphological coding conventions determine the distribution of case suffixes to constituents within a phrase or clause marked for case. Patterns of suffix distribution predicted by the use of case suffixes at different functional levels and by the rules of concord are modified by certain morphological sequence constraints. This article describes and exemplifies that complexity. It sets out the variables affecting the choice of case marking for arguments in clauses and describes the patterns of multiple case marking

Possession in Martuthunira

© Editorial matter and organization Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon 2013 © The chapters their several authors 2013. All rights reserved. This chapter offers a comprehensive analysis of expression of possession and of ownership in Martuthunira, an extinct Australian language, formerly spoken in the Plibara region of Northern Australia. Pertensive, proprietive are employed to express possessive relationships. Genitive is used for some types of possession, and some kinship relations. Privative is a way of marking negative possession. Part-whole relationship is coded by simple apposition. There are no verbs of possession: possession can be coded through verbs meaning 'grab', 'catch' and 'hold'. The patterns of distribution of possessive marking in Martuthunira reflect the importance of kin relationships. There is a strong cultural distinction between close, or 'dear', kin, and more distantly related relatives. The 'dear' kin stand in contrast to the wider network of more distant classificatory kin in terms of their linguistic marking, and societal status