Ngan'gityemerri : a language of the Daly River region, Northern Territory of Australia

Abstract

This thesis is a study of Ngan'gityemerri, a language spoken primarily in and around the two communities of Nauiyu Nambiyu and Peppimenarti in the Northern Territory. Chapter One provides an introduction to the names by which speakers of this language have been referred to, comments on the relationship between the two dialects, and establishes my use of the term Ngan'gityemerri as a language name. Also included in this chapter is a brief account of the history of these people since European invasion of their country began late last century, some comments on social organisation, cultural affiliations, Wangga and Lirrga songstyles, and a description of their country. The current status of the language is reviewed, and the language variety presented in this work is clearly identified. A survey of previous work on Ngan'gityemerri, and a description of my fieldwork methodology are additionally included. Chapter Two presents the segmental phonology, phonotactics, stress patterns and morphophonological processes. Particular attention, in the form of a detailed acoustic study, is given to the mechanism by which the contrast between two series of stops is maintained. Chapter Three presents an overview of 'simple' and 'complex' verb structures, then identifies the morphological make-up of the verbal elements labelled 'auxiliary' and 'complex verb stem'. The mechanisms that interact to mark categories of tense, aspect and mood, namely auxiliary root inflection, verbal enclitics, verb root reduplication and the serialisation of p o stu re /m o tio n auxiliaries, are all addressed in this chapter. The incorporation into the verb of bodypart noun roots is also investigated here. A distinction between 'lexical' and 'syntactic' incorporation is invoked, and the differences in the effect of both these types of incorporation is dealt with. A list of incorporable terms is presented, and their literal and classificatory semantics explored. Chapter Four investigates the semantic contribution that the auxiliary makes to the meaning of a full verb. The 31 auxiliaries are broken down into six groups on the basis of their functional roles, which are described in detail. Chapter Five deals with the role played by both freeform and bound generics in classifying the Ngan 'g ity emerri nominal world. The morphology of these generics is surveyed with regard to the typological distinction drawn between 'noun class' systems on the one hand, and 'classifier' systems on the other. The semantics of noun class categories are also examined here. Chapter Six examines the set of enclitics, some of which have scope over NPs and others over clausal propositions. The semantic functions of this clitic set vary widely, some marking such case-like roles as 'agent' or 'instrument', others encoding the kinds of meanings, like speaker attitude, that are commonly attributed to free particles. The class of free particles is treated in Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight provides a brief presentation of space, time and number expression, and Chapter Nine deals with the freeform pronominal system, demonstratives and interrogatives. Appendices to this grammar include the full subject-auxiliary sequence paradigms for both Ngan'giwumirri and Ngan'gikurunggurr, as well as four texts. Cassette tapes of the textual material included in the appendices have been submitted with this thesis, and copies of these will gladly be made available by the author to any interested readers. Show more