GÜNTHER AND THE WIRADHURI REFLEXIVE

One of a number of puzzles in Archdeacon Günther’s work on Wiradhuri, as printed in Fraser 1892*, relates to the reflexive. Günther had provided the following information on page 62:

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* ¹ Günther, James. 1892. Grammar and Vocabulary of the Aboriginal Dialect called The Wirradhuri. In An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal, the people of Awaba or Lake Macquarie (near Newcastle, New South Wales) being an account of their language, traditions and customs, edited by J. Fraser. Sydney: Charles Potter, Govt. Printer. Original edition, c.1840.
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6. Dillinga dilli

(reflexive); as, 

[Gunther example]	[JS RETRANSCRIPTION]	[Gunther translation]
bumangi-dillinga,	buma-ngi-dili-nga	‘to beat one’s self’;
mirama-dillinga,	mira-ma-dili-nga	‘to defend one’s self.’

From this, Günther is stating that the derivational suffix marking the reflexive is ‘-dili’. This is akin to the reflexive suffix in such nearby NSW languages as the Sydney language (Biyal Biyal: BB) and the Hunter River language (Awabakal: AWA), where it is -li.

A few pages later, in a section specifically on the reflexive, Günther offers examples corresponding to ten tenses. He does this without offering translations, so provoking difficulties for later readers. The passage in question, with modification to presentation as in the table above, is the following, from page 67:

REFLEXIVE MOOD.

	[Gunther example]	[JS RETRANSCRIPTION]	[JS TRANSLATION]
l.	Dalġydyillinga	da-l-ngidyi-li-nga	eat oneself now
2	Dalġidyillingarrinni	da-l-ngi-dyili-ngari-ni	was eating oneself this morning
3	Dalġidyillingurranni	da-l-ngi-dyili-ngara-ni	was eating oneself recently
4	Dalġidyillinyi	da-l-ngi-dyili-nyi	did eat oneself at some former period
5	Dalġidyillin	da-l-ngi-dyili-n	did eat oneself this morning
6	Déinġidyillin	diyi-ngi-dyili-n	had eaten oneself before some event
7	Dalliġidyilligirri	da-li-ngi-dyili-giri	going to eat oneself now
8	Wari dalliġidyillingarriawagirri	wari da-li-ngi-dyili-ngari-yawa-giri	will eat oneself this morning
9	Wari dalliġidyillingarri	wari da-li-ngi-dyili-ngari-giri	will eat oneself at some time hereafter
l0.	Wari déinġidyillingirri	wari diyi-ngi-dyili-nGiri	certainly eat oneself will

Note: The ġ (with the overdot) in the examples is a character used by the editor, John Fraser, to mark the ‘eng’ (or ŋ) sound, as in ‘sing’.

There really are only three tenses in languages such as Wiradhuri, not ten. In the table, two of these are clearly marked. Of these, ‘Future’ is the clearer, with its ‘-giri’ final suffix (examples #7-10 in the table).

‘Past’ is almost as clear, indicated by the final suffix variants of -ni (#2 and #3), -nyi (#4), and -n (#5 and #6). 

The first example in the table is in the present tense. 

Shades of meaning are provided by the insertion of various ‘derivational suffixes’ such as -ngari / -ngara in #2, #3 and #8 indicating time close to the present, whether ‘just now’ (past) or ‘presently’ (future).

Given that the examples arise in a section purporting to be on the reflexive, and given that elsewhere in Fraser’s work the ten tenses are defined, some translations are inevitable. The problem is the actual resulting translations, when set boldly in print. Take the first, for example — ‘eat oneself now’. Really? The others can be seen to be equally improbable statements. 

Such apparent near absurdities (one might imagine someone eating himself, but only just) force this collection of examples to be questioned. Do they really indicate what is claimed? And if not, what if anything might they actually mean?

In the table, the central retranscription column offers a tentative word division into component elements. This analysis is probably wrong, in parts at least. Let us now consider some of its constituent items in the set of examples: the suffixes.

-l

After the stem da-, which means ‘eat’, there is ‘-l’. This is a transitiviser, and is frequently found. It means eating something, rather than just ‘eating’.

-ngi, or -ngidyi, or dyili

Let us leave these aside for the moment.

-li (at the end of -dyili etc.)

Perhaps -li is a separate entity. In BB and AWA it does indicate reflexive, but for these particular examples, on the basis of the absurdity already noted, reflexive does not seem likely here.

Perhaps -li might indicate something else. In fact, -li both in BB and AWA also may indicate continuity, and the same applies also at times in Wiradhuri. On translation into English, this is marked on verbs with the suffix ‘-ing’, as in ‘eating’.

There is another possibility. A number of examples elsewhere in Günther’s text offer a further meaning for -li in Wiradhuri: ‘may’. However, such a usage does not fit these examples with elegance.

-ngari

As stated above, -ngari indicates time close to the present, such as ‘this morning’.

-yawa (see #8)

Indicates ‘instantly’

-ngi

In the Wiradhuri database there are many examples of ‘-ngi’ as a stem-forming suffix. As such, it is one of several of as yet unclear function. -ngi might indicate ‘be’. In the present instances, such a role might indicate eating simply taking place, or ‘being’. While this is possible, it is now conjectured that this may not be what is happening in the case of the examples in the table. Instead, here follows the alternative suggestion.

ngidyi = ‘here’

In the Bayala database for Wiradhuri there are the following examples:

Australian	respelt	English	Eng JSM	source
"ngidyi"	ngidyi =	"here"	here  :	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:65:43.1] [Wira]
"Ngidye"	ngidyi =	"here; there"	here  [there]:	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:92:53] [Wira]
"Ngidyegallila"	ngidyi-gali-la =	"here; emph."	here emph :	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:92:54] [Wira]
"Ngidyinguor"	ngidyi-nguwur =	"on this side"	here place :	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:92:56] [Wira]
"Wiraidu nidge ngindilu bungalli ngindi"	wirayidu ngidyi ngindila bangali ngindi =	"I do not like this place."	not I here want  place from want  :	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:114:19] [Wira]
"Ngidyi (ngadhi) ngulumugu."	ngidyi (ngadi) ngulumugu =	"Here (there) is an end"	here (there) face-lacking:	Günther WIRA (Fraser) [:115:2]
"Ngadhu ngidyi gigulle waiangagiri"	ngadu ngidyi gigali wayangagiri =	"I that tree go-round-will"	I here tree go-round will  :	Mathews WIRA 1904 [:290:27.1] [Wira][Wira]

Each of this new set of examples features ‘ngidyi’, meaning ‘here’. There is no reason why the adverb ‘here’ should not be inserted as a link in the suffix chain. Generally, such a suffix would need to appear after any  stem-forming suffixes, and after the transitiviser, and before any tense markers or bound pronouns. In the supposed 'reflexive' examples, -ngidyi does this.

So, imagining that the examples might all contain ngidyi ‘here’ (as divided up originally in the first example), the meanings for the ten examples, and analysis, might be revised as:

	REVISED TRANSCRIPTION	REVISED TRANSLATION	Idiomatic
l.	da-l-ngidyi-li-nga	eat here -ing now	eating here now
2	da-l-ngidyi-li-ngari-ni	eat here -ing a.m. did	was eating here this morning
3	da-l-ngidyi-li-ngara-ni	eat here -ing a.m. did	was eating here this morning
4	da-l-ngidyi-li-nyi	eat here -ing did	was eating here
5	da-l-ngidyi-li-n	eat here -ing did	was eating here
6	diyi-ngidyi-li-n	eat here -ing did	was eating here
7	da-li-ngidyi-li-giri	eat here -ing will	will be eating here
8	wari da-li-ngidyi-li-ngari-yawa-giri	eat here -ing presently instantly will	presently will start immediately eating
9	wari da-li-ngidyi-li-ngari-giri	eat here -ing presently will	will be eating here presently
l0.	wari diyi-ngidyi-li-nGiri	certainly eat here -ing will	will certainly be eating here

If this revision should be correct, then Günter’s passage was completely wrong. However, the reflexive marker might still be -dili, as indicated at the outset, as quoted above.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

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