Kala Lagaw Ya Totally Explained

Everything about Kala Lagaw Ya totally explained

Kala Lagaw Ya (correctly Kalaw Lagaw Ya — back/west+gen place+gen speech; several other names; see below) is a language spoken on all the western and central Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. On some islands it has now largely been replaced by Brokan (Torres Strait Creole English). It has the highest speaker population of any indigenous language within Australian territory, with between 3000 and 4000 people speaking the language (Ethnologue).
Before Colonisation in the 1870s-1880s, it was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua, and is still widely spoken by neighbouring Papuans. It also has a pidginised form, partially creolised by some younger people on Badhu (Kala Lagaw Ya territory).

Names

The language is known by several names besides Kalaw Lagaw Ya, most of which (including Kalaw Lagaw Ya), are strictly speaking names of dialects, spelling variants, dialect variants, and the like - including translations of the English terms, Western Island Language and Central Island Language. The following list includes most of the commonest:

Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalau Kawau Ya [WesternIsland Language], Lagaw Ya/Lagau Ya [Home/(Home)Island Language], Kala Lagaw Langgus/Kala Lagau Langgus[Western(Home) Island Language], Kalaw Kawaw Langgus/Kalau Kawau Langgus[WesternIsland Language], Kalaw Lagaw Ya[Western(Home) Island Language], Langus[Language], Kawalgaw Ya[Islanders'Language], Kowrareg (strictly speaking name of the Kaurareg ['Islander'] person, not the language, which is/was Kauraregau Ya [Islanders'Language]), Kulkalgau Ya[Blood-Peoples'Language (Kulka was an important cult figure)], Mabuiag (the name of one of the islands where it's spoken), Westen or West Torres or Western Torres Strait, Dhadhalagau Ya[Mid-Island/CentralIsland Language], Sentrel or Central Islands, as opposed to Isten or Esten or East Torres which is the Meriam language (sometimes called by other Islanders and neighbouring Papuans Able Able). One term used by Eastern islanders and neighbouring Papuans for Kala Lagaw Ya is Yagar Yagar, from the word yagar (yá speech, etc. + gár sympathy clitic (dear, please, etc.), often used by Western-central Islanders in speech to show a sympathetic or nostalgic frame of mind.

In literature on the language the abbreviations KLY (Kalaw Lagaw Ya), KKY (Kalau Kawau Ya), KulY (Kulkalgau Ya) and KY (Kawalgau Ya) are often used as abbreviations. In English, the best and most neutral term is The Western and Central Torres Strait Language.
When speaking to each other, speakers generally refer to the language as Langgus 'Language' or Ngalpun Ya/KKY Ngalpan Ya 'Our Speech'.

Geographic distribution

Kala Lagaw Ya is spoken on all of the western and central islands of Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and the Australian mainland, though on some islands it has now been replaced by Brokan (Torres Strait Creole). Before Colonisation in the 1870s-1880s, the language was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua. A pidgin form of the language also exists.
The other languages spoken in the Torres Strait Islands are the Meriam language (also known as East Torres), and Torres Strait Creole.

Classification

Kalaw Lagaw Ya is considered to be an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family. However, some (Capell 1956, Dixon 2002) regard it as a Papuan language with an Australian substratum, though their reasoning is obscure. Mitchell 1995 produces evidence that it's a mixed language with Australian and Papuan backgrounds and an Austronesian overlay. The basic characteristics of the language, however, are Australian; the personal pronouns, for example, are all typically Australian, though on the other hand most kin terms are not.
Kalaw Lagaw Ya has only 6% cognation with its closest Australian neighbour, Urradhi - and about 25% common vocabulary with its Papuan neighbour, Meriam Mìr. Where vocabulary is concerned, potentially 80% of the vocabulary of the language is non-Australian, and includes Papuan and Austronesian items (Mitchell 1995).

Dialects

There are four main dialects, two of which are on probably the verge of extinction. Within the dialects there are two or more subdialects. The average mutual intelligibility rate is around 97%.

Northern dialect : Kalau Kawau Ya - Saibai (Saibai Village and Aith, also Bamaga/Seisia on Cape York), Dœwan (Dauan), Bœigu (Boigu)

Western dialect : Kalaw Lagaw Ya - Mabuyag (Mabuiag) and Badhu (Badu)

Eastern dialect (Central Island dialect) : Kulkalgau Ya - Yama, Waraber, Puruma, Masig and associated islands, now uninhabited, such as Nagi and Gebar

Southern Dialect (South-West Islands) : Kawalgau Ya [KauraraigauYa] - Muralag, Ngœrupai (alt. Ngurupai, Nœrupai, Nurupai) and the other islands of the Thursday Island group, Mua (alt. Moa), Muri (Mt Adolphus - now uninhabited). The Southern dialect has certain characteristics that link it closely to the northern dialect, and Muralag folk history reflects this, in that the ancestors of the Kowrareg (the Hiamo) originally came from Dharu (Daru, to the north east of Torres Strait) - and who had previously settled on Dharu from Yama in Central Torres Strait [getreference]. Samples of the dialects When Mum went home, she gave Dad the knife. Kalau Kawau Ya: Ama na' lagapa uzarima nanga, nadh Babalpa gi [alt.upi] manu [alt.maninu]. Kalaw Lagaw Ya: Ama na' mudhaka uzarima nanga, nadh Babanika gi [alt.upi, thurik] manu. Kulkalgau Ya: Ama na' mudhaka uzarima/uzarimò nanga, nadh Babanika gi [alt.upi, thurik] manu. Kawalgau Ya: Ama na' lagapa uzarima nanga, nadha Babanipa gi [alt.upi, thurik] manul. (Old Kawalgau Ya (Kowrareg): *Ama na' lagapa[rri] uzarrima nanga, nadhu Babanipa[rri] gi[ri] [alt.upi, thurrika] manulai.)
and... simplified ('pidgin') Kalaw Lagaw Ya Ama na' mudh ka uzari, nadh Baban ka gi [alt.upi, thurik] mani.

Dialect differences

1) Phonology:
Phonological differences between the dialects are amazingly rare – and in general sporadic. The only regular dialect differences are the following:
a) Colloquial final unstressed vowel elision in Kulkalgau Ya and Kawalgau Ya:
maalu sea > maal’ waapi fish > waap’ thathi father > thath’ waaru turtle > waar’ ngadha appearance, looks > ngadh’ mœràpi bamboo (à shows the stressed syllable) > mœràp’ bera rib > ber’ kaba dance performance > kab’ b) Final vowel unstressed vowel devoicing and deletion in Kalaw Lagaw Ya
   In Kalaw Lagaw Ya, such final vowels in correct language are devoiced, and deleted in colloquial language, except in a small class of words which include bera rib, where there's a short vowel in the stem and in which the final vowel is permanently deleted, with compensatory lengthening of the final consonant (thus berr).
   Strictly speaking, the process isn't final vowel devoicing, but rather stressed vowel lengthening accompanied by final vowel devoicing – except in the case of words such as bera rib > berr, where the process is final consonant lengthening by the final vowel being 'incorporated' into the consonant. Note that in the following the word-final capital letter represents a devoiced vowel:
maalu sea > maalU > maal’ waapi fish > waapI > waap’ thaathi father > thaathI > thaath’ waaru turtle > waarU > waar’ ngadha appearance, looks > ngaadhA > ngaadh’ mœràpi bamboo (àà shows the stressed syllable) > mœrààpI > mœrààp’ bera rib > berr kaba dance performance > kabb In declined forms of such words, the long vowel is shortened, and the final vowel voiced, and in words like ber rib the final vowel often reappears:
maalU sea + ka dative > maluka waapI fish > wapika thaathI father > thathika waarU turtle > waruka ngaadhA appearance, looks > ngadhaka mœràpi bamboo > mœràpika ber rib > beraka, berka kab dance performance > kabaka, kabka This vowel shortening in affixed/modified forms exists in all dialects, however the other dialects have retained contrastive length to some extent, whereas Kalaw Lagaw Ya has largely lost it for ‘morphophonological’ length, where the stressed vowel in words of one or two syllables is automatically lengthened in the nominative-accusative; this also applies to words of three syllables with second syllable stress (as in mœrààpI bamboo).
   One of the very few length contrasts in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect is kaabA knot in bamboo etc. vs kab dance performance (kab in Old Kawalgaw Ya was kœRaba, and œRa has regularly given short a in Kalaw Lagaw Ya); such length contrasts are more widespread in the other dialects.
   The exceptions are (1) the small class or words that include ber rib and kab dance performance, and (2) emotive words. Emotive words are those that equate to a certain extent to diminutives in languages such as Irish, Dutch and German, where specific suffixes are added to show 'diminutive' status (-ín, -Cje and -chen respectively). Emotive words in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect include familiar kinship terms [theequivalent of English Mum, Dad and the like] and words used in emotive contexts such as singing/poetry.

Word	Non-Emotive	Emotive
Mum	(apùùwA, apùù, àpu - mother)	Ama
Dad	(thaathI, thaath - father)	Baba
Child	kaazI, kaaz	kazi
Wife	iipI, iip	ipi
Home (Island)	laagA, laag	laga
Dust, Spray	pœœyA, pœœy	pœya (also paya)
Bamboo	mœrààpI, mœrààp	mœràpi (also marapi)
Head	kuwììkU, kuwììk	kuwìku, kuiku

c) Kalau Kawau Ya final i-glide deletion
   A small class of words in KKY lose the final i-glide found in the other dialects, including the following:
banana plant : KLY/KulY/KY dawai, KKY dawa spot, stain : KLY/KulY/KY burkui (bœrkui), KKY bœrku (burku) blank skink : KLY/KulY/KY mogai, KKY Saibai/Dœwan mogo, Bœigu moga old : KLY/KulY/KY kulbai, KKY kulba a short while, first before doing something else : KLY/KulY/KY mamui, KKY mamu birth cord : KLY/KulY/KY kùpai, KKY kùpa Word forms in neighbouring languages, such as the Meriam Mìr kopor birth cord suggest that in such words the final -i/Ø originate in older *ɾ. 2) Syntax
   The main syntactic differences are:
a) Verb negative construction:
In all dialects except Kalau Kawau Ya, the verb negative is the nominalised privative form of the verbal noun. As this form in itself a noun, its subject and direct object are cast in the genitive:
Ngath waapi purthanu I ate a fish Ngai stuwaka uzarima I went to the store Ngau wapiu purthaiginga I didn’t eat a fish Ngau stuwaka uzaraiginga I didn’t go to the store The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect uses the verbal noun privative form as an invariable verb negative:
Ngath waapi purthanu I ate a fish Ngai stuwapa uzarima I went to the store Ngath waapi purthaiginga I didn’t eat a fish Ngai stuwapa uzaraiginga I didn’t go to the store b) Verb Tenses/Aspects
   The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect has the tenses and aspects listed in the section on verb morphology. The other dialects have largely lost the remote future tense, using the habitual instead; the Kalaw lagaw Ya dialect also has a 'last night' tense, where the adverb bungil (other dialects bongel used in conjunction with either the today past or the recent past) last night has become grammaticalised as a verb ending, following the example of the adverb ngùl yesterday, which had previously become grammaticalised as a 'recent past' tense marker in all dialects, with reduction to -ngu in the Kalau kawau Ya dialect.
   c) Nominal Affixes
   The main nominal affix difference is the dative ending, which has the following forms in the various dialects:
KLY/KulY -ka; -pa with kipa to here and sipa to there; -pa sometimes in poetry/singing
   KY -pa; -ka in ngaikika to/for/towards me; -ka often in poetry/singing.
   KKY -pa in all cases; -ka often in poetry/singing.
   d) Vocabulary
   The main differences between the dialects are to do with vocabulary, as can be seen in the following examples:
house/building : KLY mùùdha (laaga), KulY mùdh (laag), KY laag (mùdh), KKY laag mud : KLY/KulY/KY berdhar (sœœya sandy mud/silt), KKY sœœi (berdhar softness of food, mud, etc.) grandad : KLY/KulY/KY athe, KKY pòpu frog : KLY/KulY kœtaaka, kœtak, KY kat, KLY (Saibai-Dœwan) kat, (Bœigu) kœteku axe : KLY/KulY/KY aga, KKY agathurik (thurik cutting tool) namesake : KLY/KulY natham, KKY/KY nasem small, little : KLY/KulY/KY mœgi, Saibai/Dœwan mœgina, Bœigu mœgina, kœthuka woman, female : KKY yipkaz/yœpkaz [stemyipkazi-/yœpkazi-], KLY/KulY ipikaz (KLY variant iipka) [stemipkazi-], KY ipkai [stemipkazi-] man, male : KKY garkaz [stemgarkazi-], KLY/KulY garka [stemgarkazi-], KY garkai [stemgarkazi-] unmarried young/teenage woman : KKY ngawakaz [stemngawakazi-], KLY/KulY ngawka/ngoka [stemngawkazi-/ngokazi-], KY ngawakai [stemngawakazi-] song : KLY naawu (plural nawul], KulY nawu (plural nawulai), KY nawu (plural nawul), KKY na (plural nathai) moon, month : KLY kisaayi, poetry mœlpal, KulY/KY kiisay, poetry mœlpal, KKY mœlpal, poetry kiisay

Pronouns

Below is a comparison of the pronouns of Kala Lagaw Ya with those reconstructed for Proto-Pama-Nyungan, as well with Meriam and Gizra (a language spoken in Papua New Guinea), from Evans (2005).

	Proto-Pama-Nyungan	Kala Lagaw Ya	Kulkalgau Ya	Kawalgau Ya	Kalau Kawau Ya	Meriam	Gizra
I	ngayi	ngay [stem:nga-]	ngai [stem:nga-]	ngai [stem:nga-]	ngai [stem:nga-]	ka	ka
you and I	ngali	ngœba	ngœba	ngœba	ngœba
we (incl. you)	ngana	ngalpa [stem:ngalpu-]	ngalpa [stem:ngalpu-]	ngalpa [stem:ngalpu-]	ngalpa [stem:ngalpa-]	mi	mi
we two (not you)	ngana(pulV)	ngalbay	ngalbai	ngalbai/ngalbe	ngalbe
we (not you)	ngana	ngœy [stem:ngœlmu-]	ngœi [stem:ngœlmu-]	ngœyi [stem:ngœymu-]	ngœi [stem:ngœimu-]	ki	ki
you (sing.)	nyina	ni	ni	ngi	ngi	ma	ma
you two	NHina+palV	nipel [stem:nipe-]	nipel [stem:nipe-]	ngipel [stem:ngipe-]	ngipel [stem:ngipe-]
you (pl.)	NHurra	nitha [stem:nithamu-]	nitha [stem:nithamu-]	ngitha [stem:ngithamu-]	ngitha [stem:ngithamu-]	wa	e (?)
he	NHu-	nuy [stem:nu-]	nui [stem:nu-]	nui [stem:nu-]	nui [stem:nu-]	e	wa (?)
she	NHan-	na	na	na	na	e	wa (?)
they two	pula	palay [stem:palamu-]	palai [stem:palamu-]	pale [stem:palamu-]	palai [stem:palamu-], Boigu pale [stem:palemu-]
they	DHana	thana [stem:thanamu-]	thana [stem:thanamu-]	thana [stem:thanamu-]	thana [stem:thanamu-]	wi	i
who	ngaany	nga	nga	nga	nga	nale	?
what (no independent nominative-accusative form	--	mi-, midhi-	mi-	mi-	mi-	na-	?
where	--	midhilaga/milaga	milaga	unaga/wœnaga/naga, milaga	ngalaga, milaga	na-	?
how	--	midhikidh	midhadh	midhadh, midha	midh, midha, naag	nako	?
when	--	midhithunara, mithunara	mithunara	mithunara	mithunara, namuidh	na-??	?
why (longer forms compounds with za thing and ai food; possession (in certain phrases)	--	mingu, mizangu, miayngu; mika, mizaka, miayka	mingu, mizangu, miaingu; mika, mizaka, miaika	minguz, mizanguz, miainguz; mipa, mizapa, miaipa	mingu(z), mizangu(z), miaingu(z); mipa, mizapa, miaipa	naluglam; naluìm	?

Note: the 1st person dual and plural persons appear to have the following CA origins:
CA ngali > ngalpa you and I/we, ngalbai/ngalbe we two (not you), ngœy [stem:ngœlmu-, ngœimu-] we, not you CA ngana+pulV > ngœba you and I

Phonology

Kala Lagaw Ya is the only Australian language to have the alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/. However, these have allophones variants /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, normally found in Australia languages (but non-contrasting). These latter two are allophones in that in all environments /s/ and /z/ can appear, while /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ can not appear at the end of a word. All the stops, except for the alveolars t and d, have fricative allophones, thus p can be [p] or [Φ], k can be [k] or [x], b [b] or [β], and so on. Furthermore, it's one of the few Australian languages with fully functioning voiced-voiceless distinctions (p/b, t/d, s/z, k/g, th/dh) - and one of the few without reflexive stops.
   The language is also one of the few Australian languages with only one rhotic, one l and one n. The earliest recorded dialect, Kawalgau Ya (Kauraraigau Ya / Kowrareg), however, did have two rhotics, the tap and the glide; the glide rhotic has in general become /j/, /w/ or zero in the other dialects (and Modern Kawalgau Ya), rarely /r/. All neighbouring languages retain an /r/ in related words, such as sayima outrigger, Old Kawalgaw Ya sarima, Kiwai (Papua) harima, Gudang (Australia) charima, and babath opposite-sex sibling, Old Kawalgau Ya bœrabatha. Meriam Mìr berbet sibling.
   Interestingly enough, in singing, s, z and r are pronounced [s], [z] and [ɽ] (the glide), and virtually never as /tʃ/, /dʒ/ and /r/.
   Consonants:
labial : p, b, m, w dental : th, dh, n, l alveolar : t, d, r alveo-palatal : s, z, y velar : k, g, ng Vowels (length is to a certain extent contrastive, and partly allophonic):
+high,-mid,-round i, ii +high,+mid,-round e, ee -high,+mid,-round œ, œœ (typewritten forms oe, ooe)
   -high,-mid,-round a, aa -high,-mid,+round ò, òò -high,+mid,+round o, oo +high,+mid,+round ù, ùù [longversion only found in Kala Lagaw Ya]
   +high,-mid,+round u, uu The +/-round contrast is reminiscent of Papuan phonology.
   The mid long vowels are allophonic variants of the mid short vowels that are in the process of developing phonemic status, while the short vowel ò is similarly in origin an allophone of òò.
   The language undergoes low-level vowel shifts, caused by stress domination within clauses. Long vowels are shortened, and short vowels raise when the word is preceded by morphemes such as adjectives, demonstrative articles, prefixes and the like; the changes also change within words when these are suffixed:
laag place - senabi lag that place lagal places - sethabi lœgal those places (also sethabi lagal) mœrap bamboo - mœrœpil bamboo plants/poles/sticks (also mœrapil) guul sailing canoe - senaubi gul that canoe thonaral times - sethabi thunaral those times (also sethabi thonaral) zageth work - zagithapa to/for work [dative] (also zagethapa) (zageth is a compound of za thing + geth hand)
   The processes are low-level in that they're not 'automatic' - the changes don't have to occur and can be consciously 'blocked'. In normal speech, vowel shortening and the change of a to œ are the norm, which the changes of e to i and o to u are sporadic, and most common in unstressed syllables.
   Assimilation of vowels to other vowels in the vicinity and consonants is also wide-spread, particularly of the vowel œ:
wœrab coconut - wurab yœlpai lead [verbalnoun] - yilpai ngœnu whose - ngunu kœu belonging to here - kou ngœba you and I - ngaba Internal reconstruction and comparison with neighbouring languages suggests an underlying four vowel structure with contrasting vowel length, where underlying i gives surface i and e, underlying a gives surface a and œ, underlying ò gives surface o and ù, and underlying u gives surface ù and u:
Underlying vowels:
� +high :- -round i, ii +round u, uu

� -high :- -round a, aa +round o, oo

Nominal morphology

Where the morphology is concerned, the language is somewhere along the continuum between agglutinative and declining. Nominals have the following cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental (subsumes ergative), dative (subsumes allative), ablative, specific locative, nonspecific locative (subsumes perlative), global locative. Nominals also have the following derived forms: negative, similative, 'HAVE'-form (which also forms the noun nominative-accusative plural) and resultative. All stems end in a vowel or a semi-vowel, except for a few monosyllables ending in -r and -l (which includes a very few reduplicated words, like tharthar boiling, seething, as well as ngipel you two [acompound of ngi you [singular] and -pal two]). For many nouns the surface nominative(-accusative) undergoes a final stem-vowel deletion rule; in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect the rule results in final devoiced vowels accompanied by main vowel lengthening. There are three numbers, singular, dual and plural. Singular and dual are the same form in all nominals except the personal pronouns, while plural only is distinguished in the nominative-accusative - except for the personal pronouns, where the difference in number is shown by the stem.
There are two nominal classes, Common Nominals (common nouns, demonstratives, locative/temporal/etc. adverbs) and Proper Nominals (Proper names [personalnames, boat names, emotive kinship terms], pronouns). The major difference between the two classes are 1) semantic - Proper Nominals have pronominal characteristics, and, 2) declensional, such as the fact that Proper Nominals don't distinguish the three locative cases.
Note that the following are in the Kalau Kawau Ya dialect. Common nominal declensions

Case/Suffix	Hoe/Adze	Place/Home	Knife	Water	Mud	Middle	looking (verbal noun)	giving, getting, etc. (verbal noun)
stem type	multisyllabic -u final	multisyllabic	monosyllabic vowel final	monosyllabic -r/-l final	monosyllabic -i glide final	locative nominal ('adverb')	multisyllabic verbal noun	monosyllabic verbal noun
stem	pábu-	lága-	gi-	wœr-	sái-	dhadha-	naga+i-	má+i-
nom-acc.	pábu	lág	gi	wœr	sái	dhadh (compounds only)	nœgai	mái
inst.	pabun	lagan	ginu/gín	wœrnu/wœran	saithu	dhadhan	nœgain	main
gen.	pabu	lagau	gingu	wœrngu	saingu	dhadhau	nœgai	mai (maingu)
dat.	pabupa	lagapa	gipa	wœrpa	saipa	dhadhapa	nœgaipa	maipa
abl.	pabungu	lagangu	gingu	wœrngu	saingu	dhadhaz	nœgaile	maithaile
sp.loc.	pabunu, pabu'	laganu, laga'	gilai, ginu	wœrai, wœrnu	saithai/saithe	dhadhal, dhadha'	nœgainu	mainu
n-sp-loc	pabuya	lagaya	giya	wœriya	saiya	dhadhaya	nœgaiya	maiya
gl-loc.	pabuyab	lagayab	gipu	wœrab, wœrpu	saipu	dhadhayab	nœgaiya	maiya
HAVE/Plural	pabul(ai)	lagal(ai)	gilai	wœrai	saithai/saithe	dhadhal(ai) (compounds only)	nœgail(ai)	maithai
priv.	pabugi	lagagi	gigi	wœrgi	saigi	dhadhagi (compounds only)	nœgaigi	maigi
sim.	pabudh(a)	lagadh(a)	gidha	wœrdha/wœradh	saidh(a)	dhadhadh(a)	nœgaidh(a)	maidh(a)
res.	pabuzi	lagazi	gizi	wœrzi	saizi	dhadhazi (compounds only)	nœgaizi	maizi

There are few irregular nouns, the most common being
   (1) ái food, yá speech, language, message, etc., li basket, lú mound, bump, hump instrumental aidu, yadu, lidu, ludu specific locative/HAVE-plural aidai/aide, yadai, lidai, ludai (2) ná song instrumental nathu specific locative/HAVE-plural nathai.
   (3) zá thing, object, matter, etc. This word has a fuller stem form, zapu-, which appears in certain forms:
   instrumental zapun genitive zapu HAVE-plural zapul In the locative forms both stems (za- and zapu-) appear:
specific locative zanu, zapunu, etc.
   (4) gœiga sun, day; bireg/bereg shelf The stems of these words have different forms to the nominative-accusative- gœiga - stem:gœigœyi-, gœigi-; bireg/bereg - stem:bœreigi- Demonstratives The language has a closed class of demonstrative morphemes with special morphological characteristics:
Prefixes:
pi there in the distance in a specific position kai there in the distance in a non-specific position Stems:
ka, í here, this se/si there, that (not too far away) gui, mulu/ngùl down there ka, karai/kadai up there (variant forms of the one underlying stem) ngapa there beyond pai, pa, paipa ahead there, up close there (variant forms of the one underlying stem *pai) pun[i], pawa off from there, back from there, back over there, back there (possibily variant forms of the one underlying stem)
   These demonstratives (as stem forms) can have masculine, feminine and non-singular forms (and as such are pronominal) as well as case forms. Í here, this and se/si there, that (not too far away) take the gender/number morphemes as suffixes, and the other demonstratives take them as prefixes. Note that ka non-specifically here and kai there in the distance in a non-specific position can't appear with the gender/number morphemes, as these latter are specific by their nature. Í and se/si also take an article forming affix -bi to become demonstrative articles (for example senaubi kaz that boy, senabi kaz that girl, sepalbi kaz those two children, sethabi kœzil those children.) Ka, í and se/si:

Case/Suffix	here non specific	here specific	there non-specific	there specific
nom-acc	kai	in mas., ina fem., ipal dual, itha pl.	sei, sí	senau mas., sena/sina fem., sepal/sipal dual, setha/sitha pl
inst.	kedha	---	kedha	---
gen.	kœu	---	seu	---
dat.	kœpa	---	sepa/sipa	---
abl.	kœzi	---	seizi/sizi	---
sp.loc.	kai	in mas., ina fem., ipal dual, itha pl.	sei/si	senau mas., sena/sina fem., sepal/sipal dual, setha/sitha pl.
n-sp-loc/gl.loc	kaiki	inuki mas., inaki fem., ipalki dual, ithaki pl.	seiki/siki	senauki mas., senaki/sinaki fem., sepalki/sipalki dual, sethaki/sithaki pl.
sim.	kedha	kedha	kedha	kedha
article	kedhabi	inubi mas., inabi fem., ipalbi dual, ithabi pl.	kedhabi	senaubi mas., senabi/sinabi fem., sepalbi/sipalbi dual, sethabi/sithabi pl.

Other demonstratives:

Case/Suffix	gui	ka(rai)	ngapa	pai/pa	pun/pawa
nom-acc-inst-sp.loc specific (forms without the pi prefix are more pronominal in function)	(pi)nugui mas., (pi)nagui fem., (pi)palgui dual, (pi)thagui pl.	(pi)nuka mas., (pi)naka fem., (pi)palka dual, (pi)thaka pl.	(pi)nungap mas., (pi)nangap fem., (pi)palngap dual, (pi)thangap pl.	(pi)nupai mas., (pi)napai fem., (pi)palpai dual, (pi)thapai pl.	(pi)nupun mas., (pi)napun fem., (pi)palpun dual, (pi)thapun pl.
nom-acc-inst-loc non-specific	kaigui	kaika	kaingap	kaipai/kaipaipa	kaipun, kaipawapa
specific dat. (forms without the pi prefix are more pronominal in function)	(pi)numulupa mas., (pi)namulupa fem., (pi)palmulupa dual, (pi)thamulupa pl.	(pi)nukaripa mas., (pi)nakaripa fem., (pi)palkaripa dual, (pi)thakaripa pl.	(pi)nungapapa mas., (pi)nangapapa fem., (pi)palngapapa dual, (pi)thangapapa pl.	(pi)nupaipa mas., (pi)napaipa fem., (pi)palpaipa dual, (pi)thapaipa pl.	(pi)nupawapa mas., (pi)napawapa fem., (pi)palpawapa dual, (pi)thapawapa pl.
non-specific dat.	mulupa	karaipa/kadaipa	kaingapapa	(kai)paipa	(kai)pawapa
abl.	kizigui	kizika	kizingap	kizipai	kizipun
n-sp-loc/gl.loc neutral (forms without the pi prefix are more pronominal in function)	(pi)nuguiki mas., (pi)naguiki fem., (pi)palguiki dual, (pi)thaguiki pl.	(pi)nukaki mas., (pi)nakaki fem., (pi)palkaki dual, (pi)thakaki pl.	(pi)nungapaki mas., (pi)nangapaki fem., (pi)palngapaki dual, (pi)thangapaki pl.	(pi)nupaiki/(pi)nupaipa mas., (pi)napaiki/(pi)napaipa fem., (pi)palpaiki/(pi)palpaipa dual, (pi)thapaiki/(pi)thapaipa pl.	(pi)nupuniki/(pi)nupawapa mas., (pi)napuniki/(pi)napawapa fem., (pi)palpuniki/(pi)palawapa dual, (pi)thapuniki/(pi)thapawapa pl.
n-sp/gl-loc	kaiguiki	kaikaki	kaingapaki	kaipaiki/kaipaipa	kaipunki, kaipawapa

Pronouns : singular Note that the third person pronouns are also used as definite articles, for example Nuidh garkœzin nan yipkaz imadhin The man saw the woman.

Case/Suffix	I/me	you	he/it (the)	she/it (the)	who	what
nom.	ngai	ngi	nui	na	nga	mi- (miai, miza)
acc.	ngœna	ngin	nuin	nan	ngan	mi- (miai, miza); min
inst.	ngath	ngidh	nuidh	nadh	ngadh	midh (miaidu/miden, mizœpun)
gen.	ngau (mas.), ngœzu (fem.)	nginu	nungu	nanu	ngœnu	mingu (miaingu, mizœngu)
dat.	ngayapa	ngibepa	nubepa	nabepa	ngabepa	mipa (miaipa, mizœpa)
abl.	ngaungu(z) (mas.), ngœzungu(z) (fem.)	nginungu(z)	nungungu(z)	nanungu(z)	ngœnungu(z)	mingu(zi) (miaingu, mizœngu)
sp.loc.	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaide/miainu, mizœpunu
n-sp-loc	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaiya, mizœpuya
gl-loc.	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaiyab, mizœpuyab
HAVE/Plural	--	--	--	--	--	midel, mizœpul
priv.	ngaugi (mas.), ngœzugi (fem.)	nginugi	nungugi	nanugi	ngœnugi	miaigi, mizœgi
sim.	ngaudh (mas.), ngœzudh (fem.)	nginudh	nungudh	nanudh	ngœnudh	midh (miaidh, mizœpudh)
res.	--	--	--	--	--	miaizi, mizœzi

Personal pronouns : dual

Case/Suffix	we two	you and I	you two	them two (the two)	who-two
nom-acc-inst	ngalbe	ngœba	ngipel	palai (Boigu pale)	ngawal
gen.	ngalben	ngœban	ngipen	palamun (Boigu palemun)	(as for singular)
dat.	ngalbelpa	ngœbalpa	ngipelpa	palamulpa (Boigu palemulpa)	(as for singular)
abl.	ngalbelngu	ngœbalngu	ngipelngu	palamulngu (Boigu palemulngu)	(as for singular)
loc.	ngalbeniya	ngœbaniya	ngipeniya	palamuniya (Boigu palemuniya)	(as for singular)
sim.	ngalbedh	ngœbadh	ngipedh	palamudh (Boigu palemudh)	(as for singular)

Ngawal who two is constructed from nga who plus the clitic -wal both, and two (dual conjunction). Personal pronouns : plural

Case/Suffix	we (not you)	we (inc. you)	you	they (the)	who
nom-acc-inst	ngœi	ngalpa	ngitha	thana	ngaya
gen.	ngœimun	ngalpan	ngithamun	thanamun	(as for singular)
dat.	ngœimulpa	ngalpalpa	ngithamulpa	thanamulpa	(as for singular)
abl.	ngœimulngu	ngalpalngu	ngithamulngu	thanamulngu	(as for singular)
loc.	ngœimuniya	ngalpaniya	ngithamuniya	thanamuniya	(as for singular)
sim.	ngœimudh	ngalpadh	ngithamudh	thanamudh	(as for singular)

Ngaya who many is constructed from nga who plus the clitic -ya and others (plural conjunction). Personal names and familiar kinship terms (Familiar kinship terms are the equivalent of English kin terms such as Dad and Mum, while non-familiar terms are the equivalent of Father and Mother; these latter are treated as common nouns in the language)

Case/Suffix	Tom (mas.)	Anai (fem.)	Dad/Uncle	Mum/Aunty
nom-inst	Tom	Anai	Báb	Ama
acc-gen.	Toman	Anaina	Baban	Amana
dat.	Tomalpa	Anailpa	Babalpa	Amalpa
abl.	Tomalngu	Anailngu	Babalngu	Amalngu
loc.	Tomaniya	Anainiya	Babaniya	Amaniya
Have/plural	---	---	babal	amal
priv.	---	---	babagi	amagi
sim.	Tomadh	Anaidh	babadh	amadh
res.	---	---	babazi	amazi

Verb morphology

Verbs can have over 100 different aspect, tense, voice, mood and number forms. Verb agreement is with the object (for example 'ergative') in transitive clauses, and with the subject in intransitive clauses. Imperatives, on the other hand, agree with both subject and object in transitive clauses.
   There are three aspects (perfective, imperfective, habitual), two voices (active [whichfocuses on the verb activity and subsumes many intransitives, many antipassives and some transitives] and attainative [whichsubsumes many transitives, some antipassives and some intransitives]), two moods (non-imperative and imperative [whichresembles a subjunctive in some uses], 6 tenses (remote future, today future, present, today past, recent past, remote past) and four numbers (singular, dual, specific plural, animate active plural - in form the animate active plural is the same as the singular, and is only found on certain verbs).
   In most descriptions of the language the active and attainative voices have been mistakenly termed transitive and intransitive respectively. The terms transitive and intransitive in the language refer to syntactic voice marking properties of the clause, and interplay with passive, antipassive and 'antipassive passive'.
   Morphology consists of prefixes (aspect, positioning, etc.), suffixes (voice, number, and two fossilised multiplicative/causative suffixes) and endings (tense, aspect and mood). The structural matrix of a verb is :
(prefix)+(prefix)+stem(+FOSSILISED SUFFIX)+(VOICE)+(number)+ending(+ending).
   Example:
pabalkabuthamadhin two were laid down across something [whichwould clear in the context] pabalkabuthemadhin two went and lay down across something [whichwould clear in the context]'
   prefix: pa- completive prefix: bal- positional - across stem: kabutha- place, lay voice suffix: -Ø attainative, -i active number suffix: -ma dual tense-aspect ending: -dhin remote past perfective Sample verb declension : íma- see, observe, supervise, examine, try, test Tensed forms

Case/Suffix	Perfective Attainative	Imperfective Attainative	Perfective Active	Imperfective Active
remote future singular	imane	imaipu (imaiparui)	imedhe	imepu (imeparui)
dual	imamane	imampu (imamparui)	imemadhe	imempu (imemparui)
plural	imamœine	imamœipu (imamœiparui)	imemœidhe	imemœipu (imemœiparui)
near future singular	imaipa	imaipu (imaiparui)	imepa	imepu (imeparui)
dual	imampa	imampu (imamparui)	imempa	imempu (imemparui)
plural	imamœipa	imamœipu (imamœiparui)	imemœipa	imemœipu (imemœiparui)
present singular	iman	imaipa	imiz	imepa
dual	imaman	imampa	imeman	imempa
plural	imamœin	imamœipa	imemœin	imemœipa
today past singular	imanu	imadha	imema	imedha
dual	imamanu	imamadha	imemanu	imemadha
plural	imamœinu	imamœidha	imemœinu	imemœidha
recent past singular	imangu	imarngu	imaingu	imairngu
dual	imamangu	imamarngu	imemangu	imemarngu
plural	imamœingu	imamœirngu	imemœingu	imemœirngu
recent past singular	imadhin	imar	imaidhin	imai
dual	imamadhin	imamar	imemadhin	imemar
plural	imamœidhin	imamœi (imamir)	imemœidhin	imemœi (imemir)

Non-tensed forms

Case/Suffix	Singular	Dual	Plural
Attainative Habitual	imaipu (imaiparui)	imampu (imamparui)	imamœipu (imamœiparui)
Active Habitual	imepu (imeparui)	imempu (imemparui)	imemœipu (imemœiparui)
Perfective Attainative Imperative (Singular Subject)	imar	imamar	imamœi (imamir)
(Non-Plural Subject)	imau (imaziu)	imamariu	imamœi (imamœiziu, imamiu)
Active Imperative	imi	imemariu	imemœi (imemœiziu, imemiu)
Imperfective Attainative Imperative	imadha	imamadha	imamœidha
Imperfective Active Imperative	imedha	imemadha	imemœidha

Nominalised forms

Case/Suffix	Verbal Noun	Have-Form	Privative	Resultative
base form	imai	imail	imaigi	imaizi
independent impersonal form (nom-acc)	imai	imailnga	imaiginga	imaizinga
stem	imai-	imailmai-	imaigimai-	imaizimai-
independent personal form (nom-acc)		imailaig	imaigig	imaizig
stem		imailga-	imaigiga-	imaiziga-

Miscellaneous Paradigms

Three paradigms that have irregular morphology are:
Si[ ]kai Perhaps/Maybe/Possibly (in all dialects except Kalau Kawau Ya – which has invariable sike, sikedh)
masculine sinukai/senukai, feminine sinakai/senakai, general (singular, dual, plural) sikai Goodbye Singular yawa, Non-singular yawal Hey! (attention seeker)
mas. kame, kamedh, fem. kake, kakedh, non-singular kole, koledh In sikedh, kamedh, kakedh and koledh, the -dh final is only found in more emphatic use.

Orthography

There is no strict standard spelling, and three slightly different orthographies (and often mixes of them) are in use. The three spelling systems used for the language: Loyalty Islands missionaries (established 1870s) : a, b, d, e, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ö, p, r, s, t, u, z, sometimes also th, dh, dth, tr, dr, oe, ë, w, y, j, and sometimes double vowels to show length. This spelling system was strongly inspired by the one used for the drehu (Lifu) language in the very early period, though later with the change of non-European Mission personnel from Lifu to Polynesian, as well as the growing number of indigenous Torres Strait missionaries, the spelling system lost the overtly Drehu forms tr, dr and ë which had no phonological basis in Kala Lagaw Ya. The mission system is the orthography used in the Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Strait (Haddon et.al, 1898 and on, University of Cambridge) and in "Myths and Legends of Torres Strait" (Lawrie, University of Queensland, 1971).
   Klokheid and Bani(established 1970s) : a, aa, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, ee, g, i, ii, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oo,oe (/ə/), ooe (/ə:/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, uu, w, y, z Saibai, Boigu, Dauan students (established late 1970s) : a, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, g, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oe (/ə/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, w, y, z (vowel length isn't represented).
   People not only use these three slightly differing spelling systems, but they also write words more or less as they pronounce them. Because of this words are often spelt in various ways, for example sena/sina that, there, kothai/kothay/kothei/kothey/kothe back of head, occiput. Variation like this depends on age, family, island, and other factors such as poetic speech. It can be difficult at times to decide which is most correct - different people have different opinions (and sometimes have very strong opinions). Though in general the pronunciation of older people has priority, some people can actually get quite offended if they think the language is written the ‘wrong’ way. Some insist that the mission spelling should be used, others the Bani spelling, and still others the KKY (Saibai etc.) spelling, and still again others use mixes of two or three, or adaptations thereof. Some writers of the Mabuiag-Badhu dialect (Kala Lagaw Ya), for example, write mainly in the Mission system, sometimes use the diagraphs oe, th, dh (variant dth) and sometimes use capital letters at the ends of words to show devoiced vowels, such as ngukI fresh water/drinking water, fruit juice /ŋʊ:kiˌ/. In the Bani/Klokheid orthograophy nguki is written nguuki, and in the other dialects the final vowel is fully voiced (nguki /ŋʊki/).
   The biggest bone of contention between the advocates of the 'modern' orthographies and the 'traditionalist' orthographies is the use of w and y to show the semi-vowels (or semi-consonants if you prefer). In general native speakers in literacy classes seem to find y and w very difficult to learn, and that u and i are the 'logical' letters to use. Getting untrained speakers to break up words by sound or syllable suggests that u and i are really the underlying sounds. Thus, a word like ulaipa/ulaypa am/is/are going/continuing/happening [singular] syllabifies as u-la-i-pa, not u-lai-pa. Furthermore, in songs, u and i can also be given full syllable status. 'Historical' considerations also point to the semi-vowels often being vocalic rather than consonantal. Thus, ulaipa is in underlying form wœlama+i+pa - the stem of the verb is wœlama- (dual wœlmema-, remote past singular wœlmaidhin, etc.). The -i- in ulaipa is a separate morpheme (the active voice suffix).
   A dictionary now in preparation (Mitchell/Ober) uses a orthography based on detailed study of the surface and underlying phonology of the language, as well as on observation of how people write in real life situations. It is a mix of the Mission and Kalau Kawau Ya orthographies with the addition of diacritics (the letters in brackets) to aid correct pronunciation, since many of the people who will use this dictionary won't be speakers of the language:
a (á), b, d, dh, e (é), g, i (í), k, l, m, n, ng, o (ό, ò, ò'), œ (œ'), r, s, t, th, u (ú, ù), w, y, z
   Within this orthography, w and y are treated as consonants - this is their phonogical status in the language - while u and i are used as the glides where phonological considerations show that the 'diphthong' combination has vocalic status. Pronunciation of the letters The English pronunciations given in the list below are those of Australian English, and are only meant as a guide. The letters in square brackets ([]) represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). a (short) [a] : ‘u’ as in hut - gath shallow, shallows, mathaman hit, kill a, á (long) (aa in the Bani orth.) [a:] ‘a’ as in father - áth bottom turtle shell (plastron), ma spider, lág place b [b] as in English - Báb Dad, bœbu current, stream, bibir power, authority d [d] as in English - da chest, idi grease, fat, dead-calm sea dh [d̪] similar to d, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth- dha ladder, stairs, adhal outside, Bádhu Badu e (short) [e] ‘e’ as in bed - bero rib, nge then, tete animal/bird leg e, é (long) (ee in the Bani orth.) [e:] ‘are’ as in bared - gér sea snake, dhe slime, sei there g [g] as in English get, never as in general - gigi thunder, gág mangrove swamp i (short) [i] short ‘ee’ as in feet - midh how, sisi gecko, ipi wife i, í (long) (ii in the Bani orth.) [i:] ‘ee’ as in feed - síb liver, gi knife, ígil life k [k] as in English - kikiman hurry up, kakayam bird-of-paradise l [l] similar to English ‘l’ in lean, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth; never as in English kneel - lág place, home, li basket, gúl double-outrigger sailing canoe m [m] as in English - mám love, affection, Ama Mum, Aunty, ma spider n [n] similar to English ‘n’ in nun, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth - na song, nan her, nanu her(s) ng [ŋ] as in English sing; never as in English finger - ngai I, me, ngœrang armpit o (short) [o] more or less ‘o’ as is in got, though more rounded - sob slowness, mogo blank skink o (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) [o:] more or less ‘o’ as in god, though more rounded - gor tie-hole, so show ò (short) [ɔ] short version of ‘oa’ in broad - mòdhabil costs, prices, gòyal bald ò (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) [ɔ:] ‘oa’ in broad - mòs lung, spittle, gòy baldness œ (short) [ə] ‘a’ as in about - bœtœm lean (animals), bœga mallard œ (long) (ooe in the Bani orth.) [ə:] more or less like ‘er’ in herd - wœr water, Wœy Venus, bœi coming p [p] as in English - papi noose, trap, áp garden, Pòpu Grandad r [r] similar to ‘tt’ in better when said fast (that is to say, when better is pronounced ‘bedder’). Before another consonant and at the end of a word, it's often trilled (like in ‘stage’ Scottish English or 'rr' in Spanish). In singing, however, it's normally pronounced much like the American English ‘r’ - ári rain, louse, rùg rag, piece of cloth, ár dawn s [s] most commonly like English ‘s’ in sister; sometimes like English ‘ch’ in chew when at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word; never like ‘s’ in ‘as’ (which is a ‘z’ sound) - sas style, showing off, sisi gecko, sagul game, fun, dance t [t] as in English - tádu sand-crab, tídan return, understand, ít rock oyster th [t̪] similar to t, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth - tha crocodile tail, thathi father, geth hand u (short) [u] short ‘u’ as in lute - buthu sand, gulai sailing canoes u, ú (long) (uu in the Bani orth.) [u:] ‘oo’ in woo - búzar fat, blubber, thu smoke ù [ʊ] ‘u’ as in put - mùdh shelter, kùt late afternoon, early evening, kùlai first, before w [w] Not as strong as English ‘w’ in we ; for most speakers of the language the only difference between w and short u is that w is shorter - wa yes, kawa island, báw wave y [j] Not as strong as English ‘y’ in yes; for most speakers of the language the only difference between y and short i is that y is much shorter - ya speech, talk, language, aya come!, máy well, spring; tears; pearl-shell, nacre z [z] most commonly like English ‘z’ in zoo, or English ‘s’ in has; sometimes like English ‘j’ in jump, or ‘dg’ in budge when at the beginning or in the middle of a word - zázi grass skirt, za thing, object, zizi crackle, crack, rustling noise Combinations of vowels (‘diphthongs’, such as ai, au, œi, eu etc.) are pronounced as written. Thus, for example, ai is a-i (basically very similar to ‘i’ in ‘mine’ with a posh accent). In singing and sometimes in slow speech, such vowel combinations can be said separately. The diphthongs are:
ei - sei there iu - biuni kookoobuura, kingfisher œi - bœi coconut frond eu - seu belonging to there ai - Saibai Saibai œu - kœubu battle, war òi - òi hoy!, hey! (reply to a call, vocative particle) au - kaub tiredness ui - mui fire ou - berou of a/the rib In the Bani and Saibai (etc.) orthographies, these are written as follows:
ey - sey iw - biwni œy - bœy ew - sew ay - Saybay œw - kœwbu oy - oy aw - kawb uy - muy ow - berowFurther Information

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