The Bunganditj (Buwandik) Language of the Mount Gambier Region
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The Bunganditj (Buwandik) language of the Mount Gambier Region LINGUISTICS If not claimed please return to: Pacific Linguistics, SCHUL, College of Asia and the Pacific The Australian National University, Canberra 0200 Australia Tel: +61 (0)261252742 Fax: +61 (0)261251463 Blake, B. The Bunganditj (Buwandik) language of the Mount Gambier Region. PL-549, ix + 225 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2003. DOI:10.15144/PL-549.cover ©2003 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. Also in Pacific Linguistics Pacific Linguistics is a publisher specialising in grammars and linguistic descriptions, dictionaries and other materials on languages of the Pacific, the Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, southeast and south Asia, and Australia. Pacific Linguistics, established in 1963 through an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund, is associated with the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at The Australian National University. The authors and editors of Pacific Linguistics publications are drawn from a wide range of institutions around the world. Publications are refereed by scholars with relevant expertise, who are usually not members of the editorial board. FOUNDINGEDITOR: Stephen A. Wurm EDITORIAL BOARD: John Bowden, Malcolm D. Ross and Darrell T. Tryon (Managing Editors), I Wayan Arka, Bethwyn Evans, David Nash, Andrew Pawley, Paul Sidwell and Jane Simpson Pacific Linguistics 549 The Bunganditj (Buwandik) language of the Mount Gambier Region Barry J. Blake Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University Published by Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia Copyright in this edition is vested with Pacific Linguistics First published 2003 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in- Publication entry: Blake, Barry J. The Bunganditj (Buwandik) language of the Mount Gambier Region. Bibliography. ISBN 0 85883 495 2. 1. Buandik (Australian people) - Languages. 2. Australian languages - South Australia - Mount Gambier Region. 3. Aboriginal Australians - South Australia - Mount Gambier Region - Languages. I. Title. 499. 15 Copyedited by Basil Wilson Typeset by Margaret Forster Cover design by Emily Brissenden Printed and bound by Ciril' s Printers, Fyshwick, Canberra Table of contents Preface .... ............................ ................................... ............ .... ........... ....... ............ ............. vii Map 1: Bunganditj and neighbouring languages ............................................................. viii Map 2: Isoglosses .............................................................................................................. ix Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................x Conventions ....................................................................................................................... xii Plate: Mount Gambier lakes ........................................................................................... xiv 1 Introduction ............. .. ............................................... ...... .... .............. .......................... 1 1.1 Background .. ............... .............................................. ................................. .....1 1.2 Sources ......................................................... ............. .............. ........................4 1.3 Dialects and neighbouring languages ............... ............. .... ... ........... ............. ... 7 1.3.1 Dialects .. .. ......... ..... ........... ............ ...... ........................... ....... ........... 7 1.3.2 Relationship to other languages .... .. ................ ......... .. .... ........ ........11 1.3.2.1 Lexical comparison ........ ............ ........ ... .. ... .... ...... .........11 1.3.2.2 Grammatical comparison ... .... ....... ................... ... ... ... .....17 1.3.2.3 Sound correspondences ...................... ......................... ... 19 2 Phonology .... ............ ............ ................. ................... ................................................ .. 23 2.1 Consonants ....................... .. .... ......... .. ...................... ............... ... ...... .............. 23 2.2 Vowels ........................ ......... .............................................................. ...... .....26 2.3 Phonotactics ....................................... .... ................... ....... ............................ 26 2.3.1 Consonant clusters .. .......... ........................... ... ........................ ....... 28 3 Grammar ...... .................. .... ...................................................................................... 30 3.1 Number ........................ ..................... ......... ........ .... .... ... ......................... ........30 3.2 Gender ...........................................................................................................31 3.3 Case ......... ... ............. ....... ... .. ............... ... .......................... ....... ... ............ ...... ..32 v VI Ta ble of contents 3.4 Pr onouns ....................................................................................................... 37 3.4.1 Personal pronouns ..... .......................... ......... ................................. 37 3.4.2 Subject enclitics ... ... ........... .......................... ............................... 38 3.4.3 Object enclitics . .............................................................. ............. 49 3.4.4 Possessor enclitics ........... ... ...... .......... ... ...... .... ................. ... ... ..... 43 3.4.5 Demonstratives .. .. ..... ... ................ ................. ........ .................... 43 3.5 Locational words ....... .......................................... .......... ......... ...................... 43 3.6 Verbs . ........ .... ...... ... .......... ..................... ........ ............................................. 44 3.6.1 Tense and aspect ....... ............ ............... ........... .............................. 44 3.6.2 Imperative mood ............. ............ .......... ......... ....... .. ...... ... ......... 48 3.6.3 Other verbal morphology ............................. ............... ... ....... ........ 49 3.7 Word derivation .... .... ............ ... ... ................................................................. 50 3.7.1 Reduplication ................................................................................ 50 3.7.2 COlnpounding ....... ...... ............. ........................ .............................. 50 3.7.3 Derivational suffixes .................................. ................................... 51 3.8 Syntax ........... ....... ....... ......................................................... .................. ..... 52 3.8.1 Word order .......................... ......... ................... .... ... ................... 52 3.8.2 Questions ................. .................................. ........... ..... .... ...... ..... 52 3.8.3 Negation ............. ........................ ................................ ................. .. 56 4 English - Bunganditj glossary ............................. ......................... ....... ..... ......... .... 57 Kin terms ..................... ...... ...... .... ....... ................ .................. ................. ......... ..... 121 5 Bunganditj - English glossary ....................................................................... : ..... 126 Appendix 1: Song ..... ... ......................... .................................. ... ....... ........ ...... ......... 141 Appendix 2: Moieties, sect ions and totems .... .......................... .......... .................. 142 Appendix 3: Place names .......... ....................................................................... ..... 143 Appendix 4: Comparative vocabulary . .............. ........ ...... ... ........ ................... ....... 145 References ...................................................................................................................... 154 Preface This book is a consolidated account of the Bunganditj language of south-eastern South Australia and adjacent areas of western Victoria based on early sources. It is intended to serve as a convenient reference for Bunganditj people and for all researchers. It is part of a series of consolidated accounts of Victorian languages that I and others have produced and are producing. Each account brings together early source material, mostly from the nineteenth century, and incorporates the work of Luise Hercus where it is available. This dates from the 1960s and is the only work by a modern linguist based on recordings of speakers. Sadly it is no longer possible to find people who still remember substantial parts of any of the languages once spoken in Victoria. Each account involves some interpretation of the source material. In particular it involves transcribing early notations into a consistent broad phonetic form and restating points of grammar in current terminology. I would like to thank the following for their help: • R.M.W. 'Bob' Dixon for supplying an annotated list of sources and photocopies of them,