Grammar Torres_Strait_Creole

1 grammar

1.1 pronouns

1.1.1 demonstrative pronouns
1.1.2 interrogative pronouns

1.1.2.1 further notes




1.2 articles
1.3 syntax
1.4 verbs

1.4.1 transitivity , voice

1.4.1.1 phonological variation of transitive suffix


1.4.2 verbs of position , movement
1.4.3 verb suffixes


1.5 sample verb conjugation
1.6 prepositions

1.6.1 syntactic use of prepositions

grammar
pronouns

the following forms of personal pronouns in western-central-cape york dialects. eastern dialect concerned, dental-alveolar contrast on whole non-operative, , dual forms less commonly used elsewhere. furthermore, 1-2 form yumi used general non-singular 1-2 form; , used such in other dialects in rhetorical discourse. central islands dialect (and others) tends use wi 1st person plural.

the non-identfying 3rd plural òl found nominal plural marker:

i gad òl bùk ianau there books here

the demonstrative pronouns

this, these: full form dhiswan, colloquial form dhisan, reduced, clause initial form san, sa
that, those: full form dhaswan, colloquial form dhasan, reduced, clause initial form san, sa

there strong tendency dhiswan , forms used exclusion of dhaswan.

who that? dhaswan udhat?, dhiswan dhe udhat?, dhasan udhat?, dhisan dhe udhat?, dhisan udhat?, san udhat?, san dhe udhat?

interrogative pronouns

the interrogatives tend have 2 forms, in case of 3 reduced clause initial form , fuller clause final form, in following example:

wane yu luk? [alt. wane yu lukem?] / yu luk wanem? see?

further notes

two forms according clause position:

what: wane, wanem
where: we, wea
who: udha, udhat


similarly, there , here have 2 forms:

there: dhe, dhea
here: ya, iya


variant words/forms:

when: wataim, wen
why: aukam, wanempò


dialectal variation:

how: wiswei; central islands: waswei
why, s matter: wasamada; eastern-papuan wasamara



articles

the language has no indefinite article, , uses definite article less in english. definite article has more demonstrative feel english equivalent. there singular, dual , plural forms:

singular: dha — dha kenu canoe
dual: dhemtu, dhostu — dhemtu kenu, dhostu kenu 2 canoes
plural: dhem — dhem kenu canoes

the demonstrative articles have general form, , specific dual form, variation, strong tendency use clitics iya , dhea specify position; definitie articles used demonstrative clitics express demonstrative articles :

this man: dhis man, dhis man ia
these men (dual): dhistu man, dhistu man ia, dhemtu man ia
these men (plural): òl dhis man, òl dhis man ia, dhem man ia
all these men: òlgedha man ia
that man: dhas/dhat man, dhis man dhea
those men (dual): dhostu man, dhistu man dhea, dhemtu man dhea
those men (plural): òl dhas/dhat man, òl dhis man dhea, dhem man dhea
all men: òlgedha man dhea

syntax

torres strait creole atypical of pidgin-creole languages in word order , various other syntactic (and grammatical) properties. though normal sentence word order expected transitive s-v-o-x(-) , intransitive s-v-x(-), there variation in form of s-x-v(-o), such directional adverbs dhe there , ia/ya here come before verb, happens in local languages (this in common virtually verb tense/aspect/mood markers in language).

verb clause strings normal in language:

bala blo mi bi teke kenu kam baik. brother brought canoe
plein dhe plai go / plein dhe go plai / plein plai dhe go / plein plai go dhea plane flying away (over) there
the 4 sentences in torres strait creole carry semantic difference difficult show in english translation. plein dhe go plai basic sentence — plane flying [away] on there . plein plai dhe go more along lines of plane flying away way ; plein plai go dhea plane flying away heading way , , plein dhe plai go plane there flying away .


unlike many pidgin-creoles, adjective categorically comes before noun. similarly, adverbs mark adjectives come before adjective:

big sisi bl em bi kese tu prapa big redkala pis lo ausaid sanbaing. his/her big sister caught 2 big red fish at/on outer sandbank

unlike tok pisin, bislama , australian creoles, -pla not used adjective formant.

when not before referent, adjectives suffixed -wan, adjective nominaliser, or appropriate nominal, such man man, person

bala blo mi bigwan / bigman. brother big
dhis dhamba ya prapa naiswan. bread nice


all verb tense , aspect markers come before verb (see verbs below), apart clitic nau.
a operational relative clause structure exists, marked relative clause marker we:

dha totol ai bi kese em stap ananith lo aus. turtle caught under house
ama bin luk smol gel dhe sidaun krai krai krai lo skul blo dhem piknini. mum saw little girl (who was) sitting , crying @ kids school


questions vary between using english/merima mìr-like word order, i.e. question word initially, or kala lagaw ya/malay-like word order, i.e. question word order same of statements. stated above, question word has full form when used clause finally, , reduced form otherwise. in yes-no questions, statement word order normal, use of question tag sentence clitic:

we yu go? / yu go wea? going?
udha nem blo yu? / nem blo yu udhat? name?
wataim em go kam bai gen? / em go kam bai gen wataim? when going come back?
aukam yu sabe blaikman tok? how come can speak black people s language?
bambai athe blo dhemtu go stap ospetal au? grandfather going stay in hospital?
yu pinis luk piksa a? have finished watching film?



verbs
transitivity , voice

verbs can marked transitivity , voice (transitive-passive or intransitive-antipassive), not person, tense, aspect or mood. voice marking transitive-passive, , made suffixing -e verb stem when object follows verb, , -em when object elsewhere in clause. note suffix -em of recent development, , in origin abbreviation of verb phrase form verb-e em, cross referencing pronoun em , suffix have coalesced (via -i em → -yem → -em). these versions exist in everyday speech. verb mentioned below tek take : intransitive-antipassive tek, transitive-passive teke, teki em, tekyem, tekem:

em yustu tek òl buk. used to/would take took books (antipassive)
em yustu teke dhem buk. used take books (transitive)
em yustu teke buk. used take a/the book (transitive)
dha buk em yustu bi tekem brok. book used take broken (fronted transitive)

variants: dha buk em yustu bi teke em / teki em / tekyem brok.

the development of full passive using form exists:

buk yustu bi tekem lo em/prom em. a/the book used taken him. lo–prom variation dialectal)

phonological variation of transitive suffix

if verb stem has e or diphthong, transitive suffix -e; if or u, can become -i, while of stem contains or o, suffix can become -a. 1 or 2 others verbs have stem extensions form verb noun:

teke → teke take, bring
laite → laite light
pute → puti put
pile → pili feel
broke → broka break
ama hammer → verb amare
pain point → verb painte

verb stems end in vowels not take suffix, while few verbs irregular in not taking suffix:

verbs of position , movement

certain verbs of position , movement not followed preposition in normal clause types. these not confused transitive clauses:

awa bi stap aus bikòs em sikwan. uncle stayed (at) home because sick
dhem piknini stap dhe bamaga kolez. children stay @ bamaga @ college
dha dog dhe ran go dingi. the/a dog running dinghy
pusi sidaun seya. cat sitting in/on chair

verb suffixes

four derivational suffixes exist add aspectual meaning verb stems. though origin english prepositions , adverbs, in torres strait creole status aspectual; can used suffixes. suffixes stem of intransitive verbs, , full transitive-passive form of transitive verbs. when used transitive-passive verbs, suffix transitive ending after suffix. derive verbs other words.

-ap — completive, perfective: piksimap(e) fix, repair, mend ; rol roll → rolemap(e) roll ; bagarap(e) ruin, break, destroy
-aut — movement outwards: kamaut come out ; goaut go out ; lugaut(e) careful, beware, take care of, after
-baut — dispersive (this suffix causes final voiceless consonant of stem become voiced): wagbaut walk, walk about, walk around, stroll ; togbaut(e) talk about/over, discuss
-daun — downwards movement: found on godaun movement downwards starting point ; kamdaun movement downwards above , sidaun sit down , pòldaun fall, fall over, fall down .

sample verb conjugation

prepositions

torres strait creole shows strong substrata influence in use of prepositions. local languages either prepositionless case-marking agglutinative languages, or case-marking agglutinative languages case endings have evolved postposition status, contrast following cases varying extents, have little or no number marking on nouns:

nominative
accusative
ergative
genitive
dative
ablative
locative
perlative
instrumental

they contrast following derived forms (among others according language), not case forms in local languages, rather nominals:

similative
privative
proprietive
resultative

the use of prepositions in torres strait creole reflect these cases , nominalisations (= simplified) extent:

blo — genitive:

we aus blo misnari? priest’s house

pò, lo — dative (in part dialect variation):

em bin spik pò em se wesis bl’em pinis kam. told her wages had arrived.

bos bi gibi wesis pò/lo mi. boss gave wages me.

prom – ablative:

’san dhe kam prom dhaudhai. 1 coming on papua.

lo, we, ene — locative, perlative (lo , synonyms, , ene archaic word found in old songs):

aus blo ama blo mi stanap dhe antap lo / il ananith lo / big mango dhe antap. aunty’s house there on hill underneath big mango there.

yu mas kam wantaim lo mi. must/have come me.

dhemtu baradha sidaun ene [lo/we] kenu 2 brothers sitting in canoe.

lo — instrumental:

Òl man kate tœtœl lo naip lo bele / lo ath men cut (butcher) turtle knife on bottom shell.

òlsem, waze (waze more common reduced form of òlsem) – similative (like):

dhempla lo mari ailan no tòk waze yumpla. people on murray island don’t talk us.

em dhe swim go waze aligeta. he’s swimming away on there crocodile.

syntactic use of prepositions

the prepositions have syntactic uses, including following, govern verbs or adjectives:

blo: obligation

ai blo go nau have go / i’m supposed go now.

pò: a) focus on goal

bos kam pò luk wòk blo yumi. boss has come see / @ our work.

b) intensity

dhem pipol blo saibai pò dans! saibai people can dance!

ai pò taiad nau! i’m getting tired!

prom: avoidance

smòl gel prait prom dog baite em. little girl afraid dog bite her

lo, prom — comparative (dialect variation):

dhis dhangal ia mò big prom/lo nadhawan dhea dugong bigger one.

we: relative clause

aus ama stap antap lo il gad wan big mango. house aunty lives on hill there big mango.

boi yumi bin paitem krai go ama bl em. boy that/who fought went off crying mum.

Òl pipol wande gud wòk mas lane ingglis wants job has learn english.

waze (òlsem): in order, that

bos kam waze em ken luk òl wòk blo yumi. boss coming can see our work.