This suffix shares some of the characteristics of case markers as it conveys the notion of 'originating from' . It is close to the ablative in meaning but differs in that it does not indicate case relations within a sentence: it forms nominals that can be further declined as adjectives or nouns. Examples are:
Burgu-birna gabi-birna
'coming out of the mist', 'wild killers' alcohol, 'coming from drink'
This type of derivation can be formed not just from nouns but also from location nominals and adverbs:
gadha-birna gan.ga-birna gini-birna
idha-birna or idhara-birna
wildyara-birna
coming from some other place
upper, from up top, as in gan.ga-birna nyimi 'upper lip' lower, from below; as in gini-birna nyimi 'lower lip' new, coming from right now
old, coming from long ago There is one isolated example of derivation from a verb:
This suffix is closely parallel to and cognate with the the Parnkalla -bidni (Schiirmann 1 844 S.v. -bidru). The Parnkalla suffix is used in exactly the same type of combinations as
-birna, but it usually loses its first consonant, e.g. 'kalkar-idni' , 'of old' . Schiirmann
describes the situation with great clarity:
'bidni, when attached to nouns and other parts of speech gives them the power of an adjective.'
The Yeltapirna Creek, flowing north from the Gawler Ranges into Lake Grurdner, thus has a typically Wirangu name, and this confirms the view that this was Wirangu country (§ 1 . 1). Older Wirangu people from the Gawler Ranges, presumably copying their Parnkalla neighbours, used the form -bi(d)ni, but only when referring to the much feared Burgu
birna. This is amply attested: Provis 'poorkabidne' , Richardson 'pokobidney' , Whipstick
Billy 'purkabini' . According to Tindale (1928:45) Parnkalla people referred to their Wirangu neighbours as 'Wirabidni' , 'originating from the sky' (see § 1 .2 . 1 (a)).
3.3.2 'HAVING' SUFFIXES
Wirangu, like the most closely related language, Parnkalla, differs from most other Thura-Yura languages in not having a distinctive descriptive adjective-forming suffix that means 'full of' , 'having' . Words meaning 'much' , 'many' or 'great' usually fulfil that function in Wirangu, such as dyilga-muga (burr-many) 'full of burrs' as in manda dyilga
muga 'a place full of burrs ' .
3.72 Nhangga warla-marnaardu.
man row-great
The man is a troublemaker.
3.73 Barnda-marna bala.
money (lit. pebble)-much this one He has a lot of money
3 .74 Ngabiri bardi-marna.
red.mallee grub-much
The red mallee tree is full of grubs.
A suffix -(y)ambuli, -(y)ambul, derived from the word (y)ambu 'lap' (from Kukata) is used occasionally with the meaning 'having on one's lap' :
3.75 Wiyana gidya-yambul nyina-rn.
woman child-lap.on.having sit PRES The woman is sitting with a baby on her lap.
There is a defirute and distinctive suffix meaning 'having something unpleasant' , 'lousy with ' . This is -bandin, as in gurlu-bandin 'covered in lice', and guna-bandin 'covered in manure'. This is not to be confused with the Kukata borrowing barndirn 'to smell ' : guna
3.3.3 PRIVATIVE SUFFIXES
(a) -yudu
The commonly used privative suffix in Wirangu is -yudu 'without' , borrowed from Kukata:
3 .76 Nganha barnda-yudu.
I money-without
I haven't got any money.
3.77 Ngadhu bal gaRi, gabi-yudu.
I die soon water-without I'll die directly, I've got no water. 3.78 Gidya-yudu bala.
child-without she
She hasn't got any children.
The suffix was even used to form a double negative: 3 .79 Maga guma rabidi-yudu.
(b) -maga
not one rabbit-without (This place) is without a single rabbit.
The negative particle maga can be affixed in a privative meaning as in gidya yuRin-maga
lit. 'child ears-not' , 'a totally disobedient child' and 3.80 Nganha
I
gidya-maga.
child-not I haven't got any children.
(c) -min.ga
It is probable that this rare negative particle was originally widely used in Wirangu as a privative marker, but had its function taken over by the borrowed -yudu. The privative
-min.ga marks an emphatic absence of anything, as one of the speakers explained: "When
some-one says to you baroda yunggiga 'give (me) some money' , you might say say
nganha barodamaga, but if they keep pestering, you would say nangah barndamin.ga":
3.8 1 Nganha barnda-maga.
I money-not
I haven't got any money. 3.82 Nganha baroda-min.ga.
I money- totally without.
(d) -gardu
This suffix has been heard only in the following fixed locutions, especially applied to children:
mil-gardu yURi-gardu
translated as translated as
blind, got no eyes, won't look deaf, got no ears, won't listen
The derivation given by modem speakers was unexpected. They recalled that the noun
gardu was an old word for 'a fully initiated man ' . Such a person was exempt from some of
the more tedious jobs such as getting firewood and water, and he could not be shown by women how to do anything nor could he be told to do anything. The term was therefore sarcastically used for any disobedient child, meaning 'he thinks he is an initiated man with regards to his eyes or ears', i.e. 'he won't look or listen' .
3 .3 .4 THE COMPARATIVE SUFFIX -mimaRa
This suffix has independent accentuation. It is added to a noun which is the object of comparison. The resulting word could be used adjectivally, as in the following verbless sentences:
3.83 Ngadyu-ngura-mimaRa ngura batao
my-house-like house this
This house is just like mine.
3 . 84 Ngadyu-buba-mimaRa buba batao
my-dog-like dog this
This dog is just like mine.
The suffix mimaRa can be used to qualify intransitive verbs: 3 . 85 Puni-mimaRa wali-ri-rn.
horse-like run-REFL-PRES (He) runs like a horse.
3.86 Gidya waru-mimaRa barli-ri-rn-gadn.
child kangaroo-like hop-REFL-PRES-GO The child goes hopping along like a kangaroo. It can also qualify a transitive verb:
3.87 Gabi-mimaRa yargi-rl!
water-like taste-IMM
This tea tastes like water! (lit. (I) taste (it, this tea) like water!)
There is some diversity in the Thura-Yura languages as to how 'like' is expressed. In the northern Thura-Yura languages Adnyamathanha and Kuyani it is expressed by the suffix -Ii
added to the object of comparison. In Pamkalla it was expressed by the longer suffix 'mirrinye ' , which presumably had some independent accentuation. Schtirmann ( 1 844) gives the following example: 'warru mirrinye pilla mirrinye' , 'similar to a kangaroo, to an oppossum' .
The Wirangu suffix mimaRa is obviously closer to the Parnkalla way of expressing similarity than to anything else.
3.3.5 OTHER NOMINAL STEM-FORMING SUFFIXES
(a) -(g)ardu, -(g)arda
There is only one very common suffix, and that is -(g)ardu, with the less common variant -(g)arda (for loss of the g see §2. 1 .2(d)). It can be used with a limited set of stative adjectives indicating size, big, small, long. It can also be used with some locational and temporal nominals, with deictics and the third person singular pronoun, as well as some particles, e.g. maga 'not' and gudu 'for good' . It is an emphatic marker, corresponding roughly in meaning to the English 'very', or 'that very one':
marna minya big small marnaardu, marnaarda minyaardu, minaarda very big very small There is a distinct pattern in the use of this suffix: it occurs only when it is at the end of a noun phrase, that is when it is in a distinctive and emphatic position. Thus one says:
marna barnda minya wiyana
much money but barnda marnaardu
a small woman but wiyana minyaardu
This suffix has affiliations far afield in Aboriginal languages (§2. 1 .2(d)).
(b) -(i)lya
a vast amount of money a very small woman
There are very few other nominal stem-forming suffixes in Wirangu, and none that have any wide use.
-(i)lya is a nominal derivative found only in one ordinary adjective, garndilya 'stubborn,
determined' (from garndi 'rock'). The suffix is however found frequently at the end of personal names: Nyindilya, Binilya, Dhabilya, and placenames: Bandinilya, WiRilya. It is unlikely that this is the same suffix as that involved in the formation of the plural name
Yugarilya 'the Seven Sisters' (see § 3 . 1 .2).
(c) -dha
The suffix -dha is occasionally added to kinship terms. The speakers insisted that this implied no change in meaning. It is just possible that the suffix might originally have had a generalising rather than particularising effect, so that muma-dha for instance, though given simply as an alternative for muma 'father' , might have meant originally 'any person in the category of father' . Examples of the use of this suffix are:
3.88 bagali-dha-ngurni grandfather -SUFFIX-from from grandfather 3.89 Gabali-dha bala. grandmother-SUFFIX this.one. This is grandmother.
3. 90 Wiya-dha-ngu gurnda-na.
mother-SUFFIX-ERG hit-PAST Mother smacked (me).
It is highly likely that an alternative form -dya is found in the term rnadyidya 'initiated man ' , i.e. a man who is capable of being married, which is based on rnadyi 'husband' .
The equivalent of the suffix -dha also occurs in Adnyamathanha-Kuyani in the word
ngarnitha 'adult female' based on ngarni 'mother' , and there are terms ending in 'tya' in
other Thura-Yura languages Kaurna 'ngamroaitya', 'a woman in general' ; 'ngapitya' , 'grandchild' (of paternal grandmother); 'ngauwaitya' , 'father-in-law ' . The Wirangu suffix
-dha is thus clearly part of Thura-Yura. Furthermore it probably represents an ancient link to
languages further east, as in Paakantyi on the Darling River the majority of kinship terms have the suffix -tya, as for instance: karnpitya 'father' , kaakutya 'elder brother' , parlutya
'younger brother' (Hercus 1 993). The general principle of having special kinship term suffixes is more widespread still (Nash 1 992 : 1 23).
There is one instance of a suffix -dha with the Kukata word manda 'ground' : it is
rnanda-dha 'something that has been picked up from the ground' . This is simply a Kukata
borrowing containing the widespread Western Desert associative suffix -tya.