Chapter 6: Tense, aspect and mood

further subdivided, based on the quality of the stem-final vowel, amongst other factors. Table 6.2
presents the paradigms of the six main conjugations. 2
1 2 3 4 5 6
NP1 -Ø -ya -ya -Ø -ya -nga-Ø ~ -ya
NP2 -na / -rna -na -ja -na -na -Ø ~ -na
NP3
-ma
(?~ -ngvma)
-ma
-ma ~
-ngvma
-ma ~
-ngvma
-ma
-ma ~
-ngvma
P1 -Ø -Ø ~ -nga -Ø -Ø -Ø -nga-Ø
P2 -rnv / -nv -ngv -rnv ~ -nv -Ø -wa -Ø ~ -nv
Table 6.2: Basic paradigms of tense/aspect inflections, organised by conjugation class
The NP1, NP3 and P1 categories are often formally identical across the different conjugations, such
as NP1 -ya, NP3 -ma and P1 -Ø. The P2 category varies most; when the P2 categories of two
conjugations are represented by identical suffixes, as in conjugations 1 and 3, the conjugations are
distinguished by their NP2 categories. In common with the Gunwinyguan languages (Baker 2004),
the NP2 suffix in Enindhilyakwa typically involves an apico-alveolar nasal (an exception being
conjugation 3 - but see section 9.3.4.3 for a diachronic analysis where this category does involve a
nasal). Conjugation 6 (stance verbs) is a highly distinct class that has an allomorph -Ø in all
positive categories (i.e. all but NP3, the negated non-past). The NP1 and P1 stems, however, are
distinct due to the augment -nga- that precedes the tense/aspect inflection, which is absent in the
NP2 and P2, as shown in the Table (see sections 6.3.6, 9.3.4.5 and 9.3.4.6 for further discussion of
the nga-augment).
There are two types of variation displayed in Table 6.2, represented by the symbols ‘~’ and ‘/’.
The former is used for tense/aspect suffixes that are in free variation: for example, the P2 suffix in
2 The phonologically overt NP1 suffix -ya and P1 -nga have, of course, been noticed by the previous authors. Both
Leeding (1989) and Waddy (n.d.-a) propose that NP1 -ya can freely replace the regular non-past tense suffixes. Waddy
suggests it is “a command form [...] which can be used as an alternative to the Non-Past form”, whereas
Enindhilyakwa speakers provided Leeding the information that the suffix is used “when talking to a child” (1989:
433). An analysis of -ya as a suffix that signals atomic changes of state - which include inceptive readings - may
explain these observations: the NP1 suffix is particularly common with commands, as in (5d) above, which typically
have an inceptive reading, and children are often spoken to in commands (e.g. ‘Sit down!’, ‘Go to sleep!’). However,
it also occurs on other forms, such as (5b), with an inceptive reading.
Leeding (1989) accounts for the phonologically null suffixes by making all tense suffixes optional, which
corresponds to my -Ø suffix. This is, however, a huge overgeneralisation, because tense/aspect is often obligatorily
realised by a non-null suffix - see Table 6.2. Only some categories may be realised by a phonologically null suffix.
Waddy (n.d.-a) posits a ‘specific past’ suffix -a, which also can correspond to a null suffix: -Ø will be realised as [a] in
word-final position (see e.g. -engkvrrvka in [5a]; in the original story the final [a] of this verb is glossed ‘specific
past’). But note that this runs into problems when the ‘specific past’ is followed by a suffix, such as -ma in (4a) above,
and [a] does not surface but is realised as [əә ~ ʊ].
Stokes (1982) distinguishes two forms of the past and future tenses: ‘normal’ past and future, and ‘near’ past and
future. She furthermore establishes two distinct imperative forms, one anticipating a more immediate response than
the other. The ‘normal’ past and future corresponds to my P2 and NP2, respectively, and the ‘near’ past and
future/immediate imperative correspond to my P1 and P2, respectively.
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