Conjugations

Notes on grammatical terms


 * Non-past is the verb form to use for present tense and future tense, e.g. ngaborrkke (I dance, I am dancing, I do dance, I will dance)


 * Past Perfective is the past tense form used for a completed action, e.g. ngaborrkkeng (I danced)


 * Past Imperfective is the past tense form for an action that was on-going, incomplete or interrupted by another action, e.g. ngaborrkkeyinj (I was dancing, I used to dance) ngadjareni (I wanted it)


 * Imperative is used when giving an affirmative order or instruction, e.g. Yiborrkkemen! (dance!)


 * Irrealis is used when the action is unsure or a negative in the past tense, e.g. minj ngaborrkmeninj (I didn't dance, I wouldn't dance), yiborrkmeninj? (Did you dance?, Were you dancing?, Would you dance?, Would you have danced?, Were you going to dance?)

Conjugation Classes

Verbs can be grouped into several classes based on their pattern of conjugation. The table above lists some Bininj Kunwok verbs and the conjugation class that the verb belongs to. Here is a summary of the groups according to their non-past endings
 * Conjugation Group 1: This group ends in -me
 * Conjugation Group 2: This group ends in -ke, -ye or -we(n)
 * Conjugation Group 3: This group ends in -kan, -nan, -won or -ngun
 * Conjugation Group 4: This group ends in -bun or -wan. Note that there is a vowel change in -bu verbs in the past perfective
 * Conjugation Group 5: This group ends in -ung, -ong, -eng or -ang. Note that there is a vowel change in mang in the past perfective
 * Conjugation Group 6: This group ends in -dan or -dangen. Note that there is a vowel change in -dan verbs in the past perfective
 * Conjugation Group 7: This group ends in -di or -ni. Note that there is a vowel change in wokdi in the past perfective
 * Conjugation Group 8: This group ends in -yo. Note that there is a vowel change in the imperative and the irrealis
 * Conjugation Group 9: This group ends in -re
 * Conjugation Group 10: This group ends in -rren
 * Conjugation Group 11: This group ends in -men. Note that there is a vowel change in the past perfective