Learning the Pronominal Prefixes

One of the early challenges in learning Kunwok is the pronominal prefixes. We'll break it down to make it easier to learn. Pronominal prefixes are like pronouns (e.g. I, you, she) except they attach to the verb. Thus, we can say ngare (I go), with the nga- prefix (I) attached to the re verb (go). Use the yi- (you) prefix to say yire (you go).

Two kinds of verbs: Before getting started, it helps to understand the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs transfer their action from the do-er to something/someone, from the agent to the patient (e.g. find, follow, deceive, look after). Intransitive verbs lack any object to receive the action (e.g. sleep, run, sit, return). Read more about transitive and intransitive verbs.

Step 1: Singular intransitive

We start with singular prefixes (I, you (sg), he/she/it).

Nonpast	Meaning	Past	Meaning	Comment
ngare	I go	ngawam	I went	nga- is the first-person singular, I
yire	you (sg) go	yiwam	you (sg) went	yi- is the second-person singular, you (sg)
kare	he/she/it goes	wam	he/she/it went	- (no prefix) is the third-person singular, he/she/it

Notice the extra prefix ka- which only shows up in third person singular in present tense. You'll hear it all the time, so you need to know it. Here it is again for bidbun (climb) and mankan (fall).

Nonpast	Meaning	Past	Meaning
ngabidbun	I climb	ngabidbom	I climbed
yibidbun	you (sg) climb	yibidbom	you (sg) climbed
kabidbun	he/she/it climbs	bidbom	he/she/it climbed
ngamankan	I fall	ngamankang	I fell
yimankan	you (sg) fall	yimankang	you (sg) fell
kamankan	he/she/it falls	mankang	he/she/it fell

You might like to try writing and saying these prefixes with a range of other intransitive verbs, e.g. dowen (be unwell), durndeng (return), nalkbun (cry), yerrkan (sit), dolkkan (stand).

Step 2: Plural intransitive

Next, we replace the singular with the plural prefixes (we, you (pl), they).

Nonpast	Meaning	Past	Meaning	Comment
karrire	we go	karriwam	we went	karri- means we (including the hearer), i.e. first-person plural inclusive
ngurrire	you (pl) go	ngurriwam	you (pl) went	ngurri- means you (pl), i.e. second-person plural
kabirrire	they go	birriwam	they went	birri- means they, i.e. the third-person plural

Note that when we translate karrire as 'we go', it also means 'we're going', 'let's go', and 'we will go'. (If you find it strange that a verb can indicate present or future tense, just think about these English phrases: we go today, we go next week). Let's see these prefixes again with bidbun and mankan.

Nonpast	Meaning	Past	Meaning
karribidbun	we (incl) climb	karribidbom	we (incl) climbed
ngurribidbun	you (pl) climb	ngurribidbom	you (pl) climbed
kabirribidbun	they climb	birribidbom	they climbed
karrimankan	we (incl) fall	karrimankang	we (incl) fell
ngurrimankan	you (pl) fall	ngurrimankang	you (pl) fell
kabirrimankan	they fall	birrimankang	they fell

You might like to review what we have covered so far and make up a table for a verb in nonpast or past, for example:

Singular	Plural
ngare, I go	karrire, we (incl) go
yire, you (sg) go	ngurrire, you (pl) go
kare, he/she/it goes	kabirrire, they go

It's a good idea to master these 6 prefixes before going further. You could make flashcards, or find a bininj to practice with. You can also put these into sentences including nouns:

• bininj kare wolehwole, the man's going this afternoon
• karrire ngudda dja ngaye dja wurdurd, Let's all go, you, me, and the kids
• yimankang wanjh yidolkkang, You fell then you got up

Step 3: Singular transitive with third person object or subject

Remember that transitive verbs involve action that is transferred from subject to object. Let's look at some pronominal prefixes on transitive verbs. The first column should look familiar (it's the same as the intransitive verbs).

Nonpast	Meaning	Past	Meaning
nganan	I see him/her/it	ngannan	he/she/it sees me
yinan	you see him/her/it	ngunnan	he/she/it sees you
kanan	he/she sees him/her/it	kabinan	it sees him/her

Note that the bi- prefix occurs when the subject is less animate than the object. So we can say bininj kanan duruk (the man sees the dog) or duruk kabinan bininj (the dog sees the man).

Note also that we can put these words in different orders without changing who is doing the action, e.g.:

• bininj kanan duruk the man sees the dog
• duruk kanan bininj the man sees the dog
• bininj kabinan duruk the dog sees the man
• duruk kabinan bininj the dog sees the man

We can combine intransitive and transitive verbs:

• ngawam nganang nakamarrang I went to see Nakamarrang
• ngalbulanj kadjare kunwok nganbukkan Ngalbulanj wants to teach me Kunwinjku
• duruk ngunbayeng dja yimankang The dog bit you and you fell
• bininj mudika birribidbom wanjh birrilobmeng walem The men climbed into the truck and drove south

You might like to try making up some more sentences, and check them with a Bininj friend.