Australia's Original Languages by R. M. W. Dixon

Author:R. M. W. Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2018-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

9

Remarkable genders

There are many types of things in the world. Each language will have words for referring to things which are relevant and important within the life-style of its speakers. However, one requires more than just a lengthy collection of words. They need to be grouped together, showing the way in which speakers classify the world around them.

English does this to a limited extent. The general term ‘reptiles’ encompasses snakes, lizards, and crocodiles; ‘polygon’ covers triangles, squares, rectangles, and pentagons; while spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks are grouped together as ‘arachnids’. However, one does not have to know these classificatory labels in order to speak the language efficiently. Someone can be scared of spiders without knowing that they are arachnids, or attach magical properties to triangles while being totally unaware of the word ‘polygon’.

Some languages are unlike English in that categorisation is built into the grammar. They have a set of ‘classifiers’; whenever a specific noun is used, in a particular context, it should be accompanied by the appropriate classifier. Classifiers can refer to inherent nature (‘human’, ‘plant’, ‘cloth’), to shape (‘long’ or ‘short’, ‘straight’ or ‘crooked’), to function (‘edible’, ‘habitable’), and more besides.

Indonesian is a language of this type. To indicate in Indonesian how many there are of something, a speaker will generally include the appropriate classifier between number word and specific noun. Number words include satu ‘one’ (which reduces to prefix se- before a classifier), dua ‘two’ and tiga ‘three’ (which do not reduce). This can be illustrated with four of the several dozen classifiers, plus an example of how each is employed.

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