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Kaytetye language facts for kids

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Kaytetye
Native to Australia
Region central Northern Territory
Ethnicity Kaytetye people
Native speakers 109  (2021 census)
Language family
AIATSIS C13

Kaytetye (also spelt Kaititj, Gaididj, Kaiditj, Kaytej) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Northern Territory north of Alice Springs by the Kaytetye people, who live around Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek. It belongs to the Arandic subgroup of the Pama-Nyungan languages and is related to Alyawarra, which is one of the Upper Arrernte dialects. It has an unusual phonology and there are no known dialects.

The language is considered to be threatened; it is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users, with only 109 speakers of the language in the 2021 census.

The Kaytetye have (or had) a well-developed sign language known as Akitiri or Eltye eltyarrenke.

Languages of Central Australia - map
Map showing languages

Phonology

Kaytetye is phonologically unusual in a number of ways. Words start with vowels and end with schwa; full CV(C) syllables only occur within a word, as in the word arrkwentyarte 'three' (schwa is spelled ⟨e⟩, unless initial, in which case it is not written and often not pronounced). Stress falls on the first full syllable. There are only two productive vowels, but numerous consonants, including pre-stopped and pre-palatalized consonants.

Consonants

Consonants occur plain and labialized.

Peripheral Coronal
Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Prepalatalized Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p k c t̪ʷ ʲtʲtʷ t ʈʈʷ
Nasal plain m ŋŋʷ ɲɲʷ n̪ʷ ʲnʲnʷ n ɳɳʷ
prestopped ᵖmᵖmʷ ᵏŋᵏŋʷ ᶜɲᶜɲʷ ᵗn̪ᵗn̪ʷ jtnjt ᵗnᵗnʷ ᵗɳᵗɳʷ
Lateral ʎʎʷ l̪ʷ ʲlʲlʷ l ɭɭʷ
Approximant ɰw j ɻɻʷ
Tap ɾɾʷ

[w] is phonemically /ɰʷ/. In the orthography, /ɰ/ is written ⟨h⟩.

Vowels

Front Central Back
High (i) ɨ ~ ə
Mid
Low a

/i/ is marginal.

Two-vowel systems are unusual, but occur in closely related Arrernte as well as in some Northwest Caucasian languages. It seems that the vowel system derives from an earlier one with the typical Australian /i a u/, but that *u lost its roundedness to neighboring consonants, resulting in the labialized series of consonants, while *i lost its frontness (palatal-ness) to other consonants as well, resulting in some cases in the prepalatalized series.

Grammar

Kin terms are obligatorily possessed, though with grammatically singular pronouns. There is a dyadic suffix as well:

Kaytetye kin inflections
Elder brother Mother
1 alkere-ye
my/our brother
arrwengke
my/our mother
2 ngk-alkere
your brother
ngk-arrwengke
your mother
3 kw-alkere
his/her/their brother
kw-arrwengke
his/her/their mother
dyadic alkere-nhenge
elder and younger brother
arrwengke-nhenge
mother and child

Dual and plural pronouns distinguish clusivity as well as moiety (or 'section') and generation. That is, for a male speaker, different pronouns are used for I and my sibling, grandparent, grandchild (even generation, same moiety), I and my father, I and my brother's child (odd generation, same moiety), and I and my mother, spouse, sister's child (opposite moiety). This results in twelve pronouns for 'we':

Kaytetye pronouns for 'we'
Number & person Even generation
(same moiety)
Odd generation
(same moiety)
Opposite moiety
Dual inclusive ayleme aylake aylanthe
Dual exclusive aylene aylenake aylenanthe
Plural inclusive aynangke aynake aynanthe
Plural exclusive aynenangke aynenake aynenanthe

That is, root ay-, dual suffix -la or plural -na, exclusive infix ⟨en⟩, an irregular nasal for even generation, and a suffix for same moiety -ke or opposite moiety -nthe.

Verbs include incorporated former verbs of motion that indicate direction and relative timing of someone, usually the subject of the verb. There are differences depending on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive:

Kaytetye 'associated motion' stems
Time angke 'talk' Gloss kwathe 'drink' Gloss
Prior motion
(go/come and X)
angke-ye-ne- 'talk after going' kwathe-ye-ne- 'drink after going'
angke-ye-tnye- 'talk after coming' kwathe-ye-tnye- 'drink after coming'
angke-ya-lpe- 'talk after returning' kwathe-ya-lpe- 'drink after returning'
angke-ya-yte- 'talk after someone arrives' kwathe-ya-yte- 'drink after someone arrives'
Subsequent motion
(X and go/come)
angke-rra-yte- 'talk before leaving' kwathe-la-yte- 'drink before leaving'
angke-rra-lpe- 'talk before returning' kwathe-la-lpe- 'drink before returning'
Concurrent motion
(X while going/coming)
angke-yerna-lpe- 'talk while coming' kwathe-yerna-lpe- 'drink while coming'
angke-rra-pe- 'talk while going along' kwathe-rra-pe-yne- 'drink while going along'
angke-rra-ngke-rre-nye- 'talk continuously while going along' kwathe-la-the-la-rre- 'drink continuously while going along'
angke-lpa-ngke- 'talk once when on the way' kwathe-lpa-the- 'drink once when on the way'
Prior and subsequent angke-nya-yne- 'go and talk and come back' kwathe-nya-yne- 'go and drink and come back'

People

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