Kalaw Lagaw Ya

Kalau Lagau Ya, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kala Lagaw Ya, or the Western Torres Strait language, is the language indigenous to the central and western Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. On some islands, it has now largely been replaced by Torres Strait Creole.
Before colonisation in the 1870s–1880s, the language was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua New Guinea, and is fairly widely spoken by neighbouring Papuans and by some Aboriginal people. How many non-first language speakers it has is unknown. It also has a 'light' form, as well as a pidginised form. The simplified form is fairly prevalent on Badu and neighbouring Moa.

Names

The language is known by several names besides Kalaw Lagaw Ya, most of which are names of dialects, spelling variants, dialect variants and the like — and include translations of the English terms, Western Island Language and Central Island Language:

Kalaw Lagaw Ya/Kalau Lagau Ya/Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalau Kawau Ya, Kala Lagaw Langgus/Kala Lagau Langgus/Kalaw Lagaw Langgus/Kalau Lagau Langgus
Lagaw Ya/Lagau Ya
Langgus, Linggo
Kaywalgaw Ya/Kaiwaligau Ya/Kawalgaw Ya ,
Kowrareg
Kulkalgau Ya ; Kulka 'blood' was an important Central Islands cult figure, and brother to Malo-Bumai of Mer.
Mabuiag
Westen or West Torres or Western Torres Strait
Dhadhalagau Ya
Sentrel or Central Islands.

One term used by Eastern Islanders and neighbouring Papuans for Kala Lagaw Ya is Yagar Yagar, from the word yagar, often used by Western and Central Islanders in speech to show a sympathetic or nostalgic frame of mind.
In literature on the language the abbreviations KLY, KKY, KulY, MY and KY are often used as abbreviations. The name Mabuiag, in English pronounced, is fairly widespread as a name for the language, this having been established by the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Strait, whose main research on the language was with Mabuiag material. Though the preferred term in English in Academia for some time was Kala Lagaw Ya, according to , the form was always regarded as "colloquial" by native speakers. In a High Court decision on 7 August 2013, the decision was taken to officially term the language Kalau Lagau Ya, using the formal form.
When speaking to each other, speakers generally refer to the language as Langgus 'language' or use phrases such as KLY/KulY ngalpudh muli, MY-KY ngalpudh/ngalpadh muli, KKY ngalpadh muliz "speak our language", e.g. KLY/KulY ngalpudh muuli, thanamunungu tidailai!, MY-KY ngalpudh/ngalpadh muuli, thanamuningu tidailai!, KKY ngalpadh muli, thanamulngu tidaile! 'Speak in our language so they don't understand!'. Ngalpudh/ngalpadh literally means 'like us'. The construction X-dh mula+i- 'speak X-like' is used to refer to speaking in a language, e.g. KKY markaidh muliz 'speak English', zapanisadh muliz 'speak Japanese', dhaudhalgadh muliz 'speak Papuan', mœyamadh muliz 'speak Meriam Mìr', thanamudh muliz 'speak like them, speak their language'. It is otherwise common for speakers to use nominal phrases like KLY/KulY ngalpun ya, MY-KY ngalpun/ngalpan ya, KKY ngalpan ya 'our language' to refer to the language when speaking to each other.

Geographic distribution

Kalau Lagau Ya is spoken on the western and central islands of Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and the Australian mainland, though on some islands it has now been largely replaced by Brokan.
Before Colonisation in the 1870s–1880s, the language was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua, and there is some folk history evidence that the language was spoken as a first language in a few villages neighbouring Torres Strait in Papua. It was also formerly spoken by the Hiámo of Daru to the north-east of Torres Strait, who were originally settlers from Yama in Torres Strait, Hiámu/Hiámo/Hiáma being a Kiwai pronunciation of Yama. The main body of the Hiámo moved to the Thursday Island group to escape the Kiwai colonisation of Daru some centuries ago.

Classification and external comparison

The language is classified as being part of the Pama–Nyungan languages. and regard it as a mixed language with an Australian core and Papuan and Austronesian overlays, while and classify it among the Papuan languages. The personal pronouns are typically Australian, most kin terms are Papuan, and significant sea/canoe and agricultural vocabulary is Austronesian.
Kalaw Lagaw Ya has only 6% cognation with its closest Australian neighbour, Urradhi, with a further 5% 'common' vocabulary — and about 40% common vocabulary with its Papuan neighbour, Meriam Mìr. Of the 279 Proto-Paman forms given in, only 18.9% have definite realisations in Kalaw Lagaw Ya, with a further 2.5% which may be present. One word that illustrates the problems of 'may-be' relationship is kùlbai 'old', which may be a metathetic realisation of CA *bulgan 'big; old'. Potentially 80% of the vocabulary of the language is non-Australian, and includes Papuan and Austronesian items. Bouckaert, Bowern and Atkinson found that Kalaw Lagaw Ya had the highest number of 'unique' forms of any Australian language in their sample.

Australian	Papuan	Austronesian
nya-ga 'look' nagai-/nage-/nagi-* id.	omài 'dog' ùmai* id.	gamo 'belly' gamu* 'body'
jana 'they' thana* id.	p- 'that, there' pi-/pe-* 'specifically yonder'	waura 'south-east' wœur* id.
ganyarra 'reptile' kœnara* 'k.o. tree snake'	gabo 'cold' gabu* id.	boro-ma 'pig' bùrùm* id.
galga 'spear' kœlak* id.	biro 'side' bero* 'rib; side of boat, hillside, river bank, etc.'	pui 'magic' puy* 'magic, plant'

Oral tradition and cultural evidence recorded by and, backed by archaeological evidence and linguistic evidence, shows that Austronesian trade and settlement in South-West Papua, Torres Strait and Cape York occurred; the languages have significant Austronesian vocabulary content, including items such as the following:

Kalaw Lagaw Ya	meaning	Meriam Mìr	meaning	Bine	meaning	Proto-Oceanic Austronesian	meaning
maapu	heavy		id.	mæpu	id.	*mapa	id.
paad	hill	paser	id.	podo	id.	*pantar	id.
Wœy OKY *Wœři	Venus	wer	star	wale	star	*waRi	sun
wœiwi	mango	waiwi	id.	wiwi	id.	*waiwai	id.
waaku	mat; sail	papék	id.	waaku	id.	*paqu	id.
waaru	turtle		id.	waaru	id.	*ponu	id.

Some of the Austronesian content is clearly South-East Papuan Austronesian:

word	Kalaw Lagaw Ya	Gudang	Kiwai	Motu	Proto–SE Papuan	Proto-Oceanic
nacre, mother-of-pearl	maay	maari	mari	mairi	*mairi	?
outrigger	sayim OKY sařima	charima	sarima SE Kiwai harima	darima	*nsarima	*saRaman
pig	bùrùm	—	boroma	boroma	*boro-ma	*mporok
rope, cord	wœru KKY wœrukam	uuru	waro	varo	*waro	*waro
magic, plant	puuyi OKY puři	upirri 'magic'	—	hui 'magic'	*pui	*puluŋ 'magic'

The linguistic history of the Torres Strait area is complex, and interaction of well over 2500 years has led to many layers of relationship between the local languages, including many words that are obviously common, such as the following 'trade' words in Torres Strait area languages.

Kalaw Lagaw Ya	Meriam Mìr	Kiwai	Agöb	Gudang	Urradhi	Anguthimri	Mpakwithi
gii tusk, knife, tusk/knife-life formation	gir tusk/knife-life formation	giri tusk, knife, tusk/ knife-life formation	?	?	kiri/ghiri knife	kiri knife	kiri knife
sœguba tobacco	sogob tobacco	suguba tobacco	?	—	tyughubha tobacco	tyughubhu tobacco	?
yœuth long house, hall; church	ìut church	—	?	?	yutha house	—	—
mœruka any strange four-legged animal	—	—	?	?	murruku horse	?	marruku horse
mœrap bamboo	marep	marabo	?	marrapi	marrapi	?	marrapi
eso thanks	esoau	?	eso	?	?	?	?
paaudh peace	paud	?	piuda	paaudha	?	?	?
warup drum	warup	warupa	arapa	warrupa	arrupa	arrupa	arrupa
thuurik cutting tool	tulik	turika	turika Bine turi/turikæ	?	thurriya crowbar	thurriya crowbar	thurriya crowbar

However, the question of external relationships of Kalaw Lagaw Ya is also complicated by resemblances between both the Paman and the Trans-Fly languages. Though few, these may be significant, and include forms such as those noted below, not all of which appear in Kalaw Lagaw Ya. Such resemblances could point to a deep-level relationship dating back to before the flooding of Torres Strait at the end of the last age, as claimed by Mitchell, or they could point to genetic inheritance and subsequent language contact, as discussed by Alpher, Bowern, and O'Grady 2009.

Proto-Paman	meaning	Proto-Trans-Fly	meaning	Kalaw Lagaw Ya	meaning
*kaalu	ear	*Vtkuru	hear	kaura; kùrusai-	ear
*ŋaa	who	*ŋana	id.	ngaa	id.
*mini	good	*mi:nji	id.	miina	real, true, very
anha Urradhi, Gudang	breath	*ŋana	id.	ngœna	id.
wintamwintama Urradhi	star	*mpintom	id.		id.
*nyupun	one	*ponV	id.	wœrapùn ùrapùn	id.
*pama	man, person	*pyama	id.		id.

Personal pronouns

A comparison of the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Meriam Mìr, Kiwai and Uradhi personal pronouns show similarities and differences in typology. In comparison to Uradhi, Kalaw Lagaw Ya has an archaic typology — or, rather, Uradhi has innovated, having lost the Common Australian 1, 2 and 3 plurals. Kiwai does not have 1–2 pronouns, while Meriam Mìr does not have a dual and trial/paucal set of pronouns which correspond to its verb system. The Kalaw Lagaw Ya system, like that of Uradhi, is Australian:

number	1	1–2	2	3
singular	ngai	—	ngi	nui na
dual	ngalbe	ngœba	ngipel	palai
plural	ngœi	ngalpa	ngitha	thana

number	1	1–2	2	3
singular	ka	—	ma	e
non-singular	ki	mi	wa	wi, i

Note that except for Meriam Mìr, the Trans Fly languages also have two-gender masculine-feminine systems, though not marked on the pronouns themselves.

number	1	2	3
singular	mai	rai	nowai
dual	nimoto	rigoto	neito
trial	nimoibi	rigoibi	neibi
plural	nimo	rigo	nei

number	1	1–2	2	3
singular	ayu	—	antu	ulu
dual	ampu	ali	ipu	ula
plural		ana

However, even though the system has no real surprises for Australian linguistics, it is clear that Kalaw Lagaw Ya has innovated in the 1st and 2nd pronouns, which have the following CA origins:

CA *ngali 'we, inclusive' > ngœy 'we, exclusive'; and with stem extensions ngalpa 'you and I/we', ngalbai/ngalbe 'we ',
CA *ngana+pulV 'we, exclusive dual' > ngœba 'you and I'.

The 2nd person dual and plural pronouns are based on forms that literally mean 'you ' and 'you-they', in much the same way as the demonstratives mark the dual and plural.

English	KLY	KulY	KY	KKY	Old KY	Proto-Pama–Nyungan origin
I	ngay stem: nga-	ngai stem: nga-	ngai stem: nga-	ngai stem: nga-	ngai stem: nga-	*ngayi
you and I	ngœba	ngœba	ngœba	ngœba	ngœba	*ngana+pulV 'we, exclusive'
we	ngalbay	ngalbai	ngalbai/ngalbe	ngalbe	ngalbai/ngalbe	*ngali+ 'you and me, you and us'
we	ngalpa stem: ngalpu-	ngalpa stem: ngalpu-	ngalpa stem: ngalpu-	ngalpa stem: ngalpa-	ngalpa stem: ngalpa-	*ngali+ 'we inclusive'
we	ngœy stem: ngœlmu-	ngœi stem: ngœlmu-	ngœyi stem: ngœymu-	ngœi stem: ngœimu-	ngœři stem: ngœři-	*ngali 'we inclusive'
you	ni	ni	ngi/ni	ngi	ngi	*NHiin
you	nipel stem: nipe-	nipel stem: nipe-	ngipel stem: ngipe-	ngipel/nipel stem: ngipe-/nipe-	ngipel stem: ngipe-	*NHiin+pulV 'you dual'
you	nitha stem: nithamu-	nitha stem: nithamu-	ngitha stem: ngithamu-	ngitha/nitha stem: ngithamu-/nithamu-	ngithana stem: ngithana-	NHiin + DHana 'they plural'
he	nuy stem: nu-	nui stem: nu-	nui stem: nu-	nui stem: nu-	nui stem: nu-	*NHu-
she	na	na	na	na	na	*NHaan
they	palay stem: palamu-	palai stem: palamu-	pale stem: palamu-	palai stem: palamu-, Boigu pale stem: palemu-	pale stem: palamu-	*pula 'they dual, two'
they	thana stem: thanamu-	thana stem: thanamu-	thana stem: thanamu-	thana stem: thanamu-	thana stem: thanamu-	*DHana 'they plural'
who	nga	nga	nga	nga	nga	*ngaaNH
what	mi-, midha-	mi-	mi-	mi-	mi-	*miNHa 'food; what'

Pre-historic overview

An examination of the various sub-systems suggests the following:
;Australian
Some basic and abstract vocabulary, all personal pronouns, some verbs. Some grammar, such as nominal and verb morphology ' perfective active. These typological categories also exist in the Trans-Fly languages; the forms in Kalaw Lagaw Ya are clearly Australian.
;Papuan
Some basic and abstract vocabulary, some verbs. Some grammar, such as verb number and different stems for different number forms of some verbs. Use of state/movement verbs as existential and stative 'be' verbs. Two non-personal pronominals: naag/naga 'how', namuith 'when'.
;Austronesian
Some basic vocabulary, terminology dealing with agriculture, canoes, the weather, the sky and the sea, some abstract nouns, some verbs. Possibly some grammar in the form of function words, such as waadh 'existential emphasis', Proto Oceanic Austronesian *waDa 'existential'.
The Australian word forms and structure found in Kalaw Lagaw Ya appear to be retentions, i.e. inherited; the original Australian forms appear to be unchanged at the core level. This suggests that the language is not a pidgin/creole in origin, but an Australian language which has undergone strong external lexical and grammatical influence. The language appears to be a classic case of shift, whereby speakers of one language retained multilingualism over a long period of time, absorbing aspects of another language. The Austronesian and Papuan overlays modified the Australian phonology and syntax profoundly. The contrast of Australian laminal nh/ny and lh/ly and apical n and l has been lost, voicing has become phonemic and s, z, t, d, o and òò'' have developed. This also affected the phonology of Australian vocabulary, where these 'foreign' sounds also occur.
The non-Australian content appears to be mainly lexicon, particularly dealing with the sea, farming, canoe and sky/weather/astrology, with possible some syntactic words. This presents a picture of a typically extensive borrowing situation with much lexical borrowing and some structural borrowing with a large amount of passive bilingualism and little active bilingualism.
Laade's picture of Australian and Papuan settlement in Torres Strait supports the above scenario of Papuan and Austronesian speakers who shifted to an Australian language over a long period of time, the Austronesians being culturally a superstratum, however not in a position to impose their language. He presented folk history evidence that a few Austronesian traders settled at Parema and married local women. To avoid further miscegenation, they soon moved and settled in Torres Strait, first to the Eastern Islands, then to the Central Islands, then to Moa, Badu and Mabuiag. At Mabuiag, Badu and Moa they found Aboriginal people, killed the men and kept the women. Some moved on up to Saibai, Dœwan and Bœigu to avoid this new miscegenation, hence the lighter colour of many Saibai, Dœwan and Bœigu people. Bœigu folk history collected by Laade also shows direct East Austronesian genetic influence on Bœigu.
The social context was that of a few Austronesian men who settled on the outskirts of an East Trans-Fly group, intermarried, and whose children were either bilingual, or speakers of their mothers' language, with some knowledge of their fathers' language. The local people did not need to speak the traders' language, who in turn had to speak the local language. The children in turn would then speak the local language, with varying ability in the fathers' language, particularly in areas that were culturally important for the fathers.
These people then shifted to Torres Strait — maintaining established ties with Papua as well as with Austronesian speakers further east — and overlaid an Australian population in such a way that the majority of women spoke an Australian language, with a significant number, mainly men, who spoke a South-East Papuan Austronesian language, accompanied by their Papuan wives and their perhaps bilingual children. Over time, the core structure of the local mothers' language dominated, with retention of the newcomers' Papuo-Austronesian content in the appropriate cultural subsystems. In essence this would have been a 'replay' of the original settlement by Austronesian traders at Parema, with the women understanding the language of the men, but not really needing to speak it while retaining parts of their language for significant areas. The children then created a new language shift to an Australian language with a Papuan-Austronesian admixture.
Kalaw Lagaw Ya is thus a mixed language in that a significant part of its lexicon, phonology and grammar is not Australian in origin. The core nominal, pronominal and verb morphology is Australian in both form and grammar — though a certain amount of the grammar is common to Trans-Fly and Paman languages in the first place. Some semantic categories, verb number morphology, and some other morphology are non-Australian in origin. Potentially 80% of its vocabulary is non-Australian. The interplay of the above within the subsystems of Kalaw Lagaw Ya lexicon, phonology and grammar points more to mixing through shift and borrowing rather than pidginisation and creolisation.

Outside influences

The language also has some vocabulary from languages outside the Torres Strait area, from the Indonesian, Malay,
Philippine, English and other 'outsiders'. Where loan words from the Western Austronesian loans are concerned, it is possible that some such came into the language in pre-European contact days, with the Makassans and similar fishermen/traders who visited northern Australia and Torres Strait.
Examples of post-European contact Western Austronesian loan words:

word	Kalaw Lagaw Ya	origin
coconut toddy	thúba	tuba
trumps	záru	zaru/jaru
mate, friend, brother	bala Boigu variants: bœra, baya	bela/bala
blachan	bœlasan	Malay: '

Some words in the language, assuming that they are Western Austronesian loans, appear to be pre-contact words. This is suggested by form and use in the language and in neighbouring languages.

Kalaw Lagaw Ya	meaning	possible source	meaning
aya aye	come!	Malay:	come!
bayu baaiwa	waterspout	Malay: '	wind
ádhi	huge, great story 'story stone or rock', i.e. a rock or stone that represents someone or something with sacred or cultural aignificance	Malay: '	huge, great
kœdal	crocodile	Malay: ' Makassarese:	lizard
pawa	deed, action, custom	Malay: '	deed, action

In the KKY dialect of Kalaw Lagaw Ya, 'waterspout' is markai gùb 'spirit wind'; waterspouts were one of the weapons of the markai who mainly came from the west/north-west in the NW monsoon season, and went back to the west/north-west with the SE trades.
Loans from modern Eastern Austronesian into the language are mainly of religious or 'academic' use. In general, such words are terms for objects that are strictly speaking European goods. One exception is the last in the following table, which is commonly used instead of the traditional words imi 'spouse's opposite-sex sibling', 'opposite sex sibling's spouse' and ngaubath 'spouse's same-sex sibling', 'same-sex sibling's spouse'. These have also similarly been replaced in common usage by the English loan woman in the meaning of 'sister/daughter-in-law'.

Kalaw Lagaw Ya	meaning	source	meaning in originating language
thúsi	book, document, letter, etc.	Samoan:
laulau	table	Samoan: '	plaited coconut leaf used as a tray
wakasu	anointment oil	Drehu: wakacu	coconut oil
thawiyan	brother/son-in-law	Vanuatu: tawean	brother-in-law

Other biblical loans are from Ancient Greek, Latin and Biblical Hebrew:

Kalaw Lagaw Ya	meaning	source	meaning in originating language
basalaya	kingdom	Ancient Greek: '	id.
aretho	holy communion	Ancient Greek: '	wheaten bread
Sathana	Satan	Biblical Hebrew:	Satan, opponent, adversary
Sabadh, Sabadhi	Sunday	Biblical Hebrew:	Saturday

Two early English loans of interest show back formation from what in the language appeared to be a plural. Most nouns form the plural with an -l suffix, and in the nominative-accusative singular elide the stem final vowel, thus tukuyapa- 'same-sex sibling', plural tukuyapal, nominative-accusative tukuyap. Under this model 'custard-apple' became katitap, plural katitapal, and 'mammy-apple' became mamiyap, plural mamiyapal.

Dialects

There are four main dialects, two of which are on probably the verge of extinction, one through convergence to the neighbouring Kalaw Lagaw Ya. Within the dialects there are two or more subdialects. The average mutual intelligibility rate, based on a Swadesh count, is around 97%.

Northern dialect: Kalau Kawau Ya — Saibai, Dœwan, Bœigu ;
Western dialect: Kalau Lagau Ya — Mabuyag and Badhu. The western dialect also has a simplified form, particularly on Badhu, where quite a few foreign men of Malay and South Sea Islander origin settled with their Island wives in the late 1800s and early 1900s;
Eastern dialect : Kulkalgau Ya — Masig, Yama, Waraber, Puruma, and associated islands, now uninhabited, such as Nagi, Tudu and Gebar;
Southern dialect : Kaiwaligau Ya — Muralag, Ngœrupai and the other islands of the Thursday Island group, Mua, Muri ; Muwalgau Ya / Italgau Ya — Mua. Now converging with Kalaw Lagaw Ya.

The Southern dialect has certain characteristics that link it closely to the northern dialect, and folk history dealing with the Muralag group and Mua reflects this, in that the ancestors of the Kowrareg originally came from Dharu — and who had previously settled on Dharu from Yama in Central Torres Strait.

Samples of the dialects

They cut down a big tree earlier today to make a canoe.
Underlying form:

Thana+∅	kayiba∅	kœi	puuRi+∅	patha+∅+∅+nulai	gul+ka/pari	ayima+i+ka/pari
They +	today	big	tree+	chop+++ ]	canoe+	make++

Some isolect markers of the four dialects of Kalaw Lagaw Ya:

	Kalau Kawau Ya	Kaiwaligau Ya	Kalaw Lagaw Ya	Kulkalgau Ya	Kauraraigau Ya
you	ngi	ngi	ni	ni	ngi
house	laag	laag, mùdh	mùùdha	mùdh	laaga, mùdha
thunder	gigi	dhuyum	dhuyum	dhuyum	dhuyuma
end, finish	muasi-	muasi-	minasi-	minasi-	moasi-
heat	kom	kœmàn	kœmààna	kom	kœmàna
steam	kœman	kœmàn	kœmààna	kœmàn	kœmàna
Dative	-pa	-pa	-ka	-ka	-pa, -pari
Ablative	-ngu, -z	-ngu, -z	-ngu, -zi	-ngu, -z	-nguzi, -zi
Present Perfective Active Singular	-iz, -izi, -izin	-i, -izi	-i, -izi	-i, -izi	-izi, -iziři

Dialectal differences

Phonology

Phonological differences between the dialects are rare, and in general sporadic. The only regular differences are the following:

Colloquial final unstressed vowel elision

Found in Kulkalgau Ya and Kaiwalgau Ya:

maalu 'sea' > maal’
waapi 'fish' > waap’
thathi 'father' > thath’
waaru 'turtle' > waar’
ngadha 'appearance, looks' > ngadh’
mœràpi 'bamboo' > mœràp’
bera 'rib' > ber’
kaaba 'dance performance, knot in bamboo ' > kaab’
kaba 'oar, paddle' > 'kab’

Such elision is rare or sporadic in Kalau Kawau Ya.

Final unstressed vowel devoicing

In Kalaw Lagaw Ya, such final vowels in correct language are devoiced, and deleted in colloquial language, except in a small class of words which include bera 'rib', where there is a short vowel in the stem and in which the final vowel is permanently deleted, with compensatory lengthening of the final consonant.
Strictly speaking, the process is not final vowel devoicing, but rather stressed vowel lengthening accompanied by final vowel devoicing — except in the case of words such as bera 'rib' > berr, where the process is final consonant lengthening by the final vowel being 'incorporated' into the consonant. Note that in the following the word-final capital letter represents a devoiced vowel:

maalu 'sea' > maalU > maal’
waapi 'fish' > waapI > waap’
thaathi 'father' > thaathI > thaath’
waaru 'turtle' > waarU > waar’
ngadha 'appearance, looks' > ngaadhA > ngaadh’
mœràpi 'bamboo' > mœrààpI > mœrààp’
bera 'rib' > berr
kaba 'dance performance, knot in bamboo ' > kaabA > kaab
kaba 'oar, paddle' > kabb

In declined forms of such words, the long vowel is shortened, and the final vowel voiced, and in words like ber 'rib' the final vowel often reappears:

maalU 'sea' + -ka 'dative' > maluka
waapI 'fish' > wapika
thaathI 'father' > thathika
waarU 'turtle' > waruka
ngaadhA 'appearance, looks' > ngadhaka
mœrààpI 'bamboo' > mœràpika
ber 'rib' > beraka, berka
kaabA 'dance performance, knot in bamboo ' > kabaka
kab 'oar, paddle' > kabaka, kabka

This vowel shortening in affixed/modified forms exists in all dialects, however the other dialects have retained contrastive length to some extent, whereas Kalaw Lagaw Ya has largely lost it for 'morphophonological' length, where the stressed vowel in non-emotive words of one or two syllables is automatically lengthened in the nominative-accusative; this also applies to words of three syllables with second syllable stress.
One of the very few length contrasts in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect is kaaba 'dance performance, knot in bamboo etc.' vs kaba, kab 'paddle, oar'. Such length contrasts are more widespread in the other dialects.
The exceptions are the small class or words that include ber 'rib' and kab 'oar, paddle', and emotive words. Emotive words are those that equate to a certain extent to diminutives in languages such as Irish, Dutch and German, where specific suffixes are added to show 'diminutive' status. Emotive words include familiar kinship terms and words used in emotive contexts such as singing/poetry.

Word	Non-Emotive	Emotive
Mum		Ama
Dad		Baba
child	kaazi, kaaz	kazi
wife	iipi, iip	ipi
home	laaga, laag	laga
dust, spray	pœœya, pœœy	pœya, paya
bamboo	mœrààpi, mœrààp	mœràpi, marapi
head	kuwììku, kuwììk	kuwìku, kuiku

Final i-glide deletion

A small class of words in Kalau Kawau Ya do not have the final i-glide found in the other dialects, including the following:

banana plant: KLY/KulY/KY dawai, KKY dawa
spot, stain: KLY/KulY/KY burkui, KKY bœrku
blank skink: KLY/KulY/KY mogai, KKY Saibai/Dœwan mogo, Bœigu moga
old: KLY/KulY/KY kulbai, KKY kulba
a short while, first before doing something else: KLY/KulY/KY mamui, KKY mamu
birth cord: KLY/KulY/KY kùpai, KKY kùpa

Word forms in neighbouring languages as well in the Kauraraigau Ya of the mid-to-late 19th century, such as the Meriam Mìr kopor and Kauraraigau Ya kupar/kopar 'birth cord' show that in such words the final -i/Ø are the modern forms of older *ɾ.

Syntax

The main syntactic differences are:

Verb negative construction

In all dialects except Kalau Kawau Ya, the verb negative is the nominalised privative form of the verbal noun. As this form in itself a noun, its subject and direct object are cast in the genitive:

Ngath waapi purthanu 'I ate a fish'
Ngai stuwaka uzarima 'I went to the store'
Ngau wapiu purthaiginga 'I didn't eat a fish'
Ngau stuwaka uzaraiginga 'I didn't go to the store'

The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect uses the verbal noun privative form as an invariable verb negative:

Ngath waapi purthanu 'I ate a fish'
Ngai stuwapa uzarima 'I went to the store'
Ngath waapi purthaiginga 'I didn't eat a fish'
Ngai stuwapa uzaraiginga 'I didn't go to the store'
Verb tenses/aspects

The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect has the tenses and aspects listed in the section on verb morphology. The other dialects have largely lost the remote future tense, using the habitual instead; the remote future in the other dialects is retained most commonly as a 'future imperative', where the imperative refers to a vague period in the future. The Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect also has a 'last night' tense, where the adverb bungil/bungel 'last night' has become a verb postclitic, following the model of the adverb ngùl 'yesterday', which had previously become grammaticalised as a 'recent past' tense marker in all dialects, with reduction to -ngu in Kalau Kawau Ya. In the other dialects bongel 'last night' is a fully functioning temporal adverb used in conjunction with either the today past or the recent past.
The dialects differ in the forms of the following affixes:

present imperfective/near future perfective/verbal noun dative:
:KKY/KY -pa, KLY/KulY -ka
Recent past
:KKY -ngu, KLY/KY/KulY -ngul
Today past
:KKY/KLY/KulY -nu, KY -nul
Habitual
:KKY -paruig/paruidh/-parui/-paru/-pu
:KLY/KulY -kuruig
:KY -kurui
Nominal affixes

The main nominal affix difference is the dative ending, which has the following forms in the various dialects:

KLY/KulY -ka; -pa with kipa 'to here', sipa 'to there', paipa 'to ahead', pawupa 'to behind, off to one side'; -pa
KY -pa; -ka in ngaikika 'to/for/towards me'; -ka
KKY -pa in all cases; -ka

The plural/HAVE suffix -LAI also shows a small amount of dialect variation with stems of two syllables, where Kulkalgau Ya differs from the other dialects in retaining the full form of the suffix -lai, reduced to
-l in the other dialects. In stems of three or more syllables, the suffix is reduced to -l in all dialects, while retained as -lai with stems of one syllable.
;Three+ syllable stem
burum 'pig', stem: buruma-, plural burumal
;Bisyllabic stem
lag, KLY laaga 'place, home, home island', stem: laga-, plural lagal, KulY lagalai
;Monosyllabic stems

Regular vowel final: ma 'spider', plural malai
Regular -i glide final: mui 'fire', plural muithai, KLY muithail
Regular -l final: pel 'fish tail', plural pelai
Regular -r final: wœr/wur/uur 'water', plural wœlai/wulai/ulai, KKY wœrai
Irregular vowel final stem: ya 'speech, word, message, language, etc.', plural yadai, KLY yadail''
Vocabulary

The main differences between the dialects are to do with vocabulary, as can be seen in the following examples:

house/building: KLY mùùdha, KulY mùdh, KY laag, KKY laag
mud: KLY/KulY/KY berdhar, KKY sœœi
grandad: KLY/KulY/KY athe, KKY pòpu
frog: KLY/KulY kœtube, kœtak, kaata, KY kat, KLY kat, kœtuke, kat
axe: KLY/KulY/KY aga, KKY agathurik
namesake: KLY/KulY natham, KKY/KY nasem
small, little: KLY/KulY/KY mœgi, Saibai/Dœwan mœgina, Bœigu mœgina, kœthuka
woman, female: KKY yipkaz/yœpkaz , KLY/KulY ipikaz , KY ipkai/ipikai
man, male: KKY garkaz , KLY/KulY garka , KY garkai
unmarried young/teenage woman: KKY ngawakaz , KLY/KulY ngawka/ngoka , KY ngawakaz
song: KLY naawu, KulY nawu, KY nawu, KKY na
moon, month: KLY kisaayi, poetry mœlpal, KulY/KY kiisay, poetry mœlpal, KKY mœlpal, poetry kiisay
Phonology

Consonants

Kala Lagaw Ya is the only Australian language to have the alveolar fricatives and. However, these have allophonic variants and, which are the norm in Australia languages. These latter two are allophones in that in all environments and can appear, while and can not appear at the end of a word; note that this allophony is very similar to that of the neighbouring Papuan language Bine. All the stops, except for the alveolars and, have fricative allophones, thus can be or, can be or, or, and so on. Furthermore, it is one of the few Australian languages with fully functioning voiced-voiceless distinctions — and one of the few without retroflex stops.
The language is also one of the few Australian languages with only one rhotic, one and one. The earliest recorded dialect, Kaiwalgau Ya, however, did have two rhotics, the tap and the glide; the rhotic glide has in general become or zero in the other dialects, rarely. Neighbouring languages retain an in related words, such as:

sayima, sayim, sayma 'outrigger' - Kauraraigau Ya sařima, Kiwai harima, Gudang charima
babath 'opposite-sex sibling' - Kauraraigau Ya bœřabatha 'opposite-sex sibling', Meriam Mìr berbet 'sibling'
kupai, KKY kupa 'birth cord' - Kauraraigau Ya kupař, MM kopor

However, in singing,, and are pronounced,, and, and virtually never as, and.
Note:

The consonant varies to some extent with, particularly in KKY/KY kadai-/karai-, KLY/KulY kad/kad/kadai/karai 'upwards'.
Vowels

Notes:

The long vowel is only found in Kala Lagaw Ya.
Length is to a certain extent contrastive, and partly allophonic.
The +/-round contrast is reminiscent of Papuan phonology.
The mid long vowels are allophonic variants of the mid short vowels that are in the process of developing phonemic status, while the short vowel is similarly in origin an allophone of.

Internal reconstruction and comparison with neighbouring languages suggests an underlying four vowel structure with contrasting vowel length, where underlying *i typically gives surface and, underlying *a typically gives surface a and œ, underlying *ò typically gives surface and, and underlying *u typically gives surface and :

Underlying Vowels	-round	+round
+high	i,ii	u,uu
-high	a,aa	o,oo

The language undergoes low-level vowel shifts, caused by stress domination within words and phrases. Long vowels are shortened, and short vowels raise when the word is preceded by morphemes such as adjectives, demonstrative articles, prefixes and the like; the changes also occur within words when these are suffixed:

laag 'place' — senabi lag 'that place'
lagal 'places' — sethabi lœgal 'those places'
mœrap 'bamboo' — mœrœpil 'bamboo plants/poles/sticks'
guul 'sailing canoe' — senaubi gul 'that canoe'
thonaral 'times' — sethabi thunaral 'those times'
zageth 'work' — zagithapa 'to/for work '

The processes are low-level in that they are not 'automatic' — the changes do not have to occur and can be consciously 'blocked'. In normal speech, vowel shortening and the change of a to œ normally occur, while the changes of e to i and o to u are sporadic, and most common in unstressed syllables.
Assimilation of vowels to other vowels in the vicinity and consonants is also widespread, particularly of the vowel œ:

wœrab 'coconut' — wurab — urab
yœlpai 'lead' — yilpai — ilpai
ngœnu 'whose' — ngunu
kœu 'belonging to here' — kou
ngœba 'you and I' — ngaba
Kauřařaigau Ya phonology

The following summary of the phonology of Old Kauraregau Ya is compiled from MacGillivray, Brierly, Ray and Haddon and Ray. In general, there does not to appear to have been any great phonological difference between OKY and the modern dialects of Kalau Lagau Ya.

Stress

appears to have been similar to that of the modern dialects, with stress patterns being most similar to that of modern Bœigu and Ngœrupai speech, the most conservative dialects in this respect. In the following the standardised forms are in bold.

Bisyllabic forms

Stress is initial:

baba, baba, bapa: baba 'dad'
kawp: kaapu 'seed'
buai, bua, bue, booi, boy, boi, booee, boye: buwai 'clan; prow'

A few forms show that contrastive stress existed in bisyllabic words.

Multisyllabic forms

Stress is either on the initial or second syllable:
initial:

gugure: gagaři 'bow'
myrabada: ngœiřabatha 'father's sister'
tukiapalli: tukuyapalai 'same sex sibling '

second:

bobata: bœbàtha 'grandparent'
murrag: mœřààga 'sweat'

Shifted stress also appears to have occurred as in the modern dialects:

purteipa: pùrthàipa 'eat'
pratipa: pùràthipa 'eat'
Vowels and diphthongs

These appear to have been the same as in the modern language. Vowel length in general appeared in the same environments as in KKY, though some amount of vowel lengthening under the KLY model is evident, as in kawp: kaapu 'seed', Kalau Kawau Ya / Kulkalgau Ya kapu, Kalau Lagau Ya kaapu.
The exact extent of retention of underlying vowel length and the development of variant forms is difficult to measure, as the spelling systems used by Brierly and MacGillivray did not always mark vowel length. Further, as they obtained words through elicitation, there are a few cases where they marked vowel length wrongly. Ray marked vowel shortness in stressed syllables.
The various sound changes that the vowels and diphthongs undergo in the modern language also occurred in OKY. One change that occurred much more than in the modern dialects was that of ai monophthongisation to e. The resulting e then often raised to i in open unstressed syllables.
No change:

alai: alai 'husband', amai: amai 'earth oven'

Change:

buai, bua, bue, booi, boy, boi, booee, boye: buwai, buwe, buwi 'clan, prow'
palai, pale: palai, pale 'they '
kowraraiga, kowrarega: kauřařaiga~kauřařega 'islander'
kowraraigali, kowraregale, kowrarigali: kauřařaigalai~kauřařegale~kauřařegali~kauřařigali 'islanders'
wapi, wawpi: waapi 'fish': plural/proprietive wapilai, wapile, wapili

In the modern dialects, these forms are:

clan, prow: buwai
they : KLY,KulY,S-D palai, B,KY pale

islander:KLY,KulY,KY-MY kaiwalaig, plural kaiwaligal / kaiwalgal, KKY kawalaig, plural kawalgal
fish: waapi, plural wapil, KulY wapilai

The change of ai to ei appears to have been very common elsewhere in the dialect:

adaipa, adeipa: adhaipa 'go/put out' attainative perfective today future
amaipa, ameipa: amayipa 'crawl' imperfective present
angaipa, angeipa: angaipa 'carry' perfective today future
batainga, bateinga: bathainga 'tomorrow'
baidama, beidama: baidhama 'shark'

One form shows optional i insertion:
gassumu-, gassima-: gasama- ~ gasœma- ~ gasima-' 'catch, get', modern dialects gasama- ~ gasœma-

Development of ''ř''

OKY had one more consonant than modern WCL, transcribed ř. Though the actual pronunciation of this sound and its difference from r was not given by any early writer, it most likely was a rhotic glide, perhaps with a palatal 'hue'. The loss of this sound in the other dialects occurred in the following rules; the changes were beginning to be evident already in OKY:
Ř between like vowels or in deletes.

OKY burugo > modern dialects bùg, KLY bùùga 'marsh fly'
OKY sřinge, singe > modern dialects singe 'fish/head carrying loop'
OKY murrag > modern dialects maag, KLY maaga 'sweat, film'
OKY dura > modern dialects daa 'chest'

Ř sporadically becomes when in and the following syllable is stressed.

OKY wœřàtha: KY wœyath, KLY wiyeth/wœyeth, KulY uyeth, KKY wath 'year'
OKY norat : KY nœyath/nath, KLY niyath, KulY niyath, KKY nath 'platform'
OKY waraaba : KY uwiba, KLY wiiba, KulY wiiba, KKY waba 'green dove'
OKY karrabie : KY kab , KLY kab, KulY kœyaba, KKY kab 'paddle, oar'

Ř becomes a glide when between and vowels, and between and vowels.

OKY mari : KLY maayi, KKY maay 'pearl shell'
OKY sarima : KLY sayim, KKY sayima/sayma 'outrigger float'
OKY puri, prui : KLY puuyi, KKY puuy 'tree, plant, magic'
OKY mekari : KLY mekey, KKY mekay 'almond'
OKY tituri : KLY thithúúyi, KKY thithuy 'star'
OKY Giralaga : KLY Giyalaaga, KKY Giyalag 'Friday Island'
OKY Mora : KLY Muwa, KKY Muwa~Mowa

Vuř becomes when intervocalic.

OKY Maurari : modern dialects Maway 'Wednesday Island'
OKY tura : modern dialects thœwa ~ thuwa 'shortness'

Ř optionally becomes when syllable final and following vowels; in at least two words metathesis first occurred.

OKY kopar : KY,KLY,KulY kùpai, KKY kùpa 'umbilical cord'
OKY kaura : KKY kawa, KY > *kařua > kawa~kaiwa, KLY,KulY kaiwa 'island'
OKY wauri : KKY wawi, KY,KLY,KulY > *wařua > waiwi 'arm-band shell'

Ř deletes when syllable final following high vowels and non-final.

OKY burkera : KY bùker 'hot coal'

Ř disappears when followed by unstressed i and more than one syllable.

OKY ngörimuni : KKY,KY ngœimùn, KLY,KulY ngœlmùn 'our EXC PL'
OKY myrabat : modern dialects ngœibath 'fathers sister'
OKY görigar, göriga : modern dialects gœiga 'sun, day'
OKY kariki : modern dialects kaiki 'here non-specific locative'
OKY tyariki : modern dialects seiki 'there non-specific locative'

Early spellings, with reduction of and to, and to.
OKY underwent the same allophony and sound changes as the modern dialects, though z ~ dh and s ~ th variation appears to have been more general in OKY, as in the following :

zaazi 'grass skirt': Brierly juagee, djaajie, djaajie, dadjee, dadji, dadje, dadjie, MacGillivray daje, OKY zaazi, dhaazi
sagul adhamadha ~ azamadha 'be putting put on a dance!': Brierly sagool adzamada, OKY sagul adhamadha ~ azamadha
wœsul 'dirty water': Brierly ootzoo, oodthool, OKY uusul, uuthul
ngœzu 'my ': Brierly udthu, oldzoo, udzoo, MacGillivray udzu, udz, OKY ngœzu, ngœdhu

An instance of optional r deletion before s is also attested in the following example, unless the first i in myaichipp is a misprint or misreading of *myarchipp:
maayi-arsipa 'wail, keen, weep': Brierly myaichipp, MacGillivray maierchipa, OKY mayarsipa, mayasipa
Various forms in OKY showed metathesis of ř and r in the environment of u, i and au:

ngauřakai ~ ngauřakazi > naroka, nerawkaji 'maiden', cf. KKY ngawakaz
gœřiga ~ gœřigař > gyrriegi, gurrigi, goraigor 'day, sun', cf. KKY gœiga
puuři > uperia, oopeere, ooperie, uperi, prui, upiri 'magic gear/charms/produce', cf. KKY puuy, KLY puuyi.
rigaboo, rugabu > modern dialects wœrugœbaw, urugœbaw, Bœigu wœrigœbaw, urigœbaw 'sweet potato', lit. wœru-gabaw 'cord/string-cultivated yam'
Syllabification

Syllabification occurred as in the modern dialects, with the addition of ř also attested as a syllable final consonant. One word was recorded by Brierly and MacGillivray with a cluster, namely enti 'spider', however this appears to be a confusion; enti is probably Gudang anti 'sore'.
Syllables were vowel final or end in r, ř, l, glide i or glide u. Otherwise surface syllable final consonants have an underlying following vowel, in which case all consonants could be syllable initial.

Orthography

There is no strict standard spelling, and three slightly different orthographies are in use.

Mission Spelling

The Mission Spelling : a, b, d, e, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ö, p, r, s, t, u, z, sometimes also th, dh, dth, tr, dr, oe, ë, w, y, j, and sometimes double vowels to show length. This spelling system was based on that used for the Drehu language, though later with the change to Polynesian mission staff, as well as the growing number of indigenous Torres Strait missionaries, the overtly Drehu forms tr, dr and ë were lost; these had no phonological basis in Kalaw Lagaw Ya. The mission system is used in the Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Strait and in Myths and Legends of Torres Strait. Ray, the linguist of the Cambridge Expedition, also used various diacritics to represent short vowels and vowel quality.

Klokheid and Bani

Established in the 1970s: a, aa, b, d, dh, e, ee, g, i, ii, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oo,oe, ooe, p, r, s, t, th, u, uu, w, y, z

Saibai, Boigu, Dauan students

Established in the late 1970s: a, b, d, dh, e, g, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oe, p, r, s, t, th, u, w, y, z.
People not only use these three slightly differing spelling systems, but also write words more or less as they pronounce them. Words are therefore often spelt in various ways, for example sena/sina 'that, there', kothai/kothay/kothei/kothey/kothe 'back of head, occiput'. Such variation depends on age, family, island, village and other factors such as poetic speech. It can be difficult at times to decide which is most correct — different people have different opinions.
In general the pronunciation of older people has priority; however, some people can actually get quite offended if they think the language is written the 'wrong' way. Some insist that the mission spelling should be used, others the Bani spelling, and still others the KKY spelling, and still again others use mixes of two or three, or adaptations thereof. Some writers of the Mabuiag-Badhu dialect, for example, write mainly in the Mission system, sometimes use the diagraphs oe, th, dh, or elided, nguk ).
The biggest bone of contention between the advocates of the 'modern' orthographies and the 'traditionalist' orthographies is the use of w and y to show the semi-vowels. In general native speakers in literacy classes seem to find y and w very difficult to learn, and that u and i are the 'logical' letters to use. Syllabification of words by untrained speakers suggests that u and i are really the underlying sounds. Thus, a word like dhaudhai/dhawdhay 'mainland, continent' syllabifies as dha-u-dha-i, not dhau-dhai. In songs, the glide-u/i can also be given full syllable status. Historical considerations also point to the semi-vowels often being vocalic rather than consonantal. Thus, lagau, the genitive of laag 'place' is in underlying form ; the full form of the genitive ending -ngu is only retained where the nominal has a monosyllabic stem. Similarly, verbal nouns end in -i, e.g. lumai, stem luuma- 'search, look for, seek, hunt'. The mid-19th century to early 20th century records of Kauaraigau Ya show that the verbal noun ending was previously -ri, where the -r- was presumably the rhotic glide rather than the rhotic tap/trill.
A dictionary now in preparation uses an orthography based on detailed study of the surface and underlying phonology of the language, as well as on observation of how people write in real life situations. It is a mix of the Mission and Kalau Kawau Ya orthographies with the addition of diacritics to aid correct pronunciation, since many of the people who will use this dictionary will not be speakers of the language:
a, b, d, dh, e, g, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, œ, r, s, t, th, u, w, y, z
Within this orthography, w and y are treated as consonants — this is their phonological status in the language — while u and i are used as the glides where phonological considerations show that the 'diphthong' combination has vocalic status.
The typewritten forms of œ and œœ are oe and ooe.

Pronunciation of the letters

The English pronunciations given in the list below are those of Australian English, and are only meant as a guide. The letters in square brackets are the IPA.

a : 'u' as in 'hut' — gath 'shallow, shallows', mathaman 'hit, kill'
a, á 'a' as in father — áth 'bottom turtle shell', ma 'spider', lág, laaga 'place'
b as in English — Báb 'Dad', bibir 'power, authority'
d as in English — da 'chest', idi 'oil, grease, fat, dead-calm sea'
dh similar to d, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth- dha 'ladder, stairs', adhal 'outside', Bádhu 'Badu'
e 'e' as in bed — bero 'rib, side of boat, river bank, etc.', nge 'then', tete 'animal/bird leg'
e, é 'are' as in bared — gér 'sea snake', dhe 'slime', sei 'there'
g as in English get, never as in general — gigi 'thunder', gugu 'owl'
i short 'ee' as in feet — midh 'how', sisi 'gecko', ipi 'wife'
i, í 'ee' as in feed — síb 'liver, centre', gi 'knife', ígil 'life'
k as in English — kikiman 'hurry up', kakayam 'bird-of-paradise
l similar to English 'l' in lean, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth; never as in English kneel — lág 'place, home', li 'basket', gúl 'double-outrigger sailing canoe'
m as in English — mám 'love, affection', Ama 'Mum, Aunty', ma 'spider'
n similar to English 'n' in nun, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth — naawu, KKY na 'song', nan 'her, it', nanu 'her, its'
ng as in English sing; never as in English finger — ngai 'I, me', ngœrang 'armpit'
o more or less 'o' as is in got, though more rounded — sob 'slowness', mogai, Bœigu moga, Saibai-Dœwan mogo 'blank skink'
o more or less 'o' as in god, though more rounded — gor 'tie-hole', so 'show'
ò short version of 'oa' in broad — mòdhabil 'costs, prices', gòyal 'bald'
ò 'oa' in broad — mòs 'lung, spittle', gòy 'baldness'
œ 'a' as in about — bœtœm 'lean ', bœga 'mallard'
œ more or less like 'er' in herd — wœr 'water', Wœy 'Venus', bœi 'coming'
p as in English — papi 'noose, trap', áp 'garden', KKY Pòpu 'Grandad'
r similar to 'tt' in better when said fast. Before another consonant and at the end of a word, it is often trilled. In singing, however, it is normally pronounced much like the American English 'r' — ári 'rain, louse', rùg 'rag, piece of cloth', ár 'dawn'
s most commonly like English 's' in sister; sometimes like English 'ch' in chew when at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word; never like 's' in 'as' — sas 'style, showing off', sisi 'gecko', sagul 'game, fun, dance'
t as in English — tádu 'sand-crab', tídan 'return, understand', ít 'rock oyster'
th similar to t, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth — tha 'crocodile tail', thathi 'father', geth 'hand'
u short 'u' as in lute — buthu 'sand', gulai, KLY gulal 'sailing canoes'
u, ú 'oo' in woo — búzar 'fat, blubber', thu 'smoke'
ù 'u' as in put — mùdh 'shelter, haven, back-yard, camp', kùt 'late afternoon, early evening', kùlai 'first, before'
w not as strong as English 'w' in we ; for most speakers of the language the only difference between w and short u is that w is shorter — wa 'yes', kawa 'island', báw 'wave'
y not as strong as English 'y' in yes; for most speakers of the language the only difference between y and short i is that y is much shorter — ya 'speech, talk, language', aye, KKY aya 'come!', máy 'well, spring; tears; pearl-shell, nacre'
z most commonly like English 'z' in zoo, or English 's' in has; sometimes like English 'j' in jump, or 'dg' in budge when at the beginning or in the middle of a word — zázi 'grass skirt', za 'thing, object', zizi 'crackle, crack, rustling noise'

Combinations of vowels are pronounced as written. Thus, for example, ai is a-i. In singing and sometimes in slow speech, such vowel combinations can be said separately. In the Bani and Saibai orthographies, the last elements can be written as y and w instead of i and u. The diphthongs are:

ei/ey — sei, sey 'there'
iu/iw — biuni, biwni 'kookoobuura, kingfisher'
œi/œy — bœi, bœy 'coconut frond'
eu/ew — seu, sew 'belonging to there'
ai/ay — Saibai, Saybay 'Saibai'
œu/œw — kœubu, kœwbu 'battle, war'
òi/oy — òi, oy 'hoy!, hey!'
au/aw — kaub, kawb 'tiredness'
ui/uy — mui, muy 'fire'
ou/ow — berou, berow 'of a/the rib'
Grammar

Nominal morphology

Where the morphology is concerned, the language is somewhere along the continuum between agglutinative and fusional. Nominals have the following cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, specific locative, nonspecific locative and global locative. Nominals also have the following derived forms: privative, similative, resultative and proprietive, which also forms the noun nominative-accusative plural. All stems end in a vowel or a semi-vowel, except for a few monosyllables ending in -r and -l. For many nouns the surface nominative undergoes a final stem-vowel deletion rule; in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect the rule results in final devoiced vowels accompanied by main vowel lengthening. There are three numbers, singular, dual and plural. Singular and dual are the same form in all nominals except the personal pronouns. Furthermore, the plural is only distinguished in the nominative-accusative — except for the personal pronouns, where the difference in number is shown by the stem.
There are two nominal classes, Common Nominals and Proper Nomals semantic — Proper nominals have pronominal characteristics, and, 2) declensional, for example Proper Nominals have one locative case rather than the three of Common Nominals.

Common Nominal declensions

Note that the following are in the Kalau Kawau Ya dialect.

Case/Suffix	Hoe/Adze	Place/Home	Knife	Water	Mud	Middle	looking	giving, getting, being, moving, doing, etc.
stem type	multisyllabic -u final	multisyllabic	monosyllabic vowel final	monosyllabic -r/-l final	monosyllabic -i glide final	locative nominal	multisyllabic verbal noun	monosyllabic verbal noun
stem	pábu-	lága-	gi-	wœr-	sái-	dhadha-	naga+i-	má+i-
- -	pábu	lág	gi	wœr	sái	dhadh	nœgai	mái
-	pabul	lagal	gilai	wœrai	saithai	dhadhal	—	—
	pabun	lagan	ginu/gín	wœrnu/wœran	saithu	dhadhan	nœgain	main
	pabu	lagau	gingu	wœrngu	saingu	dhadhau	nœgai	mai
	pabupa	lagapa	gipa	wœrpa	saipa	dhadhapa	nœgaipa	maipa
	pabungu	lagangu	gingu	wœrngu	saingu	dhadhaz	nœgaile	maithaile
-	pabunu, pabu'	laganu, laga'	gilai, ginu	wœrai, wœrnu	saithai, saithe	dhadhal, dhadha'	nœgainu	mainu
--	pabuya	lagaya	giya	wœriya	saiya	dhadhaya	nœgaiya	maiya
-	pabuyab	lagayab	gipu	wœrab, wœrpu	saiyab, saipu	dhadhayab	nœgaiya	maiya
	pabul	lagal	gilai	wœrai	saithai, saithe	dhadhal	nœgail	maithai
	pabugi	lagagi	gigi	wœrgi	saigi	dhadhagi	nœgaigi	maigi
	pabudh	lagadh	gidha	wœrdha/wœradh	saidh	dhadhadh	nœgaidh	maidh
	pabuzi	lagazi	gizi	wœrzi	saizi	dhadhazi	nœgaizi	maizi

Irregular nouns

There are few irregular nouns, the most common being:

ai 'food', ya 'speech, language, message, etc.', li 'basket', lu 'mound, bump, hump'
KKY na, KLY naawu, KulY/KY nawu 'song'; KKY yu 'drying rack, cooking rack' ; specific locative/proprietive-plural KKY nathai, KLY/KY nawul, KulY nawlai; KKY yuthai )
za 'thing, object, matter, etc.' This word has a fuller stem form, zapu-, which appears in certain forms: instrumental zapun; genitive zapu; proprietive-plural zapul. In the locative forms both stems appear: specific locative zanu, zapunu, etc.
gœiga 'sun, day'; bireg/bereg 'shelf'. The stems of these words have different forms to the nominative-accusative: gœiga — stem: gœigœyi-, gœigi-; bireg/bereg — stem: bœreigi-, biregi-
dœgam, KLK dœgaamu 'side, direction, point of compass, aspect'. This word has two stem forms, in free variation: dœgamu-, daguma-
Demonstratives

The language has a closed class of demonstrative morphemes with special morphological characteristics:
;Prefixes

pi-, pe- 'there in the distance in a specific position'
kai- 'there in the distance in a non-specific position'

;Stems

ka-, kawu-/kawa-, í- 'here, this'
se-, si-, sewu-/sewa- 'there, that '
-gu, KKY -gui, -mulu 'down there'
-ka, -karai/-kadai 'up there'
-ngapa 'there beyond', 'there on the other side'
-pai, -pa, -paipa 'ahead there, up close there', MY -kupai, KY also -kudhai
-pun, -puwa 'off from there, back from there, back over there, back there'

The Kauřařaigau Ya forms recorded are the same as in the modern dialects, with the exception of ka-/kařu- 'non-specific here, this', se-/si-/seřu- 'there, that', kařa- 'non-specific yonder', modern dialects kai-, %ka- and -puwai 'ahead there', modern dialects -pai/-pa.
These demonstratives can take masculine, feminine and non-singular morphology as well as case forms. Í- 'here, this' and se/si- 'there, that ' take the gender/number morphemes as suffixes, and the other demonstratives take them as prefixes. Note that ka- 'non-specifically here' and kai- 'there in the distance in a non-specific position' cannot appear with the gender/number morphemes, these latter being specific. Í- and se/si- also take an article forming affix -bi to become demonstrative articles ; kedha 'like this/that, thus' can also take this suffix.

Case/Suffix	here non specific	here specific	there non-specific	there specific
-	kai	in, ina, ipal, itha	sei, sí	senau, sena/sina, sepal/sipal, setha/sitha
	kedha	—	kedha	—
	kœu, kœwau	—	seu, sewau	—
	kœpa, kœwupa	—	sepa/sipa, sewupa	—
	kœzi, kœwuzi	—	seizi/sizi, sewuzi	—
-	kai, kœwa	in, ina, ipal, itha	sei, sí, sewa	senau, sena/sina, sepal/sipal, setha/sitha
--	kaiki, kawuki/kœwuki	inuki, inaki, ipalki, ithaki	seiki/siki, sewuki	senauki, senaki/sinaki, sepalki/sipalki, sethaki/sithaki
/-	kedha	kedha	kedha	kedha
article	kedhabi	inubi, inabi, ipalbi, ithabi	kedhabi	senaubi, senabi/sinabi, sepalbi/sipalbi, sethabi/sithabi

Case/Suffix	gui	ka	ngapa	pai/pa	pun/pawa
---- specific	nugui, nagui, palgui, thagui	nuka, naka, palka, thaka	nungap, nangap, palngap, thangap	nupai, napai, palpai, thapai	nupun, napun, palpun, thapun
--- non-specific	kaigui	kaika	kaingap	kaipai/kaipaipa	kaipun, kaipawapa
specific	numulupa, namulupa, palmulupa, thamulupa	nukaripa, nakaripa, palkaripa, thakaripa	nungapapa, nangapapa, palngapapa, thangapapa	nupaipa, napaipa, palpaipa, thapaipa	nupawapa, napawapa, palpawapa, thapawapa
non-specific	mulupa	karaipa/kadaipa	kaingapapa	paipa	pawapa
	kizigui	kizika	kizingap	kizipai	kizipun
--/- neutral	nuguiki, naguiki, palguiki, thaguiki	nukaki, nakaki, palkaki, thakaki	nungapaki, nangapaki, palngapaki, thangapaki	nupaiki/nupaipa, napaiki/napaipa, palpaiki/palpaipa, thapaiki/thapaipa	nupuniki/nupawapa, napuniki/napawapa, palpuniki/palawapa, thapuniki/thapawapa
-/-	kaiguiki	kaikaki	kaingapaki	kaipaiki/kaipaipa	kaipunki, kaipawapa

Pronouns

The personal pronouns are three-way nominative-ergative-accusative in declension. Note that the third person pronouns are also used as definite articles, e.g. Nuidh garkœzin nan yipkaz imadhin 'The man saw the woman'.

Case/Suffix	I/me	you	he/it	she/it	who	what
	ngai	ngi	nui	na	nga	mi-
	ngœna	ngin	nuin	nan	ngan	mi- ; min
	ngath	ngidh	nuidh	nadh	ngadh	midh
	ngau, ngœzu	nginu	nungu	nanu	ngœnu	mingu
	ngayapa	ngibepa	nubepa	nabepa	ngabepa	mipa
	ngaungu, ngœzungu	nginungu	nungungu	nanungu	ngœnungu	mingu
-	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaide/miainu, mizœpunu
--	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaiya, mizœpuya
-	ngaibiya	ngibiya	nubiya	nabiya	ngabiya	miaiyab, mizœpuyab
proprietive/plural	—	—	—	—	—	midel, mizœpul
	ngaugi, ngœzugi	nginugi	nungugi	nanugi	ngœnugi	miaigi, mizœgi
	ngaudh, ngœzudh	nginudh	nungudh	nanudh	ngœnudh	midh
	—	—	—	—	—	miaizi, mizœzi

Dual pronouns

The dual and plural pronouns are nominative-accusative, the accusative being the same in form as the genitive, except in KKY, where the accusative is unmarked.

Case/Suffix	we	you and I	you	them	who
--	ngalbe	ngœba	ngipel	palai	ngawal
	ngalben	ngœban	ngipen	palamun
	ngalbelpa	ngœbalpa	ngipelpa	palamulpa
	ngalbelngu	ngœbalngu	ngipelngu	palamulngu
	ngalbeniya	ngœbaniya	ngipeniya	palamuniya
	ngalbedh	ngœbadh	ngipedh	palamudh

Ngawal 'who ' is constructed from nga 'who' plus the clitic -wal 'both '.

Plural pronouns

Ngaya 'who many' is constructed from nga 'who' plus the clitic -ya 'and others '.

Personal names and familiar kinship terms

Familiar kinship terms are the equivalent of English kin terms such as Dad and Mum, while non-familiar terms are the equivalent of Father and Mother; these latter are treated as common nouns in the language.

Case/Suffix	Tom	Anai	Dad/Uncle	Mum/Aunty
-	Tom	Anai	Báb	Ama
-	Toman	Anaina	Baban	Amana
	Tomalpa	Anailpa	Babalpa	Amalpa
	Tomalngu	Anailngu	Babalngu	Amalngu
	Tomaniya	Anainiya	Babaniya	Amaniya
proprietive/plural	—	—	babal	amal
	—	—	babagi	amagi
	Tomadh	Anaidh	babadh	amadh
	—	—	babazi	amazi

Kauřařaigau Ya nominal morphology

The earliest grammatical records of the language are those of the mid-1800s Kauřařaigau Ya dialect. This dialect is identical to the modern dialects, apart from having more archaic forms of some endings and suffixes as well as stem forms.

Nominal suffixes and endings

;Common Nominals

Nominative-Accusative: unmarked
Ergative-Instrumental: -n,-na,-nu,-Cu; demonstratives unmarked
Genitive: monosyllable stems: -ngu, multisyllables -u
Dative-Allative: -pa ~ -pari
Ablative-Causative: nouns, pronouns -nguzi, verbal nouns -lai, adverbs/demonstratives -zi
Specific Locative: monosyllabic stem nouns -lai~-dai~-thai~-ai~-řai~-rai, multisyllabic stem nouns -nulai~-nule~-nuli~-nul, adverbs -lai~-l, demonstratives -ři
Non-Specific Locative: -ya, adverbs/demonstratives -ki~-kidha
Proprietive/Plural: monosyllabic stem nouns -lai~-dai~-thai~-ai~-řai~-rai, multisyllabic stem nouns, adverbs -lai, -rai, -řai
Privative: -gi
Imitative-Similative: -dha
Resultative: -zi

;Proper Nominals
No early writer recorded declined feminine forms, apart from the genitive. Ray implies that the OKY paradigm is basically the same as that of OKLY.

Nominative-Ergative-Instrumental: unmarked
Accusative-Genitive: masculine -ni, feminine -na-, dual-plural pronoun -ni~-mùni
Dative-Allative: masculine -nipa, feminine ?-napa, dual-plural pronoun -nipa~-mùnipa
Ablative-Causative: masculine -ninguzi ~-nunguzi, feminine ?-nanguzi, dual-plural pronoun -ninguzi~-nunguzi~-mùninguzi~-mùnunguzi
Locative: masculine -niya, feminine ? -naya, dual-plural pronoun -niya~-mùniya
Imitative-Similative: -dha, dual-plural pronoun -dha~-mùdha
Kauřařaigau Ya Pronouns

Brierly, MacGillivray and Ray recorded the following forms of the singular pronouns of OKY:
;Nominative

1st — Brierly gni, ngi; Macgillivray ngai; Ray ngai
2nd — Macgillivray ngi; Ray ngi
3rd masculine — Macgillivray nue; Ray nui
3rd feminine — Macgillivray na, nga; Ray na
'who' — Brierly gua; Macgillivray nga; Ray nga
'what' — Macgillivray mi; Ray mi-

;Accusative

1st — Brierly ana; Macgillivray ana; Ray ngana
2nd — Brierly gin; MacGillivray ngi; Ray nginö, ngin
3rd masculine — Brierly nooano; MacGillivray nudu; Ray nuinö, nuin
3rd feminine — Ray nanö, nan
'who' — Ray nganö, ngan
'what' — not recorded

;Instrumental-Ergative

1st — Brierly nath, nut; Macgillivray ngatu; Ray ngata, ngatö, ngat
2nd — Brierly needtha, needthoo; Macgillivray ngidu; Ray ngida, ngidö, ngid
3rd masculine — Brierly nooide ; MacGillivray nudu; Ray nuida, nuidö, nuid
3rd feminine — Macgillivray nadu; Ray nada, nadö, nad
'who' — Macgillivray ngadu; Ray ngada, ngadö, ngad
'what' — Brierly meedan; Macgillivray mida; Ray mida, midö, mid

;Genitive

1st — Brierly ngau, gnau, ngow masculine, udthu, oldzoo, udzoo feminine; Macgillivray ngow masculine, udzu, udz feminine; Ray ngau masculine, ngazu, nguzu feminine
2nd — Brierly gnee, ye noo, yeenow, niu, yenoo, meeno; MacGillivray yinu; Ray nginu
3rd masculine — Brierly noonoo; Ray nungu
3rd feminine — Macgillivray nanue; Ray nanu
'who' — Ray ngunu
'what' — not recorded

Based on the above forms and the modern dialects, the OKY pronouns are reconstructed as follows:

pronoun	Nominative	Accusative	Ergative-Instrumental	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
1st	ngayi	ngœna	ngathu	ngau ngœzu	ngaikika	ngaunguzi ngœzunguzi	ngaikiya
2nd	ngi	ngina	ngidhu	nginu	ngibepa	nginunguzi	ngibiya
3rd masculine	nui	nuina	nuidhu	nungu	nubepa	nungunguzi	nubiya
3rd feminine	na	nana	nadhu	nanu	nabepa	nanunguzi	nabiya
who	nga	ngana	ngadhu	ngœnu	ngabepa	ngœnunguzi	ngabiya
what	miyai	miyai	midhu	mingu	mipa	minguzi	mizapuya

The accusatives, the ablatives and imitatives underwent optional final vowel deletion, while the ergatives optionally transformed the final u to a or œ, or deleted it, thus ngathu > ngatha > ngathœ > ngath.
The recorded dual-plural forms are:
;Nominative-Ergative-Instrumental

1st Dual Exclusive — MacGillivray albei; Ray ngalbai
1st Dual Inclusive — MacGillivray aba; Ray ngaba
2nd Dual — MacGillivray ngipel; Ray ngipel
3rd Dual — MacGillivray pale; Ray palai
'who' Dual — Ray nga wal
1st Plural Exclusive — Brierly ari, churri; MacGillivray arri, uri; Ray ngöi
1st Plural Inclusive — Brierly alpa; MacGillivray alpa; Ray ngalpa
2nd Plural — MacGillivray ngi-tana; Ray ngita
3rd Plural — MacGillivray tana; Ray tana

;Accusative-Genitive

1st Dual Exclusive — Brierly abonnie, abuni, abani, aboni; MacGillivray N/A; Ray ngalbaini
1st Dual Inclusive — Brierly N/A; MacGillivray abane, abeine; Ray ngabani
2nd Dual — Brierly N/A; MacGillivray ngipeine; Ray ngipeni
3rd Dual — Brierly N/A; MacGillivray palaman; Ray palamuni
1st Plural Exclusive — Brierly areen; MacGillivray arrien; Ray ngöimunu
1st Plural Inclusive — Ray ngalpanu
2nd Plural — MacGillivray ngitanaman; Ray ngitamunu
3rd Plural — MacGillivray tanaman; Ray tanamunu

;Dative

1st Dual Exclusive: MacGillivray albi nipa; Ray ngalbainipa
1st Dual Inclusive: MacGillivray albynape; Ray ngabanipa
2nd Dual: Ray ngipenipa
3rd Dual: MacGillivray pale nipa; Ray palamunipa
1st Plural Exclusive: MacGillivray arri nipa; Ray ngöinipa, ngöimunipa
1st Plural Inclusive: Ray ngalpanipa, ngalpamunipa
2nd Plural: Ray ngitanipa, ngitamunipa
3rd Plural: MacGillivray tane nipa; Ray tananipa, tanamunipa

;Ablative

recorded by Ray as -nunguzi

These can be reconstructed as:

person	Nominative-Ergative-Instrumental	Accusative-Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative	Imitative-Similative
1st Dual	ngalbai	ngalbaini	ngalbainipa	ngalbainingu ngalbainungu	ngalbainiya	ngalbainidha
1st-2nd Dual	ngaba	ngabani	ngabanipa	ngabaningu ngabanungu	ngabaniya	ngabanidha
2nd Dual	ngipel	ngipeni	ngipenipa	ngipeningu ngipenungu	ngipeniya	ngipenidha
3rd Dual	palai pale	palamùni	palamùnipa	palamùningu palamùnungu	palamùniya	palamùnidha
1st Plural	ngœři	ngœřini	ngœřinipa	ngœřiningu ngœřinungu	ngœřiniya	ngœřinidha
1st-2nd Plural	ngalpa	ngalpani	ngalpanipa	ngalpaningu ngalpanungu	ngalpaniya	ngalpanidha
2nd Plural	ngitha	ngithani	ngithanipa	ngithaningu ngithanungu	ngithaniya	ngithanidha
3rd Plural	thana	thanani	thananipa	thananingu thananungu	thananiya	thananidha

'Who' in the dual nominative-accusative had the forms ngawal and ngaya.
Mi- 'what, which' was used in much the same way as in the modern dialects.
Verb morphology

Verbs can have over 100 different aspect, tense, voice, mood and number forms. Verb agreement is with the object in transitive clauses, and with the subject in intransitive clauses. Imperatives, on the other hand, agree with both subject and object in transitive clauses.
There are three aspects, two telicity forms, two moods, 6 tenses and four numbers.
In most descriptions of the language the active and attainative forms have been mistermed transitive and intransitive respectively. Transitive, intransitive, passive, antipassive and 'antipassive passive' in the language are syntactic categories, and are formed by the interplay of nominal and verbal morphology, clause/sentence-level characteristics such as word-order, and semantic considerations.
Verb morphology consists of prefixes, suffixes and endings. The structural matrix of the verb is as follows. Note that the two fossilised suffixes are mutually exclusive; if a suffix is in the A slot, a suffix cannot appear in the B slot, and vice versa:
+ + stem + + + ending
Examples:

pabalkabuthamadhin 'two were laid down across something'
pabalkabuthemadhin 'two lay down across something'

prefix: pa- 'telic prefix'
prefix: bal- 'positional — across'
stem: kabutha- 'place, lay'
telicity suffix: -Ø 'attainative', -i 'active'
number suffix: -ma 'dual'
tense-aspect-mood ending: -dhin 'remote past perfective'

garwœidhamemanu 'two met each other earlier today'

prefix: gar- 'collective'
stem: wœidha- 'place, put'
Fosslised suffix: ma 'intensive
telicity suffix: i 'active'
number suffix: ma 'dual'
tense-aspect-mood ending: dhin'' 'remote past perfective'

Sample verb declension

The verb here is íma- 'see, observe, supervise, examine, try, test'
;Tensed forms

Case/Suffix	Perfective Attainative	Imperfective Attainative	Perfective Active	Imperfective Active
remote future singular	imane	imaipu	imedhe	imepu
dual	imamane	imampu	imemadhe	imempu
plural	imamœine	imamœipu	imemœidhe	imemœipu
near future singular	imaipa	imaipu	imepa	imepu
dual	imampa	imampu	imempa	imempu
plural	imamœipa	imamœipu	imemœipa	imemœipu
present singular	iman	imaipa	imiz	imepa
dual	imaman	imampa	imeman	imempa
plural	imamœin	imamœipa	imemœin	imemœipa
today past singular	imanu	imadha	imema	imedha
dual	imamanu	imamadha	imemanu	imemadha
plural	imamœinu	imamœidha	imemœinu	imemœidha
recent past singular	imangu	imarngu	imaingu	imairngu
dual	imamangu	imamarngu	imemangu	imemarngu
plural	imamœingu	imamœirngu	imemœingu	imemœirngu
remote past singular	imadhin	imar	imaidhin	imai
dual	imamadhin	imamar	imemadhin	imemar
plural	imamœidhin	imamœi	imemœidhin	imemœi

;Non-tensed forms

Case/Suffix	Singular	Dual	Plural
Attainative Habitual	imaipu	imampu	imamœipu
Active Habitual	imepu	imempu	imemœipu
Perfective Attainative Imperative	imar	imamar	imamœi
	imau	imamariu	imamœi
Active Imperative	imi	imemariu	imemœi
Imperfective Attainative Imperative	imadha	imamadha	imamœidha
Imperfective Active Imperative	imedha	imemadha	imemœidha

;Nominalised forms

Case/Suffix	Verbal Noun	Proprietive	Privative	Resultative
unmarked form	imai	imail	imaigi	imaizi
independent impersonal form	imai	imailnga	imaiginga	imaizinga
stem	imai-	imailmai-	imaigimai-	imaizimai-
independent personal form	—	imailaig	imaigig	imaizig
stem	—	imailga-	imaigiga-	imaiziga-

Kauřařaigau Ya verbal morphology

Prefixes
These were the same as in the modern dialects.
Suffixes
The only suffix differences with the modern dialects were in the form of the plural and verbal noun suffixes. In OKY these were maři and ři respectively. The dual was ngauma on ma- 'take, give, move etc.' and otherwise uma.
Class 1: wœidha- 'put, place, cook'

wœidhamařinu attainative perfective present plural object
wœidhaumanu attainative perfective present dual object
wœidhemařinu active perfective present plural subject
wœidheumanu active perfective present dual subject
wœidhàři verbal noun

Class 2: ni-, niya- 'sit, stay'

niyamařipa imperfective present plural
niyaumapa imperfective present dual
niyàři, niyài verbal noun

Verb endings

ATTAINATIVE INDICATIVE	perfective	singular perfective active	imperfective
remote future	-kœrui	—	-kœrui
future	-pa	—	-kœrui
present	-nu	-izi monosyllabic stem: -iziři	-pa
today past	-nulai	-ma	-adha
recent past	-ngùl	—	-rngùl
remote past	-dhin	—	-r
ATTAINATIVE IMPERATIVE	-r SgS, -u PlS, -riu Dual	-i	-adha

On the whole, the OKY verb seems to have been declined like the Kalau Lagau Ya verb. This includes the loss of the suffix ma in the intransitive imperfective present/perfective today future singular. This loss, however, appears to have been optional in the today past equivalent:

OKY daneipa 'rise ' : KLY danaika, KKY danamipa 'rise, load up' present imperfective
OKY dadeipa 'die' : KLY dhœidhaika 'be dizzy, dead drunk' present imperfective
OKY usimema, usima 'douse' : KLY usima, KKY wœsimima 'douse' today past perfective

Vowel/diphthong deletion and reduction in class 1b verbs was optional in OKY where it is now optional or obligatory:

OKY uzareuma-: KLY uzareuma-, KKY uzarma- 'go dual'
OKY delupeipa 'drown, sink': KLY dudupaka, KKY dœdupapa

The irregular verb yœwi- / iya- / yœuna- 'lie/slant/lean over/down' was recorded in the form iipa, indicating the stem ii-. Otherwise, only yœuna- was recorded for OKY.

Miscellaneous paradigms

Three paradigms that have irregular morphology are:

Sikai 'perhaps, maybe, possibly'. This word modifies for singular gender : masculine sinukai/senukai; feminine sinakai/senakai; general sikai. In KKY, the word is invariable sike, sikedh
yawa 'goodbye, farewell, take care'. This word is only used when speaking to a single person. For two or more people, the form is yawal.
masculine kame ~ kamedh, feminine kake ~ kakedh, non-singular kole ~ koledh 'hey!'
Sign language

The Torres Strait Islanders, neighbouring Papuans and neighbouring Australians have a common sign language, though early records did not make a detailed study of this. Simple conversations and stories can be carried out in the sign language; however, it does not attain the sophistication of a fully developed sign language. It's had some influence on Far North Queensland Indigenous Sign Language.

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Kalaw Lagaw Ya

Names

Geographic distribution

Classification and external comparison

Personal pronouns

Pre-historic overview

Outside influences

Dialects

Samples of the dialects

Dialectal differences

Phonology

Colloquial final unstressed vowel elision

Final unstressed vowel devoicing

Final i-glide deletion

Syntax

Verb negative construction

Verb tenses/aspects

Nominal affixes

Vocabulary

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Kauřařaigau Ya phonology

Stress

Bisyllabic forms

Multisyllabic forms

Vowels and diphthongs

Development of ''ř''

Syllabification

Orthography

Mission Spelling

Klokheid and Bani

Saibai, Boigu, Dauan students

Pronunciation of the letters

Grammar

Nominal morphology

Common Nominal declensions

Irregular nouns

Demonstratives

Pronouns

Dual pronouns

Plural pronouns

Personal names and familiar kinship terms

Kauřařaigau Ya nominal morphology

Nominal suffixes and endings

Kauřařaigau Ya Pronouns

Verb morphology

Sample verb declension

Kauřařaigau Ya verbal morphology

Miscellaneous paradigms

Sign language