Plural and Singular morphemes & morphemes to denote tense
In Aboriginal English, the plural suffix 's' added to words to denote plural form such as in the word 'apples' is not used often. However, in Standard English, the plural form of a noun is usually indicated by the addition of s or es to the end of a word, and, in agreement with this, the usual s is dropped from the present-tense form of the verb. An example of this is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'my three kid' instead of 'my three kids', leaving out the plural 's' suffix at the end of the word 'kid'.
In Aboriginal English, the suffix to denote past tense '-ed' such as in the words 'danced' are not used. An example of this is when Aboriginal English speakers would say 'They lock ‘im up' in stead of 'they locked him up', leaving out the suffix 'ed' in the word 'locked' to denote its past tense. Another example of past tense not used is when Aboriginal speakers say 'I give ‘im hit', which is suppose to mean 'i gave him it' in Standard Australian English. Here, the past tense 'gave' has not been used to denote the past tense of the word 'give'.
In Aboriginal English, the suffix to denote past tense '-ed' such as in the words 'danced' are not used. An example of this is when Aboriginal English speakers would say 'They lock ‘im up' in stead of 'they locked him up', leaving out the suffix 'ed' in the word 'locked' to denote its past tense. Another example of past tense not used is when Aboriginal speakers say 'I give ‘im hit', which is suppose to mean 'i gave him it' in Standard Australian English. Here, the past tense 'gave' has not been used to denote the past tense of the word 'give'.
Possession morphemes
The usual way of indicating possession in Standard English is by adding an 's' suffix to a noun. However, in Aboriginal English, this is not commonly practiced. For example, Aboriginal English speakers say 'Jim foot' instead of 'Jim's foot', leaving out the 's' suffix after the noun Jim to denote its possession. Another example of this is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'baby horse' instead of 'baby's horse', leaving out the 's' possession suffix after the noun 'baby' to denote its possession. In this example, the leaving out of the plural suffix has altered the meaning of the phrase. To standard English speakers, the word 'baby' in 'baby horse' would be inferred as an adjective rather than a noun. This is therefore a distinctive difference between Aboriginal English and Standard English.
It is also interesting to note that instead of using the possession morpheme 's', Aboriginal English speakers use prepositions such as 'blong' and 'bla' to refer to one's possession. Such an example is when the phrase 'baby blong horse' in Aboriginal English means 'the baby's horse' in Standard English.
It is also interesting to note that instead of using the possession morpheme 's', Aboriginal English speakers use prepositions such as 'blong' and 'bla' to refer to one's possession. Such an example is when the phrase 'baby blong horse' in Aboriginal English means 'the baby's horse' in Standard English.
Question tag
It is common for Aboriginal English questions to be finished with a question tag. In much of Australia this tag is 'eh?', in South Australia it is 'inna', and in the south west of Western Australia, it is 'unna'. These three question tags have the equivalent meaning of ‘isn’t it so?’ or ‘isn’t that right?’ in Standard English and therefore performs the role of a marker of solidarity.
Such examples of using these question tags in Aboriginal English are 'They bite, eh?' to mean 'They bite, isn't it so?' in Standard English, and 'brothers for ever and ever unna' to mean 'brothers for ever and ever, isn't that right?' in Standard English.
Such examples of using these question tags in Aboriginal English are 'They bite, eh?' to mean 'They bite, isn't it so?' in Standard English, and 'brothers for ever and ever unna' to mean 'brothers for ever and ever, isn't that right?' in Standard English.
Syntax- Prepositions
Speakers of Aboriginal English often follow a grammatical pattern of local Aboriginal languages in their use of prepositions, rather than the conventions of Standard English. Such an example is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'They frighten from the doctor' with an intended Standard English meaning of 'They are frightened of the doctor'. It can be seen that the word 'from' in Aboriginal English has the same meaning as the preposition 'of' in Standard English. Another example of this is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'I go back up the policeman', which means ' I went back to the policeman' in Standard English. Here, the preposition 'to' has been dropped and must be inferred from context alone.
Some speakers of Aboriginal English use 'Ia' or 'longa', which are words borrowed from Kriol, as a preposition meaning on, in, at or to.
Such an example is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'we never been la court' to mean 'we have never been in court' in Standard English. Here, the word 'la' was used to replace the preposition 'in' in Standard English. An example of when 'longa' is used to replace the preposition 'at' in Standard English is ' He wait longa river'. This has the same meaning as ' He waits at the river' in Standard English.
Some speakers of Aboriginal English use 'Ia' or 'longa', which are words borrowed from Kriol, as a preposition meaning on, in, at or to.
Such an example is when Aboriginal English speakers say 'we never been la court' to mean 'we have never been in court' in Standard English. Here, the word 'la' was used to replace the preposition 'in' in Standard English. An example of when 'longa' is used to replace the preposition 'at' in Standard English is ' He wait longa river'. This has the same meaning as ' He waits at the river' in Standard English.
Syntax- Auxilary verb
One of the most persistent features of Aboriginal English is the absence of adding auxiliary verbs in its sentences. This happens on a regular basis and it can be said to be the most distinctive feature of Aboriginal English. Such examples are 'he just joking' to mean 'he is just joking' in Standard English', 'E my cousin' to mean 'He is my cousin' in Standard English, and 'E big' to mean 'He is big' in Standard English. In these three examples, the auxiliary verb is was left out and readers had to infer this from the sentence's contextual meaning.
However, sometimes the emission of auxiliary verbs makes it hard for the reader to decipher its grammatical meaning. For example, the phrase 'He still under the Act' could mean 'He is still under the Act' or 'He will still be under the Act' in Standard English.
However, sometimes the emission of auxiliary verbs makes it hard for the reader to decipher its grammatical meaning. For example, the phrase 'He still under the Act' could mean 'He is still under the Act' or 'He will still be under the Act' in Standard English.
Syntax-word order
In Standard English, the order of the major elements of a regular declarative sentence is fairly fixed; the subject precedes the verb and the object follows. However, Heavy varieties of Aboriginal English, like the majority of Aboriginal languages, do not restrict the order of phrases in a sentence. For instance, a noun or noun phrase that belongs with the subject often follows the verb. The sentence 'That’s why they bin moving old people' has the same meaning as 'That’s why the old people moved' in Standard English. Here, the subject 'old people' has been placed after the verb 'moving', making it seem like the meaning 'That's why they moved the old people' to Standard English speakers.