Introduction

The aim of this paper is to describe the systems of spatial orientation and the linguistic resources that are employed in descriptions of spatial relations and motion events in Jaminjung, an Australian language. The most notable features of Jaminjung in this domain are, first, the existence of two distinct predicative word classes, verbs and coverbs. These show a clear division of labour with respect to the expression both of spatial relations and of the components of motion events. In motion expressions, verbs encode only the fact of motion and the ‘anchoring’ of the path, while both manner of motion and other aspects of the path are expressed by coverbs. This means that Jaminjung falls outside the verb-framed/satellite-framed typology as it is currently conceived.

The second interesting feature, which is notable in that Jaminjung differs in this respect from other Australian languages whose system of spatial orientation has been investigated in more detail, is the existence of a drainage-based absolute frame of reference, rather than one based on compass directions. In descriptions of small-scale spatial arrangements, however, speakers prefer to employ expressions based on an intrinsic frame of reference, or expressions describing an overall configuration.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 3.2 presents a brief introduction to the language and its speakers. Section 3.3, in describing the grammatical and lexical resources for spatial descriptions, also serves as a brief introduction to the grammatical properties of the major word classes and to other grammatical features of Jaminjung.