Aversive case

The aversive or evitative case (abbreviated EVIT) is a grammatical case found in Australian Aboriginal languages that indicates that the marked noun is avoided or feared.

Usage

For example, in Walmajarri:

Yapa-warnti

child-ABS.PL

pa-lu

IND-they

tjurtu-karrarla

dust-AVERSIVE

laparnkanja

ran away

natji-karti.

cave-ALL

Yapa-warnti pa-lu tjurtu-karrarla laparnkanja natji-karti.

child-ABS.PL IND-they dust-AVERSIVE {ran away} cave-ALL

The children ran into the cave because of the dust storm.

The suffix -karrarla indicates that the action (running away) was carried out in order to avoid the dust storm, tjurtu-.

The aversive may also be used to mark the object of verbs of fearing. For example, in Djabugay:

Djama-lan

snake-AVERSIVE

ŋawu

I

yarrnga-nj.

be afraid-PAST

Djama-lan ŋawu yarrnga-nj.

snake-AVERSIVE I {be afraid-PAST}

I was afraid of the snake.

The aversive may be used on a nominalized verb, to produce an equivalent of English "lest". For example, "lest they be forgotten" could be encoded as "to avoid forgetting them".

Languages

Few languages have a distinct aversive case. Usually, a single case will be used both for the aversive and other functions.

Languages with a distinct aversive case include:

• Arrernte
• Djabugay
• Gumbaynggir
• Marri Ngarr
• Marrithiyel
• Walmajarri
• Warlmanpa
• Warlpiri
• Warumungu
• the Western Desert Language
• Yidinj

References

• Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47378-0.