Victorian Aboriginal Languages / Foundation to Level 2 / Understanding / Systems of language
Content description
Recognise the function of different word types and understand basic elements of language structures
Elaborations
understanding that words in the language have different functions, for example, words for things, words for actions, and that these functions are also found in other languages, such as English
identifying people, places, things and events using:
nouns, for example, family, kinship, plants/ animals, items in immediate natural and built environments
pronouns, for example, personal, interrogative, kinship, demonstrative
verbs for simple actions, states and processes
terms to qualify, quantify, classify or compare things, for example, size, colour, number
adverbs, for example, of location, time and manner
simple forms of negation
becoming aware of how word order may differ from English, for example, noun + qualifier vs qualifier + noun, ’child happy’ vs ’happy child’
recognising the use of common affixes on nouns, for example, the man’s dog’’, to the river’’, in the sea’’
learning the use of common affixes on verbs, for example, to indicate tense or mood
understanding and using metalanguage to describe word types, for example, noun, pronoun, verb
understanding that some parts of the language may have fallen into disuse and not be known today
noticing that new words can be formed from within the language itself, rather than borrowed from other languages
noticing that compared to English some words may be left out (ellipsis), or must be included or repeated in phrases and sentences, for example, “(it) went”, “big (dog) ate (it)”
