Datapoint Kriol/Inclusive/exclusive distinction in independent personal pronouns

Inclusive and exclusive 1st dual pronouns are consistently distinguished in all varieties (they are yunmi~minyu and mindubala~minbala, respectively). However, for 1st plural the forms wi and mibala (as well as, in Roper River, mela), which according to published descriptions of the Roper River variety have inclusive and exclusive reference, respectively, are used interchangeably by older speakers of the Victoria River variety. A similar tendency is reported by Hudson (1985: 44–45) for the Fitzroy Valley variety.

Values

Inclusive and exclusive differentiated

Example 25-79:
Wi yusdu get haidin from wait men yuno, oletaim.
Wi
1pl
yusdu
hab
get
get
haidin
hiding
from
from
wait
white
men
men
yuno,
you.know
oletaim.
always
We used to get a beating from the white people all the time.
Example 25-96:
Mindubala Namij kolim dardaga.
Mindubala
1du.excl
Namij
Namij
kol-im
call-tr
dardaga.
plant.species
Namij and I (in our language, Ngarinyman) call it dardaga (an edible plant).
Example 25-101:
Imin lagijat la mi en a - mindubala bin agamen na.
Im=in
3sg=pst
lagijat
like.that
la
loc
mi
1sg
en
and
a
[false_start]
-
-
mindubala
1du.excl
bin
pst
agamen
argue
na.
now
He went like that (i.e. said that) to me – we two had an argument then.

Source: Sandefur and Sandefur 1982: 65

Example 25-103:
Wen wi bin langa Carlton, en Missis bin oldei givit mibala boksis.
Wen
when
wi
1pl.excl
bin
pst
langa
loc
Carlton,
Carlton
en
and
Missis
Missis
bin
pst
oldei
always
giv-it
give-tr
mibala
1pl.excl
boks-is.
box-pl
When we were [working] on Carlton Station, and the Missus used to give us boxes. (with matches, to burn the grass)
Example 25-104:
Yunmi labda go bek la im.
Yunmi
1du.incl
labda
oblig
go
go
bek
back
la
loc
im.
3sg
You and I should go back to/for her.
Example 25-105:
Mibala yujdu idimbat la bush.
Mibala
1pl
yujdu
hab
id-im-bat
eat-tr-prog
la
loc
bush.
bush
We used to eat it in the bush.
Example 25-106:
[...] en mibala bin gowin na. Wi bin gowin insaid an jat men bin brejim batn bla mibala. Imin - mibalan godan, godan yilif. Godan yilif, pulap langa midl, apwei. Mela bin lukaran. Wi bin luk jarrawei an wi bin luk dijei.
[...]
[...]
en
and
mibala
1pl
bin
pst
gow-in
go-in
na.
now
Wi
1pl
bin
pst
gow-in
go-in
insaid
inside
an
and
jat
dem
men
man
bin
pst
brej-im
press-tr
batn
button
bla
dat/poss
mibala.
1pl
Im=in
3sg=pst
-
 
mibala=n
1pl=pst
godan,
go-down
go-dan
go-down
yilif.
lift
Go-dan
go-down
yilif,
lift
pul-ap
pull-up
langa
loc
midl,
middle
apwei.
halfway
Mela
1pl
bin
pst
luk-aran.
look-around
Wi
1pl
bin
pst
luk
look
jarra-wei
dist-dir
an
and
wi
1pl
bin
pst
luk
look
dij-ei.
prox-dir
[...] and we went in. We went inside and the man there pressed a button for us and we went down. We went down in the lift and we stopped half way down. We looked around. We looked this way and that way.

Source: Sandefur and Sandefur 1982: 81

Confidence:
Certain