Pitjantjatjara

Adverb

puṯu

1. unsuccessfully, in vain
   • 2010, Re-awakening Languages: Theory and Practice in the Revitalisation of Australia's Indigenous Languages, Sydney University Press, 2010, p. 85:

     Mungaṯu nyangangku katjangku wangkangu, Ngunytjimalu wangkangu, "Maḻu anytjapiri mantjila", ka tjitji kutju kunyu puṯu kuliningi, "Nyaa, nyaa?" Puṯu alatjitu kuliningi anytjapiri.

     Recently this person's son was saying, Ngunytjima was saying, "Get some whole kangaroo", and that child [to whom he was speaking] apparently couldn't understand [literally "unsuccessfully understood"], [saying] "What, what?" He couldn't understand anytjapiri at all.