Details
General
| Morphemic form: | N{(q)naq}N |
| New orthography: | +naq, -rnaq |
| Old orthography: | -naĸ, -rnaĸ |
| Sources: | [9, 12, 11] |
| Combinations: | Click here |
| Left sandhi: | Default,
ə-eliding,
|
| Right sandhi: | Default/none,
|
| Inflection sandhi: | Default/none,
|
| Stem type: | Weak q-stem |
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
This is a non-productive affix found in many lexicalised place names and animal names. The meaning is 'something resembling N', or maybe just 'the N-like'.
Left sandhi:
On /tə/ stems, this affix appears to prefer to elide /ə/ and instead attach directly to /t/, without the insertion of /q/.
In some cases, the affix also appears to have behaved as N{-qnaq}N instead, deleting a final /k/. However, this seems to be an irregularity. As the affix is non-productive, we shall not attempt to account for these variant forms, but merely note that they exist.
Inflection
Declension pattern:
| Declension type: | p-declined |
| Declension sandhi: | Default/none |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | +na | +na |
+naq
+nap
+nat
|
| Phonemic orthography | (q)na | (q)na |
(q)naq
(q)nap
(q)nat
|
Meanings and examples
Especially in animal and place names.
- mannernaq, a (type of) small egg
[11]
From mannik, 'egg'. Note: this is irregularly formed, where the affix appears to have deleted the final /k/.
- apparnaq, a type of murre (a bird)
[11]
From appa, 'common murre'.
- niisarnaq, pilot whale
[11]
From niisa, 'porpoise'.
- naternaq, flatland; flat area at the bottom of a valley?
[11]
From nateq, 'floor; bottom'.
- Uummannaq, the heart-shaped
[11]
From uummat, 'heart'. Note, this is a /tə/ stem, and here the affix has elided /ə/ and attached directly to /t/. Uummannaq is the name of a town in North Greenland, named after the nearby mountain, which resembles a human heart.