Details
General
| Morphemic form: | N{tciaq}N |
| New orthography: | -tsiaq |
| Old orthography: | -tsiaĸ |
| Sources: | [19, 16, 7] |
| Combinations: | View list |
| Variants: | V{tciaq}V |
| See also: | N{tcialak}N |
| Left sandhi: | Default |
| Right sandhi: | Default/none |
| Inflection sandhi: | Geminating |
| Stem type(s): | Weak q-stem |
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
The meaning of this affix is 'a fair-sized N'. It may also have connotations of 'good', especially in combination with other affixes. There is also a verbal variant, V{tciaq}V, meaning 'Vb fairly much'.
Inflection sandhi:
This affix has a very peculiar feature: It geminates /a/. The origin of this behaviour is unclear. In the old orthography, it may have been up-declined, i.e. -tsiaup, -tsiait, which would explain the lengthened vowel in these cases. However, if viewed as an ordinary, geminating weak-q stem, then we still get a lengthened /a/, because of the gemination, i.e. -tsiaap, -tsiaat, so the up-declension may be spurious. The lengthening of /a/ is recorded at least as far back as in Rasmussen (1888), who has the example arrîtsuatsiâmik, new orthography: arriitsuatsiaamik. The old orthography reveals that the lengthened a-vowel is /aa/, and not /ai/.
Inflection
Declension pattern:
| Stem type: | Weak q-stem |
| Declension type: | p-declined |
| Declension sandhi: | Geminating |
| Gemination type: | a⇒aa |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | -tsiaa | -tsia | -tsiaq, -tsiaap, -tsiaat, |
| Phonemic orthography | tciaa | tcia | tciaq, tciaap, tciaat, |
Notes on declension:
We assume this is gemination of /a/ to /aa/, and we therefore give the ergative and plural endings as /tcaap/, /tcaat/ in the phonemic orthography. If we were to follow the old orthography, the forms would instead be /tcaip/, /tcait/.
Meanings and examples
It may also have connotations of 'good', especially in combination with other affixes.
- aataatsiaq, a fairly big harp seal
[16]
From aataaq, 'harp seal'.
- utoqqatsiaq, a fairly old person
[16]
- illutsiaat, fairly big houses
[16]
Schultz-Lorentzen (1958) has igdlutsiait here, suggesting up-declension, but this may be spurious.
- nukappiatsiaap arpappaa, the teenage-boy ran over to fetch it
[16]
Schultz-Lorentzen (1958) has nukagpiatsiaup here, suggesting up-declension, but this may be spurious.
- umiatsiaami, on the boat
Here we see gemination of /a/ to /aa/ before a consonant-initial ending.