Details

General

Morphemic form: N{(t)}V
New orthography: -ppoq, +poq
Old orthography: -gpoq, '-poĸ
Sources: [11, 8]
Combinations: Click here
Left sandhi:
Default,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: t-stem
Diathesis: Subjective
Valency:
Monovalent,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This affix, which consists of a single epenthetic consonant, is used to denote 'catch N' or 'kill N', with N typically denoting an animal traditionally hunted in Greenland. In practice, it therefore often looks like a verbal ending having been added directly onto the noun stem, except in the cases where the noun stem is a vowel stem. In the old orthography, the injected consonant was written as 'g', i.e. this affix would look like -gpoĸ. However, according to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [16], the consonant is /t/, so we record the affix as N{(t)}V.

Nielsen [8] notes that this affix, despite being monovalent, occasionally may be used with the passive participle V{-ðaq}N, e.g. tuttutaq, 'a caught caribou' from tuttuppoq.


Left sandhi:

The affix is just an epenthetic consonant.

There is a single example, where it seems to have behaved truncatively instead, and also having caused gemination in the preceding stem, i.e. behaving as N{'-t}V. This is with nanoq, 'polar bear', yielding nannuppoq (and passive participle nannuttaq). However, this appears to be a single exception, so we do not record this as part of the general behaviour of this affix.


Meanings and examples

Or 'kill N', with noun stems for animals typically hunted in Greenland

  • tuttuppoq, he killed a caribou

    The base is tuttu, so here we see the epenthetic /t/ injected.

  • puisippoq, he caught a seal

    The base is puisi, so the epenthetic /t/ is injected.

  • terianniarpoq, He caught polar fox.

    The base is terianniaq. Here the stem ends in a consonant, so the epenthetic /t/ is not injected. Thus it looks, as if the verbal ending is added directly to the noun stem.

  • nannuppoq, he killed a polar bear [11]

    Old orthography nánugpoĸ with spurious /g/. From nanoq, 'polar bear'. This is a lexicalised, irregularly formed word, where the affix has triggered gemination in the stem.


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