Details

General

Morphemic form: N{lliq}V
New orthography: -llerpoq
Old orthography: -dlerpâ, -gdlerpâ
Combinations: Click here
See also: N{-liq}V,
Left sandhi:
Default,
ə-eliding,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: q-stem
Diathesis: Agentive
Valency change: None
Valency:
Divalent,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This affix means 'Agent serves Patient N'. It is divalent and agentive, so when it is used intransitively, the Patient is just dropped, and the meaning thus just becomes 'Agent serves N'.

According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary, it presumably derives from the historical morpheme {liʀ-}, which is also the root of the modern-day morpheme N{-liq}V, 'Agent provides Patient with N'. However, the source of the geminate /ll/ is unexplained. It might have been formed through a combination with the geminating affix V{'-q}V, 'become Vb'ing', but this is not clear, so we do not record it as a combination.


Left sandhi:

There are some lexicalised examples of words formed with this affix, where it has elided a /ə/ on the stem. However, this behaviour is probably not regular nowadays.


Meanings and examples

Or 'serves N', 'offers', 'gives out' etc. When used intransitively, the Patient is just dropped, and the meaning thus becomes 'Agent serves N'.

  • immiallerpoq, he is serving beer
  • kaffillerpoq, he is hosting a 'kaffemik'

    'Kaffemik' is a tradition in Greenlandic culture. The meaning is literally 'he is serving coffee'.

  • mattallerpoq, he is serving mattak
  • neqillerpoq, he is serving meat
  • nerlerpaa, he provides food for him
    [4]

    Or 'he feeds him'. This is an irregularly formed, lexicalised word. The base is {nəqə}N, 'meat', and this affix has elided the final /ə/, whilst seemingly also dropping one of its initial /l/.

  • sukkulaatillerpoq, he is giving out chocolate

References