Details

General

Morphemic form: V{-(c)i}V
New orthography: +sivaa
Old orthography: -ivâ, -sivâ, -ssivâ, -livâ
Combinations: Click here
Variants: V{li}V, V{si}V,
Left sandhi:
Truncative,
Irregular,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: Vowel stem
Diathesis: Reflexive
Valency change: Increasing
Valency:
Divalent,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary, this affix is a variant of {li-}, 'become (more) Vb'ing' (i.e. V{li}V), which may display replacivity on t-stems. It does not appear to be very productive in modern use. Its meaning appears to be something like 'Patient (unfortunately/accidentally) Vb'ed for Agent', seemingly indicating that the verbal action happened by accident or somehow otherwise against the intention of the Agent.


Left sandhi:

The affix appears to be generally truncative. However, there are several examples of irregularly formed words in the older dictionaries. Based on the examples in Schultz-Lorentzen (1958), the initial /c/ does not appear to be present on k-stems and q-stems:

According to the examples in Ordbogeeraq (1951), the /c/ appears to be present on t(ə)-stems, but with elision of /ə/:

This formation seems to have proceeded as follows:

Hence, this affix appears to behave like the HTR-morpheme {ði}. The examples do not illustrate how it behaves on t-stems, but given this similarity, we may hypothesise that it will join onto /t/ with /c/ present and /tc/ becoming 'ts'.

It is not clear whether the above behaviour is still used nowadays, to the extent that the affix is still used productively, or whether it will simply behave as {-ci}. However, at least in lexicalised words, the above rules seem to have been used.


Meanings and examples

Or 'Agent (unfortunately/accidentally) got Patient Vb'ed'

  • aseruivaa, it (accidentally) broke for him
    [4]

    From aserorpoq, 'it broke' or 'was destroyed'. This words was formed with deletion of /q/ and without insertion of /c/.

  • annaavaa, it escaped him
    [4]

    E.g. an animal he was hunting, from annappoq, 'it escapes', a k-stem. This words was formed with deletion of /k/ and without insertion of /c/.

  • kivisivaa, it sank for him
    [4]

    From kivivoq, 'it sank', i.e. a boat or ship. This words was formed with insertion of /c/ on a vowel stem.

  • tingisivaa, it flew away from him
    [4]

    From tingivoq, 'it flew away', e.g. a bird that he was hunting. This words was formed with insertion of /c/ on a vowel stem.


References