Details

General


Morphemic form: V{-luuq}V
New orthography: -loorpoq
Old orthography: -lôrpoĸ
Sources:
[11]
[10]
Combinations: Click here
Constituents: ?, V{-uq}V,
Left sandhi:
Truncative,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: q-stem
Diathesis: None
Valency change: Preserving
Valency:
None,

Description and behaviour


Form and usage:

This affix appears to be non-productive, or only marginally productive. According to Schultz-Lorentzen [10] , it means 'Subject Vb still, a bit'. We record it here as valency preserving, but note that all the examples are with monovalent stems, so it may be that it is only used monovalently.

Etymology:
According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [15] , the affix derives from a morpheme {tluk-}, '(too) much', which however does not have a direct descendant in Kalaallisut. It is not explained how the initial /t/ has disappeared, nor is it explained how the meaning reverses from 'much' to 'a little'. I hypothesise that the final element is V{-uq}V, contributing the meaning 'still'.


Meanings and examples


This is the translation given by Schultz-Lorentzen [10] . The Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [15] add, in parentheses, 'a lot', but it is not clear how this meaning should be interpreted. Possibly, they mean that the literal meaning is 'a little', but it may be used in cases where the intended meaning actually is 'a lot' (e.g. 'he eats a little', when the speaker actually thinks he is eating a lot).

  • pisuloorpoq, he walks around a bit
    [10]

    From pisuppoq, 'he walks'.

  • neriloorpoq, he eats a bit
    [10]

    From nerivoq, 'he eats'.

  • oqaluloorpoq, he is still talking a bit
    [10]

    From oqaluppoq, 'he talks'.