Details

General

Morphemic form: V{lqajaqə}V
New orthography: -qqajaqaaq
Old orthography: -rĸajaĸaoĸ
Combinations: Click here
Constituents: V{lqajaq}V, V{-qə}V,
Left sandhi:
Default,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
ə-contraction,
Stem type: ə-stem
Diathesis: None
Valency change: Preserving
Valency:
None,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This is a straightforward combination of V{lqajaq}V and V{-qə}V, although the meaning is not quite obvious from the constituents. The general meaning is: 'Subject almost Vb'ed' or 'Subject nearly Vb'ed', i.e. it was close, but it did not happen.

Besides the general meaning, it is also used in a special construction together with another verb in the conditional mood, with the following meaning: 'if Subject1 Vb'ed then Subject2 would have Vb'ed'. In this construction, we thus have two verbs, and two clauses:

Note that Subject1 and Subject2 can refer to the same person, and in fact they do in all the examples of Kleinschmidt and Schultz-Lorentzen, but this need not always be the case.


Meanings and examples

I.e., it was close, but it did not happen.

  • orloqqajaqaanga, I almost/nearly fell
    [13]

    From orluvoq, he falls over/topples.

  • aseroqqajaqaat, you almost/nearly broke it
    [13]

    From aserorpaa, 'he breaks/destroys it' and with indicative 2sg/3sg ending V{vat}.

  • pisareqqajaqaa, he almost/nearly caught it
    [13]

    From pisaraa, 'he catches it', and with indicative 3sg/3sg ending V{vaa}.

With the affix on the verb stem in the main clause, and with a dependent clause in the conditional mood (possibly with V{galuaq}V). Note: Subject1 and Subject2 can be the same person, but they do not have to be.

  • takugaluarukku tupigeqqajaqqaat, if you had seen it, you would have been surprised by it
    [13]

    From takuaa, 'he sees it' and tupigaa, 'he is surprised by it'. Here we have the dependent clause, takugaluarakku with V{galuaq}V in the conditional mood, with the 2sg/3sg ending V{gukku}; and the main clause tupigeggajaqaat, containing this affix, in the indicative mood with the 2sg/3sg ending V{vat}. Note: V{galuaq}V here denotes that Subject1 (you) in fact did not see it.

  • nigginngippat ippassarli tikeqqajaqaagut, if there had not been a southerly wind blowing, we would already have arrived yesterday
    [13]

    From niggerpoq, 'a southerly wind blows' and tikippoq, 'he arrived'. The particle ippassaq means 'yesterday', and it is used with the enclitic *{li}, which here denotes something like 'already', emphasising the time specification. Schultz-Lorentzen [4] has an almost similar example: anorlersimanngikkaluarpat uatsiarli tikeqqajaqaagut, 'if there had not been wind, we would already have arrived this morning'.

  • ilaagaluaruit nuannareqqajaqaat, if you had been there, you would have enjoyed it
    [4]

    From ilaavoq, which denotes something like 'he is a member of the group/party', here translated as 'be there' (at whatever the speaker is referring to); and nuannaraa, 'he enjoys it'.


References