Details

General

Morphemic form: V{niq}V
New orthography: +nerpoq, +nersoq
Old orthography: -nerpoĸ
Combinations: Click here
Left sandhi:
Default,
Right sandhi:
Assibilation (t⇒s),
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: q-stem
Diathesis: None
Valency change: Preserving
Valency:
None,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This affix is used to express wondering, usually used with questions. It might be translated as something like 'whether perhaps', but this is not always suitable. Alternatives like 'I wonder' may sometimes fit better, even though 'I' is not directly expressed in the verbal ending.

This affix is commonly used in participial object clauses, although it also may be used with other moods. It always appears last in the word, right before the ending.


Right sandhi:

The true /i/ will regularly assibilate a following /t/ to /s/, which thus primarily is relevant in conjunction with intransitive participial endings, i.e. the mood marker {ðu}, where /niqðu/ ⇒ /niqtu/ ⇒ /niqsu/.


Meanings and examples

Used to express a question or wondering.

  • aperaanga ilaasinnaanersunga, he asked me whether perhaps I could come along.

    The affix occurs in the object clause ilaasinnaanersunga, 'whether perhaps I can come along'. The ending is the intransitive participial 1sg ending V{ðuŋa}, where the /i/ assibilates the /ð/ to /s/.

  • sumut ilinerai aperiartussajuk, Go over and ask him where (I wonder) he (may have) put them
    [4]

    The affix occurs in ilinerai, from ilivaa, 'he places it (somewhere -mut)'. The ending is transitive participial 3sg/3pl V{gəi}, indicating that the subject of the object-clause sumut ilinerai is different from the subject of the main-clause aperiartussajuk.

  • pissanerpunga?, should I do it (I wonder)?
    [4]

  • toqqoraluarnerpai?, (I wonder) whether he might have hidden them?
    [4]

  • tikeqinerami, (I wonder) whether he already has arrived?
    [4]

    This example illustrates that V{niq}V even follows emphatic V{-qə}V.


References