Details

General

Morphemic form: V{t(s)aili}V
New orthography: +taalivaa, +tsaalivaa, +taalisivoq, +tsaalisivoq
Old orthography: -tailivâ, -tsailivâ, -tailissivoĸ, -tsailissivoĸ
Sources: [14, 11]
Combinations: Click here
Variants: V{t(s)ailiuq}V,
See also: V{tət}V, V{naviiqsaq}V,
Left sandhi:
Default,
Irregular,
Right sandhi:
Default/none,
Inflection sandhi:
Default/none,
Stem type: Vowel stem
Diathesis: Reflexive
Valency change: Increasing
Valency:
Divalent,
HTR morpheme:
ði,
HTR stem: t(s)ailici,

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

The meaning of this affix is 'Agent prevents Patient from Vb'ing'. Note that the affix is valency-increasing, by adding a new Agent to the verbal action. Hence, the affix can also be used to create so-called 'double-transitive' constructions:

Hence, the possible meanings are as follows:

According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary, it may also be used intransitively without a HTR-morpheme (particularly in North Greenlandic) in a reflexive sense, i.e. 'he prevents himself from Vb'ing', which is understood as: 'Agent refuses to Vb'.

The Comparative Eskimo Dictionary suggest that this affix is formed through a combination of V{tət}V, V{-ðaq}N and N{-it}V, but it is not clear how that combination should yield the present-day form. Thus we do not record the combination here.


Left sandhi:

This affix is sandhi-epenthetic (additive), but unlike most other affixes of this kind, the epenthetic /(s)/ is injected within the affix (after /t/), rather than before it, and this /s/ does not assimilate the preceding /t/. This is therefore, in a way, similar to the behaviour of the affix V{(t)siq}V and related affixes, although the epenthetic consonant there is the first (as usual), rather than the second.

Furthermore, the /ts/-form also appears when following V{ŋŋit}V, and possibly other t-stems as well; i.e. the affix is t-truncative similar to V{tət}V and then injects /s/. Thus the behaviour is as follows:


Meanings and examples

  • aportaalivaa, he prevents him from bumping into (something) [11]
  • unittaalivaa, he prevents it from stopping [11]

    I.e., 'he keeps it moving', from unippoq, 'it stops'.

  • qaqitsaalivaa, he prevents him from reaching the summit of it [11]

    E.g. a mountain, from qaqivaa, 'he reaches the top of it'.

  • neritsaalivaa, he prevents him from eating [14]

    Or 'he prevents (someone) from eating it'. The stem {nərə}V, 'eat' is divalent but agentive, so the meaning can change depending on whether the stem is understood as meaning Actor=Agent eats or 'Agent eats Patient'. In the former case, the result is normally divalent/transitive, with Actor=Agent mapped to the Patient of the affix; but in the latter case, the Agent of the stem is shadowed by the Agent of the affix, and instead the Patient of the stem is mapped to the Patient of the affix. Hence, the result is trivalent/double-transitive, and the underlying Agent (someone) can be re-added in the allative case.

  • sianigigiuk qimminut neritsaalillugu!, be careful the dogs don't eat it! [11]

    The main verb is sianigigiuk, 'be (thou) careful of it' which is imperative. The other verb, containing V{t(s)aili}V, is built from the divalent stem {nərə}V, i.e. nerivaa, 'he eats it'. Hence, the construction here is double-transitive: the underlying sentence is qimmit nerivaat, 'the dogs eat it'. The affix adds a new Agent (mapped to 'thou'), which shadows the underlying Agent (the dogs), and qimmit are therefore re-added in the allative case, qimminut.

  • aallartaalivaa, he prevents him from departing [14]
  • pinerluttaalivaa, he prevents him from committing crimes [14]
  • aserfallatsaalivaa, he prevents it from falling apart [14]

    Or 'deteriorating'.