Details
General
| Morphemic form: | {nəgaq}N |
| New orthography: | nigaq, niggat |
| Old orthography: | nigaĸ, niggat |
| Sources: | [13, 17, 8, 16, 19] |
| Combinations: | View list |
| Right sandhi: | Default/none |
| Inflection sandhi: | Geminating |
| Stem type(s): | Weak q-stem |
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
The meaning of this stem is 'snare', i.e. for catching an animal. Kleinschmidt [13] also mentions a second meaning 'spider web', especially with a possessive ending in plural; e.g. nigai 'its (i.e. the spider's) snare' However, this meaning is not mentioned in newer dictionaries such as Oqaatsit [19], so the stem is perhaps not used in this sense nowadays.
Inflection sandhi:
This stem declines with gemination, as expected given its form. However, according to Kleinschmidt, Ordbogeeraq and Schultz-Lorentzen [13, 17, 8], which all describe the declension, the geminated /gg/ is not strengthened to [kk] as usual, but instead devoiced to [χχ]. This is a rare form of gemination for /g/ in a noun stem, and it is not clear why this happens.
Inflection
Declension pattern:
| Stem type: | Weak q-stem |
| Declension type: | p-declined |
| Declension sandhi: | Geminating |
| Gemination type: | g⇒gg |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | nigga | niga | nigaq, niggap, niggat, |
| Phonemic orthography | nəgga | nəga | nəgaq, nəggap, nəggat, |
Meanings and examples
According to Kleinschmidt [13] especially with a possessive ending in plural. This usage is perhaps not productive nowadays.