Details
General
| Morphemic form: | {nəgaq}N |
| New orthography: | nigaq, niggat |
| Old orthography: | nigaĸ, niggat |
| Sources: | [10, 14, 5, 13, 16] |
| Combinations: | Click here |
| 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 [10] 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 [16], 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 [10, 14, 5], 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 [10] especially with a possessive ending in plural. This usage is perhaps not productive nowadays.