Details
General
| Morphemic form: | {niju}N |
| New orthography: | niu, nissut |
| Old orthography: | nio, nísut |
| Sources: | [22] |
| 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 'leg'. Note that in older literature, it may be used in plural but still with a singular meaning, e.g. niui, 'his leg' or 'his legs' according to Kleinschmidt [14]. This is similar to other parts of the body, such as {agcak}N, {inu(g)aq}N etc.
According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [22], the reconstructed historical form of this stem is {niʀu}, but /ʀ/ appears to have dropped at some point. However, the stem now has a non-standard form of gemination of an unwritten consonant, here written as /j/, to [ss], rather than the conventional [cc]. It is unclear whether this /j/ is a reflex of this historical /ʀ/, and, if so, how this strange sound change should have come about, and whether this is the reason for the non-standard gemination pattern.
Inflection
Declension pattern:
| Stem type: | Weak q-stem |
| Declension type: | p-declined |
| Declension sandhi: | Geminating |
| Gemination type: | j⇒ss |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | nissu | niu | niu, nissup, nissut, nissui, |
| Old orthography | nísu | niu | nio, nísup, nísut, nísui, |
| Phonemic orthography | nissu | niju | niju, nissup, nissut, nissui, |
Notes on declension:
This stem has a rare form of gemination of /j/ ⇒ [ss], rather than the usual [cc]. This is noted by Kleinschmidt [14], Ordbogeeraq [18], and in the grammar of Schultz-Lorentzen [8]. In the phonemic declension below, we therefore record the geminated form with /ss/ rather than /jj/, since this gemination pattern is non-standard.
Kleinchmidt [14] gives niui for 'his (someone else's) leg(s)' with ABS.3sg/pl, but nissuni 'his (own) leg(s)' with the ordinary 4sg/pl ending. It seems that Kleinschmidt was using the plural possessive form both for singular and plural. However, Ordbogeeraq [18] gives nissui for 'his (own) leg', with the archaic, geminating ABS.4sg/sg ending N{'-i}, and equates this with niuni, with the ordinary ABS.4sg/sg ending.
Meanings and examples