Details
General
| Morphemic form: | *{guuq} |
| New orthography: | +gooq, -rooq, -nngooq |
| Old orthography: | -gôĸ, -rôĸ |
| Combinations: | Click here |
| Left sandhi: | Irregular,
|
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
This enclitic is often used in narration, and when reporting events, but it can also be used in questions. The general meaning is
- 'he says/said that ...',
- 'it is said that ...'
It is also often used when you ask someone to give your regards to someone else.
Left sandhi:
When this enclitic is added onto a consonant sound, apart from [q], it will both assimilate and nasalise the sound, yielding [ŋŋ] instead of the usual /kk/ by the fricative rule. On words ending in [q], /qg/ merge to [r] as usual. Thus:
- [V]*{guuq} ⇒ [Vgooq]
- [q]*{guuq} ⇒ [rooq]
- [k]*{guuq} ⇒ [ŋŋooq] irregular: [kg] ⇒ [ŋŋ]
- [t]*{guuq} ⇒ [ŋŋooq] irregular: [tg] ⇒ [ŋŋ]
Meanings and examples
Or 'it is said that ...', if the context does not make it clear who the person being quoted might be.
- Qanorooq?, What says he?
Or 'what is said?' or 'what's the news?' etc. From {qanuq}, 'what/how'.
- Makkagooq inuulluarili, Give my regards to Makka (when you see her).
References
- [4] C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen (1958): Den Grønlandske Ordbog.
- [8] Christian Berthelsen, Birgitte Jakobsen, Robert Petersen, Inge Kleivan & Jørgen Rischel (1997): Oqaatsit.