Details

General

Morphemic form: {kinaluunniit}
New orthography: kinaluunniit, kialuunniit
Old orthography: kinalũnît, kialũnît
Sources: [11, 14]
Combinations: Click here
Constituents: {ki}N, *{luunniit},

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This is a combination of the interrogative pronoun kina, cf. {ki}N, and the enclitic *{luunniit}. It has a special meaning: 'anyone', and, with negative/negated verbs 'no-one'.

This combination is technically not a particle, because kina still inflects according to its grammatical function; i.e. kinaluunniit in the absolutive case and kialuunniit in the ergative case.


Meanings and examples

The meaning 'anyone' is with positive verbs, and the meaning 'no one' is with negative/negated verbs.

  • kinaluunniit aappariniarpara, I will take anyone with me [11]

    Literally: 'have anyone as partner (on a journey)'. Here, kina is the object, so it is in the absolutive case.

  • kialuunnit takunngilaa, nobody saw it [11]

    Here kia is the subject, so the ergative case is used.