Details

General

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This 'pseudo-affix' is a special construction with abstract participle V{nəq}N and {ajuq}V, denotes that the subject categorically does not Vb. It is commonly used to express the inverse of the habitual affix V{ðaq}V, and the corresponding word is formed by replacing V{ðaq}V by this construct, V{neq ajuq}V. Compare for example:

• kaffisortarpunga, 'I (habitually) drink coffee' ⇒ kaffisorneq ajorpunga, 'I never drink coffee'.
• kalaallisut oqaluttarpunga, 'I speak Greenlandic' ⇒ kalaallisut oqalunneq ajorpunga, 'I don't speak Greenlandic'.

According to Nielsen [8], this construct is really a single, compound affix. I have therefore decided to regard this construct as a single morpheme, even though it forms two separate words, because its meaning is not at all obvious from the individual meaning of the constituents; and furthermore, because valency is preserved by the construction: Thus, if the stem is divalent, then the resulting 'stem' after adding this construct will still be divalent. This means that {ajuq}V can actually take a transitive ending in this construction, which would otherwise be impossible, since {ajuq}V itself is monovalent.

The resulting word is sometimes even written with a hyphen, i.e. +neq-ajor-, which further signifies that this should be regarded as a single affix. There is also some doubt as to whether even an enclitic such as *{lu} can be added onto -neq, or whether it must be moved al the way to the end of the ajor- stem. Thus, some speakers may prefer e.g. kaffisorneq ajorlunilu over kaffisornerlu ajorluni.

Lastly, Nielsen [8] remarks that there can be multiple abstract nouns, separated by *{lu}, before a single {ajuq}V. He gives the example:

• aqqaanneq peernerlu ajulerpai, 'it could no longer neither dive with them nor get rid of them'.

Here, both aqqaavaa, 'it (the animal) dives before he could get close enough to shoot it', and peerpaa, 'he gets rid of it', are transitive, and a transitive ending is therefore also used on ajulerpai. It is unclear whether such a construction would also be possible, if one stem were monovalent and the other were divalent. This construction contradicts the notation chosen in this dictionary, which views this construction as a single 'pseudo-affix' morpheme. However, it may alternatively be viewed as an abbreviation of

• aqqaanneq-ajulerpai peerneq-ajulerlugillu

i.e. where ajuler- is repeated, with the second clause in the contemporative mood and with *{lu} on the final word. This construction is supposedly also possible.

Left sandhi:

Left sandhi is inherited from the left-most component, V{nəq}N. See this for details.

Meanings and examples