Details

General

Morphemic form: {aqviqsanəq}N
New orthography: arfersaneq, arfersarngat
Old orthography: arfersaneĸ, arfersarnat
Sources: [SK71], [JP67], [CWSL58], [CWSL51]
Combinations: View list
Constituents: {aqvak}N + N{-li}V + {?} + V{nəq}N
Right sandhi: Default/none
Inflection sandhi: Metathesis
Stem type(s): Strong q-stem

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This stem denotes the number 16. It is only used for counting. For the quantity, which is used for naming anything consisting of 16 parts (e.g. years, months, days), see {aqviqsanələk}N. Note that this number is singular, even though the meaning is plural; thus, the stem is used with singular endings, e.g. arfersanermut.

According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10], this stem is derived from {aqvak}N, 'edge of the hand', similar to {aqvinəq}N, but the source of the /qsa/ segment is unexplained.


Right sandhi:

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


Inflection sandhi:

The possessive endings are used to form the ordinal numbers, and these are declined with metathesis. As usual, /qn/ can be spelt 'rn', or the combination may become [NN] (nasal uvular), spelt 'rng'.


Inflection

Declension pattern:

Stem type: Strong q-stem
Declension type: up-declined
Declension sandhi: Metathesis
Metathesis type: Cəq⇒qn or qŋ

Stem before consonant Stem before vowel Notable forms
New orthography arfersaner arfersarng arfersaneq, arfersarngup, arfersarngit
Old orthography arfersaner arfersarng arfersaneĸ, arfersarngup, arfersarngit
Phonemic orthography aqviqsanəq aqviqsaqn aqviqsanəq, aqviqsaqnup, aqviqsaqnit


Meanings and examples

The number is singular and is used with singular endings.

  • immikkoortut arfersarngat, sixteenth chapter

    I.e. chapter 16. Note that the possessor immikkoortut 'chapters' is plural, but the possessive ending is singular (absolutive 3pl/sg). Thus, the literal translation is 'the chapters' sixteenth'.

  • novembarip (ulluisa) arfersarnganni, on the 16th of November

    Literally 'November's days' sixteenth'. Note that ulluisa, 'days'' (ergative 3sg/pl), is often omitted, even though the ending on arfersaneq is still plural.


Search the corpus for further examples.


Tags

References