Details

General

Morphemic form: {sam}D
New orthography: qaffa, taqqava, qavani, qavunga, qavannga, qavuuna, qanna, qassuma, qakkua
Old orthography: ĸavfa, tarĸava, ĸavane, ĸavunga, ĸavánga, ĸavûna, ĸavna, ĸavssuma, ĸavkua
Sources: [MFSJLK10], [SK71], [CWSL58], [CWSL51], [JP67], [CBBJRPIKJR97]
Combinations: View list
Right sandhi: Default/none
Inflection sandhi: Irregular, Demonstrative inflection
Stem type: Other

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

The meaning of this demonstrative is '(area) below the speaker', i.e. 'out at sea' for a speaker standing somewhere on the hills above the coast. This corresponds to 'west' in West Greenland. The Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10] classifies it (historically) as 'obscured', i.e. behind a barrier, but in modern Kalaallisut, the meaning rather seems to be 'extended', meaning it refers to a wider area, rather than a specific point.

A well-known example of its usage (as a demonstrative pronoun) is in the name of the mythological being Sassuma Arnaa, the 'Mother of the Sea'. There might be a trace of the 'obscured' meaning here too, since she is understood to live below the surface of the sea (and is therefore not visible), but sassuma also refers to the whole of the sea (both the surface and below). The literal meaning is just 'that (area) below'.


Inflection

Inflection pattern:

Stem type: Other
Inflection sandhi: Irregular, Demonstrative inflection
Sources: [SK71], [JP67], [CWSL51]

Stem before consonant Stem before vowel Notable forms
New orthography sam sam sanna/tasanna, sassuma/tasassuma, sakkua/tasakkua, samma/tasama, samani/tasamani, samunga/tasamunga, samannga/tasamannga, samuuna/tasamuuna
Old orthography sam sam savna/tasavna, savssuma/tasavssuma, savkua/tasavkua, sáma/tasama, samane/tasamane, samunga/tasamunga, samánga/tasamánga, samûna/tasamûna
Phonemic orthography sam sam samna/tasamna, samcuma/tasamcuma, samkua/tasamkua, samma/tasama, samani/tasamani, samuŋa/tasamuŋa, samaŋŋa/tasamaŋŋa, samuuna/tasamuuna

Notes on inflection:

The inflection follows the common pattern for demonstrative stems without irregularities. When the prefix {ta(ð)}* is added, the extra consonant /ð/ is not inserted. In the predicative/exclamatory form (after D{a}), /m/ geminates to /mm/ as usual, but the prefix {ta(ð)}* suppresses this gemination. Thus, in details:


Meanings and examples

E.g. in the underworld, at the bottom of the sea etc. Opposite meaning of {pav}D.

Tags: Extended, Downwards, Farther away from speaker

Opposite meaning of {pav}D.

Tags: Extended, Outwards, Farther away from speaker

  • sunaaffa Uummannaq tasanna pigit, uanga panna Uummannaq siunniukkaluarakku, oh, you (speak) about the Uummannaq out there in the west, because I was actually thinking of the Uummannaq inside the fjord [CWSL58]

    Illustrating the use of tasanna to denote 'that one out there' (at sea / in the west). Note: sunaaffa forms a main clause, so the verb in the first sentence, pigit is in the participial mood {pi}V + V{PAR.2sg/3sg}, 'thou Vb it'.


Search the corpus for further examples.


Tags

References