Details

General

Morphemic form: {sak}N, {sa}N, {saaq}N
New orthography: saa, saava, sammut
Old orthography: sâ, sâva, sangmut
Sources: [MFSJLK10], [SK71], [JP67], [CWSL58], [CBBJRPIKJR97]
Combinations: View list
Right sandhi: Default/none
Inflection sandhi: Default/none, up-declined
Stem type: k-stem

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

The meaning of this stem is 'front area of Possessor', either the front/facade itself, or the area in front of Possessor. According to Kleinschmidt [SK71], the 'front' of a land (or country) is specifically the western side, i.e. the side that is turned towards the sunset, so with countries/landmasses as Possessor, this stem additionally has the meaning 'west-side' or 'west-area'.

As with similar stems, such as {iluk}N, the present stem has multiple forms. The form {sak}N is used in inflection, and {sa}N is used in derivation. The final form, {saaq}N may seemingly be used in either case. It is possible, that this is actually itself a derivation, e.g. {sa}N + N{-aq}N, but we record it here as an alternative form.


Right sandhi:

According to Kleinschmidt [SK71], it is primarily the first form, {sak}N, that is used. Alternatively, the third form, {saaq}N, which is sometimes considered an independent stem, may be used.


Inflection

Inflection pattern:

Stem type: k-stem
Inflection sandhi: Default/none, up-declined
Sources: [JP67], [SK71]

Notes on inflection:

When this stem is inflected, it is the second form, {sa}N, that is used. Thus, this stem is technically a vowel-stem. However, according to Kleinschmidt [SK71], it is only used with possessive endings.

The only exception is, that the first form, {sak}N, is used in the allative singular in the sense of 'westwards'. Here, we can see that it actually is a regular k-stem: The forms are sammut in the new orthography, and sangmut in the old orthography. The assimilated consonant, written 'ng' in the old orthography, reflects this stem-final /k/.

The third form, {saaq}N, may also be used with inflection endings, and this form is inflected like an ordinary weak q-stem, with regular injection of an epenthetic /v/ before vowel-initial endings. It seems to be used interchangeably with the second form.


Meanings and examples

Either the front itself, or the area in front of Possessor

Tags: Space, Spatial/positional noun

  • saa / saava, his lap [CWSL58]

    Literally: his front-area. The form saa is from {sa}N, whereas saava is from {saaq}N.

Where Possessor is a land/country. In this sense, the stem can also be used in un-possessed allative singular.

Tags: Space, Spatial/positional noun

  • sammut, westwards [CWSL58]

Search the corpus for further examples.


Tags

References