Details
General
| Morphemic form: | {uva}N |
| New orthography: | uanga, uanni, uannut, uannit, uagut, uatsinni, uatsinnut, uatsinnit |
| Old orthography: | uvanga, uvavne, uvavnut, uvavnit, uvagut, uvavtíne, uvavtínut, uvavtínit |
| Sources: | [MFSJLK10], [SK71], [JP67], [CWSL51], [CWSL58], [CBBJRPIKJR97] |
| Combinations: | View list |
| Constituents: | {uv}D + {?} |
| Right sandhi: | Default/none |
| Inflection sandhi: | Irregular |
| Stem type: | Vowel stem |
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
This stem is used to form the 1st person pronouns, i.e. 'I/we', 'me/us', 'my/our' etc. According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10], it derives from the demonstrative root {uv}D, followed by an /a/, which may be the demonstrative 'a', cf. D{a}. However, this is not stated explicitly therein, so we record it as unknown here. Finally, the distinction between singular ('I', 'me', 'my') and plural ('we', 'us', 'our') us conveyed with a mixture of verbal and nominal (possessive) endings. Thus, the literal meaning is something like 'my being here' (resp. 'our being here').
Explicit pronouns are not commonly used, since this information is also shown in the verbal endings. However, they may be used e.g. in responses to questions (e.g. 'who is coming? - Me!'), to disambiguate some sentences and constructions (e.g. 1sg vs. 2sg possessive constructions), and for emphasis.
Right sandhi:
The stem is not normally used with affixes. However, if an affix is added, it will be added to the absolutive form, i.e. uanga, uagut, rather than to the bare stem.
Inflection
Inflection pattern:
| Stem type: | Vowel stem |
| Inflection sandhi: | Irregular |
| Sources: | [JP67], [CWSL51] |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | ua | - | uanga, uagut, uanga, uagut, uannik, uatsinnik/uagutsinnik, uanni, uatsinni/uagutsinni, uannut, uatsinnut/uagutsinnut, uannit, uatsinnit/uagutsinnit, uakkut, uatsigut/uagutsigut, uattut, uatsitut/uagutsitut |
| Old orthography | uva | - | uvanga, uvagut, uvanga, uvagut, uvavnik, uvavtínik/uvaguvtínik, uvavne, uvavtíne/uvaguvtíne, uvavnut, uvavtínut/uvaguvtínut, uvavnit, uvavtínit/uvaguvtínit, uvavkut, uvavtigut/uvaguvtigut, uvavtut, uvavtitut/uvaguvtitut |
| Phonemic orthography | uva | - | uvaŋa, uvagut, uvaŋa, uvagut, uvamnək, uvamtənnək/uvagumtənnək, uvamni, uvamtənni/uvagumtənni, uvamnut, uvamtənnut/uvagumtənnut, uvamnət, uvamtənnət/uvagumtənnət, uvamgut, uvamtəgut/uvagumtəgut, uvamtut, uvamtətut/uvagumtətut |
Notes on inflection:
The inflection is with a mixture of verbal and nominal endings:
Absolutive/ergative: The forms are the same in both cases, i.e. there is no difference between absolutive and ergative. The singular marker is the verbal 1sg marker {ŋa}, and the plural marker is the verbal 1pl marker {gut}. Compare e.g. the intransitive indicative endings V{vuŋa} and V{vugut}.
The non-grammatical cases (instrumental, locative, etc...) use the corresponding possessive endings, i.e. the 1sg endings for the singular forms, and the 1pl endings for the plural forms. Thus, e.g. in locative, we get {uva}N + N{mni} ⇒ uanni, 'at me', and {uva}N + N{mtənni} ⇒ uatsinni, 'at us'.
Some speakers prefer to also repeat the {gut} marker in the non-grammatical cases, to which the possessive ending then is attached (with deletion of the /t/). Thus, we get uagutsinni, uagutsinnut etc.
Meanings and examples
Search the corpus for further examples.
Tags
References
- [MFSJLK10] Michael Fortescue, Steven Jacobson, Lawrence Kaplan (2010): Comparative Eskimo Dictionary (2ED).
- [SK71] Samuel Kleinschmidt (1871): Den grønlandske Ordbog.
- [JP67] Jonathan Petersen (1967): Ordbogêraĸ.
- [CWSL51] C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen (1951): Det Vestgrønlandske Sprog.
- [CWSL58] C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen (1958): Den Grønlandske Ordbog.
- [CBBJRPIKJR97] Christian Berthelsen, Birgitte Jakobsen, Robert Petersen, Inge Kleivan & Jørgen Rischel (1997): Oqaatsit.