Details

General

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

The meaning of this stem is 'Agent looks after Patient' or 'Agent watches over Patient' or 'Agent cares for Patient'. According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10], it derives from {pai}V, 'Actor is home alone'. However, the second part, /rə/ is unexplained.

The /ə/ may sometimes be elided, possibly suggesting that it may be two separate morphemes /q/ and maybe /gə/, with the second component sometimes not being present. In any case, the origin of this part is unclear.

Note also that even though both Kleinschmidt [SK71] and Schultz-Lorentzen [CWSL58] note that this stem derives from {pai}V, spelt paivoĸ in the old orthography, the present stem is nevertheless spelt pârâ, i.e. with a long â in the old orthography. It is unclear why it is not spelt with a diphthong 'ai' in the old orthography.

Right sandhi:

The affix combines with its HTR-morpheme V{ði}V in a highly irregular fashion, yielding the stem /paiqci/. The passive participle, formed by combination with V{-ðaq}N, may optionally be formed in a similar fashion, i.e. /paiqcaq/.

Notable forms:

• HTR-form: {pairə}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /paiqci/
  

  The HTR-stem seems to have been formed with elision of /ə/, i.e. with V{ði}V seemingly having been added onto /ə/, thus causing /ð/ to become /c/, and /ə/ has afterwards been elided. Thus:

  • {pairə}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /pairəði/ ⇒ /pairəci/ ⇒ /paiqci/

  In Kleinschmidt [SK71], the form is recorded in the old orthography as pârssivoĸ, revealing that it indeed is a 'thick s'.

• Passive participle: {pairə}V + V{-ðaq}N ⇒ /paiqcaq/
  

  The passive participle seems to have been formed like the HTR-stem, with V{-ðaq}N seemingly having been added onto /ə/, thus causing /ð/ to become /c/, and /ə/ has afterwards been elided. Thus:

  • {pairə}V + V{-ðaq}N ⇒ /pairəðaq/ ⇒ /pairəcaq/ ⇒ /paiqcaq/

  In Kleinschmidt [SK71], the form is recorded in the old orthography as pârssaĸ, revealing that it indeed is a 'thick s'. However, he notes that the regular form, pârissaĸ, may also be used.

Meanings and examples

Search the corpus for further examples.

Tags

• Thematic grouping / Uncategorised

References

• [MFSJLK10] Michael Fortescue, Steven Jacobson, Lawrence Kaplan (2010): Comparative Eskimo Dictionary (2ED).
• [SK71] Samuel Kleinschmidt (1871): Den grønlandske Ordbog.
• [CWSL58] C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen (1958): Den Grønlandske Ordbog.
• [JP67] Jonathan Petersen (1967): Ordbogêraĸ.
• [CBBJRPIKJR97] Christian Berthelsen, Birgitte Jakobsen, Robert Petersen, Inge Kleivan & Jørgen Rischel (1997): Oqaatsit.