Details

General

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

According to Kleinschmidt [SK71], this stem has two different meanings:

1. 'Agent searches for Patient', or 'looks around for', or similar.
2. 'Agent chooses Patient', i.e. after looking through a number of items. According to Oqaatsit [CBBJRPIKJR97], when used in this sense, it can also mean 'Agent votes for Patient'. Presumably, the image here is that the Agent chooses the Patient on the voting ballot after having looked through the list of names of candidates.

All the dictionaries [SK71], [CWSL58], [CBBJRPIKJR97] also note that the stem may be used intransitively, without a HTR-morpheme, in the sense of 'Actor looks around (for something)'. It is not clear how this differs from the HTR-form of this stem, when used in the 1. form.

Half-transitive forms

• qinerlerpoq is used in the sense of 1., i.e. 'Agent=Actor searches/looks around (for Patient@INS)'.
• qinersivoq is used in the sense of 2., i.e. 'Agent=Actor chooses (Patient@INS)'.

Both forms are also given in Schultz-Lorentzen [CWSL58] and Oqaatsit [CBBJRPIKJR97], but these dictionaries also list a third form, albeit as a separate entry:

• qinaasivoq (old orthography: ĸinaissivoĸ), seemingly also used in the sense of 1., i.e. 'Agent=Actor searches (for Patient@INS)'.

If we assume the old orthography spelling is indicative of the underlying phonemes, then it seems to be formed with duplication of the HTR-morpheme: i.e. first {qinəq}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /qinəi/ with the secondary form V{-i}V, that is normally used on q-stems; and then, secondly, with V{ði}V added again, this time with /ð/ present, such that it becomes [c].

However, the form qinaasivoq is also given in Oqaatsit [CBBJRPIKJR97] as the HTR-form of a different stem, qinaaraa. According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10], this form is actually an old combination with V{-a}V denoting repeated/prolonged action, i.e. {qinəq}V + V{-a}V ⇒ /qinəa/ ⇒ [qinaa], where /ə/ has taken the sound [a] according to the ə-rule. Thus, its HTR-morpheme is /qinəaci/, i.e. ĸinâssivoĸ in the old orthography, according to Ordbogeeraq [JP67], whereas the HTR-form under consideration here is /qinəici/, but because of the assimilations in the new orthography, these two forms are become indistinguishable.

Notable forms:

• HTR: {qinəq}V + V{(k)liq}V ⇒ /qinəqliq/
  

  This HTR-form is recorded in all dictionaries [SK71], [CWSL58], [CBBJRPIKJR97]. They agree that it is used in the sense of 'Agent=Actor searches/looks around (for Patient@INS)'.

• HTR: {qinəq}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /qinəqsi/
  

  This HTR-form is recorded in all dictionaries [SK71], [CWSL58], [CBBJRPIKJR97]. They agree that it is used in the sense of 'Agent=Actor chooses (Patient@INS)'.

  The form is irregularly constructed, according to the left-sandhi rules for V{ði}V, because the morpheme here appears as V{si}V, which is not common on /q/ stems.

• HTR: {qinəq}V + V{ði}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /qinəici/
  

  This stem is listed in Schultz-Lorentzen [CWSL58] and Oqaatsit [CBBJRPIKJR97], but as a separate stem. However, it appears to be a variant HTR-form of the present stem.

  The form is irregularly constructed, seemingly with duplication of the HTR-morpheme, i.e. {qinəq}V + V{-i}V + V{ði}V ⇒ /qinəici/. The variant form V{-i}V is standard on q-stem, but not following /VVq/ or /əq/, where it normally instead joins additively on to /q/ and weakens it to /r/. However, here it appears to have deleted the /q/ and triggered the ə-rule, causing /ə/ to take the sound [a]. Finally, the second instance of the HTR-morpheme appears as V{ði}V, with /ð/ taking the sound [c] as usual on a vowel stem.

Inflection

Inflection pattern:

Meanings and examples

Search the corpus for further examples.

Tags

• Semantic categorisation / 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.