Details

General

Morphemic form: {sapiq}V
New orthography: saperpoq, saperpaa
Old orthography: saperpoĸ, saperpâ
Sources: [MFSJLK10], [SK71], [CWSL58], [JP67], [CBBJRPIKJR97]
Combinations: View list
Right sandhi: Default/none
Inflection sandhi: Default/none
Stem type: q-stem

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

The basic meaning of this stem is to express incapability. It is generally translated as 'Actor is incapable (of doing something)', i.e. because he lacks the capability of doing so, for example because of weakness, or fear, or lacking skills etc.

The dictionaries also give a transitive usage, 'Agent cannot/is incapable of (handling/resisting/tolerating/...) Patient'. The action, that the Agent is incapable of performing, seems to be implied and must be understood from the context. Alternatively, it can be specified with a verb stem with V{nəq}N, i.e. with a construction similar to V{nəq ajuq}V. We record this separately as V{nəq sapiq}V.


Inflection

Inflection pattern:

Stem type: q-stem
Inflection sandhi: Default/none


Meanings and examples

Tags: Being

Tags: Being

  • aataat saperpakka, I am incapable (of catching) the seals [SK71]

    Here 'catching' is implied.

  • oqaluffigigaluarakku saperpara, although I spoke to him, I was incapable (of affecting?) him [SK71]

    It is not clear from the sentence what the Agent is incapable of achieving.

  • anori taama atsigisoq umiap saperpaa, the boat is incapable of (withstanding) such a strong wind [SK71]

    Here 'withstanding' is implied.


Search the corpus for further examples.


Tags

References