Details

General

Description and behaviour

Form and usage:

This is the ergative possessive 2sg/sg ending. According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [MFSJLK10], the second form N{vət} is similar to the reconstructed historical PE form, and the first form, N{(q)vət}, appears to be a newer invention, likely analogously to some of the singular possessive endings in the absolutive case.

Left sandhi:

As is usual in singular (when possible), this ending is additive. Furthermore, on tə-stems, the ending may optionally elide /ə/ and attach directly to /t/. Thus, according to Bjørnum [SB03], there are three possible forms for tə-stems:

• {aullaitə}N + N{(q)vət} ⇒ aallaaserpit (regular, using the first form),
• {aullaitə}N + N{(q)vət} ⇒ aallaappit (alternative with ə-elision, using the first form),
• {aullaitə}N + N{vət} ⇒ aallaasivit (alternative, using the second form).

The form N{(q)vət} is the most common, and as with other epenthetic endings, it does not trigger gemination of geminating weak stems. However, according to the examples in Schultz-Lorentzen's grammar [CWSL51], the word nâlagaq inexplicably takes the second form, N{vət}, which does trigger gemination in weak stems, so it becomes nâlagkavit in singular (as well as in plural). No reason for this is given, and according to the same list of examples, other geminating stems such as taleq behave regularly, taking N{(q)vət}, and thus become talerpit in singular.

Bjørnum [SB03] also give two other inflection examples, where the second form, N{vət}, is used: ajavit (rather than ajarpit), meeqqavit (rather than meerarpit). Both examples are written as if to indicate that this is the only correct form, and the alternative is not possible. However, as with Schultz-Lorentzen's grammar, there is no explanation for when this secondary form must be used.

Based on the given examples, it thus appears that N{(q)vət} is the most common form, used on stems of all types, but some vowel stems or weak stems may prefer the alternative form N{vət}. However, as this appears to be random, my recommendation is to assume N{(q)vət} should be used for an arbitrary vowel stem or weak stem, unless one has evidence to the contrary.

Meanings and examples

Search the corpus for further examples.

References

• [CR88] Christian Rasmussen (1888): Grønlandsk Sproglære.
• [CWSL51] C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen (1951): Det Vestgrønlandske Sprog.
• [SB03] Stig Bjørnum (2003): Grønlandsk Grammatik.
• [FAJN19] Flemming A.J. Nielsen (2019): Vestgrønlandsk Grammatik.
• [MFSJLK10] Michael Fortescue, Steven Jacobson, Lawrence Kaplan (2010): Comparative Eskimo Dictionary (2ED).