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Minhast: Difference between revisions
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With the morphological complexity of the Minhast verb, capable of encoding various grammatical categories like gender, number, transitivity, tense, aspect, valence, mood, and many other functions, it is striking that derivational morphology is sparse. A few derivational affixes do exist; these occur as affixes attached directly to both verb and noun roots. The most commonly occuring ones are two Telicity affixes, the Durative ''-ħtaš'' and the Semelfective ''-minn-''. Technically telicity is a type of aspect, but unlike other aspect markers, which can be spontaneously employed in a single utterance, these affixes serve a more derivational purpose; their function is chiefly semantic as opposed to syntactic. For example, the verb root ''-dāwap-'' (to drip), when prefixed with the Durative, creates the derived verb ''-ħtaštāwap-'', which means "to trickle", and the verb root ''-sar-'' (to see) becomes ''-ħtassar-'' (to watch). | With the morphological complexity of the Minhast verb, capable of encoding various grammatical categories like gender, number, transitivity, tense, aspect, valence, mood, and many other functions, it is striking that derivational morphology is sparse. A few derivational affixes do exist; these occur as affixes attached directly to both verb and noun roots. The most commonly occuring ones are two Telicity affixes, the Durative ''-ħtaš'' and the Semelfective ''-minn-''. Technically telicity is a type of aspect, but unlike other aspect markers, which can be spontaneously employed in a single utterance, these affixes serve a more derivational purpose; their function is chiefly semantic as opposed to syntactic. For example, the verb root ''-dāwap-'' (to drip), when prefixed with the Durative, creates the derived verb ''-ħtaštāwap-'', which means "to trickle", and the verb root ''-sar-'' (to see) becomes ''-ħtassar-'' (to watch). | ||
=== Augmentation === | |||
In Modern Standard Minhast and the majority of dialects,[[Minhast#Augmentive_Nouns|Augmentation]] is the most prevalent form of derivation. Augmentation, in addition to its primary function of deriving larger versions of the noun root, can derive mass or collective nouns. The creation of augmentative nouns does not occur on an ad-hoc basis, as is the case in NI-derived lexical items, but where a perceived need to describe a new phenomenon exists. As a result, augmentative nouns may differ between dialects, or even between local speech communities within the same dialectal region. This is a characteristic of "institutionalized" lexification. Augmentation is restricted to nouns; augmentation via an intermediary process, via ''=naft'' nominalization is barred. In the Dog Speaker and Lower Minhast dialects, deriving nouns from verbal roots through the augmentation process may occur provided the deverbal Participial affix ''-x-'' has been applied before augmentation. This form of augmentation us more flexible, as it occurs with more frequency among the Dog Speaker and Lower Minhast dialects. | |||
Nevertheless, the primary mechanism for deriving new vocabulary is through exploiting the language's extensive use of noun incorporation. A subtype of NI, called "Type I Noun Incorporation", is exploited to create verb-noun compounds to derive new vocabulary. Through this process, new verbs ''and'' nouns may be formed. | Nevertheless, the primary mechanism for deriving new vocabulary is through exploiting the language's extensive use of noun incorporation. A subtype of NI, called "Type I Noun Incorporation", is exploited to create verb-noun compounds to derive new vocabulary. Through this process, new verbs ''and'' nouns may be formed. | ||