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| = Truncation/Weak Suppletion = | | = Polypersonal Marking = |
| Most Minhast nouns are irregular in their IN forms, the majority of which exhibit what has been referred to among Minhast linguists as ''truncation'', wherein the incorporated nominal appears in a shortened form from the reduction or loss of syllables. This process is more commonly referred to as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppletion#Weak_suppletion weak suppletion] (see also "Noun Incorporation: A New Theoretical Perspective", Alessio Muro, 2009). Cross-linguistically this process is seen in other languages such as Sora, an unrelated language from the Munda family in India. The first example shows the analytic version of the Sora sentence "Will they eat the buffalo/ Do they eat buffalo?". The second example shows the noun incorporated-version of the same sentence, where the independent word ''bɔŋtɛl'' ("buffalo") has lost its final syllable to create its incorporating form, ''bɔŋ'':
| | Oftentimes, polypersonal marking surfaces and target the IN under certain restrictions. When agreement marking does appear, they tend to occur with collective or mass nouns, such as the inherently collective ''iyuššit'', and only with certain verbs, particularly ones indicating movement, and even then ''iyuššit'' triggers agreement marking in a small fraction among these verbs. |
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| {{Gloss
| | Oftentimes irregularities in gender-number concord may appear. An example where agreement marking is lacking with the very same collective noun follows in the next example. Note that the verb ''-adu-'' ("be many"), unlike ''-wakkay-'', is not a motion verb. The lack of an overt agreement marker with ''-adu-'' points towards a zero-valent interpretation: |
| |phrase = bɔŋtɛlәnәdɔŋ jomtɛji pɔ
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| | IPA =
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| | morphemes = '''<u>bɔŋtɛl</u>'''-әn-әdɔŋ jom-t-ɛ-ji pɔ
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| | gloss = buffalo-/әn/3-ACC eat-NPST-3S-PL.S Q
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| | translation = Will they eat the buffalo/ Do they eat buffalo?
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| {{Gloss
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| |phrase = jombɔŋtɛnji pɔ
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| | IPA =
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| | morphemes = jom-'''<u>bɔŋ</u>'''-t-ɛ-n-ji pɔ
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| | gloss = eat-buffalo-NPST-3S-INTR-PL.S Q
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| | translation = Will they eat the buffalo/ Do they eat buffalo?
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| }}
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| Similarly, Minhast INs exhibit weak suppletion, and it occurs extensively, particularly with nouns longer than two syllables, e.g. ''sussagarānī'' > ''-suggan-'' ("big toe"). The contrast can be seen in the following two examples, the first where the noun occurs in its full form as the dependent argument in a possessive NP, and the second wherein the noun appears in truncated form after noun incorporation:
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| {{Gloss
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| |phrase = <u>Sussagarānī</u>tirektiki kahušnišattekaran.
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| | IPA =
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| | morphemes = sussagarānī-tirek=de=ki kah-ušn-šatt-ek-ar-an
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| | gloss = big.toe-3SN.INAN.POSSM+1S.POSSR=ERG=LOC INV.VOL-hit-RFLX-1S.NOM-PST-TRNS
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| | translation = I stubbed my big toe.
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| }}
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| {{Gloss
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| |phrase = Kahušni<u>sugga</u>š<u>n</u>attekaran.
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| | IPA =
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| | morphemes = kah-ušn-sussagarānī-šatt-ek-ar-an
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| | gloss = INV.VOL-hit-toe-RFLX-1S.NOM-PST-TRNS
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| | translation = I stubbed my big toe.
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| }}
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| Similar patterns can be found with ''hispawak'' > ''-hispak-'' ("birch"), and ''izzesparak'' > ''-spark-'' ("canoe").
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| The pattern of truncation is unpredictable; syllable loss may occur in initial, medial, or final positions, although noun roots with more than two syllables tend to lose either their medial or final syllables and retain the initial syllable, but exceptions abound, such as ''allāga'' > ''-lgagg-'' (conch) .
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| Oftentimes, agreement marking occurs under certain restrictions, and/or exhibit irregularities in gender-number concord. When agreement marking does appear, they tend to occur with collective or mass nouns, such as the inherently collective ''iyuššit'', and only with certain verbs, particularly ones indicating movement, and even then ''iyuššit'' triggers agreement marking in a small fraction among these verbs. An example where agreement marking is lacking with the very same collective noun follows in the next example. Note that the verb ''-adu-'' ("be many"), unlike ''-wakkay-'', is not a motion verb. The lack of an overt agreement marker with ''-adu-'' points towards a zero-valent interpretation: | |
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| {{Gloss | | {{Gloss |