Minhast: Difference between revisions

371 bytes added ,  13 July 2019
Line 1,858: Line 1,858:
== Derivation ==
== Derivation ==


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 verbal derivational affixes do exist; these occur as prefixes attached directly to the verb root.  The most common 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 verbal derivational affixes do exist; these occur as affixes attached directly to both verb and noun roots.  The most common 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).


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.
Line 1,879: Line 1,879:
* ''teymekšumbat'' - missile,  derived from ''tayyamak'' (thunder) + ''šumbat'' (arrow).  Irreg. NI form: ''-teššumbat-''
* ''teymekšumbat'' - missile,  derived from ''tayyamak'' (thunder) + ''šumbat'' (arrow).  Irreg. NI form: ''-teššumbat-''


Note that either one or both of the members of words derived from compounding may experience some syllabic trimming, and often have irregular NI forms, or even no NI form, as in the case of ''gubbakkūni''.
Note that either one or both of the members of words derived from compounding may experience some syllabic trimming, and often have irregular NI forms, or even no NI form, as in the case of ''gubbakkūni''. Sometimes syllabic trimming becomes extreme to the point that the original noun becomes unrecognizable, for all intents and purpose becoming a derivational affix:
*''<u>gu</u>-hūr'' "fortress; military base" (from ''gubbat min hūr'', lit. "war mountain)"
*''ittahipn-<u>errad</u>'' "computer programmer", from ''ittahipna'' + ''redad'' (lit. "computer man")


<!-- //Commented these out because they still don't act like nouns - they can't take Case Marking, for instance or serve as Agents or Patients
<!-- //Commented these out because they still don't act like nouns - they can't take Case Marking, for instance or serve as Agents or Patients
5,464

edits