CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Chukchee language and people

2 Survey of grammatical properties

2.1 Phonology

2.2 Morphology

2.3 Syntax

2.4 Lexical semantics

3 Note on transcription

4 Links to other sites with information about the Chukchee and related peoples

Note for website version

I largely avoid using special diacritics and phonetic symbols. In normal texts I make use of

IPA symbols for glottal stop, engma (velar nasal) and schwa. To avoid causing unnecessary

problems I have replaced these in the web version, using the following conventions:

glottal

stop:

? velar

nasal:

ñ schwa: y

top of page

1. Chukchee language and people

Chukchee (also spelt 'Chukchi') is a language spoken by a few thousand people inhabiting the

coastal and tundra regions of NE Siberia, in the USSR. The language is the best-known

representative of the small Chukokto-Kamchatkan language group, which itself is classed as

a member of the Paleosiberian group, an areal designation for a handful of genetically

isolated groups and languages. The Chukotko-Kamchatkan group includes Koryak, Aljutor

and Kerek (which is said to have died out recently). More controversially, it is often said to

include Itelmen.

Chukchee was first studied by the great Russian anthropologist and linguist, Vladimir

Bogoraz (also Waldemar Bogoras; he assumed the soubriquet 'Tan' and sometimes referred to

himself as Bogoraz-Tan). Bogoraz lived for some eight years with the Chukchee and wrote

extensively about their culture, lifestyle, beliefs and language. He also wrote much about the

Koryak and Itelmen (sometimes called 'Kamchadal') and his grammatical sketch 'Chukchee'

published by Boas in 1922 contains a good many cross-references to those two languages.

Bogoraz recorded a large number of myths and folktales of the peoples of the region, many of

which feature the demiurge Raven figure, who also looms large in the mythology of some of

the peoples of the North Western Atlantic seaboard of America.

Chukchee received an orthography in the 1930's (briefly based on the Roman alphabet, later

Cyrillic) and during the Soviet period there were books and newspapers published in it and

elementary schooling was conducted in Chukchee by native teachers. Extant literature in

Chukchee includes translations of Russian literature, translations of political works (such as

pamphlets by Lenin and L. I. Brezhnev's war memoirs!) and also translations into Chukchee

of stories written about the Chukchee by Yurij Rytxew, but originally published in Russian.

In addition, there are original collections of folktales and a variety of children's literature. As

far as I know there has not been any bible-translating activity to-date (though there is a

translation of part's of Luke's gospel into Koryak). Primers for elementary schools continue to

be published, though I have no information on how well the language is surviving the

economic and political difficulties following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A number of contemporary linguists have interested themselves in Chukchee including B.

Comrie, M. Kenstowicz, M. Polinsky and a Soviet group in Leningrad working under V. I.

Nedjalkov has produced a number of important works, with the collaboration of linguistically

trained native speakers. Irina Muraveva (Moscow), who is known as an expert on Aljutor, has

also worked extensively on Chukchee. M. Fortescue has recently investigated the diachrony

of language in the context of the linguistics of the Bering Straits. A descriptive grammar has

just been written by Michael Dunn (as an ANU PhD thesis) which I have not yet had the

opportunity to read.

There are two dialect groups that can be discerned, associated with the Reindeer Chukchee

and the Maritime Chukchee, though dialect differences are rather slight and to all intents and

purpose the language is homogeneous. Women's speech is said to differ from men's speech,

principally in the pronunciation of 'r' (which is pronounced /ts/ by women). Neighbouring

groups such as the Koryak, Even and Eskimo would often speak Chukchee, though the

Chukchee themselves tended not to learn the language of their neighbours (except for

Russian, of course). According to Comrie's survey of the languages of the Soviet Union,

Chukchee has been feeling considerable influence from Russian, especially in its lexis and

syntax.

top of page

2. Survey of grammatical properties

2.1 Phonology

Chukchee is famous for its unusual and pervasive vowel harmony system. It has a rich set of

morphophonemic processes interacting in complex ways with the morphology, and including

an unusual rule of reduplication. It has a theoretically intriguing system of syllabification and

also has an interesting set of phrase phonological (sentence level) rules.

2.2 Morphology

Chukchee is traditionally classed as a 'polysynthetic' language and has been likened to certain

American Indian languages in its structure. It has a basically agglutinative morphology,

though verb inflection often has a fusional character. Nouns have a number of case forms;

names of people decline in the plural as well as in the singular. Verbs display a rich set of

mood, tense, aspect and voice markers and cross-reference direct objects and well as subjects.

Gerundive forms are particularly well-developed, using by and large the nominal case

inflections.

Perhaps the most striking feature of Chukchee morphology is the pervasive use of

incorporation. Verbs incorporate their objects and adverbial modifiers (Spencer 1995), while

nouns, too, incorporate modifiers very freely (including quantifiers and possessors).

2.3 Syntax

Word order is very free, generally vacillating between SOV and SVO. Chukchee is a good

example of an ergative language: all transitive subject nominals appear in an ergative case

(identical to the instrumental case) and all intransitive subjects and direct objects appear in

the absolutive case. The verb agreement system is a complex mixture of ergative and

accusative organization, reminiscent in parts of languages with inverse marking for certain

person/number combinations (Spencer 1999). Predicatively used nominals agree with their

subjects in person and number. Adjectives may or may not show agreement with their nouns

depending on pragmatic factors.

Adverbial clauses, sentential complements and relative clauses can be expressed either as a

finite clause introduced by a complementizer, or by using various gerundive and participial

constructions. Chukchee has two antipassive voice forms as well as other interesting

transitivity alternations (including noun incorporation).

2.4 Lexical semantics

The rich word formation resources of the language (together with a distaste for loans) means

that many words which might be monomorphemic in European languages will be fairly

transparently derived in Chukchee, a typical feature of agglutination. The language tends to

mark voice and aspectual nuances on verbs and has a rich set of denominal word formation

affixes. A particularly interesting derivational phenomenon is the widespread use of relational

adjectives and also the use of a so-called 'participle' form derived from nouns, adjectives, or

verbs with a variety of functions. The numeral system is strictly vigesimal.

top of page

3. Note on transcription

I write Chukchee examples without punctuation, including question marks after questions,

and without capitalization, even for proper names. This is to avoid confusion with the rest of

the transcriptional system.

Occasionally I distinguish the 'recessive e' from the 'dominant e' as e1/e2 respectively, but in

general when providing examples of morphemes where the type of 'e' isn't obvious from other

vowels in that root or word, I give both versions of the root. Thus, /meml/ 'seal' means that

the 'e' fails to undergo vowel harmony and is hence the dominant e2, while /kejñ ~ kajñ/ 'bear'

means that the 'e' alternates and is hence 'e1'. Roots without vowels or with schwa which

condition vowel harmony are prefixed with *, thus /*tm/ 'kill', *kyn- 'fairly (prefix)'.

In glosses I often separate the epenthetic schwa from morphemes proper in order make the

morphological constituency clearer. Such epenthetic schwas are not glossed, of course. A

schwa on its own never represents a morpheme.

I use one non-standard symbol quite a lot: If this doesn't come out on your browser it's

meant to be a type of arrow (roughly =>).

top of page

4. Links to other sites with information about the Chukchee and related peoples

Ethnologue's site relating to Chukchee (this is a language resource organized through a

missionary and bible-translating organization, SIL, Summer Institute of Linguistics). (For

more information about this site click here for the Introduction).

Information about the Chukchee from the Smithsonian Institution's 'Hall of Masks'

(information specifically about the Chukchee). Further information about Chukchee life and

the Chukchee today.

The Chukchee entry in the Red Book of the peoples and languages of the Former Soviet

Union (developed in Estonia).

An interesting site with information about the peoples of Siberia.

More general pointers to Arctic culture can be found at this site.

Alexander King's Koryak website: Koryak Language and Culture - Information about Koryak

language and culture, Ethnography in Kamchatka, how to get to Kamchatka and information

about other useful sites.

Information about peoples of the Russian Arctic.

Information about the peoples of the Arctic generally.

An ethnic map of Russia (from the University of Texas' site)

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 2: PHONOLOGY

1. Phoneme inventory

2. Epenthesis

2.1 Surface phonotactics

2.2 Chukchee syllable structure

3. Consonant alternations

3.1 Consonant harmony

3.2 Contact assimilations

3.2.1 Regressive assimilation of nasality

3.2.2 Regressive labial assimilation

3.2.3 Regressive velar to uvular assimilation

3.2.4 Alternations with alveolars - regressive assimilations

3.2.5 Regressive place assimilations affecting velar nasals

3.3 Contact dissimilations

3.3.1 Dissimilations of repeated alveolars

3.3.2 Dissimilations of velars and palatals

3.3.3 Denasalization

3.3.4 Delabialization

3.4 Metathesis

3.5 Consonant truncation

3.5.1 Causative r-

4. Vowel alternations

4.1 Vowel harmony

4.2 Vowel reduction

4.3 Final vowel truncation

4.4 Vowel cluster simplification

5. Stress

5.1 Basic pattern

5.2 Stress shift

6. Some postlexical alternations

1. Phoneme inventory

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

voiceless stops p t k q ?

fricatives l c

nasals m n ñ

'sonorants' w r j g

Notes: /c/ is a palato-alveolar affricate, /l/ is voiceless, /g/ is voiced velar fricative, /r/ is

retroflex glide (like Standard British English). /w/ is a voiced bilabial fricative (and is often

transcribed 'v').

The status of the glottal stop has occasioned some controversy. Distributionally it is aberrant

as a consonant which has led some to regard it as a prosodic colouring of the vowel.

Vowels

i u

e1 y (schwa) o

e2 a

Notes: e1, e2 represent a more-or-less high tense front mid vowel and a more-or-less low

front vowel. The difference is important for vowel harmony. Schwa will be written as 'y'.

top of page

2. Epenthesis

2.1 Surface phonotactics

(i) NO CC clusters initially, finally

(ii) NO CCC clusters medially.

[Exceptions: #C?-, #C [son], -CC? -] There are a number of words which begin with

consonant clusters, at least in the official orthography. This is said to be the result of a

compromise between different dialects, one of which permits initial clusters.

Clusters resulting from word formation broken up by schwa 'y'.

Kenstowicz, Krause assume (at least) TWO separate rules needed, Initial and Final

Epenthesis. BUT: no rules needed given appropriate theory of SYLLABIFICATION.

2.2 Chukchee syllable structure

1.

Onset Rhyme

Nucleus Coda

C (?) V C

(Occasionally we find C + sonorant clusters in onsets, e.g. plekyt 'boots', mranly„ yn

'mosquito net'.)

Syllabification: Syllabify from left to right, respecting the basic template and inserting schwa

where necessary to break up illegal clusters.

Examples: Abs. case forms in -lgyn, -lyñyn: UR has -lñ- stem-forming suffix plus -ñ = Abs.

case ending. [NB phonological alternation ñ g /l _____].

2. welo-lñ-n 'ear' w e l o l ñ n (we) (lol) (ñn)

welolgyn

3. mran-lñ-n 'mosqito net' mr a n l ñ n

(mran) (l) (ñn) mran. l(y). ñ(y)n

mranlyñyn

Problem: syllabification respects morpheme boundaries, thus left-to-right syllabification can

be overridden as in the following case (where brackets indicate morpheme boundaries):

4. a. [...V C] [C C V...] ...V C y C C V...

b. =/ *...V C C y C V...

This gives the impression that the Maximal Onset Principle (which puts consonants

preferentially into Onsets rather than Codas) has been violated.

Minimal pairs:

5. meml-qaca-n = meml-y-qacan

water-PLACE-ABS 'place near the water' vs.

6. wejem-lq-n = wejem-y-lq-y-n (*wejemlyqyn)

river-FULL-ABS 'teaming with rivers'

Therefore, revise Syllabification: Syllabification: "Syllabify maximally from left-to-right,

respecting Maximum Onset Principle except where this entails breaking up a morpheme."

(See Spencer 1994, Kenstowicz 1994 for discussion.)

7. myngylgyn 'hand' mng-lñ-n (mn) (gl) (gn) = m y n g y l g y n

Some words have no underlying vowels (in fact, many roots lack underlying vowels).

Evidence that /y/ is sometimes an underlying phoneme (Kenstowicz, 1979, Krause, 1979):

Plural allomorphy: -ti/te after ...V C[+coronal]

-t elsewhere [pace Kenstowicz]

tintin tintinti 'ice'

ener enerti 'star'

ococ ococte 'leader'

q?awal q?awalti 'corner'

vs.

V-final:

titi titit 'needle'

jara-ñy jarat house'

kuke kuket 'kettle'

C-final:

r?ew r?ewyt 'whale'

?aacek ?aacekyt 'youth'[-cor]

rileq rileqyt 'spine'

CC-final:

kejñ-yn kejñyt 'brown bear'

pojgyc?-yn pojgyc?yt 'stalk'

renm-yn renmyt 'wall'

What happens with ...VCC[+cor]?

qepyl (>qepl) qeplyt 'ball' (*qepylti)

rytyn (>rtn) rynnyt 'tooth' (*rytynti)

lewyt (lewt) lewtyt 'head' (*lewetti)

Now contrast:

memyl memylte 'seal'

mimyl mimlyt 'water'

This can be understood if URs are /memyl/ and /miml/ resp.

top of page

3. Consonant alternations

[Taken principally from Irina Muraveva's class notes ('Grammatika neindoevropejskogo

jazyka - chukotskij jazyk', 1995-96, Russian State Humanities University, Moscow),

supplemented by Skorik vol. I, Krause, Kenstowicz.] Skorik differentiates between automatic

(phrase phonology, 'phonetic') alternations and lexical, morphophonemic alternations (which

he calls 'historical').

Many of these alternations (including some postlexical ones) are reflected in the orthography

(which can make it difficult to perform morphemic analysis on orthographic representations),

though many are not. Where an alternation is not reflected in the orthography I indicate this.

3.1 Consonant harmony

[This is not mentioned in Skorik.] Some morphemes are 'palatalizing', and induce the

alternation l, t c

vilu- 'ear' + -tkyn 'end' vecotkyn 'tip of the ear'

tytl 'door', cycc-?yt?yjoca 'in front of the door'

/l/ and /c/ alternate under circumstances which can't be associated easily with palatalization

and there are a fair number of lexical doublets amongst roots and affixes which differ only in

the presence of /l/ or /c/, e.g. (from Bogoraz's dictionary) quliletyk 'to shout' qucicetyk 'to

scream, make a row'.

3.2 Contact assimilations

[Skorik I:43f] Tend to be found morpheme internally and at affixation boundaries, but are

optional in compounding, e.g. incorporation (Skorik I:48; see also Muravyova, 1988).

3.2.1 Regressive assimilation of nasality

p + m/n/ñ m

t + m/n/ñ n

k,g,q + ñ ñ

Assimilation to following nasal: /p, t/ become nasals before any nasal (/m, n, ñ/):

jyp- 'put on

(clothing)'

jyp-nen jymnen 'he put it on'

pyne- 'sharpen' ge-pne-lin gemnelin 'sharpened'

tyni- 'sew' ge-tni-lin gennilin 'sewn'

rytyn 'tooth' rytny-t rynnyt 'teeth'

migciret- 'work' ny-migciret-muri nymigcirenmuri 'we work'

tyñiwy- 'send' ge-tñiwy-lin genñiwylin 'sent'

Optional assimilation in compounds:

janot 'front' ñinqej 'boy' janotñinqej/ janonñinqej 'front boy'

/k/ assimilates only before /ñ/:

plek- 'footware' te-plek-ñyk tepleññyk 'to make footware,

cobble'

g/ undergoes the same assimilation but this is optional and rare according to Skorik (I:45).

Nonetheless, the following example is reflected in the official spelling:

lig- 'egg' ñyto- 'come out' leg-ñyto- leññyto- 'hatch; lay egg'

[On rn nn see below]

3.2.2 Regressive labial assimilation

Velars before labials become labials (not reflected in orthography):

k/g + p/m w

myg 'many' + penwel 'stag' myw-penwel 'many stags'

ytlyg- 'father' + pojgyn 'spear' ytlyw-pojgyn 'father's spear'

ceg 'egg' + mak 'shell' cew-mak 'eggshell'

gw is a special case since this becomes ww, which then becomes kw (see below)

3.2.3 Regressive velar to uvular assimilation

k q q q (not orthographic)

gynnik 'animal' -qej 'diminutive, young of' gynniqqej

3.2.4 Alternations with alveolars - regressive assimilations

(Generally not indicated in the orthography)

c, r t /_____t, l, r

mac 'fairly' tot?ety 'stupid' mat-tot?ety

g-oc-len 'gnawed at' gotlen

mac + rayñky 'somewhat further mat-rayñky

pykir-tyk 'you came' pykit-tyk

qapar 'wolverine' + -cyñyn 'suffix' qapat-cyñyn

añar 'star' + -lyñyn 'suffix' añat-lyñyn

l t /_____r

gyrgol 'upper' ramkyn 'people' gyrgot-ramkyn

r n /___n

tur 'new' nelgyn 'hide' tun-nelgyn

Muraveva treats some of these as complete assimilations followed by dissimilation (see

below), e.g.:

cl ll tl; cr rr tr; rc cc tc; rl ll tl

3.2.5 Regressive place assimilations affecting velar nasals

ñ m /_____p, w (not usually in orthography)

p?oñp?oñ p?omp?oñ 'mushroom'

tañ 'good' + wagyrgyn 'life' tam-wagyrgyn

Before alveolars ñ n

ñyto- 'go out' ga-nto-len 'went out'

tañ 'good' cotcot 'pillow' tan-cotcot

liñliñ 'heart' linliñ

teleñ 'ancient' remken 'people' telen-remken

teleñ, jep 'still' telen-jep 'long ago'

3.3 Contact dissimilations

3.3.1 Dissimilations of repeated alveolars

cc tc

ll tl

rr tr

mec + cytc' 'near met-cytcy 'fairly near'

n?el 'become' ge-n?et-lin 'became'

tur 'new', rycq- 'sword' ga-tot-rycq-yma 'with a new sword' (NB vowel

harmony)

Cf. also rj tj:

kur- 'buy'+ jo kot-jo 'bought' (NB vowel harmony)

3.3.2 Dissimilations of velars and palatals

k, j g /_____ alveolars

kty- 'hard' ny-gty-qin

myk- 'many', liglig 'egg' myg-liglig

nennet 'otters' myg-nennet

remkyn 'people' myg-ramkyn (NB vowel harmony)

ñinqej 'boy' + -ti 'plural' ñinqeg-ti

w?ej 'meadow' -curm- 'edge' w?eg-curmyn

w?aj 'grass' -lyñyn 'suffix' w?ag-lyñyn

w?aj + ra- 'house' w?ag-ran 'grass house'

gg, gw kg, kw:

menig 'cloth' -gypy 'ABL' manik-gypy 'from the cloth'

ytlyg- 'father' gyjiwqew 'mark' ytlyk-gyjiwqew

atlag- 'sweet' wetgaw 'speech' atlak-wetgaw

3.3.3 Denasalization

ñ g /_____ m, n (not orthographic)

tarañ- 'build a house' nytarag-more 'we build a house'

tejyliñ- 'stroke' tejylig-nin 'stroked it'

3.3.4 Delabialization

ww kw

This is more common than might be thought if we regard the gw kw and especially the wg

kw alternations as passing through a stage gw ww. The sequence wg occurs very

frequently because there are several sets of g-initial agreement suffixes and -ew is a common

verb stem final suffix.

tyw- 'communicate' -gyrgyn 'nom.' tyk-wyrgyn

ejmew- 'approach' -g?i '3sg.' ejmek-w?i 's/he approached'

3.4 Metathesis

q ?/_____C, then V?C ?VC

jaqjaq 'seagull' ( ja?jaq) j?ajaq

3.5 Consonant truncation

Root initial consonants in clusters are often dropped word initially:

/tkur/ 'buy' kuryk 'to buy', ge-tkur-lin 'bought'

A list of such roots is found at the back of Moll and Inenliqej's dictionary.

3.5.1 Causative r-

Alternatives with /n/ when non-initial:

wiri- 'go down' ry-wiri- 'take down' ge-n-wiri-w-lin 'took down'

top of page

4. Vowel alternations

4.1 Vowel harmony

Vowels divided into recessive and dominant sets:

Recessive: i u e

Dominant: e o a

Either: schwa

Confusingly, /e/ belongs to both sets. There is no clear concensus in the literature as to

exactly how the vowels are pronounced, though /i, u/ are lax rather than tense. The dominant

and recessive /e/ vowels appear to have the same pronunciation. Where necessary I represent

recessive /e/ as e1 and dominant /e/ as e2.

If a dominant vowel occurs anywhere at all in the word, all the recessive vowels are replaced

by their dominant counterparts, as indicated in the table above. This applies even across very

long and complex incorporation domains (in contrast, say, to Turkic or Finno-Ugric vowel

harmony).

milute 'hare' ga-...-ma 'Comitative circumfix' ga-melota-ma

-qin 'adjective suffix' e.g. ny-tur-qin 'new', om- 'warm' n-om-qen

tur 'new' nelg- 'hide' ga-tor-nalg-y-ma 'with a new hide' (incorporation

structure)

Schwa never itself alternates but it may trigger harmony. All intances of epenthetic schwa are

recessive. 'Recessive' lexical schwa: ytlyg- 'father' (Ergative case ytlyg-e, *ytlyg-a).

'Dominant' lexical schwa: -gyrgyn 'nominalizer', e.g. tylek 'to move' tylagyrgyn 'step, path'.

Many roots lack a vowel altogether and some of these are dominant, e.g. -tm- 'kill'

tm + nin '3sgSubj/3sgObj' tym-nen

Cf. also the adverbial comparative suffix -ñ:

cymce 'near' cymca-ñ 'nearer'

4.2 Vowel reduction

Word final /e, a/ reduced to schwa:

epe-: epy 'grandfather' (cf. epe-t 'grandfathers'

wala-: waly 'knife' (cf. wala-t 'knives')

4.3 Final vowel truncation

Many roots with apparently final consonants end in vowels which are truncated word finally:

?aacek(e) 'youth': ?aacek Abs. sg., but ?aaceke-t Abs. pl., ?aaceke-gty All.

ekk(e) 'son': ekyk Abs. sg., but ekke-t Abs. pl., akka-gty All. [NB geminate

cluster broken by epenthesis in ekyk.]

Adjective suffix -qin(e): nilgy-qin 'white-ADJ', nilgy-qine-t 'white-ADJ-PL'

4.4 Vowel cluster simplification

V1 + V2 V2 where V2 is 'stronger' than V1 according to hierarchy:

u/o > i/e2 > e1/a

ge-it-lin 'was' gitlin

ge-umeket-linet 'met' gumeketlinet

ga-okwanaw-ma 'with tar' gokwanawma

r?yra-emlypgat 'murky pool' r?yremlypgat

No truncation after consonant cluster, even if the following morpheme begins with a long

vowel:

gemge-ekyk 'every son'; gamga-otkyn 'every corner'; tymñe-ottoot 'the usual

tree'; qente-uwil 'dull echo'; mejñy-ilir 'large island; emytlo-ajmyjocgyn

'leaking bucket'; tanñy-er?yn 'foreign clothing'

gemge-uul 'every chisel'; gamga-eekelgyn 'every edible root'; tymñe-aak 'the

usual lamp'; majñy-aatger 'large brook'

top of page

5. Stress

5.1 Basic pattern

(I:67-71) Chukchee has a stress system which appears to be contrastive. There is very little

information about stress. Stress is not indicated in the orthography (probably because Russian

stress isn't indicated orthographically). None of the dictionaries I've seen except that of

Bogoraz gives stress information and Skorik doesn't indicate stress in any of his examples

(except for transcribed examples in the section on stress). However, Bogoraz's transcriptions

all include stress information and are a valuable source of data for anyone wishing to attack

this problem.

Skorik claims that stress always falls on the final syllable of the root or stem, and never on

inflectional suffixes or on reduplicates. Thus we have:

pójg-a 'spear-INSTR' base /pojg/

íw-y-k 'to speak' base /iw/

jará-ñy 'house-ABS' base /jaja/

reqoká-lgyn 'arctic fox-ABS' base /reqoka/

ekwét-yk 'to set out' base /ekwet/

migcirét-yk 'to work' base /migciret/

túmg-y-tum 'friend.ABS' base /tumg/

káw-kaw 'biscuit.ABS' base /kaw/

nym-nym 'village.ABS' base /nym/

nuté-nut 'earth.ABS' base /nute/

However, a number of reduplicated forms with disyllabic bases have initial stress:

wánewan 'not', wéniwen 'bell', céricer 'dirt', kélikel 'book'

Stress doesn't, apparently, fall on epenthetic schwas inside bases (Skorik seems unaware that

not all schwas are lexical and includes schwa in representations of roots) (I:70) (ý is stressed

schwa):

mycýkw-yn 'shirt-ABS' base /mycykw/ (Skorik)

actually /myckw/ or even /mckw/

rykgýt-yk 'to get stuck' base /rykgyt/ (Skorik)

actually /rykgt / or even /rkgt/

What would be interesting is information about suffixed forms of words such as mémyl 'seal'

in which stress falls on the first syllable in the unaffixed form, but in which the schwa is

lexical.

5.2 Stress shift

If there are no vowels in the suffix(es) attached to a base, then stress is retracted to the

penultimate syllable of the base (or to the first syllable, i.e. as far back as possible,where the

base has fewer than three syllables):

tití-ñy 'needle-ABS'but

títi-t 'needle-ABS.PL'

melotá-lgyn 'hare-ABS' base /milute/ but mélute-t 'hare-ABS.PL'

[Disturbingly, Bogoraz's dictionary gives the stress melótalgyn for 'hare']

It is unclear from Skorik's account whether this is retraction to the antepenult or retraction to

the root initial syllable. (On typological grounds one would expect the latter.)

Similar retraction is observed with unsuffixed bases in which stress would fall word finally:

ricít-te 'belt-ABS.PL' but rícit 'belt.ABS.SG' base /ricit/

warát-te 'people-ABS.PL' but wárat 'people.ABS.SG' base /warat/

jatjól-te 'fox-ABS.PL' but játjol 'fox.ABS.SG.' base /jatjol/

Vowel reduction and stress: Retraction of word final stress seems to have resulted in vowel

reduction for a number of roots:

walá-jpy 'knife-ABL'omqá-jpy úmqy 'polar bear.ABS'

'polar bear-ABL'

Prefixation generally doesn't affect stress placement:

kójñ-yn 'cup-ABS' ga-kójñ-y-ma 'COM-cup-COM.II', 'with a cup'

qulil?ét-yk 'to shout' ge-qulil?ét-lin 'PAST.II-shout-PAST.II' 'shouted'

However, where the root lacks a vowel then stress may retract to a prefix (some of these

examples are from Bogoraz's dictionary):

tým-yk 'to kill', base /tm ~ nm/

tým-gyrgyn 'killing'

tým-jo 'killed (passive participle)'

tym-ý-rkynen 'kills him'

q-ená-nm-y-ge 'kill me!'

gá-nm-y-len 'killed (PAST.II)'

Stress in incorporation: incorporated roots tend to get secondary stress (primary stress falling

on the rightmost lexical stem):

ny-qorá-gynrét-qen '3pl-reindeer-guard-3sg' 'they guard reindeer'

ga-tór-májñ-y-walá-ta 'COM-new-large-knife-COM.I' 'with a large new knife'

Skorik observes that some suffixes may bear secondary stress:

ñytó-sqycát-g?e 'go.out-SUDDEN-3sg' 'he dashed out' where primary stress falls on ñytó-.

mémyl-y-t?ól-a 'seal-meat-INSTR' 'with seal meat' primary stress mémyl-

top of page

6. Some postlexical alternations

1. k g /___C (except /w/) (I:53)

kyjew- 'wake up' ge-kjew-lin gegjeklin 'woke up

2. Pronunciation of schwa (not represented orthographically)

Schwa unrounded [u] adjacent to labial consonant

Schwa i adjacent to /j/

[Krause also treats this as a highly opaque morphophonemic alternation.]

This alternation gives rise to surface violations of vowel harmony.

3. Intervocalic glide deletion. Glides or glide-like elements may be deleted between vowels.

Usually optional postlexical process:

jilyjil 'tongue, language' jiliil

ñew-ekyk 'daughter' ñeekyk

gagalalen 'went past' gaalalen

qorañy 'reindeer' qaañy

[Note in last case, qaa- is usual Abs. pl. stem form and also incorporative form.]

4. Consonant allophony (Asinovskij 1991).

The basic pronunciation of /c/ is as a prepalatal sibilant (like Polish /s'/), despite the

orthography and the usual transcription system (based on the orthography). (A better

transcription for /c/ would therefore be /s/.)

Both /l/ and /c/ are (slightly) affricated intervocalically.

Voiceless stops are aspirated in word final position.

/w r j g/ are devoiced after voiceless stops.

There is some palatalization of oral and nasal stops before /i/

/w/ is vocalized to very short [u] in word final position and before /i/.

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 3: NOUN INFLECTION, ADJECTIVES AND THE NOMINAL

PHRASE

1. Noun inflection

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Case and number

1.2.1 Declensions

1.2.2 Morphophonemics

1.2.3 Examples of cases

1.3 Person agreement

2. Postpositions

3. Adjectives, possessives, relational forms

3.1 Adjectives

3.1.1 Formation and use

3.1.2 Incorporation

3.1.3 Degrees of comparison

3.2 Possessive forms of nouns

3.3 Relational adjectives

4. Numerals

4.1 Cardinals

4.2 Distributive

4.3 Ordinals

5. Determiners

6. Modifier Incorporation

1. Noun inflection

1.1 Introduction

Cases:

Absolutive ABS

Ergative/Instrumental ERG/INSTR

Locative LOC

Ablative ABL

Allative ALL

Orientative ORIENT

Comitative I, II COM I, II

Designative DESIG

Pronouns have a Dative case.

NB. No gender, even in pronouns. No definiteness marking.

Agreement features: no possessive agreement

Person agreement with predicative use

1.2 Case and number

1.2.1 Declensions

Skorik distinguishes three 'declensions' on the basis of whether number is distinguished just

in the absolutive (1st declension), in all cases obligatorily (2

nd declension) or in non-

absolutive cases optionally (3rd

declension). This distinction is clearly derived from animacy

hierarchy considerations.

1st Declension: nonhumans. Sing. not distinct from plural except in Abs.

ñilg- 'thong' req- 'what?' ynqen 'that'

Abs sg ñilg-yn r?enut ynqen

Abs pl ñilg-yt r?enute-t ynqena-t

Erg/Instr ñilg-e req-e ynqena-ta

Loc ñilg-yk req-yk ynqena-k

Abl ñelg-epy r?a-gypy ynqena-jpy

All ñelg-ety raq-ety ynqena-gty

Orient ñilg-ygjit req-ygjit ynqena-gjet

ComI ge-ñilg-e ge-req-e g-ynqena-ta

ComII ga-ñelg-yma ga-r?a-ma g-ynqena-ma

Desig ñilg-u req-u ynqena-no

[NB: req- has regular alternation q ?/_____C; see chapter two]

Note Erg = Instr

2nd Declension: human proper names, older relatives, pronouns referring to people.

Singular

meñin 'who?' ymmemy, 'mummy' rintyn '(proper name)'

Abs meñin ymmemy rint-yn

Erg/Loc mik-yne ymmeme-ne rint-yne

Abl mek-gypy ymmama-jpy rent-epy

All mek-yna ymmama-na rent-yna

Orient mik-ygjit ymmeme-gjit rint-ygjit

Desig mik-ynu ymmeme-nu rint-ynu

Plural

Abs mik-ynti ymmeme-nti rint-ynti

Erg/Loc mik-yryk ymmeme-ryk rint-yryk

Abl mek-yrgypy ymmama-rgypy rent-yrgypy

All mek-yryky ymmama-ryky rent-yryky

Orient mik-yrygjit ymmeme-rygjit rint-yrygjit

Desig mik-ynu ymmeme-nu rint-ynu

Role of Comitative cases taken over by postposition reen + Loc.

Note: Erg. = Loc.

3rd Declension: humans other than older relatives. May decline like 1st decl. nouns or take

special plural forms similar to 2nd decl. for emphasis. Ex. tumg- 'friend'.

Sg Pl Sg Pl

Abs meñin mik-ynti tumgytum tumg-yt

Erg mik-yne mik-yryk tumg-e tumg-yryk

Loc mik-yne mik-yryk tumg-yk tumg-yryk

Abl mek-gypy mek-yrgypy tomg-epy tomg-yrgypy

All mek-yna mek-yryky tomg-ety tomg-yryky

Orient mik-ygjit mik-yrygjit tumg-ygjit tumg-yrygjit

Com ga-meg-ma ga-mek-yryma ga-tomg-yma ga-tomg-yryma

NB. Comitative case form exists but no Designative for meñin.

Erg = Loc for meñin, i.e. like 2nd

declension, while Erg = Instr for tumgytum (1st declension).

Personal pronouns

Singular

1 2 3

Abs gym gyt ytlon

Erg gym-nan gy-nan y-nan

Loc gym-yk gyn-yk yn-yk

Abl gym-yka-jpy gyn-yka-jpy yny-ka-jpy

All gym-yka-gty gyn-yka-gty yn-yka-gty

Dat gym-yky gyn-yky yn-yky

Orient gym-yke-gjit gyn-yke-gjit yn-yke-gjit

Com I ge-gym-yke ge-gyn-yke g-yn-yke

Com II ga-gym-ygma ga-gyn-ygma g-yn-ygma

Desig gym-yku gyn-yku yn-yku

Plural

1 2 3

Abs muri Turi ytri

Erg mor-gynan tor-gynan yr-gynan

Loc mur-yk tur-yk yr-yk

Abl mor-yka-jpy tor-yka-jpy yr-yka-jpy

All mor-yka-gty tor-yka-gty yr-yka-gty

Dat mor-yky tor-yky yr-yky

Orient mur-yke-gjit tur-yke-gjit yr-yke-gjit

Com I ge-mur-yke ge-tur-yke g-yr-yke

Com II ga-mor-ygma ga-tor-ygma g-yr-ygma

Desig mur-yku tur-yku yr-yku

top of page

1.2.2 Morphophonemics

Absolutive stem allomorphy. (Abs. sg. and pl. forms given.

Zero affixation:

Zero: weem 'river', weemyt; r?ew 'whale', r?ewyt; ate 'daddy' ate-nti; memyl

'seal', memylte.

Zero with reduction of final vowel: waly 'knife', walat; umqy 'polar bear',

umqet;

With truncation of final stem vowel: uqqem 'plate', uqqemet; tewenañ 'oar',

tewenañat; milut 'hare', milutet.

Stems ending in consonant clusters:

(i) epenthesis of y in sg.: qepyl 'ball', qeplyt; tytyl 'door', tytlyt; rytyn 'tooth',

rynnyt; mimyl 'water', mimlyt.

(ii) truncation of final cons.: aween 'pasture', aweenwyt; ñyton 'exit', ñytonwyt.

[All Skorik's examples involve -nw].

(iii) vowel truncation then epenthesis: ceñyl 'box', cenlet; erym 'boss', ermet;

ekyk 'son', ekket.

Affixation.

(i) -(y)n/-n(y): kupre-n 'net'; ñilg-yn 'thong', gytg-yn 'lake', renm-yn 'wall' (also

ytlyg-yn 'father'); ñeg-ny (root, ñej-) 'hill'.

(ii) -lgyn/-lgyñyn/-ytlyñyn: lele-lgyn 'glove' (>lili), melota-lgyn 'hare'

(>milute-); myng-ylgyn 'hand'; w?ag-lyñyn 'grass' (>w?ej-), mran-lyñyn

'mosquito' (>mren-), añat-lynyn 'star' (>eñet-); par-ytlyñyn 'shoulder-blade'.

(iii) -ñy: titi-ñy 'needle', jara-ñy 'house', qora-ñy 'deer', kuke-ñy 'kettle'.

Reduplication: copy first CVC on to right edge.

(i) Full reduplication. Copying CVC syllable: stem for inflection is full

reduplicated form. Eg. piñpiñ 'ash', piñpiñyt; nymnym 'village', nymnymyt;

liglig 'egg', ligligyt.

(ii) Partial reduplication. Copying first three segments (CVC): stem for

inflection is unreduplicated stem. Eg. piñepiñ 'falling snow', piñet; nutenut

'land', nutet; milgymil 'match', milgyt; tirkytir 'sun', tirkyt; kyrgokyr 'willow

bush', kyrgot; jil?ejil 'gopher', jil?et.

Reduplication is not found when the root is compounded. E.g. tumgytum

'friend', root tumg-, jic?emittumgyn 'brother' not *jic?emittumgytum).

Plural formation:

2nd declension -nti: rultynli-nti 'Rultenli and family/associates', ate-nte,

'daddies', ymmeqej-ynte 'mummies'.

1st/3rd declension -(y)t, -ti: jara-t 'houses', qaa-t 'deer', ekke-t 'sons', pojg-yt

'spears', tumg-yt 'friends', ja?jaq-yt 'seagulls', grep-yt 'songs'; memyl-te 'seals',

milger-ti 'guns', ñewysqet-ti, 'women', ococ-te 'masters', ñeg-ti 'hills' (>ñej).

Excursus: Kin terms

2nd declension:

ate 'daddy', ymmemy 'mummy', yn?y 'older brother', epy 'granddad', epeqej

'grandma', jel?o 'uncle', ytcajqaj 'aunt'.

3rd declension:

ytlygyn 'father', ytla 'mother', mirgyn 'grandfather', ñewmirgyn 'grandmother',

yneel?yn 'older brother', ynjiw 'uncle' ytcaj 'aunt', ekyk 'son', ñeekyk 'daughter',

ytleñi 'younger brother', ytlywe 'grandson', jic?emittumgyn 'brother (of

brother)', jic?emit 'brother (of sister)', cakyget 'sister (of brother)',

cakettomgyn 'sister (of sister)'.

top of page

1.2.3 Examples of cases

(for Absolutive, Ergative see chapter five)

Instrumental

(1) tywañyrkyn titi-te

I.sew needle-INSTR

'I sew with a needle'

(2) cawcyw qaa-ta tylerkyn

chawchaw reindeer-INSTR travels

'The Chawchaw travels by reindeer'

(3) umqete je-ge nenanmyqen memyl

polar.bear paw-INSTR kills seal

'The polar bear kills the seal with its paw'

Locative

(4) memylte kupre-k gakwalenat

seals net-LOC got.caught

'The seals got caught in the net'

(5) tilmyt enmy-k wak?og?at

eagles cliff-LOC sat

'The eagles sat on the cliff'

(6) orgoor typelag?an jemrony-na

sledge I.left Yemron-LOC

'I left the sledge with Yemron'

Ablative

(7) qaat mran-gypy gyntekw?et

deer mosquitoes-ABL ran

'The deer ran from the mosquitoes'

(8) ?ytwyqej ott-epy getejkylin

little.boat wood-ABL they.made

'They made the little boat from wood'

(9) in?e mytekwenmyk gemalqoty-r-gypy

morning we.left Gemalqot-PL-ABL

'In the morning we left the Gemalqot family'

Allative

(10) ytri ejmekw?et omqa-gty

they approached polar.bear-ALL

'They approached the polar bear'

(11) ?ytt?-ety geretlin qopalgyn

dogs-ALL they.brought meat

'They brought the dogs meat'

(12) gym tylqytyk jatgory-ny

I went Yatgor-ALL

'I went to Yatgor (personal name)'

Orientative

(13) iwinil?yt nypelqyntetqinet anqa-jpy ñejy-gjit

hunters returned sea.ABL mountain-ORIENT

'The hunters returned from the sea orienting by the mountain'

(14) epenin wala-g?et qytejkygyn

grandfather's knife-ORIENT make.it

'Make it like grandfather's knife'

(15) ñeekket nywañeqenat ymmemery-gjit

little.girls sew mummies-ORIENT

'The little girls sew following their mummies' model'

Comitative I

(16) luur jatjol ge-riquke-te penrytkog?at tykec?-ety

suddenly red.fox COM-arctic.fox-COMI rushed bait-ALL

'Suddenly the red fox with the arctic fox rushed to the bait'

(17) riquke-te ga-jatol-a penrynenat pipiqylgyt

arctic.fox-ERG COM-red.fox.COMI attacked mice

'The arctic fox and the red fox attacked the mice'

Comitative II

(18) milger ga-m?ame-ma nyjmetwaqen renmy-k

rifle COM-cartridge-COMII hangs wall.LOC

'A rifle with cartridges hangs on the wall'

(19) tyjylyn ynaal?-ety k?eli ga-lele-ma

I.gave elder.brother-ALL cap COM-gloves-COMII

'I gave my elder brother a cap with gloves'

Designative

(20) jyñek wykwylgyn jarano nyperqen

in.mist rock yaranga.DESIG appeared

'In the mist the rock looked like a yaranga (tent)'

(21) qynwer qejyqej r?ew-u gen?etlin

at.last whale.pup whale-DESIG became

'At last the whale pup grew up'

(22) myttenynnyñyn ekyk roptyn-o

we.called son Roptyn-DESIG

'We called our son Roptyn'

(23) qergaw gymyky yn?en-u nitqin

Qergaw me.ALL elder.brother-DESIG is

'Qergaw is my elder brother'

top of page

1.3 Person agreement

With nouns used as predicates:

mik- 'who?' tumg- 'friend'

1. mik-i-gym 'who am I?' tumg-i-gym 'I am a friend'

2. mik-i-gyt tumg-i-gyt

3. meñin tumgytum

'To have' = 'to be with'

1. ge-req-i-gym 'what have I got?' ga-qora-j-gym 'I have got (a) reindeer'

2. ge-req-i-gyt 'what hast thou got?' ga-qora-j-gyt 'Thou hast got (a) reindeer'

3. ge-re?-lin 'what has s/he got?' ga-qora-len 'S/he has got (a) reindeer'

1. ge-req-y-muri 'what have we got?' ga-qora-more 'We have got (a) reindeer'

2. ge-req-y-turi 'what have you got?' ga-qora-tore 'You have got (a) reindeer'

3. ge-re?-linet 'what have they got?' ga-qora-lenat 'They have got (a) reindeer'

Also found appositively (quite common textually):

(24) gyt, mewet-ine-jgyt ekke-jgyt, qyntoge

you, Mewet-POSS-2sg son-2sg, leave

'You, Mewet's son, leave'

top of page

2. Postpositions

No PREpositions. Postpositions mainly derived from adverbs. Usually take Loc. case.

reen 'with'

qaca 'near'

gyrgoca 'over' (cf. gyrgol 'upper part, top')

ewyca 'under' (iwtyl 'bottom, underside')

?ytt?yjoca 'before, in front of' (?ytt?yjol 'front')

jaacy 'behind' (jaal 'back')

Examples:

(25) ñinqej nynnyñyttyqin ytlyg-yk reen

boy fished father-LOC with

'The boy fished with the father'

(26) ytlon qonpy nywak?otwaqen mur-yk qaca

he all-time sits us-LOC near

'He sits near us all the time'

(27) luur yr-yk gyrgoca pintyqetg?i gacgamkyn

suddenly him-LOC above appeared flock

'Suddenly above him there appeared a flock of birds'

(28) ynpyñew-yk ewyca turnelgyn gatwalen

old-woman-LOC under new-hide was

'Under the old woman there was a new hide'

(29) qytwetcage tumg-yk ?ytt?yjoca

stand friend-LOC in-front-of

'Stand in front of your friend'

(30) ñej-yk jaacy wytretg?i nymnym

hill-LOC behind appeared village

'Behind the hill there appeared a village'

Inflected postpositions

(31) gytgy-k qaca-jpy ?ireg?i ilwylu

lake-LOC near-ABL rushed wild-deer

'Wild deer ruched out from by the lake'

(32) gacgamkyn riñekwetyrkyn ñejy-k girgoca-gty

flock flew hill-LOC over-ALL

'The flock of birds were flying towards the other side of the hill'

(33) tirky-k ewyca-gj?et wytretg?i riñeneñ

sun-LOC under-ORIENT appeared plane

'A plane appeared, flying a course beneath the sun'

Adverbs and nouns used as postpositions:

cymce 'near'

rymagty 'further on, beyond'

wytwyr 'interval'

(34) wykwy-k wytgyr-gypy nyntoqen pycyc?yqej

stones-LOC between-ABL flowed water-stream

'A stream flowed from between the stones'

top of page

3. Adjectives, possessives, relational forms

3.1 Adjectives

3.1.1 Formation and use

Formed by circumfix n- ... -qin. Inflect for P/N when used predicatively. Don't usually agree

in case/number when used attributively. (See also under Incorporation).

'Conjugation' (predicative forms. - Cf. predicative use of nouns).

Root: erme 'strong' gtam 'precise'

1sg n-erme-j-gym ny-gtam-e-gym

2sg n-erme-j-gyt ny-gtam-e-gyt

3sg n-erme-qin ny-gtam-qen

1pl n-erme-muri ny-gtam-more

2pl n-erme-turi ny-gtam-tore

3pl n-erme-qin-et ny-gtam-qen-at

(I:374) Adjectives are often found in an analytic construction with the -l?- form of the verb

wak 'to be'. The adjective is in what is formally an Allative suffix attached to the adjective

root.

miñkyri wal?yn 'what kind of, what like?'

armagty wal?yn 'strong'

The -l?- form of an adjectival root can also be used as a predicative or attributive modifier.

See under the appropriate section.

These all appear in the full set of case/number forms.

3.1.2 Incorporation

Adjective roots regularly incorporate into the noun stems which they modify. See section

below on incorporation.

3.1.3 Degrees of comparison

Comparative form: add -*ñ to stem. The comparative is found in the analytic construction

with wal?yn.

arma-ñ wal?yn 'stronger'

jylqy-ñ wal?yn 'faster'

Source of comparison is in Loc.:

(35) ryrky umqe-k arma-ñ wal?yn

walrus polar.bear-LOC stronger-COMPAR is

'The walrus is stronger than the polar bear'

Comparison can be modified by various prefixes (Skorik gives most of these in their

dominant form because that's the form they appear in when in construction with dominant

suffix -ñ. I give them in their basic forms):

mec/mac- 'fairly, cik- 'comparatively', lygi- 'significantly', *kyt- 'very', pytqy- 'extremely',

j?a- 'a good deal (more)', ynan 'most'

mac-elg-y-ñ 'a little whiter'

cek-elg-y-ñ 'comparatively whiter'

lyg-elg-y-ñ 'significantly whiter'

kyt-elg-y-ñ 'much whiter'

pytq-elg-y-ñ 'far whiter'

j?-elg-y-ñ 'a good deal whiter'

ynan-elg-y-ñ 'whitest'

Some examples:

(36) tumge kylgenninent jyq-ety wa-l?-yt qaa-t

friend harnessed quick-ALL be-l?-ABS.PL reindeer-ABS.PL

The friend harnessed the quick reindeer'

(37) jic?emittumgyn qytg?i kyt-jyq-y-ñ wa-l?-ety qaa-gty

brother went.after more-quick-COMPAR be-l?-ALL reindeer-ALL

'The brother went after the quicker reindeer'

(I:423) Degree prefixes also attach to ordinary adjectives in their n-...-qin form: mec/mac- 'a

little', cig/ceg- 'comparatively', *kyt- 'fairly', nylgi- 'very'.

mec-n-ikw-i-gym 'I am fairly tall'

cig-ny-ñin'qin 'he is comparatively young'

kyn-ny-gynryr-more 'we are fairly keen-sighted'

nylge-ny-lymal-qenat 'they are very trusting'

[The cig/ceg- and kyn- forms given by Skorik here are phonologically conditioned

allomorphs of cik/cek- and kyt- given above. Note that the glosses for kyt- are slightly

different in the two accounts.]

top of page

3.2 Possessive forms of nouns

(I:225f) Used attributively or predicatively

-(n)in added to stem: mik-yn(in) 'whose?', reqin 'of what?'

ytlygin waly 'father's knife'

?ytt?in renreñ 'the dog's food'

w?ejin kinmyqej 'the grass's root'

-nin allomorph suffixed to singular stem of Proper Nouns, interrogative and indefinite

pronouns, common nouns referring to older relatives, -in found elsewhere:

(38) ge-kelwi-nine-tumg-e

COM-Kelwi-POSS-friend-COM.I

'with Kelwi's friend(s)'

(39) rult-y-nin 'of Rultyn'

(40) ge-ñinqej-ine-tumg-e

COMI-boy-POSS-friend-COMI

'with the boy's friend(s)'

More common form of interrog: mikyn

Added to plural stems of human nouns:

(41) girl-POSS/girl-PL-POSS (ball)

'The girl's/girls' ball'

Not possible with non-humans (I:227)

(42) rewymrew-in rygryg l?eleñy tegnilgyñqin

partridge-POSS feathers in.winter completely.white

'In winter, a partridge's feathers are complete white'

Cf. anthropomorphic use (I:227):

(43) gymnan wanewan tegjeñu mylgyn ?ytt?y-rg-in wagyrgyn - ikw?i ?iny

I.ERG NEG want AUX dog-PL-POSS life - said wolf

' "I don't want the dogs' life" said the wolf'

Implies inalienable possession or individual level predication when applied to inanimates

(Skorik I:249):

(44) weem-in pyc?yc?yn 'the river's flow, current', but not

(45) *weem-in wykwylgyn 'the river's rock, the rock in the river'

With animates can express alienable or inalienable possession:

(46) ?ytt?-in lewyt, ?innicgyn

dog-POSS head, collar

'The dog's head, collar'

Can also express material out of which thing is made (note that this appears to be a

predicative use of the possessive form):

(47) murg-in ?ytw?et utt-in

our boat tree-POSS

'Our boat is made out of wood'

Note that the possessive form has to be distinguished from the relational adjective form in -

kin, e.g. (Skorik I:286, fn. 213):

uttuut 'tree':

ott-y-wytwyt, 'tree leaf'

utt-in wytwyt 'the tree's leaf' or 'leaf made from wood (e.g. carved)'

utt-y-kin wytwyt 'the leaf on the tree'

Possessives don't agree in case/number with head:

(48) ñinqegti nyteñyc?etqinet wak ynpynacg-yrg-en jarak

boys like to.be old.man-PL-POSS house.LOC

'The boys like to be in the old men's house'

(cf also Skorik I:229)

Incorporates obligatorily in Com. I, II (like other modifiers):

(49) ?aacekyt qytg?et gytgety ga-ynpynacg-yrg-ena-kopra-ma

youths went to.lake COM-old.man-PL-POSS-net-COM.II

'The youths went to the lake with the old men's net' (I:226)

(50) ge-mik-y-nine-tumg-e

COM-who-POSS-friend-COM.I

'With the friend(s) of which person?'

(51) ge-mik-y-rg-ine-tumg-e

COM-who-PL-POSS-friend-COM.I

'With the friend(s) of which people?'

(52) ga-mek-y-nena-melgar-ma

COM-who-POSS-gun-COM.II

'With the gun(s) of which person?'

(53) ga-mek-y-rg-ena-melgar-ma

COM-who-PL-POSS-gun-COM.II

'With the gun(s) of which people?' (I:228)

Incorporates optionally when modifying N in any case except Absolutive:

(54) mik-y-nine-tumg-yk nytkiwigyt

who-POSS-friend-LOC you.spend.night

'At whose friend's house are you spending the night?'

(55) rult-y-nine-tumg-yk nytwajgym

Rultyn-POSS-friend-LOC I.am

'I am at Rultyn's friend's house' (I:232)

Abs. pl. (and oblique case) agreement possible when head is elided:

(56) mik-y-n(in) jel?o-nte rult-y-nine-t, ñinqej-ine-t

who-POSS grandfathers Rultyn's, the boy's

'whose grandfathers are they?' 'Rultyn's, the boy's'

(57) mik-y-rg-in ñewyl?-y-k gyr?oññog?e

who-PL-POSS herd-LOC calve.start

'In whose herd did the calving start?'

rult-y-rg-ine-k, mirg-y-rg-ine-k

Rultyn-PL-POSS-LOC, grandfather-PL-POSS-LOC

'In the Rultyn family's, in grandfathers''

(58) ge-mik-y-nine-mirg-e ge-ñinqej-ine-me

COM who-POSS-grandfather-COM.I COM-boy-POSS-COM.I

'with whose grandfather?' 'with the boy's' (I:242)

Otherwise agreement is rare. Note: genuine case inflected forms don't incorporate, and don't

take adjective-like agreement morphology, which means that it is incorrect to think of the

possessive form as a kind of genitive case.

Predicative use:

(59) ñotqen qepyl ñeekkeqej-in/ñeekkej-yrg-in

this ball girl's girls'

'This ball is the girl's/the girls'' (I:225)

(60) muri mik-y-rg-y-ine-muri winretyl?y-muri

we who-PL-POSS-1pl helper-1pl

'whose(PL) helper are we?'

(61) turi mewet-y-rg-ine-turi

you Mewet-PL-POSS-1pl

'you are the Mewet family's (helpers)'

(62) muri-ym ymyl?o-rg-ena-more qut-y-rg-ine-muri

we-FOC all-PL-POSS-1pl other-PL-POSS-1pl

'but we are (the helpers) of all the others'

top of page

3.3 Relational adjectives

(Skorik I:268-280) Generally used with inanimates, signals alienable possession or stage

level predication -kin(e):

(63) weem-kine-t wykw-yt

river-REL-PL rock-PL

'the river's rocks, the rocks in the river'

(64) emnuñ-kin gatle

tundra-REL bird

'a bird from the tundra'

Possible with animates only in comparative constructions (in locative, orientative) (Skorik

I:268 fn. 205)

(65) ñeekkeqej-in k?eli ñinqej-kine-k tañyñ wal?yn

girl-POSS cap boy-REL-LOC better is

'The girl's cap is better than the boy's'

(66) raq-orwy-gjet retejkyñyn

wh-sledge-ORIENT you.will.make

'Which sledge will you take as a model?'

(67) igyr ñekkeqeg-ti ñinqej-kine-k tañyñ gemigciretlinet

today girl-PL boy-REL-PL-LOC better have.worked

'Today the girls have worked better than the boys'

Syntax - basically similar to Possessive form. Usually agrees for number with Absolutive

case head:

(68) weem-kin wykwyn, weem-kine-t wykwyt

river(-PL) rock(s)

'the river's/rivers' rocks'

Comitative cases always incorporate (Skorik I:270):

(69) ?itu?it riñeg?i ga-gytg-y-kena-galga-ma

goose flew.away COM-lake-REL-bird-COM.II

'The goose flew away with the bird(s) from the lake'

Other oblique cases usually incorporate:

(70) añqa-kena-gel-gypy al?eqatg?e ?ytt?yn

sea-REL-ice.floe-ABL swam dog

'From the ice floe in the sea swam a dog'

(71) r?e-ñilg-yk kupre-kine-ñilg-yk

wh-strap-LOC net-REL-strap-LOC

'On which strap? On the strap from the net'

(72) req-ine-ñilg-yk kupre-kine-ñilg-yk

wh-REL-strap-LOC net-REL-strap-LOC

'On which strap? On the strap from the net'

(73) meñka-kena-gelgel-gypy añqa-kena-gelgel-gypy

where-REL-ice.floe-ABL sea-REL-ice.floe-ABL

'From the ice floe which is where? From the ice floe which is in the sea'

Predicative use (Skorik I:275f):

(74) tite-kine-jgyt ele-kine-jgyt

when-REL-2sg summer-REL-2sg

'Of what time are you?' 'I am of the summer'

(75) gyt-ym, wopqa-jgyt, miñe-kine-jgyt

you-FOC, elk-2sg, where-REL-2sg

'You, elk, where are you from?'

Has inflectional and derivational uses: derivational when deriving forms of non-nouns,

function words, or indeclinables:

wulqytwin 'evening' wulqytwi-kin 'of the evening'

cinit '(ones)self' cinit-kin '(ones)own'

miñky 'where?' miñke-kin 'of where?'

meñko 'from where?' meñko-kin 'pertaining to the person/thing from where?'

tite 'when?' tite-kin 'pertaining to the person/thing of what time?'

ajwe 'yesterday' ajwe-ken 'yesterday's'

top of page

4. Numerals

4.1 Cardinals

Chukchee has a vigesimal system.

1 ynnen (e1) 21 qlikkin ynnen parol

2 ñireq 22 qlikkin ñireq parol

3 ñyroq 23 qlikkin ñyroq parol

4 ñyraq 24 qlikkin ñyraq parol

5 *mytlyñyn 25 qlikkin mytlyñyn parol

6 ynnanmytlyñyn 26 qlikkin ynnanmytlyñyn parol

7 ñer?amytlyñyn 27 qlikkin ñer?amytlyñyn parol

8 ñyr?omytlyñyn 28 qlikkin ñyr?omytlyñyn parol

amñyrootken 29 qlikkin ñyr?amytlyñyn parol

9 ñyr?amytlyñyn 30 qlikkin myngytken parol

qonacgynken 35 qlikkin kylgynken parol

10 *myngytken 40 ñireqqlikkin

11 myngytken 45 ñireqqlikkin mytlyñyn parol

12 myngytken 50 ñireqqlikkin myngytken parol

13 myngytken 60 ñyroqqlekken

14 myngytken 70 ñyroqqlekken myngytken parol

15 *kylgynken 80 ñyraqqlekken

16 kylgynken 90 ñyraqqlekken myngytken parol

17 kylgynken 100 mytlyñqlekken

18 kylgynken 200 myngytqlekken

19 kylgynken 300 kylgynqlekken

20 qlikkin 400 qlikqlikkin

Traditionally, counting didn't go beyond 400.

Note interrogative numeral t?er/t?ar

Forms for 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five' have combining forms ñiren-, ñyron-, ñyran-, mytlyñ-

resp. with other numerals, and 'two', 'three', 'four' have ñire-, ñyro-, ñyra- in other

combinations (e.g. with person agreement affixes). Combining forms for the numerals ending

in -kin/ken remove that ending.

There are two forms for 'eight', 'nine'. The transparently formed '3 + 5', '4 + 5' are perhaps less

frequent than the alternatives (I:388) which etymologically mean 'relating only to three

(fingers on the other hand)' and 'one (finger) at its side'.

Person marking: take person suffixes when used predicatively or appositively (except for

ynnen 'one'): (turi) t?er-turi 'how many of you are there?' (muri)

ñiremuri/ñer?amytlyñmore/amñyrootmore/ñireqqlikkin myngytken ñyroq

parolmore/cigt?ermuri 'There are two/seven/eight/fifty-seven /a (fair) number of us'

3rd

person forms have special plural suffix -rgeri: t?er-y-rgeri 'How many of them are there?'

kylgynken ñyroq parol-y-rgare 'There are eighteen of them'.

top of page

4.2 Distributive

Circumfix em-/am-...-jut/jot.

em-t?et-jut 'how many each?' [Russian: 'po skol'ko?']

am-ynnanmytlyn-jot 'six each'

em-cig-t?et-jut 'a (fair) number each'

em-qlikkin ynnen parol-jot 'twenty-one each' [NB vowel harmony!]

(76) amqyn-gelytkyny-k nyrowtytwaqenat

each-ice.floe-LOC lay

(77) em-qlikkin kylgynken ynnen parol-jot memyte

DIST-20-15 one and-DIST seal.PL

'On each ice floe there lay thirty-six seals'

top of page

4.3 Ordinals

Formed by adding -qew/qaw (to combining form)

ñireqqliq-qew 'fortieth'

myngytken ynnen parol-qaw 'eleventh'

Attributive use as with cardinal numerals:

(78) ynnen-qew jarañy 'the first house'

(79) myngytkan ynnen parol-qaw-y-t lilit 'the eleventh gloves'

[NB plural agreement]

Incorporate with oblique cases as for cardinals:

(80) ñyro-qaw-nalg-a 'by the third hide'

(81) ga-ñer?a-mytlyñ-qaw-qajoo-ma

COM-three-five-ORD-calf-COM.II

'with the seventh calf'

With null nominal head (or in nominalized form), they take case suffixes (like cardinals):

(82) t?ar-qaw-orw-y-k nytwaqen

which-ORD-sledge-LOC it.is

'On which sledge (in order) is it?'

(83) ñyro-qaw-y-k

three-ORD-LOC

'On the third'

Predicate usage - as for cardinals, except that they can take plural marking.

(84) t?er-qew 'Which one is he?'

mytlyñ-qaw 'He's the fifth'

(85) t?er-qew-i-gym 'Which one am I?'

myngytken ynnen parol-qaw-e-gyt 'You're the eleventh'

Possessive and relative forms of ordinals

(86) ñire-qew-ñinqej-in ytlygyn 'the father of the second boy'

(87) ñire-qew-in ytlygyn 'the father of the second'

(88) ga-ñera-qaw-ena-cakett-a

COM-two-ORD-POSS-sister-COM.I

'with the sister of the second one'

Relative forms almost identical in meaning to ordinary ordinals:

(89) amñyroot-qaw-ken wykwyn

eight-ORD-REL stone

'the eighth stone (in relation to a row of other specific stones)'

top of page

5. Determiners

Chukchee seems to lack a determiner system as such. A number of quantifiers appear as

incorporated elements or as prefixes (depending on how you chose to analyse them). Overall,

Chukchee illustrates the A-type quantifier system as opposed to the D-type.

Skorik discusses these under noun derivation. See chapter ten, section 1.

top of page

6. Modifier Incorporation

This is the most productive type of incorporation in the language (see Spencer 1995 for

further discussion; also Payne 1993).

Chukotkan languages permit incorporation of:

adjectives (in various forms)

- forms

possessives (including possessives of -l?- forms)

'determiners', quantifiers etc., numerals (I:392; see especially Payne for interesting

examples)

verb stems as modifiers

Typologically, modifier incorporation by noun heads is probably rather different from noun

incorporation. In Chukchee it has an important role in discourse structure (an unincorporated

modifier bears a certain amount of focus so that incorporation is the unmarked state) and is

obligatory under certain circumstances (e.g. with the Comitative case forms, which have a

prefixal element). Moreover, although noun incorporation is being lost from the language

under influence of Russian, adjective incorporation shows now signs of being lost (see

discussion in Spencer, 1995). Finally, note that modifier incorporation is found in languages

which lack proper noun incorporation. Thus, in Germanic we often find Adj-Noun

compounds of the blackbird type, while in Latvian even some determiners (possessives) can

be compounded with nouns (e.g. from musu 'our' mus-dien-as 'our-day-GEñ 'of our day, i.e.

modern').

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 4: VERB INFLECTION (Finite conjugation)

1. Introduction

1.1 Summary of verbal categories

2. Finite conjugation

2.1 Intransitives

2.1.1 Declarative mood

2.1.2 Imperative

2.1.3 Conditional

2.2 Transitives

top of page

1. Introduction

1.1 Summary of verbal categories

Finite forms:

Verbs cross-reference subjects and objects for P/N.

Six tense/aspect forms: Past I, II, Present I, II, Future I, II.

Three moods: Declarative, Imperative, Conditional.

Two voice forms: Active, Antipassive.

Non-finite forms:

Present ('progressive') and passive participles.

Various infinitives and gerunds.

Numerous aspectual/Aktionsart affixes.

This chapter provides basic paradigms for finite forms of verbs. The rich set of non-finite

forms are dealt with in chapter seven. The various tense/aspect categories are here given very

notional labels. For detailed discussion of the semantics of these forms see Nedjalkov et al.

1984.

Only the active paradigms are given here. The two antipassive paradigms are presented in

chapter five (as far as their agreement and tense/mood/aspect markers are concerned they

don't differ significantly from the intransitive paradigms given here.)

top of page

2. Finite conjugation

2.1 Intransitives

2.1.1 Declarative mood

Past I: type of aorist (implies completed action)

Examples: kytgyntat-yk 'to run' req-yk 'to do what?'

Singular

1. ty-kytgyntat-yk ty-req-yk

2. kytgyntat-g?e r?e-g?i

3. kytgyntat-g?e r?e-g?i

Plural

1. myt-kytgyntat myt-req

2. kytgyntat-tyk r?e-tyk

3. kytgyntat-g?a-t r?e-g?e-t

[Alternative 1sg forms: ty-kytgyntat-g?a-k, ty-r?e-g?e-k]

Present II: progressive aspect

1sg ty-kytgyntat-yrky-n ty-req-yrky-n

2sg kytgyntat-yrky-n req-yrky-n

3sg kytgyntat-yrky-n req-yrky-n

1pl myt-kytgyntat-yrky-n myt-req-yrky-n

2pll kytgyntat-yrky-n req-yrky-n

3pl kytgyntat-yrky-t req-yrkyt

Future I: aoristic (telic) future, implies completed action.

Marker: -re-/ra- prefix to stem; -ñ- suffix in 2/3pl forms.

Note use of -g?e/g?a suffix in sg. and 1pl.

Singular Plural

1. t-ra-kytgyntat-g?a myt-ra-kytgyntat-g?a

2. ra-kytgyntat-g?a ra-kytgyntan-ñy-tyk

3. ra-kytgyntat-g?a ra-kytgyntan-ñy-t

Likewise: trer?eg?e 'what shall I do?' etc.

Future II: progressive future

Singular Plural

1. t-ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn myt-ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn

2. ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn-e-tyk

3. ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn ra-kytgyntat-yrkyn-e-ñyt

Likwise: trereqyrkyn 'what shall I be doing?'

Present II: type of stative; often refers to past or present time, without indicating

completeness of action. Cf. adjective forms.

Singular Plural

1. ny-kytgyntat-e-gym myt-kytgyntan-more

2. ny-kytgyntat-e-gyt kytgyntat-tore

3. ny-kytgyntat-qen kytgyntat-qena-t

Likewise: ny-req-i-gym 'what am I doing?'

Past II: perfect, resultative meaning. Cooccurs with enmec 'already'.

Same morphology as possessive construction (cf. g-ekke-j-gym 'I have a son').

Singular Plural

1. ga-kytgyntat-e-gym ga-kytgyntan-more

2. ga-kytgyntat-e-gyt ga-kytgyntat-tore

3. ga-kytgyntat-len ga-kytgyntat-lena-t

Likewise: ge-req-i-gym 'what have I done?'

Present II is formed from an original participial form. Cf. English 'I am running').

Past II is formed from construction translating 'have'. Cf. English 'I have run'.

Examples

Past I

(1) ty-gje-kw?e-k (> ty-gjew-g?e-k) ergyr?ok, t-ilgyte-kw?ek,

I-woke-up at-dawn, washed,

ty-caipa-kw?a-k ynk?am merynre ty-nto-g?a-k ñargynogty

drank-tea and slowly went-out outside

(2) r?e-g?i gymnin qorañy

What-happened/did my deer

'What did my reindeer do?'

Present I

(3) gyt ilgytew-yrkyn

you washing

'Are you washing?'

(4) req-yrkyn-ym igirqej gynin ekyk

what-doing-EMPH just-now your son

'What is your son doing just now?'

Future I

(5) qutti tyletumgyt petle re-jen-ñyt (re-jet-ñyt).

other fellow-travellers soon will-arrive

'The other fellow travellers will soon arrive'

(6) gyt-ym re-r?e-g?i ñelwyl?yk yppylomaci

you-EMPH what-will-do in-the-herd, being-small

'What will someone as small as you do in the herd?'

Future II

(7) egyttagnepy ytlygyk reen ñalwyl?ety t-re-lqlkyt-yrkyn

from-now father with to-herd I-shall-go

'From now on I shall go to the herd with father'

(8) re-req-yrkyni-ñyt ?aacekyt enpyl?yke

What-will-do youths without-elders

'What will the young people do without the elders?'

Present II

(9) ajwe gyt qonpy ny-gyntew-i-gyt gymykajpy ynk?am n-atc-e-gyt

yesterday you all-time were running away from-me and hiding

'Yesterday you spent the whole day running away from me and hiding'

(10) qorañy watapa n-ewii-kin

Reindeer moss feeds-on

'The reindeer feeds on moss'

(11) ñan ny-req-i-gym qonpy ñutku

so what-I-do all-time here

'So what do I do here all the time?'

(12) ?amyn-ym ny-r?e-qin qonpy gynin ekwew

well-EMPH what-happens all-time (to) your left-deer

'Well, what happens all the time to your left reindeer?'

Past II

(13) gyt muryk qametwal?ylqegyt naqam ga-nto-j-gyt

you with-us were-supposed-to-eat but you-left

'You were supposed to eat with us, but you left'

(14) ekyk enmec ga-qametwa-len

son already has-eaten

'The son has already eaten'

(15) ñinqej wytku igyr ge-piñku-lin

boy just now has-jumped

'The boy jumped just now'

(16) torgynan-ym lygi ge-req-i-gym emnuñky

you-EMPH know what-happened-to-me in-tundra

'You (at least) know what happened to me in the tundra'

(17) gymnan-ym gemo ge-r?e-lin ekyk kaletkorak

I-EMPH don't-know what-did (my)-son at-school

'I don't know what my son did at school'

(18) ge-r?e-line-t igyr murgin nenenet

What-did today our children

'What did our children do today?'

top of page

2.1.2 Imperative

Aorist (perfective, telic completed) and progressive

(imperfective, non-completive) aspects.

al?eqatyk 'to bathe'

Perfective

Singular Plural

1. m-al?eqat-yk myn-al?eqat

2. q-al?eqat-ge q-al?eqat-gytyk

3. n-al?eqat-g?an n-al?eqat-ynat

Imperfective

Singular Plural

1. m-al?eqat-yrkyn myn-al?eqat-yrkyn

2. q-al?eqat-yrkyn q-al?eqat-yrkynetyk

3. n-al?eqat-yrkyn n-al?eqat-yrkynat

Examples: imperative

(19) qutti ?aacekyt ny-kytgyntat-ynat

other youths let-them-run

'Let the other youths run.'

(20) myn-req-yrkyn-ym muri, turi umkyk wama

we-should-do-what we, you woods-LOC being

'What should we do, while you're in the woods?'

top of page

2.1.3 Conditional

Perfective and imperfective aspects (cf. imperative)

Perfective

Singular Plural

1. t?-al?eqat-yk myn?-al?eqat

2. n?-al?eqat-yn n?-al?eqat-tyk

3. n?-al?eqat-g?an n?-al?eqat-ynat

Imperfective

Singular Plural

1. t?-al?eqat-yrkyn myn?-al?eqat-yrkyn

2. n?-al?eqat-yrkyn n?-al?eqat-yrkynetyk

3. n?-al?eqat-yrkyn n?-al?eqat-yrkynat

Examples: conditional

(21) ynykit turi n?y-wak?o-tyk enmec n?y-pañ?ewyño-tyk

if you had-sat-down already you-would-have-rested

'If you had sat down already you would have rested'

(22) n?y-req-yrkyn-i-tyk gym turyk reen atwaka

you-would-do-what I you with not-being

'What would you do without me?'

top of page

2.2 Transitives

Same mood, T/A system as intransitives. Agreement with both subject and object (excepting

reflexive forms) for P/N. Note that forms with 1st person object and 2

nd person subject or 3sg

subject have special forms which are very nearly identical to those of one of the

corresponding antipassive paradigms. (See Spencer 1999, for discussion.)

Past I: l?u- 'see, find'

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- ine-l?u-g?i ine-l?u-g?i

2sg ty-l?u-gyt ---------- ne-l?u-gyt

3sg ty-l?u-g?en l?u-g?en l?u-nin

1pl ---------- l?u-tku-g?i ne-l?u-myk

2pl ty-l?u-tyk ---------- ne-l?u-tyk

3pl ty-l?u-net l?u-net l?u-nine-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- ine-l?u-tyk ne-l?u-gym

2sg myt-l?u-gyt ---------- ne-l?u-gyt

3sg myt-l?u-g?en l?u-tky ne-l?u-g?en

1pl ---------- l?u-tku-tyk ne-l?u-myk

2pl myt-l?u-tyk ---------- ne-l?u-tyk

3pl myt-l?u-net l?u-tky l?u-tky

E.g. l?unin 'he saw him'

nel?utyk 'he/they saw you (pl.)'

Likewise: ryreqew- 'to do what to sthg/s.o.?' (combining stem -nreqew).

tynreqewgyt 'what did I do to you?'

ryreqewninet 'what did he do to them?'

Present I

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- ine-l?u-rkyn ine-l?u-rkyn

2sg ty-l?u-rkyni-gyt ---------- ne-l?u-rkyni-gyt

3sg ty-l?u-rkyn l?u-rkyn l?u-rkyn-in

1pl ---------- l?u-tku-rkyn ne-l?u-rkyni-myk

2pl ty-l?u-rkyni-tyk ---------- ne-l?u-rkyni-tyk

3pl ty-l?u-rkyn-et l?u-rkyn-et l?u-rkynin-et

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- ine-l?u-rkyni-tyk ne-l?u-rkyni-gym

2sg myt-l?u-rkyni-gyt ---------- ne-l?u-rkyni-gyt

3sg myt-l?u-rkyn l?u-rkyni-tky ne-l?u-rkyn

1pl ---------- l?u-tku-rkyni-tyk ne-l?u-rkyni-myk

2pl myt-l?u-rkyni-tyk ---------- ne-l?u-rkyni-tyk

3pl myt-l?u-rkyn-et l?u-rkyni-tky ne-l?u-rkyn-et

Future I

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- r-ine-l?u-g?e r-ine-l?u-g?e

2sg t-re-l?u-gyt ---------- ne-re-l?u-gyt

3sg t-ry-l?u-ñyn re-l?u-ñyn re-l?u-g-nin

1pl ---------- re-l?u-tku-g?e ne-re-l?u-myk

2pl t-re-l?u-n-tyk ---------- ne-re-l?u-n-tyk

3pl t-re-l?u-ñy-net re-l?u-ñy-net re-l?u-g-nine-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- r-ine-l?u-n-tyk ne-re-l?u-gym

2sg myt-re-l?u-gyt ---------- ne-re-l?u-gyt

3sg myt-re-l?u-ñyn re-l?u-ñy-tky ne-re-l?u-ñyn

1pl ---------- re-l?u-tku-n-tyk ne-re-l?u-myk

2pl myt-re-l?u-n-tyk ---------- ne-re-l?u-n-tyk

3pl myt-re-l?u-ñy-net re-l?u-ñy-tky ne-re-l?u-ñy-net

Future II: = Present I with -re-: t-re-l?u-rkyni-gyt 'I saw thee' etc.

Present II

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- n-ine-l?u-j-gyt n-ine-l?u-qin

2sg n-ine-l?u-j-gym ---------- ny-l?u-j-gyt

3sg n-ine-l?u-j-gym n-ine-l?u-gyt n-ine-l?u-qin

1pl ---------- ny-l?u-tku-j-gyt ny-l?u-muri

2pl n-ine-l?u-j-gym ---------- ny-l?u-turi

3pl n-ine-l?u-j-gym n-ine-l?u-j-gyt n-ine-l?u-qine-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- n-ine-l?u-turi ny-l?u-j-gym

2sg n-ine-l?u-muri ---------- ny-l?u-j-gyt

3sg n-ine-l?u-muri n-ine-l?u-turi ny-l?u-qin

1pl ---------- ny-l?u-tku-turi ny-l?u-muri

2pl n-ine-l?u-muri ---------- ny-l?u-turi

3pl n-ine-l?u-muri n-ine-l?u-turi ny-l?u-qine-t

Past II

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- g-ine-l?u-j-gyt g-ine-l?u-lin

2sg ge-l?u-j-gyt ---------- ge-l?u-j-gyt

3sg ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-qin

1pl ---------- ge-l?u-tku-j-gyt ge-l?u-muri

2pl ge-l?u-turi ---------- ge-l?u-turi

3pl ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- g-ine-l?u-turi ge-l?u-j-gym

2sg ge-l?u-j-gyt ---------- ge-l?u-j-gyt

3sg ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin

1pl ---------- ge-l?u-tku-turi ge-l?u-muri

2pl ge-l?u-turi ---------- ge-l?u-turi

3pl ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t

Past II

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- g-ine-l?u-j-gyt g-ine-l?u-lin

2sg ge-l?u-j-gyt ---------- ge-l?u-j-gyt

3sg ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-qin

1pl ---------- ge-l?u-tku-j-gyt ge-l?u-muri

2pl ge-l?u-turi ---------- ge-l?u-turi

3pl ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ ---------- g-ine-l?u-turi ge-l?u-j-gym

1sg ge-l?u-j-gyt ---------- ge-l?u-j-gyt

2sg ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin ge-l?u-lin

3sg ---------- ge-l?u-tku-turi ge-l?u-muri

1pl ge-l?u-turi ---------- ge-l?u-turi

2pl ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t ge-l?u-line-t

3pl

Examples:

Past I

(23) ynqory ynpyñewqeje qametwanwy n-?ejñew-myk

then old-woman to-eat she-called-us

'Then the old woman called us in to eat'

Present I

(24) gyt qynwer ytlon ne-jgu-rkyni-gyt jurgytw?itte

you however indeed it-is-biting-you mad-dog

'A mad dog is just about to bite you.'

Future I

(25) yrgynan ne-re-l?u-n-tyk ynk?am ne-re-piri-n-tyk

they they-will-see-you and they-will-seize-you

'They will see you and seize you'

Future II

(26) ewyr yrgynan ne-re-temjuñ-yrkyni-gyt ?epte qy-temjuñ-yrkyne-t

if they they-will-deceive-you also you.IMPER-deceive-them

'If they trick you you must trick them'

(Imperative: v. inf.)

Present II

(27) Gytgak ytlyge ny-nl?eten-muri qolenymety kaletkonwy

autumn father he-drives-us to-another-village to-study

'In the autumn father drives us to school in another village'

Past II

(28) mytiw torgynan enmec ga-ntyjewat-ytko-tore

we-thought you already you-forgot-us

'We thought you'd forgotten us'

Imperative: Perfective

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- q-ine-l?u-gi n-ine-l?u-g?en

2sg my-l?u-gyt ---------- ?yny-l?u-gyt

3sg my-l?u-g?en qy-l?u-gyn ny-l?u-nin

1pl ---------- qy-l?u-tku-gi ?yny-l?u-myk

2pl my-l?u-tyk ---------- ?yny-l?u-tyk

3pl my-l?u-net qy-l?u-gyne-t ny-l?u-nine-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ ---------- q-ine-l?u-tyk ?yny-l?u-gym

1sg myn-l?u-gyt ---------- ?yny-l?u-gyt

2sg myn-l?u-g?en qy-l?u-gytky ?yny-l?u-g?en

3sg ---------- qy-l?u-tku-tyk ?yny-l?u-myk

1pl myn-l?u-tyk ---------- ?yny-l?u-tyk

2pl myn-l?u-net qy-l?u-gytky ?yny-l?u-net

3pl

Imperfective: Same suffixes as Present I but with Imperative prefixes.

(29) gymr?am ñinqegti my-l?u-net

now boys let-me-find

'Now let me find the boys'

(30) q-ine-nreqe-kwy-tyk gym ergatyk

What-should-you-do to-me tomorrow

'What should you do to me tomorrow?'

(31) naqam-ym ?yny-nreqew-yrkyni-myk ynpynacga

but-EMPH what-should-do-with-us old-men

'But what should the old men do with us?'

Conditional: Perfective

1sg SUBJ 2sg SUBJ 3sg SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- n?-ine-l?u-g?en n?-ine-l?u-g?en

2sg t?y-l?u-gyt ---------- nen?y-l?u-gyt

3sg t?y-l?u-g?en n?y-l?u-g?en n?y-l?u-nin

1pl ---------- n?y-l?u-tku-g?en nen?y-l?u-myk

2pl t?y-l?u-tyk ---------- nen?y-l?u-tyk

3pl t?y-l?u-net n?y-l?u-net n?y-l?u-nine-t

1pl SUBJ 2pl SUBJ 3pl SUBJ

OBJ

1sg ---------- n?-ine-l?u-tyk nen?y-l?u-gym

2sg myn?-l?u-gyt ---------- nen?y-l?u-gyt

3sg myn?-l?u-g?en n?y-l?u-tky nen?y-l?u-g?en

1pl ---------- n?y-l?u-tku-tyk nen?y-l?u-myk

2pl myn?-l?u-tyk ---------- nen?y-l?u-tyk

3pl myn?-l?u-net n?y-l?u-tky nen?y-l?u-net

Conditional Imperfective. Same suffixes as Present I and Imperative Imperfective but with

Conditional prefixes.

(32) ?ytt?e nen?y-jgu-gym ewyr cymce t?y-ta-g?ak

dogs would-bite-me if nearer I-would-approach

'The dogs would bite me if I were to get closer'

(33) n?-ine-nreqew-yn ewyr ynan?ytt?yjol t?y-nygje-kwyt

What-would-you-do-to-me if before-everone-else I-would-wake-you

'What would you do to me if I were to wake you before everyone else?'

(34) gyt-ym nan?y-walom-yrkyne-gyt ralkotwal?a emmejñyqulite

you-EMPH they-would-hear-you those-in-bedroom your-loud-voice-by

'The people in the sleeping area (of the tent) would hear you because of your loud

voice'

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 5 TRANSITIVITY AND TRANSITIVITY ALTERNATIONS

1. The ergative construction (Active voice)

2. Degrees of ergativity

2.1 Ergative syntax

2.2 'Mixed' ergative or accusative

2.3 Accusative syntax

3. Antipassive voice

4. Noun incorporation

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Direct object incorporation

4.3 Incorporation of non-object complements

4.4 Incorporation of unaccusative subjects

4.5 Transitivity alternations with incorporation

4.6 Incorporation of adjuncts

4.6.1 Incorporation of noun roots

4.6.2 Incorporation of adverbial/adjectival roots

4.6.3 Incorporation of verb roots

top of page

1. The ergative construction (Active voice)

Note: for nouns of decl. 1, 3 number isn't usually expressed in oblique cases, including

Ergative.

Examples of decl. 1, 3.

(1) ytlyg-e qora-ñy tym-nen

father-ERG deer-ABS kill-3sg/3sg

'The father killed the reindeer.'

(2) ytlyg-e ry-wiliw-et-y-rkyn-ine-t ynn-y-t

father-ERG TR-sell-TR-PRES-3-PL fish-ABS/PL

'The father is selling fish.'

(3) gyt-ym ?ytt-e ne-n-req-e-kwyt (>ne-r-req-ew-gyt)

thou-ABS-EMPH dog-ERG/(PL) 3plS-TR-what-TR-2sgO

'What did the dogs do to you?'

(4) luur qej-?ytty-qej-e na-penr-y-sqycat-gym

suddenly DIM-dog-DIM-ERG/(PL) 3plS-attach-SUDDEN-1sgO

'The puppies suddenly attacked me.'

(5) ne-n-req-ew-yn ?ytw-y-l?-e ñireq-ew ryrky

3plS-TR-what-TR-3sgO hunt-PTCPL-ERG/(PL) second walrus-

ABS/SG

'What did the hunters do with/to the second walrus?'

Examples of PRES II and PAST II, in which subject and object are not distinguished on the

verb.

(6) riquke-te ge-nu-lin tykec?-yn

fox-ERG PAST II -eat bait-ABS

'The fox(es) ate the bait.'

(7) req-e ge-tul?et-lin qora-t?ol

what-ERG PAST II-take deer-meat-ABS

'What stole the venison?'

(8) qeper-e ge-tul?et-lin

wolverine-ERG/(PL) PAST II-take

'The wolverine(s) stole (it).'

(9) paraxod-a n-ine-n-cim-ew-qin gilgil

boat-ERG PRES II-3sgO-TR-break-TR-3sg ice-ABS

'The boat breaks the ice.'

Examples of decl. 2

(10) jetyl?y-ne imti-nin utt-imyt

Yetylyn-ERG/SG bring-3sg/3sg wood-bundle

'Yetylyn brought a bundle of wood.'

(11) jetyl?y-ryk n-?emet-qin orgoor

'Yetylyn-ERG/PL PRES II-drag-3PL/3SG sledge-ABS/SG

'The Yelylyn family dragged the sledge.'

(12) gym ine-ny-gjek-w?i ñawjelo-na

I-abs 1sgO-TR-wake-3sgS aunt-ERG/SG

'Aunt woke me up.'

(13) ñawjelo-ryk ne-tejk-yn ñaakkaqaj-ety ewir?-yn

aunt-ERG/PL 3pl-S-make-3sgO girl-ALL clothing-ABS/SG

'The aunts made clothes for the girl.'

(14) mik-y-ne ra-j?og-nen ñotqen-y-na

who-ERG/SG FUT-catch-3sg/3sg. this-ERG/SG

'Who will catch him up?' 'This person.'

(15) mik-y-ryk ge-ny-pkir-et-line-t ñinqeg-ti ñotqen-y-ryk

who-ERG/PL PAST II-TR-arrive-TR-3plO this-ERG/PL

'Who (which people) brought the children?' 'These.'

If the verb is transitive the subject is ALWAYS Ergative and the direct object ALWAYS

Absolutive and vice versa (for highly restricted exceptions, see Nedjalkov, 1979:249).

top of page

2. Degrees of ergativity

(See Comrie, 1979, Nedjalkov, 1979, Polinskaja and Nedjalkov, 1987).

2.1 Ergative syntax

(Comrie, 79, Nedjalkov, 79): past participle.

(16) qaa-t [ytlyg-e] jep a-nmy-ky-l?-ena-t

deer-ABS/PL [father-ERG] still NEG-kill-NEG-PTCPL-3pl-ABS

'The deer are not yet killed (by the father)'.

(17) qaa-t [ytlyg-e] tym-jo-lqyl-te

deer-ABS/Pl [father-ERG] kill-PTCPL-MUST-PL

'The deer are to be killed (by the father).'

top of page

2.2 'Mixed' ergative or accusative

EITHER subj. OR obj. can control (possibly zero) pronoun in coordinate structures:

(18) ytlyg-yn pykir-g?i ynk?am w?i-g?i

father-ABS arrived-3sg and die-3sg

'The father came and died.'

(19) ytlyg-e ekyk winren-nin ynk?am jet-g?i

father-ERG son-ABS helped-3sg/3sg and left-3sg.

'The father helped the son and he left.' [ambiguous; contrast 'The

father helped the son and left.']

Contrast Dyirbal (Dixon, 1972), in which only the Absolutive can control in coordinate

structures.

2.3 Accusative syntax

(See Comrie, 1979) Control of null subject in infinitivals ...

(20) gym ty-tegjeñ-y-rkyn pelat-yk ñargyn

I-ABS 1sg-want-PRES I stay-INF outside

'I want to stay outside.'

(21) yninel?-e [gym] ena-cyñ-g?e qyt-yk ñalwyl?-ety

elder brother-ERG [me-ABS] invited-3sg/1sg go-INF herd-ALL

'My elder brother invited me to go to the herd.'

...and gerunds:

(22) qametwa-k plytko-ma ynpynacgyn luur wetgaw-y-ñño-g?e

eat-INF finish-GER old man-ABS suddenly speak-begin-3sg

'Having finished eating, the old man suddenly began to speak.'

top of page

3. Antipassive voice

Two affixes - prefix ine-/ena- and suffix -tku/tko. All six T/A forms. Formed from transitives

only. Take same inflections as intransitives.

Example: wiriñ- 'defend'

Declarative mood

Past I Past II

1sg t-ine-wiriñ-g?ek g-ine-wiriñ-i-gym

2sg ine-wiriñ-g?i g-ine-wiriñ-i-gyt

3sg ine-wiriñ-g?i g-ine-wiriñ-lin

1pl myt-ine-wiriñ-myk g-ine-wiriñ-muri

2pl ine-wiriñ-tyk g-ine-wiriñ-turi

3pl ine-wiriñ-g?et g-ine-wiriñ-line-t

Present I Present II

1sg t-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn n-ine-wiriñ-i-gym

2sg ine-wiriñ-yrkyn n-ine-wiriñ-i-gyt

3sg ine-wiriñ-yrkyn n-ine-wiriñ-qin

1pl myt-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn n-ine-wiriñ-muri

2pl ine-wiriñ-yrkynityk n-ine-wiriñ-turi

3pl ine-wiriñ-yrkyt n-ine-wiriñ-qine-t

FutureI FutureII

1sg t-r-ine-wiriñ-g?e t-r-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2sg r-ine-wiriñ-g?e r-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

3sg r-ine-wiriñ-g?e r-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

1pl myt-r-ine-wiriñ-g?e myt-r-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2pl r-ine-wiriñ-ñytyk r-ine-wiriñ-yrkynityk

3pl r-ine-wiriñ-nyt r-ine-wiriñ-yrkyt

Imperative mood

Perfective Imperfective

1sg m-ine-wiriñ-g?ek m-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2sg q-ine-wiriñ-gi q-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

3sg n-ine-wiriñ-g?en n-ine-wiriñ-yrkn

1pl myn-ine-wiriñ-myk myn-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2pl q-ine-wiriñ-gytyk q-ine-wiriñ-yrkynityk

3pl n-ine-wiriñ-yne-t n-ine-wiriñ-yrkyne-t

Conditional mood

Perfective Imperfective

1sg t?-ine-wiriñ-g?ek t?-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2sg n?-ine-wiriñ-g?en n?-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

3sg n?-ine-wiriñ-g?en n?-ine-wiriñ-yrkn

1pl myn?-ine-wiriñ-myk myn?-ine-wiriñ-yrkyn

2pl n?-ine-wiriñ-tyk n?-ine-wiriñ-yrkynityk

3pl n?-ine-wiriñ-yne-t n?-ine-wiriñ-yrkyne-t

Similarly: ty-wiriñy-tku-g?ek etc., etc.

Examples:

Subject appears in ABSOLUTIVE (not Ergative); direct object either isn't expressed or

appears in OBLIQUE case (Allative, Instrumental or Locative).

(22) gym t-ine-tejky-rkyn orw-ety

I-ABS I-AP-made-PRES/II sledge-ALL

'I am making a sledge.'

(23) muri myt-ine-rety-rkyn kimit?-e

we-ABS we-AP-carry-PRES/II load-INSTR

'We are carrying the load.'

(24) ?aacekyt ine-gynrity-rkyt qaa-k

youths AP-guard-PRES/II deer-LOC

'The youths are guarding the deer.'

[For further examples and discussion see Comrie, 1979, Nedjalkov, 1979, Polinskaja and

Nedjalkov, 1987, and especially Kozinsky et al. 1988]

top of page

4. Noun incorporation

4.1 Introduction

[I:93f, II:232]

[See Muravyova 1988, Nedjalkov 1976, Polinskaja 1991, Polinskaja and Nedjalkov1987,

Polinsky1990, 1993, Skorik 1948, Spencer 1995. Kozinsky et al. 1989 discuss a number of

interactions between noun incorporation and other diatheses.]

In this section I discuss incorporation, a pervasive feature of Chukotkan morphosyntax in

which a syntactic construction such as verb + object, verb + adjunct or noun + modifier

alternates with a construction in which the head verb or noun forms a compound with that

object, adjunct or modifier. It is generally taken to be a defining property of incorporation

that the construction has to alternate with a fully syntactic variant with essentially the same

meaning. The main difference in interpretation is then usually one of focus, topicalization,

backgrounding or whatever (though other factors may be important in specific instances). It is

this which seems to distinguish incorporation in Chukchee from simple compounding (e.g. N-

N compounding), because in compounds there is no analytic syntactic equivalent (I:108).

(However, it is not clear to what extent this is really true, since newly coined compounds at

least might well be synonymous with Rel. Adj. + Noun constructions. Thus, there might not

be a clear distinction between lexicalized compounds and true incorporation, save that

incorporation isn’t lexicalized.)

The phenomenon has come to be referred to as Noun Incorporation, because this is its most

obvious manifestation: the formation of a Noun-Verb compound in which the Noun realizes

some sort of complement function of the verb. The usual case is the incorporation of the

direct object. In Chukchee this renders the verb intransitive (i.e. the verb does not agree with

its incorporated object, as it would do in, say, S. Tiwa). For this reason it is convenient to

discuss Noun Incorporation under the heading of transitivity alternations, though as is

apparent from this section the phenomenon in Chukchee is much wider. This is because

Chukchee, rather unusually, permits incorporation of a wide variety of adjuncts (the

Australian language Mayali is similar in this regard), and incorporates words of all classes,

including numerals, demonstratives, ‘participles’, adjectives, verbs and adverbs (I:98). One

element which is not incorporated is pronouns (Skorik stress this point), and the

‘incorporation’ of elements clearly derived from pronouns to realize agreement functions is

clearly a matter of cliticization not compounding.

There is no doubt that the incorporative complex is a species of word formation (true

compounding) and not just some sort of tightly knit phrase formation. This is shown by two

facts: first, the incorporated stem(s) come immediately before the verb stem, forming a

derived verb stem to which the usual array of verb prefixes is attached; second, the whole

complex is subject to vowel harmony in the manner of a word.

I first illustrate the incorporation of complements and various transitivity alternations arising

from that (4.1- 4.3), then discuss the incorporation of adjuncts. The discussion will be very

brief because these matters are dealt with in some detail in Spencer 1995.

top of page

4.2 Direct object incorporation

Schematically

- The man killed the deer

The man deer-killed.

(24) a. ytlyg-e tym-nene-t qaa-t

father-ERG killed-3SG/3PL deer-ABS/PL

b. ytlyg-yn qaa-tym-g?e

father-ABS deer-killed-3SG

'The father killed the deer.'

NB: verb becomes intransitive after incorporation; cf. antipassive. More examples:

Root: kili-/-rkili 'spread'

(25) a. ytlyg-e mytqymyt kawkaw-yk kili-nin

father-ERG butter bread-LOC spread-3SG/3SG.

b. ytlyg-yn kawkaw-yk mytqy-rkele-g?e

father-ABS bread-LOC butter-spread-3SG.

'The father spread butter on the bread.'

(26) a. ty-ntywat-g?en utkuc?-yn

1SG-set-3SG trap-ABS

b. t-otkoc?-y-ntywat-yn

1SG-trap-set-1SG

'I set a trap.'

(27) a. ty-r?e-mne-rkyn

1SG-what-sharpen-PRES I

b. r?enut ty-mne-rkyn

what-ABS 1SG-sharpen-PRES I

'What am I sharpening?'

top of page

4.3 Incorporation of non-object complements

Examples with complements which wouldn't be direct objects in English (or Chukchee).

(28) a. myt-uwicwet-yrkyn qepl-e

1PL-play-PRES I ball-INSTR

b. myt-qepl-uwicwet-yrkyn

1PL-ball-play-PRES I

'We are playing at ball.'

(29) a. ty-tke-rkyn ynn-e

1SG-smell-PRES I fish-INSTR

b. t-ynn-y-tke-rkyn

1SG-fish-smell-PRES I

'I smell of fish.'

top of page

4.4 Incorporation of unaccusative subjects

(See Nedjalkov 1976, Polinsky 1990, 1993). Unaccusative subjects incorporate but not

unergative ones (for possible exceptions see Polinsky’s work):

(30) ym?yloñet ty-lewt-y-pygt-y-rkyn

all.day 1sg-head-hurt-PRES.I

‘I’ve had a head ache all day’

(31) ynqo ge-j?ilg-inini-lin

then PAST.II-moon-appear-3sg

‘Then the moon appeared’

4.5 Transitivity alternations with incorporation

NI feeds 'Dative Shift'

(32) a. ytlyg-e (akka-gty) qora-ñe tym-nen

b. ytlyg-yn (akka-gty) qaa-nm-at-g?e

c. ytlyg-e ekyk qaa-nm-y-nen

'The father killed the deer for the son.'

Other obliques become derived objects. Eg. from 20:

(33) c. ytlyg-e kawkaw mytqy-rkele-nen

father-ERG bread-ABS butter-spread-TR

top of page

4.6 Incorporation of adjuncts

Chukchee permits incorporation of nouns, adverbs and verb roots with an adverbial function.

(This, together with similar data from Mayali, is a direct counterexample to the thesis

advance by Baker (1988, 1996).

4.6.1 Incorporation of nouns with adverbial function

(34) a. ty-lejw-y-rkyn

1sg-wander-PRES.I

‘I am wandering’

b. ty-nyki-lejw-y-rkyn

1sg-night-wander-PRES.I

‘I am wandering at night’

(35) a. ty-?ejñe-rkyn

1sg-shout-PRES.I

‘I am wandering’

b. ty-kejñ-y-?ejñe-rkyn

1sg-bear-shout-PRES.I

‘I am shouting like a bear’

(36) ty-ralko-wañe-rkyn

1sg-bed.curtain-sew-PRES.I

‘I am sewing inside the bed curtain’

(37) ty-jara-pker-y-rkyn

1sg-house-arrive-PRES.I

‘I am arriving home’

This last two examples illustrate the vowel harmony properties of incorporation: the base

form of the word for ‘tent’ is relkun with recessive vowels. Similarly, in (30) the dominant

vowelled stem jara- ‘house’ induces vowel harmony of the recessive stem pkir ‘arrive’.

(38) gymnan t-y-gytka-rkypl-yn reqokalgyn

I.ERG 1sg-leg-hit-3sg fox.ABS

‘I hit the fox on the leg’

Note that in this example we have a transitive verb which retains its object (‘fox’) but which

is modified by a noun lit. ‘I hit the fox in a leg-fashion’ (II:236).

Some examples of multiple incorporations (I:102; see also Spencer 1995):

(39) t-y-winw-y-jyq-ejmew-y-rkyn

1sg-secretly-quickly-approach-PRES.I

‘I quickly, secretly approach’

(40) t-y-mejñ-y-lewt-pygt-y-rkyn

1sg-great-head-hurt-PRES.I

‘I have a splitting headache’

(41) t-y-janra-y-kopre-ntywat-y-rkyn

1sg-separately-net-set-PRES.I

‘I am putting out the net separately’

In Chapter 3 I discuss incorporation of modifiers by nouns. A noun with an incorporated

modifier can itself be incorporated by the verb (I:102):

(42) t-y-kolqoc-y-kemet?-y-gynret-y-rkyn

1sg-kolkhoz-load-guard-PRES.I

‘I am guarding the kolkhoz’s load’

(43) t-y-t?ar-qora-kyn?or-rkyn

1sg-how.many-reindeer-lasso-PRES.I

‘How many reindeer am I lassoing?’

(44) t-y-r?a-wala-mna-rkyn

1sg-what-knife-sharpen-PRES.I

‘Which knife am I sharpening?’

Likewise, a modifier can be derivationally complex (I:107):

(45) t-y-lge-korg-owecwat-y-rkyn

1sg-very-happily-play-PRES.I

‘I am playing very happily’

Skorik (I:103) states that it is generally objects or other unambiguous complements to verbs

that allow modified nouns to be incorporated. Unlike some languages (Eskimo languages,

Mohawk, …) modifiers can’t be ‘stranded’, i.e. an external adjective, numeral or whatever

can’t modify an incorporated noun (see Spencer 1995 for other types of modifier

incorporation and the case of ‘possessor stranding’). Skorik (I:105) doesn’t say this directly,

rather he claims unequivocally that the incorporated noun can’t ‘enter into direct syntactic

relations with a syntactically realized word form or other sentence constituent’.

top of page

4.6.2 Incorporation of adverbial/adjectival roots

(II:234)

(46) ynan ge-pynn-y-twy-len cinitkin wagyrgyn

he.ERG PAST.II-dejectedly-speak-3sg self.POSS life

‘He sadly recounted his life’

(47) yrgynan n-iwyp-y-gite-net ñewysqetegti

they.ERG 3pl.SUBJ-shy-look-3pl.OBJ girl.ABS.PL

‘They shyly looked at the girls’

4.6.3 Incorporation of verb roots

(48) gymnan ty-gacgaw-peresqycat-yn caat

I.ERG 1sg-hurry-grab-3sg.OBJ lasso

‘I hurriedly grabbed the lasso’

II:238 provides explicit comparison of these incorporations with analytic syntactic

equivalents (in which the incorporated verb stem generally appears as a gerund; see also

Spencer 1995 for further examples).

Skorik (II: 241) provides the following example of multiple incorporations:

(49) myn-nyki-ure-qepl-uwicwen-myk

1pl.IMPER-night-long.time-ball-1pl

‘Let’s play ball for a long time in the night’

cf.

(50) nyki-te n-ur-?ew myn-uwicwen-myk qepl-e

night-INSTR ADV-long.time-ADV 1pl.IMPER-play-1pl ball-INSTR

Conversion: just change from intr. to tr. conjugation

myle-g?i 'it broke'

myle-nin 'he broke it'

male-g?e 'he wiped himself dry'

male-nen 'he wiped him dry'

Semantic subtypes of lexical causatives.

'Comitative' meaning.

ragtyk 'to come home'

ry-ragt-at-yk 'to bring home'

jaalatyk 'to follow'

ry-jaala-w-yk 'to bring s.o. with one'

tejkewyk 'to struggle'

ry-tejkew-et-yk 'to struggle with s.o.'

wetgawyk 'to speak'

ry-wetgaw-at-yk 'to converse with s.o.'

Examples:

(1) ytlyg-yn pykir-g?i jarak father-ABS arrived home

(2) ytlyg-e ry-pkir-en-nin memyl jarak father-ERG brought seal home

'Applicative' meaning

migciretyk 'to work'

ry-migcir-ew-yk 'to work sthg.'

wañek 'to do some sewing'

ry-wañe-w-yk 'to sew (sthg.)'

(3) ytlyg-yn wiliw-yrkyn ñotenwelytkorak

father-ABS trades in-this-shop

(4) ytlyg-e ry-wiliw-et-yrkyn ynnyt father-ERG sells fish

'Instrumental' meaning

gatte (>gatga-) 'adze'

gatgatkok 'to make holes in leather'

ry-gatgatko-w-yk 'to use an adze or use sthg. else as an adze'

kelik 'to write'

ry-keli-w-yk 'to write with sthg.'

(5) ytlyg-yn nelyrkyn (qet-agty) father-ABS catches (ket-ALL)

(6) ytlyg-e ry-nel-ew-yrkyn-in gymnin giñygiñ qetagty

father-ERG CS-catch-CS-PROG my net-ABS ket-ALL

'Father catches ket in/with my net'

(Cf. antipassive. Ket = kind of fish).

'Arousal of emotional state'

qyñetyk 'to be jealous'

ry-qyñe-w-yk 'to be jealous of s.o.'

wejmenetyk 'to be hospitable'

ry-wejmene-w-yk 'to welcome s.o.'

(7) ekyk gylo-rkyn son-ABS pines

(8) ekk-e ry-glo-w-yrkyn-en ytla son-ERG pines-for mother-ABS

Causative of reflexive verb:

kergypyk 'to put on a kerker'

ry-kergyp-aw-yk 'to put a kerker on s.o.'

ilkymjetyk 'to screw up one's eyes'

r-ilkymje-w-yk 'to close s.o.'s eyes'

ilgytewyk 'to wash (oneself)' or 'to wash s.o.'

kergypyk 'to put on a kerker'

ry-kergyp-aw-yk 'to put a kerker on s.o.'

ilkymjetyk 'to screw up one's eyes'

r-ilkymje-w-yk 'to close s.o.'s eyes'

ilgytewyk 'to wash (oneself)' or 'to wash s.o.'

(9) ytlyg-yn atynwat-g?e father-ABS hurt.himself

(10) ytlyg-e atynwan-nen rekwyt father hurt the calf

'Dative Shift' (almost exclusively with denominal verbs; see also under 'Incorporation').

ranñatyk 'to move house'

ry-ranñat-aw-yk 'to help move s.o.'s house'

ajkolatyk 'to make a bed'

ajkolatyk 'to make s.o.'s bed'

(11) ñinqej ajmeer?at-g?e boy-ABS drew-water

(12) ñinqej-e ynpynacg-yn r-ajmeer?a-w-nen

boy-ERG old-man-ABS drew-water

'The boy drew the old man some water.'

top of page

2. 'Agreement climbing'

Agreement of verb taking infinitival complement with embedded transitive verb

(13) ytlyg-yn paa-g?e marawyk father stopped scolding

(14) ytlyg-e ry-paa-w-nen ry-maraw-at-yk ekek

father stopped-TR scolding son-ABS

(15) ytlyg-e ry-paa-w-nen-at ry-maraw-at-yk ekket

father stopped-TR/PL scolding sons-ABS

top of page

3. Other transitivity alternations with incorporation

(See Spencer 1995 and references cited there)

3.1 NI feeds 'Dative Shift'

(16a) ytlyg-e (akka-gty) qora-ñe tym-nen

father-ERG (son-ALL) deer-ABS killed

'Father killed a deer (for the son)

(16b) ytlyg-yn (akka-gty) qaa-nm-at-g?e

father-ABS (son-ALL) deer=killed

'Father killed a deer (for the son)

(16c) ytlyg-e ekyk qaa-nm-y-nen

father-ERG son.ABS deer=killed

'Father killed a deer (for the son)

Obliques (All., Loc., Abl., Instr.) become derived objects.

(17a) ynjiw wenwep-yrkyn qapar-ety

uncle-ABS follows wolverine-ALL

'Uncle follows the wolverine'

(17b) ynjiw-e wenwep-yrkyn-en qeper

uncle-ERG follows wolverine-ABS

'Uncle follows the wolverine'

(18a) ñinqej gyrulm-yrkyn jara-k

boy-ABS skirts-around house-LOC

'The boy skirts around the house'

(18b) ñinqej-e gyrulm-yrkyn-in jara-ñy

boy-ERG skirts-around house-ABS

'The boy skirts the house'

(19a) ytla laweer?ynto-rkyn korowa-jpy

mother-ABS milks cow-ABL

(19b) ytla-ta laweer?ynto-rkyn-en korowa-lgyn

mother-ERG milks cow-ABS

(20a) ytlon jynat-yrkyn tekicg-e

he-ABS asks-for meat-INSTR

(20b) ynan jynat-yrkyn-en tekicg-yn

he-ERG asks-for meat-ABS

[Some of these could be analysed 'in reverse' as zero marked antipassives]

top of page

3.2. Transitivization after antipassive or NI

This gives rise to constructions reminiscent of Locative Alternation verbs in English.

(21a) ytlyg-e mytqymyt (kawkaw-yk) kili-nin

father-ERG butter-ABS (bread-LOC) spread

'Father spread butter on the bread'

(21b) ytlyg-yn mytq-e (kawkaw-yk) ena-rkele-g?e

father-ABS butter-INSTR (bread-LOC) AP-spread-INTR

'Father spread butter on the bread'

(21c) ytlyg-e mytq-e kawkaw ena-rkele-nen

father-ERG butter-INSTR bread-ABS AP-spread-TR

'Father spread the bread with butter'

(21d) ytlyg-e kawkaw mytqy-rkele-nen

father-ERG bread-ABS butter-spread-TR

'Father spread the bread with butter'

top of page

4. Analytical causatives

(See also 'analytical constructions' Chapter 8)

Only with human agents. Often means 'order, tell, persuade'.

Verb-jgut rytyk (= 'have' used as Aux. - see Chapter 8)

(22a) ekyk migciret-g?i

son-ABS worked

(22b) ytlyg-e migciret-yjgut ryn-nin ekyk

father-ERG work-CAUS AUX-TR son-ABS

'The father made/order the son to work'

(23a) ekke-te rymigcirewnin waly

son-ERG worked knife-ABS

'The son worked the knife'

(23b) ytlyge remigcirew-yjgut ryn-nin waly (akka-gty)

father work-CAUS AUX-TR knife-ABS (son-ALL)

'The father caused (the son) to work the knife'

Permissive causative ('to let s.o. do') using ityk 'to be' as AUX. Cf.

(24a) ynpynacg-a cinituwyk rypirkylew-yjgut ryn-nin

old-man-ERG self smother-CAUS AUX-TR.

'The old mani told (s.o.) to smother himi'

(24b) ynpynacg-yn rypirkylew-yjgut it-g?i

old-man-ABS smother-CAUS AUX-INTR

'The old man let (s.o.) smother him'

Expression of the embedded subject ('causee'):

(25a) ekke-te mimyl pyl-nin

son-ERG water-ABS drank

'The son drank the water'

(25b) ytlyg-e akka-gty mimyl ry-lp-y-ñan-nen

father-ERG son-ALL water-ABS R-drank-„EN

'The father made the son drink the water = gave water to the son to drink.'

(25c) ytlyg-e akka-gte mimyl pyl-yjgut ryn-nin

father-ERG son-ALL water-ABS drink-CAUS AUX-TR

'The father told the son to drink the water'

BUT: not possible if Allative could be mistaken for Benefactive:

(26) ytlyge akka-gty qora-ñy tym-yjgot ryn-nin

'The father had the deer killed (by s.o.) for the son'

The embedded object can be incorporated, in which case the causee may appear as the

derived direct object.

(27) son-ABS water-drink-CAUS AUX-TR

'The father gave water to the son to drink'

If Allative could also be interpreted as Benefactive, then verb must be given intransitivizing

suffix:

(28) ytlyge ekyk qaa-nm-at-yjgot rynnin

father deer-kill-INTR-CAUS

'The father made the son kill the deer'

Contrast:

(29) ytlyge ekyk qaa-nm-yjgot rynnin

father deer-kill-CAUS AUX

'The father made (s.o.) kill the deer for the son'

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 7: VERB MORPHOLOGY (non-finite forms)

1. 'Participles'

1.1 Present participle

1.1.1 intransitive verbs

2. Gerunds and infinitives

2.1 Gerunds

2.2 Other non-finite forms: supine and infinitive

2.3 Other (intermediate) non-finite forms with modal nuances

2.4 Constructions with 'true' auxiliaries

3. Action Nominalizations

top of page

This chapter deals with non-finite forms, specifically:

Present ('progressive') and passive 'participles'

Various infinitives and gerunds

Action Nominalizations

1. 'Participles'

(Skorik I:345-386) The term 'participle' is only appropriately applied to the passive participle

in -jo. I retain the term (in scare quotes) for the -l?- form because it translates Skorik's imja

prichastie and because there's no obviously better alternative.

1.1 Present participle

Marker -l?-, in Abs. Case: -l?yn (sg.), -l?yt (pl.).

1.1.1 intransitive verbs

E.g.

iwini- 'hunt' iwini-l?yn 'one who hunts, is hunting, hunter'

?ytt?- 'dog' ?ytt?y-l?yn 'one who has dogs, dog-owner'

kynte- 'lucky' (adj. form: ny-kynte-qin) kynte-l?yn 'one who is lucky'

These answer the following questions:

reqyl?yn 'what doing?' iwinil?yn 'hunting'

meñin 'who?' iwinil?yn 'a hunter'

reqyl?yn 'what having?' ?yttyyl?yn 'having dog(s)'

mikyl?yn 'who having?' ekkel?yn 'having son(s)'

miñkyri wal?yn '(lit.) how being?' kyntel?yn 'lucky'

Nominal properties

Decline fully as nouns.

Have possessive forms:

ytt?yl?-in ekyk 'the son of him who owns dogs'

Take predicative agreements:

pelaty-l?-e-gym 'I am remaining'

tekicgy-l?-y-muri 'we have meat (we are meat-having)'

iny-l?-y-turi 'you are young'

Take 'necessitive' suffix -lqyl (Skorik I:314, 365-369) cf

erme 'chief' erme-lqyl 'the one who is to be chief'

tip?ejñe 'sing' tip?ejñe-l?-y-lqyl 'the one who should sing'

qaa 'deer' qaa-l?-y-lqyl 'the one who should have deer'

Verbal properties

Take adverbials (to form relative clause type structures):

(1) ytr?ec gym amqyn?yco migcirety-l?-i-gym

only I continually work

Incorporate complements and adverbials.

(2) Umky-gynrity-l?yn ynpynacgyn

wood-conserve-PT old-man

(3) gym igyr tañ-pera-awer?y-l?-e-gym

I today very-fine-clothes-PT

'Today I have very fine clothes.'

pynny-wak?otwa-l?yn ñinqej pynnety wak?otwal?yn

gloomy-sitting boy gloomily sitting

Verbal participles are always intransitive. Those derived from transitives appear in

antipassive, or in special passive form. (Cf. Comrie, 1979). If object is focussed, it appears in

oblique case, otherwise it is incorporated:

(4) ine-gynrity-l?yn qaa-k vs. qaa-gynrety-l?yn

AP-guard-PT deer-LOC

'the one guarding the reindeer'

The antipassive form with -tku- is more general, and can't be doubled by oblique object.

top of page

2. Gerunds and infinitives

2.1 Gerunds

(II:139) Very numerous, formed primarily from verb stem plus (nominal) case endings

(though other endings are also found). Have essentially adverbial function.

Verbal properties:

o Cooccur with adverbial modification and arguments (overt subject and object).

o Take aspectual markers.

Nominal properties:

o No tense distinctions.

o No agreements with arguments.

Examples:

1. -ma 'simultaneous action, background' (Cf. Com. II)

(5) ñewysqetti megceran-ma tamenñyrak amqyn?yco nytip?ejñyqinet

womenwork-MA in-workshop always sing

'The women always sing while they work in the workshop.'

2. ga-...-ma 'simultaneous action'. (Cf. Com. II)

(6) ytri ga-melgerytko-ma nypenratkoqinet

they GA-shoot-MA attacked

'They attacked shooting.'

3. -gty/ety 'simultaneous or prior action (not just background)' (Cf. All.)

(7) Pela-gty ñelwyl ynan l?unin maglal?yn

leave-GTy herd he saw dog-team

'Leaving the herd he saw the dog-team'

4. -k ( infinitive!) 'prior action' (Cf. Loc.)

(8) ytlyge kur-yk jaral?ety qewiir?yt petle ekwetg?i tumyk reen

father buy-K for-home presents soon left friends with

'Having bought presents for the people at home, Father left with his friends'

5. -(i)neñu 'directly prior action'

(9) Cawcywat pykir-ineñu nymnymyk qytg?ek welytqoragty

deer-herders arrive-INEñU village-LOC went-to shop.

'As soon as the reindeer-herders arrived in the village they went to the shop.'

6. -jpy/gypy/epy 'reason' (cf. Abl.)

(10) ?aacek opcatko-jpy ermekw?i

youth weight-lifting-JPy grew-strong.

'By weight-lifting, the youth grew strong'

7. -te 'means' (Cf. Instr.)

(11) tymñetwa-ta qyrym plekyt qyplytkugynet

lazing-TA not boots you-will-finish

'You won't finish those boots by lazing around.'

8. -macy 'concessive'

(12) t?yl-macy ytlon iwinig?i.

be-ill-MACy he went-hunting

'Although he was ill he went hunting.'

With imperative or conditional means something like 'after all':

(13) qewjañño-macy eqylpe qy-ragty-ge

you-begin-to-freeze-MACy quickly go-home-IMPER.

'You're beginning to freeze, so go home at once.'

[Cf. English use of 'since']

9. emre-...-ñe (amra-...-ña) 'purpose' (purely adverbial function, ct. supine,

below).

(14) ?aacek ir?ytwyg?i amra-penry-ña tejkewtumgyn

youth removed-coat EMRE-attack-„ E sparring partner

'The youth took off his coat, intending to attack his sparring partner.'

Syntactic properties: all (except 9) can have their own (overt) subjects (contrast English

gerunds), case marked (Erg./Abs.) like finite clause subjects. (Cf. finite adverbial clauses).

Exception: purposives (emre-...-ñe) usually require PRO subject, presumably for semantic

reasons.

Examples:

(15) qlawylte ?ytwytko-ma ñewysetti nymigciretqinet añqacormyk

men hunt-MA women work on-beach

'While the men are hunting, the women are working on the beach.'

(16) ñinqej ajmaw-ety ?ytt?yn kyjekw?i

boy approach-ETy dog awoke

'As the boy approached, the dog woke up'

(17) inini-neñu tirkytir ytlon rekwetg?e waamety.

rise-NEñU sun he will-go to-river

'As soon as the sun rises he will go to the river.'

(18) neneny kytgyntat-gypy ymyl?o tenñytkur?ug?et

child run-GyPy all laughed.

'Because the boy started running, everyone burst out laughing.'

(19) remkyl?yt jylqan-macy ñinqegti qulil?yr?urkyt

guests sleep-MACy children shout

'The kids are yelling even though the guests are asleep.'

top of page

2.2 Other non-finite forms: supine and infinitive

9. -nwy, supine (purposive clause)

(20) ?aacek ir?ytwyg?i penry-nwy tejkewtumgyn

youth removed-coat attack-NWy sparring partner

'The youth removed his coat in order to attack his sparring partner.'

(contrast ex. under 6. above).

10. -k, infinitive. Functions as sentential complement to following classes of words:

verbs expressing:

o desire, command, etc.

o mental or physical state

o inception/completion

o a few others

o certain adjectives, adverbs, deverbal nouns.

(21) gym tytegjeñyrkyn pelat-yk ñargyn

I want to-stay outide

(22) ñewysqetqej nyñyrkylatqen ?urew-yk jorocykojpy

little girl was-shy to-look from-tent

'The little girl was shy of peeping out from the tent.'

(23) ñinqegti moog?at uwicwet-yk nargyn

boys began to-play outside

(24) ytla gagcawyrkyn ñyto-k

mother is-hurrying to-leave

(25) ñinqeje winrennin pycegtywa-k ytlygyn

boy helped to-take-off-shoes father

'The boy helped his father to take off his shoes.'

(26) ewyn cam?am rilgity-k ñotqen wykwycgyn

totally impossible to-lift this boulder

'It is totally impossible to lift this boulder'

(27) emgolgyrgyn ammorgynan wak jarak

boredom only-we sit at-home

'It's boring for us to sit on our own at home.'

top of page

2.3 Other (intermediate) non-finite forms with modal nuances

11. ge-...-te 'impersonal exhortative' (cf. Com. I.)

(28) g-ejmi-te ?ytt?yn qynwer gyntekw?i

G-take-TE dog else ran-off

'It was necessary to take the dog, or else it would have run off.'

12. tañ-...-ñ 'possibility'

(29) gatle tañy-lqagnawy-ñ wak?og?e

bird TAñ-shoot-ñ sat

'The bird sat in such a way that it could be shot. (The bird was a sitting

target)'

Main clause:

(30) orgoor ymy gynan tañ-tajky-ñ

sledge even you can-make

'Even you can make a sledge'

13. ?aqa-...-ñ 'impossibility'

(31) ynpynacgyn ?aqa-walomy-ñ wetgawyrkyn

old-man ?AQA-understand-ñ speaks

'The old man is speaking in such a way that one can't understand him.'

(32) termec?yñyl?yn genkylwetlin ?aqa-elol?aty-ñ

robber they-tied-up ?AQA-move-ñ

'They tied up the robber so he couldn't move.'

Main clause:

(33) ñotyñken weem ymy elek ?aqa-jery-ñ

that (behind speaker) river even in-summer is-impassable

14. -gjit 'in accordance with'

(34) ñewysqetqegti ?ejñewy-gjit nyjetqinet

girls call-GJIT come

'The girls come when you call them.'

(35) wyjopca-GJET ninelkyligym yneel?yn

whistling-GJIT I-will-recognise my-brother

'I'll recognise my brother from the fact that he whistles.'

15. -jgut 'purposive'

(36) gymnan ninegicijgym wykwyqagte ryl?uñety-jgut toryky

I am-collecting pebbles show-JGUT to-you

(37) caketta gitgynin ?ytleñi jopaty-jgot ynan t?ytl?en mirgyn

sister asked younger-brother visit he sick grandfather

'The sister asked her younger brother to come and visit their sick

grandfather'

16. -kin 'for ...ing'

(38) tarañ-ken wany ?otcoj gelqyrirlin

build-house-KIN place long-time they-searched-for

'They spent a long time looking for somewhere to build a house'

top of page

2.4 Constructions with 'true' auxiliaries

With gerunds, causatives, negative forms

Gerunds: -te/ta emphasises contrastive sense ('doing X as opposed to Y');

em-...-te/am-...-ta = 'only'

ityk with intransitive verb, rytyk with transitive verb:

tip?enñe-te ityk 'to be specifically singing'

em-tip?ejñe-te ityk 'to be just singing'

gici-te rytyk 'to be specifically collecting'

em-gici-te rytyk 'to be just picking'

top of page

Addendum: examples of transitive gerunds.

(39) ajwe, ga-tajky-ma kupren, j?arat typeñjiwetg?et

Yesterday, GA-make-MA net, very I-became-tired.

'I got very tired yesterday, making a net'

With different subject from matrix. NB this means that non-finite verb form is able to assign

(ergative) case to subject position (as well as absolutive to object position).

(40) gymnan ga-lqagnaw-ma, ac?ek cypetg?i

I-ERG GA-shoot-MA duck dived

'As I shot (at it), the duck dived'

(41) muri am-peljaw-a nenenete, nemñolmore

us-ABS AM-leave-(T)A children-ERG, we-pine (for them)

'Because the children leave us, we pine for them'

(42) em-tul?e-te mikyryk raj caat, ?aacek n?enqetqin qaantak

EM-steal-TE who-ERG ever lasso youth not-want go-to-herd

'Because someone stole his lasso, the youth doesn't want to go to the herd'

(43) ynpynacga rytenmaw-a milgerti jep in?e, myl?o jaral?yt n?yjegtelynety

old man-ERG prepare-TA guns already early morning, all family would-be-alive

'Had the old man prepared the guns early in the morning, the whole family would

still be alive.'

(44) am-y-lwaw-a elkykyk ?aaceka qejuu, n?ytenñytkug?en ynpynacgyn

AM-not able-(T)A to-recognize youth-ERG fawn-ABS would-laugh old man

'Since the youth wouldn't be able to recognize the fawn, the old man would laugh.'

(45) ñeekkyk ytlyge t?aryñ-a, ytla pynnewyrkyn

daughter-ABS father-ERG shout-at-(T)A, mother got-upset.

'Because father shouted at his daughter, mother got upset.'

(II:178)

(46) ynpynacga tajkyma orgoor, ñinqej ynyk qaca nytwecatwaqen

old.man making sledge boy him near stood

'While the old man was making a sledge, the boy was standing next to him'

(47) enene-ma iwinil?yn, ñew?ene ryjagnawnen ytlon

appear-MA hunter, wife met him

'When the hunter appeared, his wife went out to meet him'

(48) wytret-ineñu gekeñyl?yn, ñewysqete ?ewñewnin ?ywequc

appear-GER reindeer.rider woman called husband

'As soon as the reindeer rider appeared, the woman called her husband'

(49) ?aaceka pirisqycet-ineñu pojgyn, ?ekyl?yn nywilg?i

youth take-GER spear, enemy stopped

'As soon as the youth picked up his spear the enemy stopped'

top of page

3. Action Nominalizations

(Skorik I:328-330) Formed with suffix -gyrg(-yn)

Action vs. result

tejñet Nom. tejñet AN tajñatgyrgyn 'food/feeding'

winret Nom. winret AN wenratgyrgyn 'help/helping'

Especially with denominal verbs:

migcir 'work (N)' megciret 'work (V)' megceratgyrgyn 'Añ

Completely productive for verbs (Skorik I:329)

Also forms deadjectival nominalizations:

ketgu nyketguqin 'powerful' katgogyrgyn 'powerfulness'

rul nyrulqin 'weak' rolgyrgyn 'weakness'

Sometimes 'blocked' by AN from deadjectival verb:

qerg 'light, bright', nyqergyqin 'adj.'

qergat 'be bright' qergatgyrgyn 'illumination'

Double forms:

celg 'red', nycelgeqin 'adj.': calgygyrgyn 'redness' calgatgyrgyn 'reddening'

Kotjevskaja-Tamm (1993:194-6)

Intransitive:

(50) ytlyge ?enqu nine-lgy-qin [ñeekk-in ?alekat-gyrg-yn]

father not.want LV [daughter-POSS marry-NOM]

'Father doesn't want his daughter to get married'

(51) t?enqetyrkyn [t?y-gyrg-ety mimyl]

1sg.not.want [pour-NOM-DAT water.ABS]

'I don't want the water to pour out'

Transitive:

(52) kalewetgak-wyrg-yn Pushkin-yn

read-NOM-ABS Pushkin-POSS

'Pushkin's reading (Pushkin is reading something)'

(53) cejwytkul?-in tym-tko-gyrg-yn [sic: for tymy-tko-gyrg-yn?]

hunter-POSS kill-AP-NOM-ABS

'the killing of the hunter (= (a) hunter kills, (b) someone kills hunter)

Apparently, nominalizations have to be detransitivized in order to combine with objects.

CHUKCHEE

Chapter 8: Analytic constructions

1. Negation

1.1 With nouns

1.2 Clause negation strategies

2. Auxiliaries and light verbs

2.1 General comments

2.2 Use of light verbs ('special' auxiliaries)

2.2.1 With adverbial elements

2.2.2 With negative form of noun ('privative case')

2.3 Analytic constructions with 'general ('true') auxiliaries' ityk, rytyk

2.3.1 With gerunds: aspectual nuances of contrast or exclusiveness

2.3.2 Causative with -jgut form

2.3.3 Negation

2.4 Summary of auxiliaries in analytic constructions

top of page

1. Negation

1.1 With nouns

Negative affix(es) form a type of privative case (I:287f).

Morphology: circumfix -e-...-ke/a-...-ka

(with vowel initial word, just suffix ...-ke/ka) - I:290

For nouns in the first declension, number is neutralized in the negative form:

e-titi-ke 'without a needle/needles' (<titi-)

a-jatjol-ka 'without a fox/foxes' (<jatjol-)

e-pipiqylg-y-ke 'without a mouse/mice' (<pipilqylg-)

a-cakett-y-ke 'without a sister/sisters' (<cakett-)

ococ-ka 'without a leader/leaders' (<ococ-)

utt-y-ke 'without wood' (<utt-)

Nouns of the second declension and optionally third declension distinguish singular and

plural:

e-mewet-ke 'without Mewet'

e-mewet.y-r.y-ke 'without the Mewet family'

yn?e-ke 'without the elder brother'

yn?e-r.y-ke 'without the elder brothers'

a-ñotqena-ka 'without this'

a-ñotqeny-r.y-ka 'without these'

e-nirke-ke 'without whats-his-name'

e-nirker.y-ke 'without whats-their-names'

e-ñinqej-ke 'without the boy(s)'

e-ñinqej.y-r.y-ke 'without the boys'

The privative form of the noun can be strengthened with the negative particle ujñe. This

requires the copula in non-present tenses (I:287-8):

(1) ynqory ynpynacgy-ka myttejkyg?en ?ytw?et

then old.man-NEG we-made boat

'Then we made the boat without the old man'

(2a) gymnin ekyk ujñe e-milger-ke

My son not NEG-rifle-NEG

'My son has no rifle'

(3) ynqen nymnym ujñe ?orawetl?a-ka

that village not people-NEG

'That village has no people'

(4) ergatyk gym ujñe orw.y-ka tritg?e

tomorrow I not sledge-NEG I.will.be

'Tomorrow, I shall be without a sledge'

(5) ynky ytlon ujñe e-ñew?en-ke gitlin

then he not NEG-wife-NEG was

'At that time he wasn't married'

Negative forms of pronouns:

(6) e-gynyk-ke wec?ym ?atkewma myn?ynymytwarkyn

NEG-you-NEG probably badly we.would.be.living

'Without you we would probably be living badly'

(7) jawrena wec?ym e-turyk-ke mytrajalgytyrkyn

Next.year probably NEG-you-NEG we.will.travel (as nomads)

'Next year we will probably travel without you'

Note also (I:289):

(8) ñotqen-ym jarañy ujñe e-mik-ke

that-EMPH house NEG NEG-who-NEG

'Who does this house not have?' 'Who is missing from this house?'

Note the use of the negated form of the wh- root req- 'what', mik- 'who' to convey 'nothing',

'nobody' (I:288):

(9a) gymyk utkuc?yk wec?ym ujñe e-reqy-ke ritg?e

my trap.LOC probably NEG NEG-what-NEG will.be

'There probably won't be anything in my trap'

(9b) gyt-ym e-mik-ke igyr riwinig?e

you-EMPH NEG-who-NEG today will.hunt

'Who are you not going to hunt with today?'

'Impersonal' usage

(10) igyr añqa-k ujñe a-ryrka-ka

today sea-LOC completely NEG-walrus-NEG

'Today there were no walruses in the sea'

It's also possible to find ujñe with a noun in the Absolutive case, though there has to be a

locative adverbial (I:289, fn. 217):

(2b) Ekke-k ujñe milger

son-LOC NEG gun

'The son hasn't got a gun'

(Cf. (2a) above).

top of page

1.2 Clause negation strategies

There are two ways of negating a clause:

(a) analytic construction with non-finite form

(b) negative particle + finite (imperative) form

(a) Two non-finite negative affixes are used:

(i) the 'privative case' e-...-ke

(ii) luñ-...-(t)e. [-te after vowel, -e after consonant].

(i) e-...-ke (cf nouns above)

The basic pattern can be seen in purely 'gerundive' or absolute uses, 'without doing/having

done'. Gerundive examples (II:129):

(11) in?e qlawyl a-qametwa-ka megcerymgog?e

morning man NEG-eat-NEG began.work

'In the morning the man began to work without having eaten'

(12) ilgytwy-ke ?ytt?yt ?aacek resqikw?i jara-cyko-gty

untie-NEG dog youth entered house-INSIDE-ALL

'Having untied the dogs, the youth went into the house'

(13) lun-teñejmew-e gytg-ety ynpynacgyn pelqyntetg?i

NEG-arrive-NEG lake-ALL old.man returned

'The old man returned before he reached the lake'

'Absolute' uses (in which negative clause has subj. different from main clause):

(14) ynpynacgyn jep e-wiri-ke enmec ymyl?oryk n?atcaqen

old.man still NEG-come.down-NEG already all were.waiting

'The old man still hadn't come down and everyone was already waiting'

(15) turi a-pelat-ka enmec jarak muri myn?ytwarkyn

you NEG-lag-NEG already at.home we would.be

'If you hadn't lagged behind we would have been home by now'

Negative forms in main clauses (II:129)

e-...-ke is usually found with jep 'still', ' n„e 'not/don't'

(16) gym igyr jep a-nto-ka (<ñyto-)

I today still NEG-go-NEG

'I haven't been out yet today'

(17) ?ytt?yt jep e-reñet-ke

dogs still NEG-fed-NEG

'They still haven't fed the dogs', 'The dogs still haven't been fed'

Negative commands (prohibitions) use ujñe:

(18) turi wiin ynñe e-jylqet-ke

you yet not NEG-sleep-NEG

'Don't sleep just yet'

(19) ynñe ?aaceka a-mñylo-ka ynpyñew

not youth NEG-ask-NEG old.woman

'Let the youth not ask the old woman' 'The lad shouldn't ask the old woman'

The circumfix luñ.-(t)e is used without these negative particles (usually) (II:130):

(20) naqam memyl luñ-piwre-te

but seal NEG-dived-NEG

'But the seal didn't dive'

(21) gymnan luñ-y-ntejkew-e ytr?ec gynin ekyk

I NEG-fought-NEG only your son

'It was only your son I didn't fight'

(22) igyr morgynan epy lyn-jopat-a

today we grandfather NEG-visited-NEG

'We didn't visit grandfather today'

Analytic constructions with negation:

(23) qyrym gym e-qutyne-ke myragtyg?ak

NEG I NEG-other-NEG will.go.home

'I won't go home without the other one'

top of page

2. Auxiliaries and light verbs

2.1 General comments

Skorik (II:245f) identifies six 'auxiliary verbs' ('vspomogatel'nye glagoly'): (see also Bogoras,

1922:75-81)

'Special' aux: General aux:

wak 'to be'

n?elyk 'to become' (intr.)

lyñyk 'to consider'

rytcyk 'to make' (tr.)

ityk 'to be' (intr.)

rityk 'to have' (tr.)

The 'general auxiliaries' behave like genuine auxiliary verbs, in that they have a purely

grammatical function, while the 'special auxiliaries' are perhaps best thought of as (aspectual)

'light verbs', rather similar to the light verbs of, say, Indo-Iranian languages.

Morphology:

wak wa- word initial allomorph

-twa- medial allomorph

wal?yn, wagyrgyn, wag?e etc.

ny-twa-qen, ga-twa-len, ty-twa-rkyn, etc.

lyñyk lyñ-/lg- depending on syllable structure,

-lg- e.g. lyñyrkynin vs. qy-lg-ygyn

rytcyk rytc- word initial allomorph

-tc- medial allomorph

rytc-yrkyn vs. myny-tc-yn, t?y-tc-ynet

rytyk ryt- word initial allomorph

-nt- medial allomorph

ryt-yn, ryt-ytkog?e vs. ine-nt-yg?i, ne-nt-ymyk

NB. transitive verbs take the -tko- suffix when forming abstract nominalization in

-gyrgyn.

('Special' auxiliaries are occasionally used as main verbs).

Auxiliary use: serve to carry P/N and T/A marking on otherwise non-finite (or non-verbal)

forms. Auxiliaries themselves have full conjugation pattern (including non-finite forms).

top of page

2.2 Use of light verbs ('special' auxiliaries)

(See also Nedjalkov and Inenliqej, 1981).

The special auxiliaries are used to create inchoative and causative complex predicates from

simplex predicates lacking specification for event structure.

top of page

2.2.1 With adverbial elements

E.g. alwañ 'otherwise', ujñe 'not' + n?elyk, wak, rytcyk:

alwañ n?elyk 'to change (intr.) (= 'to become otherwise')

alwañ n?elyl?yn 'changing (participle)'

alwañ n?algyrgyn 'a change, transformation (nominalization)'

alwañ wak 'to be different'

alwañ wal?yn 'different' (= adjectival use)

alwañ rytcyk 'to change (tr.)'

alwañ rytcytkul?yn 'changing, transforming (tr.); changer'

alwañ rytcyjo 'changed, transformed (pass. part.)'

alwañ rytcykogyrgyn 'change, transformation (nom.)'

ujñe n?elyk 'to disappear'

ujñe wak 'to be lacking, absent'

ujñe rytcyk 'to remove, destroy'

Examples (II:246f)

(24) ergatyk murginet tyñec?yt ymy alwañ ren?elñyt

tomorrow our flowers too other FUT-AUX-FUT/PL

'Tomorrow our flowers too will change.'

(25) kitaqun qynl?uñetgyn alwañ wal?yn menig

well show-IMPER other AUX-PRES PT material

'Well then, show me some different material.'

(26) ewyr gyt alwañ ratwarkyn opopy mytrenñiwygyt jaragty

if you other FUT II-AUX necessary we-send-you home

'If you behave differently we'll have to send you home.'

(27) ñotenrak enmec ymyl?o ujñe n?elg?et

from-this-house already all not AUX-PAST-3pl

'Everyone disappeared from this house.'

(28) ñutku ganymytwalen ujñe n?elyl?yn remkyn

Here lived not AUX-PRES PT people

'Here there lived a lost race.'

(29) ymy gymnan lunl?ute ujñe n?algyrgyn ewiccyku taq?at

Also I-ERG NEG-saw not AUX-NOM luggage provisions

'I too failed to notice the loss of the provisions from the luggage.'

Other examples of analytic constructions (II:247f):

'To know': lygi wak 'to be known', lygi lyñyk 'to know', lygi rytcyk 'to

recognise'

(30) ñinqeje lygi lyñyrkyninet nynnyt ymyl?orgen ?ytt?in murygnymyk

boy-ERG known AUX-PRES I-3sg/3pl names all dog in-our-village

'The boy knows the names of all the dogs in our village.'

(31) ñotqen ?aacek gymnan kytortagnepy lygi lynjo

this youth I-ERG from-last-year known AUX-PAST PT

'This youth is known to me from last year.'

(32) ymyl?oryk enmec lygi ynin lygi lyñytkogyrgyn imyreqyk

everyone already known his known AUX-NOM of-everything

'Everyone already knows of his omniscience'

(33) ynpynacga nenanjaqen murgin lygi rytcytkogyrgin qoragynretyk

old man praises our known AUX-NOM-POSS deer-herding

'The old man praises our knowledge of deer-herding'

(34) ynpyñewe ninenygjulewqinet lygi rytcytkul?yt kalewañyk

old woman she-teaches-them known AUX-PRES PT-PL to sew

'The old woman teaches those who are learning to sew'

(35) Qejwe ymyl?oryk lygi netcyn alwañ rytcytkogyrgyn muryk migciryk

Q all know AUX. other AUX-NOM our work

'Does everyone know about the transformation of our work?'

B. With -u/-o form of adverb/noun/adjective + ly„yk (simple aspect), rytcyk

(inchoative). Found with 'affect' verbs, expressing emotions (including

desiderative forms of non-affect verbs). The -u/o adverbial form occurs

only in the analytic construction (II:249f).

Examples: ny-wenne-qin 'envious', wenn-u lyñyk 'to envy', wenn-u rytcyk 'to begin to envy'.

n-?ylg-y-qin 'loving, affectionate', ?ylg-u lyñyk 'to love' ?ylg-u rytcyk 'to fall in love (with

someone)'.

(36) wennu ninelgymuri ekwetyl?yt qoragty ?aacekyt

Envy AUX-PRES II-1pl/(3pl) leaving-for deer youths

'We envy the youths who are setting off for the herd.'

(37) caketta ?ylgu rytcynin cinitkin ?ywequcilqyl wytku giwiñyt galak

sister-ERG love AUX-3sg/3sg her fiance only year after

'My sister fell in love with her fiance only after a year.'

Other forms:

?ylgu lyñ-y-tku-l?yn 'lover'

?ylgu rytc-y-tku-l?yn 'one who has started to love (someone)'

?ylgu lynjo 'loved one'

?ylgu rytcyjo 'one whom someone has fallen in love with'

?ylgu lyñ-y-tko-gyrgyn 'love, state of loving'

?ylgu rytc-y-tko-gyrgyn 'love, act of falling in love'

Further examples:

re-l?u-ñ-u lyñyk (from re-l?u-ñ-yk = desiderative) 'to seek, to want to find'

ajylgo lyñyk 'fear'

wejmenu lyñyk 'respect'

gajmo lyñyk 'be amused'

giiwu lyñyk 'be ignorant'

gytamo lyñyk 'look after'

inicgytu lyñyk 'be surprised'

iwyjenu lyñyk 'blame'

lymalo lyñyk 'believe'

mycwyno lyñyk 'hope'

pegciñu lyñyk 'be interested'

tegjeñu lyñyk 'want'

tenñu lyñyk 'laugh at'

tergo lyñyk 'cry'

cimg?u lyñyk 'think'

top of page

2.2.2 With negative form of noun ('privative case')

(II:248) e-Noun-ke + rytcyk

(38) wajyñqen ?aacek mytylwawyn e-milger-ke rytcyk

That youth we-could not without-gun AUX

'We couldn't disarm that youth.'

(39) ewyr rel?uñytky emilgerke rytcytkul?yn, ...

If you-see-FUT without-gun AUX-PRES PT

'If you see anyone without a gun, ...'

(40) emilgerke rytcyjo ?aacek opopy nylqytyn jaragty

without-gun AUX-PASS PT youth necessary he-returns to-home

'The unarmed youth has to go home.'

top of page

2.3 Analytic constructions with 'general ('true') auxiliaries' ityk, rytyk

(II:254f) Used only in analytic constructions, i.e. have only grammatical function (not lexical

meaning), therefore function as genuine auxiliaries. Choice of ityk (intr.) or rytyk (tr.)

depends on transitivity of original verb.

Found with three verb forms: gerunds, causatives, negatives.

2.3.1 With gerunds: aspectual nuances of contrast or exclusiveness

V-te/ta + ityk/rytyk contrast

em/am-V-te/ta + ityk/rytyk exclusiveness

II:255f

(41a) ñutinqeglik-ym ñinqegti nytip?ejñeqinet

this-room-EMPH children sing

'And in this room the children sing'

(41b) gymnin yneel?yn ajwe ynk?am igyr tip?ejñe-te n-it-qin

my elder-brother yesterday & today sing-GER he-AUX-PRES II

'My elder brother yesterday and today has been (specifically) singing'

(41c) ytlygyn ymy-ym ytla wulqytwik em-tip?ejñe-te n-it-qinet

father also-EMPH mother evening GER-sing-GER they-AUX PRES II

'Father, and indeed mother, do nothing but sing in the evening'

top of page

2.3.2 Causative with -jgut form

(II:257). [For form and syntax of causative see chapter six 'Transitivity alternations']

Gives complete set of finite and non-finite forms, e.g.

ekwetyk 'to depart'

ekwetyjgut rytytkul?yn 'ordering/one who orders to depart'

ekwetyjgut rytytkogyrgyn 'an order(ing) to depart'

ekwetyjgut rytjo 'one ordered to depart'

pelak 'to leave (tr.)'

pelajgot rytytkul?yn 'ordering/one who orders to leave (sthg.)'

pelajgot rytytkogyrgyn 'an order(ing) to leave (sthg.)'

pelajgot rytjo 'that which/who one has ordered to be left'

NB: There are no examples in Skorik's data of causatives being formed from transitives,

though Nedjalkov cites a number of cases. See chapter 6).

top of page

2.3.3 Negation

(II:256) e-...-ke + ityk (intr.)/rytyk (tr.) - imperfective aspect

luñ-...-te + ityk (itr.)/rytyk (tr.) - perfective aspect

(42) gymninet ekket igyr e-tejkew-ke r-in-ñet

my sons today NEG-fight-NEG FUT-AUX-3pl

'My sons will not fight today'

(43) ytr?ec ñireq ?aacekyt lun-tejkew-e g-it-linet

only two youths NEG-fight-NEG PAST II-AUX-3pl

'Only two youths didn't fight'

(44) etejkewke etyl?ety qlawyl?ety nejmewqinet ytr?ec ñinqegti

NEG-fight AUX-PRES PT-ALL man-ALL approached only children

'Only children came near the man who wasn't fighting'

(45) luntejkewke ityl?yn ?aacek nengiwyg?en ñalwyl?ety

NEG-fight AUX-PRES youth they-sent to-herd

'They sent the youth who hadn't fought to the herd'

(46) ymy ergatyk ñinqeje a-ket?o-ka rynninet

even next-day boy-erg NEG-remember-NEG AUX-3sg/3pl

pelajotte lilit

left gloves

'Even the following day the boy didn't remember the gloves which had been

left behind'

(47) aket?oka rytytkul?yn gymyky ñeekkeqej qyrymen gymnin ñeekyk

NEG-recall AUX-PRES PT me girl not my daughter

'The girl who didn't recall me isn't my daughter'

(48) aket?oka rytjo milger pelatg?e qole?orawetlak

NEG-remember AUX-PASS rifle remained another-person-LOC.

'The rifle which he hadn't remembered about remained with another person'

(49) wenlygi lyñ-ket?o-ta tyntynet ymyl?o gymnin kelitkutumgyt

Nonetheless NEG-recall-NEG AUX-1sg/3pl all my classmates

'Nonetheless, I couldn't recall all my classmates'

(50) loñket?oka rytytkul?yn gynyky qlawyl nemyqej luñpiril?yn

NEG-recall AUX-PRES PT you man also NEG-take-PRES PT

ewenenwety

hunt-ALL

'The man who couldn't remember you was also not taken on the hunt'

(51) loñket?ota rytjo utkuc?yn pelatg?e ymalañet emnuñky

NEG-recall AUX-PASS trap remained all-summer in-tundra

'The trap which was forgotten remained in the tundra the whole summer'

top of page

2.4 Summary of auxiliaries in analytic constructions

Auxiliaries mark grammatical information otherwise lacking in nonfinite forms, P/N

agreement, tense; also participles/ nominalizations. In particular, they serve as transitivity

markers, e.g choice of ityk or rytyk depending on transitivity of dependent verb. Further

examples:

(i) Passive participle with causative form renders embedded verb passive, i.e. we get CAUSE

(PASS (leave)) = 'cause to be left', not PASS (CAUSE (leave)) = 'be caused to leave'.

(52) gynan pelajgot rytjo kojñyn tynlejwyg?en

by-you leave-CAUS AUX-PASS mug I-took-it

'I took the mug which you told (me) to leave'

(lit.: '...the mug, which you ordered to be left.') (II:258)

(ii) Main verb agrees in transitivity with embedded verb, hence takes transitive agreements

when embedded verb is transitive. This can be done using -u lyñyk construction because this

is itself transitive.

(53a) ytlygyn ajylg-at-y-rkyn marawyk (ekkek reen)

father-ABS fears to-fight son with

'The father is afraid of fighting (with the son)'

(53b) ytlyg-e ajylgo lyñ-y-rkyn-in ry-maraw-at-yk ekyk

father-ERG fear-U AUX-PRES I-3sg/3sg TR-fight-TR-INF son-ABS

'The father is afraid of fighting the son'

[cf. (53c) ytlyge rymarawannen ekyk 'The father fights the son']

This is comparable to 'agreement climbing' constructions with mook 'begin', lywawyk 'be

unable', gjuletyk 'to learn how to', qitpewyk 'begin to do intensively', lygañyk 'fail', mycek

'forget how to', ñyrkylatyk 'be shy of doing', plytkuk 'finish', tegjeñyk 'want', ?eleryk 'be

bored'. Cf. also alternatiions with paak 'stop', torymgok 'begin'. [See Agreement Climbing in

chapter six]

(54a) ytlygyn lywawyrkyn marawyk ekkek reen

father-ABS can't-3sg fight son with

'The father can't fight with the son'

(54b) ytlyge lywaw-y-rkyn-en ry-maraw-at-yk ekyk

father-ERG can't-3sg/3sg TR-fight-TR-INF son-ABS

'The father can't fight the son'

(55a) cakyget lygañe-rkyn uwintetyk

sister-ABS failed-3sg to-stoke (intr.)

'Sister failed to stoke (the fire)'

(55b) caketta lygañe-rkyn-en uwintyk penjolgyn

sister-ERG failed-3sg/3sg to-stoke fire-ABS

'Sister failed to stoke the fire'

(56a) ytlon moo-g?e kelitkuk

he-ABS began-3sg to-study (intr.)

'He began to study'

(56b) ynan moo-nen ry-gjul-ew-yk ekyk iwinik

he-ERG began-3sg/3sg TR-learn-TR-INF son-ABS to-hunt

'He began to teach his son to hunt'

(57) ymto, memyl tym-yn? - ty-lwaw-yn

well seal you-killed - not-able-1sg/3sg

'Well, did you kill the seal?' 'I wasn't able to'

(58a) ytlon paa-g?e tip?ejñyk

he-ABS stopped-3sg sing-INF

'He stopped singing.'

(58b) ynan ry-paa-w-nen jaak ir?yn

he-ERG TR-stop-TR-3sg/3sg to-wear jacket-ABS

'He stopped wearing his jacket.'

(59a) ytlon torymgo-g?e kelitkuk

he-ABS resumed-3sg to-study

'He resumed studying.'

(59b) ynan ry-torymgo-w-nen rygjulewyk ñinqej

he-ERG TR-resumed-TR-3sg/3sg to-teach boy-ABS

'He started teaching the boy again'

(iii) 'qol' construction:

qol ityk/rytyk + VP = 'once, one day, sometimes'

(60) qol it-g?i ytlon ekwet-g?i amnoñety

one AUX-3sg he-ABS set off-3sg tundra-ALL

'Once, he set off for the tundra'

(61) qol rinñytyk ymy turi relqyñytyk ñalwyl?ety

one AUX-FUT-2pl also you will-go herd-ALL

'One day, you too will go to the herd'

(62) turi-ym qol n?-it-yrkyn-ityk wolqytwegty n?ypelqyntetyrkynityk

you-EMPH ONE AUX-COND-IMPF-2pl by-evening you-would-return

'You too would be returning towards evening occasionally'

(63) qol ryn-nin ynan tym-nen ryrky

one AUX-3sg/3sg he-ERG killed-3sg/3sg walrus-ABS

'Once he killed a walrus'

(64) qol myt-ynty-net nymkyqin ryrkat myt-l?u-net

one AUX-1pl/3pl many walruses we-saw

'Once we saw many walruses'

(65) qol t-re-nt-y-gyt ymy t-re-wiri-ñ-gyt

one AUX-FUT-1sg/2sg also I-shall-defend-you'

'One day I'll stand up for you, too'

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 9: VERB DERIVATION

1. Introduction

2. Deverbal verb formation

2.1 Transitive/causative r-

2.2 Detransitivizing affixes

2.3 Other suffixal derivations

2.4 Other prefixes

3. Denominal derivation

3.1 Derivation from Nouns

3.1.1 Specific affixes

3.2 Predominantly deadjectival derivation

3.3 Derivation from numerals

4. Aktionsarten

4.1 Basic types

4.1.1 Combinatorial possibilities with Aktionsart affixes

4.2 Related verb forms

4.2.1 Combinatorial possibilities

5. Summary of affixes

5.1 Denominal

5.2 From numerals

5.3 Aktionsarten

5.4 Related verb forms

6. Concluding remarks

top of page

1. Introduction

Chukchee has a wealth of word formation resources, with a particularly rich system of

denominal verb forming affixes, and a very elaborated system of Aktionsart marking. In this

chapter I present a summary of the processes discussed in Skorik's grammar.

A number of affixes occur with nouns and with verbs, but with different functions or

meanings.

2. Deverbal verb formation

2.1 Transitive/causative r-

(II:211f) This is one of the commonest verb affixes. Note that it has the allomorph n- in non-

initial position.

Usually together with suffix, r-...ew/aw, r-...-et/at, and more rarely r-...-ñet/ñat

r- alone: ejmewyk 'approach' rejmewyk 'bring nearer'

r-...-ew: ekwetyk 'set off' rekwetewyk 'dispatch', piñkuk 'be extinguished'

rypiñkuwyk 'extinguish'

r-...-et: untemewyk 'become calm' runtemewetyk 'calm s.o. down', jalgytyk

'move house' ryjalgytatyk 'rehouse'

Doublets with slight meaning differences:

rygelyk 'enter': ryrgeletyk 'introduce, lead in'; ryrgylewyk 'attract (into)'

r-...-ñet: paak 'cease' rypaañatyk 'stop sthg.'

top of page

2.2 Detransitivizing affixes

Less productive than transitivizing (II:214). It isn't always possible to assign a lexical value to

the detransitivizing affix other than to say that it creates a 'corresponding' intransitive verb

(e.g. yr?untetyk, or, with greater semantic shift, taañytkok).

1. -et/at

myngykwyk 'to pay' ~ myngykwetyk 'to receive payment, be paid off'

pelak 'to leave (s.o./sthg.) ~ pelatyk (>pela-at-yk) 'to stay'

yr?untyk 'to deceive' ~ yr?untetyk 'to lie'

May be accompanied by ine- prefixation:

rynryk 'to hold (sthg.)' ~ ine-nr-et-yk 'to hold onto (sthg.)'

rytemmawyk 'prepare (for)' ~ ena-netenmaw-at-yk 'make preparations 'for)'

2. -tku

wiriñyk 'to defend (s.o.)' ~ wiriñ-y-tku-k 'to defend oneself'

taañyk 'to try' ~ taañ-y-tko-k 'to imitate'

3. ine-

rimetyk 'cut (hair)' ~ ine-nimet-yk 'do hair cutting'

rywalotyk 'to explain' ~ ena-nwalot-yk 'to give an explanation'

Skorik (II:215, n.8) points out that the ine- and -tku derivations are distinct from the

(homophonous) antipassive forms. Only the antipassive is capable of 're-transitivization' in

the applicative-like constructions discussed in chapter six, 1.3.2. Also, in the antipassive there

is no change in lexical meaning, whereas the truly derivational cases often introduce

significant meaning shifts. (Skorik likens the situation to the use of the -sja reflexive in

Russian, which on the one hand creates idiosyncratic intransitive forms and on the other hand

creates regular reflexives and/or imperfective passives.)

4. -wylg 'reciprocal'

Mainly formed from transitives:

l?u-wylg-yk 'to see each other'; ket?o-wylg-yk 'to remember each other'

Can be formed occasionally from intransitives, e.g.

ejmewyk 'to come closer' ~ ejmekwylgyk 'to approach each other' ( -ww- -

kw-)

(1) yrgynan n-ukwet-yrkynet ytri ukwet-wylg-yrkynet

they.ERG PRES.II-kiss-3sg/3pl they.ABS kiss-RECIP-3pl

'They kiss them' 'They kiss each other'

top of page

2.3 Other suffixal derivations

1. -sqiw 'purposive'

gite-sqiw-yk 'to go and look'; kur-y-sqiw-yk 'to go and buy'

2. -twa 'stative resultative'

See Nedjalkov et al. (1983/1988) for detailed discussion.

qutyk 'to stand up' qot-y-twa-k 'to stand, be standing'

3. -turew 'reversitive'

Only from verbs derived from r-...-et/r-...-ew. Suffix -turew replaces -et/-ew suffix.

ry-jylg-et-yk 'to unite' ~ ry-jylgy-turew-yk 'to disunite'

ry-cymk-et-yk 'to twist, screw in' ~ ry-cymk-y-turew-yk 'to untwist, unscrew'

ry-tewiminñ-ew-yk 'to oppress' ~ ry-tewiminñ-y-turew-yk 'to liberate'

2.4 Other prefixes

Skorik (II:218) points out that there are very few other verb prefixes. He mentions a handful

of cases involving the prefix *kyt-, which he associates with an adjective root: ny-gty-qen

(regularly from n-kt-qin). This seems to be the same prefix as is found with adjectives, see

chapter four, 3.1.3.

top of page

3. Denominal derivation

[(II:218ff). See also the list in Beard 1995:399 (though there are a number of inconsistencies

of transcription there).]

Nominal here means either 'Noun' or 'Adjective' (or both)

3.1 Derivation from Nouns

1. -et/at 'general verbalizer'

reñreñ (root reñ) 'fodder', reñ-et-yk 'feed (animals)'

qewjac 'steam' qewjac-at-yk 'evaporate'

2. -ew/-aw 'general verbalizer' (less frequent than -et/at)

tumgytum (root tumg) 'friend' tumg-ew-yk 'make friends with, become friends'

ny-korg-yqen (root korg) 'happy' korg-aw-yk 'rejoice, be happy'

Note difference between -et/ew:

ny-gjul-qin (root gjul) 'knowledgeable' gyjul-et-yk 'study (=be engaged in study)', gyjul-ew-

yk 'study (=acquire knowledge)'

3. -twa 'general verbalizer (for statives)' (see Nedjalkov et al. 1983/88 for detailed discussion)

nymnym (root nym) 'village' nym-y-twa-k 'live (somewhere)'

n-untym-qin 'peaceful' ontym-y-twa-k 'be peaceful'

4. -tku 'activity with given object'

rype-ñy 'hammer' rype-tku-k 'to hammer'

With idiosyncratic lexical extension:

kelikel 'book' (from root keli 'speckled') keli-tku-k 'to study'

wilwil 'payment, price' wil-y-tku-k 'to trade'

3.1.1 Specific affixes

5. -l?et/-l?at 'travel by ñ

?ytt?yn (root ?ytt) ?ytt-y-l?et-yk 'travel by dogs'

6. -r?u 'developing event (of meteorological phenomena)'

piñepiñ (root piñe) 'snow' piñe-r?u-k 'fall (snow)'

7. -*jp (after vowels)/-ep (after consonants) 'donning clothing'

ewir?yn 'clothes' awer?-ep-yk 'put on clothing'

8. -tw 'removing clothing'

plek-yt 'boots' plek-y-tw-yk 'take off boots'

9. -u

(a) 'hunt, catch (game)'

r?ew-u-k 'catch whales'

(b) 'eat (food)'

qora-t?ol-o-k 'eat reindeer meat'

mutl-u-k 'drink blood'

(c) 'removal'

caat-o-k 'remove lassos'

10. -ñit 'spend period of time'

l?ele-ñit-yk 'spend the winter'

11. te/ta-...-ñ 'creation of ñ

te-lili-ñ-yk 'sew gloves'

ta-pojg-y-ñ-yk 'make spears'

top of page

3.2 Predominantly deadjectival derivation

12. r-...-ew/aw 'causative' (from Adj, some Nouns) (II:224)

ny-quw-qin 'narrow' ry-quw-ew-yk 'make narrow(er)'

acgyt 'row' r-acgyt-aw-yk 'place in a row'

13. r-...-et/at 'causative' (from Adj, some Nouns)

ny-gjiw-qin 'experienced' ry-gjiw-et-yk 'explain, supervise'

gagcaw 'haste' ry-gagcaw-at-yk 'to hurry someone'

14. r-...-twet/twat 'causative' (from Adj only)

ny-tur-qin 'new' ry-tur-twet-yk 'renew'

15. -twi 'inchoative' (from Adj)

ny-ciwm-y-qin 'short' ciwm-y-twi-k 'become short(er)'

top of page

3.3 Derivation from numerals

(II:225f) These translate 'do something for the nth time' in combination with infinitive form

of lexical verb.

-qew/qaw (i.e. ordinal suffix) intransitive verbalizer 'act n times'

r-...-qew/aw transitive verbalizer 'act on s.o./sthg. n times'

Examples:

(1) ajwe gym ge-ñire-qew-igym ñutinJ?ilgyk iwini-k

yesterday I PAST.II-two-ORD-1sg this.month.LOC hunt-INF

'Yesterday I hunted for the second time this month'

(2) enmec na-n-mytlyñ-qaw-yrkyn-at tyñiwy-k ynñen-nym-ety

already 3pl.SUBJ-R-five-ORD-PROG-3pl.OBJ send-INF this-village-ALL

'They are sending them to this village for the fifth time already'

top of page

4. Aktionsarten

4.1 Basic types

Below are examples of the fifteen aspectual (or Aktionsart) affixes described for Chukchee

by Skorik (II:179-202). Note that the prefixes appear to the immediate left of the verb root

(i.e. they follow all the inflectional prefixes of tense, mood, aspect and voice). Note also that

a number of these suffixes are used for denominal verb formation.

1. -l?et/-l?at prolonged continuous action:

(3) ?ytt?e ninepiñku-l?et-qin ottylgyn

dog jump-l?et-3/3 stick

'The dog jumped over the stick over and over again'

2. -cir prolonged interrupted action:

(4) ...ñinqejmuri n?ejñew-cir-muri jaral?a

us.children called-cir-1plOBJ people.at.home

'The people at home kept calling us children'

3. -c?et/-c?at occasional action:

(5) moryky ymy nypkiry-c?et-qinet remkyl?yt

to.us also come-c?et-3pl guests

'Guests occasionally visit us too'

4. -cit alternating action:

(6) ...natcy-cet-qenat...

hide-cet-3plSUBJ

'They played at hide-and-seek'

5. -r?u distributive. This suffix takes the subject of intransitives and the object of transitives

in its scope, though this doesn't seem to be organized on an unaccusative basis (Skorik II:

186-7). The suffix can be reinforced by explicit noun or adverbial quantifiers or it can be the

sole marker of quantification:

(7) kako, raj ?ejñe-r?u-rkyt ?ytt?yt

oh there howl-r?u-3pl dogs

'Oh, there were a whole lot of dogs howling there'

(8) qeeqyn wak wak?o-r?o-ñño-g?at ?itut

some.time being sit-r?u-begin-3pl geese

'After some time a whole lot of geese started sitting down'

(9) ryrkat macymyl?o pylqet-r?u-g?et qunylqegnewyk

walruses almost.all sank-r?u-3pl at.first.shot

'The walruses almost all dived at the first shot'

(10) ergyk luur tyl?u-r?u-net nylginymkyqin p?oñp?oñyt

in.field suddenly I.find-r?u-3pl very.many mushrooms

'I suddenly found an enormous number of mushrooms in the field'

6. -sqycet/-sqycat accelerated action

(11) qynwer ñyto-sqycat-g?e gymnin tyletumgin

at last come.out-sq' cat-3sgSUBJ my companion

'At last my companion sprang out'

7. tyle-/tyla- gradual action

(12) ekwetyl?yt ?ytt?yjol qlawylte ty-tyla-j?onat

set.out earlier men I-tyla-caught.up

'I gradually caught up the men who had set out earlier'

(13) ynan tyle-nintyninet ymyl?o itcyqewyt tylek

he tyle-threw.away all hindering to.move

'He gradually threw off all the things that hindered him from moving'

(14) ytlyge ge-tyle-plytkulin ytw?et

father PAST.II-tyle-finish boat

'Father gradually finished the boat'

This prefix also has an analytic use with the 'be/have' auxiliaries (II:189-90):

(15) ?igyt, muri el?uke, tyle-(e)jmew-e nitqinet ylwagty

wolves us not.seeing tyle-approach-GER IT.3PL wild.deer

'The wolves, not having seen us, gradually approached the grazing wild

reindeer'

(16) tyle-l?u-te tyntynet ymyl?o atcyl?yt ñinqegtumgyt

tyle-find-GER RyT.1SG/3PL all hiding friends

'I gradually found all the friends who were hiding'

top of page

8. -jiwy/-iwy intensity (transitive only) (This seems to have a distributive meaning of 'acting

on many objects' in a number of examples). [Note: Skorik II:190 gives the form of the affix

as -jw/jiw/iw, after vowel final, single consonant final and double consonant final stems

respectively. However, from the examples given it appears that the suffix ends in schwa. Cf.

gantymñewylenat, where the syllable structure principles would predict gantymñewlenat.]

(17) ynqo ytlyge tiñu-jwy-nin kupren

then father pull-jwy-3/3 net

'Then father pulled tightly on the net'

(18) yrgynan ym?yloñet nineriwl-iwy-qinet jaraken jaajolqylte

they all.day transported-iwy-3pl household goods

'All day they strenuously transported their household goods' ('usilenno

perevozili')

(19) rocyñky nymyqin p?oñp?oñyt mytl?u-jwy-net

on.other.bank many mushrooms we.found-jwy-3pl

'On the other bank we found a mass of mushrooms'

(20) qynni-jwy-net ymyml?o ir?ykinet patgyryt

sew-jwy-3pl all clothes.ADJ holes

'Sew up all the holes in the clothes'

(21) ym?yloñet ninelqyrir-jiwy-muri tymñewyl?yt ?ytt?yqeqegti

all.day we.looked.for-jiwy-1pl lost puppies

'All day we searched and searched for the lost puppies'

(22) jyñecyku morgynan qaat gantymñew-jewy-lenat

in.fog we deer lost-jiwy-3pl

'We lost (all) the reindeer in the fog' (cf. Russian 'porasterjali')

(23) ?ytt?e genm-iwy-linet rynajotte ?ytt?ymyt

dog drag.off-iwy-3pl brought.out bones

'The dogs dragged off (in all directions) (all) the bones that had been

brought out' ('porastashchili')

Cf. also (II:191):

(24) ytl?ata enmec genumkewlinet ymyl?o cajkojñyt

mother already has.hidden all cups

'Mother has already put away all the cups'

(25) ymyl?o rytriir?yt genumkew-jiwy-linet ynnentyjucgyk

all threads has.hidden-jiwy-3pl in.one.bag

'She has put all the threads away into one bag'

It's not clear whether the force of the affix in the following example is quantificational or

intensive:

(26) t?ytl?et awetywak ganyntoñat-jewy-lenat ñylatrajpy

sick.pl immediately carried.out-jiwy-3pl from.burning.house

'They immediately carried out the sick from the burning house'

Skorik glosses the affix as 'energetically' ('energichno') in the following example, though

there is also a universal quantifier in the sentence:

(27) q?eñew-jiwy-net ymyl?o ñinqegti

call.out-jiwy-3pl all boys

'Call out all the boys (energetically)'

top of page

9. -tku weakened sporadic action. Usually found with the Present.II form:

(28) qygite ñan, melatolgyn piñku-tku-rkyn omkytagnyjekwe

look there hare jump-tku-impf. on.forest.edge

'Look over there, a hare is hopping around on the edge of the forest'

(29) añqacormyk ym?yloñet morgynan ninegici-tku-muri myrgot

on.seashore all.day we collected-tku-1pl seaweed (occasionally, a little)

We spent the day on the seashore collecting a bit of seaweed now and then'

In the following example (II:193) (assuming it is genuine) we see a quantifier 'only'

effectively taking the suffix in its scope:

(30) ñotqenat ñeekkeqegti ytr?ec nywinrety-tku-qinet moryky

those girls only helped-tku-3pl us

'Those little girls only helped us a little'

May also have just a frequentative meaning ('mnogokratnost'')

(31) qynmy-tko-gytky jugytwil?yt ?ytt?yt

kill-tku-2pl mad dogs

'Kill (all) the mad dogs'

Note stem allomorphy in verb (II:193), indicating that -tku- here is a 'palatalizing' morpheme

(see ch. 2:2):

kypl- 'knock' - kypc-y-tko-

mle- 'break' - mce-tku-

(32) ymqory ermec?e anñenajpy gemce-tku-linet ymyl?o pojgyt

then strong.man from.anger broke-tku-3pl all spears

'Then the strong man in a rage broke all the spears'

10. -ñño inceptive (cf. verb stem ñoo-/-mgo 'begin' + infinitive)

(33) wytku waamrogcyk pañ?ewñyto-ñño-g?at cejwyl?yt

only on.river.bank rest-ñño-3pl walkers'

'It was only on that bank of the river that the walkers began to rest'

(34) ralona jep akawraka gala-ñño-nenat qutti racwyñyl?yt

Ralo still before.turn overtake-ñño-3pl other contestants

'Ralo began to overtake the other contestants before even reaching the turn'

11. -plytku 'terminative, completive' (cf. verb plytku- 'finish' + infinitive)

(35) gym jawrena trekelitku-plytku-g?e

I next.year will.study-plytku-1sg

'I will finish my studies next year'

(36) tite any retejky-plytku-ñyn gymnin ir?yn

When then will.sew-plytku-2sg/3sg my coat

'When are you finally going to finish sewing my coatÖ '

12. teñ-/tañ- extreme completion (cf. adjective nyteñqin 'good', though the 'good' component

is lost from the prefix):

(37) gymnin tyletumgyn teñ-kemcicekw?i

my fellow.traveller teñ-got.lost

'My fellow traveller got completely lost'

(38) gynin l?ulqyl tañ-amecatg?e k?elik

your face teñ-lost in.hat

'Your face has got completely lost in your hat'

(39) ñewmirge teñ-ynpelquwnin gymnin ytla

grandmother teñ-out.argued my mother

'Grandmother completely out.argued my mother'

13. mec-/mac- incomplete action (tends to cooccur with perfective tense/aspect forms)

(40) ytr?ec-ym mec-itkyjekw?i gymnin ewycañer?yn

only-EMPH mec-got.wet my lower.coat

'My lower coat has only got a little wet'

[Notice that 'only' seems to take the prefix in its scope here.]

(41) weler qy-mec-ejpygytky tytyl

at.least IMPER-mec-close door

'At least close the door a bit' ('prikrojte')

(42) kita-qun lymñe myn-mac-?atcanat pelatyl?yt

well, still we-mec-wait.for those.left

'Well, let's still wait a bit for those who are left behind'

With adverbial strengthening:

(43) lymñe qeeqyn qy-mec-ylqyrirgytky, ynqo-ym wytku qyragtytyk

still a.little IMPER-mec-search then-EMPH already go.home

'Search for them a little longer and only then go home'

top of page

14. cik-/cek- partial action

(44) cek-ajylgawyrkyt ñinqegti amyrgynan ñytok

cik-fear children alone go.out

'The children are still a little afraid of going out alone'

(45) neneny ytl?ata enmec cig-nilginnin

child mother already cik-lifted

'The mother lifted the child slightly' ('pripodnjala')

(46) alymy ytr?ec ty-cek-yrkyplyg?an

after.all only I-cik-knocked

'After all, I only knocked a little'

[Note: 'only' takes prefix in its scope]

15. em-/am- 'delimitative'. Exact interpretation depends on tense/aspect of verb. With

perfective T/A forms, em- delimits the time course of the action ('only for time t'), i.e. it takes

the aspectual component of the verb in its scope (II:200):

(47) gynr?am q-am-yntog?e

now 2sg-em-come.out

'Now just come out (for a minute)'

(48) ew-ew m-em-pirinet lilit

wait, 1sg.IMPER-em-take gloves

'Wait a minute, I'll just get my gloves'

With adverbial strengthening:

(49) ymy gym trekwetg?e, ytr?ec waj m-em-tejkyg?en keñuneñ

and I will.set.off only look 1sg.IMPER-em-make (shepherd's ) crook

'And I'm setting off, let me just make a crook'

With slightly shifted meaning:

(50) t-em-winretyn gynin ekyk, ytt?ykylgetyl?yn

1sg-em-helped your son dog.harnessing

'I only helped your son a little to harness the dogs'

With imperfective verb forms, em- means 'this action and no others', i.e. em- takes the lexical

content of the verb phrase in its scope and not the aspectual component. Note that this in

general means that em- takes verb complements in its scope along with the verb itself:

(51) tr-am-walompelyrkyn gynin epeqej

1sg.FUT-em-listen.to your grandmother

'All I will do is to listen to your grandmother' ('Tol'ko i budu delat', chto

slushat' tvoju babushku')

(52) nine-em-tiñujgym ?ytw?et añqacormyk

PRES-em-pull boat from.sea.shore

'All I am doing is pulling the boat from the seashore' ('Tol'ko i delaju,

chto...')

With imperfective aspect verbs there is also an analytic construction with the gerund:

(53) ñewysqetqeje em-gici-te nyntyqinet uun?yt

girls em-pick-GER AUX.3pl/3pl berries

'The girls are just picking berries'

(54) ynpynacgyn qonpyñ em-jylqe-te nitqin

old.man all.time em-sleep AUX.3sg

'The old man just sleeps all the time'

top of page

4.1.1 Combinatorial possibilities with Aktionsart affixes

(II:201f)

(55) lymynky ny-piwre-sqycet-y-l?et-qinet nylginymkyqin memylte

everywhere PRES.II-dive-sqycet-y-l?et-3pl very.many seals

'Everywhere a large number of seals were continually rapidly diving for a

long time'

(56) lymynqory nymnymety n-ejmewy-sqycet-cir-qinet gekeñyl?yt

from.everywhere to.village PRES.II-approach-sqycet-cir-3pl reindeer.riders

'From everywhere reindeer riders quickly came from time to time to the

village'

(57) ñyto-r?o-l?at-yrkyt ynnyt koprajpy

come.out-r?u-l?et-3pl fish from.net

'For a long time many fish keep coming out of the net'

(58) qynwer, ymy wecowtyt tyña-l?at-y-ñño-g?at

at.last and sorrel grow-lÖ et-y-ñño-3pl

'At last the sorrel began to grow rapidly'

(59) petle myt-ra-tyla-tenmawy-plytko-ñño-g?a

soon 1pl-FUT-tyla-prepare-plytko-ñño-FUT

'We will soon begin to gradually finish the preparations'

top of page

4.2 Related verb forms

There are a number of affixes which Skorik discuss separately from the 'aspectual'

(Aktionsart) affixes, but which have related aspectual or modal functions (II:202f).

1. lygi 'genuine action' (also found with other parts of speech). On its own this is mainly

found with intransitive verbs:

(60) kako, ynr?am lygi-rucekw?i gymnin ekwew

yes, indeed lygi-weakened my left.reindeer

'Yes, my left reindeer really has grown weaker'

Skorik (II:203) finds only the following two examples with transitives:

(61) t-ra-lge-rkypcewyñyn juutkul?yn ?ytt?yn

1sg.-FUT-lygi-stab biting dog

'Right, I'm going to stab the dog that bites'

(62) t-ra-lge-nmarawatgyt, ewyr lymñe ynñin ritg?e

1sg-FUT-lygi-scold.you if again thus you.will.be

'I'll give you a proper scolding if you do that again'

2. tymñe- 'in vain, not seriously'

(63) tymñe-?atc' g?e ?elerel?yn uwicwetyk ñinqej

tymñe-hid bored to.play boy

'The boy who had grown bored of playing, hid in a perfunctory manner'

(64) yneelÖ e tymñe-?atcanen cinitkin ytleñi

elder.brother tymñe-waited.for self's younger brother

'The elder brother waited in vain for his younger brother'

3. -ca 'scattered distributive' (cf. -r?u). Applies to subject of intransitive, object of transitive

(II:205) [Probably cognate with Koryak plural marker -la-, note 19, p.206]:

(65) gymnin tumgyt korgaw-ca-g?at ermeltetyk

my comrades rejoiced-ca-3pl at.victory

'My comrades were delighted at the victory'

(66) ynqo emryngiite were-ca-g?at ymy qutti

then one.by.one came.down-ca-3pl also others

'Then, one by one the others (all) came down too'

(67) lymynky ñejyk yrgynan gantywat-ca-lenat utkuc?yt [misprint corrected]

everwhere on.hill they set-ca-3pl traps

'Everywhere on the hill they set up (many) traps'

(68) nenenete gapere-ca-lenat ymyl?o uwicwineñet

children took-ca-3pl all toys

'The children picked up all their toys'

All Skorik's intransitive examples can be regarded as (semantically) unaccusative: amecat-ca

'disappear', akwat-ca- 'set out', qot-ca- 'stand up'

4. -qeet/-qaat 'diminutive'. Seems to have unaccusative syntax. (II:206). Often cooccurs with

diminutive marked noun (i-iii), but not always (iv-v):

(69) melotalgy-qaj lygen ewyr pirqy-qeet-g?i

hare-young/little immediately if lay.down-qeet-3sg

'The (little) levret immediately lay down'

(70) ewyr re-l?u-qeen-ñyn gymnin ?ytt?y-qej, qinikwi

if FUT-see-qeet-3sg my dog-young/little tell.me

'If you see my little puppy, tell me'

(71) ekkete ommacajpy-qaan-nen cinitkin ytl?a-qaj

son embraced-qeet-3/3 self's mother-DIM

'The son embraced his dear mother'

(72) metkiit jylqet-qeet-g?i neneny

somehow sleep-qeet-3sg child

'The child fell asleep somehow'

(73) ytl?ata male-qaan-nen ekyk lawtepy

mother stroked-qeet-3/3 son head.ABL

'The mother stroked her son's head'

top of page

5. -cgat 'augmentative'. Same syntax as diminutive in 4. Three nuances:

(i) respect

(74) gymnin tumgytum jylqat-y-cgat-g?e

my friend sleep-cgat-3sg

'My (respected) friend fell asleep'

(75) ?aaceka janot n?y-kyn?o-cgan-nen cymñy

youth first COND-catch-cgat-3/3 old.bull

'The youth wanted first to catch the big old bull'

(76) ñinqeje amqyn?yco nenanelgety-cgat-qen wykwylgyn

boy every.day lift-cgat-3sg rock

'Every day the boy lifts a huge rock'

(ii) censure

(77) ?eqel?yn peqetaty-cgat-g?e

enemy fell-cgat-3sg

'The enemy fell...'

(iii) fearfulness

(78) luur tyl?o-cgat-ynat ñyraq kejñyt

suddenly I.saw-cgat-3pl three bears

'Suddenly I saw three (terrifying) bears

6. re-/ra-...-ñ desiderative. Has essentially the same form as the future marker.

(79) ñeekkeqej toryky re-winren-ñ-yrkyn

little.girl you re-help-ñ-PRES.I

'The little girl wants to help you'

4.2.1 Combinatorial possibilities

Various affixes combine, examples are given in II:210, e.g.

(80) lyge-tymñe-talk-ca-3pl meeting old.men at.neighbours

'The old men who have met at the neighbours' house really shouldn't be talking so

much'

top of page

5. Summary of affixes

5.1 Denominal

1. -et/at 'general verbalizer'

2. -ew/-aw 'general verbalizer'

3. -twa 'general verbalizer (for statives)'

4. -tku 'activity with given object'

5. -l?et/-l?at 'travel by ñ

6. -r?u 'developing event (of meteorological phenomena)'

7. -*jp/-ep 'donning clothing'

8. -tw 'removing clothing'

9. -u 'hunt', 'eat', 'remove'

10. -ñit 'spend period of time'

11. te/ta-...-ñ 'creation of ñ

12. r-...-ew/aw 'causative'

13. r-...-et/at 'causative'

14. r-...-twet/twat 'causative'

15. -twi 'inchoative'

5.2 From numerals

-qew/qaw (i.e. ordinal suffix) intransitive verbalizer 'act n times'

r-...-qew/aw transitive verbalizer 'act on s.o./sthg. n times'

5.3 Aktionsarten

1. -l?et/-l?at prolonged continuous action

2. -cir prolonged interrupted action

3. -c?et/-c?at occasional action

4. -cit alternating action

5. -r?u distributive

6. -sqycet/-sqycat accelerated action

7. tyle-/tyla- gradual action

8. -jiwy/-iwy intensity

9. -tku weakened sporadic action

10. -ñño inceptive

11. -plytku terminative, completive

12. teñ-/tañ- extreme completion

13. mec-/mac- incomplete action

14. cik-/cek- partial action

15. em-/am- delimitative

5.4 Related verb forms

1. lygi genuine action

2. tymñe- in vain, not seriously

3. -ca scattered distributive

4. -qeet/-qaat diminutive

5. -cgat augmentative

6. re-/ra-...-ñ desiderative

top of page

6. Concluding remarks

It's very noticeable that several of these affixes appear with more than one meaning/function

(an illustration of Beardian separationism). These include:

cig/cik -l?et/l?at tymñe

e-...-ke mec/mac- -tku

em-/am- -r?u -twa

et/at, ew/aw;

Note that -tku- in its use as antipassive marker and 'activity with given object' meaning is

distinct morphophonologically from its use an iterative Aktionsart marker (weakened

sporadic action), in that it is only in its latter function that it triggers 'palatalization' of /l/.

In addition some Aktionsart suffixes are also used to form verbs from nouns: l?et/l?at, -r?u, -

tku.

The affixes ine- and -tku are particularly polyfunctional. In addition to their use as

antipassive markers (and even as parts of the transitive agreement paradigms), and their use

as Aktionsart markers and in denominal verb formation they are often found as more or less

meaningless derivational formatives. There has been no special study of this aspect of word

formation in Chukchee as far as I am aware, so I will just cite a handful of examples from

Moll and Inenlikej's dictionary. (The Russian glosses generally give very little information

about what the Chukchee word actually means or how it is actually used. I give the Russian

translations because it's virtually impossible to translate individual Russian words outside any

context.)

ry-tyleweyk 'move sthg. from one place to another; continue' [peredvigat'; prodolzhat']

ine-n-tylewyk 'lead, carry' [vodit', vozit']

ine-n-tylewy-tku-yk 'lead, guide; govern, manage' [vesti, provodit'; pravit', upravljat']

ry-citkuk 'govern, manage' [pravit', upravljat']

ine-n-citkuk 'govern, manage; rectify, touch up; touch' [pravit', upravljat'; podpravit'; trogat']

ry-jegtelewyk 'save; leave alive' [spasat'; ostavljat' v zhivyx]

ine-n-jegtelewyk 'save; preserve life' [spasti; soxranit' zhizn']

CHUKCHEE

CHAPTER 10: NOUN DERIVATION

1. Introduction

1.1 Limitative form

1.2 Quantifiers

1.3 Evaluatives

1.3.1 Augmentative

1.3.2 Augmentative pejorative

1.3.3 Diminutive

1.3.4 Derivatives of evaluatives

2. Denominal derivation

2.1 Suffixes

2.2 Prefixes

3. Deverbal nominals

4. Noun formation from multiple categories of base

5. Compounding

6. Conversion

7. Summary of noun affixation

top of page

1. Introduction

This chapter discusses the wealth of noun forming derivational morphology. (See also the

discussion in Beard, 1995). Not dealt with here is the Negative form of nouns discussed in

chapter eight.

Of interest are the quantificational prefixes which act somewhat like D-type quantifiers (see

sections 1.1, 1.2). In addition, a number of affixes take nominal or adjectival bases, and a few

take nouns, adjectives and verbs as bases. There is also an interesting comparison to be drawn

between affixation and conversion (section 6.)

1.1 Limitative form

Skorik (I:291f) identifies a 'category of restriction' which is essentially the prefix em-/am-

meaning 'only'.

titi-t 'needles' em-titit 'just needles'

Essentially the same as the verbal prefix (chapter nine xxx)

Appears with any case form:

(1) jep am-ñotqena-r-gypy gekwetlinet

still ONLY-these-ABL they.went

'They only left these (people)'

(2) ynpynacgyn nynnyñyttyqin em-kupre-te

old.man catches.fish ONLY-net-INSTR

'The old man uses only a net to catch fish with'

Noun can inflect for person/number:

(3) ynky (em-mikynti?) em-mutcynti nynymytwaqenat

there (only-who.PL) only-Mutchiny.PL live

'Only the Mutchiny family live there'

(4) em-mik-y-muri igyr myt-r-oon?-y-nta-g?a

ONLY-who-1pl today 1pl-FUT-berry-set.out-1pl

'It is only which of us who will go berry picking today?'

Strengthened with teñ-/tañ-: teñ-em-ñinqegti 'the boys exclusively'

Prefix pyc- strengthens force of 'only':

(5) pyc-em-ñewysqetti jarak pelatg?at

EMPH-ONLY-women at.home stayed

'After all, only the women stayed at home' (Skorik translates pyc- as 'ved'

tol'ko')

ONLY - NEG:

(6) em-e-ñinqej-ke wak

ONLY-NEG-boy-NEG being

'Because they had no boys...'

top of page

1.2 Quantifiers

(I: 296) Universal quantifiers can be expressed as prefixes on the noun.

emqyn-/amqyn- 'each'

gemge-/gamga- 'every'

*ym- 'all' (I:325) [Cf. ymyl?o, ymyl?ety 'all']

(7) muryk amqyn-ñawysqat-ety gejytlin wañenañ

us.LOC EACH-woman-ALL they.gave sewing.machine

'They gave a sewing machine to each of our women'

(8) igyr gemge-ñewysqet-y-k warkyn wañenañ

today EVERY-woman-LOC is sewing.machine

'Today, every woman has a sewing machine'

(9) ym-geweñet 'all year', ym-ñalwyl 'the whole herd', ym-omokatgyrgyn 'the

whole meeting'

Note gamga-qora-k 'at all the reindeer', gemge-nymyk 'in all the villages' vs. *amqy-qora-k,

*amqy-nymyk.

[NB. Bogoraz's dictionary includes a prefix imy- with the meaning 'each, any' [Rus.: 'kazhdyj,

vsjakij'. Ex.:

(10) imy-r?ynut (r?enut?) 'whatever' ['chto ugodno']

(11) emy-notajpy tylejwyg?ek I travelled through every country'

This prefix doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere by Skorik. It's possible that Bogoraz has

mistranslated the im- 'small' prefix given below, section 2.2.]

top of page

1.3 Evaluatives

Evaluative morphology can be added to pretty well any type of noun (including proper nouns,

substantivized pronominals, wh-words). They take predicative person/number affixes like

any other noun (I:304).

1.3.1 Augmentative

-*jñ

wywy-jñ-yn 'big rock'; ?aacek-y-jñ-yn 'big strapping lad'; ragt-y-jñ-yn 'Ragtyn

(aug.)' (proper name); raq-y-jñ-yn 'what? (aug.)', neka-jñ-yn 'whatsitname

(aug.)'; ñotqena-jñ-yn 'this (one) (aug.)'.

1.3.2 Augmentative pejorative

-*cg/cyñ

pojg-y-cg-yn 'spear'; ytlywjo-cg-yn 'grandson'; r?anota-cg-yk qaca 'near what?';

neka-cg-yn 'whatitsname'; mekyna-cg-ynte 'who (pl.)?';

1.3.3 Diminutive

-qej/qaj

ñilg-y-qej 'little strap'; cakett-y-qaj 'little sister'; req-y-qej 'what?'

1.3.4 Derivatives of evaluatives

Person/number inflection: jelo-jñ-y-tore 'you are (my) uncles (aug.)'; qlawol-y-cg-e-gyt

'you(sg.) man (aug.-pej.)'; meñine-qej-i-gyt 'who are you (dim.)?'

Possessives and relative adjectives:

?aacek-y-jñ-en 'of the big strapping lad'

umk-y-qej-qin uttyt 'the trees of the little forest'

(12) qytlygi ynky enmec ujñe a-qapar-cyñ-y-ka

apparently here already not NEG-wolverine-AUG.PEJ-NEG

'Apparently, there are no longer any wolverines here'

top of page

2. Denominal derivation

2.1 Suffixes

-jocg 'container'

kale-jocg-yn 'school satchel' (kelikel 'book')

-t?ul

a) part of (whole, non-articulated) object menig-y-t?ul 'piece of material'

b) meat of qora-t?ol 'venison' (qora- 'reindeer')

-lqyl 'material intended for making given object'

ewir?-y-lqyl 'material for making clothing' (ewir?yn 'clothes')

'preordained function of person'

?uwequci-lqyl 'fiancé' (?uwequc 'husband') 'one destined to become a husband'

-tkyn 'upper part, top of'

rylg-y-tkyn 'finger tip' (rylgylgyn, root rylg 'finger')

-curm 'edge'

weem-curm-yn 'river bank', añqa-corm-yn 'sea shore'

-tegyn 'place in front of'

umk-y-tegyn 'place in front of forest'

-jikwi 'length of geophysical feature'

añqa-corm-y-jekwe-n 'coastal extent, seaboard'

-giñ 'place at base of'

ñej-giñ 'foothills' (ñej- 'hill')

-ret 'complex of objects'

lili-ret 'pair of gloves' (lelelgyn 'glove', lili-t 'gloves'); ?ytt?y-ret 'dog team'

-cyku 'interior of'

kuke-cyku-n 'inside of cooking pot'

-lyku 'place amongst objects'

utt-y-lyku-n 'place between trees'

-nleñ/nlañ 'place lacking ñ

iml-y-nleñ 'place without water' (mimyl 'water', combining form iml-);

-giniw 'multitude of objects'

?ytw-y-giniw 'large number of boats'; ?aaceggenew 'crowd of young men'

-mk 'small group of objects'

?itu-mk-yn 'small flock of geese' (?it?it 'goose')

-lq 'place abounding in ñ

wykw-y-lq-yn 'rocky place'; miml-y-lq-yn 'watery place' (formed from basic

form of root, not combining form, contrast with iml-y-nleñ)

-sq 'surface'

nute-sq-yn 'soil' (nute-nut 'earth, country'); miml-y-sq-yn 'water surface'

-*kw 'wrapping, container of ñ

rylg-y-kw-yn 'ring' (rylg- 'finger'); kyr-y-kw-yn 'head-scarf' (kyrwir 'hair', root

kyr). Unproductive.

-ril 'complex of articulated objects'

?ytw-y-ril 'framework of boat'; ?ym-ril 'skeleton' (?ytt?ym 'bone' root ?ym)

-tku 'small number of spread out objects'

jara-tko-n 'group of houses'; gil-y-tku-n 'group of ice floes'

-qaca 'place near'

jara-qaca-n 'place near house'; gytg-y-qaca-n 'place near lake'

top of page

2.2 Prefixes

lygi- 'genuine' (usually in the sense of 'Chukchee' as opposed to 'foreign') [productive]

lygi-ewir?-yn 'genuine-clothing-ABS' 'Chukchee clothing'

Also without 'Chukchee' nuance: lygi-kejñyn 'real bear' (as opposed to mythological bear).

tymñe 'simple, ordinary' [productive]

tymñe-waly 'ordinary knife'

ewyn-/awyn- 'main, chief'

awyn-qor 'main reindeer (harnessed)' [NB. not *awynqorañy]

ewyn-nym 'main village' (> nymnym 'village')

mel-/mal- 'supposition' [productive]

mel-umqy 'apparently, a polar bear'

This is a puzzling entry. It's given the form mil-/mel- at the beginning of the section (I:325)

but all the examples show it to be mel-/mal-. Bogoraz's dictionary has mæl-/mal- (where æ

indicates recessive e1). He labels it as a conjunction but desribes it as a particle taking

individual clause constituents in its scope. He cites the following examples (I have

retranscribed these):

(13)mel-

gymnin

qorañy!

apparently-my reindeer [Rus.: 'Kak budto moj olen'']

(14) mal-am-wykwylgyn

apparently-only-rock

'nothing but rocks, apparently'

(15) mal-jaal

apparently-far.away

(16) mel-uwequc

apparently-husband

From these examples it seems that mel- is a clitic (NB vowel harmony) attaching either

phrase initially or word initially (depending on whether we take the focus of (xx) to be

gymnin qorañy or just gymnin).

im- 'small'

im-ynnyt 'small fry' ynnyt 'fish'

em-y-?orawetlat 'small people, dwarves'

[Note also im-y-r?enut 'any old trifle' r?enut 'what?'. Cf. Bogoraz imy- 'every' section 1.2]

qej/qaj- 'young of'

qej-?ytt?yn 'puppy'; qej-rewymrew 'partridge chick' [NB reduplication

preserved after qej- prefixation]; by metaphorical extension: qej-milger 'pistol'

(milger 'rifle')

ynan- 'the very' (with deadjectival nouns in -c?-, q.v.)

ynan-tañyc?yn 'the finest fellow', teñ-y-c?-yn 'good fellow' (teñ 'good')

ynan-ynpyc?yn 'the oldest (man)'

pl- 'spare'

Usually occur in person-marked Comitative II (occasionally Com. I) form:

ga-pl-y-qora-ma 'with a spare reindeer'

ga-pl-y-qora-ma-j-gym 'I have a spare reindeer'

top of page

3. Deverbal nominals

(I:327)

-gyrgyn see Action nominalizations

-*n(w) 'place of permanent activity'

wak?otwa-n, pl. wak?otwanwyt 'seat, place for sitting'

megceratyn, pl. megceratynwyt 'work place' (migciretyk 'to work')

Word final suffix allomorphy: usually -n (word medial -nw-), but also:

-nw: omakaty-nw-yn 'meeting place' (umeketyk 'to meet') (not *omakatyn)

-ny: wany 'place of existence' (wak 'to be') (not *wan)

May also denote time of event, e.g. omakatynw-yk 'at the meeting place'/ 'at the meeting (as

event)', megceratynw-yk 'at the work place'/ 'during work'

-ineñ(e)/enañ(a) 'instrument' [productive]

tew-enañ 'oar', pl. tewenaña-t (tewyk 'to row')

Some recent coinages:

riñ-ineñ 'aeroplane' (riñek 'fly')

inenygjiwetytkuneñ 'pointer' (inenygjiwetytkuk 'to point')

wañenañ 'sewing machine' (wañek 'sew')

-icg 'object associated with action'

inenret-icg-yn 'handle' (inenretyk 'to hold')

inenejmysqew-icg-yn 'glue' (inenejmysqewyk 'to glue (to)')

Less productive than -ineñ but still gives rise to new formations:

enanjynraw-ecg-yn 'cigarette lighter', inenwent-icg-yn 'key', enanwajñat-ecg-

yn 'fire extinguisher', enankawraw-ecg-yn 'screwdriver' (enankawrawyk 'twist

(off)'), inenmelewet-icg-yn 'medicine' (inenmelewetyk 'cure, treat'),

inentyñew-icg-yn 'fertilizer' (inentyñewyk 'grow, cultivate')

-icg and -ineñ tend to suffix different verbs, but occasionally give synonyms:

inett?-icg-yn, inett?-ineñ 'funnel' (inett?yk 'pour')

enarkel-ecg-yn, enarkelenañ 'paint brush' (enarkelek 'paint')

top of page

4. Noun formation from multiple categories of base

(I:334f)

-jan(w) 'place abounding in Noun', 'collective (animates) with property of Adj', 'place where

action of Verb_of_Motion occurs'

From noun

oon?-y-jan, pl. oon?yjanwyt 'place with lots of berries' (uun?yt 'berries')

From adjective

majñ-y-jan 'group of adults' (ny-mejñ-y-qin 'big')

kynta-jan 'group of successful people' (ny-kynte-qin 'successful, lucky'

Can be used in the plural as both noun and modifier:

(17a) kynta-janw-yt enmec pelqyntetg?et

'The successful ones have already arrived'

(17b) kynta-janw-yt ?aacekyt enmec pelqyntetg?et

'The successful youths have already arrived'

With reference to non-humans only the modifier use is possible [this suggests that the

nominal use involves modification of a null head with default interpretation as 'human']

en?yjanwyt qaat 'fast reindeer', majñyjanwyt ynnyt 'large fish'

[It isn't clear what the difference is between majñyjanwyt ynnyt, nymejñyqin(et) ynnyt and

mejñ-ynnyt]

Skorik mentions interesting quantificational properties of this suffix. When quantified the

noun appears in the plural:

ymyl?ety ñenjanwyt 'all the young people'

cymqyk ñenjanwyt 'part of the young people'

macymyl?o majñyjanwyt 'almost all the adults' (cf. murgin majñyjan 'the adults in our

community')

From verb

ñyto-jan 'exit', rasqew-jan 'exit' (resqewyk), ?et-jan 'crossing' (?eryk).

Exceptional formation ew-jan 'conspiracy' (iwyk 'say')

-c? 'name of Numeral', [productive] 'result/instrument of Verb', 'person/thing with property of

Adjective'

From numeral (no direct translation into English; translates the same idea as Russian edinica,

trojka, sedmjorka, etc.) ynnen-y-c?-yn 'one, unity', mytlyñ-y-c?-yn 'five', kylgyn-y-c?-yn

'fifteen'

From verb

tyñe-c?-yn 'plant' (tyñ-ek 'grow')

tyke-c?-yn 'bait' (tykek 'smell')

Some recent formations from verbs which already have instrumentals in -ineñ, e.g:

tyle-c?-yn 'outboard motor' (tylek 'move') cf. tyle-neñ 'sail'

utku-c?-yn 'trap' (utkuk 'strike') cf. utku-neñ 'stick (for striking game with)'

[The trap consists of a springed armature which strikes the trapped animal.]

From adjectives

teñ-y-c?-yn 'good fellow'

[See above on ynan-]

-jolg 'result/instrument' [fairly unproductive]

wetgaw-jolg-yn 'telephone' (wetgawyk 'talk')

tyttat-jolg-yn 'stairs, staircase' (tyttettyk 'climb up')

enatret-jolg-yn 'shelf' (inetriletyk 'lay out')

jylq-y-jolg-yn 'bed' (jylqyjyl 'sleep')

e-/a-...-ki/ke 'thing without Noun, without property of Adjective, non-result of Verb' (cf. e-/a-

...-ke/ka negative circumfix)

From noun

e-puc?e-ki 'sleeveless shirt/jacket' (poc?a-lgyn 'sleeve')

a-jara-ke 'homeless person' (jara-ñy 'house')

From verb

?enqet-ki 'one who does not refuse' (?enqetyk 'refuse')

e-migciret-ki 'layabout' (migciretyk 'work')

ine-piri-ki 'one who does not receive a prize' (inepirik 'receive a prize')

From adjective

a-lymal-ke 'distrustful person' (ny-lymal-qen 'trustful')

?eqeliñ-ki 'fearless person' (n-?eqeliñ-qin 'fearful')

a-caca-ke 'tasteless thing' (ny-caca-qen 'tasty')

top of page

5. Compounding

(I:340). It isn't always easy to distinguish compounding from productive incorporation.

Examples of compound noun stems:

wiil-gite-neñ 'mirror' (wiilwiil 'shadow', gitek 'to look', giteneñ 'thing for

looking with')

kelinñiw 'letter' (kelikel 'paper', tyñiwyk 'to send')

ynpy-ñew 'old woman' (n-ynpy-qin 'old', ñewysqet 'woman')

rojyr?-yn 'family' (joro-ñy, root /ro/, 'inner part of house', jyr?-y-jyr 'contents')

piñ-wytryn 'flour' (piñpiñ 'ash', wytretyk 'to appear, look like')

top of page

6. Conversion

(I:341f)

Straight conversion - Absolutive form of noun = verb stem:

inejunret 'choice, selection' (inejunretyk 'select')

keñet 'bend' (keñetyk)

uwicwet 'game' (uwicwetyk 'play')

winret 'help' (winretyk)

tejñet 'food' (tejñetyk)

tergat 'weeping' (tergatyk)

gacgaw 'haste' (gacgawyk)

wetgaw 'conversation' (wetgawyk)

tatlyñ 'answer' (tatlyñyk)

Affixed conversion: Absolutive = verb stem + -n:

kyplyn 'blow' (kyplyk 'strike')

anjan 'praise' (anjak)

cimg?un 'thought' (cimg?uk)

?ejñen 'animal cry' (?ejñek)

wyjenton 'exhalation' (wyjentok 'breathe out') (this is itself a compound of

'breath' and 'go out')

qiwjen 'cold' (qiwjek 'freeze')

lygañen 'mistake' (lygañek 'be mistaken')

mitiwren 'lunch' (mitiwrek 'have lunch')

kyltyn 'sheaf, tied bundle' (kyltyk 'tie up')

Some are instrumentals or result nouns:

kupren 'net' (kuprek 'catch with a net')

ricit 'belt' (ricityk 'put a belt on')

caat 'lasso' (caatyk 'to lasso')

wiluptyn 'brand mark (on ear)' (wiluptyk 'to brand')

anñelon 'sea wave' (anNelok 'be rough (sea)')

Evidence that this is verb-to-noun conversion: many of the converted nouns retain verb-

forming suffixes:

-ñet: eleñet 'summer' eleñetyk 'spend summer period'

-twi: tenñytkun 'laughter' tenñytkuk 'laugh' [cf. also tenñu lyñyk 'make fun of']

-l?et: ilul?et 'dance' ilul?etyk 'to dance'

(I:343) Conversion generally produces concrete result or event nominals, as opposed to the

action (process) nominals in -gyrgyn. E.g.:

tip?ejñen 'song' vs. tep?ajñagyrgyn 'singing'

wiwril?et 'vibration' vs. wewral?atgyrgyn 'vibrating'

qeet 'squeak' vs. qaatgyrgyn 'squeaking'

weqet 'step, pace' vs. wawatgyrgyn 'stepping, pacing'

top of page

7. Summary of noun affixation

-*cg/cyñ Augmentative pejorative

-c? 'name of Numeral'; 'result/instrument of Verb'; 'person/thing with property of Adjective'

-curm 'edge'

-cyku 'interior of'

e-/a-...-ki/ke 'thing without Noun, without property of Adjective, non-result of Verb'

em-/am- 'only'

emqyn-/amqyn- 'each'

ewyn-/awyn- 'main, chief'

gemge-/gamga- 'every'

-giñ 'place at base of'

-giniw 'multitude of objects'

-gyrgyn Action nominalizations

-icg 'object associated with action'

im- 'small'

-ineñ(e)/enañ(a) 'instrument'

-jan(w) 'place abounding in Noun'; 'collective (animates) with property of Adj'; 'place where

action of Verb_of_Motion occurs'

-jikwi 'length of geophysical feature'

-*jñ Augmentative

-jocg 'container'

-jolg 'result/instrument'

-*kw 'wrapping, container of ñ

-lq 'place abounding in ñ

-lqyl 'material intended for making given object'

lygi- 'genuine'

-lyku 'place amongst objects'

mel-/mal- 'supposition'

-mk 'small group of objects'

-nleñ/nlañ 'place lacking ñ

-*n(w) 'place of permanent activity'

pl- 'spare'

pyc- 'emphasis'

-qaca 'place near'

qej/qaj- 'young of'

-qej/qaj Diminutive

-ret 'complex of objects'

-ril 'complex of articulated objects'

-sq 'surface'

-t?ul part of (whole, non-articulated) object; meat of

-tegyn 'place in front of'

teñ-em 'absolutely only'

-tku 'small number of spread out objects'

-tkyn 'upper part, top of'

tymñe 'simple, ordinary'

*ym- 'all'

ynan- 'the very'

A number of affixes occur with both nouns and verbs with similar meanings. These are:

em -, lygi-, mec- (cf mel-), tymñe-, teñ-, -tku

CHUKCHEE

This is a select bibliography containing details of works referred to in the grammatical outline

as well as a number of other works (especially those in English) which discuss Chukchee and

related languages. It is not exhaustive. Please send me information about any other works

which discuss Chukchee but which are not mentioned here, especially those written in

English. spena@essex.ac.uk

Bibliography

Asinovskij, Aleksandr Semenovich 1991. Konsonantizm chukotskogo jazyka. Leningrad:

Nauka.

Bogoraz, Vladimir G. 1900. Materialy po izucheniju chukotskogo jazyka i fol'klora,

sobrannye v Kolymskom okruge. Sankt Peterburg: Izd. Akademii Nauk.

Bogoras, Waldemar. 1910. Chukchee mythology. (Publications of the Jesup North Pacific

Expedition, vol. VIII, Part 1). Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Bogoraz, Waldemar. 1917. Koryak Texts. Publications of the American ethnological Society,

vol. v. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Bogoraz, Waldemar. 1922. Chukchee. Handbook of American Indian languages, ed. by Franz

Boas. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

Bogoraz, Vladimir G. 1937. Luoravetlansko-russkij (chukotsko-russkij) slovar'. Moscow-

Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe uchebo-pedagogicheskoe izdatel'stvo.

Comrie, Bernard 1979. Degrees of ergativity: some Chukchee evidence. In Plank, Frans (ed.)

Ergativity: Towards a Theory of Grammatical Relations. London: Academic Press, 219-240.

Comrie, Bernard 1980. Inverse verb forms in Siberia: Evidence from Chukchee, Koryak, and

Kamchadal. Folia Linguistica I: 61-74.

Comrie, Bernard. 1985. Derivation, inflectionl and semantic change in the development of

the Chukchi verb paradigm. In: Jacek Fisiak (ed.) Historical Semantics. Historical Word-

Formation. Berlin: Mouton Publishers, 85-96.

Fortescue, Michael 1996. Tense, mood & aspect: grammaticalization in West Greenlandic

and Chukchi. In: Nocole Tersis and Michele Therrien (eds) La dynamique dans la langue et

la culture Inuit. Paris: Editions Peeters.

Fortescue, Michael 1997. Eskimo influence in the formation of the Chukotkan ergative clause.

Studies in Language 21: 369-409.

Fortescue, Michael 1998. Language Relations across Bering Strait. Reappraising the

archaeological and linguistic evidence. London: Cassell.

Ikavav, M. F., Popov, M. I., and Agin', I. S. 1987. Chawchywajelyjel. ["Koryak". In Koryak].

Leningrad: Prosveshchenie.

Inenlikej, Pjotr, I. 1982. Slovar' chukotsko-russkij i russko-chukotskij: Posobie dlja

uchashchixsja nachal'noj shkoly. Leningrad: Prosveshchenie.

Inenlikej, Pjotr, I. and Vladimir P.Nedjalkov. 1967. Iz nabljudenij nad èrgativnoj konstrukcij

v chukotskom jazyke. Ergativnaja konstrukcija predlozhenija v jazykax razlichnyx tipov,

246-60. Leningrad: Nauka.

Inenliqej, P. I. and Nedjalkov, V. P. 1981. . O svjazjax posessivnogo i 'komparativnogo'

kauzativnogo i affektivnogo znachenij glagola. (na materiale konstrukcij s glagolom lyngyk v

chukotskom jazyke).[ In: E. I. Ubrjatov (ed.) 1981. Jazyki i fol'klor narodov severa.

Novosibirsk: Nauka, 133-146.

Kenstowicz, M. 1979. Chukchee vowel harmony and epenthesis. Chicago Linguistic Society

15, 402-412.

Kenstowicz, M. 1994. Syllabification in Chukchee: a Constraints-based Analysis. (ROA-30-

1094). [Available from the Rutgers Optimality Archive, http://www.webslingerz.com/cgi-

bin/oa_find.cgi]

Kodzasov, S. and Muravyova, I. 1980. Slog i ritmika slova v aljutorskom jazyke. In:

Aktual'nye voprosy strukturnoj i prikladnoj lingvistiki. Publikatsii otdelenija strukturnoj i

prikladnoj lingvistiki filologiceskogo fakul'teta MGU, vyp. 9, Moscow, 103-

Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria 1995. Possessive and relational forms in Chukchi. In: Frans

Plank (ed.) Double Case. Agreement by Suffixaufnahme. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

301-321.

Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria and Muravjova, Irina, A. 1993. Aljutor causatives, noun

incorporation and the Mirror Principle. In: Bernard Comrie, and Maria, S. Polinsky (eds.)

Causatives and Transitivity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 287-313.

Korsakov, G. M. 1939. Nymylansko (korjaksko)-russkij slovar'. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe

Izdatel'stvo Inostrannyx i Nacional'nyx slovarej.

Korsakov, G. M. 1940. Samouchitel' nymylanskogo (korjakskogo) jazyka. Leningrad:

Gosudarstvennoe Uchebno-pedagogicheskoe Izdatel'stvo.

Kozinsky, Ivan. S., Vladimir, P. Nedjalkov, and Maria S. Polinskaja. 1988. Antipassive in

Chukchee: oblique object, object incorporation, zero object. In: Masayoshi Shibatani (ed.)

Passive and Voice. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 651-706.

Krause, Scott 1979. Topics in Chukchee Phonology and Morphology. PhD dissertation,

University of Illinois.

Leontiev, V. V. and M. V. Ajnewtegin. 1957. Uchebnik lyog?orawetl?ajelymel. ["Textbook

of Chukchee". In Chukchee]. Leningrad: Gossudarstvennoe uchebno-pedagogiccheskoe

izdatel'stvo.

Mel'chuk, Igor A. and Elena N. Savvina 1978 Towards a Formal Model of Alutor Surface

Structure: Predicative and Completive Constructions. Linguistics, Special Issue: 5-39.

Mel'cuk, Igor A. 1972 Model' sprjazhenija v alutorskom jazyke 2 vols. Institut russkogo

jazyka AN SSSR, Problemnaja gruppa po eksperimental'noj i prikladnoj lingvistike,

Predvaritel'ye publikacii, 45-6. Moscow.

Moll, T. A. and P. I. Inenliqej 1957. Chukotsko-russkij slovar'. Leningrad: Nauka.

Muravyova, Irina, A. 1976. Sopostavitel'noe issledovanie morfologii chukotskogo,

korjakskogo i aljutorskogo jazykov. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Moskovskij

Gosudarstvennij Universitet.

Muravyova, Irina, A. 1978. Korjakskaja garmonija glasnyx v sravnenii s chukotskoj.

Predvaritel'nye publikacii problemnoj gruppy po eksperimental'noj i prikladnoj lingvistike,

Instituta russkogo jazyka AN SSSR, Vypusk 115, 27-45.

Muravyova, Irina, A. 1986. Rekonstrukcija fonologicheskoj sistemy prachukotsko-

korjakskogo jazyka. In J. I Ubrjatova (ed.) Foneticheskie struktury v sibirskix jazykax.

Novosibirsk: Akademija Nauk SSR, Sibirskoe otdelenie.

Muravyova, I. A. 1988. O morfonologicheskix osobennostjax kompozitov. In: Jazyki

narodov SSSR. Novosibirsk: Novosibirskij gosudarstvennyj universitet.

Muravyova, Irina, A. 1998. Chukchee (Paleo-Siberian). In Spencer, Andrew and Zwicky,

Arnold (eds.) Handbook of Morphology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 521-538.

Nedjalkov, Vladimir P 1976. Diathesen und Satzstruktur im Tschuktschischen. In: Lötsch, R.

and Ruzicka, R (eds.), Satzstruktur und Genus Verbi. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

Nedjalkov, Vladimir P. 1979. Degrees of ergativity in Chukchee. In: Frans Plank (ed.)

Ergativity, 238-62. New York: Academic Press.

Nedjalkov, Vladimir P., Petr I. Inenlikej, & Vladimir G. Raxtilin 1983. Rezul'tativ i perfekt v

chukotskom jazyke. In: V. P. Nedjalkov (ed.) Tipologija rezul'tativnyx konstrukcij. Leningrad:

Nauka.

Nedjalkov, Vladimir P., Petr I. Inenlikej, Igor V. Nedjalkov, & Vladimir G. Raxtilin 1984.

Znachenie i upotreblenie chukotskix vido-vremmenyx form. In: A. V. Bondarko (ed.) Teorija

grammaticheskogo znachenija i aspektologicheskie issledovanija. Leningrad: Nauka, 200-

259.

Nedjalkov, Vladimir P., Petr I. Inenlikej, & Vladimir G. Raxtilin 1988. Resultative and

perfect in Chukchee. In: V. P. Nedjalkov (ed.) Typology of Resultative Constructions.

Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 153-166. [English translation of Nedjalkov et al. 1983]

Payne, John 1993. The headedness of noun phrases: slaying the nominal hydra. In: Greville

Corbett, Norman Fraser, and Scott McGlashan (eds.) 1993. Heads in grammatical theory.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 114-139.

Polinskaja, Maria S. 1991. Inkorporirovannoe slovo v chukotskom jazyke. In: I. F. Vardul'

(ed.) Morfema i Problemy Tipologii. Moscow: Nauka, 357-393.

Polinskaja, Maria S. and Nedjalkov, Vladimir P. 1987. Contrasting the absolutive in

Chukchee. Lingua 71.239-69.

Polinsky, Maria S. 1990. Subject incorporation: evidence from Chukchee. In: Dziwirek,

Katarzyna, Farrell, Patrick, and Mej" ä as-Bikandi, Errapel (eds.) (1990). Grammatical

Relations. A Cross-Theoretical Perspective. Stanford: Stanford Linguistics Association, CSLI.

349-364.

Polinsky, Maria S. 1993. Subject inversion and intransitive subject incorporation. Chicago

Linguistics Society 29

Polinsky, Maria S. 1994. Relativization in Chukchi. In: Howard Aronson (ed.) Papers from

the 7th Conference on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR. Chicago: Chicago University

Press.

Skorik, Pjotr Ja. 1948. Ocherk po sintaksis chukotskogo jazyka: inkorporacija. Leningrad:

Uchpedgiz.

Skorik, P., Ja. 1960. O kategorii zaloga v chukotskom jazyke. Voprosy grammatiki, 128-50.

Moscow-Leningrad: Academy of Sciences.

Skorik, P., Ja. 1961. Grammatika chukotskogo jazyka, tom 1. Leningrad: Nauka.

Skorik, Petr, Ja. 1977. Grammatika chukotskogo jazyka, tom 2. Leningrad: Nauka.

Spencer, Andrew 1994. Syllabification in Chukchee. In: R. Wiese (ed.), Theorie des Lexikons

#56: Recent Developments in Lexical Phonology (Duesseldorf, H. Heine Universitaet,), 205-

226.

Spencer, Andrew 1995. Incorporation in Chukchi. Language 71, 439-89.

Spencer, Andrew 1999. Chukchee and Polysynthesis. In: Jakov G. Testelets & Ekaterina V.

Rakhilina (eds.) Tipologija i teorija jazyka. Ot opisanija k objasneniju. K 60-letiju

Aleksandra Evgen'evicha Kibrika (Typology and Linguistic Theory. From Description to

Explanation. For the 60th Birthday of Aleksandr E. Kibrik). Moskva: Jazyki russkoj kul'tury,

106-113, 1999.

Spencer, Andrew 1999. Agreement morphology in Chukotkan. In: Markus Pöchtrager and

Wolfgang Dressler (eds.) Morphologica 1996, 191-222.

Vdovin, I. S. and N. M. Tereshchenko 1959. Ocherki istorii izuchenija paleoaziatskix i

samodijskix jazykov. Leningrad: Uchpedgiz.

Volodin, A. P. 1976. Itel'menskij Jazyk. Leningrad: Nauka.

Volodin, A. P. 1991. Prospekt opisanija grammatiki kerekskogo jazyka (chukotsko-

kamchatskaja gruppa). In: Ubrjatova, E. I. and Cheremisina, M. I. (eds.) Jazyki narodov sibiri.

grammaticheskie issledovanija. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 200-214.

Zhukova, A. N. 1967. Russko-korjakskij slovar'. Moscow: Izd. Sovetskaja Enciklopedia.

Zhukova, A. N. 1972. Grammatika korjakskogo jazyka. Leningrad: Nauka.

Zhukova, A. N. 1980. Jazyk palanskix korjakov. Leningrad: Nauka.

Zhukova, A. N. 1983. Korjaksko-russkij slovar'. Leningrad: Prosveshchenie.

Zhukova, A. N. 1987. Korjakskij Jazyk. Leningrad: Prosveshchenie.

Zhukova, A. N. 1988. Materialy i issledovanija po korjakskomu jazyku. Leningrad: Nauka.