Introduction to chapter II-5 X-tras

Today's targets

The exercises today focus pretty much on V+GALUAR. They do so for a reason. V+GALUAR is comparatively straigth forward whereas the many inflections in the causative mood are far from simple. But if you really get the sound rules that guide GALUAR's behaviour under your skin you will at the same time solve half of the problems with causative since the sound rules that guide {ga} are exactly the ones guiding GALUAR. Once these sound rules are in place you will be well on your way towards mastering the causative mood - and also the conditional mood you will meet later.

Causative's modal morpheme is {ga} followed by {PERSON(S)}. Let us first repeat the rules in the different declinational classes using subject 1Sg (I) with intransitive verbs and subject 1Sg plus object 3SgO with the transitive verbs:

• suli {gama} suligama (when I worked)
• soqutigǝ {gakku} soqutigigakku (because I had an interest in him/her)
• aallar {gama} aallarama (when I left)
• ator {gakku} atorakku (when I used it)
• tikip {gama} tikikkama (when I arrived)
• ilinniartip {gakku} ilinniartikkakku (when I taught him/her)

and if you can you should remember the speciality when {ga} is immediately preceded by NNGIT in which case {ga} not as expected turns -ka-, but -na-. Beware: This rule is exclusively at stake in the causative mood. With comparable inflections in other moods -g- behaves normally also after NNGIT. So asa-NNGIT{gakkit} (because I do not love you) is asannginnakkit whereas asa-NNGIT{gukkit} (if I do not love you) ends up as expected as asanngikkukkit just like asa-NNGIT{gǝkkit} (that I do not love you) as expected is asanngikkikkit. In young language one often hears the regularized wordform also in the causative mood so that you often will hear wordforms like asanngikkakkit. As with regularized V-SSA (*ilinniassavoq vs. ilinniassaaq) that we spent quite some energy on in module I it also here is true that saying ilinnianngikkama is much to prefer to keeping quiet or producing impossible variations like *asanakkit.

Hereunder you will find the whole paradigms for both intransitive and transitive stems my advice is still that you will not attempt to learn a lot of forms by heart out of context. It is namely next to impossible for most normal people. But make sure that you master the specific wordforms you discover that you need in real life and learn to live with the fact that your mental paradigms contain a number of blank spaces that you will not fill in until you begin to need them in the real world. When that occurs you will very soon complete your mental paradigms.

Paradigm for intransitive causative

Paradigm for transitive causative

Remember the general sound rules so that for instance tusar+{gamma} = tusaramma (when you heard me) and naapip+{gamma} = naapikkamma (when you met me).

() in 3Sg and 3Pl indicate that there always must come a consonant before -ma-. Therefore an extra -m- is added if the stem does not end in a consonant. Accordingly

• tusar+{manga} tusarmanga (when 3Sg heard me)
• naapip+{manga} naapimmanga (when 3Sg met me), but
• asa+{mmanga} asammanga (when 3Sg loved me)

Finally causative's speciality is in force here as well: ga → na / NNGIT __

• tusar-NNGIT+{gamma} tusannginnamma (because you did not hear me)

Note two historical developments:

1. Objects in 4. person (4SgO and 4PlO) are rare in the modern language. They are often replaced by 3. person (3SgO og 3PlO)

3Sg and 3Pl are often replaced by 4Sg and 4Pl whenever such replacements do not tamper understandability for instance whenever @PRED is 1. or 2. person

A speciality with V-TAQ with vowel-stems

You remember that V-TAQ generate the superfrequent structure ‘passive noun’

• soqutigǝ-TAQ soqutigisaq (what one is interested in)
• tusar-TAQ tusagaq (what one hears)
• naapip-TAQ naapitaq (the one met)
• taku-NNGIT-TAQ takunngisaq (what is unseen)

Stems in vowel with +TAR behave in a very special way in this context. We say

• tusar+TAR-TAQ tusartagaq (what one normally hears)
• naapip+TAR-TAQ naapittagaq (the one normally met)

but soqutigǝ+TAR-TAQ can be found in the expected shape soqutigisagaq (what one normally is interested in), but far more frequently an extra TAR is added like this soqutigǝ+TAR+TAR-TAQ = soqutigisartagaq

Today's puzzle

This Boxing Day sermitsiaq.ag publish a yearly horoscope only available in Danish for subscribers. But the Greenlandic counterpart is free to read! Here is a short excerpt. Happy working:

Marlulissat (22.05 – 21.06)

Asanninneq

Kisimiittuuguit suliffinni asannilersooqatigiinnerit marsimi apriilimilu ingalassimasariaqarpatit. Aappaqaruit marsimi/apriilimi misigisinnaavutit aappariinnersi unittoorsimasoq imaluunniit allaat ajorseriartoq. Erinitsajuillutit paasinnilluarlutillu piguit pissutsit ingerlalluaqqilersinnaapput. ...

• asannip{} to love (asa+HTR) indefinite object
• kisimi 3Sg alone
• {gu}{vit} (Con 2Sg) ‘if you V’
• V+TUUR (unfortunately?) it happens that something V-s
• ingalap{} avoid OBJ
• misigǝ{} to feel
• imaluunniit or
• allaat even
• ajorsi{} to worsen
• erinitsajuip{} to be patient
• paasinnip{} to be understanding (paasi+HTR) indefinite object
• V+()LUAR to V
• pissuseq a situation
• ingerla{} to move