Derivational Verbal Morphology

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Sereer seems to have at least some verbal derivational morphology. So far, we've seen:

Takes verb, makes verb:

  • -ir, a reciprocal suffix
  • -in, a causative suffix (e.g. gɛf "to break, explode (intr.)" --> gɛfin "break it"). Allomorphs -an or -n occur when co-occurring with person marking, and sometimes when another suffix precedes (e.g. χum 'to tie', χum-ir 'to tie RECP', χum-r-an 'to tie to each other' (061)
  • -ooχ, which seems to be stativizing or anti-causative. Its derived forms are somewhat less semantically consistent than the others.
  • -lɔɔχ/-nɔɔχ, a suffix of possibly causative meaning that has mutiple allomorphs

Takes verb, makes adjective:

  • -u / -o, a suffix that takes a stative verb and turns it into an adjective (e.g. saɗik "to be strong, tough" -> saɗku "strong, tough"; maj "to be many" -> maju "many")

Takes verb, makes noun:

  • -ir, a suffix that makes instrument-type nouns from verb stems (e.g. βɛʄ "to swim" --> bɛʄir "thing used to swim")

Verb pairs demonstrating V to V derivation

Suffix involved Unsuffixed Gloss Suffixed Gloss Session notes
-oox jik to buy jikoox to sell JM_046
-loox ɗeet to see ɗeetloox to notice JM_048
-oox doxoñ to spit doxoñoox to spit repeatedly JM_048
-oox teer to land a boat, arrive teerooχ to await a guest JM_048
-ir xas to scold, berate xasir to argue MF_029
-in waʄ to boil (intr.) waʄin to boil (trans.) MF_045
-in mud to sink mudin to make sink, to throw/put into water MF_047
-oox mud to sink mudoox to swim down on purpose MF_047 translation imprecise, seeking clarification
-oox xooʄ to dip, dunk xooʄoox to dip, dunk into MF_047 translation imprecise; seeking clarification
-oox saang to roll (trans.) saangoox to roll (intr.) ED-058
-ir maaf to fell, knock down maafir to wrestle NB-057
-noor weg to close wegnoor to make s.o. close s.t. MF_091 may be analyzable as weg-in-(C)oor
-ik weg to close wegik to go close MF_091