Derivational Verbal Morphology
From Sereer wiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchSereer 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'
- -ooχ, which seems to be stativizing or anti-causative. Its derived forms are somewhat less 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-ɔɔχ | ɟik | to buy | ɟikɔɔχ | to sell | JM_046 | |
-lɔɔχ | ɗeet | to see | ɗeetlɔɔχ | to notice | JM_048 | |
-ɔɔχ | dɔχɔɲ | to spit | dɔχɔɲɔɔχ | to spit repeatedly | JM_048 | |
-ɔɔχ | tɛɛr | to land a boat, arrive | tɛɛrɔɔχ | to await a guest | JM_048 | |
-ir | χas | to scold, berate | χasir | 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 | |
-ɔɔχ | mud | to sink | mudɔɔχ | to swim down on purpose | MF_047 | translation imprecise, seeking clarification |
-ɔɔχ | χɔɔʄ | to dip, dunk | χɔɔʄɔɔχ | to dip, dunk into ?? | MF_047 | translation imprecise; seeking clarification |
-ɔɔχ | saang | to roll (trans.) | saangɔɔχ | to roll (intr.) | ED-058 | |
-ir | maaf | to fell, knock down | maafir | to wrestle | NB-057 |