Difference between revisions of "Preverbs"

Revision as of 12:07, 19 October 2012

A preverb is an element found at the left edge of a verb in Mi'gmaq that modifies the meaning of the root and any other preverbs to the right of it. Some of the meanings that are expressed in Mi'gmaq using preverbs are expressed in other languages such as English as adverbs (e.g. jaqal- "quickly, energetically"), prepositions (e.g. toqjuw- "up"), modal verbs (e.g. getu- "want (to)"), prefixes (e.g. minu- "re-"), other verbs (e.g. poqju- "begin (to)"), and other expressions (e.g. etl- "in the process of, be __ing"), although not all elements that belong to one of these categories in English are expressed as preverbs in Mi'gmaq, such as igtug "at, near (location)," which is found after nouns, not before verbs. Delisle and Metallic (1976) suggest that there are several hundred preverbs: some examples are below.

poqju-wissugwa-t-m-ap     
begin-cook-inan-1sg-past  
'I started cooking it '

newti-wissugwa-t-m-ap   
one-cook-inan-1sg-past  
'I cooked it alone '

getu-  poqju-  mamuni-     espi-   inn-ui-      sit   
want-  start-  high,very-  level-  people-lang  -3sg  
's/he wants to start to speak the people's language (Mi'gmaq) at a very high level'
(sample context: said of an enthusiastic student of Mi'gmaq)

What Can Preverbs Attach To?

Preverbs are found only when attached to another verb. There are two kinds of verbs in this context: independent verbs, which can occur without a preverb, and dependent verbs, which must have some preverb attached to them.

Independent Verbs

Independent verbs, such as wissugwa- "cook", can be found by themselves or with a preverb.

wissugwa-t-m-ap   
cook-inan-1sg-pa  
'I cooked it'

etl-wissugwa-t-m-ap                    
process              cook-inan-1sg-pa  
'I was cooking it'

me'si-wissugwa-t-m-ap        
difficulty-cook-inan-1sg-pa  
'I had difficulty cooking it'

ala-wissugwa-t-m-ap      
around-cook-inan-1sg-pa  
'I cooked it in any direction'

Dependent Verbs

Dependent verbs, like -lugwe- "work, do", enmi "laugh", - "cry".

```
\gll

\trans
```

Unattached Preverbs?

Several Preverbs at Once

Slots

```
\gll

\trans
```

Several Orders

```
\gll

\trans
```

Big (but incomplete!) List of Preverbs

```
  
  
\trans
```

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 <gl>
-\gll poqju-wissugwatma-p
+\gll poqju-wissugwa-t-m-ap
-begin-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past\\
+begin-cook-inan-1sg-past\\
-\trans s/he is beginning to cook it
+\trans I started cooking it
 </gl>
 <gl>
-\gll newti-wissugwatma-p
+\gll newti-wissugwa-t-m-ap
-one-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past\\
+one-cook-inan-1sg-past\\
-\trans s/he cooks it alone
+\trans I cooked it alone
 </gl>
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==What Can Preverbs Attach To?==
+Preverbs are found only when attached to another verb. There are two kinds of verbs in this context: '''independent''' verbs, which can occur without a preverb, and '''dependent''' verbs, which must have some preverb attached to them.
 ===Independent Verbs===
+Independent verbs, such as ''wissugwa-'' "cook", can be found by themselves or with a preverb.
+<gl>
+\gll wissugwa-t-m-ap
+cook-inan-1sg-pa\\
+\trans I cooked it
+</gl>
 <gl>
-\gll
+\gll etl-wissugwa-t-m-ap
-\\
+process cook-inan-1sg-pa\\
-\trans
+\trans I was cooking it
+</gl>
+<gl>
+\gll me'si-wissugwa-t-m-ap
+difficulty-cook-inan-1sg-pa\\
+\trans I had difficulty cooking it
+</gl>
+<gl>
+\gll ala-wissugwa-t-m-ap
+around-cook-inan-1sg-pa\\
+\trans I cooked it in any direction
 </gl>
 ===Dependent Verbs===
+Dependent verbs, like ''-lugwe-'' "work, do", ''enmi'' "laugh", ''-'' "cry".
 <gl>
@@ Line 60: / Line 84: @@
 ==Big (but incomplete!) List of Preverbs==
+<gl>
+\gll
+\\
+\trans
+</gl>