Abstract
The analysis of a set of Inuit words associated with the “ice,” collected in west and east Greenland (Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut), shows how polysynthesis works in lexical morphology. Many lexical items can be easily segmented, and a single root can be used as a base for a number of lexical items with a variety of senses. These words often take the form of an explanatory and/or descriptive comment on the reality referred to. They frequently express some impression or certainty deriving from the observation of nature. They may also convey something of the functions and attributes of their referents.
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Abbreviations
- 3sg:
-
third-person singular
- 3sg.3sg:
-
third-person singular subject acting on second-person singular object
- (–):
-
verb and noun
- C:
-
indeterminate consonant
- ind:
-
indicative mood
- pl:
-
plural
- V:
-
indeterminate vowel
References
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Acknowledgments
Nicole Tersis wants to thank particularly Kathrine Svanholm who was a close collaborator on the Tunumiisut lexicon from 1990 to 2000, and also Isais Kuitse, Elisa Maqi, and Marie Otuaq who were kind enough to lend their assistance during the fieldwork in Tasiilaq, Eastern Greenland. She is also grateful to Naja Trondhjem, Greenlandic linguist at the University of Copenhagen, for helping analyze words from Western Greenland. Fieldwork in Greenland and Denmark was funded by the National Center for Scientific Research-CNRS (LACITO Laboratory for Oral Tradition Languages and Civilizations and CELIA- Center for the Study of he Indigenous Languages of The Americas). Raymond Boyd (CNRS, LLACAN Laboratory for Languages and Cultures of Black Africa) was helpful with the translation of the Tunumiisut ice lexicon into English. Pierre Taverniers is grateful to Aka, Jakob, Thora, and Zacharias Tobiassen for kindly sharing their knowledge about the ice terminology, and also to Igor Krupnik and Shari Gearheard for their helpful comments.
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Tersis, N., Taverniers, P. (2010). Two Greenlandic Sea Ice Lists and Some Considerations Regarding Inuit Sea Ice Terms. In: Krupnik, I., Aporta, C., Gearheard, S., Laidler, G., Kielsen Holm, L. (eds) SIKU: Knowing Our Ice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0_18
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