2.0.
Morphology is the study of
the internal structure of words. A
`word' in Konyak is any segment of a sentence bounded by points at which
potential pausing is possible. A word
must consist at least of an unanalysable root morpheme. It may consist of a single segmental and
suprasegmental phonemes or sequences of segmental and suprasegmental
phonemes. Words may be monomorphemic or
polymorphemic. If polymorphemic it may
consist of a variety of free and bound morphemes.
The form-classes for Konyak
are established on the following two criteria – 1. Morphological, i.e., depending upon the
substitutability of forms in a particular given situation; and 2. Syntactical, i.e., depending upon the ability of forms to take certain grammatical
markers and the ability of occurring in certain positions in a construction.
On these two basis, the
form-classes setup for Konyak are the following – 1. Noun,
2. Verb, 3. Adjectives, 4. Adverbs and 5. Particles.
These classes have mutually exclusive membership. Among these, except particles, all others are
open ended; while `particles' is close ended.
1.
Nouns are those which are capable of taking number,
gender and case markers.
2.
Verbs are those which are capable of taking tense,
aspect and mood markers. Morphologically
verbs are unmarked. But verbs are positionally marked. They always occur after all other
form-classes, i.e., at the end of a construction. Presence of verbs closes a construction.
3.
Adjectives are those which qualify the Nouns.
4.
Adverbs qualify verbs syntactically.
5.
Particles: The remaining elements those which do not
fit in the above four classes are grouped in this class. Particles are syntactically bound elements
but morphologically free. Semantically
they are either. 1) Connectors, 2) Subordinators, 3) emphasizers 4)
Subordinators etc. These do not take any inflexional or derivative elements, while
the above four classes take one or the other elements.
Details of each class
are discussed in their respective sections.
2.1.
Morphological
Processes :
2.1.0
Konyak is an agglutinative
language. One of its characteristic
feature is that a number of morphemes can come together without creating any
morphophonemic changes. The morphemes
join together loosely and seldom any morphophonemic changes result. Also here the inflexion is not very rigid or
compact as in inflexional languages. As
a result a construction like N + Pl.m + Case m. is not a closed construction as
in inflexional languages; but it is relatively compact. In an inflexional language nothing can be
inserted in between `N + Pl.m + C' construction. But in this language an adjective is added to
the noun, other forms follow it. Also if
the adjective retains its marker the construction becomes a phrase; while if
the marker is dropped, it becomes a word.
So, in a phrasal situation if an adjective is added, it is added after
the noun but before the plural and case markers. These markers close the construction (at that
level). For instance -
nòk `house' + lan (pl.m) -à
nòklan
`houses'
nòk+yóŋ `big' + lan à nòkyòŋlan
`big
houses'
nòk + yòŋ + lan + te
(dative c.m.) à nòkyóŋlante
`to
the big houses'
Further, if the
adjective takes its marker, thus-
nòk +
Əyóŋ + lan + te à nòk Əyóŋlante
`to
the big houses'
This construction is a
phrase.
The relative flexibility
of inflexional markers makes the nature of `word' more fluid.
So a construction like
nòkyóŋlan `big houses' is a word; while
nòkƏyóŋlan `big houses' (lit. house which are big) is a phrase.
In the formation of
words, three morphological processes are employed in this language. They are-
1. Affixation 2. Reduplication, and 3. Compounding.
2.1.1. Affixation: Affixation is the major
morphological process. It involves two
types. 1) Prefixation, and 2)
suffixation. Both are commonly employed;
but suffixation is more widely employed than the former, eg. Gender, number,
case, tense markers are suffixed; negative markers are prefixed.
Morphophonemic
changes: As
this language is agglutinative in character, when morphemes come together they
seldom produce internal changes. But
still, the following changes are observed in the data. They are listed below-
(1) Voiceless sound becoming voiced intervocally. This is an allophonic change.
eg.
[p]>[b]:
è `to say' + [pu] à [èbu] `saying' (/èpu/)
si `sleep' + [pu] à [sibul] `sleeping' (/sipu/)
(2) Gemination
of consonants medially only:
móŋyóŋ
`brave' + -e (adv.m.) à móŋyóŋŋe
`bravely'
tƏytƏk
`wise' +-e à tƏytƏykke `wisely'
yíneg.m; + lílƏk `mortal' à yillílƏk `immortal'
pilí `four' + ta `20' à tappƏlica `80'
Optional gemination here-
tƏw
`I' + man
(Pl.m.) à timman
`we' (exclusive)
tumman
`we' (inclusive)
nàŋ
`you' (sg) –man (Pl.m.) à nùman (-a->-u-)
(4) Loss of a consonant when occurring before a consonant.
nàŋ
`you' + -man (Pl.m)
à nùman
`you' (Pl.) (-n>ø)
hƏy `and' + -yaŋe
à hƏyaŋe `and'
(-y>Ø)
(5) Addition
of consonant between two vowels :
After a nasal consonant, -s is added before adding the adverbial suffix –e eg:
lan
`whole/full' + -e à lan-s-e `wholly/fully'
lanse
ñiñi, `smile' + -e à `smilingly'
a> I / -I in next syllable: as in tilimca `60' (ta `20', lim `three'); I> Ə/a front vowel in the next syllable.
eg. tappƏlica `80'
6. Change of Toneme from `level' to `rising' as in the case of lim `three', when it occurs in higher numerals, but not occurring as final member, eg. tilímca `60', but not in a taphƏy melim `33'.
2.1.2. Reduplication: This process, though not
very frequent, still is a common feature of this language. All categories can undergo
reduplication. In this language only
complete reduplication is found.
Reduplication is the repetition of a form. By reduplication, the meaning of the base is
either intensified; giving a sense of collectivity, respectiveness,
distribution, etc. Details of it is
discussed in a separate section (2.6.6.).
2.1.3. Compounding:
Compounding
is a productive mechanism in the word building.
Though productive, formation of new compounds is not common. Details of it are discussed in the respective
chapters on Nouns, Verbs, etc.
2.2.0.
Noun
Morphology
Nouns:
Nouns are classified into 1) Substantives and 2) Pronouns. This distinction is necessary as not all
inflexional markers which occur with substantives can occur with pronouns. While substantives can take all the
inflexional markers (number, gender and case markers) the pronouns cannot take
gender markers.
Syntactically
also there is difference between these two types (chapter 3).
2.2.1.
Gender
system:
Morphologically substantives are neutral in the sense that they do not
take any gender markers; except for animate nouns. Among animate nouns, all do not take all
gender markers.
Depending
upon the behaviour of the nouns substantives with reference to gender markers,
they are classified as below:
The terminal elements in the above
diagram provides the gender markers.
From the above, it becomes clear that the markers si, and pa
mark `masculine-human': ya(3), 7(a) and (Ə) ñu (4) and (8) mark `femninine-human and non-human; pon (5) and
la (6) mark `masculine-non-human'; and also (Ə)pi
7(b) marks
`feminine-non-human.
Among these markers, pa, ya, pi and ñu
and very productive derivative markers; while the rest can function as
adjectives.
These markers have the following
distribution:
1.
Si: This marker is restricted to two nouns in the
data. (see Table) It indicates `youth'.
2.
pa: This marker is used widely. It indicates `elderliness'.
3. ya: This marker is common for both human and non-human. While in case of human-feminine only this marker is used; in case of non-human feminine nouns, another marker (Ə)pi is also used. It indicates `small/youth'.
4.
(Ə)ñu: This marker is common for both human and non-human. It is used very widely; it indicates
`motherly / motherhood'.
5.
poŋ and la: These markers are used only with
non-human nouns. They are partly contrastive
in nature. They indicate a distinction
of noncastrated vs. castrated. Also the
distribution of la is restricted as compared to that of poŋ. Probably it indicates the cultural
significance of la. It is also possible
to re-term the distinction as wild vs. tame (domesticated). From this point of view, we can distinguish
dog as wild (kuyla) and tame dog (kuypoŋ); and wild pig (akla) and tame pig
(akpoŋ).
Again, the above distinction cannot be carried further as la is not used with any other nouns.
6.
(Ə)pi: This marker is used only
with non-human-feminine nouns. It
indicates small/youth. As stated above,
ya is also used freely, along with this marker.
Basically non-human nouns are neutral' to the `sex' distinctions. To point out the particular `sex' of the animal, the respective markers are used. So when used commonly, gender markers are not used.
While the non-human nouns take a bound element Ə- with the gender markers pi and ñu human nouns do not take this.
In kinship terms gender distinction is marked lexically and morphologically also. For instance in the following nouns gender distinction is marked lexically-
(a) pa `father'
ñu `mother'
(b) pu `grand father'
pi `grand mother'
Else where gender derivative markers pu and ñu for `masculine' and `feminine' respectively are used.
lisepa `son-in-law'
liyañu `daughter-in-law'
Though the personal pronouns have gender distinction in third person sg. forms, it seems to be of recent origin. Because till very recently, the 3rd person sg. masculine pronoun e was used for both masculine and feminine. Still today, the same situation remains in narrations, as well as in interior villages of the region.
A note on the use of {Ə-} :
{Ə -} is an adjectival marker. Among the gender markers –pi and ñu can take
this marker. As mentioned earlier ñu
functions as productive noun derivative.
Still it can function as an adjective when it takes Ə-.
In this
language there are a few adjectives whose excessive use has resulted in loss of
their function. For instance adjective
like ha `small', poŋ `male', ñu `female', ya `female'. That is why, with some nouns, the
combinations, do not make any difference in meaning. For instance kùyha `dog' (kùy `dog') kowƏypoŋ
`horse' (kowƏy `horse').
In the above two instances though the
nouns kùy and kowƏy can be used separately, and in strict sense the
addition of the adjectives ha and poŋ should result in addition of some
semantic sense. Instead they also mean
the same as the single nouns convey.
Probably this is due to the excessive use of these adjectives
indiscriminately. However now, to make a
distinction between `dog' vs. `puppy/small dog' the forms are to be kùyha and
kùyha Əha. Similarly,
kowƏypoŋ `horse': kowƏy Əpoŋ `male horse'.
It may be noted that in the second case
there is no repetition of the adjective.
Instead the bound marker Ə- plays a significant part
here.
Further, with some nouns a construction
of N + poŋ is unacceptable. It should be
N + Əpoŋ eg-
*Əwha ƏwƏha `chick' (Əw `hen')
*maylaŋha maylaŋ Əha `lion's cub'
*mahawha mahaw
Əha `calf'
*mahawñu mahaw
Əñu `cow'
*Əmiha Əmi Əha `kitten'
Further more, in some cases it is
possible to have constructions both with and without Ə-. In such cases there will be a little difference in
the meaning. The construction with Ə- conveys a more
general sense than the construction with Ə-.
eg.
Əwpoŋ `cock' (Əw `hen') Əw Əpoŋ `cock'
Əwya `hen' ew
Əya `hen'
(small)
(small variety)
ñíha `small sheep' ñíƏha `lamp'