| Morphology |
2.2.3.2 Noun derivation:
In Konyak verbs are not derived from any other categories. From this point of view verbs are basic. Other categories such as nouns, adjectives and adverbs are derivable from other form-classes.
Nouns are derived by using the following derivative markers – 1) –pa, 2) –pu, 3) –naŋ, 4) – lek and 5) –yi. These are suffixed to the verb roots or to the derived nouns.
1. -pa gives agentive nouns. eg.-
liŋ `to work' à liŋpa `worker'
si `to sleep' à sipa `sleeper'
tuy `to kill' à tuypa `killer'
ha? `to eat' à ha?pa `eater'
lok `to sing' à lokpa `singer' etc.
2. -pu gives action nouns. eg.-
liŋ `to work' à liŋpu `working'
si `to sleep' à sipu `sleeping'
phƏt `to run' à phƏtpu `running'
è `to say' à èpu `saying'
ŋáw `to talk' à ŋàwpu `talking'
When the above derivative markers are suffixed to the vowel ending verb root, the voiceless bilabial becomes voiced. As it is an allophonic variation it is not marked above or elsewhere.
3. -naŋ gives abstract nouns. eg.-
liŋ `to work' à liŋnaŋ `working'
si `to sleep à sinaŋ `sleeping'
ñan `to write' à ñannaŋ `writing'
sut `to sit' à sutnaŋ `sitting'
ha? `to eat' à ha?naŋ `eating'
4. -lƏk functional (purposive) nouns. eg.-
hu? `to cover' à hu?lƏk `lid'
e `to read' à elƏk `lesson'
ñan `to write' à ñanlƏk `pen/pencil'
cƏp `to pinch' à cƏplƏk `tongs'
mƏkmuy `to remove à mƏkmuylƏk `broom'
This derivative is used with nouns to derive secondary nouns. Here the base nouns indicate the final resultant or goal. These are called resultant nouns. For instance, niklƏk `ladle' is a resultant noun. Here nik `food', is a noun and using lƏk `purposive' derivative marker we obtain niklƏk, n. `ladle', the one used to serve `food'.
Similarly:
pelƏk `fence' [pe `tree/wood']
tikhƏylƏk `utensils' [tik, n. `pot', hƏy, n. `food']
The first three derivative markers are more productive than the fourth.
5. -yi `negative marker': In strict sense it is not a derivative marker. It is used to derive nouns from positive nouns or negative verbs from the positive verbs. That is using this derivative marker the form class does not change from one to the other. They remain same. eg.-
yi + liƏk `mortal' à yillilƏk `immortal'
yi + siŋ, v `to know' à yisiŋ `to be ignorant'
yi + supu, n. `right' à yisupu, n. `wrong'
2.2.4. Pronouns: Pronouns belong to a closed set of nouns. While they paradigmatically belong to the same class of nouns, they do not fulfill all the characteristics of Nouns. Pronouns while can take number and case markers, they cannot take other attributes. Still they function as subject when they occur in subject position. Only 3rd person personal pronouns function as noun substitutes and can function as deictic pronouns. The other personal pronouns, i.e., the 1st person and 2nd person pronouns refer respectively to self, i.e., `speaker' and `hearer'.
The pronouns are formed from a pronominal base, to which is added a person-number suffix. Based on the type of `base' used these pronominal forms are classified into 1. personal, 2. demonstrative and 3. interrogative pronouns. The pronominal singular base is unmarked, for person-number. The plural form is obtained by adding plural marker, which is bound.
2.2.4.1. Personal Pronouns: The personal pronouns of Konyak are the following-
Sg. Pl.
1st Person : tàw `I' tuman `we' (exclusive)
timan `we' (inclusive)
2nd Person : nàŋ `you' numan `you' (pl.)
3rd Person :
Masculine: e } `he'
} iman `they' (animate)
Feminine : ya } `she'
Neuter : tƏw } `it' tƏwlan `they' (inanimate)
> The first person sg. form tƏw is unmarked. The plural has two forms-one for excluding the `hearer', tuman; and the other for including the `hearer' timan. The plural marker is –man, a bound form, restricted to personal pronouns only. When it is suffixed to the sg. base, the final demivowel –w of tƏw is dropped and the vowel -Ə- gets changed to –u- in case of `exclusive' and to –I- in case of `inclusive'. When the plural form is stressed m of –man gets geminated, as tumman, timman.
The second person sg. form is nàŋ. The plural form is numan. Here also the final nasal of nàŋ is dropped and the vowel of nàŋ changes of u [a>u]. Here too when stressed m gets geminated.
In the 3rd person, there are separate forms in sg. for masculine (e) feminine (ya); and neuter (tƏw). The first two forms refer to human as well as to non-human animate nouns. Originally there was no distinction between masculine and feminine and only e was used for both. Only recently a form ya was coined for feminine and is being used in books. But in narrations and stories etc., still no distinction is made. Though for sg. a separate form was coined, but it was not extended to plural. Instead only one form iman, the old form itself is used. Possibly it is due to the influence of English –as similar situation prevails in English, no separate plural form was considered a necessity. In plural the singular e changes to i. (The change is not stable –many people use eman, instead). The third person neuter is clearly distinct in singular as well as in plural. Here the plural marker is lan, the marker which is used elsewhere. It seems that the neuter forms are of recent origin (possibly the concept of `neuter' itself is of recent origin, folk tales reveal this point); coined after the contact with outside people. They are synonymous with the demonstrative forms.
In Konyak there is o dual pronoun. But dual personal pronouns can be obtained by adding the numeral ñi `two' to the plural bases of personal pronouns, eg. tum –ñi `we-two'; num-ñi, `you-two'; im-ñi `they-two' etc. Similarly beyond `dual', one can use higher numerals with the pronouns and can obtain corresponding pronouns. eg.-
tum- lim `we-three'
num- pili `you-four'
im- pən `they-ten'