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that may modify such stems to form stems of varying
complexity. The morphological processes attested in stem formation are
suffixation and compounding. These processes modify the semantic content of
the stems. There are three broad classes of verb stems.
|
2.5.3.1.1.
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Simple Stems : |
These are monomorphemic stems that can be said to have no
analyzable inner structure.
|
| /thį-/ |
`to eat’ |
/ -/ |
`to be’ |
| /bó-/ |
`to go’ |
/hanį-/
|
`to come’
|
|
2.5.3.1.2.
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Derived Stems :
|
These are polymorphemic stems consisting of one simple stem and a
derivative suffix. The derivative suffix may occasionally be /-ų/. The simple stem can be a noun, an
adjective or another verb.
|
|
(i)
|
/-ų/ derives verbs from nouns and adjectives of colours and
qualities. The verbs are intransitive.
|
/sy -/ |
`to be fair’ |
| /lyō-/ |
`to be white’ |
/prą-/
|
`to be good’
|
|
|
(ii)
|
/-wé/ derives verbs from adjectives of qualities. These verbs are
intransitive but have an agent as subject.
|
| /prąwé-/ |
`to do good, to like’ |
| /helówé-/ |
`to make (someone) happy’ |
/dłkawé-/
|
`to make (someone) sad’
|
|
|
(iii)
|
/-tyu/ derives reflexive
verbs from cognitive and transitive action verbs. The derived verbs signify
that the subject is the agent as well as the experiencer of the action. The
reflexive can be either suffixed or prefixed to the verb.
|
| /syétyu-/ |
`to kill oneself’ |
| /tyusyé-/ |
`to kill oneself’ |
| /rśgatyu-/ |
`to love oneself’ |
/hw tyu-/
|
`to see oneself’
|
|
|
(iv)
|
/-tha/ derives alter-reflexive verbs from the
reflexive verbs. These verbs signify that the subject of the verb is the experience
and the object but not the agent. The agent does not overtly
occur in the sentence except when it is a topical zed nominal. The marker is
suffixed to the verb and the order of formation is
verb-alter-reflexive-reflexive. The order is rigidly maintained.
|
/la thatyu-/ |
`to enter’ |
/abayąthatyu-/
|
`to strike (oneself by an external agent)’
|
|
The phenomenon is akin to that pāini
posits : `karmakartrvācya'
|
