ö-
- Marks a noun as having a second-person possessor.
- Marks a postposition as having a second-person object.
- Marks a transitive verb as having a second-person patient/object when the agent/subject is of third person with verb forms that take series I markers.
- Marks a transitive verb as having a second-person patient/object when the agent/subject is unspecified with verb forms that take series II markers.
- Marks an intransitive verb with patient-like argument as having a second-person argument/subject with verb forms that take series I markers and on all intransitive verbs with verb forms that take series II markers.
- Marks a verb form derived with n- and -dü or -'jüdü as having a second-person agent/subject.
The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:
- ö- if the first syllable begins with a consonant and its vowel is i, ö, or ü.
- öy- if the first syllable begins with a vowel i, ö, or ü. (No possessible nouns fall into this category; those that would have ö ablaut to e.)
- o- if the first syllable begins with a consonant and its vowel is o or u.
- oy- if the first syllable begins with a vowel o or u.
- a- if the first syllable begins with a consonant and its vowel is a or e.
- ay- if the first syllable begins with a vowel a or e.
In the Cunucunuma River dialect, the above forms with -y- have -dh- or -d- instead.
Ye'kwana personal markers
|
pronoun
|
noun possessor/ series II verb argument
|
postposition object
|
series I verb argument
|
transitive patient
|
intransitive patient-like
|
intransitive agent-like
|
transitive agent
|
first person
|
ewü
|
y-, ∅-, ü-, u-1
|
w-, wi-
|
first person dual inclusive
|
küwü
|
k-, kü-, ku-, ki-
|
k-, kii-, ki-1
|
second person
|
amödö
|
ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh-
|
m-, mi-
|
first person dual exclusive
|
nña
|
y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-1
|
chö-
|
∅-
|
n-, ni-
|
third person
|
tüwü
|
n-, ni-
|
distant past third person
|
—
|
kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini-
|
coreferential/reflexive
|
—
|
t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te-
|
—
|
reciprocal
|
—
|
—
|
öö-
|
- With following vowel lengthened if in an unreduced open syllable.
|
|
series I verb argument: transitive agent and transitive patient
|
first person > second person
|
mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni-
|
first person dual exclusive > second person
|
second person > first person
|
k-, kü-, ku-, ki-
|
second person > first person dual exclusive
|
third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person
|
see person X in the chart above
|
ö-
- allomorph of öt- (detransitivizing prefix).
- Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “ö-”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon, pages 169–171, 188–189
- Hall, Katherine Lee (1988) The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University, pages 284–287