Iņupiatun Eskimo Dictionary - SIL International

INTRODUCTION TO THE POSTBASES
A postbase in Iñupiatun is a derivational suffix: it takes on an expanded or a new meaning. This
affix stands in contrast to an inflectional suffix. A derivational suffix attaches to a stem (noun or
verb), whereas an inflectional suffix attaches to the end of a word. For example, the English –er is a
derivational sufix when it is added to the verb paint; the sufix changes the verb into the noun painter.
If more than one painter is in focus, an inflectional suffix is added, the –s, to render the word as
painters. However, postbases in Iñupiatun play a much more important role than derivational affixes
in English.
A postbase modifies the meaning of the stem, or another postbase, to which it is attached. In
most cases, that means that the order of the words parallels the order of the English words, only in
reverse order. For example,
However, now consider,
Base P-b P-b P-b Ending
Umiaq -(q)pak -si -(s)uk tuq
boat big buy want 3sg
Umiaqpaksisuktuq.
He wants to buy a big boat.
Base Base P-b p-b p-b p-b Ending
Iñuk kamanaq -it niqsraq -(ä)u -niaq -tuq
person great be not most to be going to 3sg
Iñuk kamanaiññiqsrauniaqtuq.
The person is not going to be the greatest. =
The person is going to be the least.
This example shows that at times the sum total of the postbases renders a different meaning than at
first apparent.
Base Base P-b P-b Ending Base Ending
Taatna it- -tuksrau -nàit tuq ili- -psitñi
like that to be must not 3sg pron.base 2/3 person 2pl
Taatniituksraunàitchuq
It must not be like that
ilipsitñi.
among you.
And in this example, the English translation does not allow a straight reading from the back; rather,
the modal auxiliary ‘must’ occurs before the ‘not’ in English. As these examples show, there are
cases where the postbase ordering does not correspond with the English translation.
There are four classes of postbases with regards to their form. These forms are marked in the
postbase section of the dictionary.
1) It modifies the meaning of a noun and leaves it a noun, marked ‘n-n’;
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