FromMiddle Englishy-, fromOld Englishġe-(perfective and associative prefix); see those entries for more. Cognate withGermange-,Yiddishגע־(ge-).
y-
- (not productive, obsolete)Used withpast participleconjugations to form past participles (this prefix does not occur independently and is no longer productive).
- ybarred,yclept,yclad,ybaptized,yslain,yronne
y-
- Used together with the suffix-i to createmasculineagent nouns.
- Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015)L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page118
y-
- heorshe(used for conjugating verbs to the subjective or nominative case of the personal pronoun)
FromOld Englishġe-(perfective and associative prefix), from unstressedProto-Germanic*ga-, fromProto-Indo-European*ḱóm(“with”). Cognate withOld Frisiane-,Central Franconianje-,Old Saxongi-,Dutchge-,Old High Germanga- (Germange-),Old Norseg-,Gothic𐌲𐌰-(ga-). See alsoker-.
y-
- Added to verbs as a perfective prefix or intensifier.
- Used to form nouns of association similar to Englishco-.
- Used withpast participleconjugations to form past participles.
- Notproductive in Modern English.
- This prefix represents a common Germaniccollective prefix, as well as aperfective prefix which was used to form past participles. Already by the Old English period such participles could be used with or without it, and as it passed into Middle English formsy-,i-, andȝe-, it became less productive. The prefix was later adopted as a conscious archaism by some writers such asEdmund Spenser, who prepended it to existing past participles.
- ẏ, Middle Englishabbreviation forye
- Middle English,y- (prefix) is often confused withye(“you”) or withye, alternative form ofþe(“the”) due to typographic variation:
- ȝe- /y- is pronounced/jə/,/i/, consistent with the Old English pronunciation ofge- as/je/; it is usually dropped in Modern English except in archaisms (though noteenough)
- In contrast, the standalone Middle English definite articleye (not to be confused with the pronounye) is pronounced/ðeː/,/ðɛ/,/ði/ and is effectively an alternative spelling ofþe(“the”).
y-
- A marker for thethird personobject
- Apeg element added to 1st person plural ∅-imperfective verbs to fit syllable shape restraints
- ii- +-cha + y- → yiicha(“we are crying”)
y-
- Form used before a verb affixed with-a- or subjunctive-e- ofa-
- y- + efubike(“to cover oneself”) → yefubike(“may he/she cover himself/herself”)
- Form used before a verb affixed with-a- or subjunctive-e- ofe-
- y- + efubike(“to cover oneself”) → yefubike(“may they (class 4) cover themselves; may it (class 9) cover itself”)
Variant orthographies| ALIV | y- |
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| Brazilian standard | y- |
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| New Tribes | y- |
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y-
- Marks a noun as having a first-person possessor.
- Marks a postposition as having a first-person object.
- Marks a transitive verb as having a first-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 first-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 first-person argument/subject with verb forms that take series I markers (excepting a few verbs that takew-) and on all intransitive verbs with verb forms that take series II markers.
- Marks a verb form derived withn- and-dü or-'jüdü as having a first-person agent/subject.
The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:
- y- if the first syllable begins with a vowel.
- ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the first syllable begins with a consonant.
- ü- if the first syllable begins with two consonants, e.g. as a result of syllable reduction.
- u- if the first syllable begins with two consonantsand its vowel isu.
In addition, if the first syllable is an open syllable and not reduced, then its vowel is lengthened, even in the case where the prefix itself disappears.
Ye'kwana personal markers
| pronoun | noun possessor/
series II verb argument | postposition object | series I verb argument |
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| transitive patient | intransitive patient-like | intransitive agent-like | transitive agent |
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| first person | ewü | y-,∅-,ü-,u-1 | w-,wi- |
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| first person dual inclusive | küwü | k-,kü-,ku-,ki- | k-,kii-,ki-1 |
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| second person | amödö | ö-,öy-/ödh-,o-,oy-/odh-,a-,ay-/adh- | m-,mi- |
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| first person dual exclusive | nña | y-/dh-,ch-,∅-,i-1 | chö- | ∅- | n-,ni- |
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| third person | tüwü | n-,ni- |
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| distant past third person | — | kün-,kun-,kin-,ken-,küm-,kum-,kim-,kini- |
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| coreferential/reflexive | — | t-,tü-,tu-,ti-,te- | — |
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| reciprocal | — | — | öö- |
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- With following vowel lengthened if in an unreduced open syllable.
|
| series I verb argument:
transitive agent and transitive patient |
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| first person > second person | mön-,man-,mon-,möm-,möni- |
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| first person dual exclusive > second person |
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| second person > first person | k-,kü-,ku-,ki- |
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| second person > first person dual exclusive |
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| third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person | see person X in the chart above |
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The allomorphs∅- andi- are direct descendants of the originalProto-Cariban*i-, used before consonants. However, Proto-Cariban had∅- on vowel-initial stems; the Ye'kwana formsy- andch- are innovations that it shares with certain other Cariban languages. For the former, compareApalaí,Bakairí, andChaimay-. The latter, meanwhile, derives from an earlier form*it- also found in several languages of theVenezuelan Cariban branch.
- dh-,d-(Cunucunuma River dialect)
- ch-,∅-,i-(allomorphs)
- chö-(allomorph with postpositions only)
y-
- Marks a noun as having a third-person possessor.
- Marks a postposition as having a third-person object.
- Marks a transitive verb as having a third-person patient/object with verb forms that take series II markers.
- Marks an intransitive verb as having a third-person argument/subject with verb forms that take series II markers.
- Marks a verb as having third-person arguments when marked with the admonitive-'no, prohibitive-i, or uncertain future-tai suffixes.
The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:
- y- if the first syllable begins with a vowel other thanö.
- ch- if the first syllable begins with a vowelö.
- ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the first syllable begins with a consonant. The initial consonant is also palatalized.
- But,with postpositions only,chö- instead if the first syllable begins with a consonantj,n,w, ory.
- i- if the first syllable begins with two consonants, e.g. as a result of syllable reduction.
In addition, if the first syllable is an open syllable and not reduced, then its vowel is lengthened, even in the case where the prefix itself disappears.
In the Cunucunuma River dialect, the forms taken and their distribution are somewhat different:
- ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the reference is deictic, referring to a specified object.
- dh- (in free variation withd-) if the first syllable begins with a vowel other thanö.
- ch- if the first syllable begins with a vowelö.
- i- if the first syllable begins with a consonant. The initial consonant is also palatalized.
- But,with postpositions only,chö- instead if the first syllable begins with a consonant (unclear if limited toj,n,w, andy).
Ye'kwana personal markers
| pronoun | noun possessor/
series II verb argument | postposition object | series I verb argument |
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| transitive patient | intransitive patient-like | intransitive agent-like | transitive agent |
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| first person | ewü | y-,∅-,ü-,u-1 | w-,wi- |
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| first person dual inclusive | küwü | k-,kü-,ku-,ki- | k-,kii-,ki-1 |
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| second person | amödö | ö-,öy-/ödh-,o-,oy-/odh-,a-,ay-/adh- | m-,mi- |
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| first person dual exclusive | nña | y-/dh-,ch-,∅-,i-1 | chö- | ∅- | n-,ni- |
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| third person | tüwü | n-,ni- |
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| distant past third person | — | kün-,kun-,kin-,ken-,küm-,kum-,kim-,kini- |
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| coreferential/reflexive | — | t-,tü-,tu-,ti-,te- | — |
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| reciprocal | — | — | öö- |
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- 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- |
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| first person dual exclusive > second person |
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| second person > first person | k-,kü-,ku-,ki- |
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| second person > first person dual exclusive |
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| third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person | see person X in the chart above |
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- Cáceres, Natalia (2011)Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[2], Lyon, pages168–169, 172–174, 176–177, 186–188, 190–191, 212
- Hall, Katherine Lee (1988)The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University, pages219–220, 284, 293–295, 298–299
