(not productive,obsolete)Used withpast participleconjugations to form past participles (this prefix does not occur independently and is no longer productive).
Morice Vanoverbergh (1933), “y”, inA Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)[2], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“,→OCLC, page502
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.
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”).
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.
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.
∅- (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.
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
