Ye'kwana

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Prefix

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kün-

  1. Marks a transitive verb in a distant past tense (perfective -i or imperfective -akö) as having a third-person agent/subject and patient/object.
  2. Marks an intransitive verb with agent-like or patient-like argument in a distant past tense (perfective -i or imperfective -akö) as having a third-person argument/subject.

Usage notes

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The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:

  • kün- if the first syllable begins with a vowel or consonant other than j or y and its vowel is anything but u or i.
  • kun- if the first syllable begins with a vowel or consonant other than j or y and its vowel is u.
  • kin- if the first syllable begins with i or y. If it begins with y, the n and y assimilate together into .
  • occasionally ken- if the first syllable begins with a vowel or consonant other than j or y and its vowel is e.
  • küm- if the first syllable begins with j and its vowel is anything but u or i.
  • kum- if the first syllable begins with j and its vowel is u.
  • kim- if the first syllable begins with j and its vowel is i.
  • kini- if the first syllable begins with two consonants.

Inflection

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References

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  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011) Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon, pages 184–185