draft manuscript - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

ta= yapiSika -ta InI iSipu =pupI nani akia carachupa 52 apuka
1sg.ms= grab -caus 2sg rope.vine =instr quot dem.prox.ms armadillo laugh
tuyuka
ground
=k w aRa
=iness
=sui
=abl
‘I made you [jaguar] grab the rope vine, laughed the armadillo from underground.’
(MCT:C5.S3)
In modern Omagua, -ta may additionally suffix to a small set of nouns, deriving transitive verbs
with idiosyncratic meanings. These nouns are summarized in Table 2.8.
Table 2.8: Causativized Nouns in Modern Omagua
Root Gloss Stem Gloss
k1wawa comb (n.) k1wawata comb (v.)
mIm1Ra son.fem.ego mIm1Rata impregnate
paRuRi plank paRuRita repair with plank
puasa rope puasata throw rope on (to carry)
sapaRu basket sapaRuta put in basket
sapua point, tip sapuata sharpen to a point
sIp1 price sIp1ta pay
SiRu shirt SiRuta put shirt on (s.o.)
tanimuka ashes tanimukata throw ashes on (e.g., fire)
tIwI salt (n.) tIwIta salt (v.)
tuyuka ground, dirt tuyukata level ground (for house)
y1wa arm y1wata put arm/handle on (e.g., machete)
yuRa floor yuRata lay floor boards
yuta wall yutata add walls (to house frame)
Furthermore, modern Omagua exhibits a homophonous instrumental nominalizer -ta, which
derives “instrumental nouns” from verbs. When -ta appears on an active predicate, the resulting
noun denotes the instrument used to perform the event denoted by the predicate; when -ta appears
on an inactive (stative) predicate, the resulting noun denotes the entity that brings the state into
being. This morpheme appears to be falling out of the language synchronically; the few stems
elicited are shown in Table 2.9. Note that all of these derived stems may also be interpreted as
causativized verbs. 53
52 This word is a borrowing from local Spanish carachupa. The modern Omagua word is tatu.
53 This homophony was noted in the early 19th century by Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835). He states:
Ta changes a noun into a verb, as (merely with an additional ri) in Abipona and Tamanaco [Guaycuruan
and Carib languages, respectively], but also a verb back into a noun. This can best be explained
by the fact that ta expresses a notion of make, and to that extent, depending on whether this sense
is taken as active or passive, turns the noun into an action, or changes the action into that which is
brought about by it.
(von Humboldt 2011:427, translation ours, emphasis in original)
The original reads:
Ta verwandelt das Nomen in ein Verbum, wie (nur mit hinzugefügtem ri) in der Abiponen u.
Tamanaca Sprache, allein auch wieder das Verbum in ein Nomen. Dies läBt sich nur allenfalls so
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