draft manuscript - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

Table 2.9: Verbs Nominalized with -ta in Modern Omagua
Root Gloss Stem Gloss
aikua be sick aikuata illness
Sapuni be fragrant Sapunita perfume
yapina cut hair yapinata scissors
yapukui row yapukuita oar
yupI braid yupIta braiding device
The instrumental nominalizer -ta is cognate to what has been reconstructed by Jensen (1998:540-
541) as a Proto-Tupí-Guaraní circumstantial nominalizer **-aB ∼ -tsaB ∼ -taB, the allomorphs of
which co-occur with consonant-final, vowel-final and glide-final roots, respectively. Nouns derived
with this suffix may (among other functions) denote an instrument involved in the realization of the
event denoted by the verbal head, as in Kayabí i-mom1k-ap ‘that which is used for sewing’ (Jensen
1998:540). Note that the Omagua form, which is also reconstructable as Proto-Omagua-Kokama
*-ta, shows a generalization of **-taB from co-occurring only with glide-final roots to co-occurring
with vowel-final roots. The same pattern is exhibited by reflexes of Proto-Tupí-Guaraní grammatical
morphemes that exhibit similar allomorphic distribution (see §2.2.3.2.3), and has been reported for
other Tupí-Guaraní languages, namely Kamaiurá and Asuriní do Tocantins (Jensen 1998:540-541). 54
2.2.3.2.2 Applicative =supe The applicative =supe is attested only once in Old Omagua, in
a passage from the personal diaries of Manuel Uriarte, and is not attested in modern Omagua. It
attaches to a stative intransitive verb root and licenses a direct object with a goal thematic role, as
in (2.23).
(2.23) ename uka1Rasupe Andrés. taumanu[sa]kap1R1, eRusu padre ukakate.
ename
proh
uka1Ra =supe Andrés
be.stingy =appl Andrés
ta= umanu =sakap1R1 eRusu padre uka =kate
1sg.ms= die =temp.post take father house =all
‘Don’t be stingy with Andrés. After I die, take him to the Father’s house.’
(example (8.6))
The applicative is homophonous with the Old Omagua postposition =supe (also attested as
=supi in modern Omagua), which attaches to an NP and licenses an oblique argument functioning
as a goal. A cognate -tsupe is attested with certain intransitive verb roots in Kokama-Kokamilla
(Vallejos Yopán 2010a:380-383), where it ‘introduces a benefactive-like participant as the object of
the clause’ (ibid.:380). However, it appears to be unproductive in that language as well.
erklären, daB ta den Begriff machen ausdrückt, und insofern, je nachdem man diesen Begriff selbst
activ u. passiv nimmt, das Nomen in Handlung setzt, oder die Handlung in das durch sie Bewirkte
verwandelt.
(ibid.)
Von Humboldt provides the additional form ‘cover (n.)’, not attested in modern Omagua (ibid.).
54 This analysis goes against O’Hagan (2011:76), who claimed that POK *-ta was not of Tupí-Guaraní origin.
23