Re: basic vocab

On Sat, 16 Sep 2000, Roger Mills wrote:

> Dirk Elzinga replying to my post:
>
> >When mapping meanings to roots, I found myself unconsciously selecting
> >certain types of roots over others (eg; roots ending in -u are not as
> >common in Tepa as roots ending in other vowels, though there is not
> >phonotactic prohibition against it). This process has given Tepa a
> >perhaps more natural feel. >
>
> I did that too, perhaps more consciously in at least some cases-- I decided
> early on the /p/ and /f/ would be rare. More or less unconsciously, however,
> words with final /p/ started grouping themselves into a naturally
> "pejorative" class.
One of my most interesting discoveries in Tepa was the appearance of
the suffix _-ppi_, which attaches to combining forms to create words
with a generalized meaning of of 'small buzzing, flying thing; usually
a pest'. Hence:

        huppi   'gnat'
        lauppi  'yellowjacket'
        pippi   'fly'
        qeppi   'mosquito'
        sappi   'cicada'

The residue after removing _-ppi_ is never an independent root, and
these forms are not found elswhere. The word for 'hummingbird' is the
exception that proves the rule:

        tippi/tiwippi  'hummingbird' (hummingbirds are not pests)

The form _ti-_ is found elsewhere and is transparently related to
_tiwi_ 'bird'. Note that _tiwi_ is also a base for suffixation of
_-ppi_. The resulting form is exceptional in a couple of ways: the
stem is productive and the derived word doesn't have the "pest"
connotation.

All of this was accidental. Well, most anyway; I don't remember which
words came first to make me aware of the nascent pattern, and which
words were consciously constructed after the pattern was available.


--
Dirk Elzinga
dirk.elzinga@m.cc.utah.edu