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Feature GB314: Can augmentative meaning be expressed productively by a shift of gender/noun class?

Description ⇫

Summary

Can augmentative function be marked by a shift of noun class? This needs to be a productive pattern. Augmentative marking generally intensifies the noun (in size as well as various other properties). Here the augmentative construction must minimally be used to encode augmented size.

Procedure

1. Code 1 if there are morphemes in the sentence which vary depend depending on the noun used, and these morphemes are a closed class of under about 30 (our definition of a gender system),
2. And one of these morphemes can be used to change the meaning of a noun by adding the meaning ‘big’.
3. Code 0 if the author is explicit that the language does not have gender/noun classes.
4. Code 0 if the augmentative can be expressed by a shift of gender/noun class but the pattern is not productive.
5. Code 0 if there are no augmentative markers in the language.
6. Code ? if it is not clear from the data whether augmentatives can be expressed with a shift in gender/noun class.

Examples

Lunda (ISO 639-3: lun, Glottolog: lund1266)

Coded 1. "Classes 6, 7, and 11 noun prefixes ma-. chi- and lu- respectively may also be used derivationally with nouns from other classes to denote augmentative or derogation and command concords instead of the inherent noun class prefix... The prefix lu- replaces the original class prefix of noun to express enormity or large quantity." (Kawasha 2003: 92–93)

ñombi     lu-ñombi
‘cow’     CL.11-cow
‘a big ox’ (Kawasha 2003: 93)

Hixkaryana (ISO 639-3: hix, Glottolog: hixk1239)

Coded 0. There is a phonologically bound augmentative marker on the noun marking larger size. This marker is unrelated to any noun class system (Derbyshire 1979: 83–84).

toto-ymo
person-AUG
‘the big man’ (Derbyshire 1979: 84)

Further reading

Dahl, Östen. 2006. Diminutives and augmentatives. In Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 594–595. Second edition. Oxford: Elsevier.

References

Derbyshire, Desmond C. 1979. *Hixkaryana syntax. London: University of London. (Doctoral dissertation.)

Kawasha, Boniface Kaumba. 2003. Lunda grammar: A morphosyntactic and semantic analysis. Eugene: University of Oregon. (Doctoral dissertation.)

Related Features

• GB039 Is there nonphonological allomorphy of noun number markers?
• GB051 Is there a noun class/gender system where masculine and feminine categories are a factor in class assignment?
• GB052 Is there a noun class/gender system where shape is a factor in class assignment?
• GB053 Is there a noun class/gender system where animacy is a factor in class assignment?
• GB054 Is there a noun class/gender system where plant status is a factor in class assignment?
• GB187 Is there any productive diminutive marking on the noun (exclude marking by system of nominal classification only)?
• GB188 Is there any productive augmentative marking on the noun (exclude marking by system of nominal classification only)?
• GB192 Is there a noun class/gender system where a noun’s phonological properties are a factor in class assignment?
• GB315 Can diminutive meaning be expressed productively by a shift of gender/noun class?
• GB321 Is there a large class of nouns whose noun class/gender is not phonologically or semantically predictable?

Map ⇫

Values ⇫