Autor: Maximiliano Duran

TRANSFORMATION AND MWU IN QUECHUA

Multi Word Units conference. Malaga. Spain 2015

MAXIMILIANO DURAN

Université Franche Comte

France

duran_maximiliano@yahoo.fr

Abstract

This article presents the process of how with the aid of the transformational engine of the NooJ , linguistic development environment, we may identify, annotate and transform Quechua MWU; generate paraphrases for a given Lexicon-Grammar class of MWU sentences, taking into account the grammatical restrictions of the applicability of such transformations.

Key words

Quechua, Quechua MWU, identification of MWU, annotation o MWU, transformations of MWU, paraphrases, Nooj.

1. Introduction

An important number of the multi word units, MWU, in Quechua are collocations of two-PoS units. There are at least 12 classes of them: N_N, N_V, V_N, A_A…. The resulting MWU may be a new noun, a new adjective or a new verb as we can see in the following table:

N-N>A qari qari> without fear (qari : man) (A)

N-N>N sacha sacha> a forest (sacha: tree) (N)

N-V>ADV wallpa waqayta> at twilight (wallpa: hen, waqay(ta): to cry) (ADV)

N-ADV>A runa masinchik > our fellow human (runa: human, masi(nchik): similar)(A)

N_V(na) > A anku chutana>steep path (anku: Achilles tendon, chuta(na): to stretch)(A)

V_N>N samai wasi>guest house (samay: to rest, wasi: house)(N)

A-A> A yuraq yuraq> very white (yuraq: white) (A)

A-N>A raku kunka> baritone (raku: thick, kunka: neck)(A)

ADV-V>ADV hina kachun >o.k.(hina: similar, ka(chun): to be)(ADV)

A-N>ADV huk similla>unanimously (huk: one, simi(lla): mouth)(ADV)

ADV-ADV> ADV qawanpi ukunpi>chaotically (qawa(npi): outside, uku(npi): inside)(ADV)

V_V>N mikuchikui upyachikui wedding party (miku(chikui): to eat, upya(chikui): to drink (N)

According to the Quechua grammar, any noun and any adjective may be duplicated. In general the duplication of an adjective yields as a result the superlative of the adjective, and the duplication of a noun may mean an important increase in number of the noun or a change of the semantic field of the resulting MWU.

I remark that when we symbolize N, V or A, I actually make reference to the paradigm symbolized by N which include the noun but also a certain class of its inflected forms (as we show some lines later). The same remark is applied to the other symbols.

There exists also many MWU made of distinct noun components N1, N2 acting with a particular type of verbs.

1.N1_N2(n-wan) maymanpas ustuchkan

qara uya-n-wan maymanpas ustu-chka-n he is sticking his nose anywhere as a rascal

qara uya-n-wan maymanpas ri-chka-n anywhere he goes he is sticking his nose as a rascal

qara uya-n-wan maymanpas yayku-chka-n he is entering anywhere to stick his nose as a rascal

The dictionary of verbs involved in this pattern is made of verbs of movement V_MO1={ustuy, riy, yaykuy, paway, puriy,… }.

2.N1_N2(ka-spa) maytapas V_MO1+CHKA+PR+s+3

qara uya ka-spa maytapas(ustu-chka-n) shameless as he is, he sticks his nose anywhere

qara uya ka-spa maytapas rin (ri-chka-n) shameless as he is, he goes to stick his nose anywhere

qara uya ka-spa maytapas yayku (yayku-chka-n) shameless as he is, he sticks his nose anywhere

3.A pattern including negation: N1_N2 ka-spa mana V_CO1 ku+PR+s+3+chu

where the verbs concerned are a the behavioral class CO1 {penqay, manchay,…}

And let us present some examples of MWU including other PoS like N_V, V_N or V1_V2 components:

4.In the case N_V(na)>A. If the resulting MWU is an adjective, like in example that follows, it can be inflected using the nominal paradigms applied to the last component of the MWU (this component is a verb but in its nominal form because it contains the suffix -na):

anku chutana>steep (a hill, a path) (anku: Achilles tendon(N,) chuta(na): to stretch(V))

Pablo rin anku chutana ñanninta Pablo walks by the steep path

Pablo rin anku chutanan-taPablo walks by the steep one

anku chutanan-ta-chu Pablo rin?Does Pablo walks by the steep path?

5.Similarly, in the case V(q)_N >A (pasaq simi). The resulting adjective can also be inflected using the nominal/adjectival paradigms (the verb is in nominal form because it contains the suffix -q) applied to the last component of the MWU.

pasaq simi squealer (pasa(q): to pass(V,) simi: mouth (N))

Pablo willaikun pasaq simi wauqinman Pablo has told it to his squealer brother

pasaq simi-ta Pablo niikun Pablo has told it to the squealer one

pasaq simi-ta-chu qwarqanki? Have you seen the squealer one?

6.The MWU resulting from the collocation of two verbs in which V1(i)_V2(i)>N can be transformed by means of the inflections of the second component.

miku(chikui) upya(chikui): wedding party mikuy: to eat

pablom rimachkan mikuchikui upyachikui-nin-manta Pablo talks about his wedding party

pablom mikuchikui upyachikui-nin-manta rimachkan Pablo is talking about his wedding party

pablom mikuchikui upyachikui-nin-manta rimarqan Pablo has talked about his wedding party

pablom mikuchikui upyachikui-nin-manta rimanqa Pablo will talk about his wedding party

Knowing that the morpho-syntactic behavior of the components of a MWU influences on its morphology, we need to take a glance on the inflections and derivations of a Noun, an Adjectif, an ADVerb and a Verb to better identify and manage the MWU.

N.B. The rest of the article may be obtained wrinting the author to: duran_maximiliano@yahoo.fr