-taj
Nivaclé
Alternative forms
- -itaj
Suffix
-taj (plural -tas)
- similative suffix, used with names of animals and plants to indicate a different species
- cuvôyu (“horse”) + -taj → cuvôyutaj (“donkey”)
- tashinsha (“deer”) + -taj → tashinshtaj (“sheep”)
- napʼuc (“salted shrub”) + -taj → naapcutaj (“salt”)
Usage notes
- Epenthetic i often appears before the suffix when preceded by a consonant to break disallowed consonant clusters.
References
- Fabre, Alain (2016) Gramática de la lengua Nivacle (familia Mataguayo, Chaco Paraguayo) (Lincom Studies in Native American Linguistics 78) (in Spanish), Munich: Lincom, →ISBN, page 139.