Tibeto-Burman languages affixes in Assamese

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

Examples are from Goswami and Tamuli (2003:456–458). These forms are “clearly of non-Aryan origin” (Masica 1991:250). According to Matras (2009:216), they are “probably from Tibeto-Burman”.

15 numeral classifiers

  • -zɒn ‘human male, respect/polite’, e.g. dɒɦ-zɒn ‘ten (men)’, manuɦ-zɒn ‘the man’
  • -zɒni ‘human female (with lack of respect), non-human female’, e.g. sari-zɒni ‘four (females)’, manuɦ-zɒni ‘the woman’, sagɔli-zɒni ‘the she-goat’, gai-zɒni ‘the cow’
  • -gɒraki ‘human, respect’, e.g. sari-gɒraki ‘four (gentlemen/ladies)’, manuɦ-gɒraki ‘the gentleman/lady’
  • -to ‘inanimate, non-human male, human male (impolite)’, e.g. bɒlɒdfi-to ‘the bull’, xadɦu-to ‘the story’, after numerals, the allomorph -ɛta is used (impolite when used with human male referents)’, e.g. dɒɦ-ta ‘ten (bulls, men, etc.)’, ɛ-ta ‘one (story, man, etc.)’, musi-to ‘the cobbler’, manuɦ-to ‘the man’
  • -ti ‘same as to, but diminutive, endearing’, e.g. lɔra-ti ‘the (dear) little boy’, zuri-ti ‘the little stream’
  • -khɒn ‘dimensional (space, time)’, e.g. natɒk-khɒn ‘the play’, kitɒp-khɒn ‘the book’
  • -khɒni ‘same as khɒn, but diminutive, endearing’, e.g. natika-khɒni ‘the playlet’, nɔi-khɒni ‘the river’
  • -khini ‘non-count (mass) nouns and pronouns’, e.g. xei-khini ‘that (place/thing)’, pani-khini ‘the water’
  • -dal ‘inanimate, flexible/stiff, oblong, human (pejorative)’, e.g. manuɦ-dal ‘the man’, lathi-dal ‘the stick’
  • -bor ‘animate, inanimate’, e.g. manuɦ-bor ‘the men’, eõ-lok ‘these (people)’
  • -ɦɑ̃t ‘human’, e.g. lɔra-ɦɑ̃t ‘the boys’, tekhet-xɒlɒl ‘those (ladies/gentlemen)’
  • -ɦɑ̃t ‘non-human (pejorative reference to humans)’, e.g. gɔru-ɦɑ̃t ‘fools’, manuɦ-zɒn ‘the man’
  • -lok ‘human, respect (occurs with some pronouns)’, e.g. toma-lok ‘you’, manuɦ-gɒraki ‘the gentleman/lady’
  • -xɒlɒl ‘human, respect (occurs with select nouns and pronouns)’, e.g. xikhyɒk-xɒlɒl ‘the teachers’, kagɒz-khila ‘the (sheet of) paper’
  • -khila ‘sheet, leaf-like’, e.g. kagɒz-khila ‘the sheets of paper’