Greek affixes in Arvanitic Albanian

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

Information and examples are mainly from Sasse (1985; 1991). According to Sasse (1985:91–92), borrowed affixes have become productive and can today be used to form hybrid formations from Albanian stems. Additional information is from Altimari (2011).

4 diminutive markers, out of a total of 7 diminutive markers in Arvanitic Albanian (Sasse 1991:235–239), which do not seem to be phonologically conditioned allomorphs.

  • -(á)ko ‘diminutive’, e.g. priftáko ‘little priest’, limited to a few cases. Sasse (1985) explicitly states that this form is borrowed.
  • -átʃ ‘diminutive’, e.g. kuðátʃ ‘little jar’, limited productivity. Sasse (1985) explicitly states that this form is borrowed.
  • -ác ‘diminutive (pup)’, e.g. ʎepurác ‘rabbit’s pup’. Its use as a diminutive with nouns other than animals is restricted to Greek stems (Sasse 1991:240).
  • -ópuł ‘diminutive (pup)’, e.g. uʎkópuł ‘wolf’s pup’, has limited productivity (Sasse 1991:241).

2 noun derivation suffixes, out of a large set of other noun-to-noun derivation markers, e.g. feminine occupation, etc. (Sasse 1991:241–246).

  • -jár ‘agent noun’, e.g. ʃurrjár ‘someone urinating’ (from ʃúrrə ‘urine’). This suffix is largely productive and partially native and partially borrowed from Greek (ι)άρης (Sasse 1991:242).
  • -jót ‘inhabitant of’, e.g. curkatjót ‘inhabitant of Kiurka’ (from curkát ‘Kiurka’). This suffix is productive and Sasse (1985) explicitly mentions that it is borrowed.

4 verbalizers, out of a total of 9 in Arvanitic Albanian. All verbal derivational morphemes are unproductive (Sasse 1991:252–255).

  • -(j)ás ‘verbalizer’, e.g. morrá ‘delouse’ (from mórr ‘louse’). The form is given as (j)ás (Sasse 1991:254) or á (Sasse 1985), but according to Sasse (personal communication, 2012), as is the correct form. Sasse (1985) explicitly mentions that it is borrowed.
  • -ís ‘verbalizer’, e.g. dzarrís ‘to harrow’ (from dzárrə ‘harrow’). It is only attested in a few words, yet Sasse (1985) explicitly mentioned that it is borrowed.
  • -ós ‘verbalizer’, e.g. ɲatrós ‘let oneself seduce’ (from ɲátrə ‘another’), only attested in one word. Sasse (1985) explicitly states that this form is borrowed.
  • -is-/-as-/-eks- ‘verbalizer’ to adapt loanwords from Italian that have a Greek etymology in Italian, as in the following examples from Altimari (2011:11): ngol-is-ënj (< incollare) ‘to paste’, compare Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla) ‘glue’; shkerdhj-as-ënj (< scheggiare) ‘to chip’, from Latin schidia and ultimately Ancient Greek σχίδια (skhídia) ‘chip’; stirand-aks-ënj ~ stirand-as-ënj (< stiracchiare) ‘to stretch (washed clothes)’, probably from Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō) ‘to wear out, rub’, via Latin.

11 adjectives used as derivational prefixes or as bound first elements of compounds, out of a total of 11 such forms in Arvanitic Albanian. They are used on nouns, i.e. as adjective-noun compounds (Sasse 1991:257–258). All are productive and, for most, various examples with Albanian stems are found.

  • aγrio- ‘wild’, e.g. aγriodérr ‘wild boar’.
  • ðoʎo- ‘poor’, e.g. ðoʎonún ‘poor godfather’, only three attestations, all from songs.
  • meγalo- ‘big’, e.g. meγalokopíʎe ‘old spinster’.
  • mes- ‘medium’, e.g. mesnátə ‘midnight’.
  • mono- ‘single’, e.g. monobíʎə ‘single daughter’.
  • mavro- ‘black, pitiful’, e.g. mavropʎák ‘poor old man’.
  • paʎo- ‘bad’ (very popular), e.g. paʎodjáʎə ‘naughty child’.
  • psefto- ‘fake’, e.g. pseftopúnǝ ‘superficial work’.
  • proto- ‘first’ (only one example given), e.g. protohérǝ ‘for the first time’.
  • stravo- ‘crooked’ (only attested once), e.g. stravogrúa ‘stubborn woman’.
  • vromo- ‘dirty, smelly’, e.g. vromopúnǝ ‘dirty work’.

Very rarely and only in songs, Albanian adjectives are also used in such constructions (Sasse 1991:258).

2 prepositions as derivational devices on nouns, out of a total of 3 in Arvanitic Albanian (the native Albanian form, not counted here, is nənə ‘under’).

  • para- ‘next to’, e.g. paratátǝ ‘stepfather’.
  • pro- ‘before’, e.g. protátǝ ‘forefather’.

5 verbal derivational devices, as part of a systems of 8 Arvanitic Albanian ‘preverbs’; kata is also used in this function, but it is not counted here again (Sasse 1991:262–267). These forms have entered the language as part of Greek complex loanwords, but they have become productive with Albanian stems.

  • apo- (different functions, only few cases), e.g. apobǝ́nem ‘I become’, apohíng(ǝ)ra ‘I ate up’.
  • kse- (different functions, like German ent, aus, auf, very frequent, also with Albanian verbs), e.g. kseʎóð(əɲ) ‘let someone rest’.
  • ksana- ‘do x again’, e.g. ksanaháp(əɲ) ‘open again’, very productive, also with Albanian stems.
  • para- ‘excessively’, e.g. parahá ‘eat too much’.
  • kata- ‘intensifier’ (relatively rare), e.g. kataʎóðem ‘I become very tired, i.e. I work too hard’. This form is also used as a derivational prefix on adjectives, participles, and adverbs (as part of a system of 2 such forms in Arvanitic Albanian, along with the native Albanian form pa ‘without’), e.g. kata- ‘very’, e.g. katairi ‘brand new’ (from iri ‘new’), katanáni ‘right now’ (from náni ‘now’).

4 verbal derivational devices as first elements of compounds (Sasse 1991:267).

  • kalo- ‘good’, e.g. kalopagúan ‘pay well’.
  • kako- ‘bad’, e.g. kakopagúan ‘pay badly’.
  • miso- ‘medium’, e.g. misoháp(əɲ) ‘open partially’.
  • proto- ‘for the first time’, e.g. protovéte ‘go for the first time’.