Root

Definition

A root is a a monomorphemic base. A root can stand alone on its own and will usually provide the core meaning of a word. In addition, roots may be surrounded by prefixes and suffixes (Jacobs, 2011, p. 37) to indicate grammatical functions.

In Skwxwu7mesh, all roots are inherently morphologically intransitive (Jacobs, 2011, p. 38). This means the verbal roots combine with other affixes to form verbs that only take subjects, in contrast to transitive roots which have both a subject and an object.

Examples

Example in the Skwxwu7mesh Context of a Verbal Root ch’us Surrounded by a Prefix and Suffixes (Jacobs, 2011, p. 38)
Examples in the Halkomelem Context of Verbal Roots qʷə́l & k̓ʷáqʷ (Suttles, 2004, p. 135)
Examples in the Secwepemctsín Context of Verbal Roots and their Translations (Gibson, 1973, p. 25)

References

Gibson, J. A. (1973). Shuswap grammatical structure. [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Hawaii].

Jacobs, P. W. (2011). Control in Skwxwu7mesh. [Doctoral dissertation, The University of British Columbia].

Suttles, W. (2004). Musqueum reference grammar. UBC Press. SFU Student Access.