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Lexicology & word formation

18. Lexicology & Word Formation

Avar lexicology encompasses the processes by which the language expands its vocabulary. Due to the largely agglutinative nature of the language, word formation (словообразование) is highly systematic. The primary routes of lexical derivation in Avar are suffixation, compounding, conversion (substantivization), metatonia (stress shift), and deaffixation (truncation).

This chapter also covers the semantic cohesion of multi-word units, known as phraseology.

18.1 Suffixal Derivation

Suffixation is the most productive method of deriving new nouns from verbs, adjectives, and other nouns.

18.1.1 Productive Nominal Suffixes

  • -лъи (Abstract / Concrete / Spatial) The most versatile suffix in Avar. It attaches to almost any part of speech to form abstract nouns, spatial concepts, or collectives.

    • Adjective base: берцинаб (beautiful) → берцинлъи (beauty).
    • Noun base: гьудул (friend) → гьудуллъи (friendship).
    • Spatial: тӀад (on top) → тӀадалъи (surface).

  • -хъан (Agentive / Professional) Attaches to the oblique stem (usually locative or genitive) of nouns to denote a person habitually engaged in an activity.

    • хӀалтӀи (work) → locative хӀалтӀу- → хӀалтӀухъан (worker).
    • хъвадари (writing) → хъвадарухъан (writer).

  • -чи (Agentive / Status) Unlike -хъан, -чи often acts more like a compound component meaning "person" but is fully grammaticalized as a suffix for certain derivations.

    • гӀалим (scholar, Arabic loan) → гӀалимчи (scholar/scientist).
    • зулму (oppression) → зулмучи (oppressor).
    • (Note: Plural of words derived with suffix -чи usually drop the suffix: гӀалимзаби, not гӀалимчагӀи. True compounds retain it: колхозчагӀи).

  • -ро / -ло (Instrumental / Agentive) Attaches primarily to verbal roots (often frequentative/iterative) to denote tools or objects that perform an action.

    • цвадизе (to scrape) → цвадиро (scraper).
    • борцизе (to measure) → борцаро (measure).
    • хъухъадизе (to saw) → хъухъадиро (saw).

  • -ч / -к (Expressive / Pejorative) Rare but productive for creating expressive, often negative, characterizations.

    • квешаб (bad) → квешч (bad person).
18.2 Morpho-Syntactic Word Formation (Conversion)

Conversion occurs when a word transitions from one part of speech to another without any morphological addition. In Avar, this is primarily substantivization, where adjectives or adverbs function syntactically as nouns.

18.2.1 Substantivization of Adjectives

When an adjective takes on the syntactic role of a noun, its class marker (-в, -й, -б, -л) fuses with the stem and acts as the base for nominal declension.

  • Бечедав (Rich [man], Class I): Ergative → бечедас, Plural → бечедал.
  • Берцинай (Beautiful [woman], Class II): Ergative → берциналъ, Plural → берцинал.
18.2.2 Substantivization of Adverbs

Adverbs of time and place frequently convert into nouns, taking standard nominal cases.

  • Метер (tomorrow) → Ergative: метералъ.
  • Къаси (evening) → къасиялъ (by the evening).
18.3 Metatonia (Stress-Shift Derivation)

Metatony is a non-affixal derivation method where moving the stress to a different syllable alters the word's part of speech or meaning.

  • Verb to Noun:
    • цӀа́лизе (to read) → цӀали́ (reading/education).
    • хъва́зе (to write) → хъва́й (writing process) vs. хъвай-хъвагӀа́й (handwriting).
  • Adverb to Noun:
    • тӀа́де (upwards) → тӀаде́ (the top part).
18.4 Deaffixation (Truncation)

Truncation (усечение) is the process of forming a new word by dropping a suffix, a class marker, or an entire component of a phrase.

  • Masdar Truncation: Stripping the masdar (verbal noun) endings (-и, -й) to create a concrete noun.
    • лъезе (to put) → лъей (putting) → лъел (a deposit/lining).
  • Phrase Truncation: Dropping a repeated or assumed noun from a standard phrase.
    • борхатаб (tall) + тӀину (bottom) → борхатӀину (heel of a shoe).
18.5 Compound Noun Models

Compounding (словосложение) is the dominant method for creating complex vocabulary. Avar exhibits at least eleven distinct models of noun compounding.

18.5.1 Genitive and Noun-Based Compounds (Models I-III)
  • Model I (Genitive + Nominative): The most common possessive/material compound.
    • гъветӀалъул (of wood) + кӀул (key) → гъотӀолкӀул (wooden lock).
  • Model II (Noun + Truncated Participle): Describes an object by its habitual action.
    • чехь (belly) + бацӀцӀулеб (wiping) → чехьбацӀцӀ (towel).
  • Model III (Noun + Truncated Adjective):
    • махх (iron) + багӀараб (red) → маххбагӀар (rusty iron).
18.5.2 Adverbial and Verbal Compounds (Models IV-VI)
  • Model IV (Adverb + Noun): Spatial or temporal specification.
    • тӀад (on top) + гьобо (millstone) → тӀадгьобо (upper millstone).
  • Model V (Adverb + Truncated Participle):
    • цебе (front) + бухьунеб (tying) → цебебухь (apron).
  • Model VI (Compound Suffixal Formation): A verb-adverb phrase converted into a noun via suffixes like -ел.
    • гъоркь чӀей (standing under) → гъоркьчӀел (ambush).
18.5.3 Adjectival, Gerund, and Numeral Compounds (Models VII-IX & Privative)
  • Model VII (Adjective + Noun): Retains or loses the class marker.
    • цӀураб (filled) + хинкӀ (dumpling) → цӀурахинкӀ (kurze/meat dumpling).
    • чӀегӀераб (black) + хер (grass) → чӀегӀерхер (oregano).
  • Privative Compounds: A subtype utilizing -гьечӀ (without).
    • СахлъигьечӀ (health-without = unhealthy).
  • Model VIII (Gerund/Converb Compounds):
    • хъухъан (poured) + чед (bread) → хъухъанчед (fritters).
  • Model IX (Numeral Compounds): Drops the -го counter suffix.
    • лъабго (three) + бокӀон (corner) → лъабокӀон (triangle).
18.5.4 Contraction and Coordination (Models X-XII)
  • Model X (Three-Component / Contraction): Dropping a middle component like гӀадаб (like).
    • мачӀу (flint) + гӀадаб (like) + бер (eye) → мачӀубер (wall-eye).
  • Model XI (Coordinative Compounds): Two co-equal nouns combined to form a collective.
    • эбел (mother) + эмен (father) → эбел-эмен (parents).
    • авал (beginning) + ахир (end) → авал-ахир (span).
  • Model XII (Echo Compounds): Reduplication where the second element rhymes but has no independent meaning.
    • къец (dispute) → къец-мец (disputes and such).
    • квас (wool) → квас-мас (wool stuff).
18.6 Phraseology

Beyond single and compound words, Avar relies on fixed multi-word units (phraseologisms) to express complex, often metaphorical, concepts.

18.6.1 Semantic Cohesion
  1. Phraseological Fusions (Фразеологические сращения): The meaning is entirely opaque and unmotivated by the literal definitions of the words.
    • ГьоцӀцӀен бихьизе (lit. "to see a tick") → "to experience extreme hardship."
  2. Phraseological Unities (Фразеологические единства): The phrase is metaphorical, but its imagery makes logical sense.
    • Квер чӀвазе (lit. "to strike a hand") → "to sign/endorse."
  3. Phraseological Collocations (Фразеологические сочетания): One word maintains its literal meaning while the other is phraseologically bound.
    • Борхатаб хайир (lit. "tall profit") → "high profit/success."
18.6.2 Structural-Grammatical Classification

Phraseologisms in Avar map to specific syntactic tiers:

  1. Sentence-Equivalent Structures: The idiom functions as a complete independent clause.
  2. Word-Combination Structures: The idiom functions as a singular part of speech (Noun, Verb, Adverb) within a larger sentence.
18.6.3 Polysemy in Phraseology

Idioms themselves can develop polysemy through two routes:

  • Parallel Reinterpretation: A literal phrase gives rise to two distinct metaphorical meanings independently.
  • Secondary Reinterpretation: The established metaphorical meaning of the idiom undergoes a further semantic shift.
18.6.4 Somatic Phraseology

A highly productive aspect of Avar lexicology involves somatic (body-part) phraseology.

  • РакӀ (Heart): The primary locus of emotion.
    • РакӀ багъаризе (heart to move) = to feel nauseous.
    • РакӀ бухӀизе (heart to burn) = to feel pity/sorrow.
    • РакӀ кьвагьизе (heart to burst) = to be furious.
  • Бер (Eye): Used for concepts of perception, envy, and attention.
    • Бер ккезе (eye to fall) = to cast the evil eye.
  • БетӀер (Head) & Квер (Hand/Arm): Used for intelligence, capability, and theft.
18.6.5 Synonymous Phraseological Units and Polysemous Bases

The phraseological stock also exhibits internal semantic relationships:

  • Synonymous Units: Different phraseologisms with the exact same semantic meaning (e.g., кӀал чӀезе and кӀал къазе both meaning "to be silent").
  • Polysemous Bases: A single highly productive word acting as the base for multiple, distinct phraseologisms (e.g., the verb гьабизе "to make/do" in сабру гьабизе "to endure" vs. къотӀи гьабизе "to agree").
18.6.6 Grammatical Fixedness

Phraseological units are classified by their syntagmatic rigidity:

  • Fixed Units: Absolutely rigid structure. Components cannot be conjugated differently, and no adjectives/adverbs can be inserted between them.
  • Flexible Units: The verb component may be conjugated for tense or mood, and limited modifiers can be inserted without destroying the idiomatic meaning.
18.6.7 Phraseological Calques

Due to prolonged bilingualism, Avar phraseology continually expands via calques (direct translations) from Russian idioms:

  • Full Calques (Кальки): Маххул нух (Iron road = railroad, from Russian железная дорога).
  • Semi-Calques (Полукальки): Half the idiom is translated, half adapted. КӀалтӀа кӀутӀ-кӀутӀизе (to knock on the mouth/door = to protest/complain).
18.7 Semantic Relations

Beyond word formation, Avar lexicology relies heavily on semantic networks to map meaning:

  • Synonymy (Синонимия): High occurrence of absolute and partial synonyms due to extensive borrowing (e.g., native магӀарху vs. Arabic гъариб for 'stranger/traveler').
  • Antonymy (Антонимия): Frequently forms the basis of Coordinate Compounds (Model XI), such as рокьи-кьал (love-hate).
  • Hypernymy and Hyponymy: The hierarchical relationship between broad categories (e.g., хӀинчӀ - bird) and specific instances (e.g., цӀум - eagle), heavily utilized in semantic tagging within the dictionary database.
18.8 Lexical Stratification

The Avar lexicon is stratified into native vocabulary and loanwords. While native vocabulary forms the core of daily speech, somatic terms, and basic numerals, borrowed layers (Arabic, Persian, Turkic, and Russian) constitute a massive portion of the modern lexicon.

Detailed analysis of borrowed vocabulary, phonetic adaptation, and historical stratification is covered in the following chapter: 19. Loanwords.