chukchi - notes on the locative cases

[moonflower77]

peculiarities of the locative cases (I declension):

a noun in one of the locative cases may be seen as either the name of a physical entity (object), in which case a question requires an interrogative noun, or a reference to a specific type of spatial relationship between several physical entities (objects), in which case a question requires an interrogative adverb.

(loc.) orvɨk "on the sleigh" -> reqɨk? "within the physical confines of what? in, on what?" OR miŋkɨ? "where?" 

(abl.) orvɛpɨ "from the sleigh" -> raqɛpɨ? "(away) from what?" OR mɛŋko? "where from?"

(orient.-dat.) orvɛtɨ "toward the sleigh" -> raqɛtɨ? "toward what?" OR miŋkɨri? "where to?"

(det.) orvɨgjet "in the direction of the sleigh, by the movement or location of the sleigh" -> rɛqɨgjit? "by the movement or location of what?" OR miŋkɛgjit? "by, in which direction?"

nouns that refer to vast physical spaces or expanses of land/water (ɛmnuŋ "tundra", aŋqɨ "sea") usually require an interrogative adverb:

miŋkɨ? "where?" -> ɛmnuŋkɨ "in the tundra", aŋqak "at sea, in the sea"

mɛŋqo? "where from?" -> amnoŋgɨpɨ "from the tundra", aŋqajpɨ "from the sea, out of the sea"

miŋkɨri(lɨ)? "where to?" -> amnoŋɛtɨ "toward the tundra, into the tundra", aŋqagtɨ "toward the sea, into the sea"

miŋkɛgjit? "by, in which direction?" -> ɛmnuŋɨgjit "in the direction of the tundra", aŋqagjet "in the direction of the sea"

in other (non-locative) cases, a noun can only refer to a physical entity, and, accordingly, any questions require an interrogative noun.

number in declension I:

there is no number distinction in cases other than the nominative. if the number is not clear from the context and the speaker wishes to emphasize it, or believes it is important to specify whether the object in question is singular or plural, this is accomplished through incorporating a root morpheme:

for the singular: qun-/qon- (cf. qunɛche "once, one time")

qunmilgɛrɛ "with, using one rifle"

qonorva "with, using one sleigh"
qunmilgɛrɨk "on (top of) one rifle"

qonorvɨk "on (top of) one sleigh"

for the plural: mɨk-/mk- (cf. nɨmkɨqin "plenty, plentiful", may be used with the same meaning as "much, many; lots, a lot")

mɨgmilgɛrɛ "with, using many rifles"

mɨkorva "with, using many sleighs"

mɨgmilgɛrɨk "on (top of) many rifles"

mɨkorvɨk "on (top of) many sleighs"