Nominal Negation With àì-

Naming the Absence of an Action

Level 3

Àì- precedes its base: sùn ‘sleep’ gives àìsùn ‘not sleeping’. The result can occupy a noun position.

How It Works

Place àì- before suitable action or state material. Both prefix vowels carry low tone. The base can be a simple verb, as in àìsùn ‘not sleeping’, or contain a verb and its object. The morphology course illustrates àìpẹja, formed from pa ẹja ‘kill fish’, naming not fishing. Contraction can obscure the internal boundary.

The result names non-occurrence, failure or a negative state. It receives no person or gender agreement ending. A following possessor can identify the participant concerned. Compare Bísí kò sùn ‘Bísí did not sleep’ with the nominal fragment àìsùn Bísí ‘Bísí’s not sleeping’. The first asserts something; the second names a situation. Some meanings are lexical: àìsàn means ‘illness’. The supported simple and complex bases do not establish that every predicate freely accepts the prefix. These are Standard Nigerian Yoruba forms; the reference’s separate Ẹ̀gbá constructions do not supply additional standard rules.

Examples (3)

  1. Àìsùn ń yọ Bísí lẹ́nu.

    Not sleeping is troubling Bísí.

    Àìsùn names a negative situation and functions as the subject.

  2. Àìpẹja kò dára fún bàbá mi.

    Not fishing is not good for my father.

    Àìpẹja names non-occurrence of the fishing activity and functions as the subject.

  3. Dókítà ń tọ́jú àìsàn náà.

    The doctor is treating the illness.

    Àìsàn has the established lexical meaning ‘illness’ and occupies the object position.