Naisek – A Constructed Language

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Verb Conjugation

Finite verbs are conjugated for mood, tense, person, number, and grammatical voice, of which only the last is distinguished for non-finite verbs. However, non-finite verbs do distinguish aspect, which isn't distinguished for finite verbs (although a given form is either perfective or imperfective, depending on the type of verb, its grammatical voice, and on its mood and tense; the kind of tense a verb has also depends on these factors).

Verb Classification

Aspect and Kinds of Tense

Action/State Classes

• Verbs are classified and the classes named according to the aspects of their finite stems.
• P-Class: (for Perfective)
  • All finite stems are perfective (specific and non-specific times aren't distinguished here).
  • The basic stem is imperative.
• M-Class: (for Mixed)
  • The basic stem is present imperfective indicative.
  • There's no perfective imperative.
  • All non-basic stems are perfective (specific and non-specific times aren't distinguished here).
• I-Class: (for Imperfective)
  • The basic stem is present imperfective indicative.
  • There's no specifically perfective imperative.
  • All non-basic stems are specific (perfective and imperfective aren't distinguished here).

Argument Structure Classes

• There are five major classes of verbs according to argument structure.
  
  1. Erg=Donor, Dat=Recipient, Abs=Theme
  2. Erg=Agent, Abs=Patient
  3. Dat=Perceiver, Abs=Image
  4. Erg or Abs=Actor
  5. Abs=Descriptee
• There are two additional classes for auxiliary verbs. Their argument structures are covered later on.
  
  6. Modal Auxiliaries (see modal)
  7. Aspectual Auxiliaries (see aspectual)
• There's another class for the copula and for verbs that work similarly. These have a complement which also takes the absolutive case.
  
  8. Abs=Descriptee, Abs=Complement
• There is a hierarchy of core cases: Erg > Dat > Abs. The verb agrees with the highest of these present in the argument structure.
• The forms of the personal endings vary according to the case agreed with.

Note: As the term "subject" is used in reference to the argument which the verb agrees with, the term Descriptee has been used instead of Subject when designating roles.

Class Correlations

• Verbs in classes Verbs in classes 1, 2, and 4 tend to be P-Class; those in classes 5 and 6 tend to be I-Class; those in class 3 tend to be M-Class or I-Class; those in class 7 are either P-Class or I-Class.

Grammatical Voice

• The Active (Act.) voice is the unmarked form. Any other grammatical voice is marked with a proclitic. The proclitics are given below along with their tags.
• The Causative (Caus-, bi-) applies to classes 3, 4, and 5; it adds an ergative argument, which the verb now agrees with. The class 4 actor now takes the absolutive case.
• The Reflexocausative (RC-, le-) applies to class 3, making the Perceiver ergative.
• The Experiential (Exp-, ho-) adds a dative argument which the verb now agrees with. It applies to classes 4, 5, and 6; in class 4 the actor must be absolutive.
• The First Passive (Pas1-, do-) deletes the ergative argument. It applies to the classes as follows:
  
  1. The verb agrees with the dative recipient.
  2. The verb agrees with the absolutive patient.
• The Second Passive (Pas2-, e-) deletes the dative argument. It applies to the classes as follows:
  
  1. The verb agrees with the absolutive object.
  3. The verb agrees with the absolutive image.

• Sometimes, two proclitics can occur. A first passive marker can be preceded by a second passive marker (edo-), and an experiential marker can be preceded by a reflexocausative marker; in this case, the combination contracts, becoming leu-.

For the placement of the grammatical voice proclitics, see Auxiliaries and Grammatical Voice Proclitics

Grammatical Voice Summary

Class	Act.		Caus-		RC-		Exp-		Pas1-		Pas2-
1		-Erg							do-	-Dat	e-	-Abs
2		-Erg							do-	-Abs
3		-Dat	bi-	-Erg	le-	-Erg					e-	-Abs
4		-Erg/Abs	bi-	-Erg			ho-	-Dat
5		-Abs	bi-	-Erg			ho-	-Dat
6		(any)					ho-	-Dat
7		(any)

• A dative argument can be added to a class 2 verb (or a class 4 verb where the actor is ergative) without any change to the verb stem.
• The imperative mood requires ergative agreement. This means that the voice must be changed for certain classes:
  
  3. either causative or reflexocausative
  4. either causative or the original subject must take the ergative case
  5. either causative or reflexocausative + experiential
  6. either causative or reflexocausative, but the imperative is rarely used with modal auxiliaries

• Indefinite pronouns are avoided whenever argument deletion can be used instead, so no ergative form appears.

• Reflexives and reciprocals are handled using pronouns, not with grammatical voice marking.

Important Side Affects

• Grammatical voice marking may also change a verb's aspect class: specifically, the causative (Caus-) and reflexocausative (RC-) turn an I-Class or M-Class verb into a P-Class verb.

Impersonal Verbs

• An impersonal verb has no subject.
• A normal verb is made impersonal with the co- prefix.
• There are some verbs that are basically impersonal; these don't use the co- prefix.
• A basically impersonal verb can be made personal by using a grammatical voice proclitic (usually bi- or ho-).
• The impersonal verb takes -3SA endings, regardless of what arguments are present or possible.

Palda.	- "It rained."
Cobenti besso.	- "It's hot today."
Johana sta bipaldok.	- "John is making it rain."

Verb Inflections Formed Using Suffixes

Non-finite Verb Forms

• The subject of a non-finite verb form is implicit and not marked on the verb.
• The non-finite forms are the participles, the infinitives, and the verbal nouns.
• There are participles, infinitives (-Inf), and verbal nouns (-VN) for each possible grammatical voice.
• The participles are the progressive (-Prg), the retrospective (-Ret), and the prospective (-Pro).
• The stem used for the prospective participle is also used for the infinitive.
• When used as adjectives, participles are declined like adjectives.
• When used as nouns, verbal nouns are declined like nouns.
• Infinitives take no further ending.

Mood and Tense Stems

• The moods and tenses apply only to finite verb forms.
• The moods are the indicative (.Ind), the cotemporal (-Cot), the imperative (.Imp), the subjunctive (-Sub), and the contrafactual (-Ctf).
• The tenses are the past (-Pst), the present (.Prs), and the future (-Fut).
• Since tense is distinguished only for the indicative mood, there can be at most one mood or tense suffix.
• Note that the subjunctive mood suffix looks like the prospective participle suffix. However, the personal endings are all distinct from the gender, number, and case combinations.
• Similarly, the cotemporal mood suffix looks like the progressive participle suffix.
• The contrafactual mood suffix and the past and future tense suffixes are all distinct.
• Since the basic verb stem represents either the imperative mood or the present tense of the indicative mood, depending on the verb's action/state class and on the grammatical voice marker (if any), the imperative and the present indicative are mutually exclusive for a any given verb, except for the copula, which has an additional imperative stem.

• P-Class verbs have no present tense; the present progressive or present habitual must be used instead.
• I-Class and M-Class verbs have no imperative mood. Since the reflexocausative (RC-) makes a verb P-Class, it may be used for constructing imperative forms.

I'm not sure this will work since proclitics on aspectual auxiliaries actually belong to the content verb. Possibly use a special prefix for this instead.

Personal Endings

• Finite verbs are marked for person and number (Singular and Plural) as well as for mood, tense, and grammatical voice.
• The persons are 1st (includes the speaker), 2nd (includes the addressee(s) but not the speaker), and 3rd (includes neither addressee(s) nor speaker).
• The 1st person distinguishes inclusive plurals from exclusive plurals.
• The interlinear tags for each combination of person and number are:

  -1S	1st person singular	-1XP	1st person exclusive plural
  		-1NP	1st person inclusive plural
  -2S	2nd person singular	-2P	2nd person plural
  -3S	3rd person singular	-3P	3rd person plural

• These tags will have the following appended to them: A for absolutive subject agreement, D for dative subject agreement, and E for ergative subject agreement.

Imperative Mood

• The 2nd person forms of the imperative mood constitute the imperative mood proper.
• The 1st person inclusive plural forms constitute the hortative, translated into English using the "let's" construction.
• The 3rd person forms are now used only for stage directions (or similar instructions). These are conventionally called jussive forms, or 3rd person imperatives, although they are usually translated as if present perfective.

  Lalbita Johana.	- "John sings."

• Certain P-Class verbs have performative forms; these use the 1st person singular (rarely, 1st person exclusive plural) endings and are also usually translated as if present perfective.
• The imperative mood of the copula has only imperative mood proper and hortative forms.

List of Possible Verbal Inflection Tags

Verb Conjugation Tables

Formation of the Stems

Verb Stem Suffixes

-VN	-in	Verbal Noun	- may take noun endings
-Prg	-ok	Progressive Participle	- may take adjective endings
-Ret	-ep	Retrospective Participle	- may take adjective endings
-Pro	-ax	Prospective Participle	- may take adjective endings
-Inf	-ax	Infinitive	-
.Imp	-	Imperative Mood	- personal endings (Ergative)
.Ind.Prs	-	Indicative Mood, Present Tense	- personal endings
.Ind-Pst	-a	Indicative Mood, Past Tense	- personal endings
.Ind-Fut	-en	Indicative Mood, Future Tense	- personal endings
-Cot	-ok	Cotemporal Mood	- personal endings
-Sub	-ax	Subjunctive Mood	- personal endings
-Ctf	-ur	Contrafactual Mood	- personal endings

• The stem suffixes shown above are completely regular. For most verbs, these are added to invariant bases. There are some irregular verbs, as shown below.
• Most verbs ending in h are unchanged except that the h is deleted to from the present indicative or imperative stem. In this regard, bruhax and klohax could be considered a regular subtype.
• Verbs ending in l preceded by a consonant (or two) change l to o in the present indicative or imperative, but are otherwise regular.
• Verbs ending in r preceded by a consonant (or two) change r to a in the present indicative or imperative, but are otherwise regular.

This last creates a problem in that the present or imperative of Cr- verbs look like the past stems of C verbs. Possibly, there aren't many Cr- verbs though.

Irregular Verb Stems

	copula	"have"	"cause"	"avoid"	"lack"	"inhabit"	"laugh"
-VN		mihin	bilin	gahin	bruhin	klohin	roflin
-Prg	sok	myok	biyok	gahok	bruhok	klohok	roflok
-Ret		myep	biyep	gahep	bruhep	klohep	roflep
-Pro		myax	biyax	g(ah)ax	bruhax	klohax	roflax
-Inf	sax	myax	biyax	g(ah)ax	bruhax	klohax	roflax
.Imp	si		bili	ga			rofo
.Ind.Prs	s	mi			bru	klo
.Ind-Pst	sa	mya	biya	gaha	bruha	kloha	rofla
.Ind-Fut	sen	myen	biyen	gahen	bruhen	klohen	roflen
-Cot	sok	myok	biyok	gahok	bruhok	klohok	roflok
-Sub	sax	myax	biyax	g(ah)ax	bruhax	klohax	roflax
-Ctf	sur	myur	biyur	gahur	bruhur	klohur	roflur

Adding the Personal Endings

• This section covers the finite forms for all moods and tenses except the present indicative and the imperative.
• The form of the 3SA (3rd person singular absolutive) ending varies according to the stem it's appended to. The ending is 0 for the past indicative and -o for each of the other stems.
• The form of the 2PD (2nd person plural dative) ending also varies according to the stem it's appended to. The ending is -nwe for the past indicative, -we for the future indicative, and -me for each of the other stems.
• The 1NP (1st person inclusive plural) forms insert u between the stem and the ending in the future indicative, the cotemporal, and the subjunctive.

Past Tense + Personal Endings
Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-ak	-1XP	-ako	-1S	-aki	-1XP	-akwe	-1S	-aka	-1XP	-akor
		-1NP	-abo			-1NP	-abwe			-1NP	-abor
-2S	-an	-2P	-ano	-2S	-ani	-2P	-anwe	-2S	-ana	-2P	-anor
-3S	-a	-3P	-ato	-3S	-ati	-3P	-atwe	-3S	-ata	-3P	-ator
Future Tense + Personal Endings
Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-enik ?	-1XP	-enko	-1S	-enki	-1XP	-enkwe	-1S	-enka	-1XP	-enkor
		-1NP	-enubo			-1NP	-enubwe			-1NP	-enubor
-2S	-enun ?	-2P	-enno	-2S	-enni	-2P	-enwe ?	-2S	-enna	-2P	-ennor
-3S	-eno ?	-3P	-ento	-3S	-enti	-3P	-entwe	-3S	-enta	-3P	-entor
Cotemporal Mood + Personal Endings
Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-okik	-1XP	-okko	-1S	-okki	-1XP	-okkwe	-1S	-okka	-1XP	-okkor
		-1NP	-okubo			-1NP	-okubwe			-1NP	-okubor
-2S	-okun	-2P	-okno	-2S	-okni	-2P	-okme	-2S	-okna	-2P	-oknor
-3S	-oko	-3P	-okto	-3S	-okti	-3P	-oktwe	-3S	-okta	-3P	-oktor
Subjunctive Mood + Personal Endings
Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-axik	-1XP	-axko	-1S	-axki	-1XP	-axkwe	-1S	-axka	-1XP	-axkor
		-1NP	-axubo			-1NP	-axubwe			-1NP	-axubor
-2S	-axun	-2P	-axno	-2S	-axni	-2P	-axme	-2S	-axna	-2P	-axnor
-3S	-axo	-3P	-axto	-3S	-axti	-3P	-axtwe	-3S	-axta	-3P	-axtor
Contrafactual Mood + Personal Endings
Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-urik	-1XP	-urko	-1S	-urki	-1XP	-urkwe	-1S	-urka	-1XP	-urkor
		-1NP	-urbo			-1NP	-urbwe			-1NP	-urbor
-2S	-urun	-2P	-urno	-2S	-urni	-2P	-urme	-2S	-urna	-2P	-urnor
-3S	-uro ?	-3P	-urto	-3S	-urti	-3P	-urtwe	-3S	-urta	-3P	-urtor

Present Indicative and Imperative Forms

• The endings for the present indicative and imperative stems are mostly the same as those of the other stems.
• For consonant stem verbs, it may be necessary to insert a vowel between the stem and the ending. This vowel will be u for the -1NP and 2nd person forms and i otherwise, as shown by the vowels in parentheses in the table below.
• The vowels in the singular absolutive forms are inserted after any consonant stem.
• Otherwise, the rules for vowel insertion, which depend on the specific combinations of stem endings and suffixes, are suffiently complicated that the vocabulary entries will indicate when insertion occurs.
• However, there's a special rule for nasal stems: before -1NP, n-stems insert u while m-stems fail to do so.

Present/Imperative + Personal Endings

Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-(i)k	-1XP	-(i)ko	-1S	-(i)ki	-1XP	-(i)kwe	-1S	-(i)ka	-1XP	-(i)kor
		-1NP	-(u)bo			-1NP	-(u)bwe			-1NP	-(u)bor
-2S	-(u)n	-2P	-(u)no	-2S	-(u)ni	-2P	-(u)me	-2S	-(u)na	-2P	-(u)nor
-3S	-(i)	-3P	-(i)to	-3S	-(i)ti	-3P	-(i)twe	-3S	-(i)ta	-3P	-(i)tor

Copula Conjugation

• It lacks a verbal noun, a retrospective participle, and a prospective participle.
• The progressive participle is used only as an adjective and therefore always takes endings.
• It has both present indicative and imperative forms, with distinct stems. However, only the hortative and imperative proper forms occur.

Copula Present Tense/Imperative Mood

Absolutive				Dative				Ergative				Imperative
-1S	sik	-1XP	sko	-1S	ski	-1XP	skwe	-1S	ska	-1XP	skor
		-1NP	subo			-1NP	subwe			-1NP	subor			-1NP	sibor
-2S	sun	-2P	suno	-2S	suni	-2P	sunwe	-2S	suna	-2P	sunor	-2S	sina	-2P	sinor
			sno		sni		sme		sna		snor
-3S	si	-3P	sto	-3S	sti	-3P	stwe	-3S	sta	-3P	stor

Adjective Conjugation

• The suffix to conjugate adjectives makes them into into class 5 I-Class verbs.

-Vrb	-it, -t, -ti

• These verbs don't have or need progressive participles, since the adjective itself can be used. Because of this, the prefixes bi-, ho-, and leu- can be used on adjectives as well as on verbs.

-Vrb + Present/Imperative + Personal Endings

Absolutive				Dative				Ergative
-1S	-tik	-1XP	-t(i)ko	-1S	-t(i)ki	-1XP	-t(i)kwe	-1S	-t(i)ka	-1XP	-t(i)kor
		-1NP	-tubo			-1NP	-tubwe			-1NP	-tubor
-2S	-tun	-2P	-tuno	-2S	-tuni	-2P	-tume	-2S	-tuna	-2P	-tunor
-3S	-ti	-3P	-t(i)to	-3S	-t(i)ti	-3P	-t(i)twe	-3S	-t(i)ta	-3P	-t(i)tor
			-to		-ti		-twe		-ta		-tor

• For the present indicative and imperative, there are three versions of the verb suffix + personal ending combinations, affecting whether or not -i- appears before the personal ending (where (i) appears in the table).
  1. -i- never appears
  2. -i- appears in 3rd person forms, but not 1st person forms
  3. -i- appears in both 3rd person and 1st person forms
• Adjectives are divided into four groups according to what their stems end with, as shown below:
  1. -it group: Append -i- to the stem and use version A of the suffix combinations.
     • b, d, g, j, c, ts, m
     • pp, tt, kk
     • pt, pk, tp, tk, kp, kt, pf, ps, px, kf, ks, kx, tf, fs, fx, sf, xf
     • h preceded by any consonant
  2. -t group: Use version A of the suffix combinations.
     • h preceded by any vowel; h is deleted
     • y, w; these change to i, u (possibly li, lu after a vowel), respectively
     • l, r preceded by at least one consonant; these change to o, a, respectively
  3. -tI group: Use version B of the suffix combinations.
     • l, r, n, f, s, x after a simple vowel
     • ll, rr, nn, ff, ss, xx; these become single
  4. -ti group: Use version C of the suffix combinations.
     • l, r, n, f, s, x after a diphthong
     • p, t, k after any of l, r, m, n, f, s, x or any vowel; t is deleted after a consonant
• The second set of ending combinations for the 3rd person may be used in versions B and C except when the t of the stem is deleted.

• The other moods and tenses are simpler: they all append -t- followed by the regular mood/tense + personal ending combinations. The only additional detail is that group 1 stems insert -i- before the -t-.

Verbs Derived from Adjectives

• There are also dynamic class 5 P-Class verbs derived from adjectives. These are conjugated like the static derivations. The suffixes are:

  -ToS	-ix(x)	change to state
  -FrS	-of(f)	change from state
  -Via	-arh	change to, then from, state

• The following suffix applies to adjectives and produces dynamic class 5 P-Class verbs:

  -Evo	-ubl	more of quality

Need to add -ToS forms etc. to the table.

page started: 2007.Jan.02 Tue
last modified: 2008.Jun.22 Sun
content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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