Seuna verbs (2)

Three valency changing constructions

The causative

Verse 2

hukahekahee metapu sinaa kenipa eaqa kitile.

hu=	0-	kahekahee	meta	=pu	sinaa	kenipa	e=	0-	aqa	kiti	=le
and=	3>3'-	find:DIST:B	region	=in	Shinar	mesa	SS=	3-	journey	east	=from

hukate yu.

hu=	0-	kate	yu
and=	3-	dwell	there

And they found in the land Shinar a mesa as they journey from the East. And they dwelt there.

Two participles

There are two participles. The passed passive is the infinite with oi replacing the original vowel. The present active is the infinite with eu replacing the original vowel.

These participles can appear in compounds. For example;- hand.makeoi = handmade

wife.beatla = wifebeater

It could be said that there is a third participle. The infinitive can be used to mean "that must be". For example "shirt" "to wash" means the shirt that must be washed.

Auxiliary verbs

The equivalents of the English words may and can are given by auxiliary verbs in Seuna.

However the three Seuna words used are not "defective" as their English equivalents are.

The verb fronted by the auxiliary verb is always in its infinitive form (called source form (consider Arabic "maSdar")).

wai

wai is used in situations where it is possible to xxxx because one has physical strength or skill.

wai:ari to lift chair = I could not lift the chair

children wai:uro to swim = the children can swim

bisa

bisa is used in situations where it is possible to xxxx because one has permission.

children bisuro to swim in lake = the children can swim in the lake

bisire to leave = you may leave

weka

weka is used in situations where it is possible to xxxx because one has knowledge or mental ability (to know how to ...).

wekoro to name all the prime numbers upto one thousand = S/he can name ...

weka is also used in situations where it is possible to xxxx because of external factors.

??? wekoro to walk across lake llll in winter time = One can walk ....

(actually how would Seuna express the above ??)

Index

1. Introduction to Seuna
2. Seuna : Chapter 1
3. Seuna word shape
4. The script of Seuna
5. Seuna sentence structure
6. Seuna pronouns
7. Seuna nouns
8. Seuna verbs (1)
9. Seuna adjectives
10. Seuna demonstratives
11. Seuna verbs (2)
12. Asking a question in Seuna
13. Seuna relative clauses
14. Seuna verbs (3)
15. Methods for deriving words in Seuna
16. List of all Seuna derivational affixes
17. Numbers in Seuna
18. Naming people in Seuna
19. The Seuna calendar
20. Seuna units