User:Bukkia/sandboxVIII

Verbs

The verbal system of Cärähə language displays the following features:

• tense:
  • simple tenses: present, past
  • compound tenses: present continuous, past continuous, perfect, pluperfect, future, anterior future, future in the past
• mood:
  • definite moods: indicative, subjunctive, optative, potential
  • indefinite moods: infinitive, active participle, passive participle
• diathesis: active, passive

Each verb has two roots, the present root (R_pres) and the past root (R_past). The base form is the present root, while the past root is usually derived fromt he present one. . The perfective root is usually derived from the imperfective one through an introflexive process of vowel switching:

CV1CV2C → CV2CV1C

Example:

Rimp = moɕäd- → Rprf = mäɕod-

This process may give rise to irregular root forms.

Rpres = ǵärug- → Rpast = guŕäg-

In disyllabic verbal root, all vowels are involved in the switching process.

However, multisyllabic verbal roots can be formed through morphological derivation by adding prefixes or suffixes or both of them. These morphological affixes are usually not involved in the switching process. The vowel involved are those belonging to the original disyllabic root:

Rpres = secerun- → Rpast = securen-

Rpres = sühisuh- → Rpast = sihüsuh-

Rpres = x́äsähirih- → Rpast = x́äsihärih-

Some verbs, many of them neologisms or loanwords, derive their past root from the present one by adding the suffix -ig, without any vowel switching:

CV1CV2C → CV1CV2Cig

Example:

Rpres = çurühuh- → Rpast = çurühuhig-

The verb cänühä, to be, display a totally irregular past root:

Rpres = cän- → Rpast = häcän-

Likewise, other monosyllabic verbs are treated as irregular verbs.

The citation form of verbs is the present infinitive, marked by the ending -ühä. From such form the present verbal root can be inferred and can be changed in every other verbal form.

All verbs are divided in two classes, depending on the outcome of the third singular person. In the first class (class I), the ending -äh is used, with some possible irregularities, while in the second class (class II), a null ending is used, with a more regular outcome. Verbs with a past root built with the suffix -ig- belong always to the class II, creating thus a subgroup, known as class IIg.

In simple tenses the following personal endings are added to the verbal root. In this way, verbs show their agreement with the clause subject in person and number:

	class I	class II
1st sing.	-ü	-ü
2nd sing.	-ir	-ir
3rd sing.	-́äh	-
1st plur.	-unü	-unü
2nd plur.	-unir	-unir
3rd plur.	-uńäh	-un

The different moods are formed by adding the following infixes to the verbal root, before the personal endings:

• indicative: Ø
• subjunctive: -ün-
• optative: -us-
• potential: -äɕ-

The non-finite verbal forms are meant as nominal/adjectival forms of the same verbs. They do not add the personal endings, but they are declined as nouns or adjectives with the nominal declension endings.

As verbal forms can, however, be formed on both roots. The infinitive can also add the modal infixes before its typical ending.

The non-finite endings are:

• infinitive: -æm‘
• active participle: -jiθu
• passive participle: -ux‘

All the endings may merge with some verbal roots and create irregular forms.