overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
Verb-affixes varies to a much higher degree according to the shape of the root: especially whether it ends in a vowel or not, and whether the vowel is fronted (e i y) or not (a o u). Therefore, more prototypes are used: the default being closed final syllable, but also proptotypes showing the fronted open final syllable and backed open final syllable is used when these differ.
Closest to the stem are the prefixes and the suffixes that change and adjust the meaning of the verb more directly, like the intensity markers and the mood suffix-complex.
The mood and modality of a verb, if not indicative, is shown by frontwords, a prefix or a suffix-complex close to the root.
Furthermore, though it is good form to keep to the active voice, there is something akin to a passive. It makes the subject irrelevant so that it may be dropped, but doesn't change the case of the object in any way. There is also suffixes to mark reflexivity, reciprocality and several forms of causativity.
Then follows what Taruven grammarians refer to as comment-words, vülar. These show how the speaker know something, the source, and how certain the speaker is that the information is correct.
A transitive verb's object (and marked as such) can be incorporated into the verb. In many cases, such a merge is the only way to express something, these fixed incorporations are known as verb-noun constructions (or vncs) and are listed in a dictionary like any other word.
Finally, a verb might optionally be marked for aspect and tense , in that order. The default tense is present (or generic) and the unmarked aspect of most verbs is the continuous.
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
FRONTWORD (..) PREFIX - verb stem - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| vren | imperative |
| oah | hortative |
| jil | jussive |
See Frontwords for more examples.
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| negation (NEG) | ë- | |
| imperative (IMP) | va- | |
| passive (PAS) | y- | |
| same subject (SS) | le- |
The prefixes have little in common apart from being prefixes, though the prefixes closest to the verb all replace a standalone subject.
As can be seen from d) above, the same-subject prefix is used to avoid repeating a pronoun, or avoid using pronouns altogether.
The negation-prefix negates the verb and not the prefix to its right if any:
ëy is sometimes written eì when spelled out.
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| =e | attenuative, negative comparative |
| ∅ | neutral |
| =a | intensive, positive comparative |
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| ability, capability (can, able) | =lann | ||
| willingness (want) | =šeŋŋ | ||
| obligative (ought to, should) | =(e)lleŋ | ||
| allowability/permissive (may) | =(i)nnim | ||
| commissive (swear, promise, vow) | =(a)rrun | ||
| hypercommissive (swear to death) | =itarrūn | ||
| counterfactual/irrealis (would have) | =(y)skīn | ||
| optative (wish, hope) | =(h)ūš |
sā xarrun
sā xa =rrun
1s do -SWEAR
I swear to do it, I promise I'll do it
ū xalannelleŋ
ū xa =lann =lleŋ
2s do -ABLE -OUGHT
you ought to be able to do it, you ought to do it and you're able to do
it
Notice that the subject of a verb and the subject of the mood is always the same. Hence, you cannot use the mood-markers in sentences like example b) just below but need to paraphrase like in example c).
ū mahašeŋŋ
ū maha =šeŋŋ
2s play -WANT
You want to play
ū mahašeŋŋ ī
ū maha =šeŋŋ ī
2s play -WANT 3s
You want him/her/it to play
ūel hūš ī maha
ū -el hūš ī maha
2s -EXP want.that 3s play
You want him/her/it to play
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| causative, intransitive -> transitive | -ge | ||
| causative, intransitive -> ditransitive | -geke | ||
| causative, makes complemented verb from regular verb | -aš | ||
| detransitivizer | -ek | ||
| complemented passive (removes the -el-marked constituent) | -ta | ||
| reflexive | -hux | ||
| reciprocal | -tša |
-ge+-ek = -gek
-geke+-ek = -grek
-aš+-ta = -atta
-aš+-hux = -aìšyx
-aš+-tša = -atša
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| -(j)ī(p), -(j)irī | mirativity, surprise, unexpectedness |
| -(v)ē(x), -(v)eghē | mirativity, negative surprise, unexpectedness |
| -(h)al(a) | relief, positive reaction |
| -(h)on(o) | regret, negative reaction |
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
Source-marking is optional and most often occurs in 2nd or 3rd person and together with past tense. It is especially rare in the future tense and the irrealis mood.
| -tše | firsthand, witnessed/sensed |
| -s,eò | rumor/hearsay |
-tše is sometimes used in 1st person to underline and emphasize that something actually took place.
xatšera
xa -tše -ra
do -firsthand -PAST
I/we really did do it!
-tše in the irrealis strengthens the irrealis and is most often used to mark a gedankenexperiment.
ī kruskīntše
ī kru -skīn -tše
2s kill -irrealis -firsthand
(I'm not claiming that he/she did/would but) let's pretend, for the sake of
argument, that he/she kills the dog.
oah xaskīntše mirrōru sïdales
oah xa -skīn -tše mirrō -ru sïdal -es
HORT do -irrealis -firsthand cat -LOC.g container -LOC
(I'm not claiming that this is the case anywhere but) imagine
a cat in a box.
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| -(e)geár | certainly, definitely |
| -(a)naỳ | probably |
| -(i)skeìr | possibly/maybe |
| -(a)tream | unlikely |
| -(i)ŋgyév | impossible |
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| inceptive (begin) | -eì | |||
| resumptive (continue after pause) | -tul | |||
| cessative (end, unplanned) | -tax | |||
| completive (end, cannot be continued) | -ydh | |||
| pausative (take a break) | -(i)jir | |||
| semelfactive/simulfactive | -vadh | |||
| iterative/repetition, many times | -(v)onn | |||
| iterative/repetition, a few times | -(v)oje | |||
| repetition, none | -(v)oál | |||
| repetition, specific <number> of times | -(v)o<cardinal number> | |||
| perfective/punctual | -(i)ŋir | |||
| habitual | -seþ | |||
| distributive | -reì | |||
| accidental | -aìbh | |||
| intentional | -mo |
A simulfactive event is one that does not repeat, while a semelfactive is a single iteration of an event that repeats. In Taruven, this is used to show that something that was supposed to repeat happened only once, to zoom in on one of the repetitions, see b) below, or to emphasize that something was done only once, as in c).
xavadra
xa -vadh -ra
do -once -PAST
I/we only did it once
fōmvadra hrannhux hsāaþ
fōm -vadh -ra hrann -hux hsā -aþ
parachute-jump -once -PAST break -self leg -PAT
Once when I/we parachuted I/we broke my/our leg
šthavadra o famm
štha -vadh -ra o famm
cross -once -PAST it fall
I/we crossed it just once and it fell down
An iterative event is one that repeats, seen as a whole. The iterative in Taruven is a clue to how the aspect-markers were first joined to the verb. Some noun or stative *o meaning repetition was at one time incorporated into the verb, where it has stayed. The forms with v are used after a vowel.
The examples are ordered from least marked to most marked, so while -onn is quite frequent, -o<number> is generally only found in recipes and texts of a technical or scientfic nature, and bad poetry using end-rhymes. -oál is mostly use to emphasize that something won't happen at all and thus usually only occur together with the negation-marker or in the counterfactual mood. The latter has the worn form -(y)skul.
xavonn
xa -vonn
do -repeat.many
I/we repeat it many times
xavoje
xa -voje
do -repeat.few
I/we repeat it just a few times
ëxavoál
ë- xa -voál
NEG- do -repeat.none
I/we aren't doing it even once
xavokaìr
xa -vo kaìr
do -repeat 4
I/we do it exactly four times
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense
| -ra | past |
| Ø | present/generic/universal/undefined |
| -su | future |
The /s/ of the future marker assimilates to a preceding sibilant:
eššu
ešš -su
turn.left -FUT
I/we will turn/go left
fiaxxu
fiax -su
board -FUT
I/we will board
vriššu
vriš -su
ask -FUT
I/we will ask
tšērassu
tšēras -su
colonize -FUT
I/we will colonize
řasu
ř -su
turn.right -FUT
I/we will turn/go right
As the last example above shows the /s/ is protected from the usual assimilation to ř by an epenthetic /a/.
overview | structure | frontwords | prefixes | intensity | mood | voice | comment | source | certainty | aspect | tense