Antarctican/Verbs

In the Antarctican language, there are no adjectives. Instead of adjectives meaning "red", "old" or "tall", there are verbs meaning "to be red", "to be old", "to be tall" etc. So instead of saying "the tall tree", you would say "the tree that is tall".

These verbs are clearly marked for transitivity (e.g. a different verb is used in the sentence "The door opened" compared to the sentence "I opened the door".They also take infixes to indicate pronominal objects and voice changes (which is conflated with aspect marking). As well as this, they take prefixes to indicate pronominal subjects (which is conflated with tense marking).

Direct and Indirect Verbs

Verbs have a root form, which in itself is only used in compounds. However from this various other base forms are derived which can stand alone in speech. The two most important of these base forms are the direct base and the indirect base.

The direct base is used when the topic of the sentence is a core argument of the verb (subject of an intransitive verb, agent or patient of a transitive verb). The indirect base is used when the topic of a sentence is an oblique argument.

Below is a list of verb roots with their corresponding indirect and direct bases:

 

doleegi /doleːgi/ - to drag, intransitive, root

doleeju /doleːɟu/ - to drag, intransitive, indirect

`tùlòoezi /ʱtuʱlɘʱːzi/ – to drag, intransitive, direct

 

`ròedu /ʱʁɘdu/ - red, root

`ròedla /ʱʁɘʱdɮa/ - red, indirect

`ròedù /ʱʁɘʱduʱ/ - red, direct

 

'kiraeypyi /kiʁɛipʲi/ - to become scraped, root

'kiraeypyu /kiʁɛipʲu/ - to become scraped, indirect

'kiraypùe /kiʁa;ipɨʱ/ - to become scraped, direct

 

Direct Base

This is the "default" form of the verb that is used normally.

 

Regular Formation

The default way of forming it is by putting breathy voice on the final vowel of the base, and changing the vowel quality in the same way as normal e.g.

 

éypyii /ʔeiˤpʲiː/ - to spit out, root

éypyùey /ʔeiˤpʲɨiʱ/ - to spit out, direct

 

This breathy voice “spreads” to the left until it hits a voiceless obstruent or a prestopped nasal e.g.

 

gowpeyee /goupejeː/ - to suffer a setback, root

gowpòeyòoe /goupɘʱjɘːʱ/ - to suffer a setback, direct

 

inyelee /ʔiɲeleː/ - to pierce, root

ùenyòelòoe /ʔɨʱɲɘʱleː/ - to pierce, direct

 

kiveluun /kiɥeluːɴ/ - to die, root

kùevòelùun /kɨʱɥɘʱluːɴʱ/ - to die, direct

 

Remember that Antarctican only permits voiced obstruents, prestopped nasals, and fricatives other than /s/, before vowels with modal voice. So if this vowel phonation change would produce such a forbidden sequence, then the consonant changes e.g.

 

hlõ /ɬɔ/ - to perform, root

lào /lɜʱ/ - to perform, direct

 

These changes do not affect phonation spreading though, as we can see from:

 

madoze /madoze/ - to give birth, intransitive, root

`màotùsòe /ʱmɜʱtuʱsɘʱ/ - to give birth, intransitive, direct

 

nyiibe /ɲiːbe/ - to snow, root

`nyùeypòe /ʱɲɨipɘʱ/ - to snow, direct

 

san-gize /saɴgize/ - to bleed, root

sàonkùesòe /sɜɴʱkɨʱsɜʱ/ - to bleed, direct

 

When a consonant such as a voiceless obstruent or prestopped nasal blocks the phonation spreading, if the vowel preceding it is /ɨ/ or /ɘ/ with modal voice (or a diphthong beginning with one), then fronts to /i/ or /e/ respectively e.g.

 

yuentorõ /jɨɴtoʁɔ/ - to introduce oneself, root

yintùrào /jiɴtuʱʁɜʱ/ - to introduce oneself, direct

 

imuepu /ʔimɨpu/ - to sit down, root

imipù /ʔimipuʱ/ - to sit down, direct

 

nuetoze /nitoze/ - to be fed on, root

nitùsòe /nituʱsɘʱ/ - to be fed on, direct

 

poensaa /pɘɴsaː/ - to be lost in deep thought, root

pensàao /peɴsɜːʱ/ - to be lost in deep thought, direct

 

If the vowel is /ɛ/, or a diphthong starting with /ɛ/, before the blocking consonant, then it lowers to /a/ e.g.

'kiraeypi /kiʁɛipi/ - to become scraped, root

'kiraypùe /kiʁaipɨʱ/ - to become scraped, direct

 

Final Syllable Replacement

In addition to this, some verbs lose their final syllable, which is replaced with –zi e.g.

 

doleegi /doleːgi/ - to drag, intransitive, root

tùlòoezi /tuʱlɘːʱzi/ – to drag, intransitive, direct (-gùe has been replaced with -zi).

 

bilidli /bilidɮi/ - to make it across, root

pùelùezi /pɨʱlɨʱzi/ - to make it across, direct

 

indirect Base

This is used when the topic of the sentence is an oblique argument of the verb, not a core argument (i.e. not the subject of an intransitive verb or the agent / patient of a transitive verb).

How it is formed from the root is regular, but the rules are somewhat complex and depend on whether the last syllable of the base begins with a soft or hard consonant:

Final Consonant is Soft

If the final consonant (not including any placeless nasal /ɴ/) is soft, infix -iq-/iʔ/ immediately after it e.g.

 

hlõ /ɬɔ/ - to perform, root

hli-õ /ɬiʔɔ/ - to perform, indirect

 

However, many vowels shift when this happens e.g.

 

éypyii /ʔeiˤpʲiː/ - to spit out, root

éypyi-eey /ʔeiˤpʲiʔeːi/ - to spit out, indirect

 

inyelee /ʔiɲeleː/ - to pierce, root

inyeli-aa /ʔiɲeliʔaː/ - to pierce, indirect

 

kiveluun /kiɥeluːɴ/ - to die, root

kiveli-ewn /kiɥeliʔeuɴ/ - to die, indirect

 

These vowel shifts are all in a roughly anti-clockwise directions around the vowel space. The shifts are listed below:

i /i/ -> e /e/

ii /iː/ -> ey /ei/

e /e/ -> a /a/

ee /eː/ -> aa /aː/

a /a/ -> u /u/

aa /aː/ -> uu /uː/

u /u/ -> i /i/

uu /uː/ -> ew /eu/

ey /ei/ -> ay /ai/

eey /eːi/ -> aay /aːi/

ay /ai/ -> uy /ui/

aay /aːi/ -> uuy /uːi/

uy /ui/ -> ii /iː/

ew /eu/ -> aw /au/

eew /eːu/ -> aaw /aːu/

aw /au/ -> ow /ou/

aaw /aːu/ -> oow /oːu/

 

Final Consonant is Hard

If the final consonant (not including any placeless nasal /ɴ/) is hard, change it to be soft e.g.

 

yuentorõ /jɨɴtoʁɔ/ - to introduce oneself, root

yuentolõ /jɨɴtolɔ/ - to introduce oneself, indirect

 

However, many vowels shift when this happens e.g.

 

nangarew /naŋaʁeu/ - to flow, root

nangaluu /naŋaluː/ - to flow, indirect

 

'kirami /ˤkiʁami/ - to swell up, root

'kiramyu /ˤkiʁamʲu/ - to swell up, indirect

 

imuepu /ʔimɨpu/ - to sit down, root

imuepya /ʔimɨpʲa/ - to sit down, indirect

 

These vowel changes are often the reverse of what happens if the final vowel of the stem is a soft consonant. The vowel shifts are all roughly clockwise around the vowel space, and are listed below:

i /i/ -> u /u/

u /u/ -> a /a/

uu /uː/ -> aa /aː/

a /a/ -> e /e/

aa /aː/ -> ee /eː/

e /e/ -> i /i/ * For some words only, see below.

ee /eː/ -> ii /iː/

ii /iː/ -> uy /ui/

uy /ui/ -> ay /ai/

uuy /uːi/ -> aay /aːi/

ay /ai/ -> ey /ei/

aay /aːi/ -> eey /eːi/

ey /ei/ -> ii /iː/

eey /eːi/ -> ii /iː/

ow /ou/ -> aw /au/

oow /oːu/ -> aaw /aːu/

aw /au/ -> ew /eu/

aaw /aːu/ -> eew /eːu/

ew /eu/ -> uu /uː/

eew /eːu/ -> uu /uː/

 

Vowel Phonation Changes

A few verb stems that end in a hard consonant and e /e/ behave differently. If the consonant is an obstruent and the vowel is short, has modal voice and not followed by -n /ɴ/, then the syllable is deleted and voice put onto the preceding syllable(s). This voice is breathy if the deleted obstruent was voiced, and tense if it was voiceless e.g.

 

nuetoze /nɨtoze/ - to be fed on, root

nitù /nituʱ/ - to be fed on, indirect

siboete /sibɘte/ - to all be present, root

sipáe /sipɛˤ/ - to all be present, indirect (remember that Antarctican does not like plain voiced obstruents before vowels with breathy voice).

 

The breathy voice “spreads” backwards through the word, changing vowel phonation with it, until it hits a voiceless obstruent or prestopped nasal e.g.

 

madoze /madoze/ - to give birth, intransitive, root

`màotù /ʱmɜʱtuʱ/ - to give birth, intransitive, indirect

 

nyiibe /ɲiːbe/ - to snow, root

`nyùue /ʱɲɨːʱ/ - to snow, indirect

 

san-gize /saɴgize/ - to bleed, root

sàon-gùe /sɜʱɴgɨʱ/ - to bleed, indirect

 

Tense voice "spreads" backwards in a similar way, except that it passes through voiceless stops and not through voiced stops, fricatives, or prestopped nasals e.g.

daraeke /daʁɛke/ - to cover, root

tárá /taˤʁaˤ/ - to cover, indirect

 

Verbalisation

Antarctican has a very productive process for to convert a noun N into an intransitive verb root meaning “to become N” / “to be N / to do what N does”. How this is done depends on the voicing of the last vowel of the absolutive form of the noun

 

Last Vowel of Abs. Form has Modal Voice

In this case, the verb root is identical to the absolutive form e.g.

 

zive /ziɥe/ - boat, absolutive

zive /ziɥe/ - to be a boat, verb root

 

buraza /buʁaza/ - brother, absolutive

buraza /buʁaza/ - to be a brother, verb root

 

yuenpiluy - /jɨɴpilui/ - employee, absolutive

yuenpiluy - /jɨɴpilui/ - employee, verb root

 

Other Cases

However, if the final vowel of the absolutive form has tense or breathy voice, the verb stem is formed from the ergative form of the noun, minus any final –n e.g.

 

ùylòen /ʔuiʱlɜɴʱ/ - island, absolutive

oylendun /ʔoileɴdun/ - island, ergative

oylendu /ʔoileɴdu/ - to be an island, verb root

 

péy /peiˤ/ - book, absolutive

péykin /peiˤkiɴ/ - book, ergative

péyki /peiˤki/ - to be a book, verb root

 

támá /taˤmaˤ/ - victim of a scam / swindle, absolutive

damaesin /damɛsiɴ/ - victim of a scam / swindle, ergative

damaesi /damɛsi/ - to be a victim of a scam / swindle, verb root

 

màao /mɜʱː/ - betel nut, absolutive

pmaagin /pmaːgiɴ/ - betel nut, ergative

pmaagi /pmaːgi/ - to be a betel nut, verb stem

 

`pùelùe /ʱpɨʱlɨʱ/ - bridge, absolutive

bilidlin /bilidɮiɴ/ - bridge, ergative

bilidli /bilidɮi/ - to be bridge / to make it across, verb stem

 

`pàoy /ʱpɜiʱ/ - baby, absolutive

baybyin /baibʲiɴ/ - baby, ergative

baybyi /baibʲi/ - to be a baby, verb stem

 

pàoy /pɜiʱ/ - page, absolutive

paydlin /paidɮiɴ/ - page, ergative

paydli /paidɮi/ - to be a page, verb stem

Transitivity

 

Whether a verb is transitive or intransitive Transitivity^[*] is very important in Antarctican syntax. Unlike English, where a verb such as "drag" can either be used transitively (as in the sentence "He was dragging his pants along the ground"), or intransitively (as in the sentence "His pants were dragging along the ground"), Antarctican uses distinct verb roots for each case e.g.

 

doleeju /doleːɟu/ - to drag, intransitive, indirect (as in "his pants were dragging along the ground")

dleeju /dɮeːɟu/ - to drag, transitive, indirect (as in "he was dragging his pants along the ground")

 

`tùlòoezi /ʱtuʱlɘʱːzi/ – to drag, intransitive, direct

`tlòoezi /ʱtɬɘʱːzi/– to drag, transitive, direct

 

Very commonly, transitive roots are formed from intransitive roots by deletion of the first vowel and the second consonant. And if, out of the first and second consonants, one was soft and the other hard, the first consonant is changed to agree in hardness / softness with the second (deleted) consonant e.g.

 

doleegi /doleːgi/ - to drag, intransitive, root

dleegi /dɮeːgi/ - to drag, intransitive, root

 

shinari /çinaʁi/ - to twist, intransitive, root

hari /χaʁi/ - to twist, transitive, root

 

The transitive roots are then inflected for indirect vs. direct e.g.

 

shinari /çinaʁi/ - to twist, intransitive, root

shinali /çinali/ - to twist, intransitive, indirect

yùenàorùe /jɨʱnɜʱʁɨʱ/ - to twist, intransitive, direct

 

hari /χaʁi/ - to twist, transitive, root

hali /χali/ - to twist, transitive, indirect

ràorùe /ʁɜʱʁɨʱ/ - to twist, transitive, direct

Voice and Object Marking

Grammatical voice is very important in Antarctican. It is conflated with pronominal object marking, both only affecting transitive verbs and usually using infixes that come immediately after the first consonant of the verb base. As with elsewhere in the language, these are not differentiated for number, although there is an inclusive and exclusive “us”.

Infixation

This is the default way of marking pronominal objects and grammatical voice. In each case there are two forms of the infix, one that contains a hard consonant that is used with verbs beginning with hard consonants, and another that contains a soft consonant that is used with verbs beginning with soft consonants. Note that there is no infix to mark 3rd person objects. Instead the antipassive voice is used. The infixes are listed below in pairs, with the hard version coming first and then the soft version.

Infixes for Voice and Object Pronouns

	Hard Form	Soft Form
1PS Exclusive	em	imy
1PS Inclusive	as	ehl
2PS	õs	õhl
who	ar	el
what	ab	eby
Reflexive	er	il
Perfective Antipassive	ut / óws (see below)	atl
Imperfective Antipassive	am	emy
Superordinate	át(q)	áet(q)l

These come immediately after the first consonant of the verb base e.g.

damaehlu /damɛɬu/ - to scam / swindle, indirect

dõsamaehlu /dɔsamɛɬu/ - to scam / swindle you, indirect

damaehlu /damɛɬu/ - to scam, indirect

demamaehlu /demɛɬu/ - to scam me / us (not including you), indirect

All of the usual rules about phonation spreading apply e.g.

pyùu /pʲuːʱ/ - to purify, direct

pyùemyùu /pʲɨʱmpʲuːʱ/ - to purify me / us (not including you, direct

pyòelùu /pʲɘʱluːʱ/ - to purify who, direct

The infixes with non-back vowels and voiceless consonants also undergo vowel mutation if the following vowel has modal voice. This is the exact same as has been described before for noun and verb prefixes e.g.

damaehlu /damɛɬu/ - to scam / swindle, indirect

daesamaehlu /dɛsamɛɬu/ - to scam / swindle us (including you), indirect

deramaehlu /deʁamɛɬu/ - to scam / swindle oneself, indirect

If the first vowel of the verb base has breathy or tense voice, and the infix inserted would contain /ɬ/ (which can only occur before modal voice vowels), then it becomes /l/ and /tɬ/ respectively. However it still blocks the spread of the voicing e.g.

pyùu /pʲuːʱ/ - to purify, direct

pyolùu /pʲɔluːʱ/ - to purify you, direct

pyelùu /pʲeluːʱ/ - to purify ourselves (including you), direct

The last example this is distinct from pyòelùu /pʲɘʱluːʱ/ - to purify who, direct, which has breathy voice spreading onto the infix.

Note that, for the purposes of the syntax, using any of these infixes turns a transitive verb into an intransitive verb. This means that the subject of such an infixed verb can no longer take ergative case e.g.

• yuenpiluy - /jɨɴpilui/ - employee, absolutive
• yuenpiloy /jɨɴpiloi/ - employee, ergative
• sõwdla - /sɔudɮ/ - soldier, absolutive
• damasùe - /damasɨʱ/ - to scam / swindle, direct

yuenpiloy	damasùe	sõwdla
jɨɴpiloi	damasɨʱ	sɨudɮ

An employee scammed a soldier

Above, we can see that the word for "employee" is in the ergative case, and must come before the verb. However, when the object is a pronoun, the word for "employee" must take the absolutive case e.g.

yuenpiluy	daesamasùe
jɨɴpilui	dɛsamasɨʱ
employee-ABS	<1PS.INC.OBJ>scam

An employee scammed us (including you)

Antarctican also permits the subjects of intransitive verbs to come after the verb, so the following sentence is also grammatical (and perhaps more common):

daesamasùe	yuenpiluy
dɛsamasɨʱ	jɨɴpilui
<1PS.INC.OBJ>scam	employee-ABS

An employee scammed us (including you)

Antipassive Voice

Antarctican has extremely productive antipassivisation (Antipassive_voice^[*]). There are two infixes, which depend on whether the verb has perfective or imperfective aspect.

Perfective Antipassive

This is used for when the action described by the verb is not viewed as having any internal structure (Perfective_aspect^[*]). It can be used for past, present or future actions e.g.

duetamasùe	yuenpiluy
dɨtamasɨʱ	jɨɴpilui
<PFV.AP>scam	employee-ABS

An employee scammed / will scam (someone who does not need to be mentioned here).

However, remember that alveolar stops (e.g. /t/) can never occur before /i/ and /ɨ/ (with any phonation), nor before tense voice /eˤ/ and /ɘˤ/, nor before diphthongs starting with these. If a verb begins with a hard consonant followed by one of these vowels, a different infix is used, normally -óws- e.g.

inyeli-aa /ʔiɲeliʔaː/ - to pierce, indirect

ówsinyeli-aa /ʔouˤsiɲeliʔaː/ - to pierce, indirect, perfective antipassive

kiveliqewn /kiɥeliʔeuɴ/ - to die, indirect

kówsiveli-ewn /kouˤsiɥeliʔeuɴ/ - to die, indirect, perfective antipassive

'kátla /ˤkaˤtɬa/ - to make someone's acquaintance, indirect

'kówsátla /ˤkouˤsaˤtɬa/ - to make someone's acquaintance, indirect, perfective antipassive

éypyi-eey /ʔeiˤpʲiʔeːi/ - to spit out, indirect

ówséypyi-eey /ʔouˤseiˤpʲiʔeːi/ - to spit out, indirect, perfective antipassive

Imperfective Antipassive

This is used for ongoing, habitual and repeated action (Imperfective_aspect^[*]).

damamasùe	yuenpiluy
damamasɨʱ	jɨɴpilui
<IMPV.AP>scam	employee-ABS

An employee is / was / will be scamming (someone who does not need to be mentioned here).

Superordinate Voice

Like the antipassive, this also reduces a transitive verb's valency (the number of arguments it has, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valency_(linguistics)) by one, and requires that its subject take the absolutive case. However, it requires some other verb to come afterwards to be subordinate to it e.g.

• `wùnnào /ʱwuʱɴnɜʱ/ - to want (something)
• 'wátùnnào /ˤwaˤtuʱɴnɜʱ/ - to want (to do something / something to happen)

• chùun /cuːˤɴ/ - to fear (something)
• 'cháetlùun /ˤcɛˤtɬuːʱɴ/ - to fear (that something will happen)

So using the nouns below:

• yuenpiluy - /jɨɴpilui/ - employee, absolutive
• yuenpiloy /jɨɴpiloi/ - employee, ergative
• sõwdla - /sɔudɮ/ - soldier, absolutive
• sõwdlan - /sɔudɮɴ/ - soldier, ergative
• nayba /naiba/ - neighbour, absolutive
• nayban /naibaɴ/ - neighbour, ergative
• tõn /tɔɴ/ - change (as in coins, money), absolutive
• tãn /tɒɴ/ - change, ergative

We can say:

yuenpiloy	`wùnnào	tõn
jɨɴpiloi	ʱwuʱɴnɜʱ	tɔɴ
employee-ERG	want	change-ABS

An employee wants change.

yuenpiluy	'wátùnnào	sõwdla	damasùe
jɨɴpilui	ˤwaˤtuʱɴnɜʱ	sɔudɮa	damasɨʱ
employee-ABS	<SPR>want	soldier-ABS	scam

An employee wants to scam a soldier.

Note that in the second sentence, the case for the word "employee" has changed from ergative to absolutive. And since Antarctican allows nouns in the absolutive case to also come after the verb, the following sentences would also be grammatical, and all mean roughly the same thing:

'wátùnnào yuenpiloy sowdla damasùe

yuenpiloy 'wátùnnào damasùe sõwdla

'wátùnnào yuenpiloy damasùe sõwdla

Similarly, using the verb meaning "to fear", we can say:

yuenpiloy	chùun	sõwdla
jɨɴpiloi	cuːˤɴ	sɔudɮa
employee-ERG	fear	soldier-ABS

The employee fears the soldier

yuenpiloy	'cháetlùun	sõwdla	damasùe
jɨɴpiloi	ˤcɛˤtɬuːʱɴ	sɔudɮa	damasɨʱ
employee-ERG	<SPR>fear	soldier-ABS	scam

The employee fears he will scam / has scammed the soldier.

The words in this sentence can be ordered in the same fashion as before.

yuenpiloy	'cháetliqiin	sõwdlan	damasùe
jɨɴpiloi	ˤcɛˤtɬuːʱɴ	sɔudɮaɴ	damasɨʱ
employee-ERG	<SPR>fear	soldier-ERG	scam

The employee fears the soldier will scam / has scammed him.

Here, while the word for "employee" can come after the verb meaning "to fear", the word for "soldier", cannot, since it takes the ergative case (as it is the subject of the transitive verb damasù meaning "to scam").

Reciprocal Voice

One other voice that needs to be mentioned here is the reciprocal voice. This carries to meaning of "to do to each other / one another". It is formed by reduplicating the first syllable of the verb base e.g.

wonnye /woɴɲe/ - to want, indirect

wowonnye /wowoɴɲe/ - to want each other, indirect

darakòe /daʁakɘʱ/ - to cover, direct

dadarakòe /dadaʁakɘʱ/ - to cover each other, direct

shuetinju /çɨtiɴɟu/ - to count, indirect

shueshuetinju /çɨçɨtiɴɟu/ - to count each other, indirect

However, the reduplicated syllable cannot contain a long vowel, a diphthong, or the placeless nasal /ɴ/. If the first syllable of the verb base contains any of these, then it is truncated e.g.

ziitlàoji /ziːtɬɜʱɟi/ - to know (a person), indirect

ziziitlàoji /ziziːtɬɜʱɟi/ - to know each other, indirect

yinwùumùe /jiɴwuːʱmɨ/ - to turn in, direct

yiyinwùumùe /jijiɴwuːʱmɨ/ - to turn each other in, direct

kaaeykyu /kɛːi&k#690;u/ - to sell, indirect

kaekaaeykyu /kɛkɛːikʲu/ - to sell each other, indirect

The reduplicated syllable has whatever floating phonation is at the start of the word e.g.

'kátla /ˤkaˤtɬa/ - to make someone's acquaintance, indirect

'kákátla /ˤkaˤkaˤtɬa/ - to make each other's acquaintance, indirect

This may not be the same phonation as is on the first syllable of the word e.g.

'kamyu /ˤkamʲu/ - to inflate (someone's ego), indirect

'kákamyu /ˤkaˤkamʲu/ - to inflate each other('s ego), indirect

'kaypùe /ˤkaipɨʱ/ - to scrape, direct

'kákaypùe /ˤkaˤkaipɨʱ/ - to scrape each other, direct

Any changes to vowel quality that happen because of vowel phonation changes, also happen here e.g.

'puytlù /ˤpuitɬuʱ/ - to pick a fight, direct

'póyputlu /ˤpoiˤpuitɬuʱ/ - to pick a fight with each other, direct

As well as all the other regular vowel quality changes that happen when a noun takes a prefix e.g.

hali /χali/ - to twist, transitive, indirect

haehali /χɛχali/ - to twist, transitive, indirect

As with reciprocal possession, a few verbs have irregular forms in the reciprocal voice e.g.

ràorùe /ʁɜʱʁɨʱ/ - to twist, transitive, direct

haràorùe /χaʁɜʱʁɨʱ/ - to twist each other, transitive, direct

Generally, if a noun has an irregular reciprocal possessive form, then any verbs derived from it will also have irregular reciprocal voice forms e.g.

wùeròen /wɨʱʀɘɴʱ/ - friend, absolutive

fiwùeròen /fiwɨʱʀɘɴʱ/ - friends (of each other), absolutive

wòenzi /wɘɴʱ/ - to befriend, direct

fiwòenzi /fiwɘɴʱ/ - to befriend each other, direct

These irregularities happen for the same reason in reciprocal verbs as they do in reciprocal nouns, namely because there is an underlying initial consonant that changes form to something else because it is before a vowel with breathy voice or tense voice (which prohibit some consonants from coming before it). However, if there is modal floating phonation, then the underlying forms can resurface in the reduplication.

Pronominal Subject Prefixes

Instead of using pronouns to indicate subject, Antarctican uses prefixes on verbs. Which prefix is used depends on the tense of the verb (normally unmarked). They do not inflect for number. They are listed in the table below:

	Past	Present	Future
1PS Exclusive	uy	omyi	ow
1PS Inclusive	chi	we	wi
2PS	nyin	ya	yu
3PS	zay	ze	zaw
Who / What	wu	hew	ri

Note that, for habitual actions in the present, the past tense is used. Also the present tense is used for imminent actions in the future (where English might use "about to").

Emphatic Forms

All of the pronomnial affixes have emphatic forms that are generated by lengthening the vowel e.g.

chisàon-gùe /cisɜʱɴgɨʱ/ you bleed, indirect

chiisàon-gùe /ciːsɜʱɴgɨʱ/ you (emphatic) bleed, indirect

This lengthening can also be used on infixes marking objects e.g.

pyõhli-uu /pʲɔɬiʔuː/ - purify you, indirect

pyõohli-uu /pʲɔːɬiʔuː/ - purify you (emphatic), indirect