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====Conjugation==== | ====Conjugation==== | ||
Verbs are conjugated | Verbs are conjugated largely by means of particles that follow the main verb. Verbs may express the following: | ||
* Tense: present or non-present | |||
* Mood: indicative, hypothetical, imperative | |||
* Aspect: imperfective or perfective | |||
* Valency: transitive, intransitive or causative. | |||
There are two sets of particles: ''da'' particles are used with intransitive verbs and ''zu'' particles with transitive and causative verbs. | The verb stem, whether primary or secondary, is considered imperfective in sense. A perfective sense is indicated by adding the suffix ''-i'' to the stem, e.g. ''yang'' "eats, eating" > ''yangi'' "ate", ''inuapush'' "asks, asking" > ''inuapushi'' "asked". | ||
There are two main sets of particles to indicate tense, mood and valency: ''da'' particles are used with intransitive verbs and ''zu'' particles with transitive and causative verbs. Each set has a different particle for present and past indicative, hypothetical and imperative. These are placed directly after the main verb, e.g. ''yang zu'' "is eating", ''erayekii fong'' "was building". | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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|- | |- | ||
| Imperative || ''bii'' || ''byo'' | | Imperative || ''bii'' || ''byo'' | ||
|} | |||
Other particles may precede the main particle, giving further shades of meaning. These are usually joined with a hyphen, e.g. ''ngane ka etoz au-da?'' "will he come?" | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! Particle !! Meaning !! Uses | |||
|- | |||
| ''ee'' || negative || negates any verb, e.g. ''nepa ka ilui ee-heng'' "she did not die" | |||
|- | |||
| ''au''|| interrogative || asks simple yes/no questions, e.g. ''yi ka ewang au-da?'' "are you going?" | |||
|- | |||
| ''te'' || uncertainty || expresses uncertainty about the action of the verb, e.g. ''ngane ka loging te-da'' "perhaps he is sleeping" | |||
|- | |||
| ''meng'' || hearsay || indicates that the speaker does not know in person, e.g. ''ngange ka loging meng-da'' "I heard he is sleeping" | |||
|- | |||
| ''ba'' || "if" || indicates the conditional, e.g. ''yi ewang ba-da'' "if you are going". | |||
|} | |} | ||
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