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Kirtumur verbs: Difference between revisions
→Finite verbs
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Just like any other language, Kirtumur has word classes of verbs. There are two main classes: finite and non-finite, although many verbs can have forms that belong to both these classes. All finite verbs are primary, that is, verbs which refer directly to some action or state and can make up a clause by themselves. This is often not the case with non-finite verb forms, which rarely make up a clause by themselves and require an additional verb to form a clause. Although a large subgroup, called adjectival verbs, can act similarly to finite verbs in this aspect. | Just like any other language, Kirtumur has word classes of verbs. There are two main classes: finite and non-finite, although many verbs can have forms that belong to both these classes. All finite verbs are primary, that is, verbs which refer directly to some action or state and can make up a clause by themselves. This is often not the case with non-finite verb forms, which rarely make up a clause by themselves and require an additional verb to form a clause. Although a large subgroup, called adjectival verbs, can act similarly to finite verbs in this aspect. | ||
==Verbal clause== | |||
Verbs refer to a large variety of actions and states. An action involves a number of participants, who have roles in that action, and a state involves a participant, who experiences that state. The number and kinds of participants involved differ between different actions and states and thus between different verbs. Because there is a wide variety of actions and states, there are also many kinds of participants. | |||
Every verb has a specific set of syntactic functions expressing the participants who have roles in the specific action or state. For example, the verb ''thacha'' "to give" expresses its three participants with a transitive subject (or the agent), a direct object (the patient), and an indirect object (the recipient). In this way, the verb determines the basic structure of the clause and can therefore be said to be the centre of it. If a clause contains more than one verb, the centre is called the main verb. A subject, object, or adjunct is expressed by using a noun phrase and/or a verbal affix. In the following example the verb ''teka'' "to pour", for instance, has four participants, a person pouring (the agent), a fluid poured (the patient), a recipient, who has something poured (the indirect object) and a container, into which something is poured (location). An agent is expressed by a noun phrase in the ergative case, a patient by a noun phrase in the absolutive case, an indirect object by a noun phrase in the dative case and an indirect locative object by an noun phrase in the absolutive case (since the locative case is only used with place nouns): | |||
:{| | |||
|Mulittarara | |||
|wa | |||
|ninatektē | |||
|ŋaškin | |||
|Arkaunišes | |||
|- | |||
|Mulittar-ara | |||
|wa-Ø | |||
|ni-na-tek-t-ē | |||
|ŋaškin-Ø | |||
|Arkauniš-es | |||
|- | |||
|Mulittar=DAT | |||
|water-ABS | |||
|3sg.Loc-3rd.AN.IndObj-pour-PRF-3sg.Ag.3sg.Pat | |||
|cup-ABS | |||
|Arkauniš-ERG | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | "Arkaunishi has poured water for Mulittari into a cup". | |||
|} | |||
Because non-finite verbal forms lack person markers, except for the indirect onject markers, the method for expressing a subject and object is different in non-finite clauses: | |||
:{| | |||
|Mulittarara | |||
|wa | |||
|ninatektei | |||
|ŋaškin | |||
|... | |||
|- | |||
|wa-Ø | |||
|Mulittar-ara | |||
|ni-na-tek-tei | |||
|ŋaškin-Ø | |||
|... | |||
|- | |||
|water-ABS | |||
|Mulittar=DAT | |||
|3sg.Loc-3rd.AN.IndObj-pour-PRF.NFIN | |||
|cup-ABS | |||
|... | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | "when (he) has poured water for Mulittari into a cup..." | |||
This phrase cannot be a standalone sentence, since the verb ''tektei'' is non-finite, it requires a main verb. Neither the agent not the patient can be expressed with by using verbal affixes, these instead would be placed on the main verb only. | |||
|} | |||
==Finite verbs== | ==Finite verbs== | ||
As Kirtumur finite verbal forms can be quite complex, their structure takes up a major portion of its grammar. The make-up of the verbal stem itself is quite simple, the vital step is to determine the correct order of affixes in order to analyse the verb. A finite verbal form consists of a verbal stem preceded by one or more prefixes and followed by at least one suffix (though this suffix can be a zero morpheme). | As Kirtumur finite verbal forms can be quite complex, their structure takes up a major portion of its grammar. The make-up of the verbal stem itself is quite simple, the vital step is to determine the correct order of affixes in order to analyse the verb. A finite verbal form consists of a verbal stem preceded by one or more prefixes and followed by at least one suffix (though this suffix can be a zero morpheme). | ||