Carpathian verbs
Carpathian verbs reflect a complex system of morphology, more complicated than the nominals, with verbs categorized according to their conjugation class. Each finite verb is conjugated for person, number, tense, aspect, and mood, the last three usually being combined into a single category, called TAM. In addition to finite verbs, non-finite forms such as participles, infinitive and supine are also extensively used. Transitive verbs agree with two or more of its arguments, which is called polypersonal agreement, while intransitive verbs only agree with one argument — its subject. An extreme example of the agreement complexity can be seen in the following sentence: ei-ta-dōdah-ā-mi “He/she made me give it to them” ("to.them-that-made.give-he/she-me").
Most Carpathian verbs have three or four distinct basic stems, i.e. the stems of the imperfective, the aorist, the perfect and the infinitive. All forms of the verb were based on those stems: “sit” — sēdē- (infinitive and aorist), sēdi- (imperfective) and sōd- (perfect); “remain” — lik- (infinitive), leik- (present), likā- (aorist) laik- (perfect).
Personal Endings
Carpathian has two different categories of verbs, based on their present tense personal endings: athematic and thematic, the latter category being much larger and still productive, consisting of every class of verbs but one. The subject endings of the two categories (for the M-type accent paradigm) are:
| Athematic | Thematic | Athematic | Thematic | Athematic | Thematic | Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Aorist | Perfect | Optative | ||||||
| Singular | 1st | -mi | -ū | -ùn | -ùn | -ai | -a | -(j)ēn | -(j)ain |
| 2nd | -si | -ei | -s | -is | -tai | -ta | -(j)ēs | -(j)ais | |
| 3rd | -ti | -e | -∅/-a | -e | -ei | -i | -(j)ē | -(j)ai | |
| Dual | 1st | -wā́ | -(e)wā́ | -awā́ | -(a)wā́ | -wā́ | -wā́ | -(j)ḗwā | -(j)aĩwā |
| 2nd | -tā́ | -(e)tā́ | -atā́ | -(a)tā́ | -tā́ | -tā́ | -(j)ḗtā | -(j)aĩtā | |
| 3rd | -tìs | -(e)tìs | -atìs | -(a)tìs | -tìs | -tìs | -(j)ḗtis | -(j)aĩtis | |
| Plural | 1st | -mès | -(e)mùn/-mà | -amè | -(a)mè | -mè | -mè | -(j)ḗmes | -(j)aĩma |
| 2nd | -tè | -(e)tè | -atè | -(a)tè | -tè | -tè | -(j)ḗte | -(j)aĩte | |
| 3rd | -eñti | -añti | -iñ | -añ | -ínti | -ín | -(j)énti | -ajín | |
- In Western Carpathian the 1st plural present and optative thematic ending is -mun and -aimun, while in Eastern Carpathian it is -ma and -aima.
Conjugation
The following conjugations of verbs exist in the present tense: athematic, simple thematic ("e"-stem verbs) and suffixed ("ī"-stem, "ē"-stem, and "ā"-stem verbs, as well as derived "jā"-stem, "ej"-verbs, "au"-stem, "nō"-stem among others). The future tense is formed using the si- suffix attached to the infinitive stem. The aorist tense has "ā"- and "ē"-stems. With a few exceptions, all verb endings were at some point of Carpathian history influenced by the ending of the present tense.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē/ī-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skeĩmi | stèrhū | turiū́ | gidā́hū | zirhḗjū |
| 2nd sg | skeĩsi | stèrhei | turiéi | gidā́hei | zirhḗjei | |
| 3rd sg | skeĩsti | stèrhe | tùrie | gidā́he | zirhḗje | |
| Dual | 1st du | skeitwā́ | sterhewā́ | turiewā́ | gidewā́ | zirhējewā́ |
| 2nd du | skeistā́ | sterhetā́ | turietā́ | gidetā́ | zirhējetā́ | |
| 3rd du | skeistìs | sterhetìs | turietìs | gidetìs | zirhējetìs | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skeimès | sterhemà | turiemà | gidemà | zirhējemà |
| 2nd pl | skeistè | sterhetè | turietè | gidetè | zirhējetè | |
| 3rd pl | skeiteñti | sterhañti | turiañti | gidañti | zirhējañti | |
The verb stèrhetei “to extend” has tone-3 in Eastern Carpathian, because sonorant clusters with /h/ are treated as a single segment. This is not the case in Western Carpathian, where this verb has tone-2 on the root instead: ster̃hetei. In present tense the root vowel of the e-stem verbs often undergoes ablaut: lìktei “to remain” — leĩkū “I remain”.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skeĩtun | stèrhun | turḗjun | gidā́sun | zirhḗjun |
| 2nd sg | skeĩs | stèrhis | turḗjis | gidā́sis | zirhḗjis | |
| 3rd sg | skeĩ | stèrhe | turḗ | gidā́se | zirhḗ | |
| Dual | 1st du | skeitawā́ | sterhawā́ | turēwā́ | gidāsawā́ | zirhēwā́ |
| 2nd du | skeitatā́ | sterhatā́ | turētā́ | gidāsatā́ | zirhētā́ | |
| 3rd du | skeitatìs | sterhatìs | turētìs | gidāsatìs | zirhētìs | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skeitamè | sterhamè | turēmè | gidāsamè | zirhēmè |
| 2nd pl | skeitatè | sterhatè | turētè | gidāsatè | zirhētè | |
| 3rd pl | skeitiñ | sterhañ | turējañ | gidāsañ | zirhējañ | |
The verb gidā́tei “to wait” has sigmatic aorist, while all other verbs from the example above have root aorist. The difference is the addition of the suffix -s with the lengthening of the previous vowel: kurtéi “to build”, degetéi “to burn” — kúršanta “I built it”, dēšanta “I burnt it” (sigmatic aorist); but tirimtéi “to shiver” — tirìmun “I shivered” (root aorist).
Some irregular "e"-stem verbs have zero-grade ablaut in their root, usually those belonging to PIE bhárati-verbs: bèrōsa “I’m picking it up” — birā́hansa “I picked it up”, but gidā́hū “I’m waiting” — gidā́sun “I waited”.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skéitun | stirhán | turián | gidián | zirhḗjan |
| 2nd sg | skéis | stirhē̃s | turiḗs | gidā́s | zirhḗjēs | |
| 3rd sg | skéi | stirhē̃ | turiḗ | gidā́ | zirhḗjē | |
| Dual | 1st du | skitē̃wā | stirhē̃wā | turḗwā | gidā́wā | zirhējḗwā |
| 2nd du | skitē̃tā | stirhē̃tā | turḗtā | gidā́tā | zirhējḗtā | |
| 3rd du | skitē̃tis | stirhē̃tis | turḗtis | gidā́tis | zirhējḗtis | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skitē̃me | stirhē̃me | turiḗme | gidā́me | zirhējḗme |
| 2nd pl | skitē̃te | stirhē̃te | turiḗte | gidā́te | zirhējḗte | |
| 3rd pl | skiteñ | stirheñ | turējeñ | gidāseñ | zirhējeñ | |
The imperfect forms are often substituted with an analytic construction: "bē" + infinitive — bē skeistei “he/she was reading”. The imperfect forms of athematic and "e"-stem verbs have zero-ablaut in their roots: skitēwā “we two were reading” but skeitwā “we two are reading”.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skaĩtai | stàrha | turḗja | gidā́ha | zirhḗja |
| 2nd sg | skaĩstai | stàrta | turḗta | gidā́ta | zirhḗta | |
| 3rd sg | skaĩtei | stàrhe | turḗje | gidā́he | zirhḗje | |
| Dual | 1st du | skaitwā́ | stárwā | turḗwā | gidā́wā | zirhḗwā |
| 2nd du | skaistā́ | stártā | turḗtā | gidā́tā | zirhḗtā | |
| 3rd du | skaistìs | stártis | turḗtis | gidā́tis | zirhḗtis | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skaimè | stárme | turḗme | gidā́me | zirhḗme |
| 2nd pl | skaistè | stárte | turḗte | gidā́te | zirhḗte | |
| 3rd pl | skaitínti | starhin | turḗjin | gidā́hin | zirhḗjin | |
In perfect the root vowel of athematic and e-stem thematic verbs undergoes qualitative ablaut: leikū “I remain” — laika “I have remained/I am preserved”; pasadḗdemi “I’m putting it down” — pasadṓdai “I’ve put it down”.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skeĩsiū | stèrhesiū | turḗsiū | gidā́siū | zirhḗsiū |
| 2nd sg | skeĩsiei | stèrhesiei | turḗsiei | gidā́siei | zirhḗsiei | |
| 3rd sg | skeĩs | stèrhis | turḗs | gidā́s | zirhḗs | |
| Dual | 1st du | skeĩsiwā | stèrhesiwā | turḗsiwā | gidā́siwā | zirhḗsiwā |
| 2nd du | skeĩsitā | stèrhesitā | turḗsitā | gidā́sitā | zirhḗsitā | |
| 3rd du | skeĩsitis | stèrhesitis | turḗsitis | gidā́sitis | zirhḗsitis | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skeĩsima | stèrhesima | turḗsima | gidā́sima | zirhḗsima |
| 2nd pl | skeĩsite | stèrhesite | turḗsite | gidā́site | zirhḗsite | |
| 3rd pl | skeĩsianti | stèrhesianti | turḗsianti | gidā́sianti | zirhḗsianti | |
The future tense in Carpathian still retains its connection to the desiderative aspect, from which it originated. In fact, it is more accurate to translate Carpathian verbs in future tense with a phrase “wanting to do something”, for example: skeisiū “I’d like to read” or “I want to read”, which implies the speaker’s own volition or intent to do it. Otherwise, optative form is preferred: skitiēn “I am to read”.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 1st sg | skìtiēn | stèrhain | tùriain | gidā́hain | zirhḗjain |
| 2nd sg | skìtiēs | stèrhais | tùriais | gidā́hais | zirhḗjais | |
| 3rd sg | skìtiēs | stèrhai | tùriai | gidā́hai | zirhḗjai | |
| Dual | 1st du | skitiḗwā | sterhaĩwā | turiaĩwā | gidahaĩwā | zirhḗjaiwā |
| 2nd du | skitiḗtā | sterhaĩtā | turiaĩtā | gidahaĩtā | zirhḗjaitā | |
| 3rd du | skitiḗtis | sterhaĩtis | turiaĩtis | gidahaĩtis | zirhḗjaitis | |
| Plural | 1st pl | skitiḗmes | sterhaĩma | turiaĩma | gidahaĩma | zirhḗjaima |
| 2nd pl | skitiḗte | stèrhaĩte | turiaĩte | gidahaĩte | zirhḗjaite | |
| 3rd pl | skitiénti | sterhajín | turējín | gidāhín | zirhḗjin | |
In Carpathian the optative forms are used as imperative. The original imperative is used only for direct orders or commands and may be perceived as informal or rude. The Eastern dialects generally preserve a separate imperative better, than the Western ones, some of which lost it completely.
| Athematic verbs | e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | suffixed (ēj-stem) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skeistéi “to read” | stèrhetei “to extend” | turḗtei “to hold” | gidā́tei “to wait” | zirhḗtei “to ripen, to age” | ||
| Singular | 2nd sg | skitiè | stèrhi | tùri | gidā́hi | zirhḗ |
| 3rd sg | skeĩstu | stèrhie | tùrie | gidā́he | zirhḗ | |
| Dual | 2nd du | skistā́ | sterhetā́ | turitā́ | giditā́ | zirhḗjetā |
| 3rd du | skistìs | sterhetìs | turitìs | giditìs | zirhḗjetis | |
| Plural | 2nd pl | skistè | sterhetè | turitè | giditè | zirhḗjete |
| 3rd pl | skiténtu | sterhañtu | turiañtu | gidañtu | zirhḗjantu | |
- Imperative has no first person forms. When necessary, optative forms are used.
Inactive verbs
The category of inactive verbs convey the meaning of emotion and prolonged state belong to this class. There are two classes: autocausative and impersonal verbs. The common examples of autocausative verbs are supāteisin “to sleep”, dōmāteisin “to suppose”, wōjāteisin “to believe” and tinkāteisin “to suit, to be appropriate”. These verbs mark the subject with the dative instead of the nominative. The impersonal verbs are almost all denominative and take no arguments, the examples being snigetei “to snow”, zarētei “to dawn”, lītei. Their conjugation is different from the active verbs in that the autocausative verbs only take object markers and impersonal verbs do not take any personal markers. The tenses are exactly the same, except the inactive verbs lack the imperative and have a separate subjunctive form, derived from the indicative of the PIE perfective verbs. Here is the example of the conjugation of some inactive verbs (the autocausative example is in the first person singular):
| Impersonal | Autocausative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e-stem verbs | ē-stem verbs | j-stem verbs | ā-stem verbs | |
| snigetéi “to snow” | zarḗtei “to dawn” | lī́tei “to rain” | supā́teisin “to sleep” | |
| Present | sniñgi | zarḗ | lī́ji | supéimisin |
| Aorist | snìgā | zàriā | lìjā | supā́misin |
| Imperfect | snìgḗ | zàriḗ | lìjḗ | supḗmisin |
| Perfect | snìga | zària | lìja | supā́jamisin |
| Future | snìgis | zarḗs | lī́s | supā́smisin |
| Optative | snìgai | zàriai | lī́jai | supā́jaimisin |
| Subjunctive | snìge | zàre | lìje | sùpemisin |
Object markers
One, two, three or, rarely, four grammatical persons can be indicated in a single Carpathian verb. The performer of an action is called the subject, and affected persons are objects (indirect or direct). The category of number (singular or plural) is also indicated. The adjunct is not indicated.
Below is the table of object markers, used by both active and inactive verbs:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| animate proximate | animate obviate | inanimate proximate | inanimate obviate | |||
| Singular | -mi | -ti | -(j)i | -ni | -sa | -ta |
| Dual | -nū | -wū | -(j)ī | -nai | -sai | -tai |
| Plural | -nas | -was | -is | -nan | -sā | -tā |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| animate proximate | animate obviate | inanimate proximate | inanimate obviate | |||
| Singular | mei- | tei- | ei- | nai- | sai- | tai- |
| Dual | nō- | wō- | ī- | nan- | san- | tan- |
| Plural | in- | us- | īn- | nei- | sei- | tei- |
Inactive verbs only use direct object markers, while active verbs can use both: eidṓdanta “I gave it to him/her”. The first person subject endings change their quality, for example: turiū- “I hold” and turējun- “I held” become turiōsa “I’m holding it” and turējansa “I held it”.
Aspectual and deictic affixes
Carpathian verbs form lexical aspect using various affixes, which make up systematic groups, based on the similarity in meaning. Essentially, there are three distinct groups of aspect affixes:
- Suffixes, which make imperfective (progressive) or frequentative verbs from simple perfective verbs: nestei “to carry” — nasītei “to be carrying”, nasiōtei “to carry often”.
- A suffix, which makes inchoative verbs, from imperfective verbs: stahētei “to be standing” — “stanautei” “to step”.
- Prefixes, added to imperfective verbs to make perfective, iterative verbs: peistei “to write” — kirtātei “to write” — nōkirtātei “to write down”, pakirtātei “to write several times (iterative)”.
Carpathian also has a special class of motion verbs (e.g. bēgetei “run”, eitei “go”, nestei “carry”, westei “lead” etc), which are usually used with various prefixes to define the direction or duration of motion, thus creating two aspectual groups: one, expressing determinate action (motion towards or away from a place), and the other, expressing indeterminate action (motion back and forth or without a specified goal). These two groups form verb pairs, one perfective and one imperfective. for example the pernestei per hapān “to carry through a river (once)” — pernasītei “to be carrying through something (in general, more than once)”.
Unlike prefixes, which do not change the way a verb is conjugated, suffixed verbs form a separate conjugation class, which is characterised by the retention of a thematic vowel. Below is a table of all aspectual suffixes in Carpathian:
| Suffix | 3sg Present | Infinitive | Examples | Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -na | -ne | -natei | kunnatei “to throw” limnatei “to get stuck” |
Inchoative, momentaneous | The plosive consonant, preceding this suffix, assimilates to "m" or "n". |
| -j | -je | -tei | mautei “to wash” nautei “to yearn” |
Transitive imperfective Not productive. | The infinitive stem ends in a long vowel, or a diphthong (usually only in dialects), while the present stem ends in a short vowel and "j". |
| -j | -ie | -tei | siltei “to send” nautei “to yearn” |
fientive verbs. | Sigmatic aorist. Palatalised final root consonant in the present. |
| -ēj | -ēje | -ētei | haujētei “to be aware” legētei “to lie (be situated)” bilētei “to be white” dihētei “to think” |
Stative verbs, often continuous. | Sigmatic aorist. Deadjectival inactive verbs have zero-grade throughout their conjugation. |
| -ā | -āhe | -ātei | kējātei “to observe” taupātei “to stamp” harbātei “to work” |
Denominative, frequentative, intensive. | Sigmatic or root aorist. The vowel "ā" is present throughout the conjugation. |
| -ō | -ōhe | -ōtei | wanōtei “to become violet” |
deadjectival inchoative verbs. | Prothetic "-aw-" in aorist and imperfect, "h" in present and optative. The vowel "ō" is present throughout the conjugation. |
| -au | -auje | -autei | ōgautei “to gather berries” mīlautei “to endear” |
Denominative progressive verbs. | The diphthong "-au-" becomes "-awā-" in the aorist. |
| -ī | -ī | -ītei | parsītei “to ask” kailītei “to cure” pargītei “to fry” |
Causative. | The vowel "-ī-" becomes "-ei", when final. |
| -jē | -iei | -ētei | milkētei “to be silent” mudētei “to be weak” girbētei “to have a need for something” |
Inactive imperfective denominal verbs. | The vowel "-e-" becomes "-ei-", when final. |
Other affixes, that are no longer productive, are the present nasal infix: legetei “to lie down” — lingū “I lie down”; the "nau"-suffix: slūnautei “to be famous”, kurnautei “to prepare”.
Carpathian prefixes:
| Prefix | Examples | Approximate meaning |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar- | arkaltei “to break apart” | “dis-”, “un-”. | |
| at- | addōtei “to give back” | “from”, “back”. | Has a form ati- before consonants, assimilates to the next plosive. |
| ap- | apeitei “to walk around” | “around”. | Western Carpathian has ep- instead. Has a form api- before consonants. |
| da- | dajeitei “to go to” | “towards”, “till”. | |
| au- | aweitei “to walk between” | “between”, “at”. | Has a form aw- before vowels. |
| in- | ineitei “to enter” | “in”, “into”. | |
| is- | ineitei “to enter” | “out of”. | Western Carpathian has iš- instead. |
| ni- | nijeitei “to descend” | “down”, “below”. | |
| nō- | nōjeitei “to walk upwards” | “up”, “over”. | |
| pō- | pōmintei “to recall”, pōjeitei “to come later” | “later”. | Some Western dialects have pā- instead. |
| pa- | pamintei “to remember”, panestei “to carry away” | “at”, “away”. Forms iterative, frequentative and semelfactive verbs. | Has a form paj- before vowels |
| per- | perdōtei “to pass over”, pereitei “to cross” | “over”, “re-”, “through”. | Has a form pere- before a consonant cluster. |
| par- | pareitei “to walk along” | “along”, “completely”. | Has a form para- before a consonant cluster. |
| perei- | perijeitei “to approach” | “by”, “next to”. | Has a form perij- before vowels. |
| pirt- | pirtistātei “to contrast” | “against”. | Has a form pirti- before consonants. |
| ō- | ōjeitei “to almost reach”, ōsiausteisin “to be like a joke” | “Afterwards”, “up to”. Forms collective abstract nouns. | Has the form ōj- before vowels. |
| sam- | sameitei “to walk together” | “together”. | Has a form sama- before a consonant cluster. |
| su- | sumētei “to dare” | “good”. | |
| sun- | suntartei “to talk with someone” | “with”, “alongside”. | |
| uz- | uzimtei “to obtain” | “at”, “onto”, “in return for”. | Western Carpathian has už- instead. Becomes us- before voiceless consonants. |
| zō- | zōjeitei “to walk from behind” | “behind”, “after”. | Western Carpathian has žō- instead. Becomes zōj- before vowels |
Periphrastic formations
The original Proto-Indo-European subjunctive had fell out of use already by the Proto-Carpathian period, instead being replaced by the preterit form of būtei and the supine or the infinitive of the main verb, for example: būnta skeistei “I would be reading that”; būsta skeistun “(that) you read that” The subjunctive forms of the verb būtei (subject endings only) are as follows:
| Singular | 1st | bū́n |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | bū́s | |
| 3rd | bū́ | |
| Dual | 1st | bū́wā |
| 2nd | bū́tā | |
| 3rd | bū́tis | |
| Plural | 1st | bū́me |
| 2nd | bū́te | |
| 3rd | bū́wen |
In some dialects of both Western and Eastern Carpathian the auxiliary verb merged with the main verb into a new synthetic form, for example: skeistumbū́ “he/she would read”. Despite being widespread, this form is not in the standard written language itself.
In addition to synthetic future-desiderative, there are also several analytic future constructions with a modal verb and an infinitive or supine, which, unlike the former synthetic form, express necessity or obligation, for example: eimi skeistei “I’m going to read”, immi dētun “I must have it done”. In order to denote simple futurity of an action, present tense may be used: tā pa skeisteta kunīgān “later he/she will read a book”.
Carpathian verbs express potentiality of an action by means of the verb leistei “to let” and the infinitive of the main verb, for example: leide eitei “he/she will probably go”, lais eitei “he/she might have gone”. If used with supine instead, the latter phrase gains a permissive meaning: laidinti eitun “they are allowed to go”.
Participles
Carpathian retains a rich system of participles. Unlike the neighbouring Slavic languages, Carpathian has no distinct categories of adjectival and adverbial participles, but in the way the two categories behave morphologically. Adjectival participles decline as adjectives, while adverbial participles are not declined. Participles are an important part of speech. All of them have their own function, but not all are used equally often. Unlike verbs, participles can both active and passive.
One of the main functions of active participles is to describe a characteristic of a noun related to some ongoing, past or future action in which the said noun is the agent: paustīs perelektunīs “migrating birds”, wadījas nepatairānas “inexperienced driver”. Only imperfective, perfective and future participles can fulfill this function. Another function of active participles is to describe an action performed by the sentence subject before the main action: Akunan atihwerwā, meriā dangānas pagiledēsā. – “Having opened the window, the girl looked at the clouds”.
Just as adjectives, participles decline for gender, case and number of the noun they modify, except for the dative absolute construction. Participles can be conjugated for person in the same way as inactive verbs by taking pronominal suffixes. The table below represents all possible participle forms of the verb skeistei “to read”, the pronominal forms having the third person singular suffix -is.
Simple Pronominal masculine neuter feminine common masculine neuter feminine common Active Imperfective sg skitañs skitañ skiteñtī skiteñtis skitañsis skitànis skiteñtihis skiteñtisis du skitañte skitañtī skitañtejī skitañtīhī pl skitañtis skitán skiteñtīs skitañtisis skitáinis skiteñtīhis Aorist sg skaitàwas skaitàwan skaitàwī skaitàwis skaitàwasis skaitàwanis skaitàwihis skaitàwisis du skaĩtawe skaĩtawī skaĩtawejis skaĩtawīhis pl skaĩtawis skaitawā̃ skaĩtawīs skaĩtawisis skaitawànis skaĩtawīsis Perfect sg skitùs skituñ skitwī́ skitwìs skitùsis skitùnis skitwìhis skitwìsis du skitàwī skitàwīhis pl skitū́s skitwī́s skitū́sis skitwī́sis Desiderative sg skitasiañs skitasiañ skitasiañtī skitasiñtis skitasiañsis skitasiànis skitasiañtihis skitasiñtisis du skitasiañte skitasiñtī skitasiañtejī skitasiñtīhī pl skitasiañtis skitasián skitasiñtīs skitasiañtisis skitasiáinis skitasiñtīhis Resultative sg skillùs skilluñ skillī́ skillìs skillùsis skillùnis skillìhis skillìsis du skitèlī skitèlīhis pl skillū́s skillī́s skillū́sis skillī́sis
Passive participles mainly denote actions that have impact upon nouns they describe: skaunas kuramas “a house that is being built”, haiskas histas – “a question that has been asked”.
In a similar way to adjectives, some participles have three degrees of comparison: laubīmas “liked” — laubīmesas “more liked” — laubīmimmas “most liked”.