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.
FRONTWORD (..) PREFIX - verb stem - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
| vren | imperative |
| oah | hortative |
| jil | jussive |
See Frontwords for more examples.
| 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.
| =e | attenuative, negative comparative |
| ∅ | neutral |
| =a | intensive, positive comparative |
| 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 | ||
| necessitive (must, need) | =(i)rram | ||
| 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
firies yševaaš ū štharram vaeraþ
firi -es y- ševa -aš ū štha -rram vaer -aþ
forest -CSUB 3s- go -CCAUS 2s pass -NECC mountain -PAT
in order to get the forest you must cross the mountain
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
Taruven verbs come in two subclasses: simple and complemented. We'll look at simple verbs first.
As is the case with Wolof (Shopen 1985, p. 315), the simple verbs have a certain basic valency (no, one or two objects) but this need not be explicit in the clause, see example 7.
sïkra famm
sïkra famm
plum fall
The/a plum falls/is falling
ī aìre fōaþ
ī aìre fō -aþ
2s empty cup -PAT
He/she empties/is emptying the cup
ī aìre
ī aìre
2s empty
He/she empties/is emptying (something)
ī rī īið sïonnaþ
ī rī ī -ið sïonn -aþ
2s give 2s -BEN thing -PAT
he/she gives him/her the thing
ī rī sïonnaþ
ī rī sïonn -aþ
2s give thing -PAT
he/she gives (someone) the thing
ī rī īið
ī rī ī -ið
2s give 2s -BEN
he/she gives him/her (the thing)
ī rī
ī rī
2s give
he/she gives (someone something)
However, any action can be done on behalf of or for the benefit of someone or due to something, that is: adding a benefactive-marked or instrumental-marked noun phrase as in example 8, without any change in the verb, as long as there isn't already a benefactive or instrumental noun phrase in the clause.
sïkra famm sïufyonn
sïkra famm sïufy -onn
plum fall knife -INS
The/a plum falls/is falling due to the knife
ī aìre fōaþ ūið
ī aìre fō -aþ ū -ið
3s empty cup -PAT 2s -BEN
He/she empties/is emptying the cup
ī aìre ūið
ī aìre ū -ið
3s empty 2s -BEN
He/she empties/is emptying (something) for someone
Complemented verbs do at minimum have one argument that is either a phrase marked with benefactive, or a clause (CSUB stands for subject of a complemented verb.) These then are transitive complemented verbs.
ūel ār ōið
ū -el ār ō -ið
2s -CSUB think moon -BEN
you think about the moon
ūel ār Jehan sahalann
ū -el ār Jehan saha =lann
2s -CSUB think Jehan dance -able
you think that Jehan can dance
It is risky but possible to drop the explicit argument of a complemented verb, since it might be interpreted as gobbling up the following clause, if any.
ūel ār
ū -el ār
2s -CSUB think
you are thinking
Since the action of the complemented verb can also be for someone or due to something, they can carry an extra argument, but it must be on the same side of the verb as the subject since the complemented verb and its subject together works as an axis-word:
īvenið ūel ār ōið
ī -ven -ið ū -el ār ō -ið
3s -pretty -BEN 2s -CSUB think moon -BEN
the pretty one is making you think about the moon
ōið ūel ār īvenið
ō -ið ū -el ār ī -ven -ið
moon -BEN 2s -CSUB think 3s -pretty -BEN
the moon is making you think about the pretty one
There are also ditransitive complemented verbs:
sāið ūel areìn sō thallaa yéllaaþ
sā -ið ū -el areìn sō thalla =a yélla -aþ
1s -BEN 2s -CSUB suggest 1p wash =INT house -PAT
you suggested to me that we wash the house very thoroughly
There are also the so-called weird complemented verbs, though some scholars also consider ditransitive complemented verbs to be weird:
ūìð yéllaaþ sāel sker ryvunìð
ū -ìð yélla -aþ sā -el sker ry -vun -ìð
2s -BEN house -PAT 1s -CSUB bet that -little -BEN
I bet you a house on the little one
ūìð yéllaaþ sāel sker ryvun fammaìš
ū -ìð yélla -aþ sā -el sker ry -vun famm -aìš
2s -BEN house -PAT 1s -CSUB bet that -little fall -first
I bet you a house that the little one is the first to fall
garel faìre ū aið sā
gar -el faìre ū a -ið sā
strength -CSUB equal 2s and -BEN 1s
You and I are equally strong.
faìre and egie to differ/be different must have a plural argument.
fin gunuge īaþ
fin gunu -ge ī -aþ
3p stand -CAUS 3s -PAT
They make him/her stand up
īel gunuaš letšah
ī -el gunu -aš le- tšah
3s -CSUB stand -CCAUS SS- see
he/she stands up in order to see
areìnta sō thalla yéllaaþ
areìn -ta sō thalla yélla -aþ
suggest -CPAS 3p wash house -PAT
it was suggested that we wash the house
ī thallahux
ī thalla -hux
3s wash -RFL
he/she washes him/herself
šael teìtša
ša -el teì -tša
1d -CSUB love -RCP
We love eachother
suì ëkrutša aò lekruskīnkeì
suì ë- kru -tša aò le- kru -skīn -keì
1q NEG- kill -RCP and.then SS- kill -IRR -other
We do not kill our own, but we do kill others
| 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 | ||
| other | -keì |
-ge+-ek = -gek
-geke+-ek = -grek
-aš+-ta = -atta
-aš+-hux = -aìšyx
-aš+-tša = -atša
| -(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 |
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 gavaþ
ī kru -skīn -tše gav -aþ
2s kill -irrealis -firsthand dog -PAT
(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.
| -(e)geár | certainly, definitely |
| -(a)naỳ | probably |
| -(i)skeìr | possibly/maybe |
| -(a)tream | unlikely |
| -(i)ŋgyév | impossible |
| 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, see a) below, to zoom in on one of the repetitions, see b), to emphasize that something was done only once, as in c) or that something that could be done all at once was done one after the other, as in d). The exact meaning depends both on the verb and its context.
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
ī issege -vadh žynaþen
ī issege -vadh žyn -aþ -en
2s close -once door -PAT -PL
He/she closed the doors one by one
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 used 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
| -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/.