Emnian verbs
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In Emnian, verbs take the form of derived stems, and are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typically has counterparts in other voices. This article deals primarily with modern Emnian but the information shown here applies to some extent to Middle Emnian as well.
Verb classification
Roots
Verbs in Emnian, like nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, are formed and declined by altering a two- to five- (but usually three-) letter stem. Vowels are added between these consonants in a pattern to form a related meaning between different roots. For instance, somháir "he kept" and cotháibh both have the same CoC(h)áiC(h) pattern to indicate the third person singular past tense.
Emnian verbs can be further divided into strong verbs (wholly regular verbs), weak verbs (verbs with predictable irregularities), and irregular verbs (wholly irregular verbs).
There are three common types of weak verbs: guttural (containing ʾ, Ḥ, or ʿ in any position, H in any position except final, or R as second radical in the historic root), hollow (containing W or Y anywhere, or H as the final radical in the historic root), or repeating (ending with two of the same radical).
| Root | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ʾ (glottal stop) |
∅ (deletion) |
gh | |
| b | b | ||
| g | g | ||
| d | d | ||
| h | th | ∅ (deletion) | |
| w | mh | ||
| z | dh | ||
| ḥ | ch | ||
| ṭ | t | ||
| y | ∅ (deletion) |
dh | |
| k | c | ||
| l | l | ||
| m | m | ||
| n | n | ||
| s | s | ||
| ʿ (pharyngeal fricative) |
∅ (deletion) |
gh | |
| p | p | ||
| f | |||
| ṣ | s | ||
| q | c | ||
| ś | s | ||
| š | |||
| t | t | ||
Note that c and t are resistant to lenition when derived from historic roots q and ṭ.
Guttural weak roots
Guttural roots contain a historic guttural (ʾ, Ḥ, or ʿ in any position, H in any position except final, or R as second radical). The observable effect of this is "broadening" — i.e. the replacement of a slender environnment with a broad one when a guttural consonant occurs as the final radical.
Hollow weak roots
Roots containing a historic W or Y, as well as roots with a final historic H are known as hollow roots.
Repeating weak roots
Roots containing two of the same letter are considered repeating roots. In some nonstandard dialects, roots with an initial N also behave as repeating roots.
Stems
Emnian verbs are inflected according to specific patterns called Conjugations. There are seven basic conjugations as well as some irregular verbs coming from otherwise obsolete conjugations.
Regular conjugation
Infinitive
| Stem | ||
|---|---|---|
| Conjugation I | ||
| Strong | l'o12ó3 | |
| Conjugation II | ||
| Strong | l'oi1i22éi3 | |
| Conjugation III | ||
| Strong | l'ai12í3 | |
| Conjugation IV | ||
| Strong | l'oith1i22éi3 | |
| Conjugation V | ||
| Strong | l'u12ái3 | |
| Conjugation VI | ||
| Strong | l'o1u22ái3 | |
| Conjugation VII | ||
| Strong | l'oi11i2éi3 | |
Prefix conjugation (Nonpast Tense)
| Stem | Suffix y/n | |
|---|---|---|
| No | Yes | |
| Conjugation I | ||
| Strong | -12ió3 | -12ió3- |
| Conjugation II | ||
| Strong | -1ai22éi3 | -1ái223- |
| Conjugation III | ||
| Strong | -12í3 | -12í3- |
| Conjugation IV | ||
| Strong | -th1i22éi3 | -th1iái223- |
| Conjugation V | ||
| Strong | -12ái3 | -12ái3- |
| Conjugation VI | ||
| Strong | -1u22ái3 | -1ú223- |
| Conjugation VII | ||
| Strong | -11i2éi3 | -11iái23- |
Suffix conjugation (Past Tense)
A verb in the past tense agrees with its subject in person, number, and, in the second person and third person singular, gender.
Conjugation in the past tense is done by adding a suffix to a Conjugation-specific root. For example:
- somháir "kept" + -t (1st person singular suffix) = somháirt "I kept"
- somháir "kept" + -e, -a (3rd person singular feminine suffix) = sóimhre "she kept"
Below are the suffixes used with the past tense. Note that some suffixes have two possible forms, depending on whether the ending of the root is slender or broad.
| Person | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | Masculine | Feminine | |
| 1st person | -t | -ne, -na | ||
| 2nd person | -te, -ta | -t | -ten, -tan | |
| 3rd person | no suffix | -e, -a | -eamh, -amh | |
| Stem | Suffix | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Vowel | Consonant | |
| Conjugation I | |||
| Strong | 1o2ái3 | 1ói23- | 1o2ái3- |
| Conjugation II | |||
| Strong | 1oi22éi3 | 1oí223- | 1oi22éi3- |
| Conjugation III | |||
| Strong | i12í3 | i12í3- | i12í3- |
| Conjugation IV | |||
| Strong | oith1i22éi3 | oith1iái223- | oith1i22éi3- |
| Conjugation V | |||
| Strong | u12ái3 | u12ái3- | u12ái3- |
| Conjugation VI | |||
| Strong | 1u22ái3 | 1uái223- | 1u22ái3- |
| Conjugation VII | |||
| Strong | noi12iá3 | noi12éi3- | noi12iá3- |
Present participle
The present participle agrees with its subject in gender and number, as it is grammatically an adjective. In written Emnian, the present participle can be combined with a copular formula to form a periphrastic present progressive tense. For example:
- Is cothaibhe thaoi. — "She is writing."
This type of sentence structure is not common in spoken Emnian.
| Root Type | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine (no suffix) |
Feminine -e / -a |
Masculine -imh / -aimh |
Feminine -eoth / -aoth | |
| Conjugation I | ||||
| Strong | 1o2ai3 | 1o2ai3e | 1oi23imh | 1oi23eoth |
| Conjugation II | ||||
| Strong | ma1ai22ei3 | ma1ai22ei3e | ma1ai22ei3imh | ma1ai22ei3eoth |
| Conjugation III | ||||
| Strong | mai12í3 | mai12í3e | mai12í3imh | mai12í3eoth |
| Conjugation IV | ||||
| Strong | moith1i22ei3 | moith1i22ei3e | moith1i22ei3imh | moith1i22ei3eoth |
| Conjugation V | ||||
| Strong | mu12ái3 | mu12ái3e | mu12ái3imh | mu12ái3eoth |
| Conjugation VI | ||||
| Strong | ma1u22ai3 | ma1u22ai3e | ma1u22ai3imh | ma1u22ai3eoth |
| Conjugation VII | ||||
| Strong | noi12ia3 | noi12ia3a | noi12ia3aimh | noi12ia3aoth |
Past participle
Past participles are formed according to the tables shown below. Grammatically, the past participle is an adjective and is inflected for gender and number. Conjugations IV-VII lack past participles. Conjugation I verbs that have a corresponding Conjugation VII verb use the Conjugation I past participle and the Conjugation VII nonpast to indicate different states of completion.
The Conjugation I past participle indicates a completed action:
- Is cathuibhimh them an seapharaimh. — "The books are written."
The Conjugation VII nonpast, on the other hand, indicates that the action is still being done.
- Oiciáithbe an seapharaimh. — "The books are (being) written."
| Root Type | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine (no suffix) |
Feminine -e / -a |
Masculine -imh / -aimh |
Feminine -eoth / -aoth | |
| Conjugation I | ||||
| Strong | 1a2ui3 | 1a2ui3e | 1a2ui3imh | 1a2ui3eoth |
| Conjugation II | ||||
| Strong | mo1u22ai3 | mo1u22ai3e | mo1u22ai3imh | mo1u22ai3eoth |
| Conjugation III | ||||
| Strong | mu12ái3 | mu12ái3e | mu12ái3imh | mu12ái3eoth |
| Conjugation IV | ||||
| Strong | N/A | |||
| Conjugation V | ||||
| Strong | N/A | |||
| Conjugation VI | ||||
| Strong | N/A | |||
| Conjugation VII | ||||
| Strong | N/A | |||
Imperative
Imperatives are only used in affirmative commands. Negative commands use the particle aell followed by the corresponding prefix conjugation form.
| Stem | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| Conjugation I | ||
| Strong | u12ói3 | u12ói3inn |
| Conjugation II | ||
| Strong | 1a22ae3 | 1a22ae3ann |
| Conjugation III | ||
| Strong | ai12éi3 | ai12éi3inn |
| Conjugation IV | ||
| Strong | oith1i22ei3 | oith1i22ei3inn |
| Conjugation V | ||
| Strong | NA | |
| Conjugation VI | ||
| Strong | NA | |
| Conjugation VII | ||
| Strong | oi11e2éi3 | oi11e2éi3inn |
Action noun
| Stem | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| Conjugation I | ||
| Strong | i12io3a | i12io3aoth |
| Conjugation II | ||
| Strong | 1i22iu3 | 1i22iu3aimh |
| Conjugation III | ||
| Strong | a12a3a | a12a3aoth |
| Conjugation IV | ||
| Strong | oith1ia223a | oith1i22ei3inn |
| Conjugation V | ||
| Strong | NA | |
| Conjugation VI | ||
| Strong | NA | |
| Conjugation VII | ||
| Strong | oi11ea23a | oi11ea23aoth |