Kirumb Verbs

Aspect

Kirumb has four aspects. The AORIST refers to an event whose duration is either nonexistent or irrelevant, clearly bounded by time—i.e., it has a beginning and an end. Examples: John tripped. He dropped the plate. The PROGRESSIVE refers to an event with duration that has no specified endpoint. Jane is eating. She is looking for the broccoli. The IMPERFECT is essentially a past progressive. I was taking pictures of Rome. I was chased by lions. The STATIVE refers to states of indefinite duration. The car is red. Snails are disgusting. Kirumb verbs have three stems, one for the aorist, one for the stative, and a 'normal' stem for the progressive and imperfect. Formation of Aspect Stems Every verb has at least one 'root' stem, with the others derived from it by affixation, reduplication, andor ablaut. Occasionally there are suppletive forms. The processes by which this occur are generally irregular, and for the most part stems must be learned separately.

Tense

There are three (technically four) tenses in Kirumb, they being the past, present, and future. The 'fourth tense' (aka the construct tense) refers to forms not marked for tense at all—basically infinitives marked for person and number, etc. Tenses are limited in their distribution, based on stem. Aor. Norm. Stat. Past ✓ ✓   Present   ✓ ✓ Future ✓ ✓ ✓ Fourth ✓   ✓ The past tense construes with the imperfect and the aorist. The present tense applies to the stative and the progressive. The future tense is not applied to the imperfect (which is inherently past tense) The fourth tense construes only with the aorist and stative. Formation of Tenses The past tense is marked with the augment i-, which is always stressed. (This is why the stative has no past—most stems have reduplication there instead.) The future tense is regularly derived from the present by appending -š with vowel lengthening, or -iš for consonant stems.

Mode

There are four modes: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and desiderative ('wish to X') The imperative only construes with the normal stem. The regular desiderative is formed by adding -r- with a lengthened vowel, or -ir- for consonant stems. Some verbs have inherited desideratives, with different rules. The subjunctive is regularly formed by adding -í- after the stem (replacing the thematic vowel, if any), and using the secondary endings (e.g., those of the aor.indic.)

Voice

A normal or aorist verb is either in transitive voice or intransitive. <NOM solŋoc ACC> (transitive) means "NOM hears ACC". <NOM solŋotí> (intransitive) means "NOM is heard". <DAT solŋotí> (intransitive) means "DAT hears." (Note that while the subject in the last line has the FORM of the dative, it actually governs the verb's conjugation in the same way as the nominative.) The stative is technically always intransitive, where the "transitive" endings map to active meaning and "intransitive" to passive, so sislómi "we are listening" vs. sislómij "we are being listened to". Voice is marked on the verb solely in the person-markers.

The Endings

Verb endings indicate person, number, voice, and (to a lesser degree) tense and aspect. There are four sets of endings; the first two called primary and secondary after their antecedents, the Indo-European primary and secondary endings, the third being the stative's endings, and the fourth those of the imperative. The primary endings apply to normal and aorist stems in the present and future indicative and desiderative. The secondary endings apply to normal and aorist stems in all other forms. In the tables below, the first line refers to athematic endings, and the second line to thematic endings. Where two forms are given, the first is used after consonants, and the second after vowels. Primary Endings Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st -m -óm -os -óos -mos -omos -í -óí -vij -ovij -mij -omij 2nd -r -ir -c -ic -rí -irí -dví -idví 3rd -c -ic -oc, -ŋc -oŋc -tí -ití -otí, -ŋtí -oŋtí Secondary Endings Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st -a, -ŋ -oŋ -v -ó -m -om -a -óa -vij -ovij -mij -omij 2nd -s -is -c -ic -ro -iro -do -ido 3rd -t -it -ot, -ŋt -oŋt -to -ito -oto, -ŋto -iŋto Stative Endings Active Passive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st -a -óa -vi -ó -mi -om -í -ói -vij -ovij -mij -omij 2nd -ta -ita -i -í -rí -irí -dví -idví 3rd zero -i: -ir, -or -or -í -íí -rí -orí Note: stat.act. 1du, 1pl, 2pl {-vi -mi -i} have i-less endings {-v -m zero} when the ending was unstressed. Imperative endings Transitive Intransitive sg. pl. sg. pl. 2nd -ji zero -ci -ici -ro -iro -do -ido 3rd -to -ito -to -oto -to -ito -ŋto -oŋto

The Conjugation

Below is conjugated a sample verb, solŋóm 'I hear'. There are concerns of ablaut and different stem extensions in different verbs, but the glossary should list all the necessary stems; the endings remain substantially the same. The aorist stem is slá-, the normal stem is solŋo-, and the perfect stem is (si-)sló-. These are all athematic stems. slá- is a consonant stem, originally in -v and sometimes so written (slav-). Indicative Aorist Past Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st isláa isláv islám isláa islávij islámij 2nd islás islác isláro isládo 3rd islát isláot isláto isláoto Aorist Future Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st sláišóm sláišóos sláišomos sláišóí sláišovij sláišomij 2nd sláišir sláišic sláiširí sláišidví 3rd sláišic sláišoŋc sláišití sláišoŋtí Aorist Fourth Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st sláa sláv slám sláa slávij slámij 2nd slás slác sláro sládo 3rd slát sláot sláto sláoto Imperfect Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st isolŋoŋ isolŋó isolŋom isolŋóa isolŋovij isolŋomij 2nd isolŋos isolŋoc isolŋoro isolŋodo 3rd isolŋot isolŋoŋt isolŋoto isolŋoŋto Progressive Present Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st solŋom solŋóos solŋomos solŋóí solŋovij solŋomij 2nd solŋor solŋoc solŋorí solŋodvi 3rd solŋoc solŋoŋc solŋotí solŋoŋtí Progressive Future Transitive Intransitive sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st solŋóšóm solŋóšóos solŋóšomos solŋóšóí solŋóšovij solŋóšomij 2nd solŋóšir solŋóšic solŋóširí solŋóšidví 3rd solŋóšic solŋóšoŋc solŋóšití solŋóšontí Stative Present Transitive (Active) Intransitive (Passive) sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st sislóa sislóvi sislómi sislóí sislóvij sislómij 2nd sislóta sislói sislórí sislódví 3rd sisló sislóir sislóí sislórí Stative Future Transitive (Active) Intransitive (Passive) sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st sislóskóa sislóskó sislóskom sislóskóí sislóskovij sislóskomij 2nd sislóskita sislóskí sislóskirí sislóskidví 3rd sislóskí sislóskor sislóskíí sislóskorí Stative Fourth Transitive (Active) Intransitive (Passive) sg. du. pl. sg. du. pl. 1st slóa slóvi slómi slóí slóvij slómij 2nd slóta slói slórí slódví 3rd sló slóir slóí slórí Imperative Transitive Intransitive sg. pl. sg. pl. 2nd solŋoji solŋoci solŋoro solŋodo 3rd solŋoto solŋoŋto solŋoto solŋoŋto