Verbs Part 1 (Mostly Aspect)
0. Introduction and Verb Classes (or Conjugations)
Verbs in Retla conjugate for Aspect (Perfective, Imperfect and Subjunctive), Polarity (Affirmative and Negative) and Voice (Active, Passive, Causative, Passive-Causative and Reflexive). I use the Affirmative Active Subjunctive as the dictionary form.
Verbs are divided in three Conjugation Classes. Class I (around 58% of the verbs as of now) merges the Perfective and the Subjunctive. Ends in -a and -i. Class II (~24%) has vowel changes in the Perfective and Imperfective. Ends in -e or -o. Class III (~17,5%) can be analyzed as marking the Subjunctive from the Perfective through a disfix. Subjunctive ends in -i -u -e or consonant.
There are some verbs that have their root initial plosives (unaspirated, never k) lenite (t -> s; p -> f, although there is at least one case of t -> ṣ) in the presence of prefixes. They may be of any class.
1.1 Aspect: Morphology
Class I
Class I is the simple one, both the Perfective and Subjunctive are unmarked, while the Imperfective receives -l.
PFV: -0 |
mi
IPFV: -l |
mil
SJV: -0 |
mi
CSW chart (The first three in the Finite nr-1 Table)
Class II
In Class II the root vowel becomes higher (e -> i and o -> u) from the Subjunctive to the Perfective. The Imperfective displays the vowel change and the suffix -l.
PFV: vowel change |
pi
IPFV: vowel change + -l |
pil
SJV: -0 |
pe
CWS chart
Class III
Class III verbs delete word final (C)i from the Perfective to the Subjunctive. Imperfective is formed by adding -l to the Perfective.
PFV: -0 |
khuxti
IPFV: -l |
khuxtil
SJV: (C)i disfix |
khux
CWS chart
There are some curious cases in this class, like the verb
tli (to cover), which has PFV: tlii /ˈtɾi.i/, IPFV tliir /ˈtɾi.iɾ/ and SJV tli /tɾi/. (The equivalent in Tlapthuv would be GNO: tlihiẕ, PROG: tlihilth, SJV: tlihi)
1.2 Aspect: Actual Meaning and Usage
Subjunctive
I'll start with the subjunctive because it does not require me to get into the Aktionsart stuff.
In finite clauses (it has uses in complement clauses, but i'll save that for a later post) it is an Imperative when there's no overt subject.
ko!
Run!
When there is a subject, it handles other Deontic moods, like Optative and Potential.
tle gu tiptija
return-SJV 2s REL-NEG-harm-PASS-PFV
May you return unharmed or
You are probably returning unharmed (It doesn't matter in most cases, since you are wishing good stuff upon the hearer anyway)
Perfective
The Perfective is Perfective in most circumstances. It is restricted to the past when being Perfective.
xuguta khu le gu
fish-PFV CL.3s ACC fish
He caught a fish
If however, the intransitive subject or transitive object is using the Plural I (That, by the way, makes all verbs Atelic), the Perfective is interpreted as Gnomic
ili tgu tgu la ko pju tgu tgu gu
fly-PFV bird CL~ and swim-PFV Cl~ fish
bird fly and fish swim
Imperfective
The Imperfective is the most Aktionsart dependent of the three, it will be perceived differently depending on whether the verb is telic or atelic, has duration or not.
If the verb has duration, like walk, swim, etc., the Imperfective is definitely Progressive. Be the verb telic or not.
Telic:
nxul
drown-IPFV
I am drowning
Atelic:
ṣul
walk-IPFV
I am walking
If the verb is Instantaneous (i.e. no duration) and Telic (e.g. fall), the Imperfective takes on Prospective interpretations:
stolen straight from japanese
thil iŋpi iplu thle
fall-IPFV DEF.SPEC CL tree
The tree is about to fall (If, say, lightning just hit it and you're seeing it bend)
If the verb is Instaneous but Atelic (cough), it is Iterative.
xanpjal ki
cough-IPFV DIST
He coughed repeatedly or
He is coughing (Arguably, it's like English, since when we use the progressive it hardly ever is a single cough, or knock, or sneeze)
Changing Aktionsart
Verbs do have a 'native' Telicity+Duration state (which i think i'll mark in my lexicon from now on), but it is very easy to change its properties through other elements of the clause. Having the object in Plural I renders anything atelic. Atelic verbs can be rendered Telic by specifying an endpoint through adverbials. Temporal adverbials can mess up with the Duration of verb at will, too.