Verbs in Jutean
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A small, but strange linguistic creature
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 26 Oct 2021, 20:19.
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7. Lesson of Iki
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11. Pragmatics
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12. Prehistory of Jute
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14. Songs in Jutean
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16. Syntax in Jutean
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17. Verbs in Jutean
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Who said only polysynthetic verbs of agglutinative languages can be complicated? Jutean has just about a dozen inflections for verbs, and a verb never takes more than one of them (if more are needed, they will become a separate particle immediately following the verb), yet behind the seemingly simple surface lurks a mischievous creation of ergativity, triggers and transitivity, not to mention different moods and voices, while curiously tenses, person marking and a separate passive voice are absent.
Verbs in Jutean (always ending in -o) are usually sorted into two main categories, minor (always intransitive verbs such as unergative and many unaccusative verbs) and major verbs (which can be both transitive and intransitive), as Jutean has a mixed morphosyntactic alignment combining split-S ergativity with the Austronesian alignment. Aside from the two main categories, there is a smaller category of “mixed” verbs that combines characteristics of the two main categories, and a number of verbs that are syntactically irregular.
Minor verbs
The first category, minor verbs, refers to verbs which can take no direct object (indirect objects introduced by an adposition can however be added) and are therefore always intransitive.
Often, they usually imply at least a vague sense of agency, such as verbs of motion, like to ('go'), ato ('come') or static, like nisaido ('feel energized'), though there are some other ones, like mihinido ('sleep') or moo ('meditate'), known sometimes as "unergative verbs" in English.
Many verbs classified in English as "unaccusative verbs" (verbs that take no agents, where the subject is only an experiencer) are also in this category, such as no ('live, exist'), however, a lot are not, and there is no easy rule to determine whether one such verb belongs to this class.
In any case no verb in this category can ever convey a properly patientive or passive meaning, unless an additional appropriate verb is used as auxiliary to create a sentence with a causative, such as noito mihinido ('be made to sleep', literally 'be led to sleep'). (See the syntax article for more information on auxiliaries, and serial verb constructions, also known as 'verb stacking'.)
Major verbs
Most verbs belong to this second class, which is therefore, and for allowing verbs to take direct objects, called the class of major verbs. In other words, these verbs can be intransitive or transitive.
They are also called ergative verbs, since prototypically they behave a lot like the "ergative verbs" of English, such as 'to break' in 'The door broke' and 'I broke the door', conveying either a patientive meaning (resembling a passive sentence) in intransitive sentences or an agentive meaning in transitive sentences.
An example in Jutean is hemo ('to eat'):
Hemo fal. They are all eaten.
Hemo fal kiove. They all eat something.
In some cases, a non-passive translation is more appropriate for some intransitive sentences. This is e.g. the case with ilhoko (primary meaning: ‘to ban, outlaw’), where the intransitive version can be understood to mean ‘to break the law’ rather than ‘be banned’ or ‘be outlawed’, although depending on context this translation might be applicable, too.
Ilhoko ta. I break the law. (‘I am banned’)
Outlaw 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
Ilhoko ji. This is outlawed.
Outlaw this.ABSTAbstract (gender/class)
abstract, intangible, idea
Ilhoko ta ji. I outlaw this.
Outlaw 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I this.ABSTAbstract (gender/class)
abstract, intangible, idea
The default dictionary translation of an ergative verb is the agentive one, specific intransitive meanings are marked with "IT" in dictionaries.
Some meanings are instead marked with a "T" for transitive, which signifies that this meaning is used exclusively in transitive sentences. Among them is for example the fuumo meaning to learn about. A lot of secondary meanings of daho (base meaning: 'to accommodate, trap'), such as 'to encompass', 'to make room', to name a few, are transitive.
Daho ta he na haad. I (will) make much room for you.
Make_room 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) much
Mixed verbs
The third category has verbs that behave like minor verbs in some circumstances, but like major verbs in other ones. For example, toheno ('to return, go back, reflect') behaves like a minor verb in sentences where the subject is animate, but like a major verb when the subject is inanimate. However, like other minor verbs it can’t take a direct object and is necessarily intransitive.
Examples:
Toheno ta (ude vailitade li taniti). I return (with a vehicle to my home)
Toheno nova. The animal returns.
Toheno vailita. The vehicle is/was returned.
Irregular verbs with specific auxiliary usages
The fourth category covers verbs that are syntactically irregular and so do not fall in any of the other categories. Depending on transitivity, context and amount of verbs in a sentence they can act either like a minor or a major verb, and in addition to that also have a specific auxiliary usage. The auxiliary usage is activated when the verbs are followed by one or more other verbs, and operates with different syntactic rules than those. Among the most important ones are memo (primary meaning ‘to say’), as well as other ones such as foo (primary meaning ‘to open’)
Eeo (primary meaning ‘to generally be able to do something’) and hokono (primary meaning ‘to currently be able to do something), while belonging to this category, are special cases, having no base transitive meaning outside of their auxiliary uses. (See the section on 'verb stacking' in the syntax article)
The standard five meanings of these verbs and ways how to distinguish them are listed here, using the example of memo:
to say: if an oblique or direct object or direct speech is present
to mention: same as above, essentially a synonym/secondary meaning of 'to say'
to tell so./be told to: auxiliary meaning/use, requires additional verbs (but not 'to be', can be both transitive - X tells/told Y to, or intransitive - X is/was told to)
to be said to be: with a gerund as subject / with no oblique object introduced by a (of) and no direct object present
to be said to Z: uses a noun or pronoun and 'tine + Z-GER' phrase (inside Z-ing) as the only oblique object
Some examples using all of them:
Memo la a hohi (Say 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee of hold-GERGerund
verbal noun) - They say/mention [something] about the holding [of an event]
Memo homo la (Be_told_to hold-ANTIPAntipassive voice (valency)
valency is decreased by one 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee) - They are told to hold [the/an unspecified event]
Memo hohi (Be_said_to_be hold-GERGerund
verbal noun) - There is said to be a holding [of an event] / It is said that there is an holding [of an event]
Memo hohi tine doonatohi (Be_said_to_be hold-GERGerund
verbal noun inside.ABSTAbstract (gender/class)
abstract, intangible, idea celebrate-GERGerund
verbal noun) - There is said to be a holding [of an event] [that is] celebrated
Adverbs and adjectival nouns would be used to clarify time, place and manner.
Other verbs that work similarly, with their base transitive (I and II), auxiliary (transitive/intransitive) and intransitive (I and II) meanings listed:
saiho ('think, ponder', auxiliary meaning: 'think that...' and 'plan to do'/'be planned to', 'be thought to be (doing)')
sahono ('assume, infer', auxiliary meaning: 'expect (so.) to have to do sth.'/'be expected to have to do sth.', 'be assumed to be (doing)')
sahasio ('expect, take for granted', auxiliary meaning: 'expect (so.) to be able to do sth.'/'be expected to be able to do sth.', 'be expected to be (doing)')
saihodo ('imagine, envision', auxiliary meaning: 'expect (so.) to be/do sth.'/'be expected to be/do sth.', 'be imagined to be (doing)')
sehukato ('worry about', auxiliary meaning: 'worry about (so.) doing sth.'/'be source of worries for doing sth.', 'be sources of worries')
tesoamio ('think, opine, believe', auxiliary meaning: 'believe to have done or do'/'be believed to have experienced', 'be believed to be (doing)')
[More example sentences in preparation]
Moods are one of the few things to be marked on verbs in Jutean. There are five moods.
Indicative
The most basic one is the indicative, for describing reality, general truths and statements proven or, based on some kind of evidence, very likely to be true. It is the default mood and has no suffix.
Vuho vuha ido vuhade a ji. The sun shines at this day.
Shine sun at.ABSTAbstract (gender/class)
abstract, intangible, idea day-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object of this.ABSTAbstract (gender/class)
abstract, intangible, idea
No nova un havande. Animals live in the wilderness.
Live animal in.DANGUnknown code wilderness-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object
Saiho ta, ivusaie no ta. I think, therefore I am.
Think 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I | therefore be 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
Imperative
Then there's the imperative, for commands and urges. It is formed by reduplicating the first two syllables of the infinitive, however some verbs are irregular here and only reduplicate part of the second syllable. The personal pronoun can be omitted in this case (it is assumed to be you (singular) by default, or is understood through context), but can also be included for emphasis or clarification. They are negated by adding the -l suffix or by using the al particle directly after the verb.
Atoato (na) li hen! Come here!
IMPImperative (mood)
command-come (2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)) towards here
Tatatataimo (naf) he la! Forget about him/her/them! (addressing several people)
IMPImperative (mood)
command-forget (2Second person (person)
addressee (you).PLPlural (number)
more than one/few) IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
Foofoo al (na) maja a me fan ma! Don't open your eyes!
IMPImperative (mood)
command-open NEGNegative (polarity)
not (2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)) eye of OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object
(Foofoo al can also be shortened to foofool.)
Conditional
In Jutean the conditional is used for the hypothetical result of an assumed change in conditions of the world, or, in some cases, for the polite expression of instructions or wishes the speaker doesn’t have much confidence or interest in becoming reality or that are more or less impossible. It's generally seen as the "humble" mood used when talking to someone of high respect or someone you just like that much. It can also be used for exaggerations that are supposed to be a proof of that or just joking.
Formed by adding -ke to the end of the infinitive, which becomes -k in front of words starting with 'h' or a vowel and in front of verbal particles.
Hokedo no mekoi nuhe hemede ajavi, saimoke to na li saanuti, teoke teko na he uvuf a saanuvade. For there to be fish for food today, you would want to go to the sea, and [there] you would need to get them from below the surface.
Be-able be fish for food-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object today | want-CONDConditional (mood)
would go 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) to sea-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct | need-CONDConditional (mood)
would retrieve 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct ANIMUnknown code.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few of below.surface.sea-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object
Saimoke to ta li neteti. I would like to go to the coast [but if it's not possible, that's fine, too]
Want-CONDConditional (mood)
would go 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I to coast-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct
Hedoke la ooneti nuhe me ta ma. He/She/Sg. They would take down the moon for me.
Take-CONDConditional (mood)
would 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee moon-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct BENBenefactive (case)
recipient of benefit OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object
Amoke mo sahane hokonoke ta. I would if I could.
do-CONDConditional (mood)
would ANTIPAntipassive voice (valency)
valency is decreased by one if be_currently_able-CONDConditional (mood)
would 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
Subjunctive
The fourth mood is the subjunctive, among other things for energetic proposals, declarations, resolutions, or wishes the speaker has absolute or near absolute faith in becoming true at some point or the time the speaker mentioned, even in the face of uncertainty. Also a more polite way to command someone to do something (but can be seen as condescending if used among people of the same age).
Formed from infinitives with the -t suffix.
Not ta a meoduki te. I shall be honest from now on.
Be-SBJVSubjunctive mood (mood)
desired or possible events 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I of honesty onwards
Not na vunamoena hen! You shall become governor here!
Be-SBJVSubjunctive mood (mood)
desired or possible events 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) elder here
Hortative
Another mood used in Jutean is the hortative, which is often somewhere between the two last ones, used for example for unbinding, but nevertheless assertive or affirmative suggestions, reminders or instructions. This would be translated into English with an auxiliary like "let" or "should". If the subject of the sentence is "fa" (1. person collective inclusive), it can be omitted.
Formed with the -f suffix attached to the infinitive. -fe can also be used, but is considered somewhat archaic, except in front of words starting with "f" themselves, where it's still used.
Tofe fa tuuve. Let us go down
Go-HORTHortative (mood)
'let's...' 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.COLCollective (number)
'group or mass entity'.INCLInclusive (person)
speaker and listener down
Saavof na ja. You should clean this.
CCommon gender (gender/class)
common genderlean-HORTHortative (mood)
'let's...' 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) this.CCommon gender (gender/class)
common gender
See also the grammar tables for unergative and ergative/transitive verbs.
Aspect is generally indicated through adverbs when necessary, although usually it's implied via context or the semantics of the verb of the sentence.
Progressive
The general unmarked aspect with most verbs is the progressive, but when needed, e.g. when talking about the past, can also be specified with the adverb he ('now'). It can also be used for emphasis.
Joo ta he na. I see you.'/'I am seeing you.
See 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
Joo ta he na he I am seeing you right now.
See 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) now
Joo ta he na he dote (doone ...) I was seeing you (when...)
See 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) now earlier (when...)
Perfective
A perfective aspect can be specified with lomohe ('already'). Again, sometimes it is not strictly needed, but can be added for emphasis.
Lomoho ta amiti. I finish the work./I am finishing the work.
Finish 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I work-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct
Lomoho ta amiti lomohe. I already finished the work./I have finished the work.
Finish 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I work-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct already
Lomoho ta amiti lomohe dote. I already finished the work earlier./I had finished the work (already).
Finish 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I work-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct already earlier
Terminative
Both combined (lomohe he) form the terminative aspect, or alternatively a perfect progressive aspect, depending on context.
Lomoho ta amiti lomohe he (...). I just finished the work./I have been finishing the work (...) .
Finish 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I work-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct already now
Lomoho ta amiti lomohe he dote (...). I just had finished the work./I had been finishing the work.
Finish 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I work-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct already now earlier
Habitual
For a habitual aspect, anti 'commonly, regularly' can be used.
Sao ta anti. I go swimming regularly.
swim 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I regularly
Memotilo tesohova anti. The message was repeated regularly.
be_repeated message regularly
Nuno fal hen anti (dee donafofede) dote. They used to live here regularly (during the wet season).
Dwell 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.COLCollective (number)
'group or mass entity' here regularly (during wet_season_OBL) earlier
Resultative
The resultative is split into three variants, volitional with amefe, 'voluntarily', non-volitional with eve, 'non-voluntarily', and the final/unchanging form with kilvune, 'unchangeably, irreversibly'.
Ileho ta hajefati amefe. I ended up changing plans.
Change 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I plan-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct RESResultative (aspect/mood)
occurs as result of another action.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident
Ileho ta hajefati eve I ended up having to change plans
Change 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I plan-IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct RESResultative (aspect/mood)
occurs as result of another action.NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident
Haado la ehe dovade eve (dote). She ended up growing like a tree. or simply She is/was tall.
Grow 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee like tree-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object RESResultative (aspect/mood)
occurs as result of another action.NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident (earlier)
Ilvunito fesuu kilvune. The demon ended up being destroyed irreversibly. or The demon has been destroyed forever.
Destroy demon RESResultative (aspect/mood)
occurs as result of another action.irreversibly
Since Jutean has the Austronesian alignment, it uses triggers to mark the focus of a sentence. These can also be used to express what other languages use voices or cases at nouns for.
To put it shortly, triggers are used in transitive sentences to signify a change in the morphosyntactic alignment from nominative-accusative or ergative-absolutive or vice versa, or highlight specific objects.
The two most common triggers are patient (-no), agent (unmarked by default, but -mo can be used to emphasize/intensify). Instrumental (-de) and Locative (-hen) exist, but are rather uncommon. They are all also attached to the verb, unless it already has mood or gerundive marking. (See chapter "Suffixation" for more information)
Examples for the ergative verb joo (to see)
| Joo ta ja. See 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I this.CCommon gender (gender/class) common gender | I see this. |
| Joono ja he ta. See-PVPatient trigger (voice) Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS this.CCommon gender (gender/class) common gender IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | This is seen by me / This is what I see |
| Joode dovauhi he ta. See.INSVInstrumental trigger (voice) Austronesian alignment; triggers instrumental glass IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | The glasses are what I use to see. |
| Joohen saanu he ta. See.LOCVLocative trigger (voice) Austronesian alignment; triggers location sea IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | The sea is where I see. |
Valency can be used to express subject and object role in Jutean.
In intransitive sentences the meaning is by default understood as patientive. Here the agentive trigger/suffix -mo, otherwise used, as mentioned before in, in transitive sentences for emphasis, is used to make the subject agentive.
| Joo ta. See 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | I am seen. |
| Joomo ta. See-AVAgent trigger (voice) Austronesian alignment; triggers Nom-Acc 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | I see. |
On the other side, the opposite is true for transitive sentences, where the subjects are by default agentive. As an alternative to turning it intransitive to make it have a patientive meaning as well, the patient trigger -no, as mentioned above, can be used as well.
The instrumental and locative trigger-suffixes are also repurposed and can be used to make an intransitive sentence have an implied impersonal subject:
Mihinidohen mihinon. The bed is where you sleep/one sleeps.
sleep-LOCVLocative trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers location bed
Joode maja. The eye/Eyes is/are with what you see/one sees.
see-INSVInstrumental trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers instrumental eye
Impersonal sentences can also be used for statements or sayings if they refer e.g. to general advice where English would use a dummy pronoun. It works a bit like an implied 4th/5th person pronoun, comparable to the “zero person” in Finnic languages.
The only argument of such a phrase is the object of the equivalent regular transitive sentence or an equivalent sentence with an explicit subject and oblique object, as Jutean has no “dummy subjects” such as “it” in e.g. “It would be more intelligent to do that”
Hajeo evotono hemomo nana haade. (It) is more intelligent to become a food organizer* yourself.
Be_intelligent become food_organizer you_yourself more
*generic term for scavenger, fisher and farmer
This sentence uses a technique called “verb stacking”, more on that can be found in the syntax article.
How many voices Jutean has been subject to discussion, as colloquially all inflections that aren't moods, negations or the gerund form have been called triggers.
However, technically the triggers only refer to focus-changing inflections in transitive sentences, so causative (-vo), reciprocal (-hut) and reflexive (-he) "triggers" should more properly be analyzed as voices.
The causative suffix can only be used on ergative verbs (unergative verbs require an ergative verb as preceding auxiliary instead, most commonly noito, 'to direct, lead, force') and takes two or three arguments, where the causer takes the unmarked direct case, the recipient of the action takes the indirect case and the (optional) third argument is in the oblique case. Ergative verbs in phrases with a single argument retain their patientive meaning if turned into a causative.
| Joovo ta he na. See-CAUSCausative (valency/mood) cause an action to occur, force another argument to act 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | I'm making you be seen. |
| Joovo ta he na dovade. See-CAUSCausative (valency/mood) cause an action to occur, force another argument to act 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) tree-OBLOblique (argument) indirect or demoted object | I'm making you see the tree. |
| Noito mihinido ta he na. Make sleep 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I IDRIndirect (case) indirect or oblique, vs direct 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | I'm making you sleep. |
Reciprocal and reflexive voices require intransitive sentences and can not take direct objects.
| Joohut fa. See.RECPReciprocal (valency) arguments act on each other 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.COLCollective (number) 'group or mass entity'.INCLInclusive (person) speaker and listener | We all see each other. |
| Joohe fa. See.REFLReflexive (valency) argument acts on itself 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.COLCollective (number) 'group or mass entity'.INCLInclusive (person) speaker and listener | We all see ourselves. |
In addition, the intransitive agentive suffix -mo is usually regarded as an antipassive by my most grammarians nowadays, with some of the confusion stemming probably from the fact that it is also used in transitive sentences as an intensifier/emphasizing particle for agentive subjects.
A gerund form exists, formed via suffixing -hi to a verb. It can also take a mood suffix, voice suffixes become particles instead. It's used, among other things, to create nominalized subclauses, for example relative clauses. See syntax article for details.
Verbs can in any form, i.e. in any mood, voice and with any triggers be negated by adding the negating suffix -l to them, or letting them be followed by the negating particle al for additional emphasis.
If multiple suffixes would have to be added, for example mood and trigger or trigger and negation, only one of them is attached to the verb, with the other ones forming a particle.
Which one is added to the verb is decided based on their position in this order: Mood < Gerund suffix < Trigger/Voice < Negation, meaning that if a mood morpheme is present, it will be the one added to the verb, with the other one or two forming a particle.
However, this is sometimes not the case with the imperative, where the negation suffix can still be added, since this mood uses a reduplication prefix rather than a suffix.
If only the trigger and the negation are present, the trigger will be attached to the verb and the negation becomes a particle directly after the verb. The negation particle can also be made a separate particle in other cases to mark emphasis or urgency.
On the other side, the gerund suffix -hi is usually treated as an exception and so often does not become a particle, instead being added before or after a mood if one is marked on the verb (with an -e- added between mood and gerund suffix in the latter cases).
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