Aðmá Verbs
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The verbs of the Aðmá language
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 23 Feb 2019, 13:45.
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1. Aðmá Verbs
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Aðmá uses an Austronesian alignment system. Its verbs can conjugate agglutinatively to three voices and two sub-voices (marked by the vowels of the verb ending), and four forms (marked by the consonants of the verb ending).
The voices are as follows:
- Agent Trigger - Noun 1 does something to Noun 2.
- Locative Trigger - Noun 1 does something to Noun 2 at/in/on Noun 3.
- Benefactive Trigger - Noun 1 does something to Noun 2 for/to Noun 3.
- Patient Trigger - Noun 1 has something done to it by Noun 2.
- Locative Trigger - Noun 1 has something done to it by Noun 2 at/in/on Noun 3.
- Benefactive Trigger - Noun 1 has something done to it by Noun 2 for/to Noun 3.
- Direct Trigger - Something happens only involving Noun 1 [an intransitive sentence].
- Locative Trigger - Something happens involving Noun 1 at/in/on Noun 2.
- Benefactive Trigger - Something happens involving Noun 1 for/to Noun 2 [rarely used].
The verb forms are as follows:
- Present - The action is occurring as the speaker is speaking, or the action is about to happen.
- Perfective - The action has already occurred, regardless of how long ago.
- This can be used as the present perfect as well as the past tense. Imperfectivity as a concept does not exist in Aðmá.
- Imperative - The speaker is commanding the listener to perform the action.
- Forsitantive - The speaker wants the action to occur, thinks the action is occurring, or knows it will occur in the future.
- This is speculated to be a merging of either three or two Proto-Aðmá forms; purportedly optative, evidential, and future forms, with some claiming the optative and evidential were always a single subjunctive case with a dual irrealis meaning.
- This form can be translated as closely as possible to the original using the English auxiliary "should".
Using míz - "to see" - as an example:
| Voice | Form | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Perfective | Imperative | Forsitantive | |
| Agent Trigger | ||||
| Plain | mízal | mízab | mízað | mízan |
| Locative | mízalil | mízabib | mízaðið | mízanin |
| Benefactive | mízalél | mízabéb | mízaðéð | mízanén |
| Patient Trigger | ||||
| Plain | mízul | mízub | mízuð | mízun |
| Locative | mízulil | mízubib | mízuðið | mízunin |
| Benefactive | mízulél | mízubéb | mízuðéð | mízunén |
| Direct Trigger | ||||
| Plain | mízel | mízeb | mízeð | mízen |
| Locative | mízelel | mízebib | mízeðið | mízenin |
| Benefactive | mízelél | mízebéb | mízeðéð | mízenén |
The uses of the locative include:
- As a standard locational marker to qualify where the action is occuring, i.e. át ruwát rién mízalil - "I see you in the house".
- As a form of genitive marker when the third noun is already established to belong to one of the other arguments (or the meaning is obvious) i.e. át ínav šéngul udívubib - literally "I was hit by her in the son", where the son is already being discussed it takes on the meaning of "She hit my son".
- Poetically as the benefactive, i.e. hét hét šíwedún eðátalil - literally "They murder them at the gods", actual meaning "They murder them for the gods". This becomes especially confusing when considering that the reverse (benefactive representing the locative) can also occur.
- Poetically in the direct trigger voice as a sentence that would normally be a plain agent trigger, i.e. át ínul uhádenin - literally "I shall find at him", actual meaning "I shall find him". The benefactive also does this.
The uses of the benefactive include:
- As a marker determining whom the action is being done for, i.e. át relík ruwát šáengabéb - "I sowed the field for you".
- As a dative marker in a ditransitive sentence, i.e. ruwát akalážin át ínalaðéð - "Tell me the secret", literally "You [must] tell the secret to me".
- Poetically as the locative, i.e. hét hét rién eðátalél - literally "They murder them for the house", actual meaning "They murder them at the house".
- Poetically in the direct trigger voice as a sentence that would normally be a plain agent trigger, i.e. át ínul uhádenén - literally "I shall find to him", actual meaning "I shall find him".
Presented here are two sentences in the forsitantive form, and their possible meanings in English. Context is vital when understanding the forsitantive:
- Akén ruwát razé šéngavta izáðan
- "I hope Aken likes your daughter"
- "Aken probably likes your daughter"
- "Aken will like your daughter"
- "I hope Aken likes your daughter"
- ínul ínav át uhádanén
- "I hope he finds her for me"
- "He's probably finding her for me"
- "He'll find her for me"
- "I hope he finds her for me"
The frequency of each type's use goes, in descending order; future, evidential, then optative. However, the forsitantive is rarely used to mean the future without some kind of "lead-in", i.e. mentioning "tomorrow", or mentioning you have plans before saying what they are. If a text switches to the forsitantive without any prior indication that the future is being discussed, it is probably evidential or optative (context determining which). ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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