Verb Basics

Along with nouns, verbs are one of the two main word classes in Himmaswa. Verbs conjugate for polarity, aspect, and mood. There is no voice marking; this is instead handled through topicalization. There is also no explicit tense marking, though certain aspects and moods are strongly associated with certain time frames. Verbs have no personal agreement of any kind. Verbs may also be serialized for several purposes.

Transitivity
Lexically, verbs may be intransitive, (mono)transitive, or ditransitive. Intransitive verbs are those which cannot take a direct object. Both transitive and ditransitive verbs may take a direct object; however, they differ in terms of semantic valency.

Monotransitive verbs are those which represent actions that cannot be performed without a patient (similar to the English verb "eat"). The object of a monotransitive verb may simply be dropped to form a grammatically intransitive but semantically transitive phrase.

Ditransitive verbs are those for which, semantically, the action is fundamentally different when the object is removed (similar to the English verb "change"), that is to say, ditransitive verbs are ergative in nature. Ditransitive verbs must employ valency decreasing strategies in order to become intransitive. It should be noted that the object of a ditransitive verb may be dropped just as the object of a monotransitive verb may be, but without the used of an explicit valency-decreasing strategy, the existence of an object will still be implied.

Examples:
Intransitive verbs:
寝 erng - fall asleep
行 keuong - go
危 drua - be dangerous

Monotransitive verbs:
喰 kpeun - eat
找会 mjurpniah - come across
掘 moch - dig

Ditransitive verbs:
止 gnop - stop
変 kiap - change
集 dreung - gather

Lexical Aspect
Each verb belongs to one of three lexical aspect classes: dynamic, perfect, and stative. Additionally, there are a number of perfect and imperfect auxiliaries which may be applied to a verb. The lexical verb class determines both which aspect auxiliaries may be used, and the specific meanings they carry when used. A special perfect prefix may be systematically compounded with stative verbs to promote them to perfect class, increasing the number of auxiliaries available for use with them.

Examples:
Dynamic:
走 dar - walk
炒 kabom - fry
縫 mki - sew

Perfect:
取 nuim - take
接 choym - connect
破壊 milhwon - break; malfunction

Stative:
赤 ket - be red
状良 panglor - be in good health
曝 ngeuo - be out in the sun/exposed to the elements

Additionally, numerous pairs of verbs exist which are semantically identical or nearly identical, and which differ only or primarily in lexical aspect. Thus instead of conjugating a verb, one may employ a separate root.

持 ptiah - have; hold (DYN)
擁 tgerng - have; own (STA)

作 kang - create; make (DYN)
設 wau - create; make (PERF)

死 gliañ - die (PERF)
亡 pjak - be dead (STA)

Polarity
Verbs in their default form are affirmative, and may be conjugated into a standard negative form via a negative auxiliary. However, there exists also an emphatic affirmative, which is used especially in response to questions (words for "yes" and "no" are not generally used) or in a sense similar to the use of "indeed", "certainly", or other such affirmative words in English.

鋭 nui - (it) is sharp
存鋭 aa nui - (yes, it) is (indeed) sharp
鋭不 nui huoo - (it) is not sharp

Mood
There are numerous modal auxiliaries. These may appear on the same verb as aspect and polarity auxiliaries, but not with other modal auxiliaries. A dummy verb must be used afterwards to carry any additional modals. There are too many modals to explain in detail here.

Serializing
Any number of verbs may be strung together without conjunctions as long as no other word types intervene. These may either indicate sequential actions, simultaneous actions, or actions that differ from both of the verbs used.

Examples:
Sequential:
臥横休 lortdmort mual - lie down and rest (lie down + rest)
躓倒 soacheum - trip and fall (stumble + fall)

Simultaneous:
歌踊 geeñ yau - sing and dance (sing + dance)
去静 dooayp jua - leave quietly (leave + be quiet)

Combination:
解定 wkerchmui - clarify; explain; decode; translate (unfasten/loosen + define; fix; settle)
明団 mon'gsay - be consistent/predictable (lighten + group together)

Subclasses
Additionally, there exist two subclasses of verbs: auxiliary verbs and prepositional verbs. Most commonly they serve non verbal functions: predictably, as verbal modifiers and prepositions respectively. However, they may stand as the main verb in a main clause, in which position they may be conjugated with other auxiliaries. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

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