Obrenje Grammar

© 2001-2003 by Christian Thalmann
cinga (at) iname (dot) com

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2.  Verb Conjugation

 

Obrenje verbs inflect for person, tense, voice, aspect and mood.  They do not distinguish the number of the subject.  Mood is expressed with prefixes, while person, aspect and voice manifest themselves in endings.  Tense is designated by a vowel shift towards |u| for past and |i| for future.

Not only the three basic tenses (present, past, future) but also an aspect (solid vs liquid) is distinguished.  Solid aspect is used for single actions, sequences of single actions, generalized statements ("truths"), or habits.  Liquid aspect is used when an action's ongoing or temporary nature, extension over a period of time, or momentary state of being under way is emphasized rather than the action as a whole.  The solid vs liquid distinction roughly corresponds to the simple vs continuous distinction in English.

Example: |Kelze funtu| "I see badly" (e.g. due to myopia; solid aspect), |kelenza funtu| "I am seeing badly" (e.g. due to fog; liquid aspect).

Two groups of verbs are distinguished: The vocalic and the consonantic verbs.  The verb stems of the former always end in either |-a|, |-e| or |-o|, while most (but not all) of the latter have verb stems ending in a consonant.

There is no infinitive form as such, but participles abound, and a gerund can be formed to refer to the action itself.  For example, |povamma| means "giving", |povumma| "having given", |povush| "given", |povish| "destined to be given".  Gerunds exist for all tenses (present, past, future) and both voices (active and passive), but there is no aspect distinction (solid/liquid).  Technically, they are nouns, thus they have a definite and an indefinite form like other nouns.

The passive can promote both predicative and objective objects into the subject slot.  The former subject is marked by the non-possessive genitive preposition |ur|.  If a verb can have both kinds of object at once, then the exact meaning can usually be derived from the context.

With participles, the aspect distinction plays an important role:  The solid form is often more aptly translated with an actor/patient noun, while the liquid form always becomes an -ing form in an English translation.  For instance, |warve setamma| "a guarding dog", |warve setam| "a watchdog"; |narpe teginta| "a mushroom that is going to be eaten", |narpe tekse| "a mushroom to be eaten = an edible mushroom".

The zero person is used for impersonal subjects or generalized ones.  It can also be used to refer to a whole sentence previously stated.

Silce.
Rain:0
It rains.

Zince    u    obrenje     ro  contra.
Speak:0  PRE  Obrenje:i   in  Contra:i
One speaks Obrenje in Hontra.

Ule      xim     culdin   i    tje   quqel.       Letce    ro  xim     kjobaja.
Love:3e  poss:1  brother  DIR  that  idiot_fem.   Stick:0  in  poss:1  head_of_hair.
My brother loves that stupid girl.  That sticks in my hair (= that bothers me).

For the meaning of the persons 3i and 3e, please consult the chapter "Syntax".
 
 

2.1.  Vocalic Verb Forms


Here follows a chart of all verb forms of a typical vocalic verb, |pova-| "give (as a present), donate".  The active solid forms of another verb, |fendre-| "draw (with a pen)", are also listed in order to show how the endings change for other stem vowels.  Only the present tense forms are influenced.

In the vocalic verb group, the vowel at the end of the verb stem is changed to |u| and |i| in the past and future tenses, respectively.
 
    Pova-               Fendre-  
                       
    Active Solid   Passive Solid   Active Liquid   Passive Liquid   Active Solid  
                       
Present gerund
pov
ae
pov
ad        
fendr
ee
  part
pov
am
pov
ash
pov
amma
pov
anta
fendr
em
  0
pov
ac
pov
acte
pov
anga
pov
akka
fendr
ec
  1
pov
aze
pov
azde
pov
anza
pov
adza
fendr
eze
  2
pov
ale
pov
arde
pov
andra
pov
atra
fendr
ele
  3i
pov
a
pov
ade
pov
ana
pov
asta
fendr
e
  3e
pov
e
pov
at
pov
aq
pov
atta
fendr
e
                       
Past gerund
pov
ue
pov
ud        
fendr
ue
  part
pov
um
pov
ush
pov
umma
pov
unta
fendr
um
  0
pov
uc
pov
ucte
pov
unga
pov
ukka
fendr
uc
  1
pov
uze
pov
uzde
pov
unza
pov
udza
fendr
uze
  2
pov
ule
pov
urde
pov
undra
pov
utra
fendr
ule
  3i
pov
aw
pov
ude
pov
una
pov
usta
fendr
ew
  3e
pov
u
pov
ut
pov
uq
pov
utta
fendr
u
                       
Future gerund
pov
ie
pov
id        
fendr
ie
  part
pov
im
pov
ish
pov
imma
pov
inta
fendr
im
  0
pov
ic
pov
icte
pov
inga
pov
ikka
fendr
ic
  1
pov
ize
pov
izde
pov
inza
pov
idza
fendr
ize
  2
pov
ile
pov
irde
pov
indra
pov
itra
fendr
ile
  3i
pov
aj
pov
ide
pov
ina
pov
ista
fendr
ej
  3e
pov
i
pov
it
pov
iq
pov
itta
fendr
i

 

2.2.  Consonantic Verb Forms


Most verbs of the consonantic group have stems ending in a consonant, e.g. |bel-| "take".  Obviously, the endings of the vocalic group don't quite fit these stems, a word like *|belm| or *|belc| would violate the phonology of Obrenje.  Therefore, consonantic verbs need a different set of endings that don't require a stem vowel.

As mentioned before, the past and future tenses are marked by vowel shifts towards |u| and |i|.  However, since consonantic verb don't have a vowel at the end of their stem, the vowel inside the stem must suffer those shifts.  Chapter 2.3 offers a table that shows which vowels become which in past and future tenses.
 
 
    Bel-              
                   
    Active Solid   Passive Solid   Active Liquid   Passive Liquid  
                   
Present gerund
bel
a
bel
eta        
  part
bel
me
bel
se
bel
emma
bel
enta
  0
bel
ce
bel
ecte
bel
enga
bel
ekka
  1
bel
ze
bel
ezde
bel
enza
bel
edza
  2
bel
re
bel
erde
bel
endra
bel
etra
  3i
bel
e
bel
ede
bel
ena
bel
esta
  3e
bel
 
bel
et
bel
eq
bel
etta
                   
Past gerund
bol
a
bel
uta        
  part
bol
me
bol
se
bel
umma
bel
unta
  0
bol
ce
bel
ucte
bel
unga
bel
ukka
  1
bol
ze
bel
uzde
bel
unza
bel
udza
  2
bol
re
bel
urde
bel
undra
bel
utra
  3i
bol
u
bel
ude
bel
una
bel
usta
  3e
bol
 
bel
ut
bel
uq
bel
utta
                   
Future gerund
bil
a
bel
ita        
  part
bil
me
bil
se
bel
imma
bel
inta
  0
bil
ce
bel
icte
bel
inga
bel
ikka
  1
bil
ze
bel
izde
bel
inza
bel
idza
  2
bil
re
bel
irde
bel
indra
bel
itra
  3i
bil
i
bel
ide
bel
ina
bel
ista
  3e
bil
 
bel
it
bel
iq
bel
itta

Unfortunately, inflecting a consonantic verb isn't quite as trivial as it is with vocalic ones.  Some consonantic verb stems mutate under the influence of certain endings.  These mutation patterns are quite systematic, though.

A few consonantic verbs have stems ending on a vowel.  Nevertheless, they fall under this category because they inflect just like regular consonantic verbs, using the same suffixes and vowel shifts.  Example: |kwo-| "want", |kwome| "wanting".

Apart from these systematically mutating verbs, there is also one truly irregular verb: |mo-| "be".  Its inflections are given in the table below.  Its derivatives |kimo-| "become, come into being", |primo-| "end, stop being", |dajmo-| "be again, continue being", and |rojmo-| "fulfill being, complete being" all share the same irregularities.
 
 
    Mo-              
                   
    Active Solid   Passive Solid   Active Liquid   Passive Liquid  
                   
Present gerund
mo
a
mo
ta        
  part
mo
m
mo
se
o
mma
o
tna
  0
mo
c
mo
cte
o
nga
o
kka
  1
mo
ze
mo
zde
o
nza
o
dza
  2
mo
le
mo
rde
o
ndra
o
tra
  3i
mo
e
mo
de
o
na
o
sta
  3e
mo
 
mo
t
o
q
o
tta
                   
Past gerund
mu
a
mu
ta        
  part
wo
m
wo
se
u
mma
u
tna
  0
wo
c
wo
cte
u
nga
u
kka
  1
wo
ze
wo
zde
u
nza
u
dza
  2
wo
le
wo
rde
u
ndra
u
tra
  3i
mu
e
wo
de
u
na
u
sta
  3e
mu
 
mu
t
u
q
u
tta
                   
Future gerund
me
a
me
ta        
  part
mje
m
mje
se
e
mma
e
tna
  0
mje
c
mje
cte
e
nga
e
kka
  1
mje
ze
mje
zde
e
nza
e
dza
  2
mje
le
mje
rde
e
ndra
e
tra
  3i
me
e
mje
de
e
na
e
sta
  3e
me
 
me
t
e
q
e
tta

 
 

2.3.  Vowel shifting rules for consonantic verbs

 
Present a e o i u y
Past o o u y - u
Future e i e - y i

 
 

2.4.  Moods


Moods tell about the way the verb is meant:  Does it really happen?  Do we just wish it happened?  Or do we even want to express that it doesn't happen?  Obrenje has five moods:

 
Prefix Before consonant Before vowel
Indicative - -
Negative ta- tas-
Interrogative vy- vy-
Optative o- o-
Hypothetical ew- ew-

The optative prefix |o-| causes a following |o| to dissociate into an |u|.

Example: |olja| "(he) drinks", |oulja| "may (he) drink!".

The mood markers can also be treated as separate words, rather than prefixes.  In this function, they can be placed before other parts of speech than the verb, to apply their value specifically to those parts.  The negative particle then becomes |tash|.

Lawne    vy   lonna.
Song:i   INT  sing:3e.
Lit.:  "A song sings-he?"
Does he sing a song?

Vy   lawne   lonna.
INT  song:i  sing:3e.
Lit.:  "A song? sings-he."
Is it a song he sings?
 
 

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© 2001 by Christian Thalmann
cinga (at) iname (dot) com