Difference between revisions of "Verbs"

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Verbs are the central component of a sentence in Mi'gmaq and are made up of many different pieces of information. They contain enough information that they can represent a complete sentence, and are often the only element in a sentence. The verb shown below is composed of the parts shown and roughly corresponds to a full sentence in English.
+
Verbs are used to describe actions, activities, or events. They are the central component of a sentence in Mi'gmaq and are made up of many different pieces of information. They contain enough information that they can represent a complete sentence, and are often the only element in a sentence. Some examples of English verbs include: ''am'', ''seeing'', ''happen'', and ''gave''. Some examples of Mi'gmaq verbs are ''eig'' 's/he is there, exists', ''amalgan'' 'you dance', and ''nemitu'' 'I see it'. Note that English verbs cannot form a sentence by themselves, while Mi'gmaq verbs can.  
  
 +
There are several characteristics that are found in both nouns and verbs, including [[Animacy]], [[Obviation]] and [[Person and number]] marking, which are discussed in their respective articles. In general, a Mi'gmaq verb may contain the following elements, of which the ones in parentheses are optional.
 +
 +
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 600px; height: 50px;"
 +
! scope="col" | ([[preverbs|preverb]])
 +
! scope="col" | [[stem]]
 +
! scope="col" | [[Verbs#Verb Class|verb class]]
 +
! scope="col" | ([[negation]])
 +
! scope="col" | [[person and number]]
 +
! scope="col" | ([[tense]])
 +
! scope="col" | 3rdPL/[[Obviation|obviative]])
 +
|}
 +
 +
An example of each of these portions is shown below. The remainder of this article will discuss each of these portions.
  
 
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 300px; height: 200px;"
 
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 300px; height: 200px;"
−
|+ '''pogjuangitelmag'p'''
+
| poqju || angitelm || eg' || p
−
! scope="col" | preverb
 
−
! scope="col" | verb root
 
−
! scope="col" | person & number
 
−
! scope="col" | tense
 
−
|-
 
−
| poqju
 
−
| angitelm
 
−
| ag'
 
−
| p
 
−
|-
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 'begin'
 
| 'begin'
−
| 'think'
+
| 'think'  
 
| I (1) > her/him(3)
 
| I (1) > her/him(3)
 
| PAST
 
| PAST
 
|-
 
|-
−
| colspan="4" | 'I began to think about her/him'  
+
| '''preverb'''
 +
| '''stem'''
 +
| '''person & number'''
 +
| '''tense'''
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="7" | 'I began to think about her/him'  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
 +
=Basic Verbs=
  
−
This section will discuss some parts of verbs.
+
==(Preverbs)==
−
 
+
''For more detail, see [[Preverbs]]''
  
−
==Verb roots==
+
A preverb is an element found at the left edge of a verb in Mi'gmaq that modifies the meaning of the root and any other preverbs to the right of it. Some of the meanings that are expressed in Mi'gmaq using preverbs are expressed in other languages such as English as adverbs (e.g. ''jaqal-'' "quickly, energetically"), prepositions (e.g. ''toqjuw-'' "up"), modal verbs (e.g. ''getu-'' "want (to)"), prefixes (e.g. ''minu-'' "re-"), other verbs (e.g. ''poqju-'' "begin (to)"), and other expressions (e.g. ''etl-'' "in the process of, be __ing"), although not all elements that belong to one of these categories in English are expressed as preverbs in Mi'gmaq, such as ''igtug'' "at, near (location)," which is found after nouns, not before verbs. Some examples of preverbs are found below.
−
Verbs in Mi'gmaq can describe events, comparable to verbs such as in English, and the qualities of nouns, comparable to adjectives in English. Verbs that describe events include nem- 'see' and gelus- 'speak' and verbs that describe nouns include maqtaw- 'black' and ewe'g'- 'loose'. For more information see [[Verb stems]].
 
  
 +
<gl>
 +
\gll poqju-wissugwatma-p
 +
begin-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past\\
 +
\trans s/he is beginning to cook it
 +
</gl>
  
−
But verb roots cannot stand on their own. They minimally need to show information about the subject, and if relevant, the object.
+
<gl>
 +
\gll newti-wissugwatma-p
 +
one-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past\\
 +
\trans s/he cooks it alone (slot 2)
 +
</gl>
  
 +
<gl>
 +
\gll getu- poqju- mamuni- espi- inn-ui- sit
 +
want- start- high,very- level- people-lang -3sg\\
 +
\trans s/he wants to start to speak the people's language (Mi'gmaq) at a very high level
 +
(sample context: said of an enthusiastic student of Mi'gmaq)
 +
</gl>
  
−
==Animacy & transitivity==
+
==Stems==
−
Animacy is a classification of the status of a noun as animate or inanimate. This classification sometimes corresponds to the division of 'living' nouns, i.e. humans and animals, and 'non-living' nouns, i.e. chair and table. But it is often a more 'randomly' [don't like this word] assigned grammatical notion, similar to masculine (i.e. ''le couteau'' 'the knife') and feminine (i.e. ''la cuillère'' 'the spoon') nouns in French, since ''gmu'jmin'' 'raspberry' is animate, whereas a ''aloqoman'' 'grape' is inanimate. [pick a better example?]
+
''For more detail, see [[Verb stems]]''
  
 +
Verbs in Mi'gmaq can describe events, comparable to verbs such as in English, and the qualities of nouns, comparable to adjectives in English. Verbs that describe events include nem- 'see' and gelus- 'speak' and verbs that describe nouns include maqtaw- 'black' and ewe'g'- 'loose'.
  
−
Transitivity refers to the whether the verb has only a subject, intransitive, or has a subject and an object, transitive.
+
But verb roots cannot stand on their own. They minimally need to show information about the subject, and if relevant, the object.
−
 
 
  
−
Both animacy and transitivity are important and result in a 4 way classification of verbs: intransitive verbs with an animate subject [VAI], intransitive verbs with an inanimate subject [VII}, transitive verbs with an animate subject and object [VTA], and transitive verbs with an animate subject and an inanimate object [VTI]. Verbs within each classification have different forms to encode information. Please refer to the specific pages for each classification for the details of each.
+
==Verb Class==
 +
Transitivity refers to how many people, things, or groups need to be involved in the action of the verb. If the verb only has a subject, we call it ''intransitive'', and if it has both a subject and an object, we call it ''transitive''.  
  
 +
Transitivity interacts with [[Animacy]] to form a 4 way classification of verbs: intransitive verbs with an animate subject [VAI], intransitive verbs with an inanimate subject [VII], transitive verbs with an animate subject and object [VTA], and transitive verbs with an animate subject and an inanimate object [VTI], each of which has their own page.
  
−
{| border="1" style="text-align: center;  width: 250px; height: 100px;"
+
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 250px; height: 150px;"
 
|+ '''Algonquian verb classes'''
 
|+ '''Algonquian verb classes'''
 
! scope="col" |  
 
! scope="col" |  
Line 52: Line 77:
 
|-
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Animate
 
! scope="row" | Animate
−
| [[#VAI|VAI]] || [[#VTA|VTA]]
+
| [[VAI]] || [[VTA]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Inanimate
 
! scope="row" | Inanimate
−
| [[#VII|VII]]
+
| [[VII]]
−
| [[#VTI|VTI]]
+
| [[VTI]]
 +
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
 +
==(Negation)==
 +
''For more detail, see [[Negation]]''
  
−
Depending on which classification the verb has, person and number marking will differ.
+
Affirmative sentences can be can be negated with the addition of a negative particle directly before the verb, usually ''mu''. Verbs that are followed by this negative particle must have negative marking, ''-w'' or ''-u''. We can see this contrast in the table below, where ''mu teluis-ig'' 'her/his name is...' is negated with the addition of the negative particle "mu" and the "-w" negative marker. In addition, the we can see the negated form of ''mu'' is ''ma'' when negating a sentence the future tense.
  
−
 
+
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 600px; height: 150px;"
−
==Person & number==
+
|+ teluis- 'to be named' Indicative mode
−
Person and number distinctions refer to the specific characteristics of the subject and, if present, the object. Person refers to the relationship of the people involved, the speaker, 1st person, the listener, 2nd person, or another, 3rd person. But not only animate persons are referred to, as inanimate things, 0 person, can also be referred to.
+
! scope="col" | tense
−
 
+
! scope="col" | teluis- 'name'
−
 
+
! scope="col" | gloss
−
An additional distinction, shared by many Algonquian languages, is a distinction between a 3rd person, i.e. John, and a 4th person, i.e. John's brother, who is an additional 3rd person in the sentence (or even in the conversation). For more information see [[obviation]].
+
! scope="col" | negated form
−
 
+
! scope="col" | gloss
−
 
 
−
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 400px; height: 200px;"
 
−
! scope="col" | person
 
−
! scope="col" | term
 
−
! scope="col" | gloss  
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1
+
! scope="row" | present
−
| first person
+
| teluis-it
−
| 'I/me'
+
| 'her/his name is...'
 +
| mu teluis-iwg
 +
| 'her/his name isn't...'
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 2
+
! scope="row" | future
−
| second person
+
| tluis-itew
−
| 'you'
+
| 'her/his name will be...'
−
|-
+
| ma tluis-iwg
−
|  3
+
| 'her/his name will not be...'
−
| third person (animate)
 
−
| 'she/her' 'he/him' 'it'
 
−
|-
 
−
|  4
 
−
| fourth person
 
−
| 'her daughter'
 
−
|-
 
−
|  0
 
−
| third person (inanimate)
 
−
| 'it'
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
 +
==Person & number==
 +
''This section is a description of how person and number are marked on verbs. For a description of what these categories are and how they function in general in Mi'gmaq, see [[Person and number]]''
 +
 +
Person and number marking on the verb indicates characteristics of its subject and its object, if it has one. These markings change their appearance depending on what the final is.
  
−
In addition, the number of people involved is also important, such as singular, a single person, or plural, 2 or more people. Mi'gmaq makes an additional distinction between dual, 2 people, and plural, 3 or more people. As well, with 1st person plural 'we', Mi'gmaq makes a distinction between whether the dual and plural involve 1st person and the 2nd person, called inclusive, or the 1st person and a 3rd person, called the exclusive.
 
  
 +
==(Tense)==
 +
''For more detail, see [[Tense]]''
  
−
Below is a summary of the full list of distinctions made. For more information see [[Person & number]].
+
A sentence can refer to a time period which is the same or different from the time when it was spoken. This is called tense and this is often marked on verbs as an ending (suffix). In Mi'gmaq, verbs can be expressed in present, past, and future. Aspect marking is similar to tense, i.e. imperfective, but is usually done with preverbs; for more detail see [[Aspect]].  Generally, present is the default and not marked. Past is often marked with ''-p'', as shown in below, but this is not always the case. This ''-p(n)'' is also argued to mark evidentiality as well [come in Jenny!]. Future tense is often marked with a vowel reduction in the verb stem, as shown below.  
  
  
−
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 500px; height: 200px;"
+
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 400px; height: 200px;"
−
! scope="col" colspan="2"| person
+
|+ teluis- 'to be named' Indicative mode
−
! scope="col" | singular
+
! scope="col" | tense
−
! scope="col" | dual
+
! scope="col" | teluis- 'name'
−
! scope="col" | plural
+
! scope="col" | gloss
 
|-
 
|-
−
! scope="row" rowspan="2"| 1
+
! scope="row" | present
−
! scope="row"| 13
+
| teluis-it
−
| rowspan="2" | I
+
| 'her/his name is...'
−
| we (me & another)
 
−
| we (me & others)
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
! scope="row" | 12
+
! scope="row" | past
−
| we (me & you)
+
|| teluis-iss/-i(s)p
−
| we (me & you-all), (me, you & another/others)
+
| 'her/his name was...'
 
|-
 
|-
−
! scope="row" colspan="2" | 2
+
! scope="row" | future
−
| you
+
| tluis-itew
−
| you-all
+
| 'her/his name will be...'
−
| you-all
 
−
|-
 
−
! scope="row" colspan="2"|  3
 
−
| s/he
 
−
| they (animate)
 
−
| they (animate)
 
−
|-
 
−
! scope="row" colspan="2"|  0
 
−
| it
 
−
| they (inanimate)
 
−
| they (inanimate)
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
 +
==(Third Plural Marker)==
  
−
==Mode, Tense & Negation==
+
==(Obviative)==
−
[We might want to split these up]
+
''This section describes how the obviative is marked on the verb. For more detail on what the obviative is in general, see [[Obviation]].''
−
'Mode describes the speaker's attitude toward a situation, including the speaker's belief in its reality, or likelihood.' (Payne, 1997; 244) In each class, there are a variety of different mode's which can be expressed. Most of them can be expressed in different tenses, present, past, future, and/or pluperfect. For more information about tense please see [[Tense & Aspect]].  In addition, most can also be in the affirmative or the negative. Negative verb forms are preceded by ''mu'', or ''ma'' in the future, and have a negative marking on the verb itself, i.e. ''-w'' in ''mu teluis-i'''w'''g'' 'her/his name isn't...' For more information on negation, see [[Negation]].  
 
  
 +
=Mood=
 +
''Also known as Mode. For more detail, see [[Mood]]''
  
−
Below is a table, based on Pacifique's grammar (as translated in Lesson 10 in Hewson & Francis (1990), although ), that summarizes these observations using the first conjugation of VAI (intransitive verb with animate subject) with third person subject agreement. For more information about mode, see [[Mode]].
+
'Mode describes the speaker's attitude toward a situation, including the speaker's belief in its reality, or likelihood.' (Payne, 1997; 244) In each class, there are a variety of different mode's which can be expressed.  Most can be expressed in different tenses and in the affirmative or the negative. Below is a table, based on Pacifique's grammar (as translated in Lesson 10 in Hewson & Francis (1990), although ), that summarizes these observations using the first conjugation of VAI (intransitive verb with animate subject) with third person subject agreement.  
  
  
−
{|class="wikitable"
+
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;  width: 400px; height: 100px;"
−
! mode || tense || teluis- 'name' || gloss || negated form || gloss
+
! scope="col" | mode
−
|-
+
! scope="col" | teluis- 'name'
−
| rowspan="3" | Indicative
+
! scope="col" | gloss
−
| present
 
−
| teluis-it
 
−
| 'her/his name is...'
 
−
| mu teluis-iwg
 
−
| 'her/his name isn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| past
 
−
| teluis-iss/ip/isp
 
−
| 'her/his name was...'
 
−
| mu teluis-iwgs'p
 
−
| 'her/his name wasn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| future
 
−
| tluis-itew
 
−
| 'her/his name will be...'
 
−
| ma' tluis-iwg
 
−
| 'her/his name will not be...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| Imperative
 
−
|
 
−
| tluis-ij
 
−
| 'let her/his name be...'
 
−
| mu tluis-iwj
 
−
| 'let her/him not be named...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| rowspan="2"|'When...' (Subjunctive)
 
−
| present
 
−
| teluis-ijl
 
−
| 'when her/his name is...'
 
−
| mu teluis-igwl
 
−
| 'when her/his name isn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| past
 
−
| teluis-iteg
 
−
| 'when her/his name was...'
 
−
| mu teluis-igweg
 
−
| 'when her/his name wasn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| rowspan="3"|'If...' (Subjunctive)
 
−
| present
 
−
| tluis-ij
 
−
| 'if her/his name is...'
 
−
| mu tluis-iwg
 
−
| 'if her/his name isn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| past
 
−
| tluis-iss
 
−
| 'if her/his name was...'
 
−
| mu tluis-iwgs'p
 
−
| 'if her/his name wasn't...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| pluperfect
 
−
| tluis-isn
 
−
| 'if her/his name had been...'
 
−
| mu tluis-iwgs'pn
 
−
| 'if her/his name hadn't been...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| rowspan="2"|Conditional
 
−
| present
 
−
| teluis-iss
 
−
| 'her/his name would be...'
 
−
| mu teluis-iss
 
−
| 'her/his name would not be...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| past
 
−
| teluis-isoqq
 
−
| 'her/his name would have been...'
 
−
| mu teluis-isoqq
 
−
| 'her/his name would not have been...'
 
−
|-
 
−
| Subordinative
 
−
|
 
−
| wtluis-in
 
−
| 'that her/his name is...'
 
−
| colspan="2" |
 
 
|-
 
|-
 +
! scope=''row'' | Indicative
 +
| teluis-in
 +
| 'you name'
 
|}
 
|}
−
 
−
==Preverbs==
 
−
Gretchen go crazy!
 

Latest revision as of 21:28, 25 August 2012

Verbs are used to describe actions, activities, or events. They are the central component of a sentence in Mi'gmaq and are made up of many different pieces of information. They contain enough information that they can represent a complete sentence, and are often the only element in a sentence. Some examples of English verbs include: am, seeing, happen, and gave. Some examples of Mi'gmaq verbs are eig 's/he is there, exists', amalgan 'you dance', and nemitu 'I see it'. Note that English verbs cannot form a sentence by themselves, while Mi'gmaq verbs can.

There are several characteristics that are found in both nouns and verbs, including Animacy, Obviation and Person and number marking, which are discussed in their respective articles. In general, a Mi'gmaq verb may contain the following elements, of which the ones in parentheses are optional.

(preverb) stem verb class (negation) person and number (tense) 3rdPL/obviative)

An example of each of these portions is shown below. The remainder of this article will discuss each of these portions.

poqju angitelm eg' p
'begin' 'think' I (1) > her/him(3) PAST
preverb stem person & number tense
'I began to think about her/him'

Basic Verbs

(Preverbs)

For more detail, see Preverbs

A preverb is an element found at the left edge of a verb in Mi'gmaq that modifies the meaning of the root and any other preverbs to the right of it. Some of the meanings that are expressed in Mi'gmaq using preverbs are expressed in other languages such as English as adverbs (e.g. jaqal- "quickly, energetically"), prepositions (e.g. toqjuw- "up"), modal verbs (e.g. getu- "want (to)"), prefixes (e.g. minu- "re-"), other verbs (e.g. poqju- "begin (to)"), and other expressions (e.g. etl- "in the process of, be __ing"), although not all elements that belong to one of these categories in English are expressed as preverbs in Mi'gmaq, such as igtug "at, near (location)," which is found after nouns, not before verbs. Some examples of preverbs are found below. 

  1. poqju-wissugwatma-p                
begin-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past  
    's/he is beginning to cook it '
  1. newti-wissugwatma-p              
one-cook.3sg.anim.3sg.inan-past  
    's/he cooks it alone (slot 2)'
  1. getu-  poqju-  mamuni-     espi-   inn-ui-      sit   
want-  start-  high,very-  level-  people-lang  -3sg  
    's/he wants to start to speak the people's language (Mi'gmaq) at a very high level'
    (sample context: said of an enthusiastic student of Mi'gmaq)

Stems

For more detail, see Verb stems

Verbs in Mi'gmaq can describe events, comparable to verbs such as in English, and the qualities of nouns, comparable to adjectives in English. Verbs that describe events include nem- 'see' and gelus- 'speak' and verbs that describe nouns include maqtaw- 'black' and ewe'g'- 'loose'.

But verb roots cannot stand on their own. They minimally need to show information about the subject, and if relevant, the object.

Verb Class

Transitivity refers to how many people, things, or groups need to be involved in the action of the verb. If the verb only has a subject, we call it intransitive, and if it has both a subject and an object, we call it transitive.

Transitivity interacts with Animacy to form a 4 way classification of verbs: intransitive verbs with an animate subject [VAI], intransitive verbs with an inanimate subject [VII], transitive verbs with an animate subject and object [VTA], and transitive verbs with an animate subject and an inanimate object [VTI], each of which has their own page.

Algonquian verb classes
Intransitive Transitive
Animate VAI VTA
Inanimate VII VTI

(Negation)

For more detail, see Negation

Affirmative sentences can be can be negated with the addition of a negative particle directly before the verb, usually mu. Verbs that are followed by this negative particle must have negative marking, -w or -u. We can see this contrast in the table below, where mu teluis-ig 'her/his name is...' is negated with the addition of the negative particle "mu" and the "-w" negative marker. In addition, the we can see the negated form of mu is ma when negating a sentence the future tense.

teluis- 'to be named' Indicative mode
tense teluis- 'name' gloss negated form gloss
present teluis-it 'her/his name is...' mu teluis-iwg 'her/his name isn't...'
future tluis-itew 'her/his name will be...' ma tluis-iwg 'her/his name will not be...'

Person & number

This section is a description of how person and number are marked on verbs. For a description of what these categories are and how they function in general in Mi'gmaq, see Person and number

Person and number marking on the verb indicates characteristics of its subject and its object, if it has one. These markings change their appearance depending on what the final is.


(Tense)

For more detail, see Tense

A sentence can refer to a time period which is the same or different from the time when it was spoken. This is called tense and this is often marked on verbs as an ending (suffix). In Mi'gmaq, verbs can be expressed in present, past, and future. Aspect marking is similar to tense, i.e. imperfective, but is usually done with preverbs; for more detail see Aspect. Generally, present is the default and not marked. Past is often marked with -p, as shown in below, but this is not always the case. This -p(n) is also argued to mark evidentiality as well [come in Jenny!]. Future tense is often marked with a vowel reduction in the verb stem, as shown below.


teluis- 'to be named' Indicative mode
tense teluis- 'name' gloss
present teluis-it 'her/his name is...'
past teluis-iss/-i(s)p 'her/his name was...'
future tluis-itew 'her/his name will be...'

(Third Plural Marker)

(Obviative)

This section describes how the obviative is marked on the verb. For more detail on what the obviative is in general, see Obviation.

Mood

Also known as Mode. For more detail, see Mood

'Mode describes the speaker's attitude toward a situation, including the speaker's belief in its reality, or likelihood.' (Payne, 1997; 244) In each class, there are a variety of different mode's which can be expressed. Most can be expressed in different tenses and in the affirmative or the negative. Below is a table, based on Pacifique's grammar (as translated in Lesson 10 in Hewson & Francis (1990), although ), that summarizes these observations using the first conjugation of VAI (intransitive verb with animate subject) with third person subject agreement.


mode teluis- 'name' gloss
Indicative teluis-in 'you name'
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