Seuna verbs

In finite form, the verb has always three slots after the main word. These slots are for subject, mood and tense. A fourth slot, which gives evidential information is also often tagged on.

Subject suffix

The subject slot is filled as follows ;-

I	-a-	we(exc.)	-au-
		we(inc.)	-ai-
you	-i-	you(pl.)	-e-
he/she	-o-	they	-u-

There are also forms used when the human agent is indefinite. These forms roughly correspond to indefinite pronouns such as Swedish and German man, French on and English one. These forms are -oi- for the singular and -eu- for the plural.

skriver = 'writing happens' (on écrit) [IMPERSONAL]

The equivalent of the English passive is expressed by using the impersonal _with a direct object_, e.g. skriver ul levr = on écrit un livre = a book is being written

a house is built = someone built a house

Mood suffix

The mood slot is filled as follows ;-

indicative	-r-	negative indicative	-rt-
subjunctive	-s-	negative subjuctive	-st-
imperitive	-ya

When the imperative is used there is no tense suffix. Also it is used only with the two second person subject suffixes. So for example;-

to hit	-timpa-
Hit him/her.	-timpiya na-
Hit him/her(spoken to more than one person).	-timpeya na-

To negate the imperative we use the particle kya. For example ;-

Don't hit him/her.

-kya timpa na-

Notice that in the negative form, the single/plural distinction is lost.

Tense suffix

The tense slot is filled as follows ;-

past	-i
future	-u
perfect	-a
past perfect	-ua
future perfect	-ia
general/habitual	-o
present	-e
simultaneous	-ai
consequential	-au

Evidential suffix

reported	-n
inferred	-s
seen	-o

Evidentials are only used in main(independent clauses), with the indicative mood. The "seen" evidential is only used with the past tense suffix. None of the evidentials are obligatory. The reported and inferred seem to bring into doubt the reliability of the information somewhat.

-n means inferred from evidence and is used in the situations in which we prefix or tag on "I guess" or "I think" to a clause in English.

-s means and information asserted is got from some third party and is used where we might prefix "they say" to a clause in English.

Negation

The way to negate an infinitive, is to put the particle ka in front of the verb.

ka solbe = to not drink ka timpa = to not hit

Now usually as already seen, verbs in the indicative and subjunctive are negated by the infix t. However ka can also be used in these cases as well. When this happens it adds emphasis to the negation. For example ;-

ka solborti = He/she definitely didn't drink.

The copula

The forms of the copula are almost identical to the TAM markings. Only the 3sng form is different, its vowel being dropped.

I was	ari	we(exc.)were	auri
		we(inc.) were	airi
you were	iri	you(lot) were	eri
he/she was	ri	they are	uri

You will notice that in the above table we demonstrated the copula system using the past tense. The reason that the past tense was used is that the present tense in English corresponds to two forms and two meanings in Seuna. The difference in meaning between the two forms, is the same as the difference between the two Spanish copulas “estar” and "ser". The "e" form being used for a less permanent state of affairs (similar to the use of "estar")and the "o" form being used for a more permanent state of affairs (similar to the use of "ser").

are buke = I am sick aro buke = I am an invalid

To negate the 3sng copula, you must always use the particle ka.

ka re buke = He is not sick

Mostly for equating nouns, they are just placed together with no copula.

mi "doctor" = I am a doctor

Of course a copula must be used if any tense information has to be given.

aru "doctor" = I will be a doctor

To relate an adjective to a noun, the copula must be used. For example;-

uro jutu = They are big

However adjectives are often presented as nouns in this situation. For example;-

wa jutula = They're big'uns

Nouns from verbs

solbe	to drink	humpa	to eat
solbela	the drinker	humpala	the eater
solbo	beverage	humpo	food

If it was some device doing the action then the suffix would be ma instead of la.

The single syllable verbs

Usually a verb is recognizable by its midword consonant cluster. These verbs are of course multi-syllable. However the most common verbs are single-syllable. They are given below.

to leave	yi
to arrive	wu
to give	loi
to be	bia
to have	kua
to get/obtain	kwa
to become	bwa
to loose	kya
to stop being	bya
to go	go
to come	me
to know	sai
to realize/notice	swai
to return	gwia
to tell	slai
to send	glo
to rise	teu
to go down	joi
to raise	twe
to lower	jwo
to enter	pai
to exit	fau
to insert	pli
to extract	flu
to do	mya
to make	blu
to say	plo
to think	kle
to want	nyo
to wish	fyu
to take	oi
to put	heu
to understand	nai
to follow	dwe
to cross	cwo

Index

1. Introduction to Seuna
2. Seuna : Chapter 1
3. Seuna word shape
4. The script of Seuna
5. Seuna sentence structure
6. Seuna pronouns
7. Seuna nouns
8. Seuna verbs (1)
9. Seuna adjectives
10. Seuna demonstratives
11. Seuna verbs (2)
12. Asking a question in Seuna
13. Seuna relative clauses
14. Seuna verbs (3)
15. Methods for deriving words in Seuna
16. List of all Seuna derivational affixes
17. Numbers in Seuna
18. Naming people in Seuna
19. The Seuna calendar
20. Seuna units