Verbs in Brithenig

Brithenig verb conjugations are supported by [Verbix|http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Brithenig]

Verb endings change for person, number and tense. The infinitive is indicated with endings -ar, -er, -ir. The -r is usually left unpronounced. Brithenig verbs are divided into three conjugations according to which infinitive ending the verb takes:

Canhar to sing

Perdder to lose

Dorfir to sleep

In a sentence the infinitive is mutated more often than not due to the preposition a before the verb. The preposition is then dropped but the mutation is preserved. With auxiliaries the infinitive is unmutated. It is the unmutated form that is recorded in the lexicon. It used with other prepositions where English prefers to use '-ing':

Eo wa per yn turn inawant gweddir a'll lleith, I go for a walk before going to bed

Dibos rher-mi eo bran, After getting up I have breakfast

It is also used to replace the past tense:

Eo fi ref a ffôner-lla, I got up and phoned her

The preposition subr, on, is translated as 'about to' before the infinitive:

Eo er subr ffôner-gw, I was about to phone you.

The present indicative describes an action happening at the present time:

eo gant	eo berdd	eo ddorf
ty gant	ty berdd	ty ddorf
ys cant	ys perdd	ys dorf
sa gant	sa berdd	sa ddorf
nu chanhan	nu pherdden	nu ddorfen
gw chanhath	gw pherddeth	gw ddorfith
ys/sa chanhant	ys/sa pherddent	ys/sa ddorfent

Brithenig distinguishes different endings to go with each person and and number. The singular forms are unmarked, -n goes with nu, -nt goes with ys and sa when they are plural, and -th goes with gw. The '-t' on the third person plural ending is silent, in the spoken language there is no difference between this and the ending of the first person plural verb. Also the initial consonant undergoes soft mutation in the singular verb (except after ys) or spirant mutation in the plural verb. Just as standard English always indicates the third person singular with the ending -s (he carries), so these endings must also always be used in Brithenig. If an object pronoun is inserted before the verb, then the verb always undergoes mutation, soft before a singular pronoun, spirant before a plural pronoun.

A verb is reflexive when when its subject and object are the same person: eo fi law, I wash (myself); in Brithenig the object is not omitted.

Llawarsi, to wash oneself:

eo fi law	nu nu lawan
ty dy law	gw 'w lawath
ys/sa si law	ys/sa si lawant

In speech the first 'w' on gw 'w loses it vocalic quality and the combination is pronounced /gwu/.

Sometimes 'myself', etc are used for emphasis and not as the object of a reflexive verb. In such cases it is translated as medissif:

Eo fedissif widd llo char, I see the cars myself.

Brithenig makes the present participle by replacing the infinitive ending with -n:

canhan singing

perdden losing

dorfin sleeping

It forms a progressive tense with the verb ystar, 'to stand':

Eo yst canhan: I am singing

Ys ystafant dorfin: they were sleeping

The present participle can also be an adjective:

ill of dorfin, the sleeping man

Lla ffuin ganhan, the singing woman

The Latin gerund ending in -nt, still exists in a handful of words in Brithenig that are used as adjectives and nouns, such as afent, wealthy, and president, president. But the survival of these is an historic feature and not a productive one, in Brithenig the present participle has taken over the role of the gerund.

The past participle has the ending -d:

canhad sung

perdded lost

dorfid slept

Some past participles are irregular:

ffaeth, done, made, from ffâr, to do, to make;

dith, said, from dîr, to say;

yscrith, written, from yscrifer, to write;

duith, led, from dûr, to lead;

gwist, seen, from gwidder, to see;

rhuth, broken, from rhumher, to break;

clos, closed from clodder, to close;

morth, dead from morir, to die.

The forms of the imperfect are:

eo ganhaf	eo berddef	eo ddorfif
ty ganhaf	ty berddef	ty ddorfif
ys canhaf	ys perddef	ys dorfif
sa ganhaf	sa berddef	sa ddorfif
nu chanafan	nu pherddefan	nu ddorfifan
gw chanafath	gw pherddefath	gw ddorfifath
ys/sa chanafant	ys/sa pherddefant	ys/sa ddorfifant

The imperfect is used to describe an action that happened in the past that is not concluded at this point due to it being an ongoing action, an interpreted action or an habitual action. So Eo ganhaf can be interpreted as either 'I sang', 'I was singing', or 'I used to sing'.

'I was singing' can also be translated as eo ystaf canhan.

Remember that the final -f on the singular verb is silent.

The past definite describes a completed and unrepeatable action that happened in the past. Some verb endings have been lost and replaced with the imperfect, or with a compound past tense:

eo ganhaf	eo berddef	eo ddorfif
ty ganhast	ty berddest	ty ddorfist
ys canhaf	ys perddef	ys dorfif
sa ganhaf	sa berddef	sa ddorfif
nu chanafan	nu pherddefan	nu ddorfifan
gw chanhast	gw pherddest	gw ddorfist
ys/sa channarent	ys/sa pherdderent	ys/sa ddorfirent

The past definate is used particularly to describe an historical event; or in connection with a temporal adverb or adverbial phrase; or a `when' phrase; or a conclusive and final action.

There are a small number of verbs where the past definate is irregular, one such verb is dîr, to say:

eo ddis	nu ddisen
ty ddisist	gw ddisist
ys dis/sa ddis	ys/sa ddisirent

Other irregular verbs are:

Clos from clodder, to close;

Compruis from comprêner, to understand;

Cyrs from cyrrir, to run;

Duis from dûr, to lead;

Lleis from lleir, to read;

Mis from mither, to send;

Tens from tener, to stretch.

The future tense is translated 'I will' or 'I shall'. It is formed by adding the endings -ai, -a, -a, -an, -ath, -ant to the infinitive. All Brithenig verbs use these endings in the future tense:

eo ganarai	eo berdderai	eo ddorfirai
ty ganara	ty berddera	ty ddorfira
ys canara	ys perddera	ys dorfira
sa ganara	sa berddera	sa ddorfira
nu chanaran	nu pherdderan	nu ddorfiran
gw chanarath	gw pherdderath	gw ddorfirath
ys/sa chanarant	ys/sa pherdderant	ys/sa ddorfirant

For the immediate future tense Brithenig can use gweddir, go, with the infinitive tense of the verb:

Eo wa wenir cungwsc, I am going to come with you.

The conditional tense translates to mean 'might', 'could', 'would' or 'should'. It is formed by adding a -ew ending to the infinitive:

eo ganarew	eo berdderew	eo ddorfirew
ty ganarew	ty berdderew	ty ddorfirew
ys canarew	ys perdderew	ys dorfirew
sa ganarew	sa berdderew	sa ddorfirew
nu chanarewn	nu pherdderewn	nu ddorfirewn
gw chanarewth	gw pherdderewth	gw ddorfirewth
ys/sa chanarewnt	ys/sa pherdderewnt	ys/sa ddorfirewnt

The conditional is used to indicate a future tense to a past action. It is used in indirect speech after a verb used to communicate ideas:

Ys yscrifera yn garth He will write a letter

Ys digef (ke) ys yscriferew yn garth He said that he would write a letter

The conditional tense is also used in a sentence after an 'if' clause:

Se eo w h-er, eo ffagerew rhen If I were you, I would not do it.

Se eo ai gwist-llo, eo afrew parolad a lle If I had seen him, I would have spoken to him.

If the second clause does not have the sense of an action not happening then another tense replaces the conditional:

Se ys gwen eo barolarai a lle If he comes I will speak to him.

The conditional is also used in describing non-specific repetative action in the past:

I llo ddiwrn llâ nu h-amblarewn sempr a'll castr, In those days we would always walk into town, or, In those days we always used to walk into town.

The relative pronoun ke, 'who, what, which, that' is often omitted in Brithenig, especially the spoken language. Ke is the most common form of the relative pronoun. The alternative ill cal is used to avoid ambiguity in a sentence. It is variable in gender and number and cannot be omitted. Ke is more often encountered in speech.

'Whose' can be translated by ke sew before the noun or by di'll cal after it. 'When' and 'where' are translated respectively as can and ill llog (ke).

Brithenig uses disjunctive pronouns in dependent clauses:

Lla garth (k') eo yscrifef lla, The letter that I wrote

Lla ffuin (k') eo barolaf cunseg, The woman that I spoke with

The subjunctive tenses are no longer productive in modern Brithenig. They only survive in proverbial phrases such as: Can in Rhufein, ffâ si llo Rhufan ffeigant, When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

There are two subjunctive tenses, past and present. The present tense is distinctive that it includes i-mutation in all three conjunctions, if only partially in the -ar conjunction. A, e, and o in the stem become ei, u becomes y, and aw, when it occurs, becomes ew; i is unaffected. The vowels in the ending also change, for -er and -ir verbs it becomes a, while for -ar verbs it becomes e.

eo gant	eo beirdd	eo ddeirf
ty gant	ty beirdd	ty ddeirf
ys cant	ys peidd	ys deirf
sa gant	sa beirdd	sa ddeirf
nu cheinhen	nu pheirddan	nu ddeirfan
gw cheinheth	gw pheirddath	gw ddeirfath
ys/sa chanhent	ys/sa pheirddant	ys/sa ddeirfant

The past subjunctive is simpler and is made by infixing -ss(e) between the normal stem and the ending:

eo ganhas	eo berddes	eo ddorfis
ty ganhas	ty berddes	ty ddorfis
ys canhas	ys perddes	ys dorfis
sa ganhas	sa berddes	sa dorfis
nu chanassen	nu pherddessen	nu ddorfissen
gw chanasseth	gw pherddesseth	gw ddorfisseth
ys/sa chanassent	ys/sa pherddessent	ys/sa ddorfissent

Compound tenses are made with two new verbs, esser, to be, and afer, to have. They are irregular and do not conform to the three conjugations that have been given so far. Present tense:

eo su	nu sun	eo ai	nu hafen
ty es	gw h-es	ty a	gw h-afeth
ys/sa es	ys/sa sunt	ys/s' a	ys/sa h-ant

Participles:

Present:	Past:
essen	ystad (from ystar, to stand)
afen	afyd

Imperfect:

eo er	nu h-eran	eo afef	nu h-afefan
ty er	gw h-erath	ty afef	gw h-afefath
ys/sa er	ys/sa h-erant	ys/s' afef	ys/sa h-afefant

Past Definite:

eo ffew	nu ffewns	eo afew	nu h-afewn
ty ffewst	gw ffewth	ty afew	gw h-afewth
ys/sa ffew	ys/sa ffewrent	ys/sa afew	ys/sa h-afewrent

Future:

eo serai	nu seran	eo afrai	nu h-afran
ty sera	gw serath	ty afra	nu h-afrath
ys/sa sera	ys/sa serant	ys/sa afra	ys/sa h-afrant

Present Subjunctive:

eo sia	nu sian	eo ai	nu h-aian
ty sia	gw siath	ty ai	gw h-aiath
ys/sa sia	ys/sa siant	ys/sa ai	ys/sa h-aiant

Sia is pronounced as 'sha' in the present subjunctive of 'to be'.

Past Subjunctive:

eo ffews	nu ffewssen	eo afews	nu h-afewssen
ty ffews	gw ffewsseth	ty afews	gw h-afewsseth
ys/sa ffews	ys/sa ffewssent	ys/sa afews	ys/sa h-afewssent

Gweddir, to go is irregular in the present tense:

eo wa	nu wan
ty wa	gw wath
ys gwa/sa wa	ys/sa want

Otherwise the verb is regular and uses the longer stem.

The word for 'not' is rhen. It comes after the verb phrase:

eo su rhen, I am not

With verbs beginning with p, t, c, b, d, g, the nasal mutation is used on all verbs beginning with these letters when they are followed by a negative adverb:

Eo nghant rhen, I do not sing.

Gw mherddefan rhen, you did not lose.

Ys norfira rhen, he will not sleep.

Similar to rhen is nonc, never. In questions 'ever' is translated as nonc:

E'gw ystad nonc ci inawant? Have you ever been here before?

No, eo su ystad nonc ci inawant, No, I have never been here before.

Rhen is also used before nouns, rhen llaeth, `no milk'.

'There is' or 'there are' is sa es:

Sa es yn char, There are some cars.

When an object follows a negative verb then the preposition di is inserted between the verb and the following noun. Literally this would be translated as 'none of':

Sa es rhen di yn char, There aren't any cars.