Tsakxa verbs

Verbs in Tsakxa are comparatively heavily inflected, conjugating by aspect, mood and voice. There are two classes of verbs, the monopartite verbs (which have a single stem and are conjugated regularly) and the bipartite verbs (which have a bipartite stem and whose conjugation is far more complex and irregular).

Commonalities

Polarity

Negativity is marked with the particle pa, which is placed in a variety of places depending on emphasis and personal taste. Reduplication to apa creates an emphatic 'no' or 'never':

Wen-ø wes-ø-ø apa su - I never eat meat (meat-TOPIC eat-IMPERF-INDIC never 1ps)

An emphatic declarative is also possible with the particle ʔu which works in much the same way as pa:

Wen-ø wes-ø-ø ʔu su - I always eat meat (meat-TOPIC eat-IMPERF-INDIC DECL.EMPH 1ps)

Voice/agreement

Tsakxa has what is termed by Dawkins as an 'information saliency voice system'. The verb agrees with the 'main argument' or 'focus', which is usually the topic but can also introduce new information in some contexts. When the focus is the agent, the prefix is null:

Kangqa ø-ø-ta-nxa-ø su - as for the beast, it saw me

When the focus is the patient, the prefix is a se-

Wen-ø se-ø-wes-ø-ø - The meat is eaten

When the focus is an adverbial argument, it takes no case marking itself, but the prefix mimics the case marking (before allomorphy):

Waspa tqe-ø-kaq-enxa-ø - We sat down in the tent (that we are discussing)

Tenqa a-ø-seweq-ø-ø (umut-anxa) - This gift is for Tenqa (whom we have been discussing)

Causativity

Causatives are formed simply by adding a second ergative argument:

Pema-ø, Nunu-kxa utshu-nxa - Pema was made to commit suicide/was killed by Nunu

Conjunctive form

The conjunctive or participle form is derived from monopartite verbs simply with the suffix -u. Regular bipartite verbs form the conjunctive in much the same way after joining their two stems together, but many bipartite verbs have forms acquired by suppletion. The conjunctive form is used in sentences alongside a 'main verb'. The 'main verb' carries the vast majority of the inflection and grammatical information, which is then transferred to the conjunctive. This construction expresses two connected actions, with the connection determined by context:

Pema-ø wen enxa-nxa utshu-u - Pema ate the meat and died (due to the meat)

The conjunctive form is also used in constructions such as 'I love eating meat':

Su-ø, wen enxa-u se-miqat-ungxu - I love eating meat

Although the participle lacks much of the inflection found on other verbs, it is still inflected for the role of the focus, as are other verbs:

Wen-ø se-enxa-u miqat-ungxu su - Meat, I love eating it

Monopartite verbs

Monopartite verbs are by far the more common type of verb in Tsakxa. They have a single stem, as implied by the name, and take only suffixes for inflection, other than the evidentiality and agreement prefixes.

Evidentiality

All verbs carry inflection for evidentiality. There are three degrees of evidentiality:

Certainty (marked by the prefix ø-), used when the speaker observed the act in question or is certain that it occurred:

Sesu-ø uʔ-a ø-ta-nxa su - your sister saw you (sister-TOPIC 2ps-DAT PASSIVE CERT-see-PERF 2ps)

In future contexts use of the null prefix is emphatic:

Nenqa-ø patangqa se ø-ta-nxa - I WILL see Nenqa tomorrow (nenqa-TOPIC tomorrow PASSIVE CERT-see-PERF)

Uncertainty, marked by the prefix anu-, is used for reported speech and events that may have happened:

Nenqa-ø uʔ se anu-ta-nxa - you saw Nenqa (didn't you?)

There is a strong overlap with the dubitative here - original analyses treated this as a circumfix with the dubitative suffix but there are instances of one occurring without the other. The dubitative implies something slightly different from the anu- prefix - anu- simply confirms that the speaker was not present at the event and cannot vouch completely for what happened. The dubitative gives a degree of actual distancing from the event:

Nenqa-ø aʔ se anu-ta-nxa - I believe that he saw Nenqa (but I wasn't actually present at the time)

Nenqa-ø uʔ se anu-ta-nxa-l - He says/people say that he saw Nenqa (but I don't know whether to believe it)

The final evidentiality prefix denotes hypotheticality, marked with atu. This states that the event never in fact happened:

Nenqa-ø uʔ se atu-ta-nxa - you would've seen Nenqa/say you'd seen Nenqa

Aspect

All verbs carry inflection for aspect (perfective or imperfective). In monopartite verbs, this is accomplished by the addition of a suffix.

Perfective aspect

The Perfective aspect implies a single action, complete and independent of any other action and is formed by (e)nxa (the /e/ assimilates to a preceding vowel and causes lenition of /t/ to /s/ and /p/ to /f/ in preceding consonants). For example:

Sesu-sa se ø-ta-nxa - I saw/see my sister at one point (sister.TOPIC-PERSONAL PASSIVE CERT-see-PERF)

The perfective does not imply any kind of past tense, and can be used in the future for any distinct single action:

Sesu-sa patangqa se ta-nxa - I will see my sister tomorrow (sister.TOPIC-PERSONAL tomorrow PASSIVE see-PERF)

Imperfective aspect

The Imperfective aspect implies continuous or repeated action. It is formed with a null morpheme in the vast majority of verbs, although some verbs take an epenthetic -e when other suffixes are not present.

Sesu-sa se-ta - I'm currently seeing my sister/I see my sister frequently (sister.TOPIC-PERSONAL PATIENT-see-IMPERF)

Sesu-sa se-ta pangxu - I used to see my sister/I was seeing my sister last year (sister.TOPIC-PERSONAL PATIENT-see-IMPERF last.year)

Mood

All verbs also carry inflection for mood. There are four moods distinguished in Tsakxa:

Indicative

The Indicative mood describes actions that definitely have happened, will happen or are happening within the speaker's knowledge. It is marked by a null morpheme (shown here with -ø but not marked in the actual written language).

Kangqa se ta-nxa - I saw the beast

It is also used for imperatives in almost all verbs:

Bashung-ø se uʔ-kxa sut-nxa-ø! - Read the book! (book-TOPIC 2ps-ERG read-PERF-INDIC)

Some verbs, however, have their own distinct imperative root:

Bashung-ø se uʔ-kxa sang-nxa-ø! - Look at the book! (book-TOPIC 2ps-ERG see-PERF-INDIC)

Subjunctive

The Subjunctive or Modal mood describes actions that may or may not have happened and that the speaker feels strongly about. It is marked by a suffixed -(a)s:

Aʔ-ø, utshu-nxa-s - I hope he's dying somewhere (3ps-TOPIC die-IMPERF-SUBJ)

It is also used for 'if I were' sentences:

Su-ø pesh-as - if I were a rich man (1ps-TOPIC rich-IMPERF-SUBJ)

Dubitative

The Dubitative mood describes actions devoid of emotional content that the speaker wishes to distance themselves from - primarily reported speech. It is also used for open questions. It is formed with the suffix -l:

Aʔ-ø, se utxu-nxa-l aʔ-m tik-enxa-ø - 'he says that he's dying' (3ps-TOPIC die-IMPERF-DUB 3ps-TOP say-PERF-INDIC)

Interrogative

The Interrogative is used to ask yes or no questions. It is formed with the suffix -(e)f:

Uʔ-ø wes-ef? - Will you be eating? (2ps-TOPIC eat-IMPERF-INTER)

Bipartite verbs

Bipartite verbs have twin stems and are mostly verbs of motion or auxiliaries. It is believed that, originally, all Tsakxa verbs were bipartite, and exactly which verbs fall under this classification varies by dialect (e.g. West Mountain Tsakxa wa-ak, Valley Tsakxa wak, 'go'). Bipartite verbs incorporate direct objects and locatives and take some inflection on each stem/

Aspect

In bipartite verbs, the perfect is formed by the bare stem, whilst the imperfect is formed by reduplication of the second syllable of the first part of the stem:

Man-ø tas-ø ta-ma-l? - What did you look at? (what-TOPIC look-PERF LOC-look-DUB)

Man-ø tas-tas ta-ma-l? - What are you looking at? (what-TOPIC look-IMPERF LOC-look-DUB)

Mood

Mood is formed using exactly the same suffixes as monopartite verbs. In bipartite verbs the suffixes attach to the second stem:

Man-ø tas-tas ta-ma-l? - What are you looking at? (what-TOPIC look-IMPERF LOC-look-DUB)

Uʔ-ø tas-tas ta-ma-s - If I were looking at you (2ps-TOPIC look-IMPERF LOC-look-SUBJ)

Evidentiality

Evidentiality is formed using exactly the same prefixes as in monopartite verbs. The prefixes attach to the first stem:

Su-ø anu-tas-tas ta-ma-l - (I think that) he's looking at me (2ps-TOPIC NONCERT-look-IMPERF LOC-look-DUB)

Su-ø tas-tas ta-ma - (I cam certain that) he's looking at me (2ps-TOPIC NONCERT-look-IMPERF LOC-look-DUB)

Incorporation of arguments

All arguments other than the dominant, or 'topical', argument are placed within the two stems.

Mosaçan wa-f uʔ-ø na-ak? - Are you going to Moscow? (2ps-TOPIC go-INTER Moscow-LAT go)

Not only objects, but clauses can be incorporated:

Aʔ-ø, te-f nxa-nxa aʔ-kxa sa? - Does he think that I cooked it? (3ps-TOPIC think-INTER cook-PERF 1ps-ERG think)