Nordaþ verbs
Nordaþ verbs are the fusional part of the synthetic language Nordaþ. They conjugate according to the indicative, conditional, subjunctive, potential, and imperative moods. Verbs have infinitive forms, but unlike many other languages, they do not have participle or gerund forms.
Mood, tense, and aspect - forms of the verb
| Nordaþ language |
|---|
To illustrate the behaviour of verb conjugations in Nordaþ, let us use dekäsän "to help". First, here is the non-finite conjugation of the verb:
Infinitive
To help: dekäsän
In Nordaþ, verbs do not conjugate to person or number; instead, verbs are used (when context does not provide) with pronouns. For the active, conjugated verb, the -än ending is dropped and -e is added to it. Hence, mäg dekäse, iei dekäse, and so forth.
Indicative
Next, there is the indicative mood with its eleven tenses. The indicative mood is used to describe factual events.
| Indicative | Present | Praeterite | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | -e | -au | -oi |
| cinne | cinnau | cinnoi | |
| I swim | I swam | I will swim | |
| Perfect | -e + -jë | -au + -jë | -oi + -jë |
| cinnejë | cinnaujë | cinnoijë | |
| I have swam | I had swam | I will have swum | |
| Progressive | -e + -þe | -au + -þe | -oi + -þe |
| cinneþe | cinnauþe | cinnoiþe | |
| I am swimming | I was swimming | I will be swimming | |
| Perf. Prog. | -e + -þejë | -au + -þejë | -oi + -þejë |
| cinneþejë | cinnauþejë | cinnoiþejë | |
| I have been swimming | I had been swimming | I will have been swimming | |
| Continuous | -e + -ci | -au + -ci | -oi + -ci |
| cinneci | cinnauci | cinnoici | |
| I was swimming | I used to swim | I will be swimming | |
| Perf. Cont. | -e + -cijë | -au + -cijë | -oi + -cijë |
| cinnecijë | cinnaucijë | cinnoicijë | |
| I have been swimming | I had been swimming | I will have been swimming | |
| Imperfect | -e + -ka | -au + -ka | -oi + -ka |
| cinneka | cinnauka | cinnoika | |
| I would swim |
Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood is a complex one and is classified into six patterns. All use the particle "se" to indicate the subjunctive.
Hypothetical
Also referred to by the term "second conditional", the hypothetical has two forms. They are structured in much the same way as English, with the main difference being that whilst one can invert word order and omit "if" in English, in Nordaþ this is required to prevent ambiguosity.
Present
If + subjunctive, would + verb (English)
Si + se + praeterite, se + present tense (Nordaþ)
- Si se de-lene su, se puhuai lä-äti.
- If I were you, I would talk to her.
Present II
If + were + present participle, would + verb (English)
Si + se + present progressive, se + present tense (Nordaþ)
- Si se ätei, se istyäe.
- Were I eating, I should sit.
Jussive
The jussive carries three forms. These forms all use "se", but "si" cannot be used in conjunction with these forms of the subjunctive.
I. Subordinate
that + subjunctive (English)
that + se + present tense (Nordaþ)
- Vaatjae, þäs Napoleon se selenþe.
- I demand that Napoleon surrender.
II. Present
se + present tense (Nordaþ)
- Se lene e e-geki se lene.
- Be that as it may (be).
- Keve yt se su keve.
- I give so that you may give.
III. Praeterite
se + praeterite tense (Nordaþ)
- Se de-lene e-geki
- As it were
Third Conditional
If + past perfect, would have + past participle (English)
Si + se + pluperfect, se + praeterite (Nordaþ)
- Si se der-lieme erei-mïþi Elisebeþ-isi, se de-hoite alas plei-isi Šëkspir-isi.
- If I had lived during the Elizabethan era, I would have attended all of Shakespeare's plays.
Imperative
The imperative mood states a command. It only exists in present form.
The imperative is formed by a prefix attaching to other prefixes in the indicative. The imperative can attach to the present, the future, and the future progressive. The prefix is re-
| Imperative | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | re- | re-dekäse su | You help |
| Future | re- | rebe-dekäse su | You will help |
| Future Progressive | re- | rebe-dekäsei su | You will be helping |
- Rebe-dekäsei su. Nuv-ääti.
- You will be helping. Now.
Passive
The passive is formed by a prefix attaching to the other prefixes in the indicative. The passive attaches to all but the imperfect progressives. The prefix is "fe/fï".
- Lä-eiti fede-dekäse Tod.
- He was helped by Tod.
Negation
To express negativity, nan is used regardless of mood or aspect/tense.
- Nan re-dekäse!
- Don't help!
