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. They are also conjugated by two declensions which match Nordaþ nouns, wherein front-vowelled and middle-vowelled words will take a front-vowel affix over a middle-vowel affix, unless only a middle-vowel and back-vowel affix are available, and a back-vowelled word will take a back-vowelled affix over a middle-vowel affix, unless only a front-vowel and middle-vowel affix are present.
See Nordaþ verb paradigm for exhaustive conjugation tables
Mood, tense, and aspect - forms of the verb
| Nordaþ language |
|---|
To illustrate the behaviour of verb conjugations in Nordaþ, let us use dekäsäm "to help". First, here is the non-finite conjugation of the verb:
Infinitive
Front-vowel: dekäsäm
(Middle-vowelled words take front-vowel affixes over middle-vowel affixes, so they will follow the front-vowel example. Thus, a back-vowel infinitive will use the -am suffix.)
Ignoring momentarily the -i suffix part of progressive verbs, the following table represents the endings of verbs according to their subject.
| Indicative | ic | du | oic | ver | ïr | er, si, lec | läc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | -e/ï | -(e/ï)s | -(e/ï)t | -(e/ï)n | -(e/ï)m | -(e/ï)k | -(e/ï)v |
Indicative *e*-
Next, there is the indicative mood with its eleven tenses. The indicative mood is used to describe factual events.
| Indicative | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | er/ïï- | eidekäse | I help |
| Present Perfect | er/ïr- | erdekäse | I have helped |
| Present Progressive | ei/ïï- + -i/ï | eidekäsei | I am helping |
| Present Perfect Progressive | er/ïr- + -i/ï | erdekäsei | I have been helping |
| Praeterite | de/dï- | dedekäse | I helped |
| Pluperfect | der/dïr- | derdekäse | I had helped |
| Praeterite Progressive | de/dï- + -i/ï | dedekäsei | I was helping |
| Pluperfect Progressive | der/dïr- + -i/ï | derdekäsei | I had been helping |
| Future | be/bï- | bedekäse | I will help |
| Future Perfect | ber/bïr- | berdekäse | I will have helped |
| Future Progressive | be/bï- + -i/ï | bedekäsei | I will be helping |
| Future Perfect Progressive | ber/bïr- + -i/ï | berdekäsei | I will have been helping |
| Imperfect | ke/kï- | kedekäse | I used to help |
| Imperfect Perfect | ker/kïr | kerdekäse | I have used to help |
| Imperfect Pluperfect | dek(e)/k(ï)- | dekdekäse | I had used to help |
| Imperfect Progressive | ke/kï- + -i/ï | kedekäsei | I used to be helping |
| Imperfect Perfect Progressive | ker/kïr- + -i/ï | kerdekäsei | I have used to be helping |
| Imperfect Pluperfect Progressive | dek(e)/k(ï)- | dekdekäsei | I had used to be helping |
Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood has a separate conjugation table with fewer tenses. It is used to express the speaker's opinion or judgement, such as doubts, possibilities, emotions, and events which may or may not occur.
| Jussive | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | te/tï- | tedekäse | I demand that Francisco help others |
Hypothetical
The hypothetical mood states an ability to take an action.
| Hypothetical | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| le | le eidekäse | I can help |
Conditional
The conditional mood takes on a separate inflection and express an ability to have taken action, but with a condition.
| Conditional | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| se | se bedekäse | I would help |
- Se eidekäse icä duïïta, den dua se iceitä bedekäses.
- Were I helping you, then you would help me.
- Se bedekäse si...
- I'd help if...
- Si se desene kyningäi...
- If I were king...
- Si se dematjas, den se iceitä bedekäses
- If you ate, then you'd help me
- Dekdekäse vs. Se dekdekäse
- I had used to help. vs. Had I used to help.
- Se le erdekäse. Le se erdekäse.
- I could have helped.
In English, the second and third conditionals are differentiated with conjugations of "to be" and "to have", respectively. In Nordaþ, this does not occur. Instead, the conditional is automatically understood depending on the tense of the verb - All but the praeterite would be second conditional in English. The progressives in English would have "to be" conjugated to "would", the non-progressives would have "to be" conjugated to "were", and the third conditional would be "had". The progressive praeterites do not take on conditionals.
Formulae:
In English, the conditional is formed as such:
Second Conditional: If + simple past/subjunctive, would + verb Third Conditional: If + past perfect, would have + past participle
In addition, in English if "if" is not present then the word order changes (If I had to Had I, etc.)
Nordaþ does the following:
If + conditional marker + indicatively declined verb. If, like in English, is not needed. Since word order doesn't exist as such, no changing in word order needs occur if "if" is not used.
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/rï-
| Imperative | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | re/rï- | reeidekäses | You help |
| Future | re/rï- | rebedekäses | You will help |
| Future Progressive | re/rï- | rebedekäsesi | You will be helping |
Rebedekäsesi. Nuvlïïs. (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".
Negation
To express negativity, the nän/nan prefix is used regardless of mood or aspect/tense. If the verb is imperative, the negating prefix attaches before it. If the verb isn't, the negative prefix attaches directly to the inflected verb.
