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.
Mood, tense, and aspect - forms of the verb
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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
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 | Affixes | Example | English usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | dekäse | I help | |
| Present Perfect | er- | er-dekäse | I have helped |
| Present Progressive | ei- + -i | ei-dekäsei | I am helping |
| Present Perfect Progressive | er- + -i | er-dekäsei | I have been helping |
| Praeterite | de- | de-dekäse | I helped |
| Pluperfect | der- | der-dekäse | I had helped |
| Praeterite Progressive | de- + -i | de-dekäsei | I was helping |
| Pluperfect Progressive | der- + -i | der-dekäsei | I had been helping |
| Future | be- | be-dekäse | I will help |
| Future Perfect | ber- | ber-dekäse | I will have helped |
| Future Progressive | be- + -i | be-dekäsei | I will be helping |
| Future Perfect Progressive | ber- + -i | ber-dekäsei | I will have been helping |
| Imperfect | ke- | ke-dekäse | I used to help |
| Imperfect Perfect | ker- | ker-dekäse | I have used to help |
| Imperfect Pluperfect | me- | me-dekäse | I had used to help |
| Imperfect Progressive | ke- + -i | ke-dekäsei | I used to be helping |
| Imperfect Perfect Progressive | ker- + -i | ker-dekäsei | I have used to be helping |
| Imperfect Pluperfect Progressive | me- + -i | me-dekäsei | I had used to be helping |
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 desene 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 eiätei, 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!
