Senjecas Inflection

3.0 Part II – INFLECTION - pűlo b - sų̋a

• Senjecas is a combination of both an analytic or isolating language and an inflected language. Inflection is a change in the form of a word which is made to express its relation to other words. It includes the declension of nouns, adjectives, participles, and pronouns, and the conjugation of verbs. In the process of inflection, suffixes are added to a root which conveys the fundamental idea underlying the word.

3.1 Verbs - ką̋tos

• 3.1.1 Verbs are words that convey an action (e.g., bring, read, walk, run, learn) or a state of being (e.g., be, exist, stand). Senjecas is primarily a language of verbs, the verb being considered the most important part of a sentence. A major portion of the Senjecan vocabulary is based on verbal roots.
• 3.1.2 The root of a verb is the verb minus the mood suffix. As this root is never found alone, in the dictionary the indicative form is used, e.g., ɱe̋na. This form is the lemma for verbs.
• 3.1.3 A finite verb is marked only for mood. The verb has four moods: the indicative, the subjunctive, the imperative, and the relative. In the indicative, a statement of fact is made. In the subjunctive, a statement of unreality or uncertainty is made. In the imperative, a command is given. In the relative, a statement dependent on another is made. These moods are called finite moods. The subjunctive and the relative are also called dependent moods. To the root is added <-a> for the indicative mood, <-o> for the subjunctive mood, <-e> for the imperative mood, and <–i> for the relative mood. There is no infinitive.
• 3.1.4 Verbs are not marked for tense. A preverb particle is used to indicate time when necessary. <e-> is used to indicate past time. <u-> is used to indicate future time. They are joined to the verb by a hyphen, e.g. , pe̋ua, seek; e-pe̋ua, sought.
• 3.1.5 The verb has only one voice, the active. In the active voice, the subject is the doer or agent of the action of the verb. A periphrastic middle voice, in which the subject acts upon himself, is formed by using the reflexive adjectival prefix mi- (self) as the direct object of the verb. A periphrastic passive voice, in which the grammatical subject is the recipient of the action of the verb, is formed by using the verb ı̋la (become) with the patient participle. An accusative sentence, e.g., "sheep slaughter easily," is not possible in Senjecas. It must be rendered as the periphrastic passive, "sheep are (become) slaughtered easily".
• 3.1.6 The verb has two aspects, the imperfective and the perfective. The imperfective aspect denotes a verb that expresses its meaning without regard to its beginning or completion. The perfective aspect denotes a completed action. The imperfective aspect is unmarked, being simply the root of the verb, plus the mood suffix. The perfective aspect is indicated by a reduplication of the initial consonant or by a lengthening of the initial vowel. If the initial vowel is already long, nothing further need be done. In the case of labialized and palatalized consonants, the weak vowel is not retained in the reduplication, e.g., ṭǫ̋ra, tÿṭǫ̋ra. The reduplicated syllable is always pronounced on the basal pitch.
• 3.1.7 The weak vowel connecting the reduplicated vowel to the verb is determined by a process known as vowel harmony. Weak i <ï> is used when the vowel of the verb is one of the front vowels: <i, e>, and <a>, e.g., ɱe̋na, ɱïɱe̋na. Weak u <ÿ> is used when the vowel of the verb is one of the back vowels: <o, ɔ>, and <u>, e.g., vűda, vÿvűda.
• 3.1.8 The verbal noun is known as the supine (kąþfę̋to). It is formed by adding -u to the verb root, e.g., tőla, determine; tőlu, (to) determine. It is not to be confused with the deverbative noun, e.g., determination, which is a noun of the -a class, e.g., tőla, determination.