Sketch of Germanech 3/4: Verbs

Morphology, part 2: Verbs

As in other Romance languages, verbs in Germanech are inflected for
tense and the person and number of the subject.  There are three
classes of verb conjugation, the a-, e- and i-conjugation.

Infinitive (_infiniziv_)

The infinitive ending is -ar, -er or -ir, depending on the conjgation
class.  Examples:

a-conjugation  _cantzar_ `to sing'
e-conjugation  _pferder_ `to lose'
i-conjugation  _dörmir_  `to sleep'

Tenses (_tzempfres_)

The tenses are present, imperfect, past definite, future and
conditional.  The difference between imperfect and past definite is
that the past definite is perfective (refers to a completed action or
event) while the imperfect is imperfective.  The conditional is used
to indicate a possibility (`might', `could', `would'), after an
if-clause, in indirect speech about thing that didn't yet happen
(_Is dichev que is screiberassez un lezer_ `He said that he would
write a letter'), etc.

Present (_preséntz_)

eg      cantz          eg      pferd          eg      dörm
tzau    cantzes        tzau    pferds         tzau    dörms
is/sa   cantzez        is/sa   pférdez        is/sa   dörmez

nos     cantzem        nos     pférdem        nos     dörmem
vos     cantzetz       vos     pférdetz       vos     dörmetz
ils/las cantzentz      ils/las pférdentz      ils/las dörmentz

(The 2nd person singular ending is -es when the verb root ends in a
sibilant, otherwiese -s.)

Imperfect (_imperfécht_)

eg      cantzab        eg      pferdeb        eg      dörmib
tzau    cantzabs       tzau    pferdebs       tzau    dörmibs
is/sa   cantzab        is/sa   pferdeb        is/sa   dörmib

nos     cantzabem      nos     pferdébem      nos     dörmibam
vos     cantzabetz     vos     pferdébetz     vos     dörmibetz
ils/las cantzabentz    ils/las pferdébentz    ils/las dörmibentz

Past definite (_pas definiz_)

eg      cantzäv        eg      pferdev        eg      dörmiv
tzau    cantzäst       tzau    pferdest       tzau    dörmist
is/sa   cantzäv        is/sa   pferdev        is/sa   dörmiv

nos     cantzävem      nos     pferdévem      nos     dörmivem
vos     cantzäves      vos     pferdéves      vos     dörmives
ils/las cantzavern     ils/las pferdévern     ils/las dörmivern

Future (_futur_)

eg      cantzerab      eg      pferderab      eg      dörmerab
tzau    cantzerabs     tzau    pferderabs     tzau    dörmerabs
is/sa   cantzerab      is/sa   pferderab      is/sa   dörmerab

nos     cantzerabem    nos     pferderabem    nos     dörmerabem
vos     cantzerabetz   vos     pferderabetz   nos     dörmerabetz
ils/las cantzerabentz  ils/las pferderabentz  ils/las dörmerabentz

Conditional (_cöndizional_)

eg      cantzeras      eg      pferderas      eg      dörmeras
tzau    cantzerasses   tzau    pferderasses   tzau    dörmerasses
is/sa   cantzerassez   is/sa   pferderassez   is/sa   dörmerassez

nos     cantzerassem   nos     pferderassem   nos     dörmerassem
vos     cantzerassetz  vos     pferderassetz  vos     dörmerassetz
ils/las cantzerassentz ils/las pferderassentz ils/las dörmerassentz

An important verb that is irregular in the present is _star_ `to be
[somewhere]':

eg    sto    nos     stam
tzau  stas   vos     statz
is/sa staz   ils/las stantz

The other tenses are regular.

The verbs _var_ `to go' and _dar_ `to give' follow an analogous
paradigm (_eg vo_, _tzau das_, etc.).

Imperative (_empfraziv_)

The imperative singular is the bare stem:

cantz!    sing!
pferd!    lose!
dörm!     sleep!

The imperative plural is formed with the ending -az/-ez/-iz:

cantzez!
pférdez!
dörmiz!

The plural imperative is also used as a polite form towards single
persons.

Besides these simple tenses, there are the compound (perfect) tenses
formed with the auxiliaries _haber_ `to have' and _esser_ `to be' and
the past participle.

The compound tenses are:

Compound tense                                Tense form of auxiliary

Present perfect      (_perfécht_)             Present
Past perfect         (_pas compösez_)         Imperfect
Past anterior        (_pas antzerior_)        Past Definite
Future perfect       (_fuzur perfécht_)       Future
Conditional perfect  (_cöndizional perfécht_) Conditional

Transitive verbs and active intransitive verbs
(i.e., verbs that denote an action originating from the subject) use
_haber_, the others, _esser_.  The auxiliary _esser_ is irregular:

Present

eg    sau      nos     saum
tzau  es       vos     estes
is/sa est      ils/las sontz

Imperfect

eg    er       nos     erem
tzau  ers      vos     erets
is/sa erez     ils/las erentz

Past Definite

eg    fü       nos     füm
tzau  füst     vos     füs
is/sa füz      ils/las fürn

Future

eg    serab    nos     serabem
tzau  serabs   vos     serabetz
is/sa serab    ils/las serabentz

Conditional

eg    seras    nos     serassem
tzau  serasses vos     serassetz
is/sa serassez ils/las serassentz

Participles (_pärtecifs_)

The present participle is formed with the suffix -antz in the
a-conjugation and -entz in the others:

cantzantz    singing
pferdentz    losing
dörmentz     sleeping
sentz        being

The past participle takes the ending -az/-ez:

cantzaz      sung
pferdez      lost
dörmez       slept
ez           been

Passive (_pässiv_)

The passive voice in Germanech is formed with _esser_ and past
participle.  Only verbs that form the compound tenses with _haber_
have a passive.  The past participle of _esser_ (used to form compound
tenses of the passive) is _ez_.

...brought to you by the Weeping Elf and the letter "ö"

Jörg.
.