Difference between revisions of "Verb infixes"
Suomichris (talk | contribs) (Rough outline; will try to get more into it over the week--Feel free to add to it, though!) |
Kompimasakx (talk | contribs) (some work) |
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| − | All verbal inflection in Na'vi makes use of infixes | + | All verbal inflection in Na'vi makes use of infixes. These are morphemes which, rather than occurring before (prefixes) or after (suffixes), are inserted into the middle of the verbal root. There are two positions for infixes. |
| + | == First position infixes == | ||
| + | Infixes that occur in the first position indicate tense, aspect, and mood. | ||
| − | + | First position affixes are placed between the onset and the nucleus of the verb's penultimate syllable. If the verb is monosyllabic, they are placed before the first, and only, vowel of the root. | |
| − | + | ||
| + | === Aspect === | ||
| + | The perfective aspect indicates completion of the verb's action. The action clearly started and stopped. The perfective morpheme is <nowiki><ol></nowiki>. It literally translates to the auxiliary verb "to have", as in "I have eaten". However, in Na'vi the perfective aspect can be used as a simple past tense. "Oe yolom" can mean "I have eaten" or "I ate". | ||
| + | |||
| + | lu > lolu (have been), taron > tolaron (have hunted) | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | The imperfective aspect indicates that the action is repeated or ongoing. The imperfect morpheme is <nowiki><er></nowiki>. | |
| − | |||
| − | + | lu > leru (was being), taron > teraron (was hunting) | |
| − | + | === Tense === | |
| + | The present tense indicates that the action is happening in general. The regular form of a verb denotes present tense, so no infix is needed. | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | The past tense signifies that the action terminated quite a while ago, or a long time ago. If the action was finished recently, the immediate past tense is used instead. The past morpheme is <nowiki><am></nowiki>. | |
| − | + | lu > lamu (was), taron > tamaron (hunted) | |
| − | |||
| − | == Mood == | + | === Mood === |
| − | == Combination of affixes in first position == | + | === Combination of affixes in first position === |
| − | Although not all possible combinations of aspect, tense, and mood are known from the current corpus, it is known that at least some combinations result in a | + | Although not all possible combinations of aspect, tense, and mood are known from the current corpus, it is known that at least some combinations result in a new, complex infix. |
| − | = Second position infixes = | + | == Second position infixes == |
Infixes which occur in the second position indicate a range of features, including most prominently speak attitude toward the event. | Infixes which occur in the second position indicate a range of features, including most prominently speak attitude toward the event. | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
Revision as of 06:57, 2 February 2010
All verbal inflection in Na'vi makes use of infixes. These are morphemes which, rather than occurring before (prefixes) or after (suffixes), are inserted into the middle of the verbal root. There are two positions for infixes.
Contents
First position infixes
Infixes that occur in the first position indicate tense, aspect, and mood.
First position affixes are placed between the onset and the nucleus of the verb's penultimate syllable. If the verb is monosyllabic, they are placed before the first, and only, vowel of the root.
Aspect
The perfective aspect indicates completion of the verb's action. The action clearly started and stopped. The perfective morpheme is <ol>. It literally translates to the auxiliary verb "to have", as in "I have eaten". However, in Na'vi the perfective aspect can be used as a simple past tense. "Oe yolom" can mean "I have eaten" or "I ate".
lu > lolu (have been), taron > tolaron (have hunted)
The imperfective aspect indicates that the action is repeated or ongoing. The imperfect morpheme is <er>.
lu > leru (was being), taron > teraron (was hunting)
Tense
The present tense indicates that the action is happening in general. The regular form of a verb denotes present tense, so no infix is needed.
The past tense signifies that the action terminated quite a while ago, or a long time ago. If the action was finished recently, the immediate past tense is used instead. The past morpheme is <am>.
lu > lamu (was), taron > tamaron (hunted)
Mood
Combination of affixes in first position
Although not all possible combinations of aspect, tense, and mood are known from the current corpus, it is known that at least some combinations result in a new, complex infix.
Second position infixes
Infixes which occur in the second position indicate a range of features, including most prominently speak attitude toward the event.
