|
evasi po:da?â
kapki:tesi
|
| ‘He made the girl laugh’ |
| na:nu evaņa?â
vespi ki:te?é |
|
‘I made him answer’ |
|
6.6.
|
The Finite verb
|
6.6.0.
|
verbs in Kuvi fall formally into two classes, finite and non-finite.
The finite form of the verb pos senses person-number-gender marker and
tense, aspect and mood markers. The non-finite form of the verb does not
possess person-number-gender reference and all of them do not have tense
aspect and mood markers. These grammatical categories are discussed below
with reference to the finite verb. |
|
6.6.1. |
Tense :
|
Tense is the grammatical category of the verb
expressing the time relationship of the event or state referred to in the
sentence to the time of the speech act.
|
6.6.1.1.
|
Verbs in Kuvi are marked morphologically for tense. Tense in Kuvi is divided
into past and non- past act. |
6.6.1.2.
|
Past
|
Past tense is the form of a verb referring to an event or state which took
place prior to the time of the utterance. The past tense suffix is -t-. It
has the variants -tt- ~ -cc- ~ -ţţ-.
|
It follows the verb stem which is then followed by the person-number-gende
suffix to form the finite verb.
|
6.6.1.2.
|
Verb roots which end in any long vowel or any
consonant other than n, l,
ņ, suffix-t-
|
| na:nu i:muddi betta a:te?
é |
‘I found this ring’ |
| na:nu evaņa?â
prette?é |
‘I defeated him’ |
|
ma: o:
ka
o:yitu |
‘Our pots broke’ |
| ma:mbu valka o:stomi |
‘We broke stones’ |
|
6.6.1.2.2)
|
When the verb root ends in a short vowel --t--is doubled and suffixed.
|
| na:nu umba?a ette?è |
‘I reached there’ |
|
6.6.1.2.3
|
When the verb root ends in a retroflex nasal and -t- is
suffixed, the -t- is retroflexed and the nasal in turn is assimilated to
the stop. |
|
|
|
|
| na:nu e:yu u ţ ţe?
è |
‘I drank water’ |
| evari ajjitakki ho ţ ţeri |
‘They ran away from fear’ |
|
6.6.1.2.4.
|
Verb roots which end in a lateral or
alveolar nasal, suffix -t- which is then changed to the palatal affricate
and the lateral/nasal is assimilated to the affricate. |
|
1/n + t ®
{1}
|
|
{ } c |
|
{n}
|
|
{1}
|
|
{ } c ® -cc |
|
{n}
|
|
|
| evasi ijjo haccesi |
‘He went home’ |
| evari oņa
ticceri |
‘they are rice’ |
|
|
|
|
Verb roots which end in -h-change it to -s-when -t- is suffixed.
|
|
|
| ma:mbu valka o:stomi |
‘we broke stones’ |
| u:ga:yi?ĩ
ro
a:lu
tuste |
‘The cow gave birth to a
calf’ |
|
|
|
|
|
