While
only a single morpheme, viz., a occurring in anì `is/has’
ay `was/had’is available for the locative verb, all the other verbs
form the non-locative verbs which hereafter would be designated as principal
verbs. |
| 3.3.2.2. Principal verbs |
The
principal verbs in their turn could be further sub-grouped into two inter-secting
groups viz. motion verbs vs stationary verbs on the one hand and transitive
verbs vs intransitive verbs, on the other hand. A brief discussion of
these intersecting groups follows. |
| 3.3.2.2.1.
Stationary v/s motion verbs |
The
principal verbs in Sema could in the first instance be sub-divided into
two, viz., motion verbs and stationary verbs. The formal criterion for
such a sub-grouping is the selection of a or cé for the progressive
marker of different verbs, as in : |
z
anì |
is
sleeping (stationary) |
|
asi cúanì |
is
eating meat (stationary) |
| wú
cénì |
is
going (motion) |
| alace
cénì |
is
walking’ (motion) |
|
|
At
the sementic level, the difference between the two types of verbs lies
in whether the action denoted by the verb is done whilest the doer is
in the motion or from a stationary point. Hence words like ithulu `see’
chu `dig’ he `strike’ pepu `dress (v)’ etc. denoting
actions done whilest the doer is at a stationary point are designated
as `stationary verbs’ whereas verbs like Pe `carry on hand’
wú `go’ ilace `walk’ etc. denoting actions which require
the doer to move from one place to another are designated as `motion verbs’.
The terms like stative vs activity verbs are not used primarily because
they have different connotation, for instance, in English, the verb like:
thick, know, understand, hate, etc., are considered stative verbs because
they `refer to a state of affairs rather than and Greebaum (1973 : 15)
state that `when verbs either habitually or in certain uses will not admit
the progressive, they are called the stative. When they will admit, they
are called dynamic’. Thus the basic criterion that differentiates
the oppositional terms stative vs activity/dynamic is whether or not a
verb is capable of taking the progressive aspect marker, whereas in Sema
all the principal verbs are capable of taking the progressive marker.
Hence a different set of oppositional terms are used. |
| 3.3.2.2.2. Transitive v/s intransitive |
The
principal verbs in Sema can be sub-grouped on another axis, i.e., on the
basis of the ability or inability of the verbs occurring in a sentence
without a direct object. Some verbs like cú `eat’ tha `cut’
ithulu `see’ thoFi `give’ etc. must necessarily have a directo
object, whereas some other verbs like wú `go’ alace `walk’
z ˜ö sleep etc. would not need any object at all, though they
may take a predicative complement as in : |
| Transitive : |
| ino
isi pa ithulu |
I
saw him today |
| niye
akha cúkè |
I
ate the fish |
| pano
aFau hexlu |
he
hits a bird |
| amsino
akichizccénì |
the
cow gives milk (hab.) |
|
|
| Intransitive
: |
| anuhu
iluki anì |
the
child is falling |
| paye
wúwe |
he
went |
paye
hile i iwe |
he
came here |
| paye
arutulo
iiwe |
he
came to the garden |
| pa
as
kholo zanì
|
he
is sleeping under the tree etc. |
|
|
Therefore
the principal verbs in Sema that must necessarily take a noun/pronoun
as a direct object form one sub-group of verbs which is designated as
transitive verbs and the remaining as intransitive verbs. |
| 3.3.2.2.3.
Diatransitive verbs |
The
transitive verbs in their turn could be further sub-divided into two,
for instance, a verb like cö `give’ would need two object whereas
another verb like si `cook (v)’ need only one object, as in : |
| ino
kakulakhì pa c
wà |
`I
give him a book’ |
| ino
alikhuli siwya |
`I
cooked food’ etc. |
|
|
The
transitive verbs in Sema could, therefore, be further sub-grouped into
two, viz., those verbs that take a single object and those that must necessarily
have two objects. The former is designated as monotransitive and the latter
as diatransitive verb. |
In
resume, it may be stated that a verb in Sema is capable of taking the
tense, modal, aspectual and causative markers. A verb in Sema could also
be used either in active or passive voice. |
