Introduction to Verb Forms

Basic Categories and Elements

Categories of the Verb

Finite versus Non-finite Verb Forms

Quenya verb forms are either finite (indicatives, subjunctives, optatives, imperatives) or non-finite (gerunds, infinitives, participles, and verbal adjectives in -nwa, -ite or -ima). Finite verbs can have a personal ending (@@) and express person or number, and can be modified by mood particles; nonfinite verbs do not have a personal ending and do not express person or mood.

Categories Pertaining to All Verb Forms: Tense-Aspect

All Quenya verb forms, i.e. both finite and non-finite forms (only participles), are marked for the category of tense-aspect.

Tense-aspect: Quenya verb forms fall into three overarching systems, depending on which stem of the verb is used (@@); these three systems differ primarily in their expression of aspect:

• the aorist-stem system, covering the aorist, the preterite, the future;
• the present-stem system, covering the present, the imperfect, present active and passive participles;
• and the perfect-stem system, covering the perfect, the pluperfect, the past active and passive participles.

Within these systems, tense is expressed by all forms. Aspect is not expressed by participles.

Categories Pertaining to Finite Verb Forms

All finite verb forms, in addition to belonging to one of the three tense-aspect systems, are also marked for the categories of person and number, and the category of mood.

Finite verb forms express one of the following persons:

• apersonal form (used with expressed subject, @@);
• first person (‘I’/‘we (but not you)’/‘we (with you)’);
• second person (‘you’);
• or third person(‘he/she’/‘it’, ‘they’);

And they express one of the following numbers:

• singular (‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he/she’/‘it’);
• plural (‘we (but not you)’/‘we (with you)’, ‘you’, ‘they’);
• in addition, Quenya has a dual number (‘you and I’, ‘you two’,‘the two of them’, @@).

Finite verb forms do not express moods, and those are realized as mood particles preceeding the verb (for the uses and meanings of these moods, @@). The following moods are recongnized:

• indicative;
• subjunctive;
• optative;
• imperative.

Finally, indicative forms can be split into basic forms (aorist, present, preterite, perfect, future) and derivative forms (imperfect, future perfect, future imperfect, long perfect (perfect continuous), pluperfect, future-in-the-past).

Controversial

Derivative forms are extremely rare and should be avoided.

Categories Pertaining to Non-finite Verb Forms

Non-finite verb forms are marked for the following categories:

• Infinitives are not marked for any category;
• Gerunds are marked for case;
• Participles express tense and voice, and, like adjectives, are also marked for the categories of case and number (→ @@);
• Verbal adjectives are only marked for the categories of case, number and voice.

Voice: all Quenya participle forms also express voice, treated in detail in @@. A basic two way distinction between different kinds of forms may be made:

• active forms;
• and passive forms.

Morphological Building Blocks: Stems, Endings, and Other Markings

Verb Stems and Tense-Aspect Stems

All forms of a certain verb share a verb stem, which identifies the forms as deriving from that particular verb: for example, in any form of the verb talta (e.g. atalantiemma, taltuvante, talanter), the verb stem talat- identifies the form as belonging to that particular verb (and thus expressing in some way the meaning fall).

Many Quenya verb stems occur in different variants due to ablaut vowel gradation (→ @@): for example, the verb stem of the verb ortä rise occurs as either ort- (zero grade), orot- (short grade) or ór- (lengthened grade). Different tense-aspect stems of such verbs differ in the vowel-grade they show.

For verbs which have variant verb stems, all variants are given below, where required.

Through the addition of endings, augments and ablaut, a tense-aspect stem is formed. The tense-aspect stem identifies the form as having a particular combination of tense-aspect.

Six different kinds of tense-aspect stems may be distinguished; these fall into the three overarching systems described above (@@):

• aorist tense-aspect: aorist stems, past stems, future stems;
• present tense-aspect: present stems, imperfect stems;
• perfect tense-aspect: perfect stems.

The mechanisms involved in forming tense-aspect stems from verb stems are detailed in the individual chapters on the present (→ @@), aorist (→ @@), and perfect (→ @@) stems.

Verbs lacking certain tense-aspect stems altogether are called defective verbs: for instance, the verb lir- sing lacks past-stem forms in classical Quenya, and verbs in -ea have no present forms at all.

Thematic Vowels

Some elements appear between the verb-stem and the tense-aspect stem ending:

• Many Quenya verb forms include a thematic vowel (or: ‘theme vowel’) a standing between the stem and the ending, e.g. ortauva, hentanie; for details, @@ below.

Endings

Every verb form also has an ending, which provides the information required to identify the form as either finite or non-finite, and sometimes its voice, tense, aspect or mood. These endings are called primary.

Note

Most often such an ending is referred to as a suffix, but here this term is reserved for a derivative block of a new lexeme. By this definition, the derivational morphology of verbal adjectives, participles and gerunds like -itë is a suffix, but preterite -ne is a primary ending. However, for simplicity (particularly due to cases like future participle, where derivational suffix follows its primary ending), they are all discussed under the title of verbal endings.

Some verbal forms can express additional information in their secondary ending:

• For finite verbs, the ‘personal ending’ expresses person and number;
• For infinitive, the ‘possessive ending’ also expresses person and number;
• The endings of gerund, participles and verbal adjectives might express case and number.

The endings are treated more fully below, → @@.

Augments and Prepositional Prefixes

Finally, some elements precede the stem:

• perfect stems might include an augment, which takes the form of a root vowel¹ directly preceding the stem (e.g. e-cénie), or, if the verb stem begins with a vowel, either that vowel is lengthened (e.g. úlie) or the syllable is duplicated (orórie). For details, → @@.
• Many compound verbs begin with a prepositional prefix, an original preposition integrated into the verb form, e.g. ettulë, aucirë (→ @@). These prefixes are always the first element of a form, preceding even augments and reduplications (→ @@).

A final consonant of such prefixes often assimilates to the following sound: e.g. eccezë but etecézie (→ @@).

Assumption

If the prefix ends in a vowel, this vowel usually drops out before another vowel (elision, → @@).

Note

For reduplications, → @@.

Verbal Stems

Quenya verbal stems split into seven major groups or conjugations:

1. basic verbs: most numerous group of bare primitive √tal shape: cen- (√ken) see, tul- (√tul) come, mat- (√mat) eat;
2. long verbs: triconsonantal verbs of √talat shape: talat- (√talat) fall, carap- (√karap) speak, sulup- (√sulup) drink;
3. vocalic-progressive or a-verbs: verbs with an inherently continuative sense of √tal-ā shape: 'ala- (√gal-ā) grow, fara- (√spar-ā) hunt, hora- (√skor-ā) wait;
4. vocalic-inceptive or u-verbs: verbs often with an inherently inchoactive sense of √tal-ū shape (with or without a consonantal element): haru- (√khad-ū) sit down, liru- (√lir-ū) sing, cainu- (√kaj-nū) lie down;
5. formative verbs: verbs that add an additional consonant to the stem, usually of inchoactive or anticausative meaning, of √tal-t, √tal-j or √tal-s shape: cait- (√kaj-t) lie, siry- (√sir-j) flow, cals- (√kal-s) shine;
6. causative verbs: verbs with an inherently causative meaning that add an additional syllable to the stem of √tal-ta or √tal-ja shape: caita- (√kaj-ta) lay, tulta- (√tul-ta) send, tulya- (√tul-ja) lead;
7. derivative verbs: verbs formed from nouns or adjectives, with or without addition of derivative elements: tengua- read (from tengua letter), remba- trap (from rembe net), telconta- stride (from telco leg).

Together conjugations 2-7 are known as secondary verbs.

Thematic and Athematic Conjugations

Quenya verb forms are either thematic or athematic. Thematic forms include a thematic vowel a between the verb-stem and the non-finite or tense-aspect ending. Athematic forms do not include a thematic vowel: thus in athematic forms tense-aspect ending is attached immediately to the stem:

class	aorist	preterite	future	present	perfect
I	A	A	A	A	A
II	T	A	A	A	A
III	T	T	A	A	A
IV	A	A	A	A	A
V	T	A	A	A	A
VI	T	T	T	T	T
VII	T	T	A	T	T

Some examples with a III conjugation verb with a stem far- hunt:

• faran: 1 sg. aor. thematic: thematic vowel a stands between the ending -n and the aorist-stem;
• fáran: 1 sg. pres. athematic: the tense-aspect ending a is a part of the present-stem;
• faranen: 1 sg. pret. thematic: thematic vowel a stands between the verb-stem and the tense-aspect ending -ne;
• faruvan: 1 sg. fut. athematic: the tense-aspect ending -uva is attached to the verb-stem directly;
• faráve: ger. thematic: thematic vowel a is inserted before the gerundial ending;
• farita: inf. athematic: the infinitive ending -ita is attached directly to the verb-stem.

Assumption

No infinitive form but of basic verbs is attested.

Endings

Endings of Finite Forms

The endings of finite verb forms are divided into primary, which mark tense-aspect, and secondary or ‘personal’ which mark person and number of its subject.

Primary Endings

Tense-Aspect Endings

aorist	present	preterite	perfect	future
-(ë)	-(y)a	-(n)e	-(n)ie	-uva

More details in @@.

Imperative Ending

TODO

• Add section on imperative -á

Personal Endings

The (a)personal endings of finite verb forms are the same for all stems:

• Apersonal endings mark only number, and they are used when the subject of the verb is explicit;
• Personal endings mark number and person when the subject is left implicit;
• In singular personal endings can be either short or long depending on euphonic environment.

Tables of Endings

		singular	plural	dual
apersonal		—	-r	-t
first-person	incl.	-n(ye)	-lwe	-nque, -ngwe
	excl.		-lme	-mme
second-person	fam.	-t(ye)	-lde	-ste
	form.	-l(ye)
third-person		-s(e)	-lte, -nte	-tte
honorific		-tar	-ltar(i), -ntar(i)	-star
reflexive		-sse	-tte	—

TODO

• What is the difference between optional variants?

Endings of Non-finite Forms

Primary Endings

infinitive	gerund	active participle	passive participle
-ita	-ie, -ve	-(i)la	-(i)na

Note

Participles express tense and therefore employ primary endings of both finite and non-finite forms: car-uva-ila that will be doing. They are not marked for aspect, however, so perfect ending is used for past tense, aorist ending for present tense.

More details in @@.

Possessive Endings

Even though non-finite forms don’t use secondary ‘personal’ endings to denote subject like finite forms do, they nonetheless can express it with substantive ‘possessive’ endings (→@@): caritalya·s your doing it. For details, @@.

Nominal Endings

Gerund and participles function as nouns and therefore can receive a case ending. Gerund declines as a second-declension noun (→4.@@), and participles as a first-declension noun (→4.@@).

TODO

• The write-up is a bit lazy. Return to this section later.

Augments and Reduplications

Formation of the Augment

Perfect-stem forms (though, not only) normally include an augment, which immediately precedes the stem. The form of the augment is determined by the initial sound of the (tense-aspect) stem.

With Stems Beginning with a Consonant

If the stem begins with a consonant, the augment takes the form of a root vowel:

verbal stem	perfect stem
mat-	a-mátie
tul-	u-túlie
h·or-	o-hórie

With stems beginning with strong n, m, ng² (→@@), that strong consonant is restored:

verbal stem	aorist stem	perfect stem
ndac-	nacë	a-ndácie
mbar-	marë	a-mbárie
ngor-	ngorë	o-ngórie

Late Tarquesta

Eventually those forms were brought into line with aorist stems: nacë > anácie, marë > amárie. As ng- became n-, it appeared as such: norë > onórie.

With Stems Beginning with a Vowel or Diphthong

If the stem begins with a vowel, the augment usually gets absorbed into it with the lengthening (and in lengthened-grade ablaut it disappears):

verbal stem	perfect stem
ap-	a-ápie > ápie
ef-	e-éfie > éfie
ul-	u-úlie > úlie

It is also common for some verbs (and more generally in verse) to use reduplication instead (see below, @@):

Formation of Reduplications

Frequentative and sometimes perfect stems are formed by the addition of a reduplication to the verb stem. Reduplications consist of a consonant + root vowel, and may substitute an augment with stems starting with a vowel.

Three Types of Reduplication

With verb stems beginning

• with a single consonant, ty- or qu-,
• strong nasals (nd-, mb-, ng-), or other palatilized consonants (ny-, ly-³, j-):

reduplication = initial consonant + root vowel:

verbal stem	frequentative stem
sil-	sisilla
tyal-	tyatyalla
ndac-	nandacca
nyar-	nanyarra
jam-	hajamma

With verb stems beginning

• with a combination of stop + s (cs-, ps-, ts-),
• voiceless liquid (hl-, hr-):

reduplication = second consonant + root vowel:

verbal stem	frequentative stem
psar-	sapsarra
csar-	sacsarra
hlas-	lahlassa
hris-	rihrissa

With verb stems beginning

• with a vowel:

reduplication = root vowel + final consonant:

verbal stem	perfect stem
is-t-	is-ísie
ol-	ol-ólie
or-y-	or-órie

Further Particulars

Verbal roots of √tā shape frequently show inversion. When this happens, augment and reduplication follow regular ‘consonant-first’ form:

verbal stem	stem with augment
au-t- < wā-t	a-wá-nie
is-t- < sī-t	i-si-nte
or-y- < rō-j	o-ro-nte

The Relative Position of Augments, Reduplications and Prefixes

Basic Rules

Rule

In compound verbs that include a prepositional prefix, any augment or reduplication comes after the prefix: entul- > en-u-túlie.

Footnotes

1. also known as sundóma. ↩

2. The difference is more obvious in transcription schemas that use ñ- for initial ngoldo: ñorë > ongórie. ↩

3. If gy- > ly-, something to sort later. ↩