VERBS

Verbal types

Vozgian has a rather rich conjugational system, directly inherited from the Common Slavic period. It has three persons and three numbers; apart from the singular and plural, Vozgian also has a dual, although it is mostly used in very official or very posh speech. Furthermore, there are the two aspects (perfective, imperfective; also found in other Slavic languages), four tenses (present, past, perfect, future), three moods (indicative, conditional, imperative), and a number of other forms (infinitive, participles, supine). Vozgian verbs can be subdivided into nine classes:

• Class 1 consists of the a-stems, i.e. verbs where both present and other endings are separated from the root of the word by -a-: inf. dälaþe "to do", 1 sg. pres. dälaŭ.
• Class 2 consists of the ä-stems. This class is merely a variation of Class 1: umäþe, umäŭ "to be able to, to know how to".
• Class 3 consists of the a/je-stems, where the present endings are separated from the root by -j-/-je-, while the other forms are separated from the root by -a-: kazaþe, kažo "to show".
• Class 4 consists of the a/i-stems, where the present endings are separated from the root by -j-/-i-, while the other froms are separated from the root by -a-: kričaþe, kričö "to shout, to yell".
• Class 5 consists of the i-stems, where all endings are separated from the root by -j-/-i-: möliþe, mölö (< *möljo) "to ask".
• Class 6 consists of the vŭa/je-stems. The non-present forms are characterised by -vŭa- between the root and the ending, the present forms by -j-/-je-: värvŭaþe, värjö "to believe".
• Class 7 consists of the n-stems, where the present and the other endings are separated from the root by -n- resp. -ne-: dviknoþe, dvikno "to move".
• Class 8 consists of verbs were the present endings are separated from the root by -j-, while the other forms are attached directly to the root: biþe, bijö "to hit, to beat".
• Class 9 consists of verbs where both present and other endings are attached directly to the root of the word: nesti, neso "to bring, to carry".

CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS

The present tense

As shown above, most verb classes have two different stems: one to which the present tense endings are attached (not only the "proper" present, but also the present participles and the imperative), and one to which those of the remaining tenses and moods are attached. There is little variation between the endings of the different classes. In the present tense, they come together in four groups:

• group 1 (-a-) consists of Classes 1 and 2;
• group 2 (-Ø-/-e-) consists of Classes 7 and 9;
• group 3 (-j-/-je-) consists of Classes 3, 6 and 8;
• group 4 (-j-/-i-) consists of Classes 4 and 5.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	dälaŭ dälaš dälaþ	umäŭ umäš umäþ	kažö kažeš kažeþ	kričö kričiš kričiþ	mölö möliš möliþ	värjö värješ värjeþ	dvikno dvikneš dvikneþ	bijö biješ bijeþ	neso neseš neseþ
1 du. 2/3 du.	dälave dälate	umäve umäte	kaževe kažete	kričive kričite	mölive mölite	värjeve värjete	dvikneve dviknete	bijeve bijete	neseve nesete
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	dälamu dälate dälanþ	umämu umäte umänþ	kažemu kažete kažonþ	kričimu kričite kričenþ	mölimu mölite mölenþ	värjemu värjete värjönþ	dviknemu dviknete dviknonþ	bijemu bijete bijönþ	nesemu nesete nesonþ

Present tense forms can be used for both perfective and imperfective verbs. However, there is a difference in meaning. The present tense of an imperfective verbs denotes an action that factually takes place either presently or habitually. The present tense of a perfective verb indicates, that the action (from the point of view of the present) will be completed, sooner rather than later.

The past tense

The past tense is the result of a merger between the Common Slavic aorist and imperfect tense. In the case of imperfective verbs, it indicates an action that was taking place at some point in the past, or that used to take place in the past; in the case of perfective verbs, it indicates an action that had been completed on the moment of reference in the past (thus effectively fulfilling the fole of a pluperfect).

The forms can be derived directly from the infinitive.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1/2/3 sg.	dälach	umäch	kazach	kričach	mölich	värvŭach	dviknoch	bich	nesach
1 du. 2/3 du.	dälachŭe dälašte	umächŭe umäšte	kazachŭe kazašte	kričachŭe kričašte	mölichŭe mölište	värvŭachŭe värvŭašte	dviknochŭe dviknošte	bichŭe bište	nesachŭe nesašte
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	dälachum dälašte dälacho	umächum umäšte umächo	kazachum kazašte kazacho	kričachum kričašte kričacho	mölichum mölište mölicho	värvŭachum värvŭašte värvŭacho	dviknochum dviknošte dviknocho	bichum bište bicho	nesachum nesašte nesacho

The perfect tense

Like in several other Slavic languages, the perfect tense is the result of a contraction of the resultative participle, which is characterised by the ending –l-, and the present tense forms of the verb baiþe "to be". It is encountered with perfective verbs only, indication an action that has been completed The past tense is the result of a merger between the Common Slavic aorist and imperfect tense. In the case of imperfective verbs, it indicates an action that was taking place at some point in the past, or that used to take place in the past; in the case of perfective verbs, it indicates an action that had been completed on the moment of reference in the past.

The forms can be derived directly from the infinitive.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	sudälalu sudälaleš sudälal	umälu umäleš umäl	pokazalu pokazaleš pokazal	vŭaikričalu vŭaikričaleš vŭaikričal	sumölilu sumölileš sumölil	povärvŭalu povärvŭaleš povärvŭal	pödviknolu pödviknoleš pödviknol	sübilu sübileš sübil	poneslu ponesleš ponesel
1 du. 2/3 du.	sudälalve sudälalte	umälve umälte	pokazalve pokazalte	vŭaikričalve vŭaikričalte	sumölilve sumölilte	povärvŭalve povärvŭalte	pödviknolve pödviknolte	sübilve sübilte	poneselve poneselte
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	sudälalmu sudälalte sudälali	umälmu umälte umäli, -laje	pokazalmu pokazalte pokazali	vŭaikričalmu vŭaikričalte vŭaikričali	sumölilmu sumölilte sumölili	povärvŭalmu povärvŭalte povärvŭali	pödviknolmu pödviknolte pödviknoli	sübilmu sübilte sübili	poneselmu poneselte ponesli

Notes:

1. The forms or the third persons singular and plural are masculine only; feminine and neuter equivalents are dälala/dälalu etc. for the singular, and dälalai/dälala etc. for the plural. These forms are due to Russian influence rather than inherited from Common Slavic.
2. The verb umäþe is imperfective, and so these actually non-existent forms are displayed only to demonstrate them conjugation-wise. Umäþe "to be able" has no perfective equivalent.
3. As can be clearly seen from the remaining (perfective) verbs, the hard mutation (unvoiced consonants become voiced before the stressed syllable, while voiced consonants become fricatives) rarely or never applies to prefixed verbs. Thus we have sudälaþe, pokazaþe, sübiþe instead of *suðälaþe, *pogazaþe, *süviþe. On the other hand, the prefix is not spared from Umlaut, hence pödviknoþe and not *podviknoþe.

The future tense

The future tense appears mostly in imperfective verbs, because the present tense of perfective verbs is already a future in itself. Nevertheless, perfective verbs sometimes appear in the future tense too, indicating that sometime in the remote future an action will be completed.

The future is a compound form, consisting of the future tense of the verb baiþe and a form derived from the ancient supine. This form can simply be obtained by replacing the infinitive ending -þe with -t (or, in the case of Class 7, with -nt), and like the infinitive it is undeclinable.

Thus, we get the following forms:

	Class 1-9
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	as bondo dälat, umät, kazat, kričat, mölit, värvŭat, dviknont, bit, nest tai bondeš ... et (eta, etu) bondeþ ...
1 du. 2 du. 3 du.	na bondeve dälat, umät, kazat, kričat, mölit, värvŭat, dviknont, bit, nest va bondete ... eja (eje, eje) bondete ...
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	mai bondemu dälat, umät, kazat, kričat, mölit, värvŭat, dviknont, bit, nest vŭai bondete ... iþe (etai, ita) bondonþ ...

The conditional

Exactly like the perfect tense, the conditional the result of a contraction of the resultative participle with the verb baiþe "to be", but this time not the present but the past tense forms. It can be used both with imperfective and perfective verbs.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	dälalbam dälalbaš dälalbai	umälbam umälbaš umälbai	kazalbam kazalbaš kazalbai	kričalbam kričalbaš kričalbai	mölilbam mölilbaš mölilbai	värvŭalbam värvŭalbaš värvŭalbai	dviknolbam dviknolbaš dviknolbai	bilbam bilbaš bilbai	neselbam neselbaš neselbai
1 du. 2/3 du.	dälalbaive dälalbaite	umälbaive umälbaite	kazalbaive kazalbaite	kričalbaive kričalbaite	mölilbaive mölilbaite	värvŭalbaive värvŭalbaite	dviknolbaive dviknolbaite	bilbaive bilbaite	neselbaive neselbaite
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	dälalbaimu dälalbaite dälalibai	umälbaimu umälbaite umälibai	kazalbaimu kazalbaite kazalibai	kričalbaimu kričalbaite kričalibai	mölilbaimu mölilbaite mölilibai	värvŭalbaimu värvŭalbaite värvŭalibai	dviknolbaimu dviknolbaite dviknolibai	bilbaimu bilbaite bilibai	neselbaimu neselbaite neslibai

The imperative

The imperative is derived from the present tense stems. It is characterised by the ending -j in classes 1, 2 and 6, and by umlaut in the remaining classes.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
2 sg.	dälaj	umäj	käž	krič	möl	väruj	dvik	bij	nis
2 du./pl.	dälajte	umäjte	käžite	kričite	mölite	värujte	dvikte	bijte	niste

Participles

Vozgian verbs can generate no less than four participles, not even including the supine, which has found itself a home with the future tense. It has separate forms for the present active, present passive, perfect active, and perfect passive.

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Present active	dälanþai	umänþai	kaženþai	kričenþai	mölenþai	värjönþai	dviknonþai	bijönþai	nesonþai
Present passive	dälamai	umämai	kažamai	kričamai	möljamai	värjamai	dviknomai	bijömai	nesomai
Perfect active	sudälaŭšai	umäŭšai	pokazaŭšai	vŭaikričaŭšai	sumölšai	povärvŭašai	pödvikšai	sübišai	ponesešai
Present passive	sudälanai	umänai	pokazanai	vŭaikričenai	sumölenai	povärvŭanai	pödviktai	sübitai (*)	ponesenai

(*) The ending -tai instead of -nai is not confined to class 8, nor does it apply to all verbs of this class. It occurs with a limited number of (usually very short) verbs.

The gerund

Not strictly a verbal form, but nevertheless derived regularly from the perfect passive participle, is the verbal noun, the gerund. It is built by substituting the ending -nai by -nje, resp. -tai by -þe. It is declined as a neuter noun of class 13 (in the case of -nje) or 12 (in the case of -þe).

	Class
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Gerund	dälanje	umänje	kazanje	kričenje	mölenje	värvŭanje	dvikþe	biþe	nesenje

Many gerunds have a meaning additional to their "standard meaning": dälanje can both mean "doing" and "activity", imanje can both mean "possessing" and "possession".

Passive forms

Passive forms are not frequently used in Vozgian. When necessary, however, it can be created using a combination of a form of the verb baiþe "to be" and one of the passive participles. The different possilities are displayed in the following table:

	Aspect
	imperfective	perfective
Present tense	as bijömai esu "I am (being) hit"	(non-existent)
Past tense	as bijömai bäch "I was (being) hit"	as sübitai bäch "I had been hit"
Perfect tense	(non-existent)	as sübitai esu "I have been hit"
Future tense	as bijömai bondo "I will be hit"	as sübitai bondo "I will have been hit"
Conditional	as bijömai bälbam "I would be hit"	as sübitai bälbam "I would have been hit"

Irregular verbs

Many verbs in Vozgian are conjugated irregularly. The conjugation of the most frequently used is given below:

	baiþe "to be"
	Present	Past	Perfect	Future	Conditional	Imperative	Participles
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	esu eš eþ	bäch bäch bäch	bälu bäleš bäl	bondo bondeš bondeþ	bälbam bälbaš bälbai	— bonþ —	Present active: bondonþai
							Present passive: —
							Perfect active: bäŭšai
1 du. 2/3 du.	esve este	bächŭe bäšte	bälve bälte	bondeve bondete	bälbaive bälbaite	— —	Perfect passive: —
							Supine
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	esmu este sonþ	bächum bäšte bächon	bälmu bälte bäli	bondemu bondete bondonþ	bälbaimu bälbaite bälibai	— bonste —	bait
							Gerund
							baiþe

	daþe "to give"
	Present	Past	Perfect	Conditional	Imperative	Participles
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	daŭ daš daþ	dach dach dach	dalu daleš dal	dalbam dalbaš dalbai	— daj —	Present active: dadonþai
						Present passive: damai
						Perfect active: daŭšai
1 du. 2/3 du.	dave daste	dachŭe dašte	dalve dalte	dalbaive dalbaite	— —	Perfect passive: datai
						Supine
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	damu daste dadonþ	dachum dašte dachon	dalmu dalte dali	dalbaimu dalbaite dalibai	— dajte —	dat
						Gerund
						danje

	ideþe "to go"
	Present	Past	Perfect	Conditional	Imperative	Participles
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	iðo iðeš iðeþ	iðoch iðoch iðoch	šelu šeleš šel	šelbam šelbaš šelbai	— iþ —	Present active: iðonþai
						Present passive: —
						Perfect active: šeŭšai
1 du. 2/3 du.	iðeve iðeste	iðochŭe iðošte	šelve šelte	šelbaive šelbaite	— —	Perfect passive: —
						Supine
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	iðemu iðete iðonþ	iðochum iðošte iðochon	šelmu šelte šeli	šelbaimu šelbaite šelibai	— iðite —	idet
						Gerund
						—

	möchþe "can, to be able"
	Present	Past	Perfect	Conditional	Imperative	Participles
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	mohu možeš možeþ	možach možach možach	moglu mogleš mogel	mogelbam mogelbaš mogelbai	— — —	Present active: mohonþai
						Present passive: —
						Perfect active: mogšai
1 du. 2/3 du.	moževe možete	možachŭe možašte	mogelve mogelte	mogelbaive mogelbaite	— —	Perfect passive: —
						Supine
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	možemu možete mohonþ	možachum možašte možachon	mogelmu mogelte mogli	mogelbaimu mogelbaite moglibai	— — —	mocht
						Gerund
						möchþe

	chotäþe "to want"
	Present	Past	Perfect	Conditional	Imperative	Participles
1 sg. 2 sg. 3 sg.	chöþu choþeš choteþ	chotach chotach chotach	chotälu chotäleš chotäl	chotälbam chotälbaš chotälbai	— — —	Present active: choþonþai
						Present passive: choþamai
						Perfect active: chotäŭšai
1 du. 2/3 du.	choþeve choþete	chotachŭe chotašte	chotälve chotälte	chotälbaive chotälbaite	— —	Perfect passive: chotänai
						Supine
1 pl. 2 pl. 3 pl.	choþemu choþete chöþonþ	chotachum chotašte chotachon	chotälmu chotälte chotäli	chotälbaimu chotälbaite chotälibai	— — —	chotät
						Gerund
						chotenje