Verbs

Taran verbs have inflection. There is no grammatical category which distinguishes verbs from adjectives; both are treated morphologically the same.

A verb is composed of a stem, a sequence of pronomial prefixes, and a suffix inflected for tense/aspect and number. Other suffixes may mark valence. Altogether, the form of the verb is:

(object) + (subject) + root + (valence) + tense/aspect

There are five verb tenses and aspects morphologically coded in the language: present, present habitual, past, imperative, and future.

Verb Classes
Verbs are divided into two separate classes. The roots of first conjugation verbs end in fricatives, including the voiceless lateral fricative, and voiceless plosives, while second conjugation verbs end in nasals, voiced plosives, and liquids.

First conjugation verbs endings: t, k, q, f, v, s, z, sh, zh, xh, x, and hl

Second conjugation verb endings: d, g, gh, m, n, r, and l

No verbs end with a vowel or the consonant /h/.

Based upon whether a verb is of the first or second conjugation, it will receive a different morphological suffix inflected for tense/aspect and number.

In some dialects, including the Standard Taranvor Dialect, there are some exceptions to the conjugation verb endings. For instance, the verbs kan, fun, and tom are all treated as verbs of the first conjugation despite their final consonant. This change came about due to the etymological development of these words.

Transitivity
First and second conjugation verbs are further subdivided into transitive versus intransitive verbs. All verbs within the language are “defaulted” to be either transitive or intransitive. Verbs which are by default intransitive receive a different conjugation than verbs which are by default transitive. Transitives tend to contain /a/ in the suffix, while intransitives use /i/.

Object and subject markers
Verbs also receive object and subject prefixes. These prefixes do not vary depending upon whether a verb is of the first or second conjugation class. Object markers are inflected for person and number. There is a three-way distinction of number by singular, dual, and plural.

Object markers
Taran is an ergative-absolutive language. When a sentence is intransitive, only the object markers are used.

'I run.'

Xhav-fun-di

1.S.OBJ-run-PRS.S.NTR

When a sentence is transitive, the object prefix comes before the subject prefix.

'I know her.'

Tav-hla-hlaehl-ta

3.P.OBJ-1.S.SUB-know-PRS.S.TR

The subject and/or object prefixes may be deleted if an explicit object or subject occurs in the sentence.

'Xhadouk kills Zhokur.'

''Sahaaq-ta        Xhadouk Zhokur''

kill-PRS.S.TR Xhadouk Zhokur

Valence
In some circumstances an intransitive verb may be used transitively. To increase the valence of that verb, the valence suffix ax is added directly after the verb root. In the Standard Taran Dialect, the rest of the verb’s inflection is not changed by the addition of a valence marker.

'I am afraid.'

Xhav-haq-ti

1.S.OBJ-afraid-PRS.S.NTR

'I scare you.'

Qav-hla-haq-ax-ti

2.P.OBJ-1.S.SUB-afraid-TR-PRS.S.NTR

It is much less common to decrease valence, and different dialects use different mechanisms to mark it. In the Standard Taranvor Dialect, the negation morpheme qa is added as a suffix after the verb root.

'I agree with you.'

Qav-hla-saen-da

2.P.OBJ-1.P.SUB-agree-PRS.S.TR

'I agree.'

Hla-saen-qa-da

1.P.SUB-agree-DETR-PRS.S.TR

Attributives
Verbs which describe a noun adjectivally but are not the main verb of a sentence are prefixed with the relativizer hi. These attributive verbs do not receive any other morphology.

'The angry sword master killed (someone).'

Tav-sahaaq-ta                ne-xaan      hi-naaf

3.S.OBJ-kill-PRS.S.TR user-sword REL-angry

Verb inflections
Verbs receive a suffixal inflection which indicates tense/aspect and number. Although Taran is an ergative-absolutive language, both intransitive and transitive verbs receive inflectional suffixes. However, these suffixes vary depending upon transitivity and the conjugation class of the verb. This results in twelve different suffix endings per morphologically marked tense.

Present tense
The present tense is treated as the simple present tense. Present tense verbs receive the following suffix conjugation: Because of phonological dissimilation rules, there are exceptions to this paradigm when a verb ends in /t/ or /d/. The suffix of a first conjugation verb will begin with /s/, while the suffix of a second conjugation verb will begin with /z/.

'I need it.'

Tav-hla-taem-da

3.P.OBJ-1.S.SUB-need-PRS.S.TR

'They deserve to say anything.'

Rov-ghot-sim                  hi-kaam  no-no

3.P.SUB-say-PRS.P.TR REL-say thing-thing

In the case of reduplication, only the first consonant of the reduplication is affected by the phonological dissimilation rule. The reduplication of the present tense suffix expresses the habitual.

'You always suffer.'

Hihit-zati

suffer-HAB.PRS.S.TR

Past tense
The past tense is treated as the simple past tense. Past tense verbs receive the following suffix conjugation: If a verb root ends in /s/ or /z/, the second fricative is deleted rather than repeated.

'She swam to shore.'

Res-i           fu-fata

swim-PST.S.NTR to-shore

Future tense
Future tense verbs receive the following suffix conjugation: If a verb root ends in /f/ or /v/, the second fricative is deleted rather than repeated.

Imperative
Imperative verbs receive the following suffix conjugation: As with all other tenses, the plosives in the onset of the suffix syllable become fricatives when preceded by a /k/ or /g/ in the verb root. In these instances, the suffix begins with /x/ or /xh/.

The imperative is most frequently used to mark commands. In these instances, the subject and object are frequently left unmarked, and are assumed to be first person singular speaker and second person interlocutor, respectively.

"Smile."

Tun-ki

smile-IMP.S.NTR

In the case that the imperative reflects a command to someone other than the assumed speaker or second person recipient, the pronomial prefixes are readded.

"They are to obey me."

Xhav-rov-nul-kam

3.P.OBJ-1.S.SUB-obey-IMP.P.TR

The imperative is also used to mark requests, desire, and greetings.

'Please give me the curd cheese.'

''Fan-ka                 hi-kan die''

Allow-IMP.S.TR REL-give curd cheese

'May you die painfully.'

Huk-xhi              hi-hit

die-IMP.S.NTR REL-painful

The greeting fanzhiq may mean ‘please enter’ or, more idiomatically, ‘welcome back.’ Typically, it contains no morphology except for the imperative suffix.

'Welcome back, my king.'

Fan-zhiq,      hla-sahurr.

Please-enter 1.POS.S-king

Habitual
The habitual present is morphologically marked by reduplicating the present tense prefix. The first two letters of the suffix are reduplicated before the full conjugation, though typically the first iteration of the vowel is reduced.

'They both fly home on a cockatrice.'

Sav-shan-tir                       fu-hla-shafa             shi-hurrda

3.D.OBJ-fly-PRS.D.NTR to-1.S.POS.S-house with-cockatrice

'They both fly home on a cockatrice every day.'

Sav-shan-tatir                              fu-hla-shafa            shi-hurrda         dousha

3.D.OBJ-fly-HAB.PRS.D.NTR to-1.S.POS.S-house with-cockatrice every day

The habitual can also be used to mean “always” or “constantly.”

'Rezhiq is always hungry.'

Ghom-dadi                           Rezhiq

hungry-HAB.PRES.S.NTR Rezhiq

At other times, the same morphological marking is used to indicate repetitive action within one given moment.

'He shakes.'

Tav-xef-tati

3.S.OBJ-shake-HAB.PRS.S.NTR

The habitual past and rarer habitual future contain the same constructions, using the suffixes for those respective tenses.

'He shook.'

Tav-xef-sasi

3.S.OBJ-shake-HAB.PST.S.NTR

The habitual can even be combined with the imperative to express a repeated reading of the verb.

'May you always suffer.'

Hihit-kaki

suffer-HAB.PRS.S.NTR

Copula
The copula is traditionally and formally sahlarr. Diachronically, the verb began as a serial verb construction of ‘make live,’ saemhlarr, and was reduced over time to sahlarr. The informal and more common use of the copula, sahl in the Standard Taranvor Dialect, is the result of further reduction. Other dialects have varying reductions of the copula sahlarr.

The copula is treated as a second class verb which takes a nominal complement, but is marked morphologically as the intransitive. The subject is not marked directly on the verb through the presence of a pronomial prefix. The copula attaches to the subjective complement while the subject itself follows the verb.

'The people are idiots.'

Houzh-sahl-dim                shus

idiot-COP-PRS.S.NTR    people

In the case that the subject is not overtly stated, the pronomial prefix becomes a separate following particle.

'I am King Garet.'

Sahurr garet-sahlarr-di              xhav

king Garet-COP-PRS.S.NTR 1.S.OBJ

Evidentiality
Evidentiality is not a necessary verbal element but sometimes used. In some dialects it has disappeared completely. Occasionally evidentiality appears in the Standard Taranvor Dialect in the form of particles following the verb.

The following particles indicate evidentiality:

Shid: direct knowledge; the speaker sensed its effects – usually by sight

Shak: experiential; the speaker was there experiencing it firsthand

Shaf: reportative; because the speaker heard about it from others

The change of the evidentiality marking in turn changes how the speaker knows how an event occurred.

'I saw her die.'

tav-huk-ti                          shak

3.S.OBJ-die-PRS.S.NTR EX

'I saw her dead.'

tav-huk-ti                          shid

3.S.OBJ-die-PRS.S.NTR DIR

To express knowledge of how an action occurred regarding sensory evidence, speakers may use the experiential evidentiality marking or express a “because X” construction whereby the conjunction sash takes on a relevant sensory nominal complement.

'The curd cheese is sour.'

vat-si                    shid die  

sour-PRS.S.NTR DIR curd cheese

'I tasted that the curd cheese is sour.'

vat-si                    sash      zhiefoq die

sour-PRS.S.NTR because eating   curd cheese

The evidential markers may appear alone in discourse when responding to a question of how information is known.

'How do you know?'

tav-ro-min-da                                    sezh

3.S.OBJ-2.S.SUB-know-PRS.S.TR in order to

'I was there.'

Shak

EX

This same discourse construction works for the “because X” evidential construction.

'I read it.'

Sash      zhietan

because reading

Proverbs
The root of a verb may be deleted in the verb phrase in cases of redundancy. When that verb is repeated a second time after a conjunction, it may be replaced by a proverb, which is simply the suffixal ending it would otherwise take.

'I kicked and kicked.'

Xhav-kuk-si                        he   si.

1.P.OBJ-kick-PST.S.NTR and PST.S.NTR

If the verb is to be repeated three times, the suffixal ending particle is reduplicated.

'I ran and ran and ran.'

Xhav-fun-si                       he   si-si.

1.P.OBJ-run-PST.S.NTR and PST.S.NTR-PST.S.NTR