In Navajo, verbs are the main elements of their sentences, imparting a large amount of information. The verb is based on a stem, which is made of a root to identify the action and the semblance of a suffix to convey mode and aspect; however, this suffix is fused beyond separability. The stem is given somewhat more transparent prefixes to indicate, in this order, the following information: postpositional object, postposition, adverb-state, iterativity, number, direct object, deictic information, another adverb-state, mode and aspect, subject, and classifier. Navajo does not distinguish strict tense per se; instead, an actions position in time is conveyed through mode and aspect. Each verb has a mode and an aspect, and these forms are as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Modes: Imperfective – an incomplete action; able to be applied to the past, present, or future Perfective – a complete action; usually signifying the past tense but also applied to future states (e.g. he will have gone) Usitative – a usual or typical action Iterative – a recurrent or repetitive action; often used interchangeably with the usitative Progressive – similar to the imperfective, but tailored more specifically toward the present tense Future – a prospective action, analogous to the future tense Optative – a potential or desired action, similar to the conditional mood --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aspects: Momentaneous – an action that takes place at a specific point in time Continuative – an action that covers an indefinite timeframe, without a specific beginning, goal, or even temporal direction Durative – similar to the continuative, but not covering locomotion verbs Conclusive – similar to the durative, but emphasizing the completed nature of the action when in the perfective mode Repetitive – an action that is repeated in some way, dependent on the sub-aspect and sub-sub-aspect type used Semelfactive – an action that is distinguished from a connected group or series of actions Distributive – an action that occurs among a group of targets or locations Diversative – an action that occurs here and there, among an unspecified group of targets or locations Reversative – an action involving change in physical or metaphorical direction Conative – an action the subject attempts to perform[65] Transitional – an action involving transition from one status or form to another Cursive – an action of moving in a straight line in space or time ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For any verb, the usitative and repetitive modes share the same stem, as do the progressive and future modes; these modes are distinguished with prefixes. However, pairs of modes other than these may also share the same stem, as illustrated in the following example, where the verb to play is conjugated into each of the five mode paradigms: Imperfective: né – is playing, was playing, will be playing Perfective: ne’ – played, had played, will have played Progressive/future: neeł – is playing / will play/be playing Usitative/repetitive: neeh – usually plays, frequently plays, repetitively plays Optative: ne’ – would play ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Navajo distinguishes between the first, second, third, and fourth persons in the singular, dual, and plural numbers.The fourth person is similar to the third person, but is generally used for indefinite, theoretical actors rather than defined ones. Despite the potential for extreme verb complexity, only the mode/aspect, subject, classifier, and stem are absolutely necessary.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:43:35 +0000
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