Part B: The Verb
10. Optative Mode
We
have now considered two basic modes in Chipewyan verbs,
imperfective, which means the action or condition is being
carried on, and perfective, which means the action has been
completed. There is a third mode, the optative, which means
the action will or ought to begin.
The optative
is indicated in two ways:
1. The addition
of a prefix.
2.The addition of a prefix and an alteration in the form
of the stem.
This system is similar to the formation of the perfective.
There is only one optative prefix, wa , but the stem changes
are unpredictable as are the perfective sterns. The prefix
wa occurs just before the subject pronoun, replacing imperfective
or perfective prefixes.
In third or first person forms, this prefix appears as wa,
if the imperfective of the verb is indicated by he or the
, or if the syllable just before the optative marker ends
with a vowel / a / .
| Hejen |
'He is singing' |
| Wajen |
'Let him
sing' |
or |
| Theda |
'He is sitting' |
| Wadá |
'Let him
sit' (stem change) |
or |
| Nada |
'He is going' |
| nojä |
'Let him
go' (stem change) |
If the conditions
mentioned do not prevail, the optative prefix wa will combine
with the preceding syllable.
| hegha |
'He
is going' |
| huyá |
'Let him
go' (stem change) |
or |
| eret´ís |
'He is writing' |
| erut´ís |
'Let him
write' |
or |
| holni |
'He is telling
a story' |
| hulni |
'Let him
tell a story' |
Third person
forms may occur alone, or in special contexts.
| hejen horés¿ü |
'I
want him to sing' |
| yawaøti horés¿ü |
'I want
him to talk' |
In second person
singular forms, optative wa requires the subject pronoun
to be marked by nasalization.
| wajen |
'Let him
sing' |
| w¶jen |
'You will
sing' |
or |
| yawaøti |
'Let him
talk' |
| yaw¶øti |
'You will
talk' |
or |
| huyá |
'Let him
go' |
| h¶yá |
'You will
go' |
Note that when
nasalization is added to wa it becomes
w¶ .
The most frequent use of the optative in second person is
with negative imperatives.
| W¶jen sänä |
'Don't
sing.' ' |
| W¶tsagh sänä
|
'Don't cry.'
' |
| Yaw¶øti sänä |
'Don't
talk.' ' |
In first person
singular forms, optative wa requires the subject pronoun
to be marked by s . The rules of fusion for third person
optative wa forms also apply to first person singular.
| yawalti |
'Let
him talk' |
| yawasti |
'I will
talk' |
or |
| watsagh |
'Let him
cry' |
| wastsagh |
'I will
cry' |
or |
| wayü |
'Let him
stand' |
| wasyü |
I will stand'
|
or |
| erut´ís |
'Let him
write’ |
| erust´ís |
‘I
will write' |
In first person
dual forms, wa combines with the subject pronoun íd
to form wúd .
| náwadher |
'Let him
stay' |
| náwúddher |
'We (2)
will stay' |
or |
| wajen |
'Let him
sing' |
| wújen |
'We (2)
will sing' |
These are most
frequently translated as 'Let's stay' or 'Let's sing'.
In second person dual forms, wa combines with the subject
pronoun uh to form wuh .
| yawalti |
‘Let
him talk’ |
| yawulti |
‘You
(2) will talk’ |
or |
| watsagh |
‘Let
him cry’ |
| w¶tsagh |
‘You
(2) will cry’ |
As
with the second person singular, the most frequent use of
the optative in second person dual is with negative imperatives.
| W¶tsagh sänä |
‘Don’t
(you 2) cry.’ ‘ |
| Er¶t´ís sänä |
‘Don’t
(you 2) write.’ |
