Part B: The Verb
8. The Perfective Prefix - / gh /
The perfective is indicated in other verbs by a prefix /
ghe / occurring before the subject pronoun. This prefix
appears in third person as / ghe / if the classifier is
1 or d , and it appears as / ghi / if the classifier is
or if there is no classifier.
| yálgus |
'He
is jumping' |
| yaghílgos |
'He jumped' |
or |
| nánadher |
'He is staying
again' |
| nánaghedher |
'He stayed
again' |
or |
| hetsagh |
'He is crying' |
| ghütsagh |
'He cried'
|
or |
| yaøti |
'He is talking' |
| yaghüøti |
'He talked' |
In second person
forms perfective / ghe / requires nasalization as the subject
pronoun, the same as perfective / the / .
| ghütsagh |
'You
(sing.) cried' |
| yálgus |
'You (sing.)
jumped' |
Sometimes verbs
having perfective / ghe / are identical in second and third
person singular and cannot be recognized except by context.
| nághüdher |
'He
stayed' |
| nághüdher |
'You stayed' |
or |
| ghütsagh |
'He cried' |
| ghütsagh |
'You cried' |
In first person
forms, when classifiers 1 or d are present, perfective /
ghe / requires subject pronoun s , the same as perfective
the
| yaghílgos |
'He jumped' |
| yaghísgos |
‘I
jumped' |
| ¿asié ghedq |
'He drank
something' |
| ¿asié ghesdq |
'I drank
something' |
In first person
forms, when classifier ø
is present, or there is no classifier present, perfective
/ ghe / requires subject pronoun i , the same as perfective
/ the / .
| nághüdher |
'He
stayed' |
| nághidher |
‘I
stayed' |
or |
| yaghüøti |
‘he
talked' |
| yaghiøti |
'I talked' |
First and second
person dual forms with perfective / ghe / are formed regularly
the same as imperfective / he / and perfective / the /.
| nághíddher |
'We
(2) stayed' |
| nághuther |
'You (2)
stayed' |
or |
| yághílgus |
'We (2)
jumped' |
| yághuøgus |
'You (2)
jumped' |
