Part B: The
Verb
9. The Perfective Prefix - / ni /
The perfective is indicated by prefix ni in verbs that take
imperfective ne. ni occurs just before the subject pronoun.
In third person forms with classifiers 1,or d , this prefix
appears as ni .
| nílgé |
'He
arrived' (four legged creature) |
| nija |
'He arrived
back again' |
In third person
forms with classifier ø
or no classifier, the prefix appears as nü
.
| nüya |
'He
arrived' |
| yeghänüøchú |
'He gave
it to him' |
In second person
forms, perfective ni requires the subject pronoun to be
marked by nasalization, the same as perfectives the and
ghe .
| nüja |
'You
(sing.) arrived back again' |
| seghä nüøchu |
'Give it
to me' |
Sometimes verbs
having perfective ni are identical in second and third person
singular and cannot be recognized except by context.
| n®ya |
'He
arrived' |
| n®ya |
'You arrived' |
In first person
forms with 1 or d classifiers, perfective ni requires the
subject pronoun s , the same as perfectives the and qhe.
| n®lgé |
'He
arrived' (on all fours) |
| npsgé |
'I arrived'
|
or |
| nüja |
'He arrived
back again' |
| npsja |
'I arrived
back again’ |
In first person
forms with classifier I or no classifier, perfective ni
requires the subject pronoun i , the same as perfectives
the and ghe
| n®ya |
'He arrived' |
| níya |
'I arrived'
|
or |
| yegháyüøchú |
'He gave
it to him' |
| beghánüøchú |
‘I
gave it to him' |
First and second
person dual forms, with perfective ni, are formed regularly,
the same as imperfective he and perfectives the and ne.
| níhükü |
'We (2)
arrived' (on water) |
| nínukü |
'You (2)
arrived' |
or |
| beghänílchu |
'We (2)
gave it to him' |
| begänuøchú |
'You (2)
gave it to him' |
