Part B: The
Verb
17. Stem Changes for Number
As has been seen already, number is indicated in
Denes¶øiné
by adding the prefixes dá or he . This system applies
to many verbs, but there are others that change their stems
instead of adding prefixes.
| Yálgus |
‘he
is jumping’ |
| Yáhelgus |
‘they
(2) are jumping’ |
| Yárálgus |
‘they
(pl) are jumping |
| Hegha |
‘he/she
is going’ |
| He¿ás |
‘they(2)
are going’ |
| Hedél |
‘they
(pl) are going' |
| Nádher |
‘he/she
is staying’ |
| Náhedher |
‘they(2)
are staying’ |
| Nádé |
‘they
(pl) are staying' |
or |
| Thetü |
‘he/she
is sleeping' |
| Hetes |
‘they
(2) are sleeping’ |
| thetes |
‘they
(pl) are sleeping’ |
From
these examples it will be seen that some verbs have separate
stems for singular, dual, and plural; some have one stem
for singular and dual, and a separate stem for prural. These
stems cannot be predicted. They must be memorized. Note
that in third person dual the prefix / he / is usually present
even though there is a separate dual stem. Note the following
examples of complete paradigms.
| Hesa |
‘I
am going’ |
| Hügha |
‘you
are going’ |
| Hegha |
‘he/she
is going’ |
| Híþas |
‘we
(2) are going’ |
| Huh¿ás |
‘you
(2) are going’ |
| He¿ás |
‘they
(2) are going’ |
| Hidél |
‘we
(pl) are going' |
| Huhdél |
‘you
(2) are going’ |
| Hedél |
‘they
(pl) are going’ |
| Thida |
‘I
am sitting’ |
| Thüda |
‘you
are sitting’ |
| Theda |
‘he/she
is sitting’ |
| Thíke |
‘we
(2) are sitting’ |
| Thuhke |
‘you
(2) are sitting’ |
| Heke |
‘they
(2) are sitting’ |
| Déthílttvi |
‘we
(pl) are sitting’ |
| Duøttvi |
‘you
(pl) are sitting’ |
| Déøttvi |
‘they
(pl) are sitting’ |
Note that in
this latter illustration, the prefix /
dé / has been added to the plural forms.
At this point a hitherto unmentioned object pronoun prefix,
eøe ‘eachother’
should be discussed. This prefix requires a subject in dual
or prural, but it is frequently omitted because the nature
of the object implies that the subject must be more than
one.
| Ye¿ü |
‘he
saw ‘him/her’ |
| ¿eøeheþü |
‘they
saw eachother’ |
| yu¿eth |
‘he/she
is kicking him/her’ |
| ¿eøehuþeth |
‘they
are kicking eachother’ |
| yeneø¿ü |
‘he/she
is looking at him/her’ |
| ¿eøehenel¿ü |
‘they
are looking at eachother’ |
Note that the
introduction of the prefix ¿eøe
changes classifier ø
to l, and if there is no classifier, Classifier d is addicted.
