ALBE C. NOPRE JR.

VERBALS

CE11KA2

A verbal is a verb form that, something like a progressive verb, indicates an unfinished action or condition. Unlike progressive verbs, however, verbals always function as other parts of speech, never as verbs; in other words, they impart a verbal character (but not a verbal function) in the form of another part of speech. Like functional verbs, verbals can take objects, adverbs, and phrases. Three kinds of verbals exist: infinitives, participles, and gerunds. There are important differences between how verbals are formed and function in English versus how corresponding locutions are navigated in D'ni that we will explore here. It must be kept in mind that these grammatical distinctions we draw from English would likely seem strange to a native D'ni speaker. They are impositions from the outside; I hope to make this clear below, and to suggest ways in which a native linguist might understand these grammatical phenomena. Active infinitives are formed by prefixing the root verb with the preposition b. This closely approximates the English formulation of the infinitive, to + VERB. Infinitives are the most flexible of verbals, functioning in a variety of contexts as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. A number of examples exist: .gehn lehpahboyehn seht teh dotahgehn ah rehooshah bbahrehl rehlehm (adjective) .komehsehn rehdoyhahtee pradteegahl gah vIleete trehn bchoylahnai (adverb) .rehbihshtah kodosaiehn bmehs ehrth lehnah okh yahrtee (adverb) Passive infinitives take the related form of b'kehn + verb-ihj. Much less is known about these infinitives, since our examples of them are quite restricted, but presumably they can function in the same way as their active counterparts. In English, participles come in two forms: present or active participles (VERB+ing) and past or passive participles (VERB+ed). These can be used either as simple descriptors modifying nouns, or can govern entire participial phrases, which also are adjectival in nature. D'ni offers three forms of adjectival participle, as well as distinct constructions that translate to phrasal participles. When the present participle itself directly modifies the noun, it is called an adjectival participle and is formed with the suffix -ahl, as in: .rehpoytee tsoihdahl tooleet mehgorai mrehprad The glowing bulbs grow straight out from the rock. It is likely that -ihn similarly forms the past adjectival participle as in rehkor oshanihn okh pahtstee oglahn the lost book of ancient cities It is unclear exactly what kind of participle -ihj forms, whether a future participle, or a different kind of past participle distinct from -ihn. A more in-depth consideration of the past participle can be found here. These three participle forms appear to be limited to a purely adjectival function; they cannot govern participial phrases. For participles that can govern a phrase, D'ni conjugates the verb as if it were a

progressive, with appropriate tense prefix and actor suffix. The active phrasal participle looks like a present progressive, as in .kohooreht ah meht mlah dotsahvehn tfah trehgahlpotee vogehts We found this lizard living in one of the natural caves. Note here that while dotsahvehn governs an entire clause, it could serve as an independent, valid verb form indicating progressive action. In fact, a native D'ni grammar would likely not label this verb form as a participle, considering how different this suspiciously progressive-looking verb form is from the clearly participial adjective form. Rather, it might recognize this to be exactly what it is, a fully functional verb form, that, by virtue of the sentence's syntax, marks the beginning of a phrase. In this sense, the verb form might be better labelled, from the D'ni perspective, an instance of the phrasal -do-, which we translate in English as a phrasal participle. Though there are no instances in our sources, it seems reasonable to speculate that an English phrasal past/passive participle would be approximated in D'ni by the kodo- tense prefix, as in .kohooreht ah Yeesha kodo'oshahnehn trehbihshtah We found Yeesha lost in the tunnel. Gerunds and participles have the same correlative form in English, VERB+ing, only gerunds function as nouns. There is some disagreement over how gerunds are formed in D'ni. All agree that, for most situations, the converted -tahv form of the verb is the most idiomatic and correct. However, one of our sources has been interpreted to suggest a form of phrasal gerund identical to the phrasal participle explored above: .gehn lehpahboyehn seht teh dotahgehn ah rehooshah Gehn has blessed us with giving the formula Here, it seems that the phrase dotahgehn ah rehooshah is the object of the preposition teh. This would mean that the phrase is nominal in nature, and thus most likely a gerund phrase what has Gehn blessed us with? He has blessed us with the giving of the beetle. Yet the fact that this "gerund" has the same form as our phrasal participle above suggests that this is simply another instance of the phrasal do-, for which perhaps the distinction between participle and gerund is a non-issue.

PHRASES A phrase is a small group of words that adds meaning to a word. A phrase is not a sentence because it is not a complete idea with a subject and a predicate. In English there are five different kinds of phrases, one for each of the main parts of speech. In a phrase, the main word, or the word that is what the phrase is about, is called the head. In these examples, it is printed in bold. The other words in the phrase do the work of changing or modifying the head. In a noun phrase, one or more words work together to give more information about a noun. all my dear children the information age

seventeen hungry lions in the rocks In an adjective phrase, one or more words work together to give more information about an adjective. so very sweet earnest in her desire very happy with his work In a verb phrase, one or more words work together to give more meaning to a verb. In English, the verb phrase is very complex, but a good description of its many forms can be found here. In an adverb phrase, one or more words work together to give more information about an adverb. especially softly formerly of the city of Perth much too quickly to see clearly In a prepositional phrase, one or more words work together to give information about time, location, or possession, or condition. The preposition always appears at the front of the phrase. after a very long walk behind the old building for all the hungry children in case it should happen again

CLAUSES Clauses can be either main or subordinate. A main clause is one which is independent. A subordinate clause depends on the main clause which it often modifies. Subordinating conjunctions (as, since, because...) or relative pronouns (who, which, that) usually introduce dependent clauses. Example: While I was driving, I noticed the leaves had begun to turn autumn colours. The first clause, while I was driving, is a subordinate clause introduced by the subordinate conjunction "while." The clause is subordinate because it cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence. The second clause is the main clause. By itself, I noticed the leaves had begun to turn autumn colours can be a whole sentence.

SENTENCE In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command or suggestion. A sentence can also be defined in orthographic terms alone, i.e. as simply that which is contained between a capital letter and a full stop T.his is arguably more accurate than definitions which conflate orthography and grammar, given the variety of structures which are possible between the capital letter and a full stop. For instance, the opening of Charles Dickens' well known novel, Bleak House, begins with the following three sentences: KINDS OF SENTENCE Kinds of Sentences Declarative - A declarative sentence makes a statement. A declarative sentence ends with a period. Example: The house will be built on a hill. Interrogative - An interrogative sentence asks a question. An interrogative sentence ends with a question mark. Example: How did you find the card? Exclamatory - An exclamatory sentence shows strong feeling. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark. Example: The monster is attacking! Imperative - An imperative sentence gives a command. Example: Cheryl, try the other door. Sometimes the subject of an imperative sentence (you) is understood. Example: Look in the closet. (You, look in the closet.)

By purpose Sentences can also be classified based on their purpose: A declarative sentence or declaration, the most common type, commonly makes a statement: "I am going home." An interrogative sentence or question is commonly used to request information "When are you going to work?" but sometimes not; "see" rhetorical question. An exclamative sentence or exclamation is generally a more emphatic form of statement expressing emotion: "What a wonderful day this is!" An imperative sentence or command tells someone to do something: "Go to work at 7:30 in the morning." Basic Sentence Patterns In this lesson, you will learn the elements of a sentence. There are 5 basic sentence patterns in English. Before we start this lesson (or after class in the lab) go to these 5 websites. Click the buttons on the screen at each site to see sentences with these patterns. The 5 Basic Patterns Subject + Verb I swim. Joe swims. They swam.

Subject + Verb + Object I drive a car. Joe plays the guitar. They ate dinner. Subject + Verb + Complement I am busy. Joe became a doctor. They look sick. Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object I gave her a gift. She teaches us English. Subject + Verb + Object + Complement I left the door open. We elected him president. They named her Jane.