Topic: Morphosyntax, Verbal System
Subject markingPerson is marked with a prefix. Plural number is marked with a suffix. Feminine gender may also be marked with a suffix.
Dual verbs have already disappeared by the Classical Sebastic era. The only two dual forms (2m, 3m) would have been identical with the feminine plural forms.
Code:
Person Sg Pl
1 hV- nV- -o
2m tV- tV-X-o
2f tV-X-ī tV-X-ɔ
3m yV- yV-X-o
3f yV-X-ī yV-X-ɔ
The prefix vowel is determined by a) the stem and b) TMA. More on this in a future post.
Aspect and tenseSebastic verbs are primarily aspectual.
The two verbal forms are an imperfective and a perfective, with a
perfect aspect fulfilled by the predicative use of verbal adjectives.
Imperfective (ə)C
1áC
2C
2iC
3The imperfective form represents an event whose end is unbound, and whose internal contours are dynamic or contextually relevant. The beginning of the action may be bound by context, and can thus refer to a past, present, or future action. Unmodified, it tends to refer to an action whose beginning is either in the
present or near future. In other words, the agent is just beginning to undertake the action, or is about to undertake the action.
yəsákkim
he is settling; he is going to settlePerfective/Non-imperfective (á)C
1C
2iC
3The perfective form has a wide range of uses, which can be categorized together by its
lack of imperfectivity. The event is usually viewed as a whole, complete event and the internal contours are not considered. Note that the perfective can be tough to translate into English clearly distinct from the imperfective or the perfect. In narrative texts, it is probably most typically translated as a
present perfect or
near past.
yáskim
he has settled; he has just settledPerfect The perfect represents a past event with relevance to the present moment. In narrative texts, it is probably most typically translated as
pluperfect.
sákina
he had settledDerived StemsD-stemImperfective: yəsakkám
Perfective: yəsakkím
Primary meaning: intensifying, habitualizing ("put down roots, become entrenched")
Secondary meanings: transitivizing, denominalizing
Notes: 1. D-stems are less often transitivizing in Sebastic than in other Semitic languages. Sebastic is able to transitivize G-stem verbs by adding objects to the verb.
2. It is unclear what distinguishes D-stems clearly from G-stem imperfectives in Proto-Semitic, although the relevant Semitic languages demonstrate mechanisms to distinguish them. In Sebastic, stress in D-stems shifts to the final syllable. This likely happened through occurrences of D-stems with pronominal object suffixes, which would shift the stress to the final syllable of the stem. (Although common in Sebastic, pronominal object suffixes were not common on G-stem verbs in Proto-Semitic). This stress pattern subsequently leveled throughout the D-stem paradigm. Likewise, the stress of the G imperfective no longer shifts with pronominal suffixes.
C-stem Imperfective: yəjasákkim
Perfective: yajáskim
Primary meaning: causative ("put s.t., settle s.o")
Secondary meanings: denominalizing
CD-stemImperfective: yəjəsakkám
Perfective: yəjəsakkím
Primary meaning: causative of D-stem
N-stemImperfective: yənsákkim
Perfective: yánsakim
Primary meaning: productive passive of transitives
Secondary meaning: mediopassive of intransitives ("settle in")
ND-stemImperfective: yənsakkám
Perfective: yənsakkím
Primary meaning: productive passive of D-stem transitives
Secondary meaning: mediopassive of intransitives ("become integrated")
NC-stem Imperfective: yənjasákkim
Perfective: yanjáskim
Primary meaning: productive passive of C-stem ("be settled")
NCD-stemImperfective: yənjəsakkám
Perfective: yənjəsakkím
Primary meaning: productive passive of CD-stem
Gt-stemImperfective: yəstákkim
Perfective: yástakim
Primary meaning: mediopassive
Secondary meaning: reflexive ("settle oneself")
Dt-stemImperfective: yəstakkám
Perfective: yəstakkím
Primary meaning: mediopassive of D-stem, reflexive of D-stem
Ct-stemImperfective: yəjtasákkim
Perfective: yajtáskim
Primary meaning: reflexive of C-stem, mediopassive of the C-stem, causative of the Gt-stem, denominalizing ("move, migrate")
CDt-stemImperfective: yəjtəsakkám
Perfective: yəjtəsakkím
Primary meaning: reflexive of CD-stem, mediopassive of the CD-stem, causative of the Dt-stem, intensifying of the Ct-stem ("move around, wander around")