The Verbs
Overview
After the irregular declensions to which the preceding parts of speech are subject, one might dread what is in store for the verb. Strangely enough, these forms, with the exception of the transitions from one tense to another, remain rather simple.
Even our worst enemy — the auxiliary verb “to be,” which in practically every developed language gives so much trouble — here shows a remarkable composure. Thus, to conjugate it, one only has to leave it in its single form, and, changing its stem with each new tense, say “I am,” “you are,” “he is,” “we are,” “you are,” “they are,” “I was,” “you were,” “he was,” “we were,” “you were,” “they were,” and so on.
On the other hand, while the verb remains so stable, the pronoun changes to such a degree that we do not at once recognise the I, you, he, we, you, they whose declension we gave on another page.
I shall give in full only the English and Avâr verb “to be”; this will be sufficient to represent, in the remaining cases, the declension of the personal pronoun.
| Tense Name | Avâr |
|---|
| Present | Hanji |
| Preterite (past) | Nigo |
| Future | Tsingo |
| Imperative | Matltli |
| Gerund | Bogon |
Unlike Indo-European languages, Avâr has no personal conjugation: verbs change not by person but by class.
4H1. Bogizi — “to be”
| M. | F. | Tense |
|---|
| don vogo | vogo | yago | Present (“I am”) |
| mon vogo | “you are” | Present |
| duv vogo | “he is” | Present |
| nij vogo | “we are” | Present |
| noj vogo | “you (pl.) are” | Present |
| dol vogo | “they are” | Present |
| don vogana | vogana | yigana | Preterite (“I was”) |
| don vogina | vogina | yigina | Future (“I shall be”) |
| voga | voga | yiga | Imperative (“be!”) |
| bogon | bogon | yigin | Gerund (“being”) |
Participles of “to be”
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural (common) |
|---|
| Present | vogiv | yigiz | rogil |
| Past | vogazau | yigarai | rogirai |
| Future | voginev | yigani | roginil |
Vasandizi — “to play”
| Tense | M. | F. |
|---|
| Present | vasandula | yasandula |
| Perfect | vasandan | yasandan |
| Imperfect | vasandilev vagana | yasandili yagana |
| Future I | vasandila | yasandila |
| Future II | vasandilov vagina | yasandili yagina |
| Imperative | vasandi | yasandi |
| Gerund | vasandon | yasandon |
Participles
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural |
|---|
| Present | vasandolev | yasandoli | vasandolil |
| Past | yasandarau | yasandarai | vasandarol |
| Future | vasandilev | yasandili | vasandilil |
Tlazi — “to know”
In this verb everything turns on the pronoun, which instead of don, mon, dav, nij, noj, dol takes the forms:
Dida — doda — doḍda
Nijida — nojoda — dozda
This being said, I give the various tenses of the verb. The feminine differs from the masculine throughout only in the third person, as in: Pres. tlalib bogo / dolda tlalib bogo.
| Tense | Form |
|---|
| Present | tlalib bogo |
| Perfect | tlana |
| Imperfect | tlan bogo |
| Imperative | tlai |
| Future I | tlala |
| Future II | tlin bogo |
| Gerund | tlan |
Participles
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural |
|---|
| Present | tlalev | tlali | tlalil |
| Past | tlarav | tlarai | tlaral |
| Future | tlazikhin vogev | tlazikhin yagi | tlazikhin vogil |
ṣin bakhizi — “to be angry”
| Tense | Form |
|---|
| Present | dir ṣin bakhon bogo |
| Past I | dir ṣin bakhana |
| Past II | dir ṣin bakhon bogana |
| Future I | dir ṣin bakhina |
| Future II | dir ṣin bakhon bogiya |
| Imperative | dir ṣin bakhakha |
| Gerund | ṣin bakhon |
Participles
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural |
|---|
| Present | ṣin bakhkhon vogev | yigi | ṣin nakhon rogil |
| Past | ṣin bakhkhon vogarav | yigarai | ṣin nakhon rogaral |
| Future | ṣin bakhinev | yakhkhini | ṣin nakhinzi rogil |
Abizi — “to say”
| Tense | Form |
|---|
| Present | diṣṣa abula bogo / doṣṣa / doṣ, dotl / nijeṣa / nojoṣṣa / doz abula bogo |
| Past 1 | diṣṣa abuna |
| Past 2 | diṣṣa abun bogona |
| Future 1 | diṣṣa abila |
| Future 2 | diṣṣa abun begina |
| Imperative | diṣṣa abi |
| Gerund | abun |
Participles
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural |
|---|
| Present | abulev | abulii | abulal |
| Past | aburav | aburai | abural |
| Future | abilev | abilii | abilil |
Botlizi — “to love”
| Tense | Form |
|---|
| Present | diyi botlola / duiy / doṣṣiyi botloa / nijiyi botloa / nojoyi / doziyi botlola |
| Past 1 | diyi botlana |
| Past 2 | diyi botlon begona |
| Future 1 | diyi botlila |
| Future 2 | diyi botlon bogina |
| Imperative | diyi botlti |
| Gerund | botlon |
Participles
| Tense | M. | F. | Plural |
|---|
| Present | botlolev | botlolii | botlolil |
| Past | botlorav | botlirai | brtloral |
| Future | botlilev | botlalii | botlil |
4H2. Negative Verbs
Certain forms are used to express the general (universal) negative sense:
higo [гьечIо] and ro [-ро] — elements of the negative particle; in certain cases [ ڸгу-] is inserted before the final syllable.
But my manuscript does not give a full account of this, so I cannot present a table. The principle is, however, similar to that of Turkish, where the insertion of m in the verb gives it negative meaning.
4H3. Adverbs
All of them are to be found in the Vocabulary. I have not marked them with any special signs.
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