Verb Stems
A verb stem is formed by putting together a verb base
and a particular kind of verb suffix called an aspect suffix.
Most verbs in Mingo have three different stems, representing the three
basic Aspects. The stems are called the Simple Stem, the Habitual
Stem and the Stative Stem.
The Simple Stem
The Simple Stem is formed by combining the verb base and
the Simple aspect suffix. Take for example the verb base
-atekho'kta'- run out of food. It can combine with the
Simple aspect suffix {-t} to form the Simple Stem
-atekho'kta't. We can see this Simple Stem in words
like:
- ëkatekho'kta't -- I will run out of
food
- o'satekho'kta't -- you ran out of food
- aayaknyatekho'kta't -- we (someone and I) might
run out of food
The Habitual Stem
The Habitual Stem is formed by combining the verb base
and the Habitual aspect suffix. With the verb base
-atekho'kta'- run out of food, the Habitual verb
suffix is {-s}. Putting them together we get the
Habitual Stem -atekho'kta's. We can see this
Habitual Stem in words like:
- katekho'kta's -- I always run out of food
- twatekho'kta's -- we (y'all and I) always run
out of food
- swatekho'kta's -- you guys always run out of
food
The Stative Stem
Lastly, there is the Stative Stem, which is formed by combining
the verb base with the Stative aspect suffix. Continuing
our example from above with the verb base -atekho'kta'-
run out of food, we can add the Stative aspect suffix
{-ö} to it to form the Stative Stem
-atekho'kta'ö. We can see this Stative Stem in
words like:
- akatekho'kta'ö -- I've run out of food
- snyatekho'kta'ö -- the two of you have run
out of food
- ökwatekho'kta'ö -- we've all run out
of food
Not all verbs have 3 different basic stems. Some verbs have only 1 basic
stem, a Stative stem. These verbs which have only a Stative stem and
no Habitual or Simple stems are called Stative verbs. On the
other hand, verbs which do have all three kinds of basic stems are
called Active verbs.
Now that we have looked at the verb stem, the one remaining part of
the verb to examine is the verb prefix.