So far, we have focused all of our attention on Nouns.  In this chapter
and those that follow, we will look more closely at Verbs.  To begin
with, we'll look at how Verbs in Mingo are put together.
 

8.1. Structure of the Verb

All Mingo Verbs are composed of three basic parts: a Pronominal Prefix,
a Verb Base, and an Aspect Suffix.  They always occur in exactly this
order.

   Pronominal Prefix  +  Verb Base  +  Aspect Suffix

The Verb Base is the part that carries the core meaning of the Verb. It
describes the event, activity or state that you are talking about. Some
Verb Bases have very simple meanings, such as -k- "eat". Others are much
more complex, conveying ideas that usually require many separate words
to express in English, such as -nunö'tayëthwahs- "go somewhere and plant
potatoes".

The job of the Pronominal Prefix is to tell who is involved in the
action. They give information on who performed the action, as well as
who was affected by it. In this way, they function very much like
pronouns do in English and other European languages. However, instead of
being separate words, like 'I' or 'you' or 'him', the Pronominal
Prefixes always occur attached to the verb.

Lastly, the job of the Aspect Suffix is to give a particular view on the
situation. By using different Aspect Suffixes, you can talk about
actions as being single events, as being repeated on-going activities or
as being unchanging states-of-affairs. This is one of the hardest parts
of the Mingo verb for English speakers to learn, since the Mingo system
of aspect is quite different from the system of tense in English.

Verb Bases in Mingo can be grouped and categorized in many different
ways.  One of the most important ways is in terms of how many different
Aspect Suffixes the Verb Base can combine with. There are two main
groups.  Active Verb Bases can occur with three different Aspect
Suffixes (although not all at once!).  Descriptive Verb Bases, on the
other hand, can only occur with one Aspect Suffix. We'll discuss Active
Verb Bases in a later chapter.  For now, we'll focus on the Descriptive
Verb Bases.
 

8.2. Descriptive Verb Bases

Descriptive Verb Bases, as their name implies, describe particular
situations, conditions, or states-of-affairs.  Some examples are:

   Some Descriptive Verb Bases

  -iyu-  ::  be good
   -thsi'kwat-  ::  be bent
   -hæ'thë-  ::  have gray hair
   -nöh-  ::  be full
   -aaa'ke-  ::  be next to something
   -öh-  ::  be alive

As we can see from just these few examples, many Descriptive Verb Bases
in Mingo correspond to what in English are "adjectives".  Mingo has no
separate word class of adjectives; rather, the same ideas that are
expressed by adjectives in other languages are expressed by Verbs
-- specifically Descriptive Verbs -- in Mingo.

All Descriptive Verb Bases occur with one and only one Aspect Suffix,
the Stative Aspect Suffix.  The Stative Aspect Suffix takes a number of
different forms depending on the Verb Base it is attaching to.  Some of
the most common forms are -', -e', -ö, -ë, and -Ø (that is, zero, or no
ending).  Another common way for the Stative Aspect Suffix to appear is
as length added onto the final vowel of the Verb Base.  There's no easy
way to know which form of the Stative Aspect Suffix will occur with any
particular Descriptive Verb Base -- it's just something that has to be
learned for each Verb Base.

Another thing which has to be learned for each Verb Base is what type of
Pronominal Prefix it takes.  There are two types of Pronominal Prefixes,
Agent and Patient.  In fact, these prefixes are exactly the same as the
Agent and Patient Possessive Prefixes we saw in Chapter 7.  Just like
some Nouns use Patient Possessive Prefixes, while others use Agent
Possessive Prefixes, some Descriptive Verb Bases use Patient Pronominal
Prefixes, while others use Agent Pronominal Prefixes.  We'll refer to
these as Patient Descriptive Verbs and Agent Descriptive Verbs.

For example, the Patient Descriptive Verb -awë- "possess something, have
something belong to you".  Since it starts with -a-, this Verb Base
belongs to the A-Stem Class.  It takes the -Ø form of the Stative Aspect
Suffix.

   ak-   -awë-   -Ø   akáwë   it belongs to me
   s-    -awë-   -Ø   sáwë    it belongs to you
   hu-   -awë-   -Ø   húwë    it belongs to him
   ku-   -awë-   -Ø   kúwë    it belongs to her
   u-    -awë-   -Ø   úwë     it belongs to it

Compare that with the Agent Descriptive Verb -nök- "live, reside,
dwell".  Since this Verb Base starts with an -n-, it might belong to
either the C-Stem Class or the L-Stem Class; in fact, it is a C-Stem
Class Verb Base. It takes the -e' form of the Stative Aspect Suffix.

   k-    -nök-   -e'   knôke'    I live
   s-    -nök-   -e'   snôke'    you live
   ha-   -nök-   -e'   hanôke'   he lives
   ye-   -nök-   -e'   yenôke'   she lives
   ka-   -nök-   -e'   kanôke'   it lives