You may have noticed in Chapter 10 that although we mentioned the
Punctual forms of verbs, and the types of Pronominal Prefixes they take,
we didn't actually give any examples.  The reason for this is that the
Punctual forms of Active Verbs have one more complication to them that
we haven't seen yet.  Not only do Punctual forms require Pronominal
Prefixes, as all forms of the Verb do, they also require something
called a Modal Prefix.  There are three Modal Prefixes in Mingo, called
the Factual, the Future and the Optative.  They each occur in the slot
immediately before the Pronominal Prefix.

   Modal Prefix + Pronominal Prefix + Verb Base + Punctual Aspect Suffix

The role of the Modal Prefix is to express the speaker's attitude on
how likely they think it is for the action described by the verb to
actually take place.

Below, and in the next two chapters, we'll look at each of the three
Modal Prefixes, their meanings, and how they combine with the Pronominal
Prefixes.

11.1. Factual Modal Prefix

Of the three Modal Prefixes, perhaps the most common is the Factual.
The basic use of the Factual, as its name implies, is to assert that the
action described by the Verb did in fact occur.  As such, Verbs with the
Factual+Punctual combination are most typically translated into English
in the Simple Past Tense (e.g. I kicked it, I fell down, I ate it,
etc...).

The forms of the Factual Prefix are more varied than those of the other
two Modal Prefixes, and they also cause more changes in the forms of the
following Pronominal Prefixes.
 

11.1.1. Factual + Agent Prefixes

The Factual Prefix occurs in a number of different forms with Agent
Prefixes., including u'-, wa- and wa'-.  The table below shows the
different combinations of the Factual Prefix with Agents Prefixes.

              I         you        he       she       it
   --------------------------------------------------------
   C-stem  | u'k-       u's-       waa-     wa'e-     u'ka-
   X-stem  | u'ke-      u'se-      waa-     wa'e-     u'ka-
   L-stem  | u'k(h)-    u's-       wáá-     wa'é-     u'ká-
   LX-stem | u'ké-      u'sé-      wáá-     wa'é-     u'ká-
   A-stem  | u'k-       u's-       waa-     wa'ö-     u'w-

We can note the following patterns:

   * The Factual Prefix has the form u'- before the 'I', 'you' and 'it'
     Agent Prefixes.  It attaches to the beginning of those prefixes,
     with no extra changes involved.

   * The Factual Prefix has the form wa- before the 'he' Agent Prefix.
     The -h- that occurs in the he prefix when it's at the beginning of
     the word, drops out when the Factual Prefix is added.

   * The Factual Prefix has the form wa'- before the 'she' Agent Prefix.
     The -y- that occurs in the she prefix when it's at the beginning of the
     word, drops out when the Factual Prefix is added.

An example set of Factual-Punctual forms for the X-Stem Switch Active
Verb Base -hutö- "close the door", is shown below.

   u'-    -ke-     -hutö-   -'   u'kehútö'   I closed the door
   u'-    -se-     -hutö-   -'   u'sehútö'   you closed the door
   wa-    -(h)a-   -hutö-   -'   waahútö'    he closed the door
   wa'-   -(y)e-   -hutö-   -'   wa'ehútö'   she closed the door
   u'-    -ka-     -hutö-   -'   u'kahútö'   it closed the door
 

11.1.2. Factual + Patient Prefixes

The Factual Prefix takes several different forms when it occurs before
Patient Prefixes, including ö-, e-, wa-, wa'a- and wa'-.  The table
below shows the different combinations of Factual and Patient Prefixes.

             I        you       he        she         it
   -------------------------------------------------------
   C-stem  | ök-      esa-      wau-     wa'aku-     wa'u-
   X-stem  | öke-     esa-      wau-     wa'aku-     wa'u-
   L-stem  | ök(h)-   esá-      wáú-     wa'akú-     wa'ú-
   LX-stem | öké-     esá-      wáú-     wa'akú-     wa'ú-
   A-stem  | ök-      es-       wau-     wa'aku-     wa'u-

We can note the following patterns:

   * The Factual Prefix takes the form ö- before the 'I' Patient Prefix.
     The -a- that occurs in the 'I' prefix when it's at the beginning of
     the word, drops out when the Factual Prefix is added.

   * The Factual Prefix takes the form e- before the 'you' Patient
     Prefix.

   * The Factual Prefix takes the form wa- before the 'he' Patient
     Prefix.  The -h- that occurs in the 'he' prefix when it's at the
     beginning of the word, drops out when the Factual Prefix is added.

   * The Factual Prefix takes the form wa'a- before the 'she' Patient
     Prefix.

   * The Factual Prefix takes the form wa'- before the 'it' Patient
     Prefix.

An example set of Factual-Punctual forms for the C-Stem Fixed Active
Verb -tukast- "hear of something", is shown below.

   ö-      -(a)k-   -tukas(t)-   -Ø   öktúkas     I heard of it
   e-      -sa-     -tukas(t)-   -Ø   esatúkas    you heard of it
   wa-     -(h)a-   -tukas(t)-   -Ø   waatúkas    he heard of it
   wa'a-   -(y)e-   -tukas(t)-   -Ø   wa'etúkas   she heard of it
   wa'-    -u-      -tukas(t)-   -Ø   wa'utúkas   it heard of it

Note how the vowel -u- is lengthened when it falls in the next-to-last
syllable.