Verbal Inflection

Inflected Verb Forms

The majority of Unit 3 research is dedicated to studying the conjugation of different verbs in as many TAM forms as possible. This stage of the research should include an exploration of clause-level features, such as agreement-marking, case-marking, negative-marking, clitics and particles. If the language is tonal, the workshop team will need to determine whether the language has grammatical tone and whether the tones interact with adjacent ones.

Beyond orthography development, discussing verbal affixes will help the language community better understand the structure of their verbs. Participants often enjoy discovering their language's grammatical patterns even more than its phonemes and tonal system.

"The study of the various verb conjugations was particularly useful since many verb tense/aspect/modes [in Mengisa-njɔ́wi] are only differentiated by tonal melody. In this aspect, the presence of the two main dialects was especially helpful...The comparison allowed for a fuller understanding of the inflectional tone melodies and assisted in the decision of how to write certain of the tenses."

-Dr. Virginia (Ginger) Boyd,

PRL Facilitator & Innovator (Cameroon)

Overview: Verbal Inflection

Verbal Inflection Goals:

To Study 50 Different Verbs, identifying…
- The verb phrase & verb transitivity
- Available TAM distinctions
- Phonological changes in inflected forms (tone, morphology, vowel harmony, etc.)
- Means of negation
To Determine...
- 1. - Subject/object agreement, case-marking, clitics, & independent pronouns
    - The underlying forms of all identified morphemes
    - The ordering of bound morphemes in relation to the verb root
To Decide…
- 1. - Where to mark word boundaries
    - How to write inflected verb forms

Key Concepts:

- Verb
- Transitivity
- Subject & object agreement (if applicable)
- Tense, aspect, & mood
- Clitics
- Independent pronouns
- Infinitive form vs Inflected form
- Morphemes/Affixes
- Negatives

Time Estimate:

Sentence Writing: ½ day
Transitivity: ½ - 1 day
Verbal Inflections: 5-7 days

Materials Needed:

- Curated list of 50 verbs, representing all stem structures & tone classes (as applicable)
- Notebooks
- Writing utensils (Pens, pencils, etc.)
- Lecture board plus chalk/markers
- Texts written in the language (if available)

Photographer Credit: Jennifer Pillinger

Write Sentences

Before facilitating Unit 3, the workshop leader should select approximately 50 verbs for research during the workshop. These verbs should vary in transitivity, stem structure, and tone class (as applicable).

The first step is to write sentences that can be used for verbal analysis. Divide the 50 verbs among workshop participants, having each participant choose several verbs. Ask the participants to write a short sentence in their notebook for each verb they selected.

In addition to supplying data for analysis, sentence writing gives participants an opportunity to (a) practice using the new alphabet, (b) make initial decisions for word boundaries, and (c) become more aware of grammatical elements that will need to be represented in the orthography.

After sentences have been written for all 50 verbs, write each sentence out on a lecture board and provide an opportunity for the group to suggest spelling changes.

Note Transitivity

Identify the transitivity of each verb by reviewing the example sentences and counting the number of noun phrases that each verb takes. Note any independent pronouns, clitics, agreement marking on the verb, and/or case-marking on other parts of speech. Also notice the language's natural word order and any changes that occur with different verb stems. If the language has noun classes, keep track of affix changes in relation to class.

Write Paradigms for TAM Inflections

Review the infinitive and imperative forms that were transcribed during the data collection exercise (q.v. Unit 1: Data Collection) and identify the affixes that correspond to each form. Afterwards, proceed to researching full verb paradigms, following the steps outlined below.

Discuss TAM & Negation

The workshop leader should give a short presentation explaining different TAM distinctions that exist cross-linguistically, incorporating examples from the language of wider communication and other relevant languages. This discussion should also include examples of different ways that languages mark negation.

Identify TAM Distinctions

Next, begin identifying the different TAM distinctions that exist in the language. This can be accomplished through elicitation or by analyzing written texts (i.e. if texts in the language are readily available). One helpful resource for eliciting verb forms is the "He Builds a House" picture book,* which uses a prescribed story to draw out TAM forms and particles in their natural usage.

Start by identifying tense and aspect distinctions, then move on to modal inflections, such as the subjunctive. The main goal of this stage is to discover how many TAM inflections exist; the meanings should be determined later. Initially, each TAM category can be labelled with a non-technical or even arbitrary term.

*Created By Virginia Beavon-ham of SIL Cameroon

Write Sentences for Each Inflection

After as many of the language's TAM distinctions as possible have been identified, the workshop leader should model writing out a verb paradigm for a particular tense (or aspect). The paradigm should include 2 sets of example sentences for all persons and number, one set using full nouns and the other using pronouns/agreement marking. The paradigm should also include examples of both affirmative and negative clauses.

Next, have each participant choose 5 verbs from the verb list and write out a paradigm for each one in a particular tense, aspect, or mood. Repeat this process as needed until full verb paradigms have been written out for each of the TAM distinctions previously identified. If the language has tone classes for verbs, make sure that at least one verb from each class is represented in the paradigms constructed.

Identify any verbs meaning ‘to be,’ ‘to be with,’ or ‘to have' and write paradigms for these as well.

Analyze Paradigms

As a group, review the paradigms for all 50 verbs. Establish whether the language has subject agreement and/or object agreement. Also note ways of marking negation for different inflections.

Go over each conjugation, noting any changes in vowels, consonants and tone. Identify the grammatical morpheme (or tone) for each TAM distinction and determine the underlying form and allomorphs for each one.

After the grammatical morphemes have been identified, determine the order in which these morphemes may occur in relation to the verb root. Also note the ordering of clitics, pronouns, and particles within the clause.

For Tonal Languages

For tonal languages, it is very important to establish the functional load of grammatical tone. If grammatical tone exists, focus research time on identifying tonal melody changes for different conjugations. If the language has tone classes for verbs, be sure to check the tonal pattern for every conjugation within each tone class.

Determine the underlying tone for all grammatical morphemes and note any unexpected tonal behavior.

For Languages with Vowel Harmony

If the language has vowel harmony, note whether vowel changes occur with the addition of verbal affixes. If so, select example verb roots for every vowel phoneme.* Write out verb paradigms for each of these verbs and observe how root vowels influence affix vowels (or vice versa).

*Each example root should contain only one vowel phoneme.

Create an Orthography Guide for Verbal Inflections

As a group, discuss word divisions within the verb phrase and make initial decisions on how to write each grammatical affix and/or tone.

Draft a simple orthography guide for writing inflected verb forms, along with example sentences.

Quick Links:

Unit 3 Overview

Verbal Derivation

Unit 3 Outputs

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