Advanced Verbs

The verb system in Proyo is full-featured and is meant to eliminate ambiguity or uncertainty when learning the language and to be easy to remember. Auxlangs always start off with vocabulary and usages that no one knows. Since we have to memorize words anyway, we may as well memorize words that have spellings that mean something, and that can provide us with helpful information as we gain more knowledge of the language.

The Normal Problem of Verbs

In most languages, intransitive verbs correspond to actions that a person is doing by oneself, often involving motion or a state change, and which often do not take direct objects. For example, consider the difference in English and French for "to listen":

  • I listen to the radio. (Intransitive)

  • J'Ă©coute la radio. (Transitive)

It's the same action, but in English the verb intransitive and doesn't take a direct object, you need the preposition "to" after the verb. In French, no preposition is needed because the verb is transitive. This is a huge pitfall for learning all languages. This happens regularly when learning natural languages and it also is an issue when learning constructed languages. Even in Esperanto it is impossible to know if a given verb is transitive or intransitive and it is a regular source of simple but persistent errors.

The constructed language Elefen (Lingua Franca Nova) did an interesting thing that is useful: every verb is permitted to be used with or without a direct object (as long as it makes sense.) This means that you can worry more about the actual meaning of the verb. However, you still have to learn or look up the verb to know what sort of verb it is. When using the Elefen verb "parti" (to leave), you might be tempted to say (as you can in English): Me parti la casa. (I am leaving the house) However, this is incorrect. Due to the nature of the Elefen system, what you are actually saying is: I am making leave the house. You have to look up every verb to see what kind it is, or learn from very constant repetition.

Since we are building an auxlang, why not try to create systems that can help us avoid these problems? Thus, we have split the verbs into the following categories:

Subject Dynamic "Intransitive" Verbs with -u

These verbs often describe an action where the agent is the one undergoing something, such as motion or state changes. Common intransitive verbs are "to go", "to begin", "to fall" -- typically, one uses them without a direct object in the source languages. Some examples:

  • Idu "to go":

    • Mi idu (I am going)

    • Mi idu al butiko (I am going to the store)

  • Begu "to begin, start":

    • La deo pa begu (The day began, started)

    • La deo pa begu normie (The day began normally)

  • Kadu "to fall":

    • La ramo kadu (The branch is falling)

    • La ramo kadu en la foresto (The branch is falling in the forest)

As a result, when you see a -u verb, you know that it is very natural to use a preposition between the verb and the object. You can feel good about "Mi partu del domo."

You do not need to put a preposition between an intransitive verb and an infinitive verb. For example, "Mi pa begu parlar tre rapie" (I began talking very rapidly).

For these subject-patient verbs, there are a few situations where you can have an object:

  1. When the direct object is a another form of the verb, or closely-related object to the verb. (These are often called "cognate objects" if you like grammar.) Some examples:

    • He pa vivu un longi vivu (He lived a long life)

    • Xi dormu un dipi dormu (She is sleeping a deep sleep)

  2. With some verbs of movement, omitting the preposition still leads to an intuitive construction:

    • Mi pa sortu la domo (I exited the house)

    • Mi partu la domo (I'm leaving the house)

    • Mi andu la vio (I'm walking the street)

    • Wi koru la kursa (We run the race)

    • Le pa aproxu la porkos (They approached the pigs)

    • Xi sentu la stulo (She sits (in) the chair)

      • Notice how you can omit "in" or "on" -- with the -u, you know she is the one who is moving, she isn't doing anything to the chair.

Omitting the preposition is permitted as long as the meaning is clear. It also permits users, who will be coming from different language traditions, to only worry about the intended meaning and not grammar.

The only caveat: With -u verbs, you may not construct a past participle with these intentions. No "la sortud domo" (the house who left?). The -ud past participle always, always refers to the person who performed the action, it's an active participle:

  • La idud perso / The person who went (is gone)

  • La sortud birdo / The bird who exited

Even tho you may not construct past participles with these -u verbs on an object, you can still say things like:

  • Sa pa es la kursa ke wi pa koru (That was the race that we ran)

As a result of this logical structure, in Proyo, when you see the -u ending on a verb, you can quickly know that the action is affecting the subject and not an object, which helps to quickly understand the semantics of sentences written in the language.

Object Dynamic "Transitive" Verbs with -a

Transitive verbs are usually actions where the doer (agent) does not change, but the object receives the action. Some of them sound strange when used without a direct object. For example:

  • Pensa "to think":

    • Vu pensa (You-plural are thinking. About what?)

    • Vu pensa multi huvanti kosos (You-plural think many interesting things)

  • Kriva "to write":

    • Xi kriva (She is writing. What are you writing?)

    • Xi kriva la libro (She is writing the book)

  • Kupa "to buy"

    • He kupa (He is buying. What are you buying?)

    • He kupa som progatos (He is buying some programs)

Causitive: -fa / fara

You can add the affix "-fa" (think "force") or the verb "fara" to achieve a causitive meaning:

  • Wi pensafa tu (We are making you think)

  • Sa donafa la paros (That is making the parents give)

Note that the final -a from "-fa" also gives a hint that the action is transitive, to another object.

There is nothing preventing you from using fara in front of verbs if you prefer:

  • Tu fara korur la kato? (You're making run the cat?)

You can even use it with ke to construct more elaborate sentences:

  • Le fara ke mi parla plu vitie ka mi wud guste (They make that I talk more quickly than I would like, i.e. "They are making me talk more quickly than I would like")

Subject Patient with Focus "Transitive" -e verbs

Verbs where the subject experiences something or is in a state in relation to an object are often transitive in the source languages. This is especially common with certain emotions, where the subject is the thing experiencing the feeling, but in reference to an object. The object doesn't really have something happen to it, it is simply a useful reference point:

  • Luve "to love"

    • Tu luve tun lizardo (You love your lizard)

  • Ode "to hate"

    • Vu ode werkur (You-plural hate to work)

  • Av(e) "to have":

    • Lo av du aknos (It has two windows)

A nice side benefit is that the past participle of -e verbs, because they are considered transitive, are then passive participles:

  • La luved lizardo (the beloved lizard)

  • La oded andu al werkutum (the hated walk to the work-area)

Making Verbs from Adjectives and Nouns

From Adjectives

All adjectives in Proyo end with -i, and you can create verbs of becoming with -gu or verbs of making with -fa. Again notice how the -u and the -a gives hints that the action is either intransitive or transitive:

  • Korti "short"

    • La deo kortigu (The day is shortening)

    • Xi kortifa xin haro (She is making short her hair, i.e. shortening her hair)

  • Siki "sick"

    • La hesto sikigu (The horse is getting sick)

    • La karno sikifa la persos (The meat is sickening the people)

From Nouns

All nouns end in -o in Proyo. In addition to the becoming (intransitive) suffix -gu and the making (transitive) suffix -fa, you can simply re-use nouns as a verb, adding -r if you are using them as an infinitive. Nouns as verbs are vague verbs, sometimes intransitive, sometimes transitive but usually intuitive uses of the object -- so be careful:

  • Marto "a hammer"

    • Mi marto la porto (I am hammering the door)

    • Xi pa es martonti la porto (She was hammering the door)

    • He vola martor la akno (He wants to hammer to window)

    • Mi martofa ti tulo (I am hammerfying this tool, i.e. "I am making this tool into a hammer")

    • La tulo martogu (The tool is becoming a hammer)

  • Urbo "a city"

    • La areo urbogu (The area is urbanizing)

    • La area bi urbofa (The area is being urbanized)

    • La yuvis pa urbofa la vilajo (The young urbanized the village)

Or, simple methods with adjectives and nouns using blivu "to become", fara "to make/do", and uza "to use"

If you don't want to use the methods above with adjectives and nouns, you can simply use blive, fara and uza -- they are exactly the same in meaning and available. Some examples:

  • La deo blivu korti (The day is becoming short)

  • Xi fara korti xin haro (She makes short her hair)

  • La hesto blivu siki (The horse is becoming sick)

  • La hesto fara siki la persos (The horse makes sick the people)

  • Mi uza un marto sur la porto (I am using a hammer on the door)

  • Mi fara en marto ti tulo (I am making into hammer this tool)

  • La areo blivu un urbo (The area is becoming a city)

Why?

Having learned the semantics behind the different verb types, now you can look at words in a sentence and instantly know the proper usage pattern and the extra information of what is the focus of the sentence. Even looking at participles, you can start to develop a feeling for what is actually happening:

  • La korunti filo porta un blui kamiso

    • "The running girl wears a blue shirt" -- you see the -unti, you know that the subject is moving or undergoing change, not doing something to something else

  • La filo es idud

    • "The girl is gone" -- you see the -ud, you know that the past participle is not passive but active, the girl went

  • La peyanti avo es jenti

    • "The paying grandparent is nice" -- you see the -anti, you can see that the subject is performing an outward act

  • La rezad tablo en la itatum

    • "The reserved table in the eating area" -- you see the -ad, you know the object had the act done to it

  • La luventi hundo pa dona un smilu al mi

    • "The loving dog gave a smile to me" -- you see the -enti, and you can feel that the dog is experiencing a state

  • He es la plu oded perso sur la vio"

    • "He is the most hated person on the street" -- you see the -ed, you know the subject had a feeling but now it refers to the object. You can also see that the object didn't really have anything "happen" to it, it was simply important as a reference point.

We also use these forms because people come from different language traditions where one verb may be intransitive in their language but another person may have it as a transitive verb, and because prepositions are hard for language learners. By permitting direct objects for even "intransitive" verbs, we eliminate another source of persistent mistakes. People have some flexibility:

  • He partu del festa "He leaves from the celebration" -- or:

  • He partu la festa "He leaves the celebration" -- as in English. We see the -u ending and know nothing was done to the celebration, the subject was doing something on their own and is speaking in a loose manner by having a direct object.

Because we have defined the semantics clearly, there is no risk for misunderstanding. We know nothing was done to the celebration.

Next: Affixes