Sona – an auxiliary neutral language

VI. VERB

§33. THE VERBAL SYSTEM

A certain number of radicals, about 90, are intrinsically verbal, such as da to do, ka lead, ba strike, zi be, zia stand, etc., but nearly every radical can be verbalised by da, much as in English we can turn nouns into verbs (to paper, to water, to knife). As a rule English makes no difference between a Transitive and Intransitive Verb:– change this, times change. Yet most languages do make a formal difference. In Sona therefore, we strike a happy medium. We have three auxiliaries:–

-ka-	pf. cause; sf. bring about; tv; cf. Pt. ka-wal, Pr. kar-dan, H. kar-na.
-ba	sf. strike; forceful tv; cf. (Pr.) baz, E. beat, bash, batter.
-ru	Go, get; iv; cf. A. ruh, Pr. ro, J. -ru, L. -r.

Although these auxiliaries are frequently used to distinguish such verbs as kasu liquify, suka irrigate, suba pour, suru flow, they are by no means essential to the formation of a verb. We may have da su to water (tv. or iv.):– su in velo ‘water this flower,’ gasemi su ‘my eye waters.’ The most elusive of our three auxiliaries is -ka as sf. It has a sense of purpose, producing, bringing about. Isolated it means to lead = da ka.

The radical ba, in addition to its sf. value as a forceful tv., like the Pr. v. zadan, ruba push, kaba urge etc., is used as a pf. to express war, military:– bara soldier, baika bayonet, and so on. The radical ru, in addition to its sf. value as an iv., baru fight, karu carry on etc., is used as a pf. to express motion:– rugo wheel, rubayati field artillery.

PRONOUNS WITH A VERB. (§23.)
PREPOSITIONS WITH A VERB.

A pr. may be affixed to the verb form, or as in English separated from it; e.g. da minru to enter, da ru min to go in, on minruto kan ‘he entered the house,’ on ruto min kan ‘he went into the house.’ Here li would be redundant, as ru implies movement.

§34. PARADIGM OF A VERB.

§35. DEFECTIVE VERBS

Even in an Interlanguage certain exceptions or defects are inevitable. In Sona two ‘verbal’ radicals are defective: da, to do, has no separate form for the Infinitive General but otherwise follows the model paradigm. It is not used to form the Infinitive General of a verb in -zi (see below). zi, to be, is, are, may be omitted in the Present Tense when the context admits of no ambiguity; e.g. on Arabi ‘he (is) an Arab’; cf. A. hua arab; on inya ‘he (is) here’; cf. R. on zdyes; ti bara ‘they (are) soldiers.’ In English no confusion arises between ‘their soldiers’ and ‘they're soldiers.’ ra ato ‘the man (is) old.’ If there is any doubt however, as to whether on, ti, ra in the above phrases should be possessives zi is used; e.g. on zi Arabi; or conversely, the pronouns could be suffixed (§23), as Arabion his Arab, barati their soldiers. In the phrase on mi para ‘he (is) my father’ there can be no ambiguity at all. zi may also form a verb from an adjective; e.g. atozi to be old, kizi to be ready, ra atozi ‘the man is old,’ an nari kizi ‘she is never ready.’ zi at the head of a clause means ‘there is (are),’ (i.) zike ‘is (are) there?’ (neg.) nazi ‘there is (are) not,’ nazike ‘is (are) there not?’ With be it forms the important v. bezi to be without, to need, want. e.g. mi bezi di su ‘I want some water,’ ‘I am thirsty.’ The form zia, I. stare, ‘to be at,’ though having a noun form, has a sense of being with reference to place, staying at, situated, state, condition; e.g. mi zia homa ‘I am at home,’ keu zia ‘how are (you)?’; cf. I. come sta?

The (i.) form is zikeya ‘is (are) there?’, tu zikeya san ‘are you well?’ (§15).

§36.

Other verb forms are as follows:–

IMPERSONAL

The Impersonal Verb is formed in three ways:– en mina ‘it is mine,’ si sa ‘one knows,’ hu isu ‘it is cold’; cf. A. hawa and such forms as ‘ed dunya barid,’ ‘it is cold.’

REFLEXIVE AND RECIPROCATIVE

si self, isi one another (§23); e.g. sasi know oneself, saisi know one another, sahasi ‘know thyself!’

POTENTIAL AND PASSIVE

These verbs are formed by -ni- suffer, patient, able; cf. R. -ny, G. -en.

As pf. this radical indicates the POTENTIAL, able, can; e.g. ni suffer, be able, let, nika subject, bring to submission, conquer, cf. Gk. vikn, niru be able to go, tu nike ru ‘can you go?’ tu nali ru ‘you cannot go,’ tu nalike ru ‘can you not go?’ Note the form nali cannot. As sf. this radical forms the PASSIVE; e.g. runi be moved, sani be known, da en sani ‘let it be known.’ The connection between Potential and Passive may be traced through E. drinkable, to be drunk, or J. korareru to be able to come, to be comed to. In C. there is a similar affinity.

Other verbal affixes are:–

-ki	inceptive	e.g. suki	sweat	ruki	start
-ta	augmentive	e.g. suta	soak	ruta	travel
-ko	diminutive	e.g. suko	sprinkle	ruko	stroll
-fi	failure	e.g. sufi	dribble	rufi	trip
-ire	repetition	e.g. suire	rain	ruire	go on

Verbal suffixes appear in the following order:–
-si :– -hasi, -sici, -sii, -tosi, -tosii
-isi :– -haisi, -isici, -isii, -toisi, -toisii
-ni :– -niha, -nici, -nii, -nito, -nitoi

The suffixes -ki, -ta, -ko, -fi, -ire follow the radical; e.g. rukisi, rukihasi, rukisici.

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this version ©2002 by the Sona Sojigi