Thexar-IV: The-Sha-Ruun — Sha-El 05: Khal-ven Thar — Verbs and Tense
"The verb is the engine of the sentence. It carries action, tense, and the source of information. A finite predicate organizes a full assertion; an answer may also be brief." — Grammar of Xha'Ruun, Academy
Ruun-ak rass: → rhu [Thexar-IV, Sha-El 03, "Khal-sha Rass"], → rhu [Thexar-IV, Sha-El 06, "Evidentiality"] Mor-ven: Agglutinative verbal system with rich inflectional morphology. The finite declarative predicate carries tense and the source of information (evidentiality). Conjugation: tense (4), number (3), evidentiality (4, mandatory). No person agreement — person optionally by pronominal clitics.
5.1 Conjugation
Verbs conjugate for:
- Tense (4 types)
- Number (3: singular, dual, plural)
- Evidentiality (4 types — mandatory)
Person is usually understood from participants and context. Source marking is required in a finite declarative predicate; this does not automatically apply to questions, brief answers or every dictionary form.
5.2 Tense System
| Tense | Suffix | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | -ak | khal-ak | did |
| Present | -en | khal-en | does |
| Future | -mor | khal-mor | will do |
| Gnomic | -el | khal-el | does (always) |
The gnomic tense (-el) marks truths outside of time: laws, generalizations, canon. Widely used in sacred texts and scientific formulations.
5.3 Suffix Order
The verbal form is built according to the scheme:
Verb structure
- Stem + (optional aspect)
- tense
- number
- evidentiality
Example: khal-en-ak-ven = "does (plural, I see)". The suffix order is fixed and mandatory.
5.4 Aspect and Voice
Besides tense, the verb can express:
- Aspect describes the course or result of an action; its slot before tense is optional.
- Voice changes the relation between an action and its participants; it cannot be generated by mechanically combining case endings.
- Causative meaning concerns causing or prompting an action, as distinct from simply reporting it.
An optional aspect marker stands between stem and tense. The tense table displays stem and tense only, not complete finite declarative utterances.
5.5 Example
Xha'ruun-sha the-thar khal-en-ven
People-ERG soil-ACC do-NPST-DIR
"The people cultivate the soil (I see it)"
Ruun Ven
- Conjugation for tense (4), number (3), evidentiality (4 — mandatory).
- The gnomic tense (-el) — for truths outside of time.
- Suffix order: stem + (optional aspect) + tense + number + source.
- Aspect, voice, causative — optional categories.
- Source marking is required in finite declarative predicates.