There are three main types of verbs in Yolmo,
lexical verbs,
auxiliary verbs and
copula verbs. The lexical verbs inflect for
tense,
aspect,
mood and
evidence and can take
negation. The
infinitive form of verbs takes the suffix -
tɕe. The infinitive is used in a number of constructions, including the
habitual and
complementation.
Copula verbs The copula verbs and their functions are given in the table below. Copulas are not inflected for person, number or politeness level and many do not distinguish tense: :: Equation copulas are used to link two noun phrases, while existential copulas are used for functions of existence, location, attribution and possession. is used to indicate that the speaker has personal knowledge about the information. In the example below, the speaker would not be reading the name of the book, but already know the name as they show it to someone else: {{interlinear|indent=3 Unlike in Standard Tibetan, the speaker does not need to be personally close to an individual to use the egophoric while talking about them. Different varieties of Yolmo prefer different forms of the egophoric as the default; In Helambu they prefer
yìn, in Lamjung
yìmba and Ilam
yìŋge.
yèken is past tense forms of the existential (
yèke in Lamjung), with the form
yèba also often used in past tense structures, as well as questions. The past form cannot be further decomposed, as the form
-ken/-ke is the
non-past tense suffix for lexical verbs. There are some structures where the egophoric is used as the default, such as
conditionals.
Dubitative Unlike the other copulas, which mark evidential distinctions, the dubitative copulas are epistemic forms used for reduced certainty. They are related to the
-ʈo dubitative suffixes for lexical verbs. In the example below, the speaker does not have any direct evidence that Rijan is in the house, but thinks that is where he might be: {{interlinear|indent=3
Perceptual The perceptual, or sensory, evidential is used to mark information acquired through direct sensory evidence, either through sight, one of the other
senses, or internal state (such as feeling an ache). {{interlinear|indent=3 Hari calls the perceptual forms
mirative, as indicating knowledge through sense often occurs for information recently acquired. Only the
dùba form, with the emphatic suffix
-pa, appears to indicate some amount of surprise or counter-expectation.
General fact The general fact form is used for uncontroversial and universally known facts. This verb is used in functions of existence, location, attribution and possession, and is not used in equational structures. {{interlinear|indent=3 The form is
òŋgen in Melamchi Valley Yolmo and
òŋge in Lamjung Yolmo, demonstrating a link with the
non-past tense suffix. The verb itself is from the lexical verb
òŋ- 'come'. It cannot be used for facts about the past. This copula is not attested in
Standard Tibetan or any other Tibetic language outside of Yolmo.
Lexical verb stems The Melamchi Valley variety of Yolmo exhibit verb stem alterations in the context of some verb structures. Verb stems with short front vowels have their vowels lengthened (e.g. /i/→/ii/), short back vowels are fronted and lengthened (e.g. /o/ and /a/→/ee/, /u/→/i/). These changes occur mostly with
perfective structures and
imperatives. Below are some examples of this alternation using the verb
má- 'say': {{interlinear|indent=3 {{interlinear|indent=3 {{interlinear|indent=3 When these structures are negated, the negative prefix is lengthened rather than the verb stem, which maintains the vowel change (this does not occur in the imperative). {{interlinear|indent=3 These alterations do not occur in Lamjung Yolmo or Syuba.
Auxiliary verbs There is a small set of auxiliary verbs in Yolmo. The auxiliary
tè- is the same as the lexical verb
tè- 'sit' and is used to add imperfective aspect: {{interlinear|indent=3 A subset of the copulas can also be used as verbal auxiliaries;
yìn, yè, yèken and
dù. These contribute evidential information and for also some tense information. As you can see in the example above the
dù copula is being used as an auxiliary, so they can co-occur with the other auxiliaries.
Tense Yolmo has a major tense distinction between past and non-past. These are marked with suffixes on the lexical verb,
-sin is the past tense marker and -
ke or -
ken is the non-past marker.
Past tense The past tense form is
-sin. {{interlinear|indent=3 The past tense form
-sin can also occur with the
perceptual evidential dú in an auxiliary position. This is not possible with the non-past tense suffix, nor can any other copula be used as an auxiliary with the past tense suffix. Hari suggests this structure is inferential, in that the speaker did not have to witness the event, Gawne describes it as 'narrative past'. {{interlinear|indent=3 Melamchi Valley Yolmo also has a past tense form
-kyo that Hari refers to as the 'main-point past/ telling past’, this form is not found in Lamjung Yolmo. There is also the form
-pa, which Hari says is always used in
question structures. In Lamjung Yolmo there are some examples where it is used in declaratives rather than questions, with a past-tense meaning. {{interlinear|indent=3
Non-past tense The non-past tense is used for both present and future constructions. Hari gives the forms
-ke and -
ken for Melamchi Valley Yolmo, but only
-ke is attested in Lamjung Yolmo. {{interlinear|indent=3 Hari refers to this form as the 'intentional present' but it can also be used in future constructions: {{interlinear|indent=3
Aspect There are a number of verb suffixes that are used to mark aspect, these broadly fall into categories of
imperfective and
perfective, as well as
habitual. When an aspect form is used, a
copula verb is also used.
Imperfective The imperfective is used for events that are ongoing or not complete. The
-ku suffix is attested in both Melamchi Valley and Lamjung Yolmo. It can only be used with the
dù copula verb. {{interlinear|indent=3 The imperfective form -
teraŋ can be used with either the
dù or
yè copula verb. In Lumjung Yolmo some speakers pronounce it as
-tiraŋ. Hari refers to the -
teraŋ construction as the 'perfect continuous aspect', because it can be used to refer to something that was ongoing until a particular point, as per this first example: {{interlinear|indent=3 Gawne describes it as an imperfective, as it does not appear to have this perfect aspect function in Lamjung Yolmo, as per this example: {{interlinear|indent=3 The
auxiliary verb tè can also be used to mark an imperfective construction. Neither
-ku nor -
teraŋ are used if the negative prefix is on the main verb. The auxiliary verb can be used in negative constructions, and takes the negative prefix, rather than the main verb. In the example below, the -
teraŋ imperfective is used as the negative prefix is on the auxiliary: {{interlinear|indent=3
Perfective The
perfective aspect suffix is used for events that can be described as whole, without reference to the duration like the imperfective. The perfective form in Yolmo is
-ti. {{interlinear|indent=3 Multiple verbs with perfective aspect can be used together to create a
clause chaining structure. It is distinct from the
nominal focus suffix -ti. Habitual Habitual aspect marks that an event is usual, customary or frequent. There is no specific habitual aspect suffix for Yolmo. Speakers will either use a verb with an infinitive, or with no suffix. {{interlinear|indent=3
Mood Mood is marked in Yolmo with a set of verb suffixes. The main mood suffixes are given in the table below :
Imperative The polite imperative suffix is -
toŋ (voiced as
-doŋ after voiced codas and some vowels). An overt subject is not used, and the same imperative form is used regardless of person or number: {{interlinear|indent=3 The less polite form of the imperative consists of an unmarked verb stem: {{interlinear|indent=3 There are also a small number of irregular imperatives that are formed without the imperative suffix, particularly
sò 'eat!', from
sà- 'eat'. If there is an honorific form of the verb it can be used, unmarked, as the most polite form of the imperative: {{interlinear|indent=3 The negative form of the imperative (the
prohibitive) uses the
mà- form of the
negator prefix with the verb stem. The imperative suffix is not included. {{interlinear|indent=3
Hortative Gawne notes two verbal suffix forms for the hortative in Lamjung Yolmo, a
-ka and a
-tɕo. The
-ka form is used with all persons except first person singular. {{interlinear|indent=3 The suffix remains in negated horatitves: {{interlinear|indent=3 The
-tɕo form is used with first person singular, as well as with other persons. It also remains in negative constructions. {{interlinear|indent=3
-tɕo appears to be less strong, and tends to be used more frequently. Hari gives the form as
-tɕo (she also calls it an optative, but it appears to be a hortative) {{interlinear|indent=3
Optative Hari does not list an
optative suffix. Gawne gives the optative -
ɲi in Lamjung Yolmo. {{interlinear|indent=3 Hari & Lama (2004: 146) list
ɲi- as a verb that expresses a 'strong wish’, clearly linking to the Lamjung Yolmo optative form.
Dubitative Hari describes the
dubitative as 'probable future', indicating the sense of decreased certainty that the dubitative mood marks. The forms
-ʈo, -ɖo and
-ro are found in Melamchi Valley Yolmo as part of the
morphophonemic voicing process, but the
-ro form is not found in Lamjung Yolmo. {{interlinear|indent=3 This verb suffix is related to the dubitative form of the copula.
Negation Negation is marked on lexical verbs by
prefix. There are two prefix forms,
mè- is for negation in
non-past tense (present and future), while
mà- is used for past tense, as well as negation of imperatives (
mà-tàp! 'don't fall'!). {{interlinear|indent=3 {{interlinear|indent=3 The negated forms of copulas are slightly irregular. They are listed in the table below in brackets underneath the regular forms: :
Verb paradigm Below are verb paradigms for two verbs, the first is the intransitive verb
ŋù 'cry' and the second is the transitive verb
sà 'eat'. Both are given mostly with third person subject, although this is not particularly important as subject person does not affect the form of the verb. For both verbs you can see the change in verb stem. For dialect specific variation, click on the link back to each specific form. == Clause structure ==