'e- and 'ii- Verbs
A number of 'Iipay Aa verbs, like 'ehan or 'iikuu, start with a glottal stop (') in the third person. As you know, the glottal stop usually marks first person, so it is important to memorize as many of these 'e- and 'ii- words as possible so you don't get these verbs confused with regular verbs conjugated in the first person with the '-/'e- prefix. In addition, these verbs are conjugated differently, as shown below:
'e- Verbs
Dictionary: 'eshash ('eshaash): is beautiful, fine
'e- Verbs
Dictionary: 'eshash ('eshaash): is beautiful, fine
Notice how the person prefixes ('aa, ma'/maa, and 'e) are the same for singular and plural, and that the 'e- from 3rd person is actually deleted in other persons, as if it is a prefix itself. The 'ii- before other verbs works the exact same way.
'ii- Verbs
Dictionary: 'iikuu ('ichekwii): is big
'ii- Verbs
Dictionary: 'iikuu ('ichekwii): is big
See how the singular form of 'iikuu starts with two "i"s, and the plural form ('ichekwii) only has one? Now look at how the prefixes are different between singular and plural forms. The pattern appears to be that if the original verb (3rd person form) starts with two "i"s, the 1st or 2nd person prefix ends in a "y", almost as a way of preserving the sound of that second "i". If the 3rd person form starts with just one "i", there is no "y" in the first or second-person prefixes. In addition, in the 1st and 2nd person, the single "'i" is replaced by a short (single) "a", not a long "aa" as in 'e- verbs.
If this conclusion is correct, the following should be the conjugation for the verb 'iipatt ('iipaatt), "is alive", where both the singular and plural forms start with 'ii- in the 3rd person:
If this conclusion is correct, the following should be the conjugation for the verb 'iipatt ('iipaatt), "is alive", where both the singular and plural forms start with 'ii- in the 3rd person:
Nominalization
Making verbs into nouns, explained in Lesson 2, works differently for 'e- and 'ii- verbs. Here is a quick demonstration:
'Estik. It is small. > Kwa'stik. The small one, the thing that is small.
'Elyemis. It is small. > Kwa'elymis. The small ones, the ones that are small.
'Iikuu. It is big. > Kway'kuu / kwaaykuu. The big one, the one that is big.
'Ichekwii. They are big. > Kwa'chekwii. The big ones, the ones that are big.
Making verbs into nouns, explained in Lesson 2, works differently for 'e- and 'ii- verbs. Here is a quick demonstration:
'Estik. It is small. > Kwa'stik. The small one, the thing that is small.
- Process: For verbs starting in 'e-, add kwa- and delete the shwa (e) in the penultimate (second to last) syllable.
'Elyemis. It is small. > Kwa'elymis. The small ones, the ones that are small.
- Process: For verbs starting in 'e-, add kwa- and delete the penultimate shwa (e).
'Iikuu. It is big. > Kway'kuu / kwaaykuu. The big one, the one that is big.
- Process: For verbs starting in 'ii-, take off the 'ii- and add kway'- or kwaay-.
'Ichekwii. They are big. > Kwa'chekwii. The big ones, the ones that are big.
- Process: For verbs that start in 'i-, take off the 'i- and add kwa'-.
May' or Maay?
In many of the verbs featured here, you saw that there was an option between may' and maay, kway' and kwaay. The first has a short vowel and a glottal stop, the second has a long vowel and no glottal stop. The difference is:
In many of the verbs featured here, you saw that there was an option between may' and maay, kway' and kwaay. The first has a short vowel and a glottal stop, the second has a long vowel and no glottal stop. The difference is:
- Words like may'kuu are the "formal" or "careful speech" version, and
- Words like maaykuu are the "informal" or "fast speech" version.