This is a new page describing the updated verb system for Diinlang. See here for changes to pronouns and definite article.
The most recent change is that I have changed the past tense marker to “wen”, taken from Hawaiian Creole. This frees up the word “pre” for other uses, such as meaning “before”. The future marker, “gon” was also from Hawaiian Creole. The progressive affix has recently been changed to “is-” and the perfect marker to “dun-”. “ge-” makes a clause passive.
These markers are used in a set order:
Wen/gon ; (zou) ; dun ; is– ; ge–
If you know a statement will be past continuous you will know to place “wen” before “is”. If a statement is future passive progressive “gon”, “is”, “ge” is the correct order. A past perfect statement uses “wen dun”. A conditional perfect statement uses “zou dun”.
“is-” and “ge-” are used as prefixes when creating active and passive adjectives. It needs to be decided if this is also done with verbal usage. For passive progressive marking they may be combined into one word “isge”.
I have made a little progress towards modal verbs/markers. In addition to the conditional “zou” we possibly have:
Fi –indicating obligation, ie “should”, “ought to”.
Afi -indicating necessity.
Gofi -indicating inceptive, intent, planned actions etc.
(Adapted from Jamaican Patois)
Simple Present, Past and Future
These are formed with the bare infinitive and a tense marker if necessary. When a verb in future or past tense is being used as a copula the infinitive may be dropped if the meaning remains clear.
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Mi du
|
I do
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Zo du
|
He does
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Zo wen du
|
He did
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Zo gon du
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He will do/He is going to do.
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Za zou du
|
She would do
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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Transitivity is flexible. If an object is added after an intransitive verb, the verb becomes transitive. This may alter the meaning of the verb so that it has a meaning similar to “causes (the object) to …”
Compare the English “I burn”. with “I burn it.”
Progressive/Continuous Aspect
The progressive/continuous aspect is formed using the “is-” prefix. In English this verb aspect is accompanied by some form of the auxiliary/copular verb “to be”. In Diinlang the addition of the auxiliary is not necessary.
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Mi isdu
|
I am doing
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Zo isdu
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He is doing
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Zo wen isdu
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He was doing
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Zo gon isdu
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He will be doing/He is going to be doing.
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Za zou isdu
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She would be doing
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Perfect Aspect
The perfect aspect is formed using “dun”. In English this verb aspect is accompanied by some form of the auxiliary verb “to have”. In Diinlang the addition of the auxiliary is not necessary. Perfect aspect in regular English verbs takes an –ed ending. Many irregular verbs take –en as an ending (eaten, riden, beaten etc).
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Mi dun du
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I have done
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Zo dun du
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He has done
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Zo wen dun du
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He had done
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Zo gon dun du
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He will have done/He going to have done.
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Za zou dun du
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She would have done
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Perfect Progressive
The perfect and progressive (continuous) aspects can be combined, usually in referring to the completed portion of a continuing action or temporary state: “I have been doing…” In Diinlang this is formed by combination of “dun” before a continuous form of the main verb.
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Mi dun isdu
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I have been doing
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Zo dun isdu
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He has been doing
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Zo wen dun isdu
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He had been doing
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Zo gon dun isdu
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He will have been doing/He going to have been doing
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Za zou dun isdu
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She would have been doing.
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Passive Voice
To form the passive voice (where the subject denotes the undergoer, or patient, of the action) the prefix “ge-” is used. In English passive voice is formed either with the verb “to be” or “to get” and a past-participle verb form. “get” is used in the meaning of “becoming” or “becomes”. (Remember perfect tense uses “have” with the past participle form in English) If “to be” can be replaced with “to get” or “to become” without a loss of meaning the sentence is passive voice and requires the “ge-” prefix in Diinlang. Some perfect construction clauses are inherently passive. “It ge du” and “It dun du” have the same meaning.
In many languages the passive voice is formed by a combination of the perfect form of the verb used with the verb for “to be”. This construction may also be used in Diinlang. Often in Diinlang there will be more than one correct way to do something!
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Tense
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Subject
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Tense and Aspect
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Past-Participle/Infinitive
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Present passive
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It
It |
is/gets/becomes
ge- |
done
du |
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Past passive
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It
It |
were/got/became
wen ge- |
done
du |
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Future passive
|
It
It |
will be/get/become
gon ge- |
done
du |
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Present perfect passive
|
It
It |
has been/has got/has become
dun ge- |
done
du |
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Past perfect passive
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It
It |
had been/had got/had became
wen dun ge- |
done
du |
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Future perfect passive
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It
It |
will have been/will have got/will have became
gon dun ge- |
done
du. |
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Present progressive passive
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It
It |
is being/is getting/is becoming
isge- |
done
du |
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Past progressive passive
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It
It |
was being/was getting/was becoming
wen isge- |
done
du |