Verbal Morphology

Морпољогя деянь

4.1 Features

Novegradian is a highly fusional inflecting language, meaning information tends to be densely packed in a relatively small set of affixes. A single suffix -м -m, for instance, may mark a verb as being in the present tense and as having a subject that is both first person and singular.

Like other Indo-European languages, verbs are conjugated through adding various affixes to a verb stem. All stems have an inherent conjugation class, which is arbitrary, but determines the types of endings it receives (for instance, the 1st and athematic conjugations mark the 1sg Present/Future with -м -m, while the 2nd and 3rd conjugations use -ун -un). Both prefixes (added before the stem) and suffixes (added after the stem) are used. Most verbs also have a theme vowel, which is largely connected to the conjugation class and appears immediately after the root in the present/future tense.

The stem consists of a root and zero or more derivational affixes. The root is the most basic unit providing semantic meaning to the verb. For many verbs, typically termed “primitive”, the stem and root are one and the same (e.g., *рѣѕ- *rědz- “say, read aloud”). Far more, however, include a derivational affix or formative, which slightly modifies the meaning of the root and therefore the stem as a whole (e.g., *о-рѣѕ- *o-rědz- “promise”); this type of stem is known as “derived”.

Many verbs actually have two stems, one known as the “infinitive stem” and the other as the “present/future stem”, and the two may have different theme vowels. All verb forms are predictably based on one of the two stems.

The majority of the verb forms to be described in this section are finite, meaning they convey tense/aspect/modality information. Such verbs conjugate in agreement with their grammatical subject, although the features marked vary across different verb forms; some forms agree with the subject’s person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) and number (Singular, Dual, or Plural), while others agree in number and gender (Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter).

Independently of their environment, finite verbs mark two tenses (Past and a combined Present/Future), two primary aspects 1 (Perfective and Imperfective), and three moods (Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative).

Non-finite verb forms lack tense and mood marking, although they maintain aspect. Two are pseudo-nominal (the Infinitive and the Supine), three are pseudo-adjectival (the three participles), and two are pseudo-adverbial (the two adverbial participles). The infinitive is considered the citation form of all Novegradian verbs; unless otherwise noted, verbs will be cited in their infinitive form throughout this text.

Stems are inherently transitive or intransitive. Change in valency typically involves a periphrastic construction, a derivational operation, or a change in voice, of which Novegradian has three: Active, Passive, and Middle. Some transitive verbs, however, allow for the direct object to simply be omitted or implied.

4.2 Verb Roots and Conjugations

Novegradian has four conjugations. Three of these are thematic—A, E, I—and one is athematic, although this last group only contains four verbs: буити buíti “be”, ѣсти iě́sti “eat”, вѣсти vě́sti “know”, and дати dáti “give”. 2

Each verb only has a present/future and past tense formed through inflection, as well as several non-finite forms (the infinitive, supine, and participles). The perfective form of an imperfective verb is generally made by adding a prefix or using a suppletive verb.

A-Class verbs (first conjugation) tend to be quite regular, while I-class (second conjugation) and E-class (third conjugation) verbs are prone to consonant mutations in some forms.

Most native verb roots consist of only one syllable, sometimes two, or sometimes less than one. Individual verb stems can be stem-stressed, ending-stressed, or mobile-stressed. Stem-stressed verbs are usually accented on the same syllable in the stem, and ending-stressed verbs on the first syllable after the stem. Mobile-stressed verbs fall into many subcategories depending on the conjugation and form involved.

While the conjugation classes no longer have well-defined meanings, there are a few tendencies that can be observed, likely carryovers from Pre-Proto-Slavic or Proto-Indo-European:

4.3 The Infinitive

The infinitive is formed from the verb stem using the suffix -ти -ti, or less commonly, -йкьи -ikji. This ending is never stressed.

However, there are a number of factors that make the infinitive more complex to form. Many, though not all verbs have a distinct ‘infinitive stem’, which differs slightly from the stem + thematic vowel used to form the present/future tense (the present/future stem).

4.3.1 A-Conjugation Infinitive

The A-Conjugation infinitive is extremely regular, formed with the ending -ати -ati attached to the verb stem. This theme vowel may be either stressed or unstressed. In the very frequently-seen deperfective pattern ending in -ов-ати ov-áti, the theme vowel is always stressed.

4.3.2 I-Conjugation Infinitive

The I-Conjugation infinitive is formed fairly regularly using one of the endings -ити -iti or -ѣти -ěti. The -ити type is far more common, but any difference in meaning between the two endings was lost many centuries ago. This choice of endings can be particular confounding due to the fact that, with the exception of ending-stressed verbs, the both are pronounced identically. The ě-type is sometimes referred to as the stative pattern, although this name is purely historical.

The ě-type has a variant -ати -ati, which predictably occurs after stems ending in /sʲ zʲ ts dz j/, and unpredictably after consonants that historically were once one of these five.

One other subtype with only a handful of verbs is known as the sonantic stem, where the stem historically ends in a sonant /r l n/. These stems historically had no theme vowel, just taking a bare suffix -ти -ti, but later this sonant underwent metathesis with the preceding vowel. These verbs thus appear to end in a variety of vowels in the infinitive, when the stem actually is consonantal.

4.3.3 E-Conjugation Infinitive

The E-Conjugation infinitive is by far the most complex to form. It is typically formed with the suffix -ати -ati or just the themeless suffix -ти -ti, although this latter form tends to cause many stem alterations when it comes in contact with the bare stem.

When the suffix -ати is used, it is almost always stressed, no matter whether the stem is usually ending-stressed in other forms or not. This ending is predictably used whenever the stem contains the punctual suffix -н-.

Dental stems are stems ending in one of the dental consonants /t d s z/, which may come in direct contact with the infinitive suffix without a theme vowel. However, stem-final *t and *d will both lenite to /s/ in this position.

Sonantic stems, much like in the I-Conjugation, end in one of the sonants /r l n/ and undergo metathesis in the infinitive. Historically the I-Conjugation sonantic stems were also E-Conjugation, but there has been a general trend towards conversion to the I-Conjugation.

In velar stems, which end in /k g/, the velar consonant and infinitive ending palatalize and merge into an unanalyzable suffix -кьи -kji. In addition, the vowel immediately preceding gains a /j/ off-glide.

The three semivocalic stem subtypes, ending in *-uv, *-ij, or *-Cj (where C represents any other consonant), all vocalize when coming in contact with the infinitive ending.

In all other themeless verbs, collectively known as fleeting stems, the stem-final consonant is close completely when it comes in direct contact with the infinitive ending.

4.4 The Indicative Mood

4.4.1 The Formation of the Perfective

As in several other Slavic languages, two processes must be discussed when it comes to the formation of perfective/imperfective pairs: perfectivization and deperfectivization.

Perfectization is the process of deriving perfective verbs from primitive imperfectives. In Novegradian this is done overwhelmingly through the use of prefixes. The addition of a perfectivizing prefix may or may not change the meaning of the verb; in other words, prefixes serve both to form simple perfectives, and to derive new perfective verbs: пизати pizáti “write (impf)” → напизати napizáti “write (pf)”, опизати opizáti “describe (pf)”, препизати prepizáti “rewrite (pf)”, etc.

These prefixes are always derived from prepositions (although the prepositions they were derived from didn’t necessarily survive into modern Novegradian), usually ones that at one point had some sort of semantic connection with the root which has since been lost. Some of the more common prefixes include по- po- ‘confined to, along, by’, со- so- ‘with’, на- na- ‘on’, о- o- ‘at’, при- pri- ‘attached to’, за- za- ‘behind’, and про- pro- ‘through’. Examples, using some of the same roots as above:

Non-native verbs almost exclusively use по- and за- to form simple perfectives:

Simple perfectivization, without change of meaning, can also be achieved by switching from the first to the second conjugation, or with the punctual suffix -н- -n-. Neither of these are productive, however.

Finally, a handful of perfectives are simply irregular or suppletive:

In general, the pattern any given verb requires to form its perfective counterpart must be memorized. Even though prefixation is the most common method, it is not readily predictable which prefix is required to form the simple perfective without deriving a verb with a new meaning.

In contrast, deperfectivization is the process by which a new imperfective form is created from a prefixed perfective verb, the result of the otherwise pairless derived perfectives that perfectivization creates. The vast majority of these forms, known as derived imperfectives, are formed with the suffix -ов- -ov-, which is always first conjugation. This is the regular, productive pattern:

A less common pattern, which unproductively applies only to some second-conjugation verbs, is to palatalize the stem-final consonant and convert the verb to the first conjugation. Nowadays this pattern is rarely seen in verbs whose stems do not end in /v/; the preservation of this pattern may be due to a desire to avoid highly repetitive forms such as *pozgodovováti.

Finally, a small closed set of stems form the deperfective stem via ablaut. These are the verbs that show Indo-European Ø/E or Ø/O grade ablaut, with the Ø grade in the infinitive and the E/O grade in the present tense, such as брати bráti “to bring” ~ берун berún “I bring” and зуати zuáti “to call” ~ зовун zovún “I call”. In the deperfective stem, these verbs switch to the so-called neolengthened grade and acquire /i/ as the root vowel, while also switching to the first conjugation. While this is a nonproductive pattern, it is robust, with no evidence of regularization taking place even in colloquial usage.

4.4.2 The Present-Future Tense

4.4.2.1 The Regular Present/Future Tense

The Present/Future tense inflects for person and number, with endings consisting of a theme vowel (in most cases) plus a suffix. The suffixes are broadly consistent across conjugations, with the exception of the first person singular, third person singular, and third person plural, which divide the set of endings into two broad subcategories: the M-Type (named for the 1sg ending in the first and athematic conjugations) and the UN-Type (named for the 1sg in the second and third conjugations. The table below shows the present/future endings for each conjugation:

1Sg 2Sg 3Sg 1Dl 2Dl 3Dl 1Pl 2Pl 3Pl
A Conjugation -а-м
-a-m
-а-ш
-a-ś
-a-ст
-a-st
-а-ва
-a-va
-а-ста
-a-sta
-а-ста
-a-sta
-а-ме
-a-me
-а-те
-a-te
-а-ти
-a-ti
I Conjugation -Ø-ун
-Ø-un
-и-ш
-i-ś
-и-т
-i-t
-и-ва
-i-va
-и-та
-i-ta
-и-та
-i-ta
-и-м
-i-m
-и-те
-i-te
-Ø-ат
-Ø-at
E Conjugation -Ø-ун
-Ø-un
-е-ш
-e-ś
-е-т
-e-t
-е-ва
-e-va
-е-та
-e-ta
-е-та
-e-ta
-е-м
-e-m
-е-те
-e-te
-Ø-ут
-Ø-ut
Athematic -Ø-м
-Ø-m
-Ø-жи
-Ø-źi
-Ø-ст
-Ø-st
-Ø-ва
-Ø-va
-Ø-та
-Ø-ta
-Ø-та
-Ø-ta
-Ø-ме
-Ø-me
-Ø-те
-Ø-te
-Ø-ит
-Ø-it

Note that the M-type endings -ст (3sg) and -ати/-ит (3pl) are pronounced /s/ and /a/ respectively. The spellings reflect a much older pronunciation.

These endings may be attached to both perfective and imperfective verb stems. On perfective stems, they always indicate future action, while on imperfective stems they can indicate both present and future tenses depending on context; as with several other Slavic languages, aspect is a more fundamental distinction in Novegradian than tense.

Note that the 1sg ending in the I-Conjugation and all endings in the E-Conjugation will predictably trigger palatalization if they come in contact with certain consonants in the stem 7 . These changes are summarized below:

The tables below demonstrate the regular patterns with each of the possible regular stress patterns.

In the A Conjugation, there are two regular stress patterns: stem stress and ending stress. With дѣлати dě́lati “make, do” (A Conjugation, regular stem stressed) and цидати cidáti “read” (A Conjugation, regular ending stressed):

дѣлати
“make, do”
цидати
“read”
1Sg яс дѣлам
dě́lam
цидам
cidám
2Sg ти дѣлаш
dě́laś
цилаш
cidáś
3Sg оне дѣласт
dě́last
цидаст
cidást
1Dl надуа дѣлава
dě́lava
цидава
cidáva
2Dl вадуа дѣласта
dě́lasta
цидаста
cidásta
3Dl ондуа дѣласта
dě́lasta
цидаста
cidásta
1Pl муи дѣламе
dě́lame
цидаме
cidáme
2Pl вуи дѣлате
dě́late
цидате
cidáte
3Pl они дѣлати
dě́lati
цидати
cidáti

The I Conjugation has six regular stress patterns, the most of any conjugation:

  1. stem stress: stress on the stem throughout, as in знацити znáciti “mean, signify”
  2. ending stress: stress on the ending throughout, as in рѣѕити rědzíti “say”
  3. dynamic type 1: stem stress in the infinitive/past stem, ending stress in the present/future stem, as in муислити muísliti “think”
  4. dynamic type 2: ending stress in the infinitive/past stem, stem stress in the present/future stem, as in бранити braníti “defend”
  5. proterodynamic: stem stress throughout, except ending stress in the present/future first person singular, as in правити práviti “govern”
  6. hysterodynamic: ending stress throughout, except stem stress in the present/future non-1sg, as in лубити lubíti “love”

As the above list suggests, in the present tense these six classes collapse to four, with dynamic type 1 merging with ending stress and dynamic type 2 merging with stem stress.

знацити
“mean”
рѣѕити
“say”
муислити
“think”
бранити
“defend”
правити
“govern”
лубити
“love”
1Sg яс знацун
znácun
рѣѕун
rědzún
муислун
muislún
браньун
bránjun
праулун
praulún
лублун
lublún
2Sg ти знациш
znáciś
рѣѕиш
rědzíś
муислиш
muislíś
браниш
brániś
правиш
práviś
лубиш
lúbiś
3Sg оне знацит
znácit
рѣѕит
rědzít
муислит
muislít
бранит
bránit
правит
právit
лубит
lúbit
1Dl надуа знацива
znáciva
рѣѕива
rědzíva
муислива
muislíva
бранива
brániva
правива
práviva
лубива
lúbiva
2Dl вадуа знацита
znácita
рѣѕита
rědzíta
муислита
muislíta
бранита
bránita
правита
právita
лубита
lúbita
3Dl ондуа знацита
znácita
рѣѕита
rědzíta
муислита
muislíta
бранита
bránita
правита
právita
лубита
lúbita
1Pl муи знацим
znácim
рѣѕим
rědzím
муислим
muislím
браним
bránim
правим
právim
лубим
lúbim
2Pl вуи знаците
znácite
рѣѕите
rědzíte
муислите
muislíte
браните
bránite
правите
právite
лубите
lúbite
3Pl они знацат
znácat
рѣѕат
rědzát
муислат
muislát
бранат
bránat
прават
právat
лубат
lúbat

The regular E Conjugation only has two stress patterns: stem stress and ending stress. Demonstrated below with пизати pizáti “write” and медати medáti “throw, cast”:

пизати
“write”
медати
“cast”
1Sg яс пихьун
píhjun
мегьун
megjún
2Sg ти пихьеш
píhjeś
мегьеш
megjéś
3Sg оне пихьет
píhjet
мегьет
megjét
1Dl надуа пихьева
píhjeva
мегьева
megjéva
2Dl вадуа пихьета
píhjeta
мегьета
megjéta
3Dl ондуа пихьета
píhjeta
мегьета
megjéta
1Pl муи пихьем
píhjem
мегьем
megjém
2Pl вуи пихьете
píhjete
мегьете
megjéte
3Pl они пихьут
píhjut
мегьут
megjút

The athematic conjugation will be discussed further down due to its highly aberrant nature.

4.4.2.2 Irregularities in the A Conjugation

The A Conjugation is for the most part extremely regular. The only irregularity in the present-future tense is the small set of so called j-stems, which end in /uj/ in the present but /ov/ in the infinitive. Such verbs were historically part of the E Conjugation, but transitioned to the A Conjugation possibly under the influence of the huge quantity of deperfectives that contain an identical (but coincidentally so) suffix /ov/. An example is ковати kóvati “forge”; the -ui- syllable is always stressed.

ковати kóvati “forge” (impf)
1Sg к-у-ям
kúiam
1Dl к-у-ява
kúiava
1Pl к-у-яме
kúiame
2Sg к-у-яш
kúiaś
2Dl к-у-яcта
kúiasta
2Pl к-у-яте
kúiate
3Sg к-у-яст
kúiast
3Dl к-у-яcта
kúiasta
3Pl к-у-яти
kúiati

The above pattern applies only to cases where the -ov-/-ui- is actually a component of the root, not a derivational or deperfective suffix as in кѣловати kělováti “kiss”, which has a regular ending stress pattern in the present: кѣловам kělovám, кѣловаш kělováś, etc. In old texts or in poetry these verbs may appear in the E Conjugation with this -ui- suffix, but this is no longer valid in modern usage:

кѣловати kělováti “kiss (arch.)” (impf)
1Sg кѣл-у-юн
kělúiun
1Dl кѣл-у-ева
kělúieva
1Pl кѣл-у-ем
kělúiem
2Sg кѣл-у-еш
kělúieś
2Dl кѣл-у-ета
kělúieta
2Pl кѣл-у-ете
kělúiete
3Sg кѣл-у-ет
kělúiet
3Dl кѣл-у-ета
kělúieta
3Pl кѣл-у-ют
kělúiut

4.4.2.3 Irregularities in the I Conjugation

Despite the large number of stress patterns, the I Conjugation present-future is also quite regular. Distinctions seen in the infinitive, such as the different theme vowels i~ě~a, are neutralized, with all forms showing /i/. With криѕати kridzáti “shout”:

криѕати kridzáti “shout” (impf)
1Sg криѕ-ун
kridzún
1Dl криѕ-ива
kridzíva
1Pl криѕ-им
kridzím
2Sg криѕ-иш
kridzíś
2Dl криѕ-ита
kridzíta
2Pl криѕ-ите
kridzíte
3Sg криѕ-ит
kridzít
3Dl криѕ-ита
kridzíta
3Pl криѕ-ат
kridzát

Sonantic stems do not display the metathesis seen in the infinitive; these forms are therefore regular, but the relationship to the infinitive may not be immediately obvious. With прети préti “force, pressure”:

прети préti “force, pressure” (impf)
1Sg пер-ун
perún
1Dl пер-ива
períva
1Pl пер-им
perím
2Sg пер-иш
períś
2Dl пер-ита
períta
2Pl пер-ите
períte
3Sg пер-ит
perít
3Dl пер-ита
períta
3Pl пер-ат
perát

Some I and E conjugation verbs with the stem vowels /e/ and /o/ in the infinitive undergo ablaut in the present tense, with these vowels becoming /æ/ and /u/ respectively. If the following consonant is /sʲ/ or /zʲ/, these will depalatalize to /s/ and /z/. This change is known as the neoacute ablaut, the result of a now-lost pitch accent that emerged in late Common Slavic due to stress shifts. In modern Novegradian it is not always possible to predict when this change will occur; however, it is almost guaranteed when the verb has a proterodynamic or hysterodynamic stress pattern (i.e., one in which the first person singular has a different stress pattern than the rest of the present-future tense). Demonstrated below with ношити nóśiti “carry”:

ношити nóśiti “carry” (impf)
1Sg нуғь-ун
nuğjún
1Dl нус-ива
núsiva
1Pl нус-им
núsim
2Sg нус-иш
núsiś
2Dl нус-ита
núsita
2Pl нус-ите
núsite
3Sg нус-ит
núsit
3Dl нус-ита
núsita
3Pl нус-ат
núsat

4.4.2.4 Irregularities in the E Conjugation

Most of the consonantal stems behave fairly regularly in the E Conjugation. Velar stems, such as плайкьи pláikji “cry”, are regular, showing palatalization throughout:

плайкьи pláikji “cry” (impf)
1Sg плац-ун
plácun
1Dl плац-ева
pláceva
1Pl плац-ем
plácem
2Sg плац-еш
pláceś
2Dl плац-ета
pláceta
2Pl плац-ете
plácete
3Sg плац-ет
plácet
3Dl плац-ета
pláceta
3Pl плац-ут
plácut

Dental stems (исти ísti “go, walk”), fleeting stems (жити źíti “live”), and sonantic stems (мерети meréti “die”) are regular except for the lack of stem palatalization throughout.

исти ísti “go, walk” (impf)
1Sg ид-ун
idún
1Dl ид-ева
idéva
1Pl ид-ем
idém
2Sg ид-еш
idéś
2Dl ид-ета
idéta
2Pl ид-ете
idéte
3Sg ид-ет
idét
3Dl ид-ета
idéta
3Pl ид-ут
idút
жити źíti “live” (impf)
1Sg жив-ун
źivún
1Dl жив-ева
źivéva
1Pl жив-ем
źivém
2Sg жив-еш
źivéś
2Dl жив-ета
źivéta
2Pl жив-ете
źivéte
3Sg жив-ет
źivét
3Dl жив-ета
źivéta
3Pl жив-ут
źivút
мерети meréti “die” (pf)
1Sg мер-ун
merún
1Dl мер-ева
meréva
1Pl мер-ем
merém
2Sg мер-еш
meréś
2Dl мер-ета
meréta
2Pl мер-ете
meréte
3Sg мер-ет
merét
3Dl мер-ета
meréta
3Pl мер-ут
merút

The three semivocalic stem types are regular from a phonemic perspective, though the *Cj type has some more complex spelling changes due to the different representations of consonant + yod sequences, alternating between using ю for /ju/ and ие for /je/. With плути plúti “swim” (*uv type), крити kríti “cover” (*ij type), and пити píti “drink” (*Cj type):

плути plúti “swim” (impf)
1Sg плув-ун
plúvun
1Dl плув-ева
plúveva
1Pl плув-ем
plúvem
2Sg плув-еш
plúveś
2Dl плув-ета
plúveta
2Pl плув-ете
plúvete
3Sg плув-ет
plúvet
3Dl плув-ета
plúveta
3Pl плув-ут
plúvut
крити kríti “cover” (impf)
1Sg кри-юн
kríjun
1Dl кри-ева
kríjeva
1Pl кри-ем
kríjem
2Sg кри-еш
kríjeś
2Dl кри-ета
kríjeta
2Pl кри-ете
kríjete
3Sg кри-ет
kríjet
3Dl кри-ета
kríjeta
3Pl кри-ют
kríjut
пити píti “drink” (impf)
1Sg п-юн
piún
1Dl пи-ева
piéva
1Pl пи-ем
piém
2Sg пи-еш
piéś
2Dl пи-ета
piéta
2Pl пи-ете
piéte
3Sg пи-ет
piét
3Dl пи-ета
piéta
3Pl п-ют
piút

The ablauting stem type shows /e/ as the root vowel in the present-future, combined with ending stress. With брати bráti “bring, take”:

брати bráit “bring, take” (impf)
1Sg бер-ун
berún
1Dl бер-ева
beréva
1Pl бер-ем
berém
2Sg бер-еш
beréś
2Dl бер-ета
beréta
2Pl бер-ете
beréte
3Sg бер-ет
berét
3Dl бер-ета
beréta
3Pl бер-ут
berút

Neoacute patterns can also occur in the E Conjugation. In мойкьи móikji “be able to”, this causes the /g/ → /zʲ/ palatalization to then depalatalize to /z/:

мойкьи móikji “be able to” (impf)
1Sg муз-ун
múzun
1Dl муз-ева
múzeva
1Pl муз-ем
múzem
2Sg муз-еш
múześ
2Dl муз-ета
múzeta
2Pl муз-ете
múzete
3Sg муз-ет
múzet
3Dl муз-ета
múzeta
3Pl муз-ут
múzut

Verbs containing the punctual suffix -n maintain it throughout the present-future. These verbs are almost always perfective and end-stressed, as with нашнати naśnáti “begin”:

нашнати naśnáti “begin” (pf)
1Sg наш-н-ун
naśnún
1Dl наш-н-ева
naśnéva
1Pl наш-н-ем
naśném
2Sg наш-н-еш
naśnéś
2Dl наш-н-ета
naśnéta
2Pl наш-н-ете
naśnéte
3Sg наш-н-ет
naśnét
3Dl наш-н-ета
naśnéta
3Pl наш-н-ут
naśnút

4.4.2.5 Athematic Verbs in the Present-Future Tense

Only four verbs and their derivatives follow an athematic paradigm in modern Novegradian, continuing a general Slavic trend towards eliminating the class. For all practical purposes they may be considered to be irregular (and even show quite a bit of variability in formation across verbs), but nevertheless are grouped together due to the distinctive endings they take. Shown below are the four base verbs (unprefixed forms) in the present tense:

Athematic Verbs
Verb буити “be” ѣсти “eat” вѣсти “know” дати “give”
Root *ес- *ѣд- *вѣд- *дад-
1Sg яс ес-м
iésm
ѣ-м
iě́m
вѣ-м
vě́m
да-м
dám
2Sg ти е-жи
ieźí
ѣ-жи
iěźí
вѣ-жи
věźí
да-жи
daźí
3Sg оне ес-т
iést
ѣ-ст
iě́st
вѣ-ст
vě́st
да-ст
dást
1Dl надуа ес-уа
iésua
ѣ-ва
iě́va
вѣ-ва
vě́va
да-ва
dáva
2Dl вадуа ес-та
iésta
ѣс-та
iě́sta
вѣс-та
vě́sta
дас-та
dásta
3Dl ондуа ес-та
iésta
ѣс-та
iě́sta
вѣс-та
vě́sta
дас-та
dásta
1Pl муи ес-ме
iésme
ѣ-ме
iě́me
вѣ-ме
vě́me
да-ме
dáme
2Pl вуи ес-те
iéste
ѣс-те
iě́ste
вѣс-те
vě́ste
дас-те
dáste
3Pl они ес-ат
iésat
ѣд-ит
iě́dit
вѣд-ит
vě́dit
дад-ит
dádit

The full verb stem is only visible in the 3pl form of each verb. Before /t/ root-final *d weakens to /s/, and before /m s β/ it drops entirely. The root-final *s of буити has fewer problems with other consonants, and in fact in the 1dl form it remains intact before the suffixed -va (which weakens to -ua).

Unlike most other Slavic languages, the 3pl form of буити is no longer completely irregular. As late as the 18th century it was still pronounced сат sát, but the prefixed ie- was added to bring it more in line with the other forms.

The spellings for a number of the athematic forms are outdated, reflecting older pronunciations. Есм iésm “I am” is usually pronounced есми [ˈjɛ.smɪ] (formally) or ем [ˈjɛm] (commonly). The forms ending in -ст are pronounced with just the /s/ (so ест iést “it is” is [ˈjɛs], etc). The athematic 3pl ending -ит is pronounced [ə], the result of есат’s ending being generalized to replace an ending that seemed too similar to third person singular of many thematic verbs: вѣдит vě́dit “they know” [ˈβæ.də].

The present tense forms of буити are infrequently used in modern Novegradian except to add emphasis or improve prosody, although in written Novegradian the third person forms ест, еста, and есат are used more frequently. These forms are also still used (in speech as well) to indicate “there is/are”. The 3sg and 3pl forms also have shortened clitic variants, е ie and су su. The only time all of the present tense forms of буити must be used is in its special negative form, with a prefixed н-: несм, неси, нет, несуа, нета, нета, несме, несте, несат nésm, nési, nét, nésua, néta, néta, nésme, néste, nésat. No other verb has such negative forms. The /s/ has been lost in the 3sg and 3dl forms (and by analogy in the 2dl, which always uses the same form as the 3dl). Historically this elision resulted in compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel, giving the third person forms нѣт ně́t and нѣта ně́ta, as well as нѣсат ně́sat by analogy; however, these forms are rarely used nowadays.

4.4.2.6 Irregular Verbs

Although most 'irregular' verbs can fit into one of the previously mentioned subclasses, there are a few that do not, displaying a pattern unique to that verb root. These verbs are simply irregular, although they are typically minor and involve only an unexpected vowel or consonant change. Shown below are the verbs with irregular forms in the present-future; note that their prefixed variants use the same paradigm.

блевати bleváti “vomit” (impf)
1Sg блу-юн
blúiun
1Dl блу-ева
blúieva
1Pl блу-ем
blúiem
2Sg блу-еш
blúieś
2Dl блу-ета
blúieta
2Pl блу-ете
blúiete
3Sg блу-ет
blúiet
3Dl блу-ета
blúieta
3Pl блу-ют
blúiut

Unexpected stem variation /blev/ (infintive) ~ /bluj/ (present). This is historically a common pattern, perhaps preserved for its onomatopoeic value.

гонати gonáti “drive, chase, rush” (impf)
1Sg жен-ун
źenún
1Dl жен-ева
źenéva
1Pl жен-ем
źeném
2Sg жен-еш
źenéś
2Dl жен-ета
źenéta
2Pl жен-ете
źenéte
3Sg жен-ет
źenét
3Dl жен-ета
źenéta
3Pl жен-ут
źenút

Unexpected stem variation /gon/ (infinitive) ~ /zʲen/ (present). Historically this pattern is related to ablauting verbs like брати bráti, but with the /e/ of the present tense resulting in secondary palatalization.

данти dánti “blow” (impf)
1Sg дом-ун
domún
1Dl дом-ева
doméva
1Pl дом-ем
domém
2Sg дом-еш
doméś
2Dl дом-ета
dométa
2Pl дом-ете
dométe
3Sg дом-ет
domét
3Dl дом-ета
dométa
3Pl дом-ут
domút

Unexpected stem variation /da(n)/ (infinitive) ~ /dom/ (present). Historically due to *m lost before another consonant, cf. Proto-Slavic *dumtei, *dumun; Common Slavic *dǫti, dъmǫ).

женти źénti “take, bring” (pf)
1Sg вожм-ун
voźmún
1Dl вожм-ева
voźméva
1Pl вожм-ем
voźmém
2Sg вожм-еш
voźméś
2Dl вожм-ета
voźméta
2Pl вожм-ете
voźméte
3Sg вожм-ет
voźmét
3Dl вожм-ета
voźméta
3Pl вожм-ут
voźmút

Unexpected stem variation /zʲe(n)/ (infinitive) ~ /βozʲm/ (present). A complex pattern combining a now-defunct prefix *вож, a now-defunct verb *е(н)ти, and historical nasalization, cf. Common Slavic *vъzęti, *vъzьmǫ.

истити istíti “exist” (impf)
1Sg ишкь-ун
íśkjun
1Dl ист-ева
ísteva
1Pl ист-ем
ístem
2Sg ист-еш
ísteś
2Dl ист-ета
ísteta
2Pl ист-ете
ístete
3Sg ист-ет
ístet
3Dl ист-ета
ísteta
3Pl ист-ут
ístut

Infinitive appears I Conjugation, present appears E Conjugation, but with palatalization only in the 1sg.

лити líti “deprive” (impf)
1Sg лихь-ун
líhjun
1Dl лихь-ива
líhjiva
1Pl лихь-им
líhjim
2Sg лихь-иш
líhjiś
2Dl лихь-ита
líhjita
2Pl лихь-ите
líhjite
3Sg лихь-ит
líhjit
3Dl лихь-ита
líhjita
3Pl лихь-ат
líhjat

Stem-final /ç/ visible in the present tense, but elides completely in the infinitive.

муити muíti “wash” (impf)
1Sg ми-юн
míjun
1Dl ми-ева
míjeva
1Pl ми-ем
míjem
2Sg ми-еш
míjeś
2Dl ми-ета
míjeta
2Pl ми-ете
míjete
3Sg ми-ет
míjet
3Dl ми-ета
míjeta
3Pl ми-ют
míjut

Unexpected stem variation /mwij/ (infinitive) ~ /mij/ (present). The infinitive preserves the old form, with the loss of /w/ possibly being dissimilatory and by analogy with the several other verbs with *Cij stems.

пошѣсти pośě́sti “sit down” (pf)
1Sg по-шед-ун
pośédun
1Dl по-шед-ева
pośédeva
1Pl по-шед-ем
pośédem
2Sg по-шед-еш
pośédeś
2Dl по-шед-ета
pośédeta
2Pl по-шед-ете
pośédete
3Sg по-шед-ет
pośédet
3Dl по-шед-ета
pośédeta
3Pl по-шед-ут
pośédut

Stem vowel variation with /æ/ in infinitive and /e/ in future. This is the sole Novegradian holdover of Proto-Indo-European nasal infixes in the present tense, cf. Proto-Slavic *posēdtei, *posendun; Common Slavic *posěsti, *posędǫ. Only appears prefixed.

пюти piúti “spit” (impf)
1Sg плу-юн
plúiun
1Dl плу-ева
plúieva
1Pl плу-ем
plúiem
2Sg плу-еш
plúieś
2Dl плу-ета
plúieta
2Pl плу-ете
plúiete
3Sg плу-ет
plúiet
3Dl плу-ета
plúieta
3Pl плу-ют
plúiut

Irregular stem variation /pjuj/ (infinitive) ~ /pluj/ (present). The present form is expected; the emergence of /l/ in the infinitive may have been blocked to maintain distinction with плути “swim”.

сати sáti “suck” (pf)
1Sg соз-ам
sozám
1Dl соз-ава
sozáva
1Pl соз-аме
sozáme
2Sg соз-аш
sozáś
2Dl соз-аста
sozásta
2Pl соз-ате
sozáte
3Sg соз-аст
sozást
3Dl соз-аста
sozásta
3Pl соз-ати
sozáti

Stem-final /s~z/ visible in the present tense, but assimilates completely into the stem-initial /s/ in the infinitive.

смиятиш smijátiś “laugh” (impf)
1Sg смѣ-ю-ш
směiúś
1Dl смѣ-ева-ш
směiévaś
1Pl смѣ-ем-ши
směiémśi
2Sg смѣ-еш-ши
směiéśśi
2Dl смѣ-ета-ш
směiétaś
2Pl смѣ-ете-ш
směiéteś
3Sg смѣ-е-ци
směiéci
3Dl смѣ-ета-ш
směiétaś
3Pl смѣ-ю-ци
směiúci

Stem vowel variation with /i/ in infinitive and /æ/ in present-future. This variation is unexplained, but seen in several Slavic languages. Always appears with middle voice suffixes (see The Middle Voice).

спати spáti “sleep” (impf)
1Sg сопл-ун
soplún
1Dl сп-ива
spíva
1Pl сп-им
spím
2Sg сп-иш
spíś
2Dl сп-ита
spíta
2Pl сп-ите
spíte
3Sg сп-ит
spít
3Dl сп-ита
spíta
3Pl сп-ат
spát

Irregular 1sg preserving original vowel. This vowel was likely kept to prevent the emergence of an initial *spl cluster.

тлейкьи tléikji “shove” (impf)
1Sg тољк-ун
tołkún
1Dl тољк-ева
tołkéva
1Pl тољк-ем
tołkém
2Sg тољк-еш
tołkéś
2Dl тољк-ета
tołkéta
2Pl тољк-ете
tołkéte
3Sg тољк-ет
tołkét
3Dl тољк-ета
tołkéta
3Pl тољк-ут
tołkút

Infinitive stem *tlek, present-future stem *tołk. Metathesis occurred in the infinitive stem to prevent the emergence of a complex consonant cluster, which in turn resulted in differing vowel developments.

хотѣти hótěti “want” (impf)
1Sg хокь-ун
hókjun
1Dl хокь-ева
hókjeva
1Pl хокь-ем
hókjem
2Sg хокь-еш
hókjeś
2Dl хокь-ета
hókjeta
2Pl хокь-ете
hókjete
3Sg хокь-ет
hókjet
3Dl хокь-ета
hókjeta
3Pl хокь-ат
hókjat

Present 3pl takes I Conjugation ending while other vowels take E Conjugation endings. This remains unexplained, but is present in many Slavic languages.

цейкьи céikji “expect” (pf)
1Sg кеѕ-ун
kédzun
1Dl кеѕ-ева
kédzeva
1Pl кеѕ-ем
kédzem
2Sg кеѕ-еш
kédześ
2Dl кеѕ-ета
kédzeta
2Pl кеѕ-ете
kédzete
3Sg кеѕ-ет
kédzet
3Dl кеѕ-ета
kédzeta
3Pl кеѕ-ут
kédzut

Unexpected dissimilatory depalatalization of stem-initial /ts/ → /k/ due to following /dz/.

цисти císti “count” (impf)
1Sg цед-ун
cedún
1Dl цед-ева
cedéva
1Pl цед-ем
cedém
2Sg цед-еш
cedéś
2Dl цед-ета
cedéta
2Pl цед-ете
cedéte
3Sg цед-ет
cedét
3Dl цед-ета
cedéta
3Pl цед-ут
cedút

Stem vowel variation with /i/ in infinitive and /e/ in present-future.

шияти śijáti “shine” (impf)
1Sg шия-ям
śijáiam
1Dl шия-ява
śijáiava
1Pl шия-яме
śijáiame
2Sg шия-яш
śijáiaś
2Dl шия-яста
śijáiasta
2Pl шия-яте
śijáiate
3Sg шия-яст
śijáiast
3Dl шия-яста
śijáiasta
3Pl шия-яти
śijáiati

Infinitive displays haplology while present-future shows full forms. This would not be unusual for the E Conjugation, but is in the A Conjugation.

ѣхати iě́hati “go by vehicle” (impf)
1Sg ѣд-ун
iě́dun
1Dl ѣд-ева
iě́deva
1Pl ѣд-ем
iě́dem
2Sg ѣд-еш
iě́deś
2Dl ѣд-ета
iě́deta
2Pl ѣд-ете
iě́dete
3Sg ѣд-ет
iě́det
3Dl ѣд-ета
iě́deta
3Pl ѣд-ут
iě́dut

Irregular stem variation /jæx/ in infinitive and /jæd/ in present-future. This variation predates Common Slavic, with the /x/ perhaps related to an old sigmatic aorist form.

4.4.3 The Past Tense

4.4.3.1 The Regular Past Tense

The Novegradian past tense, for both perfective and imperfective verbs, derives from the Common Slavic L-participle, which has been reanalyzed as a verbal form rather than an adjective. Due to its origins, it displays agreement for gender in place of person. It is formed from the same stem as the infinitive (not the present/future tense), plus -l-, plus an ending. As such, the past form can oftentimes be created by dropping the -ти of the infinitive and replacing with with -л-. As in the infinitive, the present/future or conjugation theme vowel is not indicated. Stress is generally on the same syllable as on the infinitive, which is not always the same as in the present/future. Generally speaking, if the sound immediately before the infinitive ending -ти is a vowel, the past tense form may be considered regular.

Masc Sg Fem Sg Neut Sg
(Type I)
Neut Sg
(Type II)
Dl Pl
Past Tense -л-е
-l-e
-л-а
-l-a
-л-о
-l-o
-л-ѐ
-l-e
-л-ѣ
-l-ě
-л-и
-l-i

As can be seen above, the gender contrast is neutralized in the dual and plural, much as with adjectives. The contrast between the dual and plural is purely orthographic, since the ending is never stressed and thus /æ/ and /i/ are both pronounced [ɪ].

There are two variants of the neuter. Type I (in /o/) is the usual form. Type II (in /e/, spelled è) is a positional variant that only appears directly after neuter nouns ending in /e/ rather than the more common /o/. There is no semantic difference between the two forms; Type II seems simply to be a case of "ending spreading", where the /e/ ending of an adjacent noun spreads to the verb.

A I E
цидати
“read”
рѣѕити
“say”
пизати
“write”
Masc Sg цида-л-е
cidále
рѣѕи-л-е
rědzíle
пиза-л-е
pizále
Fem Sg цида-л-а
cidála
рѣѕи-л-а
rědzíla
пиза-л-а
pizála
Neut Sg (I) цида-л-о
cidálo
рѣѕи-л-о
rědzílo
пиза-л-о
pizálo
Neut Sg (II) цида-л-ѐ
cidále
рѣѕи-л-ѐ
rědzíle
пиза-л-ѐ
pizále
Dl цида-л-ѣ
cidálě
рѣѕи-л-ѣ
rědzílě
пиза-л-ѣ
pizálě
Pl цида-л-и
cidáli
рѣѕи-л-и
rědzíli
пиза-л-и
pizáli

Stress for virtually all verbs in the past tense (even irregular ones) always remains on the same syllable, unless the stem is only one syllable long, in which case the stress will shift to the ending in the feminine singular form. This happens in both thematic and athematic verbs:

Stress-Shifting Verbs in the Past Tense
жити
“live”
буити
“be”
Masc Sg жи-л-е
źíle
буи-л-е
buíle
Fem Sg жи-л-а
źilá
буи-л-а
builá
Neut Sg (I) жи-л-о
źílo
буи-л-о
buílo
Neut Sg (II) жи-л-ѐ
źíle
буи-л-ѐ
buíle
Dl жи-л-ѣ
źílě
буи-л-ѣ
buílě
Pl жи-л-и
źíli
буи-л-и
buíli

4.4.3.2 Irregularities in the Past Tense

Because the past tense stem is the same as the infinitive stem, the many minor verb classes mentioned earlier in the present/future tense are of almost no concern. Except for verbs whose infinitives end in -сти, -зти, or -йкьи, the past tense can be formed regularly from the infinitive.

Past Tense Forms
Infinitive кѣловати
kělováti
ковати
kóvati
медати
medáti
прети
préti
брати
bráti
нашнати
naśnáti
жити
źíti
пити
píti
спати
spáti
Past Stem кѣловал-
kěloval-
ковал-
koval-
медал-
medal-
прел-
prel-
брал-
bral-
нашнал-
naśnal-
жил-
źil-
пил-
pil-
спал-
spal-

If the infinitive stem ends in /s z k g/ (i.e., the infinitive ends in -зти, -йкьи, or occasionally -сти), the consonant is not dropped, and the past tense suffix -л- is added immediately after that consonant. The /j/ off-glide seen in the velar stems is dropped.

Past Tense Forms of Verbs with Stem-Final /s z k g/
Infinitive нести
nésti
“carry”
везти
vézti
“transport”
плайкьи
pláikji
“cry”
мойкьи
móikji
“be able”
Masc Sg несле
nésle
везле
vézle
плакле
plákle
могле
mógle
Fem Sg несла
neslá
везла
vezlá
плакла
plaklá
могла
moglá
Neut Sg (I) несло
néslo
везло
vézlo
плакло
pláklo
могло
móglo
Neut Sg (II) неслѐ
nésle
везлѐ
vézle
плаклѐ
plákle
моглѐ
mógle
Dl неслѣ
néslě
везлѣ
vézlě
плаклѣ
pláklě
моглѣ
móglě
Pl несли
nésli
везли
vézli
плакли
plákli
могли
mógli

When the infinitive stem ends in /t/ or /d/, both of which will always appear as с s, it is converted to /k/ or /g/ and then conjugated like the verbs above. Notably, three of the four athematic verbs follow this pattern.

Athematic Verbs in the Past Tense
Infinitive ѣсти
iě́sti
“eat”
вѣсти
vě́sti
“know”
дати
dáti
“give”
Masc Sg ѣгле
iě́gle
вѣгле
vě́gle
дагле
dágle
Fem Sg ѣгла
iěglá
вѣгла
věglá
дагла
daglá
Neut Sg (I) ѣгло
iě́glo
вѣгло
vě́glo
дагло
dáglo
Neut Sg (II) ѣглѐ
iě́gle
вѣглѐ
vě́gle
даглѐ
dágle
Dl ѣглѣ
iě́glě
вѣглѣ
vě́glě
даглѣ
dáglě
Pl ѣгли
iě́gli
вѣгли
vě́gli
дагли
dágli

In speech it is common to pronounce this -г- as a fricative /ɣ/ in some or all forms. Older speakers only have this /ɣ/ when the syllable immediately before the -г- is stressed (e.g., да[ɣ]ле “I/you/he gave”, but да[g]ла “I/you/she gave”). Younger speaks frequently have /ɣ/ in all forms.

4.4.3.3 Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense

A very small set of verbs have an irregular past tense, with a pattern not shared by any other verbs except for their own derivative forms. They are исти ísti “go, walk”, пошѣсти pośě́sti “sit down”, гейкьи géikji “burn”, данти dánti “blow”, женти źénti “take”, and тайти táiti “conceal, harbor”.

Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Infinitive исти
“go, walk”
пошѣсти
“sit down”
гейкьи
“burn”
данти
“blow”
женти
“take”
тайти
“conceal”
Masc Sg шле
ślé
пошале
pośále
ғегле
ğégle
дале
dále
желе
źéle
тале
tále
Fem Sg шла
ślá
пошала
pośalá
ғегла
ğeglá
дала
dála
жела
źéla
тайла
tailá
Neut Sg (I) шло
śló
пошало
pośálo
ғегло
ğéglo
дало
dálo
жело
źélo
тайло
táilo
Neut Sg (II) шлѐ
ślé
пошалѐ
pośále
ғеглѐ
ğégle
далѐ
dále
желѐ
źéle
тайлѐ
táile
Dl шлѣ
ślě́
пошалѣ
pośálě
ғеглѣ
ğeglě
далѣ
dálě
желѣ
źélě
тайлѣ
táilě
Pl шли
ślí
пошали
pośáli
ғегли
ğégli
дали
dáli
жели
źéli
тайли
táili

The past tense of исти is suppletive, based on *ш(ед)-, a root originally meaning something along the lines of “step”. The fact that the ending is always stressed on this stem means that исти and its derivatives are the only verbs that distinguish the dual and plural forms in speech.

The vowel change in пошѣсти is likely the result of contamination (since the vowels of this verb were already irregular in Common Slavic due to an additional nasal element inherited from PIE). The exact origin is not certain.

The ғ found in the past tense of гейкьи is the result of dissimilation from the following /g/. Due to palatalization rules, however, it is actually even more irregular than it appears. Only in the feminine singular is ғ pronounced [ɣ] (i.e., [ɣɛ.ˈgla]); in all other forms it is pronounced [j]: [ˈjɛ.glɛ], [ˈjɛ.glo], etc.

Both данти and женти originally had nasal vowels in their infinitive and past tense stems (Common Slavic *dǫlъ, *vъzęlъ), which uncoupled into /an en/ in the infinitive but not in the past tense. Note also that these verbs, despite being one syllable long, do not display the stress shift in the feminine singular.

Тайти just sees the root-final /j/ lost in the masculine singular likely due to dialect contamination. The masculine singular ending was once very weak, and the lack of ending prompted loss of /j/ as /jl/ was illegal at the end of a word. It reappears in all other forms. This also makes it the only verb to distinguish the masculine singular from the type II neuter singular in speech: тале tále [ˈta.lɛ] vs тайлѐ táile [ˈtaj.lɛ].

4.4.4 The Analytic Future Tenses

The two analytic future tenses both require the use of the future tense of буити “be” as an auxiliary verb. Буити is the only verb in Novegradian with a true, distinct future tense. It is formed by adding the regular third conjugation present/future endings onto the stem *бад- *bad-.

The simple future, which only imperfective verbs can have, is formed using the future form of “be” followed by the infinitive. With цидати “read”:

цидати cidáti “read” (impf)
1Sg бадун цидати
bádun cidáti
1Dl бадева цидати
bádeva cidáti
1Pl бадем цидати
bádem cidáti
2Sg бадеш цидати
bádeś cidáti
2Dl бадета цидати
bádeta cidáti
2Pl бадете цидати
bádete cidáti
3Sg бадет цидати
bádet cidáti
3Dl бадета цидати
bádeta cidáti
3Pl бадут цидати
bádut cidáti

However, the simple future of “be” is always бадун, бадеш, etc., never **бадун буити.

The future tense form of “be” combined with a past tense verb, the L-form of either a perfective or imperfective verb, forms the future hypothetical tense. With рѣѕити “say, read aloud”:

рѣѕити rědzíti “say, read aloud” (impf)
1Sg бадун рѣѕиле
bádun rědzíle
1Dl бадева рѣѕилѣ
bádeva rědzílě
1Pl бадем рѣѕили
bádem rědzíli
2Sg бадеш рѣѕиле
bádeś rědzíle
2Dl бадета рѣѕилѣ
bádeta rědzílě
2Pl бадете рѣѕили
bádete rědzíli
3Sg бадет рѣѕиле
bádet rědzíle
3Dl бадета рѣѕилѣ
bádeta rědzílě
3Pl бадут рѣѕили
bádut rědzíli

The singular forms will all conjugate to agree in gender, as in the past tense. Unlike in the simple future, the form бадун буиле is allowed.

4.4.5 Verbs of Motion

Verbs of motion form a special class in Novegradian, like in other Slavic languages, as instead of a two-way distinction of perfective-imperfective, there is a three-way distinction where the imperfective is divided into determinate and indeterminate forms. Unlike the other Slavic languages, however, the perfective of verbs of motion is falling out of use. In modern Novegradian, it is almost never used in the past tense and only finds use to indicate the future. The perfective is always formed by adding the prefix по- po- to the determinate form. The indeterminate is formed from a separate root, though usually related somehow to the determinate root.

Such triplets include (det.impf ~ pf ~ indet.impf):

For conjugation and irregularity information, see the lexicon.

The last two examples, тенкьи ~ ташкьити and брести ~ бродити, were not inherited pairs, but rather ones that were reanalyzed and became ones in Novegradian (compare unpaired Russian тянуть ~ тащить, брести ~ бродить).

The use of the pairs исти ~ ходити, ѣхати ~ ѣздити, and брести ~ бродити is explained later, in Section 11.6.7.

Another interesting feature of the two imperfective forms of all verbs of motion is how easily they take locative and directional prefixes. Novegradian features a sort of ‘preposition agreement’: войсти во... “to go into...” (literally ‘in-go in’). The most common locomotive prefixes are:

Prefix Meaning исти “go” нести “carry”
в-, во-
v-, vo-
“into” войсти
“go into”
вонести
“carry in”
до-
do-
“to, reaching” дойсти
“go to”
донести
“carry to”
за-
za-
“suddenly, quickly” зайсти
“visit, drop by”
занести
“bring over”
о-
o-
“out of, from” ойсти
“leave”
онести
“carry away”
при-
pri-
“toward” прийсти
“arrive”
принести
“fetch, bring”
про-
pro-
“through” пройсти
“go via”
пронести
“carry through”

4.5 The Subjunctive Mood

The Novegradian subjunctive is an analytic construction formed from the past tense L- form of a verb and a special form of буити “be”, a fossilized aorist. Only three aorist forms remain: the singular, dual, and plural. As with the past tense and future hypthetical, the L-form verb agrees in gender and number with its subject. With цидати “read” (and a masculine subject):

цидати cidáti “read” (impf)
1Sg цидале би
cidále bi
1Dl цидалѣ бис
cidálě bis
1Pl цидали бу
cidáli bu
2Sg цидале би
cidále bi
2Dl цидалѣ бис
cidálě bis
2Pl цидали бу
cidáli bu
3Sg цидале би
cidále bi
3Dl цидалѣ бис
cidálě bis
3Pl цидали бу
cidáli bu

4.6 The Imperative Mood

There are five imperative forms (2sg, 2dl, 2pl, 1dl, 1pl) for both perfective and imperfective roots. Generally speaking, the 2sg is formed from the present/future stem by adding -ай -ái (first conjugation) or -и (second and third conjugations). The 2dl is formed by adding -айта -áita (first), -ита -íta (second), or -ѣта -ě́ta (third). The 2pl is the same, but with the plural -те -te instead of the dual -та.

The first person imperatives add these same endings to the 1dl or 1pl present/future forms, dropping any final vowel if there is one (except for the third conjugation, which has -ѣута/-ѣмте instead of -еута/-емте). If the root undergoes a palatalization in all forms of the present/future tense, that palatalization will also appear in the imperatives. These suffixes are always stressed.

2Sg 2Dl 2Pl 1Dl 1Pl
A Conjugation -а-й
-á-i
-а-йта
-á-ita
-а-йте
-á-ite
-а-ута
-á-uta
-а-мте
-á-mte
I Conjugation -Ø-и
-Ø-í
-и-та
-í-ta
-и-те
-í-te
-и-ўта
-í-wta
-и-мте
-í-mte
E Conjugation -Ø-и
-Ø-í
-ѣ-та
-ě́-ta
-ѣ-те
-ě́-te
-ѣ-ута
-ě́-uta
-ѣ-мте
-ě́-mte
Athematic -Ø-Ø
-Ø-Ø
-и-та
-í-ta
-и-те
-í-te
-и-ўта
-í-wta
-и-мте
-í-mte

Only third conjugation verbs show the vowel alteration /i~æ/ in their imperative forms. This predates Proto-Slavic, but has largely been levelled out in most Slavic languages other than Bulgarian and Czech.

Although the stress in the imperative form is always on the ending, even in otherwise stem-stressed verbs, this never results in the appearance of a voiced consonant that does not appear anywhere else in a particular verb’s paradigm. Thus the 2sg imperative “write!” is пихьи pihjí, not expected **пиғьи piğjí by the pretonic voicing sound law, because /ʝ/ does not appear in any other form of пизати.

Imperatives
Infinitive цидати
“read”
рѣѕити
“say”
пизати
“write”
2Sg цид-ай!
cidái
рѣѕ-и!
rědzí
пихь-и!
pihjí
2Dl цид-ай-та!
cidáita
рѣѕ-и-та!
rědzíta
пихь-ѣ-та!
pihjě́ta
2Pl цид-ай-те!
cidáite
рѣѕ-и-те!
rědzíte
пихь-ѣ-те!
pihjě́te
1Dl цид-ау-та!
cidáuta
рѣѕ-иў-та!
rědzíwta
пихь-ѣу-та!
pihjě́uta
1Pl цид-ам-те!
cidámte
рѣѕ-им-те!
rědzímte
пихь-ѣм-те!
pihjě́mte

The athematic verbs have irregular forms in the imperative. For ѣсти and вѣсти, these were inherited; буити acquired this pattern by analogy. Дати follows a pattern that looks much more like the A Conjugation, likely acquired due to the phonetic similarity of their respective infinitive stems.

Athematic Imperatives
Infinitive буити
“be”
ѣсти
“eat”
вѣсти
“know”
дати
“give”
2Sg багь!
bágj
ѣгь!
iě́gj
вѣгь!
vě́gj
дай!
dái
2Dl багьита!
bagjíta
ѣгьита!
iěgjíta
вѣгьита!
věgjíta
дайта!
dáita
2Pl багьите!
bagjíte
ѣгьите!
iěgjíte
вѣгьите!
věgjíte
дайте!
dáite
1Dl багьиўта!
bagjíwta
ѣгьиўта!
iěgjíwta
вѣгьиўта!
věgjíwta
даута!
dáuta
1Pl багьимте!
bagjímte
ѣгьимте!
iěgjímte
вѣгьимте!
věgjímte
дамте!
dámte

There is only one third person imperative that has survived, the 3sg of буити: буди budí “let him/her/it be”. The 3dl/3pl form буден budén “let them be” is sometimes seen in older texts, though it is no longer used. Буди is generally used for third person subjects of any number and is fully productive in the literary register, though is limited to certain expressions in colloquial speech. All other third person imperatives are formed periphrastically.

A number of verb classes have irregular imperatives, particularly those where the present stem ends in /j/. E-Conjugation verbs of the *-ij (e.g., крити) and *-Cj (e.g., пити) types take the ending -ей -ei in the second person rather than -и- or -ѣ-. In the first person forms, the expected -ѣ- appears, but with a /j/ glide. Verbs with a /v ~ j/ alternation (e.g., ковати) form the imperative using the infinitive stem rather than the present-future to avoid the repetition of /j/, while verbs with the stative suffix *-ěi- (e.g., владѣти) lose it entirely in the imperative (so that, e.g., the 2sg imperative is влади! vladí “rule!” rather than **владѣи **vladějí.

Irregular Imperatives
Infinitive крити
“cover”
пити
“drink”
ковати
“forge”
владѣти
“rule”
2Sg крей
kréi
пей
péi
ковай
kovái
влади
vladí
2Dl крейта
kréita
пейта
péita
ковайта
kováita
владѣта
vladě́ta
2Pl крейте
kréite
пейте
péite
ковайте
kováite
владѣте
vladě́te
1Dl криѣута
krijě́uta
пиѣута
piě́uta
коваута
kováuta
владѣута
vladě́uta
1Pl криѣмте
krijě́mte
пиѣмте
piě́mte
ковамте
kovámte
владѣмте
vladě́mte

4.7 The Supine

The supine is a verbal noun that behaves much like the infinitive, but is used to indicate motion. It is used exclusively after verbs of motion, and in place of the infinitive in other situations if there is a clear movement being suggested. It is formed from the same stem as the infinitive. In fact, for almost all verbs, it can be formed by dropping the final -и of the infinitive.

The Supine
Infinitive цидати
cidáti
“read”
рѣѕити
rědzíti
“say”
пизати
pizáti
“write”
буити
buíti
“be”
жити
źíti
“live”
Supine цидат
cidát
рѣѕит
rědzít
пизат
pizát
буит
buít
жит
źít

The only exceptions are those with a consonant before the /t/ in the infinitive, or that end in -йкьи. Most of the former end up losing the entire ending -ти. Данти and зенти, though, lose the /n/ instead. The latter group appear as a bare root, ending in a velar consonant.

Infinitive нести
nésti
“carry”
ѣсти
iě́sti
“eat”
данти
dánti
“blow”
женти
źénti
“take”
плайкьи
pláikji
“cry”
мойкьи
móikji
“be able”
Supine нес
nés
ѣс
iě́s
дат
dát
жет
źét
плак
plák
мог
móg

The verb дати “give” has an irregular supine дас dás in place of the expected *дат. This appears to be a carryover from a now-defunct infinitive variant дасти dásti, based on the dental stem *дад and the other -сти-type athematic verbs.

Prefixed forms of исти “go” always have a full vowel /i/ present: ойсти óisti “leave” → оис ójis, отѣйсти ótěisti “go from” → отис ótis.

4.8 The Passive Voice

The morphological passive voice in Novegradian is formed by conjugating a verb normally, agreeing with the subject, and adding the passive suffix -шин -śin, in origin an old enclitic reflexive pronoun (Common Slavic *sę). The rest of the verb is not altered in any way, except that the 1sg ending -ун reduces to -у and any time the sequence -тш- would appear it is simplified to -ц-. Demonstrated with мотрѣти “watch” in the present tense only:

мотрѣтишин mótrětiśin “be watched” (impf)
1Sg мутру-шин
mútruśin
1Dl мутрива-шин
mútrivaśin
1Pl мутрим-шин
mútrimśin
2Sg мутриш-шин
mútriśśin
2Dl мутрита-шин
mútritaśin
2Pl мутрите-шин
mútriteśin
3Sg мутри-цин
mútricin
3Dl мутрита-шин
mútritaśin
3Pl мутра-цин
mútracin

In constructions involving an auxiliary verb, the passive suffix goes onto the end of whichever verb comes last. Since Novegradian has free word order, бадет мотрѣтишин bádet mótrětiśin and мотрѣти бадецин mótrěti bádecin both mean the same thing, “he/she/it will be watched”.

The only irregular passive voice forms appear on the supine form of verbs. For all verbs whose infinitive ends in -ти -ti, the passive supine is formed by replacing this with -цин -cin. This applies even to irregular supines such as женти “take”: пизацин pizácin “be written” (sup пизат pizát), женцин źéncin “be taken” (sup жет źét), вѣсцин vě́scin “be known” (sup вѣс vě́s). Velar-stem verbs (those whose infinitives end in -йкьи -ikji), however, just add -цин directly to the supine form: пекцин pékcin “be baked” (sup пек pék). There are no instances of the passive clitic attatching to such a verb whose root ends in /g/; the only transitive /g/-final verb, прейкьи préikji “harness”, refuses the clitic in the supine, passing it to the other verb: прег идецин prég idécin “it is going to get harnessed”, never **идет прегцин.

The addition of the passive suffix may cause the reemergence of certain sounds lost in the standard active-voice pronunciation, though maintained in spelling. Specifically, this applies to the third person singular ending -ст in the A and athematic conjugations and the third person plural suffix -ат/-ит in the athematic conjugation: цидаст cidást [tsi.ˈdas] “(he/she/it) reads” → цидасцин cidáscin [tsi.ˈdas.tsɪn] “(it) is read”, дадит dádit [ˈda.də] “(they) give” → дадицин dádicin [ˈda.di.tsɪn] “(they) are given”.

4.9 The Middle Voice

The Novegradian middle voice is still quite productive, although it tends to be found on older verbs much more often than on more recent ones. There is a set of suffixes, also derived from Common Slavic *-sę, that are added to the end of a verb that is otherwise conjugated normally. These endings are more eroded than the passive voice ones, but at one point were one and the same.

After a consonant, the ending takes the form -ши -śi, and after a vowel, -ш . The same ending and spelling reductions occur as in the passive voice. Demonstrated with вастатиш “meet (intr)”, of Karelian or Veps origin:

вастатиш vástatiś “meet” (impf)
1Sg вастам-ши
vástamśi
1Dl вастава-ш
vástavaś
1Pl вастаме-ш
vástameś
2Sg васташ-ши
vástaśśi
2Dl вастаста-ш
vástastaś
2Pl вастате-ш
vástateś
3Sg вастас-ци
vástasci
3Dl вастаста-ш
vástastaś
3Pl вастати-ш
vástatiś

The rules for using the middle voice on supines are identical to those for the passive voice.

4.10 The Adverbial Participles

The adverbial participles are non-conjugated verbal forms that indicate the manner, reason, or intent of action in the main predicate verb. Since the aspectual distinction is maintained, there are two such adverbs: the perfective and imperfective.

The imperfective adverbial, derived ultimately from the Common Slavic present active participle, roughly means “while X-ing”. It is formed by taking the present/future stem and adding -аен -aien for first conjugation verbs, -ин -in for second conjugation, and an accented -и for the third and fourth/athematic conjugations. Any mutations that occur in all present/future forms occur here as well.

The perfective adverbial, derived from the old past active participle, means “having X-ed”. It is derived from the infinitive stem of the perfective form of the verb, where an unstressed -ве -ve is added for all verbs, or, if the stem ends in a consonant, -ове -ove.

Adverbial Participles
Infinitive цидати
“read”
рѣѕити
“say”
пизати
“write”
дати
“give”
жити
“live”
Imperfective цид-аен
cidáien
рѣѕ-ин
rědzín
пихь-и
pihjí
дад-и
dadí
жив-и
źiví
Perfective процида-ве
procidáve
сорѣѕи-ве
sorědzíve
напиза-ве
napizáve
содад-ове
sodádove
прожив-ове
proźívove

These endings will never cause voicing that does not occur elsewhere. Even though Novegradian has a tendency to voice consonants immediately preceding the stress, the imperfective adverbial of пизати is пихьи pihjí (instead of *пиғьи) because nowhere in its conjugation does /ʝ/ occur in that position.

If the imperfective form of a verb is derived from a perfective form by means of the suffix -ова-, this suffix is first dropped before forming the imperfective adverbials. That is, the same base will be used for both imperfective and perfective adverbials. For a verb pair such as сорѣзовати ~ сорѣзати (sorězováti ~ sorězáti) “cut off”, the adverbials are сорѣзаен and сорѣзаве. If the suffix -ова- is an integral part of the verb, however, it is not dropped: кѣловати ~ покѣловати (kělováti ~ pokělováti) become кѣловаен and покѣловаве.

The passive and middle voice suffixes may also be added to these participles. This will cause the loss of final /n/ in the imperfective adverbials that have it: цидаешин cidáieśin “while being read”.

There are two verbs with irregular adverbial participles worth noting:

Adverbial Participles
Infinitive буити
“be”
исти
“go, walk”
Imperfective сукьи
sukjí
иди
idí
Perfective буиве
buíve
шедове
śédove

4.11 Participles

Modern Novegradian has three verbal participles: active imperfective, passive perfective, and passive imperfective. With a verb such as “write”, these are roughly equivalent to English “writing”, “written”, and “being written”, respectively. However, it is important to note that these participles are organized by aspect, not by tense.

The active imperfective participle is formed from the present/future stem. First and third conjugation verbs then add -акь- -akj-, while second conjugation verbs add -екь- -ekj-. If there is a palatalization in all forms of the present tense that originates in Common Slavic, it is also seen in the participle: пизати pizáti “write” → pres *пихь- *pihj- → пихьакье pihjákje “writing”. However, if there is a palatalization that did not arise predictably from Common Slavic but by later analogy, it is not seen in the participle: мойкьи móikji “be able” → pres *муз- *muz- → могакье mogákje “able”. Palatalizations only in the 1sg form are not extended to the participle: лубити lubíti “love” → pres *луб(л)- *lub(l)- → лубекье lubékje “loving”.

The passive imperfective participle is formed from the present/future stem just as the active imperfective, with the same rules regarding palatalizations. First conjugation verbs then add -ам- -am-, second conjugation verbs add -им- -im-, and third conjugation verbs -ем- -em-. However, if the verb is third conjugation but there is no theme vowel in the infinitive (e.g., цисти císti “count”, pres *цед- ced-), the ending used is instead an unstressed -ом- -om-: цедоме cédome “being counted”.

The passive perfective participle is the most complicated to form. There are four possible suffixes. Regularly, it is formed from the perfective infinitive stem according to the following rule:

Like in the adverbial participles, if the imperfective form of a verb is formed from the perfective with the suffix -(o)va-, this suffix is dropped.

The following table demonstrates the three participles for a number of different types of verbs. The first infinitive given is the imperfective form, while the infinitive in parentheses is the perfective. The verb лубити “love”, being a stative verb, lacks a true perfective form, but nevertheless has a “perfective” participle functioning more like a past participle.

Infinitive Act. Impf. Pass. Impf. Pass. Pf.
цидати / процидати
“read”
цид-а-кь-е
cidákje
цид-а-м-е
cidáme
про-цид-а-н-е
procidáne
рѣѕити / сорѣѕити
“say”
рѣѕ-е-кь-е
rědzékje
рѣѕ-и-м-е
rědzíme
со-рѣѕ-е-н-е
sorědzéne
пизати / напизати
“write”
пихь-а-кь-е
pihjákje
пихь-е-м-е
pihjéme
на-пиза-н-е
napizáne
наценати / нашнати
“begin”
нацен-а-кь-е
nacenákje
нацен-а-м-е
nacenáme
наш-н-овин-е
naśnóvine
лубити / —
“love”
луб-е-кь-е
lubékje
луб-и-м-е
lubíme
лубл-е-н-е
lubléne
оскривати / оскрити
“open”
оскри-я-кь-е
oskrijákje
оскри-ё-м-е
oskríjome
оскри-т-е
oskríte
цисти / поцисти
“count”
цед-а-кь-е
cedákje
цед-о-м-е
cédome
по-цид-е-н-е
pocídene

The athematic verbs have irregular participles:

Infinitive Act. Impf. Pass. Impf. Pass. Pf.
буити / —
“be”
сакье
sákje
дати / содати
“give”
дадакье
dadákje
дадоме
dádome
содане
sodáne
ѣсти / сиѣсти
“eat”
ѣдакье
iědákje
ѣдоме
iě́dome
сиѣдене
siě́dene
вѣсти / —
“know”
вѣдакье
vědákje
вѣдоме
vě́dome
вѣдене
vě́dene

Due to Russian influence, the passive perfective form of дати may sometimes appear as дане dáne in older texts (since дать is considered perfective in Russian). This is rare in modern speech.

Passive and middle voice suffixes may be added regularly to the active voice participles.

4.12 Slavic Ablaut

The functional load of Proto-Indo-European ablaut has largely been eliminated, with only traces visible in opaque cognates such as горѣти gorě́ti “burn” and жарити źáriti “embitter” (from PIE *gor- and *gēr- respectively) or данти dánti “blow” and диме díme “smoke” (PIE *dum- and *dūm-). Only a few verbs still show productive use of ablaut: собрати sobráti “gather”, соберун soberún “I will gather”, соборе sobóre “cathedral” (from PIE *br-, *ber-, and *bor- respectively).

However, Proto-Slavic developed a new, albeit rather limited, system of ablaut that remains visible in Novegradian and most other Slavic languages. This so-called “Slavic ablaut” affects the derivation of imperfective verbs from perfective verbs.

When any prefix is added to a “basic” (unprefixed) verb such as пизати pizáti “write (impf)” or зуати zuáti “call (impf)”, the resulting verb is perfective. One prefix for every verb loses it semantic component and becomes the perfective counterpart to the unprefixed verb: напизати napizáti “write (pf)” (originally “write down”), позуати pozuáti “call (pf)” (originally something along the lines of “call at”). All other prefixes have derivational functions: позпизати pozpizáti “describe (pf)”, назуати nazuáti “name (pf)”. These derivatives, however, now lack an imperfective counterpart. These must be back-formed from the perfective using a suffix, most commonly -ова-, and a shift to the first conjugation: позпизовати pozpizováti “sign (impf)”. However, a small set of verbs instead form the new imperfective by ablaut: називати naziváti “call (impf)”.

This ablaut only takes place if the perfective base is second or third conjugation, and only affects the last vowel of the root. There are three types of ablaut seen:

-зуати → -зивати falls into the first category, though it has been obscured by subsequent sound changes in Novegradian. The source of this change is more obvious in Medieval Novegradian, where the perfective base was -звати -zvati.

1) There is also a secondary aspect distinction of determinate/indeterminate only see among verbs of motion, as well as various tertiary distinctions seen across various individual verbs; this latter group is more typically considered derivational or lexical, due its isolated, non-systemic presence.

2) The term “athematic” refers to the present/future stem. Many verbs have an athematic infinitive stem, but only these four have such in the present/future. The letters assigned to the three thematic conjugations refer to their theme vowel.

3) Originally, “burn (tr)”

4) Originally, “redden (intr)”

5) Originally, “redden (tr)”

6) Old Novegradian слышати (cf. Russian слышать slyšat'). The change /ʃ/ → /x/, known as depalatalization, was a later occurrence.

7) In the E Conjugation, this only applies for regular verbs (i.e., with infinitives ending in -ати -ati). Many irregular subtypes of the E Conjugation do not trigger palatalization. However, the palatalization of the 1sg in the I Conjugation applies across the board.