Livonian
2.2. Gramatik / Grammar
Verbs: Present Tense
In the affirmative, inflectional endings are used for all persons, with the 1st and 3rd person singulars coinciding. The table below shows the usual endings for the present tense and the conjugated forms of the verbs nǟ’dõ ‘to see’ and rõkāndõ ‘to talk’ as examples.
| Person | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sg 1st prs | -b -õb | ma nǟb, rõkāndõb |
| sg 2nd prs | -d -õd | sa nǟd, rõkāndõd |
| sg 3rd prs | -b -õb | ta nǟb, rõkāndõb |
| pl 1st prs | -mõ -m -õm | mēg nǟmõ, rõkāndõm |
| pl 2nd prs | -tõ -t -õt | tēg nǟtõ, rõkāndõt |
| pl 3rd prs | -bõd -õbõd | ne nǟbõd, rõkāndõbõd |
The choice of the ending depends primarily on the sound at the end of the stem.
If the stem ends in a consonant, a variant with õ is used (e.g., rõkānd/õb), if the stem ends in a vowel, a variant without õ is used (e.g., nǟ/b).
The choice of ending for the 1st and 2nd person plural depends on the number of syllables: -mõ and –tõ are added to a monosyllabic vowel stem, respectively, while for words with more than one syllable, the endings are -õm and -õt, respectively. The exception is verbs with a/ā-stems with gradation, where -m and -t are used.
Negative present tense forms are compound forms consisting of an inflected negative verb and a lexical verb. In the singular, the lexical verb does not have an ending (marked below with the symbol ø), while in the plural, inflectional endings are added. The 1st and 2nd person plural forms of the lexical verb coincide with the respective affirmative forms, while the 3rd person plural of the lexical verb is the same as the 2nd person plural form.
| Person | Negative | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| sg 1st prs | ä’b | ø | ma ä’b nǟ, rõkānd |
| sg 2nd prs | ä’d | ø | sa ä’d nǟ, rõkānd |
| sg 3rd prs | ä’b | ø | ta ä’b nǟ, rõkānd |
| pl 1st prs | ä’b | -mõ -m -õm | mēg ä’b nǟmõ, rõkāndõm |
| pl 2nd prs | ät | -tõ -t -õt | tēg ät nǟtõ, rõkāndõt |
| pl 3rd prs | ä’b | -tõ -t -õt | ne ä’b nǟtõ, rõkāndõt |
Four conjugation groups can be distinguished, depending on the number of syllables in a word, whether it has gradation, and whether its stem ends in a vowel or consonant. The conjugation groups are given on the next page.
