Livonian
8.2. Gramatik / Grammar
This grammar section gives an overview of participles (page 1), the passive and impersonal (page 2), and converb constructions (page 3).
Participles
Participles are verb forms that share features with adjectives, e.g., cf. aļļõd pūlī’edõd ’green leaves’ and mǭ’zõ sa’ddõnd pūlī’edõd ’fallen leaves’, where sa’ddõnd ‘fallen’ is a participle.. Participles found in Livonian can be classified according to voice, tense, and number. Thus, for the verb sa’ddõ ’to fall’, the -nd indicates active voice, a completed event, and the plural (cf. singular: mǭ’zõ sa’ddõn pūlē’ḑ ’fallen leaf’). The table shows the different participle forms using the verbs a’ilõ ’to run’ and nuttõ ’to call’.
| Voice | Tense | Singular | Example | Plural | Example |
| active | present | (-b, -bõ, -õb) -iji, -ji, -i | a’iliji ’running’ nutāji ‘calling’ | (-bõd, -õbõd) -ijid, -jid, -id | a’ilijid ’running’ nutājid ‘calling’ |
| passive | -dõb, -tõd, -õb | a’ildõb ‘(being) run’ nuttõb ‘(being) called’ | -dõbõd, -tõbõd, -õbõd | a’ildõbõd ‘(being) run’ nuttõbõd ‘(being) called’ | |
| active | past | -n, -õn, -nd | a’ilõn ‘run’ nuttõn ‘called’ | -nd, -õnd, -nõd | a’ilõnd ‘run’ nuttõnd ‘called’ |
| passive | -dõd, -tõd, -õd a’ildõd ‘run’ nuttõd ‘called’ | ||||
Present tense participles
Active present participles are rarely used (which is why they appear in parentheses in the table above), because they coincide with the 3rd person indicative forms, e.g., jelāb means ’(s/he) lives’ (also ’(I) live’) as well as ’living’. Although jelāb rištīng ’a living person’ is in principle possible, an active present participle based on an agent noun is more expected, e.g., va laigāld jelāji rištīng ’quite a broadly living person’ (see also Section 7.3). Number agreement depends on the word, e.g., ȭgijizt sidūd ’blazing coals’, cf. lu’ggiji lapst ’confirmees, confirmands’ (literal translation: ’reading children’). This means that in many cases these participles are being used as adjectives.
Passive present participles are used to form one of the modal constructions expressing obligation, e.g., Si’nnõn um sīedõb se lēba ’You have to eat the bread’ (see Section 6.3 for the other main modal construction). However, they occur in more than just modal uses, e.g., Tä’mmõn vȯ’ļ nī’emõ mīdõb ’He had a cow to sell’. The construction can also express purpose, e.g., Ta vȯ’ļ sǭtõd Rīgõ le’bbõ vaņtõltõb ’He was sent to Rīga for examination’. Likewise, there are also examples of instrumental forms, e.g., Se ažā sǭb tieudtõbõks ’This thing is becoming known’.
Passive present participles also occur in various compounds either as the head word or as a complement, e.g., kä’dakātõb ’handle’, sīedõbažā ’foodstuff’, suoimdõbsõnā ’curse word’. Often the purpose is also reflected either directly or indirectly from the compound word, e.g., sulātõb rīst ’melting dish’ (or a dish for melting). When expressing purpose, the present passive participle can appear with the postpositionpierāst ‘for’, e.g.,Kuoţīdnõ’ggõl vȯ’ļ kuoţīd paiktõb pierāst ’The packing needle was for mending sacks’.
Past tense participles
Active past participles are used as the main verb in compound past tense forms, e.g., Mēg ūomõ sīenõd / ä’b ūomõ sīenõd lȭinagiži ’We have / have not eaten lunch’ (past perfect), Ta vȯ’ļ / i’z ūo kǟnd skūolsõ’ ’S/he had / had not gone to school’ (pluperfect), but also in compound future tense forms, e.g., Si’z ta līb / ä’b lī loptõn iļīzskūol ’Then he will have / will not have finished university’.
It is typical for active past participles to function as predicative adverbials, characterizing the subject, e.g., Mēg jelām la’ggõnd ’We live apart (= separated)’. Thus, participles are not always connected to the verb ‘to be’. There are also instrumental forms, e.g., Se ažā īeb ka’ddõnõks ’This thing is lost’.
The active past participle also appears as a complement and agrees in number, e.g., jarā kuijõn käbā : jarā kuijõnd käbād ’dried out hoof : dried out hooves’. Some participles have become adjectives, e.g., jūobõn ‘drunk’.
Passive past participles are used to form passive constructions (see the next page for more details).
