8.2. Gramatik / Grammar

Converb constructions

The converb in Livonian is marked with -dsõ, -õs. Generally, this form expresses adverbial relationships, adding temporal or manner meanings.

• Examples of temporal meanings: Ta lieudõn skūolstõ tuldsõ… ’S/he found (it) coming from school…’, Lǟ’dsõ ta nǟnd… ’As he was going, he saw…’
• An example of a manner meaning: Ta lekš jaļgi vie’ddõs jemān tagan ’He followed his mother dragging his feet‘

The events described usually occur simultaneously, though the event expressed by the converb construction can also immediately precede the other event, e.g., Siedā kūlõs īrgis läpš uttõ ’Hearing it, the child began to cry.’

The negative counterparts of converb constructions are supine abessive forms (-mõt), which can occur with the negative word ilmõ ‘without’(or the word bäs, which borrowed from the Latvian word bez, which has the same meaning), e.g., Ve’l kōgiņ vanāmīez vaņțļõn, ilmõ sīlmad pīltamõt, mie’rjemān tagan ’For a long time yet, the old man looked, without blinking his eyes, after Sea Mother’.