Verbs in Jaffad are marked for tense, aspect, modality, and voice. This is mostly accomplished through the use of auxiliary verbs. The main verb follows the auxiliary, and it is the first verb in the verbal phrase that received the inflection for tense. Specific constructions will be listed below with the auxiliaries. Typically, aspect and modal auxiliaries may not co-occur, while valency changing auxiliaries (voice) may be modified further by either an aspect auxiliary or a modal auxiliary.
Tense
Jaffad verbs are marked for tense either as past or non-past. Non-past verbs are unmarked, while past tense verbs aare marked with the inflection -ku. When the final vowel of the stem is an <a>, the stem will change to either a <e> or <o>. This stem change will be noted in the lexicon entry for these verbs. When used with modal auxiliaries and particles (but not modal clitics), the past tense generally indicates perfect aspect instead of tense, while the unmarked verb is treated as either simple aspect or imperfect aspect. Tense is only marked on the first verb of the verbal phrase.
xuttʼu fad / xuttʼuku fad
The stone breaks. / The stone broke.
ngeuthħa qhukhoaɫ fad / ngeuthħeku qhukhoaɫ fad
The man strikes the stones. / The man struck the stones.
Aspect Auxiliaries
Jaffad has three verbal aspects. The simple aspect is unmarked and views an action as a single event which occurs at the time indicated by lexical or tense markers. The perfect aspect is marked by the auxiliary verb wŕut and indicates that the action of the verb is complete at the time indicated by lexical or tense markers. The imperfect aspect is marked by the auxiliary verb lye and indicates that the action is ongoing at the time indicated by lexical or tense markers.
lyeku jettʼo qhukhoaɫ fad
The man was breaking the stones.
wŕut ɗureol hak hetoawŕ
I have seen the mountain.
Modality
Imperative and Jussive
Imperatives and jussives are formed with the auxiliary tusang. The preposition is required in formal speech, but is often omitted for second person commands in informal or casual speech. The imperative is never found in the past tense (see §6.3.3 for other uses of this auxiliary).
tusang jaulyeɫ (ɓo) hat ɓumpe
(You) go home!
tusang jaulyeɫ tyu hat ɓumpe
Let him go home.
More polite versions of the imperative may be formed by using the deontic auxiliaries, the impersonal voice, or the deontic particle jom.
Evidential Clitics
Evidential clitics are attached to the first word of a clause and are used to mark the evidence that a speaker has for the truth of what he or she is saying. This can range from direct visual evidence (the speaker has seen what they are reporting) to mere speculation (the speaker has no evidence but is putting forth a hypothetical). In between are non-visual sensory evidence, hearsay or report, deductive, and assumptive. The evidential is required when describing a factual event in the third person (first and second person events are assumed to be on good ground, since the speaker or hearer can attest the veracity. When an evidential is not used, the event described is assumed to be fictitious, generalized, or common knowledge. In an extended discourse (a story), a speaker may drop the evidential after the initial use, although this is considered informal.
To indicate that the speaker is reporting an event that she herself witnessed, the clitic -reo is used. To indicate that the speaker is reporting an event that they witnessed through another sense, such as hearing it happen, the clicitc -ho is used. To indicate that the speaker is reporting an event that another person told them about, the clitic -tyʼa is used. To indicate that the speaker is reporting an event based on evidence they which allowed them to deduce, such as seeing pieces of broken stone, the clitic -sa is used. To indicate that the speaker is reporting an event based on their assumption or guess, the clitic -he is used. To indicate than an event could have happened or that it is within the realm of possibility, but lacking in any evidence, the the clitic -kae is used.
jettʼokureo qhukhoaɫ fad
break-past–vis man stone
“The man broke stones, I saw it happen.”
jettʼokutyʼa qhukhoaɫ fad
break-past–hrsy man stone
“The man broke stones, I am told.”
jettʼokuhe qhukhoaɫ fad
break-past–assm man stone
“The man broke stones, I would guess.”
Deontic auxiliaries
There are three auxiliaries which are used to express both obligation and a speaker’s commitment to the truth the statement being made. These can range from a strong obligation or commitment to weak. The strongest deontic is tusang which is used to indicate that the speaker believes an event is extremely likely to occur or have occurred. It also used for the imperative and jussive. Next is ɠukketʼwhich indicates that the speaker believes an event probably will occur or has occurred. It also expresses obligation and may be used as a polite command. The weakest deontic is lukaen which indicates that the speaker believes an even may possibly occur or have occurred. It may also be used to express permission.
tusang jaulyeɫ tyu
He certainly must be going.
ɠukketʼ jaulyeɫ tyu
He must be going. / He ought to go.
lukaen jaulyeɫ tyu
He may be going.
Typically, deontic auxiliaries will not occur with evidential particles, as evidential particles occur most often with past events, while deontic particles apply to non-past events. However, they may occur with the hearsay clitic, to indicate the reliability with which one trusts their source; the deductive clitic, to indicate how well the speaker trusts her own deduction; and the speculative clitic, to further distance the speaker from any claim to truth.
Valency and Voice
Jaffad has several valency reducing operations. These all work by treating the main verb as an infinitive argument of a specific auxiliary verb, which in turn demotes one of the already existing arguments to an oblique position, which is usually optional if it is used at all. In turn, the one remaining noun is treated as the subject of an intransitive verb. Other auxiliaries are typically applied to the valency reducing auxiliary, rather than being demoted.
Antipassive
The anitpassive doŕ promotes the agent of a transitive sentence to the subject of an intransitive sentence, which typically moves an ergative noun to the absolutive. The sentence transformation is:
V A1 P2 → doŕ S1 V [OBL2]
The main verb is placed after the new subject, as if the subject is an agent acting on the verb. The original patient may be reintroduced in a prepositional phrase using hat “to, for”.
jettʼoku qhukhoaɫ fad → doŕku qhukhoaɫ jettʼo [hat fad]
break-past man stone → anti-past man break to stone
The man broke stones. → The man broke something[, namely a stone].
Passive
The passive kʼer promotes the patient of a transitive sentence to the subject of an intransitive sentence, which typically moves an accusative noun to the nominative. The sentence transformation is:
V A1 P2 → kʼer V S2 [OBL1]
The main verb comes before the new subject but after the auxiliary verb, as if the main verb is an agent acting on the subject. The original agent may be reintroduced in a prepositional phrase using qeŕ, meaning “from”.
ɗureol hak fe → kʼer ɗureol fe [qeŕ hak]
see 1 dog → pass see dog from 1
I see the dog. → The dog is seen [by me].
Impersonal
The impersonal gyumung removes the subject of an intransitive sentence, leaving no verbal arguments. It is most commonly used for expressions regarding the weather, although it can also be used as a polite imperative. The sentence transformation is:
V S1 → gyumung V
The main verb follows the auxiliary as if it were the subject of the auxiliary.
gyumung pugɫeo
impers rain
It’s raining.
Applicative
The applicative sa has a variety of uses in promoting the object of a prepositional phrase to the subject of an intransitive sentence, with the original arguments moved to prepositional phrases if they are used. This can have a variety of meanings, such as a causal (X makes Y happen), a benefactive (X benefits from Y), an instrumental (X is used for Y), a dative (X receives the action of Y), or a wide variety of other possibilities. Context and the typical usage of a verb will typically make the meaning clear, although the possibility for misunderstanding is greater with this construction. The sentence transformation is:
V [A1] P2/S2 [OBL3] → sa S3 V [OBLn]
The main verb is placed after the new subject, as if the subject is acting on it. The original agent may be reintroduced in a prepositional phrase using qeŕ “from”, while the original patient may be reintroduced in a prepositional phrase using hat “to, for”.
nyaja fe fad hat tyu → soku tyu [qeŕ fe hat fad]
give-past dog stone to 3 → appl–past 3 give from dog to stone
The dog gave him a stone → He was given something [by the dog, namely a stone]
lye dyomdyao fe → lye sa ɓo dyomdyao [qeŕ fe]
impf dig dog → impf appl 2 dig
The dog is digging → You are making [the dog] dig.
lye dyomdyao hak a boj zomba → lye sa boj zomba dyomdyao [qeŕ hak]
impf dig 1 with dem tool → impf appl dem tool dig from me
I am digging with this tool → This tool let’s [me] dig.
Verbal Particles
Negation
Verbs in Jaffad are negated by placing the negative particle haç immediately before the verb to be negated. While the main verb or the auxiliary may be negated, it is not possible to negate a particle or clitic.
haç ɗureol hak ɓo
I don’t see you.
haç kaen jaulyeɫ tyu
He cannot go. (He is not able to go)
kaen haç jaulyeɫ tyu
He can not go. (He is able not to go)
Deontic Particles
Deontic particles are found at the beginning of a clause. They may not occur with aspect auxiliaries, deontic auxiliaries, or evidential clitics.
mut’ is used as a comitative or future particle and is used both as a generic future tense or as a statement of the speaker’s intent to carry out a particular action.
mutʼ ɗyewlmue hak
I will/intend to stand.
Jom is used as an optative and is used to express hope for a possible occurance. A negative particle used placed before this particle expresses fear.
jom ɗureol hak ɓo
I hope I see you.
It may also be used as an indirect command when the agent of the verb is the second person pronoun.
Jomku is used as a desiderative and is used to express a wish for an occurance that is unlikely or impossible to happen. A negative particle may be placed before this particle to express a negative judgement on an event that has occurred.
jomku hat ɓumpe jaulyeɫku tyu
If only he had gone into the house.
Kaen is used as an abilitative and is used to express that the agent of the sentence has the ability or knowledge to perform the specified action, whether or not they actually do perform it.
kaen jaulyeɫ tyu hat ɓumpe
He can go home. / He knows how to go home.