(Meadow Mari)
(GV)–(T/M)–Subj & (GV)–(T~Subj)/(M~Subj) & (GV)–(T~A)–Subj
(GV)–(T/M)–Subj: Verbal voice as well as either the time or the mood (but not both) are marked optionally (if both categories present, in this order), whereas marking of the person of the subject is obligatory as the last member of the string.
(GV)–(T~Subj)/(M~Subj): Both verbal voice marking and tense or mood (but not both) simultaneously marking the person of the subject as well are optional.
(GV)–(T~A)–Subj: Verbal voice marking and the marker of tense and aspect combined are optional (in this order when both present), with the marking of the person of the subject being obligatory.
| nal-aš ’buy (1st paradigm) | kod-aš ’leave’ (2nd paradigm) | |
|---|---|---|
| Present/future tense | ||
| 1sg | nal-am | kod-em |
| 2sg | nal-at | kod-et |
| 3sg | nal-eš | kod-a |
| 1pl | nal-əna | kod-ena |
| 2pl | nal-əda | kod-eda |
| 3pl | nal-ət | kod-at |
| 1st past tense | ||
| 1sg | nal’-əm | kod-əš-əm |
| 2sg | nal’-əč | kod-əš-əč |
| 3sg | nal’-e | kod-əš |
| 1pl | nal’-na | kod-əš-na |
| 2pl | nal’-da | kod-əš-da |
| 3pl | nal’-əč | kod-əš-t |
| 2nd past tense | ||
| 1sg | nal-ən-am | kod-en-am |
| 2sg | nal-ən-at | kod-en-at |
| 3sg | nal-ən | kod-en |
| 1pl | nal-ən-na | kod-en-na |
| 2pl | nal-ən-da | kod-en-da |
| 3pl | nal-ən-ət | kod-en-ət |
| Desiderative mood | ||
| 1sg | nal-ne-m | kodə-ne-m |
| 2sg | nal-ne-t | kodə-ne-t |
| 3sg | nal-ne-že | kodə-ne-že |
| 1pl | nal-ne-na | kodə-ne-na |
| 2pl | nal-ne-da | kodə-ne-da |
| 3pl | nal-ne-št | kodə-ne-št |
| Imperative mood | ||
| 2sg | nal | kodo |
| 3sg | nal-že | kodə-žo |
| 2pl | nal-za | kodə-za |
| 3pl | nal-əšt | kodə-št |
(Table 1, source: Kangasmaa-Minn 1998: 320)
| (2) | pašajeŋ-vlak | kok | u | škol-əm | čoŋ-at. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| worker‑PL | two | new | school‑ACC | build‑3PL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ’The workers are building two new schools.’ (T. E.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (3) | ola-šte | kok | u | škol | čoŋ-alt-eš. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| town‑INE | two | new | school | build‑PASS‑3SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ’Two new schools are being built in the town.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 391) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (4) | urok | godəm | tunemše-vlak | dene | part | koklašte | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lesson | during | student‑PL | with | desk | between | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| šinč-əlt-ən-na, | süretl-en-na | da | ser-kal-en-na. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sit‑REFL‑PST2‑1PL | draw‑PST2‑1PL | and | write‑FREQ‑PST2‑1PL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ’During the lessons we were sitting at desks, drawing and writing.’ (Arkhangelskiy 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In Meadow Mari, verbs can be marked for the person of the subject, tense, mood (Table 1) and verbal voice (2)─(3). Certain aspectual meanings can be encoded using the second past tense (4) (see also the parameter on the marking of aspect). Present tense is unmarked. In the first past tense, verbs belonging to the first conjugation, the marking of past tense and person marking are expressed simultaneously. In the second past tense there is no visible marker for third person singular forms. Desiderative mood always has an obligatory marker, but in past tenses it can only be expressed using periphrastic means. In imperative mood the bare verbal root is used in second person singular forms, whereas in second and third person plural a mood marker appears, which also encodes person information. Mood and tense marking cannot be present at the same time on the same synthetic verb form. The affixes expressing verbal voice are directly after the verbal root, preceding tense, mood and person markers (2)─(3).
Author: Bogáta Timár