TGV/MGV - Lesson 30
Ba-|Iyi-Gol-Vuhlkansu - Tupa 30

INCHOATIVE VERBS
Nosh-Rubaik Tor-Zhitlar


    This is another lesson that directly comes from requests of students. Several students wanted more information on how TGV and MGV speakers form and use inchoative verbs. Those are verbs that describe a change of state. This lesson is more of a clarification of this grammatical form than introduction to new material.

    In FSE, inchoative verbs are those that describe a change of state. Many of them you might first think of are based on an adjective. For example, "ripen" (based on "ripe"), "sweeten" (based on "sweet") and "warm up" (based on "warm"). But inchoative verbs can derive from nouns as well.

    In TGV and MGV, these type of verbs are called >nosh-rubaik tor-zhitlar< (condition-change verbs). They have no regular patterns, because they have developed differently over time on Vulcan and come from varied sources. Some have an adjectival base and some have a non-adjectival base.

    Like all TGV and MGV verbs, inchoative verbs can be regular strong, irregular strong or weak, although irregular strong inchoative verbs are extremely rare. Below is a chart of some of these verbs.


    Vocabulary
    Zhit-Feim

Inchoative Verb Adjectival Base
drom-tor (purify) drom-, dromik (pure)
fnau-tor (tame) fnau|-| (tame)
ha-volau (to become tall) ha-vol|-| (tall)
huhtkau (solidify) huht-, huhtik (solid)
lamekhau (warm) lamekh|-| (warm)
lerashau (harden) lerash|-| (hard)
mos-tor (soften) mos|-| (soft)
pid-tor (heighten) pid|-| (high)
piyahtau (ripen) piyah|-| (ripe)
psethau (dry, dry out) pseth|-| (dry)
rasahkovau (go bad) rasahkos|-| (bad)
sfithau (sour, go sour) sfith|-| (sour)
ugel-tor (brighten) ugel-, ugelik (bright)
yar-kurau (green, turn green) yar-kur (green)
Inchoative Verbs Based on Adjectives

Inchoative Verb Non-Adjectival Relative
klimtau (melt) klimtaya (melt)
leipau (bake) leipaya (bake)
na-sovau (evaporate) na-sovaya (evaporation)
nehau (rot) nehaya (rot)
she-tor (rise) shen (rise)
spoh-tor (fade) spoh (fade)
vin-tor (mature) vin (maturation)
ya'shakhvau (age) ya'shakhuv (age)
yontau (burn) yontaya (burn)
zhar-tor (rust) zhar (rust)
zung-tor (tire) zungan (tiring)
Inchoative Verbs Not Based on Adjectives



    Notes
    Pitohlar

    1. Nearly all colors, like >khav-kur< (brown) and >yar-kur< (green) are easily turned into inchoative verbs by adding the verbal suffix >~au<, making >khav-kurau< (to brown, to turn brown) and >yar-kurau< (to green, to turn green).

    2. Most adjectives that have the standalone/hyphenated forms, like >mos|-|< and >pid|-|<, are easily turned into a verb with the verbal suffix >-tor<, although the shades of exact meaning could differ. You will have to learn from the dictionaries.


    There are no exercises for this lesson.

    The student is encouraged to experiment using inchoative verbs in sentences.




This lesson was put online on
June 16, 2005.




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operating as the Vulcan Language Institute™.

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