Verbal Moods
Keywords: mood, verbs
Mood in Classical Gluonic is conveyed with modal coverbs. While mood is not a mandatory inflection on the verb in CG, modals are enormously important, especially when discussing hypotheticals, as CG lacks a word for "if" and depends on modals to convey this idea.
The following table lists the modal coverbs in active use in Classical Gluonic. In CG, speakers are very scrupulous about using modal coverbs when they apply - they are generally not left to context, and indeed it is more likely to omit the main verb if understood than the modal. The term English linguists use to describe the mood is listed as well as a basic description of the usage,
It is possible to chain modals, especially the interrogative, which appears before any other modals.
| Bourque | Sanderson | Mood | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| K'Á | khaa | Interrogative | Used to ask questions |
| VE | ve | Protassic | The "if" clause in a conditional sentence. CG has no word for "if," and the protassic mood is used instead. Follow with the irrealis to communicate the condition is unlikely, and conversely the potential for a condition considered likely. |
| F*Y | ffy | Conditional | Use for the "then" clause of an "if-then" statement, or on its own if the condition the statement is made in relation to is implicitly known. Expresses certainty about the condition. |
| LOQ | loq | Irrealis | Used for counterfactuals and hypotheticals, |
| KJY | kjy | Jussive | Used as an imperative as well as to indicate commands and obligations involving third parties. In CG, similar to "must." Can sometimes express futurity. |
| R*UN | run | Optative | Expresses hopes and wishes, used for polite commands and exhortations where other languages would use the irrealis or subjunctive. |
| MU-WE | muwe | Presumptive | Used to indicate that something could be true, works a bit like "may," "might," or "could." Distinct from the potential in that it lack the inherent sense of futurity. |
| QÁ | qaa | Potential | Works like "can," "could" or "may," can be used to indicate actions likely to take place or to indicate possibility or capacity, and can sometimes in lieu of a future tense. |
| P'IN | phin | Inferential | A rudimentary evidential. Used to indicate that the speaker believes the statement to be true but is acknowledging it is an inference, not direct knowledge. |
Example:
Swasun gorano.
The child knows.
Note this is an antipassive, allowing the object to be omitted. Therefore, the agent marker will move to the first coverb and the black patient marker -n used for the antipassive stays with the main verb in the modal constructions. The child is in the blue, and assumed to already be mentioned.
The modalities for this sentence:
Khaasu swan gorano? - Does the child know?
Vesu swan gorano. - If the child knows.
Ffysu swan gorano. - Then the child knows.
Loqsu swan gorano - The child were to know
Kjysu swan gorano. - The child is required to know.
Runsu swan gorano. - Let the child know
Muwesu swan gorano. - The child might know.
Qaasu swan gorano. - The child can/will know.
Phinsu swan gorano. - I think the child knows.
Separate articles will be written and linked to expand on the usage of specific moods.