Transitivity

The divalent verbs are called transitive, and these require an object to complete its meaning. It is possible to elide this object if it is obvious or irrelevant. The subject is the agent, and the object is the patient.

nidu NE to use

Transformative Verbs

Unlike those above, these verbs involve a fundamental change to their objects.

’idu iE to make

pifa Pf to create

pura or to change; to be

si’a Sa to repair

lakka l;k to break

dasi dS to consume

qarri q;R to open

turu ew to close

Motive Verbs

The unmarked argument structure is as follows: the oblique arguments for these are the same as for kinetic verbs, i.e.: ablative source, dative destination, and direction with pa. As for the core arguments, the agent of the movement is the subject, and the patient being moved is the object.

Dative

These are motive verbs focussing on movement to the destination.

The agent may be moved into the dative position, since it is identical to the destination.

An animate source may be swapped with the patient, i.e.: the ablative becoming an object and vice versa.

duci EC to gain; to possess

gi G to pick up; to carry

tali tL to take

Ablative

These are motive verbs focussing on movement away from a source.

Similarly to dative motive verbs, the agent can be placed in ablative position, as they are identical to the source.

With similarity again to the dative verbs, an animate destination may be swapped with the patient, i.e.: with the dative becoming an object and vice versa.

kuffa $;f to give

saki sK to share

ga g to put

maku m$ to throw

funi vN to lose; to lack

Apparent Verbs

These act like the transitive counterpart of the adjectival verbs, i.e.: the patient as the subject, the cause in ablative and the experiencer in dative. The additional object, which makes these transitive, is an abstract noun that refers to a quality or attribute, or an inanimate noun that refers to an actual substance or energy being released. The precise verb is chosen by whether the ‘radiation’ is physical or subtle in nature.

These verbs can also be used to signify the patients resemblance to something else. In this case, the other item or person is governed by the adposition ka k as.

xi X to broadcast subtly

xu Z to broadcast physically

Vital Verbs

These verbs require that both their objects and subjects are animate.

kuli $L to meet; to know

ca c to help

hisu Hz to administer

kissa K;s to fight

’ussa u;s to obey

Action Verbs

These verbs take an activity as an object. These can take the form of pure nouns:

They can also take gerunds:

la l to do

tara tr to begin

tuni eN to repeat

nu I to stop

naqa nq to need

tapu to to look forward to; to enjoy