Gerunds

The gerund suffix -ru  changes basic verbs into nouns describing the activity.

hubaru ほばる breathing

malaru まわる reflecting

mikuru みくる being red

Compound verbs, as well as those involving noun incorporation, can also be changed like this.

dissu’ahatiru でっすあはてる feeling happy

pakicuru ぱきゆる believing to be true

’i’issiru いいっせる singing

The genitive determiners, including -qa , allow for (only) the subject of the verb to be mentioned.

jannikiluquruqa nimalu

ぢっにきをもるげにまを

janni-kiluqu-ru-qa nimalu

walk-ger-gen bear

“the bear’s walking”

guqqirupahi

ぐっねるぱひ

guqqi-ru-pahi

bad-ger-1gen

“my being bad”

This continues to apply in instances using argument promotion.

dasilluruqa dasu

だせっをるげだす

dasi-illu-ru-qa dasu

eat-psv-ger-gen meat

“the eating of meat”

sikukkarudisi

せくっかるでせ

siku-kka-ru-disi

die-abv-ger-3ani;gen

“his murdering of another”

’usaxaruqa luna

うさざるげをな

’usa-xa-ru-qa luna

look-dtv-ger-gen moon

“looking at the moon”