3

THE VERB PHRASE

This chapter deals with simple forms of the verb and verb phrase that in a traditional grammar would be digrns (principal parts) of the verb considered part of the paraor in a generative grammar would be generated in the base component or phrase structure of the grammar. More complex forms and constructions arc discussed under syntax (sec chapter four).

Kannada verbs occur in two forms---finite or nonfinite. Finite verbs can have nothing added to them; and since verbs are usually found in the last position in the sentence (subject-object-verb), a finite verb effectively ends the sentence, with the exception of clitics (sec 4.1 1) or reportives (see x.5.1), which may follow. Nonfinite verbs, in contrast, Cannot stand alone, and most have same other form following them.

Some of the finite forms of the verb are imperatives, present and bast forms marked with PNG, modals, and verbal/participial nouns (sec 3.5.8). Nonfinite forms include infinitives, verbal and adjectival participles, and tense-marked verb stems.

3.1. Verb stems. Kannada verbs are not listed in a dictionary as infinitives like they arc in many western languages; rather, they are entered as singular rronl>olite impcratives (sec 3.3), which in most cases are identical to verb stems, with the addition of an enunciative u if the stem ends in a consonant. (Exceptions to this are baa `come', taa `give', and koo `reflexive', which have the irregular stems bar-, tar-, and koLL- respectively.) The verb stem is a nonfinite form to which present tense markers, infinitive markers, and several other grammatical forms are added.

3.1.1. Past verb stems. In addition to simple verb stems, Kannada also has past verb stems that are used in forming the past tense, past participles, conditionals, and some other constructions. Past stems also form the base to which contingent YNG markers are added.

Past verb stems are not regular overall, but the majority are formed by adding the past marker -id- (see 3.4.3) to the verb stem. (The d of these past stems is deleted in several constructions; see rules for individual constructions.) Those past stems not formed with -id- are formed in various semiregular or irregular ways (see 3.4.3.1-8). These forms may be found in a Kannada-English dictionary (e.g., Ziegler 1929).

3.2. The infinitive. The infinitive is a nonfinite form of the verb that occurs together with other verbs, auxiliary verbs (modals), negative morphemes, and some other forms. In Kannada there are really two kinds of infinitives, both added to the verb stem. One is basically stem +-al, and the other is stem +-okke.l

The infinitive using -al is a historically older form, and is called the second infinitive in LK (Kittel 1903:122). Before consonants, the l of -al is usually deleted even in LK, and the a may also be removed in SK by the rule of short vowel deletion (see 1.3.6).

bar- `come' + -al + beeku `must' ==> bar-beeku `must come'
         (see 3.6.1)
bar- `come' + -al + -i `optative' ==> barli `let (someone) come'
         (see 3.3.2)
bar- `come' + -al + illa `negative' ==> barlilla `didn't come'
niia ii pustak oodl-ee beeku `you must definitely read this book'
1     2    3         4    5      6        1     6         5         4     2      3

(Llpadhyaya and Krishnamurthy 1972:142)

Infinitives formed with -ooke are used, among other things, to express purpose

naan sinimaa nooDok(ke) uurg hoogtiini 'I am going to town' to see a movie'
   1         2               3          4/5          6       1        6     5     4     3              2

3.3. The imperative. Kannada verbs exhibit a number of forms that express commands or exhortations. These can have various degrees of politeness and deference, and their use is dependent on a judgment of the relative social status of the person to whom one is speaking. The simplest form is the so called nonpolite, or singular, imperative. In most cases this form (which is the verb form listed in a dictionary) is exactly the same as the verb stem, with an enunciative a added if the stem ends in a consonant.

Besides the simple nonpolite imperative (e.g., hoogu `go!'), there is also what might be called an impolite or casual form consisting of the verb stem + oo or ee, for male or female addressees respectively (e.g., hoogoo/hoogee `go on, get along with you!'). This form is used only with small children, or between good friends; otherwise its use is demeaning and insulting.

The plural form, which also functions as a singular polite form, consists of a verb stem + i (e.g., hoogi `(you, pl.] go!', `please go'). There is an even more polite form consisting of verb stem + rig (e.g., hoogri `please be so kind as to go'). Finally, to add an additional degree of politeness, the reflexive pronoun taavu (see 2.5) may be used with the verb stem + ri (e.g., taaau hoogri `please be so kind as to go').

When the verb stem ends in i, the bare stem serves as the nonpolite or singular imperative. For plural (or polite) and very polite forms, verb stem + ri is used. The final i of the stem may sometimes be lengthened before ri, as in kuDiiri `please be so kind as to drink' (.McCormack 1966:22; Upadhyaya and Krishnamurthy 1972:15 1).
Sterns that end in o have a second stem in -L(L) before -oo, -ee, i or ra: Such o stems all involve incorporation of the reflexive aspect marker koo (see 3.8.8) into the stem

Examples of imperatives are given below, in ascending order of politcliess.

The irregular verbs baa `come' and taa `give', with stems bar and tar respectively, have regular (dictionary entry) nonpolite forms; however, the impolite imperatives (stem + oo/ ee) and the polite forms are irregular.

kriSlVa, nii beegane baaroo `Krishna, come quickly!' (This is a line from a song in Carnatic music, sung to the child Krishna.)

3.3.1. Negative imperative. Kannada also has forms for commanding someone not to do something. One of these is formed by adding baaradu (historically a form of baa/bar `come') to an infinitive with al (see 3.2). However, deletion of the l before a consonant, and a by short vowel deletion, leave no trace of the al form in SK, except in emphatic prohibitives.

hoog- + -al + baaradu ==> hooga + baaradu hoog baardu `don't go!'
hoog- +-al + -ee 'emphatic' + baaradu ==> hooglee baardu
'definitely don't go!'

Other ways of indicating negative imperatives are to use beeDa (plural bef,Di), the negative of the modal beeku `want, need, must, should' (see 3.6.1. 1), or the negative modal kuuDadu `must nc>t' (see 3.6.2). These are also attached to an infinitive that has had l then a deleted, as with baaradu above. As with other imperatives, the plural negative often functions as a polite form.

bar beeDa `(I) don't (want you to) come!'
maaD beeDi `(1) don't (want you [pl., polite] to) do (something)!'
hoog kuuDdu `(one) must not go!'

3.3.2. Optative. Tnere is a form in Kannada, sometimes called optative, that is used with first or third persons and is considered by some to be a sort of imperative (but see 3.6.5). It is formed by adding i to the infinitive, and it often translates into English as `let (someone do something)'.

avanu bar- + -al + -i ==> avan barli `let him come'

When this form is found in questions, it is often closer in meaning to English `shall, should, may'.

avn yaavaag barli? `when shall/should/may he come?'
naan allig hoogl-aa? `should I go there?'

3.3.3. Hortative. Kannada has a form, called hortative by some, that is sometimes considered to be a kind of imperative (Biligiri 1959:81; but see 3.6.6). It is formed by adding ooNa to the verb stem, and it can be translated either as `let's (do something)' or, especially in the interrogative, as `shall we (do something)?'.

bar- ooNa `let's come'
elligaadruu hoog-ooNa `let's go somewhere'
een naaaD ooNa? `what shall we do?'
uairg hoog-ooN-vaa? `shall we go to town?'

3.4. Verbs marked with tense and PNG. Verbs marked with PNG suffixes are always marked for tense (with the exception of some archaic forms left from OK; see Ramanujan 1963:233) and are finite verbs; but verbs can be marked for tense without PNG markers, in which case they are nonfinite verbs (e.g., past verb stems; sec 3.1.1).

Verbs marked for tense and PNG have the following structure: verb stem (see 3.1, 3.1.1) + tense marker (see 3.4.2 3) + PNG marker (see 3.4.1).

As may be obvious from these examples, not all verbs have the same past tense marker. maaDu `do' has the marker id , while baa (stem bar ) `come' has nd (r ~ n before d). Also, Kannada has different sets of PNG markers for different tenses; for example, first person singular is iini in the present tense, and e(nu) in the past. In addition, the verb iru `be (located)' is irregular in respect both to tense and PNG markers. These and other complexities are discussed below.

3.4.1. Person Number Gender markers. In Kannada finite verbs, PNG markers are added to verbs to indicate agreement between the subject and the verb (see I.0.1.1). These P:\'G markers differ according to the tense of the verb they mark. Those used in the present tense are quite different from those used in the contingent, and the past tense forms differ from both present and contingent.
In LK, the P\G markers differ mainly in the length of the vowel, and sometimes in the final vowel (e.g., first singular is eene in the present, and euu in the past); but in SK more complicated changes occur. LK also has a third person plural neuter form (aau `those I things J ') with which verbs must agree, but this form does not occur in all SK dialects. 3

3.4.1.1. Present tense PNG markers. The forms of the YNG markers that occur with the present tense are given below.

Since the neuter singular form atte incorporates the present tense marker tt ( tt + ade atte), it is attached directly to the verb stem. Some speakers, however, use ade (with the tense marker) instead of atte (e.g., bartade), but this is considered less prestigious.

3.4.1.2. PNG markers of iru `be (located)'. Most dialects of SK no longer have a regular future tense, although LK does (with a tense marker v ). The verb iru `be (located)' is the only verb having both present and future/habitual tenses. Both of these tenses use the PNG markers of the present (see 3.4.1.1), which are attached to the stem idd in the present, and to irt in the future/habitual. The future/ habitual may mean `will be' or `be (always)'.

Note the irregular forms for the third singular and plural neuter.

3.4.1.3. Contingent PNG markers. The contingent is a form of the verb that translates as English `might (do something)'. It has PNG markers attached to the past stem that are similar to SK past tense PNG markers, but with long vowels. (While given below, second person contingent forms are rarely used, except in warnings.)

3.4.1.4. Past tense PNG markers. The past tense PNG markers, attached to the past stem of the verb, are given below.

As noted above, the past PNG markers have short vowels where the contingent PNG markers have long vowels; and these short forms are reduced even further by vowel truncation rules. In the singular of first and third masculine, the final consonant as well as the enunciative a tend to be deleted, leaving only the first vowel of the marker. However, when further suffixes are added, consonant deletion does not take place; instead, both vowels tend to delete. Thus, while in the past declarative the first and second singular forms appear the same, before a clitic suffix such as as interrogative they are distinguished by the surface appearance of the underlying n in the first singular PNG marker e(nu), and by the morphophonemically inserted yin the second singular. Also, first and third masculine singular PNG markers are different in the declarative; but in the interrogative, if vowel deletion occurs they will appear the same.

band(e)naa? `did I come?'
band(e)yaa? `did you come?'
band(a)naa? `did he come?'

In the plural, and in third singular feminine and neuter, it is the first vowel that is deleted in the declarative (with the final vowel being deleted also before suffixes beginning with a vowel).

The deletion of the i in the neuter singular PNG marker (i)tu may cause an unacceptable consonant cluster to occur if the verb stem ends in a consonant. In such a case, subsequent consonant cluster simplification will take place (see 1.3.7). In addition, the retroflex L of the third singular feminine marker (a)Lu tends to assimilate to the preceding d if the vowel a is deleted (see 1.3.7).

band- + -(i)tu ==> band tu ==> bantu
band- + -(a)Lu ==>band -Lu ==>bandlu

3.4.2. Present tense marker. The present tense marker is tt (except with iru, where this marker is used for the future/habitual, and the past stem is used for the present; see 3.4.5.5), and occurs between the verb stem and all PNG markers except the neuter singular atte (see 3. 1.1.1). When the verb stem ends in a consonant, tt may be shortened to t by a rule of' consonant cluster simplification (see 1.3.7).

bar- + -tt- + -iini ==> bartiini `I come'

Stems with final i and a (which both appear as i on the surface in many SK dialects; see 1.3.8), and those with final o, do not delete the final vowel, but tend to lengthen it before -tt- (which is then reduced to t following a long vowel; see 1.2).

bare- `write' ==> bari + -tt- + iini ==> bariitiini `I write'
togo- `take (for oneself)' + -tt- + iini + togootiini `I take (for myself)'

3.4.3. Past tense markers. Grammars of Kannada generally state that the past tense marker is id , but with many irregular exceptions (see Spencer 1950:88); or they may state that the past is id or t , with exceptions (see Biligiri 1959:84). The fact is that the vast majority of Kannada verbs form the past with id attached to the verb stem, a small number with t , and the rest undergo various changes, among which some subregularities may be discerned.

3.4.3.1. Past of "weak" verbs. Many grammarians of Kannada call verbs that take id past tense markers "weak" verbs (and all others "strong" verbs). Verbs that take -id- all end in consonants.

Verbs ending in the causative suffix isu (see 3.9) always take the id past marker. When short vowels are deleted in such verbs, the i and enunciative a of isu are usually eliminated; but the i of id is sometimes kept to avoid clusters of three consonants.

kali- 'learn' + isu 'causative' + -id- 'past' ==> kalsid- 'taught'

3.4.3.2. Past of steins ending in a nasal consonant. Verb stems ending in a nasal consonant tend to add just d in the past; and if the nasal is a retroflex, d assimilates and becomes D . If the nasal is geminate, one of the nasals is deleted in consonant cluster reduction.

     Note that the long as of kaaA' shortens in the past.

3.4.3.3. Past of stems with final lateral. Verb stems ending in a lateral l or L are quite unpredictable in their past stem formation.

3.4.3.4. Past of stems with finaly. In stems that end in y, the final y tends to change to a nasal; and the long vowel tends to shorten. However, there are exceptions.

3.4.3.5. Past of short vowel stems ending in r. Verb stems that end in r, and have a short vowel, undergo irregular changes in the past stems.

Stems with a long vowel, and ending in r, add the regular ("weak") i d .

3.4.3.6. Past of short vowel stems ending in D. Stems with a short vowel that end in D tend to double and devoice the retroflex stop,
see the final D becomes TT.

Stems ending in D that have a long vowel add the "weak" marker id.

3.4.3.7. Past of stems ending in I. Some verbs ending in I'm SK have a final a in LK (which changes to i by a vowel raising rule; see 1.3.8). SK verb stems ending in i form the past by deleting the final vowel and adding d or t .

3.4.3.8. Past of stems ending in O. All verbs in SK that end in o arc historically derived from verb + koLLu (`reflexive' aspect marker; see 3.8.8) by various reduction rules. Since the past stem of koLLu is koND , stems with final o add ND to form the past stem.

togo- ~, takko- `take (for oneself)'
togoND- ~ takkoND- `took'
okko- ~vakko `wash (one's clothes)'
okkoND- ~, vakkolVD `washed'
rnalko- ~ makko `lie down'
malkoND- ~ makkoND 'lav down'

3.4.3.9. Past of other irregular stems. The verbs hoogu 'go', aagu 'become', and nagu `laugh' have irregular past stems. hoogu and aagu have two past stems, one which appears with past neuter YNG, and the other that is used with PNG other than neuter.

nooy- and aay are used with neuter singular PNG, and the stems in -d with nonneuter.

ad hooytu `it went'                   avan hooda `he went'

3.4.4. Other tenses. Kannada has other forms of the verb that are often called tenses, but that I prefer to treat as compound tenses, aspect, or other categories of the verb.

Except with iru `be (located)', the future tense is no longer used in most SK dialects, although it occurs in LK (see 3.4.1.2) and in some regional dialects such as the Kumta dialect (Upadhyaya 1976:105). The PNG markers used with the LK future are similar to the positive contingent PNG markers (see 3.4.1.3) but with short vowels, and with udu or adu in the neuter singular (Spencer 1950:47).

3.4.5. Examples of verbs conjugated. Following are examples of Kannada finite verbs conjugated in different tenses and marked with PNG, to show the complete sets (paradigms) and how they agree with their subjects. The subjects given here are in the form of pronouns, although they may be other constituents such as nouns, pronominalized adjectives, proper nouns (names), and so forth.
In all cases, the second and third plural forms given below may also be used as singular polite.

3.4.5.1 "Weak" verbs. Verbs that take the past tense marker id are often called "weak" verbs by Kannada grammarians.

Example: maaDu `do, make'

Note that since the stem used with the contingent PNG markers is actually the past stem (with d deleted in "weak" verbs; see 3.1.1), in some dialects the i of the past appears as a y glide before the PNG markers that do not begin with ii (Biligiri 1959:90); but in most dialects the contingent forms are more common without y.

3.4.5.2. Stems ending in a nasal.

Example: tiinu `eat'

3.4.5.3. Sterns with final lateral.

Example: biiLu `fall'

3.4.5.4. Stems ending in y.

Example: saayu `die'

3.4.5.5. Short vowel stems with final r. An example of a short vowel stem ending in r has been given for baa/bar `come' (see 3.4.1.1/3/4). In addition, some information on the irregular verb iru `be (located)' has been provided (see 3.4.1.2). Since iru is used in many constructions, a full paradigm of all its tenses (including future/habitual, which it alone takes in most SK dialects) is given below.

Example: iru 'be (located)'

Note that iru is irregular in a number of respects, among which is the fact that it takes the past stern idd in the present tense, as well as in the past and contingent; and it uses the stem ir(ut)t in the future/ habitual. It also has an irregular third singular neuter present form ide, rather than the expected *iddade and past form ittu instead of *idtu.

3.4.5.6. Short vowel stems with final D.

Example: koDu `give'

3.4.5.7. Stems with final i. Verb stems with final i (from LK i or e; see 1.3.8) drop this vowel before past tense markers; but before the present marker, final i is lengthened to ii (see 3.4.2).

Example: kali 'learn'