While other word categories in Ilocano are not as diverse in forms, verbs are morphologically complex inflecting chiefly for aspect. Ilocano verbs can also be cast in any one of five foci or triggers. In turn, these foci can inflect for different grammatical moods.
Reduplication An important aspect of Ilokano verbal morphology is reduplication. Reduplication in verbal paradigms consists of repeating the first /(C1)V(C2).../ sequence of phonemes of the root as required by the form resulting in a bimoraic or heavy syllable. Or, the first /(C)V/ is repeated as is the case for indicating plural actors.
Basic form: gatang buy Reduplicated form: gatgatang
Basic form: aramat use Reduplicated form: ar-aramatWhen the root begins with a vowel, underlyingly, the onset is the glottal stop which must be retained in reduplication. This is reflected in the orthography by using a hyphen, "-".
The glottal stop as the second consonant of the sequence (C2) is lost. Two strategies can be applied to maintain the weight of the reduplicated syllable. Either the vowel (V) is lengthened (compensatory lengthening) or the first consonant (C1) is doubled (geminated).
Basic form: sao say Reduplicated form: sasao or sassao
Basic form: dait sew Reduplicated form: dadait or daddait
Aspect Due to having Austronesian alignment, Ilocano verbs chiefly inflect for aspect, and not for tense.
Inflectional Pattern Verbs inflect for the following: Neutral - The neutral form is not marked for aspect (perfective or imperfective) or initiation (initiated or non-initiated) nor tense (past or non-past). It serves as the form for both the infinitive and the imperative. Perfective - A completed action or accomplished state. Imperfective - A non-punctual, repeated or habitual action or continued state. Past Imperfective - A non-punctual, repeated or habitual action occurring in the past or a state that continued in the past.
In the typical verbal paradigm, Neutral and Perfective forms are not reduplicated, whereas the Imperfective and the Past Imperfective are reduplicated. The Imperfective and the Past Imperfective are marked for initiation.
Conjugation Pattern Non-InitiatedInitiatedSimpleNeutralPerfectiveReduplicatedImperfectivePast Imperfective
In a typical paradigm the chart would appear as the following: Conjugation Pattern Non-InitiatedInitiatedSimple [AFFIX] [AFFIX+N]Reduplicated [AFFIX]+[CVC] [AFFIX+N]+[CVC]
[AFFIX] is the verbal affix. [AFFIX+N] is the verbal affix modified for initiation. In many of the paradigms, the mark of initiation is N, for example, nag-, na-, and -in-. [CVC] is the reduplicated syllable of the root.
Future The future is not encoded with a particular verbal form. It is shown by affixing the enclitic -(n)to to the neutral form of the verb. The enclitic is not very cohesive. When it attaches, the personal pronoun enclitics intervene. If the preceding morpheme ends in a vowel, the form is -nto, otherwise, -to.
Examples: Kitaen to see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus]
Kitaento to about to see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + to[Fut. Part.]
Kitaennanto He/she will see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + na[3rd Person Singular Ergative] + nto[Fut. Part.]
Kitaendakto They will see me kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + dak[3rd Per. Plu. Erg./1st Per. Sing.] + to[Fut. Part.]
Focus Ilocano, like other Philippine languages, has an Austronesian morphosyntactic alignment. The verb is capable of tracking (focusing) on particular noun phrases within the sentence. Ilokano verbs are capable of focusing on noun phrases with the following thematic roles: Agent, Patient, Commitative, Directional, Benefactive, Thematic and Instrumental.
The Agent focus requires only one noun phrase. According to Galvino (2000), the affixes in the Agent focus are Intransitive, because the verb form does not require another noun phrase to complete its meaning. The noun phrase is the agent or the experiencer of the action.
The remaining foci, Patient, Commitative, Directional, Benefactive, Thematic and Instrumental require the presence of two theta roles: the agent noun phrase and the focused noun phrase. Galvino (2000) terms these as Transitive.
Potentially, all roots can be cast into all of the foci. Due to the semantics of the root, however, not many do in practice. Roots can differ in meaning when cast into different foci. The difference can be a slight nuance to almost opposite in meaning. For example, if the root dalus clean is cast in the Patient focus, the resulting meaning is to clean (something). But, if cast in the Directional focus, the resulting meaning is to clean (something) off, the focused noun phrase becomes the area affected instead of the object affected.
Foci and Corresponding AffixesFocusConjugationExampleGlossAgent <um> gumatang to buy ag- aggatang to buy (again and again), to shop mang- manggatang to buy ma- maturog to sleepPatient -en dalusen to clean (something)Commitative ka- kasao to talk with (someone)Locative -an dalusan to clean (something) off Thematic i- iruar to put (something) outside Benefactive i> <an igatangan to buy for someone Instrumental pag- pagdalus to use something to clean
Agent Focus Verbs cast in this focus throw emphasis on the noun phrase with the agent or experiencer role in the sentence. Impersonal verbs and verbs describing natural phenomenon occur with this focus, for example Agar-arbis It is drizzling.On the other hand, non null-subject languages will require a subject with verbs of natural phenomenon, for example, It is raining (English), Es regnet (German) and Il pleut (French). The pronoun does not refer to anything, but it is required by the grammar that a subject exists in the subject frame.
Noun phrases in the agent role are introduced by the core forms of the articles, ti for common nouns and ni for personal nouns. The enclitic absolutive (-ak series) of personal pronouns replace these noun phrases. If the verb can take a direct object, it is marked by the oblique forms of the articles, deictives and pronouns, for example, Nangan iti saba He ate a banana. Notice how the direct object is indefinite.
Patient role noun phrases (direct objects) of verbs are introduced by the oblique forms. In addition, Patients of verbs cast in the agent focus are indefinite.In sentences where the agent role and the patient role noun phrase is the same, casting a verb in the agent or the patient focus changes the definiteness of the patient role noun phrase. When the verb is cast in the agent focus, the patient is indefinite, Gimmatangak ti aso I bought a dog (no specific dog is referenced). If cast in the patient focus, the patient role noun phrase become definite, Ginatangko ti aso I bought the dog (referring to a particular dog).
There are four affixes in this focus category: ag-, -um-, mang- and ma-. Roots will prefer to take only one or some of the prefixes. In some cases the meaning changes from one affix to another, for example, ngisit, black. If ag- is affixed, agngisit, the meaning is that of there is a likelihood of becoming black or to darken, for example Nagngisitka, You darkened.Incidentally, this is the intensive form of the adjective with the addition of -en. This is to say, that the state has been attained with some amazement of the speaker. However, with -um-, ngumisit, the meaning becomes more of a possibility or conjecture, Ngumisngisitkansa iti tengnat' aldaw, You might get darker at midday.
Ag- The verbal prefix ag- is very productive and can verbalize a large number of roots. If a new word were to enter the language, most likely this is the prefix used to verbalize it, for example, the fictitious baz: agbaz to "baz".
If the root takes either ag- or -um-, the additional meaning of ag- are some of the following: Repetition of the action Long duration of the action With some roots, the attainment of the root, for example, dakkel, big, agdakkel to be big, doktor doctor, agdoktor to be a doctor. The actor is in full control (internally motivated) The certainty of the action because it is habitually occurring or frequently occurring. Denotes the action taken on with the root, palsiit blowgun, agpalsiit to shoot with the blowgun, use the blowgun. (Compare with -um- below.)
Ag- Aspect Form Example Gloss Neutral ag- agtaray to run Continuous Progressive agCVC- agtartaray is/was running Perfective nag- nagtaray ran has/have run Continuous Complete nagCVC- nagtartaray was/were running used to run would run
<um> The verbal prefix <um>, is inserted, or infixed, to the first syllable of the root.
Some of the meanings imparted using this infix are: A single action or an action that is not as long in duration as what is denoted by ag-. With certain roots, using <um> denotes the act of "becoming" the root, for example, lakay old man, lumakay to grow older, to become older (said of males), to become an old man. The actor is externally or circumstantially motivated. The possibility of the action. (Compare with ag- above.)
<um> Aspect Form Example Gloss Neutral <um> gumatang to buy Continuous Progressive C<um>VC~ gumatgatang buys is/are buying Perfective <imm> gimmatang bought has/have bought Continuous Complete C<imm>VC~ gimmatgatang is/was buying used to buy would buy
Ag- Versus <um> The affixes ag- and <um> are very similar. Many verbs take either and have little difference in meaning. Other verbs are drastically differentiated. Below is a chart contrasting the two.
Ag- Versus <um> Feature Ag- <um> Repetition Multiple At least once, Very few Duration Long Short Motivation Internal External, Circumstantial Control Controlled Not Controlled Probability Likely Conjectured State Attained In progress, Becoming
Examples Feature Ag- <um> Root Repetition aginom, to drink often, drink alcohol uminom, to drink (water, juice, etc.) inom, drink Duration agtakder, to stand tumakder, to stand up takder, upright Motivation agkabaw, to be forgetful, go senile kumabaw, to become senile kabaw, senile Controlagsao, to speak sumao, to speak up, to be heardsao, word, speech Probability agkagat, to bite (likely) kumagat, to bite (seemingly) kagat, (a) bite State agbaknang, to be rich bumaknang, to become rich baknang, riches
Mang- The mang- prefix is used to denote the following: Collection or gathering Purchase Movement Occupation and identification
The final nasal, , of the prefix commonly becomes the homorganic nasal of the first consonant of the root which disappears or remains.
This affix is used when it is necessary to make a normally transitive verb, a verb that commonly occurs with -en, -an or i-, intransitive for syntactic reasons. These verbs will take mang- in such instances.
Nasal assimilation Consonant Nasal Form Example Root Example Form /p/,/b/,/m/ /m/ mam- baka, cow mamaka, to buy cows /t/,/d/,/s/,/n/ /n/ man- talon, field manalon, to work in the field, farmer , , mang- kayo, wood, tree mangayo, to collect wood, wood collector All others mang- ubas, grapes mangubas, to gather grapes
Mang- Aspect Form Example Gloss Neutral mang- mangrugi to start Continuous Progressive mangCVC- mangrugrugi starts is/are starting Perfective nang- nangrugi started has/had startedContinuous Complete nangCVC- nangrugrugi was/were starting used to start would start
Ma- There are few verbs with active meaning that use this prefix. Some of these are maturog (<turog), to sleep, mapan (<pan), to go, magna (<pagna irregular formation), to walk. Because of the semantics of these roots, they cannot take a direct object.
In the continuous progressive form, the prefix participates in reduplication taking the first consonant as its final, unlike the other verbal prefixes.
Lastly, ma- is similar in form to the ma- potentive. They differ in terms of the series of pronouns they are able to take: ma- (agent) take -ak pronouns; ma- (potentives) take -ko.