Gallifreyan Verbs
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A short and (hopefully) simple walkthrough of how verbs work in Circular Gallifreyan.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 5 Dec 2017, 19:45.
[comments] verbconjugationaspectmoodgrammarverb casesmos
8. Verb Tenses
Verbs in Skegletorahh-gallã don't need to be conjugated or match gender nor number (at least most of them anyway). Instead, they use adpositions to indicate the time of the action and whether it is complete or ongoing. Others verbal distinctions in Skegletorahh-gallã include: transitivity (it happens), reflexivity (it happens to the subject) and polite or rude imperativeness (I order you to.../ Please,...). [top]Infinitive
The infinitive form of the verb is represented with the prefix zai-.
[top]Tenses
Tenses indicate the time in which an action is taking place. All over the years tenses in Skegletorahh-gallã have been evolving. By the times of Old High Gallifreyan there were around 200 tenses but with the constant modernization of the language those tenses that were rarely used became obsolete. The actual Modern Gallifreyan has only 32 'practical' tenses.
The tenses table can be viewed here.
[top]Imperative Mood
The Imperative can only be used in the present or future tense and consists of 3 forms:
[top]Alternate Universes
The tenses for Alternate Universes are conformed of the auxiliary, the verb and the suffix -kalra.
Example:
Although, only 10 of the verb tenses can be used in the AU mode:
1. Present
2. Past Perfect
3. Past Imperfect
4. Past Anterior
5. Future
6. Future Perfect
7. Future Continuous
8. Pluperfect
9. Saudade
10. Conditional Perfect
[top]Timelines
It's not necessary to specify in which or whose timeline the actions are being performed, nevertheless, if you're engaging conversation with someone not in sync with your time-stream it'd be a big help to add a Timeline Specifier when conjugating a verb. There are 4 timelines in which one can talk so things don't get all wibly-wobley:
1. Personal Timeline: The Timeline of the speaker not the subject who commits the action. Used generally when the subject is not present. It's represented with the word źan [t͡ʂan] after the verb.
2. Individual Timeline: The Timeline of the subject who commits the action. Used generally when the subject is also the speaker. It's represented with the word źana [t͡ʂɒ.na] before the verb.
3. Main Timeline: The Timeline of the subject who commits the action. Used when the subject isn't the same as the speaker. It's represented with the word źani [t͡ʂa.ni] after the verb.
4. Universal Timeline: The Timeline of the Universe, the one that never changes. It's represented with the word źante [t͡ʂan.te] at the beginning of the sentence.
5. Gallifreyan Timeline: Gallifrey is located in a Micro-Universe outside of Time, thus when you are on Gallifrey you are in Inner Time, “outside” of the Universe. This keeps Gallifreyan history and continuity separated from the rest of the Universe. This Timeline Specifier is used with the Personal, Individual and Main Timelines. It's represented with the word źańe [t͡ʂa.ɳe] at the other side of the verb in relation of the second timeline specifier.
[top]Fixed Points in Time
Time Lords can see what is, what could be, what used to be, what must never happen and what must never change (fixed points in time).
To talk about the former three we use the Possible Future, Forgettable Past and the Inconceivable tenses respectively. But when it comes to fixed points in time, simply add the word baghk [ʙaɠk] after the conjugated verb. Some count this as the 33rd verb tense of the Gallifreyan language.
[top]To Be
To Be is a very special verb in Gallifreyan. First, there are 2 forms of the verb To Be, pretty much like in Spanish, and secondly, both of them are optional verbs.
- -The first to be is zai-olvs-hekgonn [zaiʔol.ves.ħek.gon:] which is used for sentences like “to be someone” or “to be something”.
- -The second to be is zai-jekkçamp [zaiħ.d͡ʒek:.θamp]. This one is used in sentences like “to be somewhere” or “to be with someone”.
Olvs-hekgonn and jekkçamp aren't common verbs in Skegletorahh-gallã. Sometimes even, it's not necessary to add them to the sentence at all.
In this example whether you add jekkçamp or not is irrelevant because the listener will understand that the table is outside. Same thing happens with the Indicative Possession, where the suffixes -heç and -ehç replace olvs-hekgonn altogether. One could even dare to say both To Be are just used to indicate emphasis.
[top]Participle
Participle verbs are replaced by nouns in Gallifreyan. Instead of saying “Made in Mars” you will say “Fabrication in Mars”.
[top]Irregular Verbs
While all Gallifreyan verbs are only conjugated according to tenses, irregular verbs also need to concord in number. That means they need especial suffixes to match the number of the pronoun. In the case of singular pronouns there's no need to add a suffix, it's just when we're talking about plurals that things get complicated.
-For the plurals in the 1st person it's necessary to add hhe [ɦe] at the end of the verb.
-For the 2nd person we use the suffix an [an]. If the verb ends in one or more vowels they should be eliminated and replaced with the suffix alone: e.g. ńaltsẽ [ɳal.tsẽ] (be lost) → ńaltsan [ɳal.tsan]
-Finally, for the 3rd person we add the suffix iz [iz]. If the verb ends in one or more vowels we proceed like in the case of the 2nd person suffix.
Most irregular verbs are reflexive verbs but some regular verbs become irregular with context. In this table you'll find a list of the irregular verbs, all of them with their correct spelling once the suffixes are added. In the list you'll learn in which context some regular verbs become irregular as well.
[top]Verb Cases
Gallifreyan verbs have seven cases with one or several adpositions each.
[top]To Be in the Sate of...
We already learned when we read about the emotional nouns that there's an especial To Be verb used exclusively to describe emotions: zai-zaphod [zaiħ.zap.χod].
"I'm in love" in Skegletorahh-gallã would read as follows: Pira jyei lomã zaphod, which literally translates as “I am in the state of love”
Now, if you want to tell someone that you love them, you'll have to use the rule of the Emotional Response Verb, which consists of the verb x_ly (make) with the affix u after both pronouns.
This rule is used with all the emotional nouns.
[top]Aspect
Aspect in Gallifreyan denotes frequency, intentionality, cause and intention. There are 9 general aspect forms, some with their own subdivisions. The use of some of these aspects is generally optional as their use is not truly necessary, making it up to the speaker to decide how much information he intends to give.
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