Editing D'ni grammar (section)

== Verbs ==
=== Infinitive ===
In English, that is done by putting "to" before the verb, e.g. "to see". In D'ni, it is done in a very similar way: ''b'yim'', "to see"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/verbals.html|title=Verbals and Their Use|website=A First Survey of the Facts for Writing D'ni|access-date=September 6, 2020|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050506165844/http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/verbals.html|archive-date=May 6, 2005}}</ref>
. The D'ni particle can also be used as a preposition, just like in English.

{| class="wikitable"
| '''b'''', '''b–'''
| to
|}

Examples:
: {{dni-text|b'-|yim}} "to see";
: {{dni-text|b'-|baykh}} "to link".


=== "To be" vs "to exist" ===
The verb ''b'ken'' "to be" also means "to exist"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/othersentence.html|title=Other Sentence Forms|website=A First Survey of the Facts for Writing D'ni|access-date=September 6, 2020|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050506165912/http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/othersentence.html|archive-date=May 6, 2005}}</ref>:

: {{dni-text|.|re-|kor||ken|-en||tomet}} "the book is here"
: {{dni-text|.|ken|-en||erth-|kor}} "there is a book"

=== Inflection ===
In English, only the 3rd person singular is marked, by adding an "–s" to the root. In D'ni all persons are marked differently; for this reason the verb is never preceded by a pronoun (I, you, we, etc.). Note that the 1st person singular is just the root.

{| class="wikitable"
!
! sing
! plur
|-
| ''1st''
| yim<br/>I see
| yim'''et'''<br/>we see
|-
| ''2nd''
| yim'''em'''<br/>you see
| yim'''tee'''<br/>you see
|-
| ''3rd''
| yim'''en'''<br/>he/she sees
| yim'''eet'''<br/>they see
|}


Examples:
: [[Atrus|Aytrus]] {{dni-text|ken}}-{{dni-text|-en||erth-|seltahn||tso||sev|-tee}} "Atrus <u>is</u> a Writer of Ages";
: {{dni-text|ken}}-{{dni-text|-tee||choor|-tahn|-tee}} "you <u>are</u> students".


=== Tenses ===
Like English, D'ni has both ''simple'' ("I read") and ''continuous'' ("I am reading") tenses, each in ''simple'' ("I read") and ''perfect'' ("I have read") form.

{| class="wikitable"
| 
| ''past''
| ''present''
| ''future''
|-
| ''simple''
| '''ko'''–gelen
| gelen
| '''bo'''–gelen
|-
| 
| she wrote
| she writes
| she will write
|-
| 
|-
| ''continuous''
| '''kodo'''-gelen
| '''do'''-gelen
| '''bodo'''-gelen
|-
| 
| she was writing
| she is writing
| she will be writing
|-
| 
|-
| ''perfect''
| '''kol'''–gelen
| '''le'''–gelen
| '''bol'''–gelen
|-
| 
| she had written
| she has written
| she will have written
|-
| 
|-
| perf. cont.
| '''kodol'''-gelen
| '''dol'''-gelen
| '''bodol'''-gelen
|-
| 
| she had been writing
| she has been writing
| she will have been writing
|}

The perfect forms are formed with the simple forms + ''le'', which loses the ''e'' when not by itself.

The future perfect has an alternative (and less common) form ''boko–''. It is advisable to stick with ''bol–''.

The progressive forms are formed with the simple forms + ''do''.


Examples:
: {{dni-text|le-}}–{{dni-text|hoor|-em||gorahyan|-oy}} "you have found my clock"
: {{dni-text|bo-}}-{{dni-text|laysoo|-em||tah||b'-|zoo}} "you will bring it to me"

: {{dni-text|re-|doyhah||do-}}-{{dni-text|mahlah|-en}} "the machine is coming"
: {{dni-text|dol-}}-{{dni-text|gid|-en||ben||pahrtahvo|-tee||vahgahfah}} "it has been excavating for six hours"

=== Passives ===

Only a few, ambiguous rules can be inferred from the sources. In general, the usage is as follow (scheme by Khreestrefah):

{| class="wikitable"
| '''Adjectival passives'''
| ("-[]" ''marks a verb to be inflected'' )
|-
| <verb>-in
| rekor oshahn'''in''' okh pahtstee oglahn
|-
| 
| "The <u>lost</u> book of ancient cities"
|-
| ken-[] <verb>-in
| to met '''ken'''en bahvahn'''in'''
|-
| 
| "This place is [<u>hidden</u>]"
|-
| '''Passive infinitives'''
| 
|-
| b'ken <verb>-ij
| kenen gor khrezithahthtee '''b'ken''' elon'''ij'''
|-
| 
| "It is time for the lowest ones <u>to be raised</u>"
|-
| '''Present passives'''
| 
|-
| ken-[] <verb>-ij
| renezetahn '''kenen''' k'tesh'''ij''' trelenah
|-
| 
| "The reader <u>is entertained</u> by the journey"
|-
| '''Future passives'''
| 
|-
| boken-[] <verb>-ij
| ril'''boken'''et veren'''ij'''
|-
| 
| "We will not be mollified"
|-
| '''Past passives'''
| 
|-
| kodo<verb>-[]
| rebishtah '''kodo'''lahsahen trefilahdh
|-
| 
| "The tunnel <u>was sealed</u> at the top"
|-
| koken-[] ko<verb>-[]
| retiwah '''koken'''en '''ko'''sayen t'telooknahvah gahrten
|-
| 
| "The shaft <u>was designed</u> by Surveyors Guild Master Garten"
|-
| '''Perfect passives'''
| 
|-
| dol<verb>-[]-ij
| khahpo rezuhnuh ril'''dol'''gelen'''ij''' gahth
|-
| 
| "Perhaps the ending <u>has</u> not yet <u>been written</u>"
|-
| '''Conditional passives'''
| 
|-
| do<verb>-[]
| khoy hevtee met '''do'''hooreet pahl rifoonemah roo ...
|-
| 
| "If these words <u>are found</u> then remember that..."
|-
| '''Passive absolutes'''
| 
|-
| <verb>-en
| shol'''en''' te telookahm Aytruhs
|-
| 
| "<u>Prepared</u> by Surveyors Guildsman Aitrus"
|}


In short, these are the attested passive forms:

{| class="wikitable"
| 
| ''past''
| ''present''
| ''future''
|-
| ''simple''
| '''kokenen ko'''–gelen,<br />'''kodo'''–gelen
| '''kenen''' gel–'''ij'''
| '''bokenen''' gel–'''ij'''
|-
| 
| it was written
| it is written
| it will be written
|-
| 
|-
| ''continuous''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it was being written
| it is being written
| it will be being written
|-
| 
|-
| ''perfect''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| '''dol'''–gelen–'''ij'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it had been written
| it has been written
| it will have been written
|-
| 
|-
| perf. cont.
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it had been being written
| it has been being written
| it will have been being written
|}


Notes:
* A clue to the verb being passive is the absence of a direct object with a transitive verb.
* The suffix -''ij'' might be required only by verbs not explicitly passive: compare ''rem'lah kodoreesenij'' "the lizard was eaten" and ''rem'lah kodoreesen'' "the lizard was eating". Where the verb cannot be intransitive, the prefix ''do''- appears sufficient: ''Aytruhs kododormahdhen'' (''te Gen'') "Atrus was defeated (by Gehn)".
* Passives where the subject is implicit seem to take the ''ken'' auxiliary: ''redoo kodoreesenij te Aytruhs'' "the food was eaten by Atrus", but *''ril bodoverenetij'' > ''rilbokenet verenij'' "we won't be mollified" (lit. "it won't be us mollified").
* The form ''koken [en] ko-'' appears to be a paraphrase of ''kodo-''; it is still unclear if they are interchangeable or if there are cases in which form is preferred.


=== Participles and moods ===

The ''imperative'' is expressed with a suffix, while the ''potential'' and ''optative'' moods are expressed by adding a word after the verb. The imperative can also be used with the 1st plural person ("let's go!").

{| class="wikitable"
| <b>–ah</b>
| imperative
|-
| <b>v. + voohee</b>
| potential ("can/could")
|-
| <b>v. + yeret</b>
| optative ("may")
|-
| <b>chahn + v.</b>
| potential ("able to"?)
|}

''yeret'' is possibly a crystallised form from "we wish". "Cannot" is ''rilvoohee''. The additional modifier ''chahn–'' "able to" is only attested once, so its precise usage is uncertain.<br />
It appears that ''voohee'' precedes the verb either when the phrase supports a subordinate, or when the phrase is interrogative.


Examples:
: {{dni-text|.tahg|-em|-ah||b'-|zoo||ah||re-|kor}}! "give me the book!"
: {{dni-text|.|eder|-et||voohee}}? "we could rest"
: {{dni-text|.|eder|-tee||yeret||ahgo}} "may you sleep well"
: {{dni-text|.|oshahn||ril|voohee}} "I cannot lose"


Potentials and optatives can be combined:
: {{dni-text|.|gel|-en||voohee}} "she could write"
: {{dni-text|.|gel|-en||yeret}} "may she write"

: {{dni-text|.|chahn|choor|-en||b'-|gel}} "she is able to learn to write"
: {{dni-text|.|choor|-en||voohee||b'-|gel}} "she could learn to write"
: {{dni-text|.|choor|-en||yeret||b'-|gel}} "may she learn to write"

: {{dni-text|.|kamrov||voohee||bel|-en||roo||gel|-en||voohee}} "who could claim that they could write?"
: {{dni-text|.|bel|-en||yeret||roo||gel|-en||voohee}} "may she claim that she could write"


The ''–ah'' suffix also appears to be used as a superlative, e.g. ''zithahth'' "the Least", from ''zith'' "low" + ''ah'' + the adjective-to-noun ''-th'' suffix (see below).

The present and past participle are formed with suffixes, and usually act as adjectives.

{| class="wikitable"
| <b>–ahl</b>
| present partic.
|-
| <b>–in</b>
| past partic.
|}


The past participle should not be confused with the passive form ''-ij'', although the differences between the two are not completely understood<ref>{{cite web|url=http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/participle.html|title=The Past Participle|website=A First Survey of the Facts for Writing D'ni|access-date=September 6, 2020|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050506165901/http://linguists.bahro.com/domahreh/grammar/chapter2/participle.html|archive-date=May 6, 2005}}</ref>.