When we want to talk about doing, saying or thinking anything we need to use verbs (action words). Suffixes are put onto the end of verbs to describe when, how, or why the action took place. For example, in English ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ are suffixes. Compare talk, talking, talked; listen, listening, listened. In this lesson we will be learning the Present tense, Past tense and Future tense verb forms. We will also look at some example sentences for each of these. We will also learn how to say you are ‘not’ doing something (negative), how to say you ‘intend’ to do something (intentional), how to tell someone to do something (command), and how to say ‘in order’ to do something (purposive).
Building Action Words
First up, here is a list of 20 Tanganekald verbs. A suffix (ending) is added at the end of these ‘roots’ to show when or how the action is happening.
kiyal- | to turn back | |
kraw- | to bury (something) | |
kung- | to listen/hear/understand (something) | |
kungul- | to look out (for something) | |
kurunul- | to ask, to enquire | |
malk- | to crawl, to stalk (someone) | |
miwur- | to wish, to desire | |
morp- | to watch (something) | |
muth- | to drink (something) | |
nak- | to see (something) | |
ngarr- | to build/make (something) | |
ngey- | to sit down | |
ngolk- | to bite (something) | |
ngop- | to go, to walk | |
pul- | to swim | |
tam- | to hit (something) | |
thak- | to eat (something) | |
warra(w)- | to bring/fetch/carry (something) | |
wang- | to hear (something) | |
yan- | to talk, to speak, to say |
Present Tense
Present tense is used to talk about actions which are happening now. -ing is an example of a present tense suffix in English, for example 'running', 'jumping'. The present tense suffix in Tanganekald is -un or -in. This gets added to the end of the verb 'roots' that we have just learned. Here are those Tanganekald verbs in present tense.
kiyalun | turn back | |
krawun | bury | |
kungun | listen, hear, understand | |
kungulun | look out | |
kurunulun | ask, enquire | |
malkun | crawl, stalk | |
miwurun | wish, desire | |
morpun | watch | |
muthun | drink | |
nakun | see | |
ngarrun | build, make | |
ngeyun | sit down | |
ngolkun | bite | |
ngopun | go, walk | |
pulun | swim | |
tamun | hit | |
thakun | eat | |
warrawun | bring, fetch, carry | |
wangun | hear | |
yanun | talk, speak, say |
Here are some sentence examples using those present tense verbs.
Panmauri-il nandurri ngolkun. | The dog is biting the man. | |
Ngati mantri thakun. | I am eating an emu apple. | |
Ngun Tanganekald ruminyeri yanun! | We are talking Tanganekald language! |
panmauri means ‘dog’, the ending -il shows the dog is doing the action in this sentence, nandurri means ‘man’ and ngolkun means ‘biting’. Ngati means ‘I’, mantri means ’emu apple’ and thakun means ‘eating’. Ngun means ‘we’, ruminyeri means ‘language’ and yanun means ‘talking’.
Past tense
Past tense is used to talk about actions which happened in the past. -ed is an example of a past tense suffix in English, for example 'walked', 'talked'.
The past tense suffix in Tanganekald is –ur or –ir. This gets added to the end of the verb ‘roots’ that we have learned.
If you are asking a question in the past tense however, you must use –ung or –ing.
Here are those Tanganekald verbs in past tense.
kiyalur | turned back | |
krawur | buried | |
kungur | listened, heard, understood | |
kungulur | looked out for | |
kurunulur | asked, enquired | |
malkur | crawled, stalked | |
miwurur | wished, desired | |
morpur | watched | |
muthur | drank | |
nakur | saw | |
ngarrur | built, made | |
ngeyur | sat down | |
ngolkur | bit | |
ngopur | went, walked | |
pulur | swam | |
tamur | hit | |
thakur | ate | |
warrawur | brought, fetched, carried | |
wangur | heard | |
yanur | talked, spoke, said |
Here are some example sentences using these past tense verbs.
Alice Menengeng-ungai ngeregei ngopur. | Alice went to Meningie at dawn. | |
Panmauri pulur. | The dog swam. | |
Ngenta kuwadjani wangur? | Did you hear the kookaburra? | |
Yekau, ngati kuwadjani wangur. | Yes, I heard the kookaburra. |
Menengeng means ‘Meningie’ and the ending –ungai means ‘to’, ngeregei means ‘dawn’ and ngopur means ‘went’. Panmauri means ‘dog’ and pulur means ‘swam’. Ngenta means ‘you’, kuwadjani means ‘kookaburra’ and wangur means ‘heard’. Yekau means ‘yes’ and ngati means ‘I’.
Future tense
Future tense is used to talk about actions which are happening in the future. 'will walk', 'will talk' are examples of the future tense in English.
The future tense suffix in Tanganekald is -an or -ani. This gets added to the end of the verb 'roots' that we have learned. Here are those Tanganekald verbs in future tense.
kiyalan | will turn back | |
krawan | will bury | |
kungan | will listen, hear, understand | |
kungulan | will look out for | |
kurunulan | will ask, will enquire | |
malkan | will crawl, will stalk | |
miwuran | will wish for, will desire | |
morpan | will watch | |
muthan | will drink | |
nakan | will see | |
ngarran | will build, will make | |
ngeyan | will sit down | |
ngolkan | will bite | |
ngopan | will go, will walk | |
pulan | will swim | |
taman | will hit | |
thakan | will eat | |
warrawan | will bring, fetch, carry | |
wangan | will hear | |
yanan | will talk, speak, say |
Here are some example sentences using these past tense verbs.
Ngati kin kurunulan. | I will ask her. | |
Nakan ya! | See ya! | |
Maranu-il tjininyeri morpan. | Big sister will watch the baby. |
ngati means 'I', kin means 'her' and kurunulan means 'will ask' . Nakan means 'will see', and ya is English (as in 'see ya'). Maranu means 'big sister', the ending -il shows that big sister is doing the action of the sentence, tjininyeri means 'baby' and morpan means 'will watch'.
Other verb forms
There are many other verb forms in Tanganekald, which create different meanings. Here are some more examples. Negative The negative verb form is used to say that something did not or is not happening.
thakiambi | may not eat | |
wangiambi | may not hear |
The suffix -iambi on verbs means 'may not, not'.
Intentional
The intentional verb form is used to say that someone intends to do something.
thakal | intend to eat | |
tamil | intend to hit |
The suffix -il or al on verbs means 'intend to' do something. Command The command verb form is used to tell someone to do something.
ngolk! | bite (it)! | |
warra! | bring (it)! |
Notice that the command form of a verb is the same as the 'root' form we learned at the start of the lesson. There is no additional suffix added to the end of the verb. Purposive The purposive verb form is used when saying that something must happen in order for something else to happen.
ngopurambi | in order to go | |
kurunulurambi | in order to ask |
The suffix -urambi is used to mean ‘in order to’ do something.