User:Rua/Slovene verbs

Stems and principal parts
Verb forms are made out of three parts: the stem, the vowel suffix and the ending. For example, in the form, the stem is nos-, the vowel suffix is -i- and the ending is -ti. The vowel suffix may sometimes be missing, so that the ending is attached directly to the stem, for example in, and.

The conjugation of a Slovene verb cannot be determined from the infinitive alone. Instead, a second form, the first-person singular of the present tense, must be known in order to derive all the forms. These two forms are the two principal parts of a verb.
 * The infinitive stem is the form of the infinitive without the ending -ti. The infinitive, supine, l-participle and past passive participle are derived from it. The infinitive stem can have a vowel suffix (-a-, -e-, -i-) or consist of the stem only.
 * The present stem is the form of the first-person singular of the present tense without the ending -m. The present tense, imperative and present active participle are derived from it. The present stem always has a vowel suffix, which can be -a-, -e- or -i-.

Accentual patterns
Slovene verbs follow various accentual patterns, detailed here.
 * Invariable accent. The accent is acute or circumflex, in the same position on the stem and with the same tone, in all forms.
 * Accent pattern a. The accent is on the last syllable of the stem in all forms. It is acute in the infinitive and circumflex in the present tense.
 * Accent pattern b. The infinitive is acute-accented, usually on the vowel suffix if there is one, on the stem otherwise. Acute accent on the stem in the present tense. In the l-participle, the masculine singular is short-accented on the vowel suffix or acute on the stem, the feminine singular is circumflex on the vowel suffix, and the other forms are acute on the vowel suffix.
 * Accent pattern c. The infinitive is acute-accented, on the vowel suffix if there is one, on the stem otherwise. In the present tense, acute accent on the vowel suffixes -a- and -i-, acute on the stem if the vowel suffix is -e-. In the l-participle, the feminine singular is acute-accented, and all other forms circumflex-accented.

The following table gives an overview of the different accent patterns:

Not all conjugation classes have examples for all three accent patterns. For example, verbs of the -niti/-nem type only occur in patterns a and b. There are also some systematic exceptions to the patterns:
 * In verbs of the -ati, -am type of pattern b, the present tense has circumflex accent on the vowel suffix.
 * In verbs of the -eti/-ati, -im type of pattern c, the accentuation of the l-participle is like pattern b.
 * A small group of verbs such as and  have circumflex on the stem in the present tense like pattern a, but follow patterns b and c otherwise.

The accentuation of the l-participle has more differences and exceptions. These are detailed under the l-participle section.

Present tense
The present tense has the following endings, which are attached to the present stem:

All forms of the present tense are accented the same way, either on the vowel suffix or on the stem before. In root verbs of accent pattern c, the accented ending -ọ́ also occurs as an optional alternative. This ending replaces the vowel suffix of the present stem, and is accented even when the other present-tense forms have stem accent, thus but nesọ́.

Imperative
The imperative mood has no forms for the first person singular or the third person of any number. It has the following endings, which are attached to the present stem:

The imperative ending usually replaces the vowel suffix, and triggers the Slavic second palatalization. The combination -ji- is simplified to -j-, and the accent moved onto the previous syllable if necessary. The accentuation of all dual and plural forms of the imperative is the same, with either accent on the stem or circumflex accent on the -ȋ-. The singular imperative form normally has accent on the stem.

If the vowel suffix is -a-, the imperative has a longer stem -aj-. When the endings are attached, -aji- simplifies to -aj-.

Infinitive
The infinitive is the basic verb form found in dictionaries, and ends in -ti (sometimes -či).

When the infinitive or supine endings are attached to a stem ending in a consonant, that consonant may change, as follows:


 * -p-ti → -psti
 * -b-ti → -bsti
 * -d-ti → -sti
 * -t-ti → -sti
 * -st-ti → -sti
 * -z-ti → -sti
 * -g-ti → -či
 * -k-ti → -či

Supine
The supine ends in -t (sometimes -č), and is formed by dropping the last -i of the infinitive. It is used instead of the infinitive with verbs of motion.

The accentuation of the supine is normally the same as the accentuation of the masculine singular form of the l-participle. In one-syllable forms, the supine is circumflex-accented regardless of accent type:, ,. In some cases, a short vowel is allowed alongside the long one: /nȅst, /žȅt.

l-participle
The l-participle is used in forming the past tense, and thus could also be named "past-tense participle". It declines like an adjective, but is used only predicatively, and therefore exists only in the nominative case. It is formed by adding -l to the infinitive stem, which is always pronounced in the masculine singular form. If the infinitive stem has no vowel suffix, a fill vowel (schwa, -e-) is inserted in the masculine singular form as well.

The l-participle is accentually a bit more complex, as it can have different accentuations in the three singular forms. The dual and plural forms always follow the neuter singular form in accentuation. With this understanding, the accentual patterns for the l-participle are given here with the three singular forms. Verbs with invariable accent obviously have the same accentuation in the l-participle as well. The various types of variable accent are detailed here.
 * For verbs with accent pattern a, the feminine singular allows both accents, and the other forms are acute: mīslila míslilo.
 * Verbs of the special type are accented like pattern c, but allow both accents in the feminine singular: sejȃl sejāla sejȃlo.
 * The verb has a pattern b participle: skóčil skočȋla skočílo.
 * For verbs with accent pattern b, the masculine singular is either short-accented or acute one syllable to the left, the feminine singular is circumflex, and the other forms are acute: klečȃla klečálo and  klȃla klálo.
 * In verbs in which the infinitive stem ends in -e-, the feminine singular allows both accents: želẹ̄la želẹ́lo.
 * For verbs with accent pattern c, the feminine singular is acute-accented, and the other forms circumflex-accented: dušíla dušȋlo and  píla pȋlo.
 * In some prefixed verbs, the accent may be one syllable to the left in the masculine singular form: pomnožíla pomnožȋlo.
 * Verbs of the type -eti/-ati, -im follow the accentuation of pattern b, some optionally also of pattern c.

Special consideration applies to verbs whose infinitive stem has only one syllable.
 * If the infinitive stem ends in a consonant, all three accent patterns are accented the same, with circumflex in the masculine singular, acute in the other forms: krádla krádlo and  grízla grízlo.
 * An exception are verbs that have an open-mid vowel in the l-participle; these are acute throughout: nésla néslo and  mógla móglo.
 * An exception to this, in turn, are verbs with an infinitive stem ending in -d- or -t-, which allow both accents throughout: /brẹ̄del brēdla brēdlo.
 * If the infinitive stem ends in a vowel other than -a-, accent patterns a and b have acute accent, but short accent in the masculine singular: bíla bílo and  mlẹ́la mlẹ́lo. Verbs of this type often allow accent as in pattern c:  obúla obȗlo alongside obȕl obúla obúlo.

Some irregularities:
 * The verb (AP b) allows both accents in all forms but the masculine singular: smȅl/smẹ̑l smẹ̄la smẹ̄lo.
 * The verbs and  (AP c) have acute in all forms: bál bála bálo and stál stála stálo.

Present active participle
The present active participle is used with imperfective verbs, and comes in an adjectival and an adverbial form. Both are formed from the present-tense stem.

The adjectival present participle is formed in different ways depending on the vowel suffix of the present stem:

In verbs with an infinitive in -či, the Slavic first palatalization is undone before the ending -ọ̄č.

The adjectival participle declines for case, gender and number, like any other adjective. The accent is on the same syllable on all forms, and in all forms except the masculine nominative singular (given above in the table), the accent is acute. The participle is accented this way for all verbs, regardless of their own accentual pattern.

The masculine nominative singular form of the adjectival participle can be used adverbially as well, but there is also a special adverbial form, which is more rare. For verbs in -ovati/-ujem, the ending -ujẹ̄ is archaic, and is usually replaced by -ovȃje, as if it had the vowel suffix -a-.

Past passive participle
The past passive participle is an adjective. It is always passive and perfective in meaning, and therefore only exists for transitive verbs, and almost only if they are perfective. It is formed from the infinitive stem, using two possible endings, the most common by far of which is -n:

In verbs with the vowel suffix -i-, the ending causes iotation of the preceding consonant: &rarr; nọ̑šen. In verbs with no vowel suffix, the ending is still -en, which has a full vowel and not a schwa like in the l-participle. For such verbs, the ending triggers the Slavic first palatalization. Root verbs with an infinitive stem ending in a vowel get a completely different ending -t, but only if the vowel is not -a-. Thus, and  get -bȋt and -mlẹ̑t, while  gets -klán.

The rules for accentuation of the past passive participle are as follows:
 * If the ending -t is used, the syllable preceding it always has circumflex accent:, f. nom. sg. -bȋta.
 * If the participle ends in accented -an, it is acute in all forms:, , f. nom. sg. klána, molčána.
 * If the participle ends in accented -en, the masculine nominative singular has short accent while the other forms have acute accent and an open-mid vowel:, , , f. nom. sg. -sedéna, -neséna, morjéna.
 * For consonantal root verbs, if the accent is on the stem, it is circumflex:, f. nom. sg. -trẹ̑sena.
 * If the present tense has circumflex accent on the stem, so does the participle:, thus dẹ̑lan, f. nom. sg. dẹ̑lana.
 * In all other cases of stem accent, it is acute throughout.

Past active participle
The past active participle is an adverb. Unlike the previous, it is active in meaning, and thus is not restricted to transitive verbs, but it is still perfective. It is only used rarely and is somewhat archaic. It is formed from the infinitive stem, with the ending -vši if there is a vowel suffix, -ši if there isn't.

Even more archaic is the adjectival form of the past active participle. This participle has the same form as the adverbial one, but is declined like an adjective. It is not used at all in modern Slovene, not even in the literary language.

Conjugation classes
There is no universal way to subdivide Slovene verbs into classes. Different grammars may adopt different schemes, based on either the present tense stem, the infinitive stem, or a combination of both. The last option will be used here. Example verbs will be given with the infinitive and first-person singular present forms, along with forms to illustrate the behaviour of the different accent patterns. Examples of verbs with invariable accent will not be given, as their accentuation is entirely predictable.

Some verbs happen to lack a particular form in their unprefixed form, but it is present in prefixed forms of that verb. This is indicated with a hyphen in front of the form.

-ati -am
This class is quite productive for denominatives, and for converting perfective verbs into imperfective ones. There is a tendency for other verbs with an infinitive in -ati to be drawn into this class.

There is a variant of accent pattern b with the accent on the vowel suffix in more forms, including circumflex in the present tense.

-iti -im
This class is very productive for forming denominative verbs. It also includes older causative and iterative verbs, mostly with the vowel -o- in the stem.

A distinction is made among verbs of AP b between those with open-mid vowel in the imperative and l-participle, and others. The latter subtype allows an optional accent on the stem in the infinitive and imperative, the former do not allow the optional stem-accented forms. This distinction also appears in some AP c verbs, where the second-person singular imperative can have a close-mid vowel or an open-mid one.

-eti -im
This class is slightly productive for forming stative and inchoative verbs. Accent pattern a is rare and b does not occur at all; most verbs of this type follow accent pattern c. The accentuation of the l-participle in pattern c is actually that of pattern b in other verbs, with circumflex in the feminine singular and acute in the other forms. There are two possible patterns for the masculine singular of the l-participle: either with accent on the vowel suffix or shifted one syllable to the left.

-ati -im
This class is unproductive. Historically, most verbs of this class belonged to the previous class, but underwent a shift e > a after a palatalised consonant.

-ovati -ujem
This class is very productive, and is accentually quite similar to the -ati, -am class. In AP b, the accent in the present tense is circumflex rather than acute. There are no AP c verbs.

-niti -nem
This class mostly contains perfective verbs, although there are some imperfective verbs as well.

Obstruent consonant + -ti -em
This class consists of old Slavic root verbs with roots that ended in an obstruent consonant. It is not productive.

The distinction in pattern b between verbs with an open-mid vowel and others, found also in the -iti, -im class, appears here as well. Verbs with an open-mid vowel have acute accent in all forms of the l-participle, while the others have circumflex accent in the masculine singular.

Two further variant patterns exist. In the first, the infinitive ends in -či. In the second, the stem ends in -d- or -t-, and is accented differently in the l-participle.

The verb vȓžem loses the root vowel in the present tense stem, but is otherwise a regular AP a verb. The verb mólzem has an alternative infinitive stem mlẹ́z-, which shows Slavic liquid metathesis.

Vowel + -ti -jem
This class consists of old Slavic root verbs with vowel-final roots. The root can end in any vowel except -a-, and accent pattern b does not occur. Verbs of this class have the ending -t in the past passive participle.

The verb pójem has an alternation in the stem vowel. Historically, it belonged to the next class, with the j belonging to the root rather than a suffix, but in modern Slovene it can be grouped with the vowel root verbs.

Sonorant consonant + -ti -(j)em
This class consists of old Slavic root verbs with roots that historically ended in a sonorant consonant. The infinitive stem of these verbs underwent various changes in Proto-Slavic and early Slovene. Three subgroups can be distinguished:
 * Root ending in a liquid consonant, l or r. In the infinitive stem, Slavic liquid metathesis occurred, swapping the position of the vowel and the consonant.
 * Root ending in a nasal consonant, m or n. The infinitive stem had a nasal vowel in Proto-Slavic, which became a plain vowel in modern Slovene. Consequently, these verbs have a nasal consonant in the present stem, which disappears in the infinitive stem.
 * Root ending in v. In the infinitive stem, the consonant fused with the preceding vowel, producing u.

Verbs with a root ending in j exist as well, but these belong to the vowel + -ti -jem class.

The present stem can take a variety of forms. The vowel in the root can be a, e, o or be absent altogether. Some verbs have an additional -j- before the vowel suffix.

AP c:
 * -čẹ́ti -čnȅm -čẹ̑l
 * cvrȅm cvȓl cvȓt
 * dérem/drȅm dȓl -dȓt
 * jámem jẹ̑l
 * mrȅm/mŕjem mȓl -mȓt
 * -pẹ́ti -pnȅm -pẹ̑l
 * plóvem plȗl
 * -prẹ́ti -prȅm -pȓl -pȓt
 * rjóvem rjȗl
 * snámem snẹ̑l
 * spnȅm spẹ̑l
 * -tẹ́ti -tmȅm -tẹ̑l
 * trȅm/tárem tȓl tȓt
 * -vrẹ́ti -vrȅm -vȓl -vȓt
 * žmȅm/žámem žẹ̑l
 * žrȅm žȓl žȓt

AP b+c:
 * mẹ́ljem mlȅl/mlẹ̑l mlẹ̑t/mlȅn
 * dẹ́nem dȅl/dẹ̑l
 * mánem mȅl/mẹ̑l
 * žánjem žȅl/žẹ̑l

Vowel + -(j)ati -jem

 * dájem dajȃl or dájati/dajáti dájem dájal
 * májem majȃl or májati májem májal
 * rújem ruvȃl
 * sȇjem sejȃl
 * sméjem smejȃl/sméjal

-ati -em

 * tkȅm tkȁl
 * žgȅm žgȃl
 * rújem ruvȃl
 * kọ́ljem klȁl
 * stȃnem stȁl
 * žénem gnȁl
 * bérem brȃl
 * pérem prȃl
 * sẹ́rjem srȁl
 * zóvem zvȃl

-eti -em
This class is unproductive and consists of only a few verbs. The verb is iotated in the present tense, but not in the imperative.

The verb has a nonsyllabic stem.


 * spȅm spȅl/spẹ̑l
 * vrȅm vrȅl/vrẹ̑l -vrẹ̑t