User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/2-4

Lesson 4|The Perfect

In the verb conjugation table for this lesson, √_P represents the perfect verbal stem, that is, the verbal stem with transformations that are to be covered below. The major item to note here is that the perfect personal endings are identical to the present indicative tense endings, already covered.

	Indicative							Subjunctive							Imperative			Participle		Infinitive
	Singular			Plural				Singular			Plural				Singular	Plural
	1s	2s	3s	1pl	2pl	3pl		1s	2s	3s	1pl	2pl	3pl		2s	2pl
Active
	prs.	√-an	√-ā	√-as	√-i	√-āt		√-is	√-on	√-ō	√-os	√-oty	√-ōt		√-osy	√-ās		√-ātās		√-are (adj. II)	√-agon
	aor.	√-in	√-ia	√-is	√-iti	√-iat		√-isi	√-un	√-ua	√-us	√-uty	√-uat		√-usy	√-iās		√-iātās		√-ire (adj. II)	√-igon
	fut.	√-inna	√-ilā	√-ilza	√-ili	√-ilāt	√-ilzi	√-ilun	√-ilū	√-ilus	√-iluty	√-ilūt	√-ilusy	√-ilās	√-ilātās	√-ilare (adj. II)	—
	npfv.	√-ilen	√-ilē	√-iles	√-ilin	√-ilēt	√-ilis	√-ilon	√-ilō	√-ilos	√-iloty	√-ilōt	√-ilosy	—		—
	pfv.	√P-an	√P-ā	√P-as	√P-i	√P-āt	√P-is	√P-on	√P-ō	√P-os	√P-oty	√P-ōt	√P-osy	—	see below	√P-agon
	plup.	√P-en	√P-ē	√P-es	√P-in	√P-ēt									—	—
	phab.	√P-in	√P-ia	√P-is	√P-iti	√P-iat	√P-isi	√P-un	√P-ua	√P-us	√P-uty	√P-uat	√P-usy		√P-re (adj. II)
Passive	prs.	√-aks	√-āks	√-aks	√-aksi	√-āks	√-aksi		√-oks	√-ōks	√-oks	√-oksy	√-ōks	√-oksy		√-āks			—		√-akson
	aor.	√-iks	√-iaks	√-iks	√-iksi	√-iaks	√-iksi		√-uks	√-uaks	√-uks	√-uksy	√-uaks	√-uksy		√-iāks			√-iarza (adj. I)		√-iakson
	fut.	√-ilaks	√-ilāks	√-ilaks	√-iliks	√-ilāks	√-iliks	√-iluks	√-ilūks	√-iluks	√-iluksy	√-ilūks	√-iluksy	√-ilāks		√-ilaksa (adj. I)	—
	npfv.	√-ileks	√-ilēks	√-ileks		√-ilēks		√-iloks	√-ilōks	√-iloks	√-iloksy	√-ilōks	√-iloksy	—		—
	pfv.	√P-aks	√P-āks	√P-aks	√P-aksi	√P-āks	√P-aksi	√P-oks	√P-ōks	√P-oks	√P-oksy	√P-ōks	√P-oksy	—	√P-a (Adj. I)	√P-akson
	plup.	√P-eks	√P-ēks	√P-eks	√P-iks	√P-ēks	√P-iks								—	—
	phab.	√P-iks	√P-iaks	√P-iks	√P-iksi	√P-iaks	√P-iksi	√P-uks	√P-uaks	√P-uks	√P-uksy	√P-uaks	√P-uksy		√P-iarza (adj. I)

Vocabulary

Lesson Vocabulary
High Valyrian	English
lurugon (v-fin.)	to fold
pendagon (c-fin.)	to wonder
rhaenagon (c-fin.)	to meet; to find, to encounter, to discover; to begin, to start (transitive)
kirimves (4sol.)	joy
Mīrīn (6for.)	Meereen
paghyr (6col.2lun.)	life, breathing
valonqar (1aq.)	younger brother, brother; younger male cousin due to father's brother or mother's sister
tolijī (adv.)	finally

The Perfect

The perfect tense is used for action that has already been completed. English has two corresponding constructions: present perfect and simple past. The present perfect uses the present of "to have" plus the past participle. ("I have sailed to Braavos twice." "These women have spoken the truth.") The simple past is a separate verb form that indicates a completed action. ("I came, I saw, I conquered.")

In High Valyrian, the perfect indicative is equivalent to both of these.

Below is a conjugation of maghagon in the perfect. Note first that the personal endings mimic the present tense for consonant final verbs with the exception of the third person plural. Second, notice that the stem of maghagon changed from magh- to mād-. This will be covered next.

mād-an	I carried	first person singular
mād-ā	you carried	second person singular
mād-as	he, she, it carried	third person singular
mād-i	we carried	first person plural
mād-āt	you (all) carried	second person plural
mād-is	they carried	third person plural

The Perfect Subjunctive

The perfect subjunctive is formed with the same personal endings as the present subjunctive--simply add the same personal endings to a perfect stem.

mād-on	I carried	first person singular
mād-ō	you carried	second person singular
mād-os	he, she, it carried	third person singular
mād-oty	we carried	first person plural
mād-ōt	you (all) carried	second person plural
mād-osy	they carried	third person plural

Examples

High Valyrian	English
ñurho valonqro paghyro jēdunna, lo tolijī ñuha kepa kirimvī rhēdos pendan	I wonder if, for those few hours my brother lived, my father finally found happiness

A complex sentence showing that the conjunction lo may occur in the second clause. Then the pair of verbs where rhaenagon appears in the perfect subjunctive followed with the present tense of pendagon to express "wondering if he may have found" since the speaker does not know if her father actually found happiness or not. With pendagon, the verb it modifies may always appear as the subjunctive as "wondering" always implies uncertainty unless the sentence has sarcasm.

Forming Perfect Stems

Consonant Final Verbs

Consonant final verb perfect stems follow a general pattern that has many deviations. Thankfully, the dictionary is organized such that you can check the perfect stem quickly on the main page! This table conveys general guidelines for forming a perfect stem from any regular consonant final verb. The consonants in the table represent the final consonant of the vowel stem.

Note that verbs ending in -jagon actually end in -ljagon. lj is one consonant. √ represents the verbal stem, √(consonant) means that the final consonant of the stem changes to that in parentheses, :√ indicates a vowel lengthening (adding a macron) earlier in the stem.

Final Consonant	Liquid		Voiceless Stop				Nasal		Voiced Stop			Fricative						Palatal		Consonant Clusters
	l	r	p	t	k	q	m	n	b	d	g	h	s	z	gh	v	j	ñ	lj
Simple	√-t		√-t
Replace Final Consonant				√(t)-t			√(n)-t		√(p)-t	√(t)-t	√(g)-d		√(s)-t					√(n)-t	√(l)-t	√(e)-t
Lengthen vowel															:√(d)

Example

Ērinagon follows the pattern √(n)-t; thusly, the perfect stem is ērint-.

Leghagon follows the pattern :√(d); thusly, the perfect stem is lēd-. Remember, in High Valyrian, gh is treated as one consonant.

Morghūljagon follows the pattern √-t; thusly, the perfect stem is morghūlt-. Remember, in High Valyrian, lj is treated as one consonant.

Iderēbagon follows the pattern √(p)-t; thusly, the perfect stem is iderēpt-

Exercise 1

Conjugate the following verbs in the perfect.

I gathered derēptan

y'all ate iprattāt

We antagonized qrinumpti

they maintained rāeltis

Vowel Final Verbs

Vowel final verbs are much simpler, they take the form √-M-t, where M is the theme vowel of the verb. They take the same personal endings as consonant final verbs.

Example

Ōregon has a theme vowel of 'e' and follows the pattern √-M-t; thusly, the perfect stem is ōret-.

Lurugon has a theme vowel of 'u' and follows the pattern √-M-t; thusly, the perfect stem is lurut-.

Kȳvagon has a theme vowel of 'a' and follows the pattern √-M-t; thusly, the perfect stem is kȳvat-.

Exercise 1

Conjugate the following verbs in the perfect.

y'all wrote bardutāt

I destroyed pryjatan

We commanded jenteti

they tried sylutis

Irregular Perfect Stems

There exist many verbs that have irregular perfect stems. These are generally not predictable.

Explanation- The Red Priests helped bring peace to Meereen.
High Valyrian:	Meli	Voktyssy	Mīrīnī	lyks	mazverdagon	beldis
English:	[The] Red	Priests	[to, in] Meereen	peace	to bring	[they] helped

Baelagon, 'to help,' is one such verb with an irregular perfect stem. In this sentence, Meli is a plural, nominative, and solar adjective to agree with the sentence's subject, Voktyssy, itself plural, nominative, and solar. Mīrīnī is in the locative case; note that the preposition va could optionally be added here to enhance clarity. Lyks is accusative for it is the object of the shared-subject verbal argument mazverdagon beldis, 'to help bring.'