3 Verbs

The Salanjan verb is the meat of the sentence. While much meaning in a neighboring language such as Čal is carried on auxiliary verbs, a wide array of shades of meaning are found embedded as suffixes and seldomly prefixes within the greater verbal complex in Salanjan.

3.0.1 Affix order

The Perfective and Continuous markers (1v) may co-occur, and do so in that order: jawora-. As they occupy the same position in the verb complex (and are slightly exclusive towards each other in their meaning), the Intentional, Abilitative, and Desiderative (2v) do not co-occur; this is also the case with the valency affixes, the Intransitive, Dynamic, and Causative (3v), which flat out contradict each other. This has not stopped some authors from forcing them together, however, though only a small number of such coinages have achieved wider usage. The Salanjan verbal complex may be demonstrated in a skeletal form with the following abstraction:

3.1 Personal Endings

The distinction between transitive and intransitive personal endings is often a distinctive feature of ergative alignment, and Salanjan is no exception. The actions taken by agents and patients are viewed as being fundamentally different, and thus are indicated by separate markers or, in the case of the third person intransitive, no marker at all given its complete lack of agency in the action affecting it and no other reason to distinguish it as with the first or second persons. Given that the absolutive plays a role in transitive clauses as well, it could well be asked why the verb is not marked with both sets of endings, and this is indeed seen at times in some extremely early works; by the period of Anaşali ascendance, however, this had vanished completely from the language, barring importations from Ker Salanjan (which uses those combinations quite extensively). The personal endings, which as with most inflections in the language do not distinguish number, are:

	Transitive	Intransitive
1	-on	-je
2	-ap	-an
3	-éq	-∅

3.1.1 Transitive

The transitive personal endings are used when the verb has an explicit agent, with or without an expressed patient:

Fušelhafušel-xapottery-gen silojéq.silo-éqthink-3p.tr	Fušelfušel-∅pottery-abs siloŋkajéq.silo·ŋka-éqthink·abstr-3p.tr
'he thinks of pottery'	'he creates pottery'
Oratograluotéjon.ora-togral-uo-téj-oncont-speak-past-you.incorp-1p.tr	Télumtél-myou-dat oratograluon.ora-togral-uo-oncont-speak-past-1p.tr
'I was speaking to you for a time.'	'I was speaking to you for a time.'

3.1.2 Intransitive

3.1.2.1 Anticausative

The Anticausative is a special usage of the intransitive personal endings. It takes a normally transitive verb and deletes the subject (agent), which shifts it to an intransitive verb. Somewhat similar to a passive voice, however it does not allow the further explication of the agent (by a further phrase). It is particularly common in bureaucratic language, sayings, and admonishments.

aščoŋiluoqs'aščoŋilu-oq-zamercenary.collective-3poss.npl-erg agaruhaagaru-hanoble-gen vatužžovatus-žoarmy-abl tauştauş-∅gold-abs jakouqajéq.ja-kouqa-éqpfv-charge.costs-3per.tr

'Their mercenaries demanded payment from the noble's army'.

versus

agaruhaagaru-hanoble-gen vatužžovatus-žoarmy-abl tauştauş-∅gold-abs jakouqa.ja-kouqa-∅pfv-charge.costs-3per.intr

'Payment was demanded from the army of the noble.'

Writers and varieties under significant Ker Salanja influence (which gradually became more numerous over time) also move the Absolutive noun to the right of the verb in the Anticausative (and the Antipassive), in violation of classical Anaşali word order rules. As time passed, this stylistic variation eventually spread to other clause types, and became the normal rule even for transitive clauses. It became crucial in the Zein languages for indicating grammatical roles after the ergative marker was lost.

3.1.3 Subordination

-ai
The subordinate marker marks a verb whose action is either being reported by the main verb, or is in some way controlled by that verb's action (though not generally explicitly caused by it). If the subordinate verb does not differ in tense or person from that of the main clause, those inflections are often not explicitly marked.

3.2 Tense

Nonpast -∅ The unmarked tense, ambiguous between present and future.

Past -uo  Time anterior to the present. When occurring alone, the Past tense is ambiguous between an imperfect and a preterit; the Perfective and Continuous markers are used to disambiguate the preterit meaning, optionally.

Future -é Unambiguous future reference. Not widely used; this is due to its form being identical in the intransitive third person to the Intransitive Participle -é and the closely related -ér- of the Antipassive. In its place, sentences are often structured so use of the Subjunctive clitic is possible.

3.3 Non-personal, non-temporal suffixes

3.3.1 Negative

  ag-/au-
Negates the verb. Takes the form au- when the verb begins with a consonant.

ŋéponjaŋépo-njariver-loc muomuoin auşufaujéqap.au-şufau-é-apneg-fish-fut-2p.tr	ŋéponjaŋépo-njariver-loc muomuoin auşufauqap ém.au-şufau-ap émneg-fish-2p.tr=cl.subj
'you will not go fishing in the river.'	'you should not go fishing in the river.'

It should be noted that these two forms are identical in meaning in Anaşali, with the Subjunctive version substantially preferred.

3.3.2 Perfective

  ja-
Action is complete

3.3.3 Continuous

  ora-
The verb's action is ongoing or occurring over a period of time. When contrasted with the simple nonpast it can imply, if not a specific duration, a sense that the activity is temporary in some way.

şapsuşapsu-∅product-abs hawidzhawidzhere beméq.bem-éqsell-3p.tr		şapsuşapsu-∅product-abs hawidzhawidzhere orabeméq.ora-bem-éqcont-sell-3p.tr
'she sells her goods here all the time'	versus	'she is selling her goods here (for now)'

When it interacts with the Perfective, it produces a meaning for the event of starting in the past and finishing by the present, usually interpretable as a present perfect: 

renoparenopa-∅creek-abs jaworavašnéq.ja-ora-vašné-éqpfv-cont-flow-3p.tr

'the river was flowing but has now ceased.'

With the Past tense, it explicitly marks the time as an inchoative past, starting and finishing in the past:

vaşausuolvaşausu-ol-∅campaign-1p.n·pl TeršelaişéTeršelai-şéTeršelai-all lumlumconj.then aštaz'aštazininety-six intaş'intaş-aday-egr oraluşisuojéq.ora-luşisu-uo-éqcont-begin-past-3p.tr

'Our campaign against Teršelai was started 96 days ago, and has now finished.'

3.3.4 Intentional

  -na
Shows intent to cause the action, and requires either the causative or dynamic.

kaka-∅food-abs jakaunonalason.ja-kauno-na-las-onpfv-cook-intent-dyn-1p.tr	kaka-∅food-abs jakauno.ja-kauno-∅pfv-cook-3p.intr
'I wanted/intended the food to be cooked'  vs	'the food is cooked'

3.3.5 Abilitative

  -of
Denotes that the subject can perform the action

3.3.6 Desiderative

  -i
To wish or want an action to happen.

Korz'kor-zaI-erg anjuranju-rsnug-adv zaudzoŋkaijéwon,zaudzoŋka-i-é-onsleep-desi-fut-1p.tr išaleiška.išale-iška-∅friend-1nsg.poss-abs	Korz'kor-zaI-erg anjuranju-rsnug-adv zaudzoŋkaiwon ém,zaudzoŋka-i-onsleep-desi-1p.tr=subj išaleiška.išale-iška-∅friend-1nsg.poss-abs
'I wish that you will sleep snugly, friend.'

Note that the use of the future versus the subjunctive is mostly a stylistic difference.

Transivity Affixes

3.3.7 Antipassive

  -ér
Reduces the valency of the verb, somewhat similarly to the Anticausative, but transforming the original agent rather than the patient. Used when a patient in a transitive clause (or recipient in the case of ditransitive verbs) has been incorporated into the verb or is otherwise removed from independent status in the clause.

Ksaweinumksawein-umvisitor-dat njausinjausi-∅cloth-abs mi.mi-∅give-imper	Njausinjausi-∅cloth-abs mijérmun.mi-ér-mun-∅give-antipas-3pers.incorp-imper
'Give the towel to the visitor.'  vs	'Give him the towel.'

3.3.8 Dynamic

  -(a)las
Increases the valency of the verb slightly, commonly found with intransitives which take a phrasal object.

3.3.9 Causative

  -č
Produces the causative of the verb, increasing its valency.

Kaşkaşlike khanirkhan-irfast-adv oračisehon.ora-čiseh-oncont-walk-1p.tr		Kaşkaşlike khanirkhan-irfast-adv oračiseheštéjonora-čiseh-č-téj-oncont-walk-caus-2pers.incorp-1p.tr
'This is how fast I walk'	versus	'this is how fast I'm making you walk.'

3.4 Mood Clitics

The mood clitics serve to alter the perception of an action's reality, particularly when uncertainty is involved.

Subjunctive	ém	expresses a moderate degree of uncertainty regarding the act's possibility, likelyhood, or reality. The Subjunctive is also frequently used as a future tense, often but not always with its normal uncertainty flavor.
Optative	ii	modifies the verb's connection to the here and now, to a much greater degree than the Subjunctive, up to and including outright counterfactual statements.

3.5 Non-finite Forms

3.5.1 Deverbalizers

Intransitive Participle -é  Often equivalent to '-ed', though without specific reference to the event's time. often occurs in Dative of Resulting Action phrases.
Transitive Participle -eq  Roughly equivalent to an Active participle, namely '-ing', again without the default time connotation.