310 7 Verbal morphology
(312) Perfective Negative
gloss PerfP PerfNa. PerfN with e replacing PerfP as
'destroy' -ahlaek- -ahlek-
'enter' -ajjass- -ajjes-
'hit' -swast-, -w£t- -swet-, -wet-
'dish out' -ojasm- -ojem-
'bring' -eewwasy- -eewwey-
'refuse' -ünjaey- -ünjey-b. V-final, PerfN = PerfP except for contraction effects with PI -asC
subject suffix
'stretch' -ojja- (contracting) -ojja- (noncontracting)
'eat' -aksa- (contracting) -aksa- (noncontracting)
'do' -aja- (contracting) -aja- (noncontracting)c. C-final, PerfN = PerfP throughout (because stem is heavy)
'sit' -aqqima- [aeqq...] [=PerfP]
'can, be able' -seddobae-t [=PerfP]
'go north' -aejozaey- [=PerfP]
'go east' -sjjawaey- [=PerfP]
'cut up' -aeblaejbaelaej- [=PerfP]
'hit each other' -aenm-aewaet- [=PerfP]
'depilate' -aes-saer- [=PerfP]d. C-final, PerfN = PerfP throughout (because PerfP is not ...CasC-)
'go with' -seddew- [=PerfP]
'go far' -üjaj- [=PerfP]The change from PerfP to PerfN is easily heard in the verbs in (312.a),
which are light and C-final, with ae in the second syllable of the PerfP. (These
are the same verbs that express both χ-pcl and χ-pcl audibly in the Resit.)
In (312.b), the stems are light V-final verbs, i.e. -V(C)Cu- with the length
of the first V variable. These verbs do not distinguish PerfN from PerfP in the
unsuffixed forms shown in the table, hence PerfP 1-ksa 'he ate', negated as
war i-ksa 'he did not eat'. However, these verbs do distinguish PerfN from
PerfP if one of the PI -asC or -CaeC subject suffixes, e.g. 3MaPl -aen or 3FePl
-naet, is present. This is because, for PerfN ablaut as for Resit ablaut (see
§7.2.2.2, above), the initial asC of subject suffixes is included, for with light
V-final verbs, in the scope of ablaut. For example, the 3MaPl (suffix -asn)
occurs in PerfP alhae-n 'they wept' (cf. Resit alhd-n), which is negated as war
slhe-n, while the 3FePl (suffix -naet) has PerfP alhas-naet, negated as war
Mhe-nast. See the full paradigm of the PerfN for the similar verb -ojja- 'weep'