506 8 Verbal derivation8.5.8 Participles of prefixally derived verbs
Participle formation is highly productive since the definite participles are the
basic subject-relative construction. Participles can therefore be formed readily
from derived verbs with Causative -s- and its variants, Passive -t- or -tvw-,
Mediopassive -m- (or allomorph -n-), or Reciprocal -nvm- (allomorphs
-m-,-n-). Α mediopassive example is in (535).(535) hzerast w-α i-mm-aqksed-aen
thing Ma-Dem.Sg 3MaSgS-Mediop-cut.PerfP-Partpl.MaSg
'the thing that got cut'.8.6 Verbal nouns
8.6.1 Ordinary verbal nouns
A pure VblN is a nominal that denotes the relevant action or state in an
unbounded fashion: 'dancing', 'running', etc. The VblN often occurs as a
complement to a higher verb like 'begin', 'be/do a lot', or 'be ashamed to'
(§13.5). The larger construction often imposes a temporal bounding. VblN's
are also indispensable in cases where a verb (or VP) is focalized; in this case,
the verb is extracted and fronted in the form of a VblN, and its original place is
occupied by -vju- 'do, make' (§12.2.5). Some main-clause verbs ('prevent',
'begin', 'cease', 'go (in order to)', 'be ashamed to', 'do a lot', 'do many
times', 'do frequently') take VblN's as complements (§13.5). A VblN may
also be the subject of a clause.
The various types of light verb stem tend to have idiosyncratic VblN stem
shapes that cannot be unified into a single overall ablaut model. Since each
VblN pattern is associated with a specified stem shape, we can think of these
as cases of templatic rather than componential ablaut. That is, the lexical
segments (chiefly C's) are simply mapped into the C positions of the VblN
template. I will not bother to formalize these minor ablaut mapping patterns,
which should be readily apparent. On the other hand, heavy verbs (including
prefixed derivatives) do lend themselves to a componential ablaut model
(§8.6.1.4), with a basic vocalic melody and (for non-augment verbs) a
penultimate accent.
Most verbs have a basic masculine verbal noun (VblN) belonging to one
of the productive patterns described below.
There is often a feminine counterpart, with FeSg t-...-(t-)t or FePl
t-...-(t-)en circumfixed around the same stem that is used in the masculine
VblN. There are also various other nominals, usually feminine, that can be
used in verbal noun sense at least for specified verbs. Where the masculine
VblN has an exact feminine counterpart, the latter may function as an
instantiating VblN (denoting a single instance of the verbal type, e.g.