VerbClass: verb class
| Values: | 1 | 2 |
We distinguish two classes of verbs in Beja according to the work of M.Vanhove:
1: verb class 1
Verb class 1, historically the oldest one, is conjugated with prefixes (and also infixes for disyllabic verbs in the singular). The root of the verbs of this class is consonantal (one, two or three consonants), and the vowels of the verb stem vary with TAM. Beja is the Cushitic language where this verb type is the most frequent. It contains the majority of the verbs (56%, cf. Cohen 1984). The stem, which forms the basis of the conjugation is, by convention, the bare form found in the construction with the light verb auxiliary di ‘say’, which is also that of the Imperative without the inflectional morphemes.
Examples
- tak / kaːm =i / hoː kʷiɖ -ja i- ni // “A man said: “My camel disappeared.” “
2: verb class 2
Verb class 2, the innovative paradigm, is conjugated with suffixes and the stem is invariable for all TAM and corresponds to the root without the inflectional morphemes. Verb class assignment is synchronically arbitrary, but most borrowings from Arabic are conjugated following the V2 pattern.
Examples
- tak / kaːm =i / hoː kʷiɖ -ja i- ni // “A man said: “My camel disappeared.” “
VerbClass in other languages: [bej]