Verbtype:
This feature takes the following values: Aux, Cop, Light, Mod, Quasi.
Aux: Auxiliary verb
It appears that some verbs can be used to form Aktionsarten such as inchoative or durative expressions (not confirmed). These verbs are tagged as auxiliaries with the feature “VerbType=Aux”. Such constructions are not considered light verb constructions, which are means of lexical derivation.
For instance, the combination ēstādan “to stand (up)” + verbal noun in -išn seems to express inchoative eventualities:
- band az bun be wiyōzēd ud dwārišn ēstēd “he will loosen his chain from the ground and begin to rush forward (lit. stand up rushing)’
Cop: Copular verb
Nominal predicates connect with the copular verb, which is marked for tense, mood, person and number. The auxiliary verbs “to be” for the so-called past tense and “to stand” for the perfect and the pluperfect are also classified as part of the paradigm of the copular verb. The auxiliary status of “to become” has not been ascertained yet.
- ān=iz az=iš weh nēst “and that is not better than it”
- čiyōn=išān wirāz dīd šād ud huram būd hēnd “as soon as they saw Wirāz, (they) became (3pl) happy and joyous”
Light: Light verb
If a full verb is used together with a nominal (and possibly also adverbial) preverb to express a complex verb (aka. complex predicate), it receives the additional feature “light verb”, e.g.,
- ō kār šudan “to be used” (lit. to go to use)
- ō kār burdan “to use” (lit. to carry to use)
Mod: Modal verb
Modal verbs are treated as full verbs, because they have their own case frame (oblique subject) and display peculiar syntax. The primary participant is in oblique case and the dependent infinitive clause is constructed as the clausal subject. Thus, modal verbs are usually in 3sg. They often cut the infinitive clause and appear directly before the dependent infinitive verb.
Most common modal verbs include:
- abāyistan ‘to be necessary’ i.e. ‘must, should’
- kāmistan ‘to be desirable’ i.e. ‘wish, want’
- šāyistan ‘to be possible’ i.e. ‘can, may’
Quasi: Quasi verb
The word tuwān is used as a noun “might, power” but is also employed like a modal verb ‘can, be able’. However, it does not inflect (except for later texts) and is therefore annotated as ‘something like a verb’.