Ćwarmin: Participles - an outline

The Ćwarmin verb morphology contains a system of participles, and these contribute a significant amount of mileage in the morphosyntax of the verb phrase.

Morphology

A primary division among the participles is that of transitivity: intransitive participles are merely infinitives with case suffixes. There is no reason to distinguish active from passive for an intransitive participle. However, some exceptional verbs exist - both intransitive verbs marked as transitive ones, and vice versa. [See this for more.]

The nominative is explicitly marked with -ij/-uw, but the other cases behave like any other noun case. Tense is not distinguished for intransitive participles. The perfect aspect can be marked by the suffix -em/-am, but is not mandatory. No explicit imperfect aspect marker exists.

Transitive verbs' participles, however, are formed with the marker -nem(e)-/-nam(a)- for active participles, and -yezi-/-wozu- for passive ones.

TAM is somewhat distinguished, with the active transitive verb having {perfect, imperfect} x {present, past} and the passive transitive verb having {perfect, imperfect}. 

The transitive active participle defaults to imperfect present. The reduplicated suffixes -nenem/-nanam convey perfect past. The past imperfect adds an -et/-at, but reducing the first syllable: -nmet, -nmat. Past perfect is a further reduplication- -memet/-mamat.

The passive morpheme -yezi/-wozu implies perfect aspect, but an extra morpheme -te/-ta gives the imperfect. In some eastern dialects, single -yezi/-wozu gives imperfect, -jejesd/-wowosd gives perfect. (In turn, we find dissimilated forms like -yedzest/-wolost, -źejest/-lowost, -rejest/-lowost, -jerest/-wolost, and even weird combos of them, as well as -ejdź/-owdz).

Usages

Participles in general

Participles function as adjectives and adverbs, expressing what someone is/was doing or what they were experiencing. More complex relations to the verb than subject, object or recipient generally requires rewriting as a clearly delineated subclause. However, the main verb in a subclause is often also inflected as a participle. Thus, participles could, at least partially, be considered subordinate finite verbs. (Non-relative subclauses tend to have normal finite verbs a bit more often, but this is not mandatory.)

• With verbs of perception to express subordinate actions ('see someone eating' etc)
• With some verbs of causation and other transitivity changing operations
  
• Heads of the verb phrase in relative subclauses
  

 

 The active participle

The active participles (i.e. the transitive active one, or the intransitive one) are used for these roles besides the prototypical subordinate verbal use:

• copositive present tense verbs (there is a post upcoming about what they are)
• This is restricted to the imperfect aspect form, but this does not convey an actual imperfect aspect, but rather copies the aspect of a different verb in the copositive construction)
  
• head of the verb phrase in relative subclauses, and sometimes other subclauses as well
• (were used as gerunds for a while in late middle Cwarmin)
  
• with some auxiliaries to express certain moods
• with some causative constructions and some embedded constructions (perceive someone doing something, etc)
• expressing general, impersonal things like 'it's raining', 'it's sunsetting', 'it's night', etc.
• Expressing 'while X:ing' or 'after X:ing' when used as an adverb, depending on the aspect used. The passive requires a periphrastic expression for this. 
• In place of a finite verb in expressions of surprise or adoration or appreciation.
• (transitive active only) used to express the additional verbal specifications as to how a direct object is affected by the subject's action
  
• (transitive active only) combined with the dative to express that the dative argument desires to do something
  

 The passive participle

• copositive present tense verbs (restricted to perfect aspect form, but the actual aspect is implicit)
  
• head of the verb phrase in relative subclauses, but never in other types of subclauses
• with some auxiliaries to express some voices
• can form temporal adverbs for 'before/after/while being X:ed' with adpositions.

The imperfect participle

• exhortation to continue
• in combination with the verb 'hold', signifying 'having the energy to go on doing x'

The perfect participle

This lists features that unify the passive and active perfect participles, but differ from the passive and active present participles.

• with some verbs, as an imperative of cessation. This especially in combination with the conjunction 'and'. This is mostly used with active perfect participles, but some passive participles are also used - usually ones whose argument structure is a bit unusual.
  
• with some verbs, as an imperative of immediate action.