Verbs and Tenses

Source: Cree: Language of the Plains by Jean L. Okimasis, Chapter 10

Verbs are words used to express an action or state be it physical, mental, or emotional. They are words that express natural happenings such as weather, seasons, and days of the week. They also refer to a state of being such as colors, hardness, and softness or they can describe geographic conditions (e.g. It is hilly, steep, mountainous, flat, etc.). The Cree language uses these as complete sentences whereas in English they are very often adjectives. Of course verbs also express actions.  

A basic division in Cree verb forms is between the intransitive and the transitive … In Cree, verbs are classified according to whether the action is being transferred to someone or something (transitive) or whether there is no action transferred at all (intransitive). 

Intransitive Verbs  

Those verbs that express an action by an animate noun, but are not transferred to anyone or anything, are called animate intransitive verbs (vai). States, conditions, happenings, and occurrences are also verb forms and they are referred to as inanimate intransitive verbs (vii). 

Transitive Verbs 

Those verbs that express actions which affect, or are stimulated by, animate nouns are referred to as transitive animate verbs (vta). Those verbs that express actions which affect, or are stimulated by, inanimate nouns are called transitive inanimate verbs (vti) 

One can identify these verbs by asking a couple of questions. 

1. Is there a transfer of action to someone or something?  
   1. If the answer is “no” then the verb is intransitive.  
   2. If the answer is “yes” then the verb is transitive and the next question will be: 
2. Who or what is being affected? One needs to know whether the person or thing being affected is classified as animate or inanimate.  
   1. If the answer to this question is “animate” then the verb is transitive animate. 
   2. If the answer is “inanimate” then the verb is transitive inanimate. 

Review the following diagrams which may help you to visualize this concept of transfer of action. Note that (S) subject is the doer; the (V) verb is the action; and the (O) object is the one being affected by the action. The symbol Ø indicates no object. 

Intransitive Verbs Sentence Structure 

1.  Animate Intransitive
2. Animate Intransitive  

Transitive Verbs Sentence Structure

1. Transitive Animate
2. Transitive Inanimate

Note: The subject is animate for vai, vta, and vti; the subject is inanimate only for the vii. The subjects usually come in the guise of pronouns such as I, me, you, and it (singular and plural), he, she, we (inclusive and exclusive), and they. 

The transitive and intransitive verbs have unusual features that are more noticeable when compared to those in English. For instance, unlike Cree, the English verb “eat” can be both transitive and intransitive. Notice that the verb form does not change in either sentence. 

In Cree however, there are three forms for the verb “eat”: one form (mīciso) is intransitive and the other two are transitive (mīci and mow). Because there is no object involved and the verb defines only the act of eating mīciso is therefore an intransitive verb. The transitive verb stems mīci eat (something inanimate) and mow eat (something animate), however, need objects. To use these two correctly one needs to know the classification of the object being eaten. For example: “I eat fish.” and “I eat meat.” in English show no difference in the verb. In Cree on the other hand, one needs to know the classification of “fish” and “meat” to be able to utter or compose a proper sentence. 

The following structures with an (*) asterisk are impossible combinations. 

According to the diagrams above the verb “eat” in Cree falls into three categories: 

 Conjugation 

The process of verb conjugation, one that verbs in most languages go through, can reflect and include all of the notions mentioned above. In order to understand how Cree operates, the following comparison with English and French conjugation may be helpful. Although most verbs follow a basic conjugation pattern, as in the following, Cree has some unique features. 

Note: For French: m = male and f = female; for English: m = male, f = female, and n = neutral (it). For Cree: only one term is used to refer to male/female/it. 

Observe that the first three person indicators 1s, 2s, and 3s in both the French and English of the verb “to be” have no noticeable connection. Only a fluent speaker of these languages would know that these are forms of the verb “to be.” “Suis, es, and est” are all the same verb as are “am, are, and is.” In Cree, however, the verb stem “ayā” remains constant throughout the conjugation. Each verb in Cree works in this manner. 

Note: The Cree verb for “to be” is never used as an auxiliary verb. It is used only to indicate location as in “I am at (place).” Refer to Chapter 27 for a more detailed explanation of this verb. 

The concept of conjugation plays an important part in any language. In Cree there are nine forms which fit into the pattern. The pattern above for Cree follows the next table on personal pronouns which indicate who is doing the action. 

It is important to know what the numbers (1s, 2s, 3s, 3’s, 1p, 2p, 3p, and 3’p) stand for because every verb (vai, vti, and vta) follows this numbering system. 

Verb Conjugation Chart 

The explanation following the three sentences below may help you to understand 1p and 21: 

1.  sēmāk ēkwa niyanān niwī-ati-kīwānān.  

1. We are going home right away (us). 

1. sēmāk ēkwa nika-ati-kīwānān. 

1. We will be on our way home right away. 

1. sēmāk ēkwa kika-ati-kīwānaw. 

1. We will be on our way home right away. 

The speaker in examples 1 and 2 is informing someone that he and another party are going home. In effect, he is saying “We (not you) are going home.” The speaker is excluding the person or persons to whom he is speaking. This is why the first person plural “we” is labeled as exclusive (1p). 

In example 3, however, the speaker is informing another person or persons that “We (including you) will be on our way home right away.” Therefore the first person plural “we” is known as inclusive (21). The English language does not have special endings or forms to show the differences between these two situations. Cree, however, has suffixes which help to differentiate 1p (we, exclusive) from 21 (we, inclusive). As you will note, each verb form shows these different suffixes. 

Obviative 

Another note is required to explain the 3’s and 3’p forms of the conjugation pattern. 3’s is the third person obviative singular and 3’p is its plural counterpart. Exactly who is doing the action here is often confusing. The 3s and 3p forms are also third person indicators. 3s is the third person singular (he, she, it) and 3p is its plural counterpart (they). 

The obviative forms become clear when we keep in mind that the actor of 3’s is a singular relative, friend, dog, or any other possession of 3s and 3p. It follows then that actors of 3’p are relatives, friends, dogs, or any other possessions of 3s or 3p. The translation of the 3’s conjugation is therefore: “His (3s) friend/s is/are doing the action.” The 3’p translates to “Their (3p) friend/s is/are doing the action.” The sentences below are examples of how this works: 

1. ohtāwiya kī-itohtēyiwa ōtēnāhk otākosīhk. 

1. His/her father went to town yesterday. 

1. Betty ohtāwiya wī-itohtēyiwa ōtēnāhk 

1. Betty’s father intends to go to town. 

1. John otōtēma wī-pē-kiyokēyiwa mwēstas. 

1. John’s friend(s) is/are coming to visit later. 

1. kī-pē-kiyokēyiwa otōtēmiwāwa anohc. 

1. Their friend(s) came to visit today. 

1. ēkotē anihi otōtēmiwāwa atoskēyiwa. 

1. Their friend(s) work there. 

Note: The suffix for 3’s and 3’p are always exactly the same. 

Modes 

Every verb can occur in a number of modes. These modes are various patterns of the inflections of verbs. Most of these inflections affect the vii, vai, vti, and vta; however, there is one exception: the vii do not have the Imperative mode. The following are descriptions of these patterns. 

Imperative Mode 

This mode refers to verbs that occur in the form of orders, commands, invitations, or requests. There are two kinds: 

1. Immediate Imperative are orders, commands, and invitations/ requests that are to be done right away. In other words, it means that when one is giving an order or command to someone it is expected that the action be done immediately. 

1. Delayed Imperative on the other hand means that the action is to occur at a future or later time. 

See examples below. 

It is not necessary to use the words sēmāk and mwēstas because the suffixes on the commands themselves are understood to mean “now” and “later.” When they are used it is usually for emphasis or to provide context. 

Note: Remember, the Imperative mode does not apply to vii. 

Independent Mode 

This mode is the same as the Indicative mode. Verbs in the Independent mode take the person prefixes “ni-” and “ki-” as in “nipimipahtān – I run” and “kimīcison – You (sg.) eat.” This form makes a statement which can be in the present, past, or future tense. 
 Conjunct Mode 

This is the same as what is sometimes referred to as the Subjunctive mode. All verbs occurring in this mode begin with the prefix “ē-.” There are no person markers. Here are examples: “ē-apiyān – as I am sitting” and “ē-nipāyān – as I am sleeping.” Verbs in this mode quite often, but not always, represent a subordinate clause as they can also represent a principal clause. All verbs can occur in this mode and in the present, past, or future tense. 

Note: To show that the Conjunct form represents a subordinate clause, the English translation of conjugated verbs usually begins with the particle “as I…” However, it is important to note that there are other words such as “before”, “while”, and “which” that can be used to introduce a subordinate clause. So one should use the necessary vocabulary to suit the context of the translation. 

Future Conditional Form 

This form translates to “if” or “when” an action occurs then another action will happen. For example:  

1. mīcisoyani kika-miyomahcihon. If you eat you will feel better.  

1. kīsihtāyāni ōma nika-kawisimon. When I finish this I will go to bed. 

 Tense 

Cree verbs, like those of most languages, can occur in past and future tense. The use of “kī-” indicates the past tense as in “ē-kī-apiyān – as I was sitting” and “nikī-apin – I sat.” However, there are two forms of future tense. Future definite is marked by “ka-” as in “nika-mīcison – I will eat” and “ta-”as in “kita-mīcisow mwēstas – s/he will eat later.” The second form of future, “wī-,” indicates the Future intentive or prospective aspect of the action: “ē-wī-nipāyān – as I am going to be sleeping” and “niwī-nipān – I intend to sleep.””