While other word categories in Ilocano are not as diverse in forms, verbs are morphologically complex inflecting chiefly for aspect. Ilocano verbs can also be cast in any one of five foci or triggers. In turn, these foci can inflect for different grammatical moods.
An important aspect of Ilokano verbal morphology is reduplication. Reduplication in verbal paradigms consists of repeating the first /(C1)V(C2).../ sequence of phonemes of the root as required by the form resulting in a bimoraic or heavy syllable. Or, the first /(C)V/ is repeated as is the case for indicating plural actors.
Basic form: gatang buy Reduplicated form: gatgatang Basic form: aramat use Reduplicated form: ar-aramat[1]
The glottal stop as the second consonant of the sequence (C2) is lost. Two strategies can be applied to maintain the weight of the reduplicated syllable. Either the vowel (V) is lengthened (compensatory lengthening) or the first consonant (C1) is doubled (geminated).
Basic form: sao pronounced as /[sa.ʔo]/ say
Reduplicated form: sasao pronounced as /[saː.sa.ʔo]/
or
sassao pronounced as /[sas.sa.ʔo]/
Basic form: dait pronounced as /[da.ʔit]/ sew
Reduplicated form: dadait pronounced as /[daː.da.ʔit]/
or
daddait pronounced as /[dad.daː.ʔit]/
Due to having Austronesian alignment, Ilocano verbs chiefly inflect for aspect, and not for tense.
Verbs inflect for the following:
In the typical verbal paradigm, Neutral and Perfective forms are not reduplicated, whereas the Imperfective and the Past Imperfective are reduplicated. The Imperfective and the Past Imperfective are marked for initiation.
| Non-Initiated | Initiated | ||
| Simple | Neutral | Perfective | |
| Reduplicated | Imperfective | Past Imperfective |
In a typical paradigm the chart would appear as the following:
| Non-Initiated | Initiated | ||
| Simple | [AFFIX] | [AFFIX+N] | |
| Reduplicated | [AFFIX]+[CVC] | [AFFIX+N]+[CVC] |
[AFFIX] is the verbal affix. [AFFIX+N] is the verbal affix modified for initiation. In many of the paradigms, the mark of initiation is N, for example, nag-, na-, and -in-. [CVC] is the reduplicated syllable of the root.
The future is not encoded with a particular verbal form. It is shown by affixing the enclitic -(n)to to the neutral form of the verb. The enclitic is not very cohesive. When it attaches, the personal pronoun enclitics intervene. If the preceding morpheme ends in a vowel, the form is -nto, otherwise, -to.
Examples: Kitaen to see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] Kitaento to about to see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + to[Fut. Part.] Kitaennanto He/she will see (something) kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + na[3rd Person Singular Ergative] + nto[Fut. Part.] Kitaendakto They will see me kita[Root: see] + en[Patient Focus] + dak[3rd Per. Plu. Erg./1st Per. Sing.] + to[Fut. Part.]
Ilocano, like other Philippine languages, has an Austronesian morphosyntactic alignment. The verb is capable of tracking (focusing) on particular noun phrases within the sentence. Ilokano verbs are capable of focusing on noun phrases with the following thematic roles: Agent, Patient, Commitative, Directional, Benefactive, Thematic and Instrumental.
The Agent focus requires only one noun phrase. According to Galvino (2000), the affixes in the Agent focus are Intransitive, because the verb form does not require another noun phrase to complete its meaning. The noun phrase is the agent or the experiencer of the action.
The remaining foci, Patient, Commitative, Directional, Benefactive, Thematic and Instrumental require the presence of two theta roles: the agent noun phrase and the focused noun phrase. Galvino (2000) terms these as Transitive.
Potentially, all roots can be cast into all of the foci. Due to the semantics of the root, however, not many do in practice. Roots can differ in meaning when cast into different foci. The difference can be a slight nuance to almost opposite in meaning. For example, if the root dalus clean is cast in the Patient focus, the resulting meaning is to clean (something). But, if cast in the Directional focus, the resulting meaning is to clean (something) off, the focused noun phrase becomes the area affected instead of the object affected.
| Conjugation | Example | Gloss | ||
| Agent | <um> | gumatang | to buy | |
| ag- | aggatang | to buy (again and again), to shop | ||
| mang- | manggatang | to buy | ||
| ma- | maturog | to sleep | ||
| Patient | -en | dalusen | to clean (something) | |
| Commitative | ka- | kasao | to talk with (someone) | |
| Locative | -an | dalusan | to clean (something) off | |
| Thematic | i- | iruar | to put (something) outside | |
| Benefactive | i> <an | igatangan | to buy for someone | |
| Instrumental | pag- | pagdalus | to use something to clean |
Verbs cast in this focus throw emphasis on the noun phrase with the agent or experiencer role in the sentence. Impersonal verbs and verbs describing natural phenomenon occur with this focus, for example Agar-arbis It is drizzling.[2]
Noun phrases in the agent role are introduced by the core forms of the articles, ti for common nouns and ni for personal nouns. The enclitic absolutive (-ak series) of personal pronouns replace these noun phrases. If the verb can take a direct object, it is marked by the oblique forms of the articles, deictives and pronouns, for example, Nangan iti saba He ate a banana. Notice how the direct object is indefinite.
Patient role noun phrases (direct objects) of verbs are introduced by the oblique forms. In addition, Patients of verbs cast in the agent focus are indefinite.[3]
There are four affixes in this focus category: ag-, -um-, mang- and ma-. Roots will prefer to take only one or some of the prefixes. In some cases the meaning changes from one affix to another, for example, ngisit, black. If ag- is affixed, agngisit, the meaning is that of there is a likelihood of becoming black or to darken, for example Nagngisitka, You darkened.[4] However, with -um-, ngumisit, the meaning becomes more of a possibility or conjecture, Ngumisngisitkansa iti tengnat' aldaw, You might get darker at midday.
The verbal prefix ag- is very productive and can verbalize a large number of roots. If a new word were to enter the language, most likely this is the prefix used to verbalize it, for example, the fictitious baz: agbaz to "baz".
If the root takes either ag- or -um-, the additional meaning of ag- are some of the following:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | ag- | agtaray | to run | |
| Continuous Progressive | agCVC- | agtartaray | is/was running | |
| Perfective | nag- | nagtaray | ranhas/have run | |
| Continuous Complete | nagCVC- | nagtartaray | was/were runningused to runwould run |
The verbal prefix <um>, is inserted, or infixed, to the first syllable of the root.
Some of the meanings imparted using this infix are:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | <um> | gumatang | to buy | |
| Continuous Progressive | C<um>VC~ | gumatgatang | buysis/are buying | |
| Perfective | <imm> | gimmatang | boughthas/have bought | |
| Continuous Complete | C<imm>VC~ | gimmatgatang | is/was buyingused to buywould buy |
The affixes ag- and <um> are very similar. Many verbs take either and have little difference in meaning. Other verbs are drastically differentiated.[5] Below is a chart contrasting the two.
| Feature | Ag- | <um> | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repetition | Multiple | At least once, Very few | |
| Duration | Long | Short | |
| Motivation | Internal | External, Circumstantial | |
| Control | Controlled | Not Controlled | |
| Probability | Likely | Conjectured | |
| State | Attained | In progress, Becoming |
| Feature | Ag- | <um> | Root | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repetition | aginom, to drink often, drink alcohol | uminom, to drink (water, juice, etc.) | inom, drink | |
| Duration | agtakder, to stand | tumakder, to stand up | takder, upright | |
| Motivation | agkabaw, to be forgetful, go senile | kumabaw, to become senile | kabaw, senile | |
| Control | agsao, to speak | sumao, to speak up, to be heard | sao, word, speech | |
| Probability | agkagat, to bite (likely) | kumagat, to bite (seemingly) | kagat, (a) bite | |
| State | agbaknang, to be rich | bumaknang, to become rich | baknang, riches |
The mang- prefix is used to denote the following:
The final nasal, pronounced as //ŋ//, of the prefix commonly becomes the homorganic nasal of the first consonant of the root which disappears or remains.
This affix is used when it is necessary to make a normally transitive verb, a verb that commonly occurs with -en, -an or i-, intransitive for syntactic reasons. These verbs will take mang- in such instances.
| Consonant | Nasal | Form | Example Root | Example Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /p/,/b/,/m/ | /m/ | mam- | baka, cow | mamaka, to buy cows | |
| /t/,/d/,/s/,/n/ | /n/ | man- | talon, field | manalon, to work in the field, farmer | |
| pronounced as //k//, pronounced as //ɡ//, pronounced as //ŋ// | pronounced as //ŋ// | mang- | kayo, wood, tree | mangayo, to collect wood, wood collector | |
| All others | pronounced as //ŋ// | mang- | ubas, grapes | mangubas, to gather grapes |
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | mang- | mangrugi | to start | |
| Continuous Progressive | mangCVC- | mangrugrugi | startsis/are starting | |
| Perfective | nang- | nangrugi | startedhas/had started | |
| Continuous Complete | nangCVC- | nangrugrugi | was/were startingused to startwould start |
There are few verbs with active meaning that use this prefix. Some of these are maturog (<turog), to sleep, mapan (<pan), to go, magna (<pagna irregular formation), to walk. Because of the semantics of these roots, they cannot take a direct object.
In the continuous progressive form, the prefix participates in reduplication taking the first consonant as its final, unlike the other verbal prefixes.
Lastly, ma- is similar in form to the ma- potentive. They differ in terms of the series of pronouns they are able to take: ma- (agent) take -ak pronouns; ma- (potentives) take -ko.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | ma- | maturog | to sleep | |
| Continuous Progressive | maCma- | matmaturog | sleepsis/are sleeping | |
| Perfective | na- | naturog | slepthas/have slept | |
| Continuous Complete | naCna- | natnaturog | was/were sleepingused to sleep would sleep |
Verbs cast in this focus throw emphasis on the patient of the verb, in other words, the direct object. Because of this, the misnomer "passive voice" has been applied to verbs in the patient focus.
Agents (or actors) for verbs cast in the true passive voice can be omitted. The English sentence The car was repaired yesterday is grammatical without the agent of the verb.[6] This cannot be said of verbs in the patient focus. Patient focus verbs require both the agent and the object argument for grammaticality. The sentence Tinarimaan ti mekaniko ti kotse is more grammatical than *Tinarimaan ti kotse which lacks an agent.
Patients of verbs cast into this focus are definite.[3] Both actor and patient are both marked by the core form of the article and deictives. For the pronouns, the ergative forms are used, in other words, the -ko series of pronouns. Since the core forms are used for both actor and patient, they are differentiated only by syntax: the actor follows after the verb as close as possible with the patient thereafter. If pronouns are used for both the actor and patient, a special set of pronouns are used. Consult the table of pronoun sequences for details.
What can be considered the patient of an English verb, may be cast in a different theta role in Ilocano. Take for example, the English phrase The student saved the file. In this phrase, the file is the noun phrase in the patient role (the direct object). In Ilocano, however, the same noun phrase would be cast in the thematic role and the verb in the thematic focus, instead, Indulin ti estudiante ti file because of the semantics of the verb. In the Ilocano mind, the file is being transferred to a safe place.
Use of this affix imparts the following meanings:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | -en | basaen | to read something | |
| Continuous Progressive | CVC~ -en | basbasaen | reads somethingis/are reading something | |
| Perfective | <in>[7] | binasa | read somethinghas/has read something | |
| Continuous Complete | C<in>VC~ | binasbasa | was/were reading somethingused to read something would read something |
Verbs in the comitative focus denote that the verb action is shared between parties. The focused noun phrase is with whom the agent is partaking the action. Similar to the Instrumental focus below, these behave more like nouns.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | ka- | katungtung | to converse with someone | |
| Continuous Progressive | kaCVC- | katungtungtung | converses with someoneis/are conversingwith someone | |
| Perfective | kina- | kinatungtung | conversed with someonehas/have conversed with someone | |
| Continuous Complete | kinaCVC- | kinatungtungtung | was/were conversing with someone |
The focused noun phrases of directional verbs are treated as places or destinations. When a person is the focus, a notion of direction (either to or from) or an affected party is implied, for example, suratan to write to someone, takawan to rob from someone (compare with tawaken to steal something). In addition, the focused noun phrase is treated as an area that is affected by the verb.
Verbs of cleaning, dalusan, to clean, labaan, to launder, sagadan, to sweep, are in this focus as the focused noun phrases are considered as an area affected. It is possible to use -en with these roots, but notice in the following sentences how the affix alters the focus and meaning: (with -an) Dinalusak ti sala. "I cleaned the living room." versus (with -en) Dinalusko ti rugit ti sala. "I cleaned the dirt in the living room."
Meanings:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | -an | labaan | to launder something | |
| Continuous Progressive | CVC~ -an | lablabaan | launders somethingis/are laundering something | |
| Perfective | <in> -an | linabaan | laundered somethinghas/have laundered something | |
| Continuous Complete | C<in>VC~ -an | linablabaan | was/were laundering somethingused to launder something would launder something |
The focused noun phrases of thematic verbs are transferred or whose location or state is affected in some way by the semantics of the root. An analog of this idea of transference, verbs of saying are commonly use this affix. What is said becomes the focused element and is thought of as being transferred from one person to another.
Examples of roots that commonly take this form:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | i- | ibaga | to say something | |
| Continuous Progressive | iCVC- | ibagbaga | says somethingis/are saying something | |
| Perfective | in-im- ing- | imbaga | said somethinghas/have said something | |
| Continuous Complete | inCVC-imCVC- ingCVC- | imbagbaga | was/were saying somethingused to say something would say something |
The focused noun phrases of the benefactive verbs are usually persons. The verb is performed on their behalf or for their benefit. In English, this would correspond to the indirect object or prepositional phrases introduced with to, for or because of.
As with non-actor verb forms, the core forms of the article and the deictives, and the ergative, or -ko, forms of the personal pronouns mark the actor. The focus, in this case the benefactor, is marked with the core forms and the absolutive, or -ak forms of the personal pronouns. If there is a direct object, it is marked with the oblique forms, for example, Igatanganto ni nanang ni ading iti sapatos Mother will buy shoes for (my) little sister.
Morphologically, the benefactive focused form is a combination of the prefix 'i-' and the suffix '-an'.
Meanings:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | i><an | igatangan | to buy for someone | |
| Continuous Progressive | iCVC><an | igatgatangan | buys for someoneis/are buying for someone | |
| Perfective | in><anim><an ing><an | inggatangan | bought for someonehas/have bought for someone | |
| Continuous Complete | inCVC><animCVC><an ingCVC><an | inggatgatangan | was/were buying for someonewould buy for someone used to buy for someone |
The basic sense of the instrumental focus is the use of something to accomplish the root's meaning; it is the tool or the means of achieving that end. That something is then cast in the absolutive case. For example, dalus, clean space, pagdalus, to use something to clean with.
Again, the actor is marked with the core forms or ergative, with pronouns (i.e., -ko), and the instrument, with core forms, and absolutive with pronouns, for example, Pagdalusan ni tatang ti drapo Father uses the rag to clean with.
Pag-, behaves more like a verbal noun than a verb and sometimes translates as the implement, the reason or the theme of the root instead. Because of this, formations with this affix are lexicalized, thus becoming a derivational affix in some instances.
Meanings:
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | pag- | pagdalus | to use something to cleanto be used to clean | |
| Continuous Progressive | pagCVC- | pagdaldalus | uses something to cleanis/are using something to clean is/are used to clean | |
| Perfective | pinag- | pinagdalus | used something to cleanhas/have used something to clean was/were used to clean | |
| Continuous Complete | pinagCVC- | pinagdaldalus | was/were using something to cleanused to use something for cleaning would use something for cleaning |
The imperative mood of the verb is used for giving commands or making requests.
The difference between the infinitive use and the imperative use is the accompaniment of a personal pronoun. These are the second person pronouns (singular or plural) and the first person plural inclusive.
Examples: Manganka Eat. (Second Person Singular) Idissoyo ditoy Put it down here. (Second Person Plural) Aginanata bassit Let's rest a while. (First Person Dual)
Imperative verbs do not inflect for aspect. Thus, they are not required to "agree" with the verb of the main clause when they occur in subordinate clauses.
Imbaga ni nanang a manganka Mother told you to eat.
The potentive mood of verbs denotes the following regarding the speaker's attitude regarding the event:
The prefixes Maka-, Makapag- and Makai- corresponds to the following actor focus prefixes in the indicative mood.
| Prefix | Indicative | Potentive | Root | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ag- | aggatang, to buy | makagatang, makapaggatang to be able to buy | gatang, purchase | |
| -um- | umuli, to ascend | makauli, to be able to ascend | uli, ascent | |
| mang- | mangayo, to gather wood | makakayo, to be able to gather wood | kayo, wood, tree | |
| ma- | maturog, to sleep | makaturog, to be able to sleep | turog, sleep |
Maka- is used with all of the other actors focus verbs except for some verbs that normally take ag-. It denotes the innateness of actor, or other factors such as health or knowledge, that affect one's ability to perform the action. It also denotes inattentiveness in the action if the verb can use either makapag- or maka-.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | maka- | makaturog | to be able to sleepto be sleepy | |
| Continuous Progressive | makaCVC- | makaturturog | is/are able to sleepis/are sleepy | |
| Perfective | naka- | nakaturog | was/were able to sleep,had been able to sleep, was/were sleepy | |
| Continuous Complete | nakaCVC- | nakaturturog | was/were being able to sleepwas/were becoming sleepy |
This prefix is applied to verbs that normally take ag- in the indicative. Similar to ag-, makapag- denotes internal motivation as a reason, so circumstance and context affect the ability to perform the action. Only nouns that denote humans or human-like animals are used with this prefix.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | makapag- | makapagdigos | to be able to bathe | |
| Continuous Progressive | makapagCVC- | makapagdigdigos | is/are able to bathe | |
| Perfective | nakapag- | nakapagdigos | was/were able to bathe | |
| Continuous Complete | nakapagCVC- | nakapagdigdigos | was/were being able to bathe |
The prefix makai- is used with detransitivized verbs that normally use i- as their transitive verb form, for example, ibelleng to throw (something) out versus makaibelleng can throw out, to be able to throw out.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | maka- | makaibelleng | to be able to throw away | |
| Continuous Progressive | makaiCVC- | makaibelbelleng | is/are able to throw away | |
| Perfective | nakai- | nakaibelleng | was/were able to throw away | |
| Continuous Complete | nakaiCVC- | nakaibelbelleng | was/were being able to throw away |
The prefix ma- is used with the patient focused affixes. Unlike the actor focused counterpart, maka-, Ma- does not replace the prefix, but is prefixed to the unaltered form. The only exception is the patient focus, where the suffix -en is dropped.
| Prefix | Example | Potentive Form | Root | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient | kitaento see (something) | makitato be able to see (something) to happen to see (something) to accidentally see (something) | kitasee | |
| Commitative | kasaoto talk with (someone) | makasao[8] to be able to talk with (someone) to happen to talk with (someone) | saospeech | |
| Directional | suratanto write to (someone) | masuratanto be able to write to (someone) to happen to write to (someone) | suratwriting, letter | |
| Thematic | ibagato say(something) | maibagato be able to say (something) to happen to say (something) | bagatell, say | |
| Benefactive | igatanganto buy for (someone) | maigatanganto be able to buy for (someone) to happen to buy for (someone) | gatangpurchase | |
| Instrumental | pagdalusto used (something) to clean with | mapagdalusto be able to used (something) to clean with to happen to used (something) to clean with | dalusclean space |
Examples: Saanko nakasao ni maestra idi kalman. I was not able to talk to teacher yesterday.
Nasuratam ida?
Were you able to write to them?
Maigatanganak ti libro?
Can you buy me a book?
Napagdalusko ti daan a kamisetam. I happened to use your old shirt for cleaning. (It was an accident. I promise!)
The inflectional forms for ma- potentives follow the same pattern detailed above in the Aspect section. In other words, the first syllable of the root reduplicates, not a part of the word before ma- is prefixed, for example, maibagbaga, is/are able to say (something), not *maib-ibaga.
In the initiated forms, the Continuous Progressive form is prefixed with na-, for example, ibagbaga says (something), maibagbaga is/are able to say (something) and naibagbaga was/were being able to say (something), not *maimbagbaga or *naimbagbaga.
| Aspect | Form | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | mai- | maituding | to be able to specify (something) | |
| Continuous Progressive | maiCVC- | maitudtuding | is/are being able to specify (something) | |
| Perfective | nai- | naituding | has/had been able to specify (something) | |
| Continuous Complete | naiCVC- | naitudtuding | was/were being able to specify (something) |
Causatives are the verb forms where the agent causes or forces the patient to perform a given action or to become a given state. As a result, all causative verbs forms are transitive, requiring both agent and patient.
The common pattern of formation is: [FOCUS] + pa + [ROOT].