Tense, Aspect, and Mood
The pattern of vowels between the consonants of a verb root, as well as the gemination of one or more consonants in some cases, is determined in part by the verb class (3A, 3B, 3C, 4, 5) and the presence (or absence) of derivational morphemes (, etc.). But it also depends on the selection of the tense/aspect or mood.
Most Semitic languages make a basic two-way distinction between a tense/aspect stem that is conjugated with suffixes and another stem that is conjugated with prefixes and, in some forms, suffixes as well. In Ethiopian Semitic and in Arabic, the first, known as the perfect, is used for past tense, and the second, known as the imperfect, is used for present and sometimes future tenses. In Tigrinya the bare imperfect is used mainly for the habitual present: ኩሉ መዓልቲ መስኮት ይሰብር kullu mä‘alti mäskot yǝsäbbǝr 'he breaks a window every day'. In other present and future contexts, auxiliaries are usually used along with the imperfect.
Ethiopian Semitic and Arabic verbs also have a third possibility, which like the imperfect is conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes. This form, known as the jussive/imperative, is tenseless; it is used to express the imperative mood in the second person as well as notions such as 'let him DO', 'that he DO' in the first and third persons. In Ethiopian Semitic, the affirmative imperative drops the prefix, but the negative imperative maintains it. For example, in Tigrinya ንስበር nǝ-sbär 'let's break', ስበራ sǝbär-a 'break! (2p.f.pl.)', ኣየትስበራ ay-tǝ-sbär-a 'don't break! (2p.f.pl.)'.
Some Ethiopian Semitic languages, including Tigrinya, have a fourth possibility, known (somewhat confusingly) as the gerund or gerundive, which like the perfect is conjugated with suffixes only. As in Amharic, this form in Tigrinya has a tenseless, linking function: '(after) having DONE...', '...DO and (then)...'. In Tigrinya it has an additional and very important function: it is the usual way to express the affirmative past tense in independent clauses, the perfect being restricted mainly to the past negative and to verbs preceded by subordinating conjunctions and the relativizer zǝ-. Examples:
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መስኮት ሰቢሩ ሃዲሙ mäskot säbiru hadimu window break (3p.m.sg., ) escape (3p.m.sg., ) 'He broke a window and escaped.'
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እቲ መስኮት ዝሰበረ ወዲ ǝti mäskot zǝ-säbärä wäddi the window -break (3p.m.sg., ) boy 'the boy who broke a window'
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መስኮት ኣይሰበረን mäskot ay-säbärä-n window -break (3p.m.sg., ) 'He didn't break a window.'
Read more about this topic: Tigrinya Verbs
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