Lesson 4 – Verbs

Verbs are action words which are used when we are talking about doing something. In this lesson, we will look at some verbs in Karangura and some of the different suffixes used at the end of the verb. Suffixes are attached at the end of verb roots to show when, how or why the action is taking place.

yatha-

to speak, say, bark

purka-

to blow

tama-

to cut

indra-

to cry

wirri-

to enter

warratya-

to hang

thika-

to return

yapi-

to burn, ignite

yuka-

to go, walk

mani-

to get

karra-

to hold

pirda-

to hit, kill

ngantya-

to love, like

taka-

to kick

ngama-

to sit

nhirka-

to look

kungka-

to laugh

purka-

to run

thapa-

to smoke

kantha-

to spit

tharka-

to stand

purri-

to sleep

matha-

to bite

tharraka-

to swim

wara-

to throw

wirpa-

to whistle

wapa-

to go

mirratya-

to scratch

pali-

to die

Present tense

Here are two suffixes which are attached to the end of the verb which show that the action is happening now. This is called the present tense, and is similar to -ing in English. For example, walking, talking. Some verbs take the rna ending whereas others take the da or nda ending. Make sure to use the correct ending for the verb.

-rna

this suffix shows that the action is happening now (present tense suffix)

-nda/-da

this suffix also shows that the action is taking place in the present however it is used only for a handful of verbs. For some words the suffix used for present tense is -da, make sure to use the right suffixes!

This is what the verbs look like when the -rna present tense suffix is added to the verb:

yatharna

speak

purkarna

blow

thamarna

cut

inthrarna

cry

thikarna

return

warratyantha

hold

yapirna

burn

kaparna

come

yuka

tandrarna

hit, kill

karrarna

hold

pirdarna

hit

ngantyarna

love, like

takarna

kick

ngamarna

sit

nhirkarna

look

kungkarna

laugh

purkarna

run

thaparna

smoke

kantharna

spit

tharkarna

stand

purrirna

sleep

matharna

bite

tharrakarna

swim

wararna

throw

wirparna

whistle

waparna

walk

Sentence examples

Thityi yatharna.

The dog is barking

thityi means dog and yatha means to bark.

Wiyi indrarna.

The boy is crying.

wiya means boy and indra means to cry.

This is what the verbs look like when the -nda/-da present tense suffix is added to the verb:

warratyanda

hang

manda

get

mirratyanda

scratch

tharkalathanda

stand

palda

die

Commands

The suffix -rri is added to verbs in order to form command words. Here are two command words:

kapa-rri

come here!

yuka-rri

go away!