Reference Grammar

Section 3.2.1.A: Verbs: Present Active Subjunctive


Subjunctive mood typically conveys speculative, conditional, or less-than-real force in many of the world's languages, and it fills this same role in Mungayöd. However, it also fills the role of an imperative voice, of which Mungayöd lacks an independent form. Commands are given with the second person forms. The third person and first person plural forms carry an optative sense ("Let him sit"), which is, in a practical sense, an indirect imperative.

Some of the common verbs are abbreviated in the imperative (not the optative). Most common are:

"Be!"
"Go!"
"Bring!"
"Do!"
"Speak!"
Gìsa!
Witsào!
Dègèsào!
Òësào!
Magosào!
-> Ga!
Wìt!
Dèg!
Òë!
Magos!

Dègèsào lilu zhùda mo dèt!
Dèg lilu zhùda mo dèt!
Rùmukavìnas shào dju ìljei më!.
Bring me that book!
Bring me that book!
Let us escape from this place!

The primary subjunctive endings are quite different from the indicative:

-mas
-sào
-pi
-vìnas
-satso
-ròdji

All verbs conjugate the same as the present indicative, merely exchanging the subjunctive endings for the indicative.