Verbs are cited in this dictionary in their basic, underlying form, which usually differs from the form as pronounced. The basic citation form includes root, which occurs on the far right side of the verb, possibly preceded by one or more prefixes, separated by hyphens. In order to form a verb word, the citation form must be inflected for person and conjugated for mode-aspect.
Inflection for person is similar to the final -s on the third-person ('he/she/it') forms of English verbs. First-person singular ('I') and second person singular and plural ('you') are indicated via prefixes. First person plural ('we') is indicated via a separate word daa. There is no verb prefix for third-person ('he/she/it/they'). Instead, third-person is indicated in one or both of two ways: via an independent pronoun anh (literally, 'that one') and/or via a verbal ending inh, referring to one human, or inuu, referring to more than one human.
Conjugation indicates the way a verb is carried out across time, similar to English past, present, and future tense, or progressive ('-ing') aspect. There are three basic conjugation classes and six mode-aspects.
| Conjugation | Mode-Aspect |
|---|---|
| Active Inceptive Neuter | imperfective perfective conditional imperative optative desiderative. |
Conjugation is indicated in multiple ways, via prefixes, suffixes, and a sometimes a special form of the verb root involving a modification to the vowel and final consonant of the root. For example, the verb root -da 'sit (one person)' has the form daa in the Inceptive perfective conjugation and the form dah in the Active perfective conjugation. The verb root doesn't always vary, though. For example, the verb root kiinX 'cry' is the same in both Active imperfective and perfective conjugations; the only difference is the presence of the prefix sA- and suffix -L in the perfective: kiinX 's/he is crying', sAkiinXL 's/he cried'.
Not all conjugations are indicated in the dictionary. Some sample conjugations are given in the Notes section of the entry, usually with the imperfective and active forms, show the required prefixes, suffixes and form of the root.