Defusing a verb

Another very important aspect of Tulvan grammar is the 'defusing' of verbs. Such is the term used in Tulvan for the creation of gerunds and gerundives, or verbal nouns, such as thinking, eating, resting, or even "to be or not to be". Some verbs can be used as nouns, but some must undergo a subtle transformation which Tulvan acknowledges as 'nullifying sounds'.

This process implies that all 'v's revert to 'u's, all dotted letters such as 'ë' and 'ä' rever to their non-dotted versions. Also all final dentals fall back to 's', all final velars to 'z' and all final labials to 'm'. Some examples are as follow:

the verb tulv- 'to think', becomes tulu when defused.
Such as; cur kwam tulu, I want to think.

the verb ëv- 'to be', becomes eu when defused.
Such as; eu ë eu vu, to be or not to be.

Other examples are ëvpak/eupaz, to listen; and also ëvud/euus, to know.

This construction suits perfectly the place of the gerund, as in;

Ëv tulu itrum, it is good to think, or, thinking is good.

Reflexive pronoun

Tulvan has a reflexive pronoun that is used to indicate the middle voice and also the reflexive. This pronoun is completely invariable and can be used with any other pronoun, it will always refer to the subject of the verb in any given sentence. The pronoun is sim. So you can say something like Lev kwam sim I look at myself of course meaning "in a mirror". This same pronoun would be used in such sentences as "I comb my hair" or "Know thyself", the last one being rendered in Tulvan as; Ëvudi sim Know (your)self, which is the Tulvan translation for the ancient greek phrase in Delphos' Oracle.

Noteworthy to note that the salute Primi sim is used to mean Take care! and, of course, primin sim would be used for a group of people. As mentioned above the reflexive is invariable.

Lev totene sim They look at themselves (masc.)
Lev tegene sim They look at themselves (fem.)

Primi sim Take care!
Primin sim Take care, you guys!

And so on. When asked a riddle and the child can't think of answer asking for a hint, a Tulvan might say

Tulvi sim siv! Think for yourself!

Posing the child a challenge.

ëvpak

vb. to hear, to listen, to give heed. The act of paying attention to what is being said and listening.

It is most frequently used in the sense of 'giving heed' or also used to ask for attention. Ëvpaki (kem) is a common phrase to ask for attention, or also to shut someone up when you want to comment on something that was just said, which happens quite a lot in Tulvan discussions, specially about poilu. Also very much used is ëvpak vu mem 'you don't listen to me'.

poilu

n. logic, good-sense, the ability to perceive and/or utilize empirical thinking in an efficient train of thought.

This word has a special meaning to Tulvans. It is in fact used about sentences or thoughts which have sense or are 'logical', but its connotations can also go as far as to use it to assess someone's sanity. Many Tulvans will think not being logical in speech is a kind of madness. This is not to say that they are always logical, but upper classes are disgusted to engage on futile conversations and often will look down to those who do. The motto of the Society of Tulvan Grammarians is:

TUYLV LEVI POILU SIV
Think and speak with logic

A praise among Tulvan scientists is to say that something is 'poilui' or 'logical', as in 'well-formulated according to the rules of logic'. While the academia lingers on in this belief, the youth are starting to think 'ilipoilu' and outside the box, with varying degrees of achievements. The famous phrase 'that is not logical' rendered in Tulvan as:

Ëv si ilipoilu or ëv ilipoilu

Is close to calling someone a liar.

Weak Tenses

Weak tenses are a group of tenses and aspects in the lines of the Strong tenses, but with the difference that the root is not modified and a prefix is used which is k(V)- being (V) = any vowel. So we have in this category the Habitual aspect, the Perfective aspect, the Future tense and the Conditional. The Habitual takes the prefix ki- and denotes an action that continues through time, a habit or an ongoing action.

e.g.:
Kilev kwam. I see (everyday), I am seeing, I am used to seeing.
Kitulv kwam. I think (everyday), I am thinking, I am used to thinking.
Këvud kwam. I know (everyday), I am knowing, I am used to knowing.
Kithark kwam. I use (everyday), I am using, I am used to using.
Kiprum kwam. I speak (everyday), I am speaking, I am used to speaking.

These can be further developed into the past tense habitual, so:

Kiluev kwam. I used to see, I was seeing.
Kitaulv kwam. I used to think, I was thiking.
Këvaud kwam. I used to know, I was knowing.
Kithuark kwam. I used to use, I was using.
Kipraum kwam. I used to speak, I was speaking.

Then we have the Perfective aspect, which indicates an action that has been completed or done already. The prefix is ka- so:

Kalev kwam. I have seen.
Katulv kwam. I have thought.
Kaëvud kwam. I have known.
Kathark kwam. I have used.
Kaprum kwam. I have spoken.

Then the Future tense, which uses the prefix ku-, so:

Kulev kwam. I will see.
Kutulv kwam. I will think.
Kuëvud kwam. I will know.
Kuthark kwam. I will use.
Kuprum kwam. I will speak.

Finally, in the Weak Tenses, we have the Conditional, which takes the prefix kya-, so:

Kyalev kwam. I would see.
Kyatulv kwam. I would think.
Kyaëvud kwam. I would know.
Kyathark kwam. I would use.
Kyaprum kwam. I would speak.

The conditional construction needs a special post in Tulvan, which will come very soon.

Strong Tenses

Tenses in Tulvan are divided in two groups: Strong Tenses and Weak Tenses. Again I would like to mention that the usage of the word "tense" in this context owes entirely to Tulvan classification. It is in fact a translation of the first scholars of Tulvan of the appropriate Tulvan term for them. The fact is that this groups tenses along with aspects and moods, which were actually historically related and developed thus. This is how Tenses are taught in Tulvan cathegories of strong and weak. The Strong Tenses are the ones which involve changing the root of the verb, these are: the Aorist, the Aorist participle, the Past, the Imperative and the Subjunctive. The Aorist is the normal form of the root and is translated as Simple Present or Gnomic Aorist, a kind of general present.

e.g.:
Lev kwam. I see.
Tulv kwam. I think.
Ëvud kwam. I know.
Thark kwam. I use.
Prum kwam. I speak.

The Aorist Participle is formed by the infixation of -y to the first vowel of the root. The only exceptions are the verbs that begin with rë- and ëv- prefixes. The meaning of these is that of a preceding condition or situation, almost an anterior tense, in the lines of the sentence "Do this and then do that". It is commonly translated as "having X, I do Y". So we have:

Leyv kwam. Having seen...
Tuylv kwam. Having thought...
Ëvuyd kwam. Having known...
Thayrk kwam. Having used...
Pruym kwam. Having spoken...

So for instance a sentence like tuylv kwam, ëv kem means "Having thought, I am", or even "Once I have thought, I am". Another example would be "Think and see!" this would be rendered into Tulvan as tuylv mem levi, using the imperative in the second verb.

The past is a little tricky. It has two forms depending on the verb. It uses the infixation of a- in the first thematic vowel in all verbs except the ones were that vowel is -a or -e, in which u- is used. So again we have:

Luev kwam. I saw.
Taulv kwam. I thought.
Ëvaud kwam. I knew.
Thuark kwam. I used.
Praum kwam. I spoke.

This is equivalent to the Aorist Past or the Simple Past. Then we have the imperative, this is an almost weak tense, because it employs the suffix -i, as in the title, so:

Levi. See!
Tulvi. Think!
Ëvudi. Know!
Tharki. Use!
Prumi. Speak!

The imperative takes the suffix -in for the plural. So Prumi "speak!" referred to a singular "you", but Prumin "speak!/let's speak!" referred to a plural "you" or a plural first person. Finally we have the subjunctive very related to the imperative, it takes the form of the simple past plus the imperative suffix.

Luevi kwam. That I may see.
Taulvi kwam. That I may think.
Ëvaudi kwam. That I may I know.
Thuarki kwam. That I may I use.
Praumi kwam. That I may I speak.

This tense is rare, but it can be used as a lighter form of the imperative. It can also take the plural form -in.

Tenses

Tulvan doesn't conjugate for person, but has a vast array of tense conjugations. In fact, in Tulvan we will find that conjugations and tenses also include some other fields that in other languages would be included as moods and aspects. The language posses an Aorist, Past, Future, Conditional, a Perfective aspect, Habitual, Imperative and a Subjunctive voice, apart from participles. While some tenses relay on infixation of some kind in the root of the verb, some other use a prefix particle. This has lead scholars to the assumption that some constructions and tenses were more natural in Tulvan or were real Tulvan and other were a late addition to the system.

Accordingly, Tulvan categorizes some as tenses such things as the aorist and the subjunctive, which scholars believe weren't actually such in Ancient Tulvan, but then evolved into them. And so, the general term for "tense" was retained in latter Tulvan. In fact, the word for "tense" in Tulvan covers a grey semantic field which includes moods and aspects. So you will find a subjunctive rendered as a "tense" for the sake of organization and because of how original they were conceived. Strong tenses will include, then, a subjunctive and a habitual, while the weak tenses will include a perfective.

Unlike English or many modern European languages which use a paratactic strategy, that is two clauses joined by a conjuction 'I eat and see', Tulvan uses an hypotactic strategy. This mean it uses a system called circumstantial participle, so the same sentence would be in Tulvan 'Having eaten, I see', akin to Ancient Greek.

Next, tenses in Tulvan.