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.
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