Verbs
Բայք

Verbs in Clas­sical Arme­nian are classified in five groups, based on the characteristic vowel in their Pre­sent In­dica­tive endings:

Verb Stems

Verbs in Classical Armenian are based on a two-stem system in which verbal forms are built upon a present stem and an aorist stem.

Verb stems consist of a root and possibly a stem suffix immediately after the root (before the characteristic vowel and other endings). Present-stem roots may have the stem suffixes -ան-, -ն-, -չ-, or -նչ-, and aorist-stem roots may have the stem suffix -(Vowel)ց-. For example:

The distinction between present-stem and aorist-stem verbs relates to the verb’s aspect, rather than the time in which the verbal action occurs. Present-stem verbs denote an ongoing, developing or continuous action, while aorist-stem verbs refer to a completed action.

Verb Moods

In grammar, mood (or mode) refers to the manner or tone of a verb which communicates the Speaker’s intended quality or character of a statment, such as real or unreal, certain or possible, wished or demanded. Clas­sical Arme­nian utilizes three principal moods: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative.

Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is used to state a fact, to express an opinion believed to be a fact, or to ask a question. For example:

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is used to state a possibility, or to express a wish or desire. For example:

Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to express a demand or request, directed to one or more listeners (with the verb conjugated either 2nd person singular or plural). For example:

Present-Stem Verbs

As stated above, present-stem verb forms denote an ongoing, developing or continuous action.

Present Indicative

Endings for Pre­sent In­dica­tive verbs are formed by adding the following suffixes to the characteristic vowels of the verbs (ե, ի, ա, ու, ո):

In forming the endings, the suffix letter -յ acts on certain characteristic vowels as follows:

Present Infinitive

The present infinitive forms are built on the present stems with the following endings:

Imperfect Indicative

The Imperfect Indicative is a verb form which combines an occurence in the past with an ongoing aspect.4 The forms are built on the present stems with the following endings:

Present Subjunctive

Present Subjunctive forms are built on the present stems with endings created as follows:

• Characteristic verb vowel (ե, ի, ա, ու, ո).
• Plus the suffix -ից (which depreciates the prior ե and ի vowels), as follows:

• Plus the present indicative endings, as follows:
  • for ե, ի and ու verbs, their respective present indicative -եմ, -իմ or -ում endings, or
  • for ա and ո verbs, the present indicative -եմ endings.

Present Imperative

Except for the verb “to be”, the Pre­sent Imper­ative is used only in prohibitive statements, by using the negative particle մի՛. Only the second person singular has distinct forms; the others use the Pre­sent In­dica­tive forms. The (prohibitive) Present Imperative form in the second person singular uses the present stem with the characteristic verb vowel, plus the suffix -ր, as shown in the examples below:

Aorist-Stem Verbs

As stated above, aorist-stem verb forms denote a completed action.

There are five basic distinctions between present-stem verbs and aorist-stem verbs, with regard to whether the roots are extended with a stem suffix (-ան-, -ն-, -չ-, or -նչ- for present stems, and -(Vowel)ց- for aorist stems). Aorist verbs without these suffixes are called Root aorists (sometimes called Strong or Second aorists). Those with the -(Vowel)ց- suffixes are referred to as -Vց aorists (sometimes called Weak or First aorists). These five distinctions (reflecting 1per. sg. forms) are illustrated below:

Aorist verbs also distinguish between the active (A) and mediopassive (MP) voice, by means of different of endings.

Aorist Indicative

The Aorist Indicative forms are built on the aorist stems with following endings:

Conjugated forms are shown in the examples below:

A given root may take endings of both active and mediopassive voices, as shown in the examples below:

Suppletive Verbs (different Present and Aorist stems):

Aorist Subjunctive

Except for second person plural, the Aorist Subjunctive endings are based on -ից, which becomes -յց after an -ա-. In unstressed syllables, the -ի- drops. The second person plural ending is -ջիք for both active and mediopassive. The forms are built on the aorist stems with following endings:

Conjugated forms are shown in the examples below:

Aorist Imperative

The Aorist Imperative only has second person forms, which are built on the aorist stems with following endings:

Conjugated forms are shown in the examples below:

Parameters in the formation of Aorist Imperative conjugations:

A.  Second person singular forms are generally identical to the bare aorist stem (i.e., no ending), except:

1.  Verbs with extended present stems always use the mediopassive ending -իր, for example:

2.  Verbs with both the present stem suffix -ան- and the aorist stem suffix -աց- occasionally use the singular mediopassive ending -իր. For example:

B.  -Vց aorists with polysyllabic aorist stems have the following tendencies in second person singular forms:

1.  The stem suffix -աց- reduces to -ա-, for example:

2.  The stem suffix -եց- reduces to -եա- in the active voice, and to -եաց- in the mediopassive. For example:

C.  -Vց aorists with monosyllabic extended aorist stems are not changed in the foregoing manner. For example:

D.  Root aorist stems remain unaltered, for example:

Aorist “Cohortative”

The so-called “cohortative” mood is used for exhortations that act stronger than a subjunctive request, but not as strong as an imperative command. The form has second person forms that are built on the aorist stems with following endings:

Conjugated “cohortative” forms, with a comparison to subjunctive and imperative forms, are shown in the examples below:

Passive Voice

In Classical Armenian, transitive verbs8 occur in both active and passive constructions. However, the distinction between active and passive voice is not always distinguished by the morphology or form of the verb.

Passive Voice in the Present System of Verbs

In the Present Indicative, Pre­sent Subjunc­tive and (prohibitive) Pre­sent Imper­ative tenses, -եմ verbs may form a passive voice by changing the characteristic vowel from ե to ի. For example:

Vowel substitution example:

In the Imperfect Indicative tense, the distinction between active and passive is lost, since -իմ verbs are conjugated the same as -եմ verbs. For example:

Verbs that are -ամ and -ում, and verbs that are inherently -իմ, do not form passives by vowel substitution. These verbs make no formal distinction between active and passive throughout the entire Present system. For example:

Aorist Mediopassive

The Aorist system usually maintains a morphological distinction between active and passive voice, with the contrast distinguished by regular alternation of endings. For example:

Note that the following Aorist conjugations make no distinction between active and passive:

• Aorist Indicative – 1st Person Plural (-աք ending)
•    for example:  փորձեցաք – “we tempted,  we were tempted”
• Aorist Subjunctive – 1st Person Plural (-ցուք ending)
•    for example:  արգելցուք – “we shall hinder,  we shall be hindered”
• Aorist Subjunctive – 2nd Person Plural (-ջիք ending)
•    for example:  պատմեսջիք – “you (pl.) shall tell,  you (pl.) shall be told”

In the Aorist system, some transitive verbs are found only with passive forms. When taken out of context, these forms are ambiguous—they may have active meaning and take an object, or have true passive (and therefore intransitive) meaning. For this reason, the term mediopassive or middle voice is often used instead of “passive” to describe the non-active forms of Aorist conjugation.

Verbs that have only mediopassive Aorist endings are typically those with Present forms of -իմ, -անամ, and -նում. Below are examples of verbs that have active and passive Aorist forms, and verbs that have only mediopassive Aorist forms:

Other Aspects of Passive Usage

A.  Non-finite verb forms (participles, infinitives and verbal adjectives) make no morphological distinction between active and passive, with the meaning determined by context. For example:

B.  When verb morphology does not distinguish voice contrast, ambiguity is often avoided by one of two means:

1. Stem Substitution.  For example:  հեղու – “he pours”   versus   հեղանի – “it is poured”
2. Compound Tenses.  For example:  բերեի – “I was carrying”   versus   բերեալ լինեի – “I was being carried”

C.  In passive statements, the agents of the action are treated differently, depending on whether they are animate or inanimate. When the agent is a person, the agent uses the preposition ՚ի with the Ablative case:

When the agent is a thing, the agent is in the Instrumental case:

1 Verbs in Clas­sical Arme­nian are designated by their first person singular form (e.g., սիրեմ, “I love”), rather than their infinitive form (սիրել, “to love”), due to the fact the infinitive ending -ել applies to both -եմ and -իմ verbs, and there would be no way to distinguish verbal pairs that share the same infinitive form.

2 The only ո verb is գոմ, which has been recorded only in third person forms, although other conjugations theoretically exist.

3 In the Post-Clas­sical period, the ending -իլ was used to distinguish -իմ verbs from -եմ verbs in the present infinitive tense (e.g., սիրիլ = “to be loved”).

4 Verbs in the Imper­fect Indic­ative tense are often rendered into English with a simple past tense.

5 In the Post-Clas­sical period, the ending -իւր was used to distinguish -իմ verbs from -եմ verbs in the 3rd person singular Imper­fect Indic­ative tense (e.g., սիրիւր, “he was loved”, versus սիրէր, “he loved”).

6 The form գուցէ, “it may exist”, is also used in the adverbial sense of “perhaps”.

7 In the Post-Clas­sical period, these forms also gained the augment է- (e.g., էած, not եած).

8 Transitive verbs require a direct object to receive the action (e.g. Եւ նա ոչ ետ նմա պատաս­խանի, “And he did not give an answer (object) to her” (Matt 15:23.)). Intrans­itive verbs do not take an object (e.g., … եւ անդ կայր յաղօթս, “… and there he stood in prayer” (Mark 1:35)). Most -եմ verbs are transitive, and most -իմ verbs are intransitive.