Verbal Inflections
Verbal inflections mark verbs. Verbal inflections express tense and evidentiality. Verbal inflections also express subject and object.
For subject-object, number is not expressed, so that first person singular, dual, plural, inclusive, and exclusive are all referenced with the same inflection. Object reference includes: first person, second person, third person animate, and third person inanimate. The third person inanimate object is equal to the zero object and so these same forms are used with intransitive verbs. Additionally, when third person inanimate is the subject, all animate objects are referenced with the same inflection.
Some verbs take non-volitional subject pronouns (which look like object pronoun), but still take the appropriate inflections for a volitional subject. For example, the verb came means ‘feel, sense, seem’. It is intransitive, with the subject generally marked as non-volitional and the thing felt or sensed in an oblique phrase. The inflection on came, however, agrees with the number of the subject.
Note that the suffix -ñe can mean NP.2>1 or RP.DIR.1>0 or RP.DIR.3>1 and the suffix -nda can mean RP.DIR.3>0 or RP.DIR.0>123, and that the suffixes with -nd are recent past with first and third person subjects and distant past with a second person subject. One can imagine that this is part of the impetus to use pronominal proclitics to mark subjects.
Tense
The three tenses are: non-past, recent past, and distant past. Non-past is used for a simple present, events in the future, and hypothetical events. Recent past is used for events that happened in the past minute to the past week or so. Distant past is used for events that have happened further in the past.
Recent Past inflections are characterized by an initial ‘n’:
Distant Past inflections are characterized by the following changes: initial n and nd -> t, initial nn -> nd, and initial ñ -> c. Note that third person indefinite inflections do not mirror the recent past inflections.
Evidentiality
Evidentiality is only expressed in the recent past and the distant past. Three types of evidentiality are expressed in inflections: direct, inferred, and reported. Direct refers to first-hand evidence from one’s own senses or direct experience. Inferred refers to conclusions based on evidence. It is also used with negative verbs, as the absence of something is generally inferred. Reported refers to knowledge learned from others. Dreams use reported evidentiality.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and first person object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, first person and third person animate object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, first person and second person object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person animate subject and inanimate or no object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person animate subject and second person object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person animate subject and third person animate object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person animate subject and first person object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and second person object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and third person animate object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, second person and first person object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, second person and third person animate object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, second person subject and first person object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and first person object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
recent past, direct evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, second person
recent past, reported evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, second person
recent past, reported evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, first person and third person animate object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, first person
recent past, reported evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, first person
recent past, direct evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, second person subject and inanimate or no object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, first person and second person object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, second person subject and third person animate object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, second person and first person object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, second person and third person animate object.
recent past, direct evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and second person object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and third person animate object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and first person object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, second person and first person object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, second person and third person animate object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, first person and third person animate object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
recent past, inferred evidentiality, first person and second person object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
recent past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate and any person animate object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person inanimate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and second person object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person animate and third person animate object.
distant past, direct evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, third person animate
distant past, reported evidentiality, second person
distant past, reported evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, second person
distant past, reported evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, first person
distant past, reported evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
distant past, reported evidentiality, first person
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person inanimate subject and any person animate object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and inanimate or no object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and second person object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and third person animate object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate reflexive subject and object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, third person animate and first person object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, second person and first person object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, second person and inanimate or no object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, second person and third person animate object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, second person reflexive subject and object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, first person and inanimate or no object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, first person and third person animate object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
distant past, inferred evidentiality, first person and second person object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, first person subject and inanimate or no object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, first person subject and third person animate object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, first person reflexive subject and object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, first person subject and second person object.
non-past, zero evidentiality, third person inanimate subject and inanimate or no object.