Isathes Verb Conjugation — Tense & Mood Inventory
This table shows all productive verb forms we currently have, independent of verb class restrictions (those are noted afterward).
1. Core Tense & Mood Table
1.1 Finite Verb Forms (All Classes, Unless Restricted)
| Category | Name | Form | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unmarked | Non-past | Verb | Present or future state/action |
| Past | Retrospective | Verb-a | State/action that occurred |
| Imperative | Command | Verb-e | Command directed at an agent |
| Invocative (Low) | Agentless causation | Verb-i | Ordinary binding / declarative causation |
| Invocative (High) | Ritual agentless causation | Verb-aen | Ritual, institutional, or cosmological causation |
1.2 Example (Class I: vaeth “to bind”)
| Form | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Non-past | vaeth | binds / will bind |
| Past | vaetha | bound |
| Imperative | vaethe | bind! (to an agent) |
| Invocative (Low) | vaethi | let the binding come into being |
| Invocative (High) | vaethaen | let the binding be established (ritual / witnessed) |
2. Functional Distinctions (Very Important)
2.1 Non-past (Unmarked)
- Covers present and future
- Descriptive or predictive
- No causation asserted
vesal → “endures / will endure”
2.2 Past (-a)
- Retrospective
- Descriptive only
- Does not undo obligations or states
vesala → “endured”
2.3 Imperative (-e)
- Commands an agent
- Requires a being capable of acting
- Cannot target reality, existence, belief, or will
vaethe → “bind!” (someone must act)
2.4 Invocative (-i, -aen)
- Asserts causation without an agent
- Does not command
- Does not describe
- Claims responsibility for the utterance itself
| Form | Register | Use |
|---|---|---|
-i | Low | Legal, social, everyday binding |
-aen | High | Ritual, institutional, cosmological |
3. Verb-Class Compatibility Snapshot
| Verb Class | Non-past | Past | Imperative | Invocative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class I (-eth) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Class II (-dar) | ✔ | ✔ | ⚠ contextual | ⚠ authority / ritual |
| Class III (-sal) | ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | ⚠ high only |
| Class IVa (-mir) | ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Class IVb (-el) | ✔ | ✖ (by design) | ✖ | ✖ |