Lamian Verbs

The verbs of my conlang, Lamian, are a mix in grammar between Indo-European stems and Japanese morphology. The verbs also follow a uniquely philosophical series of laws. All infinitives are given in the "past tense". There are three tenses that preside over Lamian verbs.

1. Present tense, or "Temporal Tense" - these describe actions happening now, or actions which happen only in the immediate present. Such actions are not continuous and happen within a short period of time; they can be repeated, but they happen "in the now". They describe actions that are temporal, and describe only one instance of the action it describes.

2. Past tense, or "Continuous Tense" - these describe continuous actions, or actions that things tend to do overtime continuously. These include descriptions of processes that repeat and exist throughout time and beyond time; for example, the rotations of the planets is a continual process, and would commonly by represented with the Past Tense, as if to say, "That which was, is and will always be".

3. Future tense - these describe actions that will happen soon, or are predestined to happen.


Take the statement, einin, which means "rotates" or "it rotates". Since it is in the Present tense, it means something akin to "it rotates now" or "at the moment it rotates"; it implies that it may or may not rotate in the future, and that it may or may not have rotated in the past - only that it rotates at the moment of the speaker. It describes a current reality that may be unique to this time. One might say, "a book spins", because someone flips a book into the air - it describes a temporal motion of an object. Books do not tend to spin, and the spinning book has not always spun nor will spin naturally in the future - but it spins now, and that is expressed with the Present tense.

The statement, einas, which means "rotated" or "rotates", is descriptive of the continuous process of rotation. For example, the rotation of a book, as in the previous example, would never be expressed in the Past tense, since the action only happens "in the now". However, something like the rotation of a planet would be expressed with the Past tense, since it is something that has existed and continues to exist. The Lamian philosophy states that temporal actions do not exist in the long-run of time, only "in the now". It also states that anything in the past worth recording are continual processes, since these are the only actions which have real and everlasting importance. This eliminates triviality, and therefore Past tense expresses actions that continue to effect us even today. It also expresses reoccurring things and things that continue to act a certain way. An example of this sense in English would be, "He shaves". The sense of this statement doesn't mean that he shaves at that very instance, but it means that he shaves reoccurring, that it is something continuous that he does that is not a one-time action expressive of only a present occurrence. It is a reoccurring, or eternal, action by the person, an action that has happened and thus continue to happen as before. That is the nature which the Past tense is expressive of. Future tense is just expressive of something that is predetermined to happen, and uses the element "niur", which means "soon".

There exists a certain set of attachable prefixes in Lamian that each give a specific extended meaning to a verb. For example, the prefix e- means "across" or "trans", like the P.I.E. prefix "s-", and it also implies a certain earthly or temporal nature for the verb. The verb leas  means to lay down, to found, to chose and to collect, and when it is paired with this prefix, eleas means to lie across something, to stretch across, to cover or to place on something. It implies specifically something earthly or relating to the physical, such as stretching a blanket of night over the land, or a country lying in a particular corner of the earth, or simply lying down. Common combinations of these prefixes are supplied in the Verb list, while other combos are left to the creative combination of the writers.

Verbs are also closely linked with nouns, since in Lamian every noun was developed from a parent verb. Both the Past tense of a Lamian verb, which is expressive of continual existence, and the nominative case of a Lamian noun, which is expressive of an unchanging object, have the same ending: -as. This is because they originate from the same ending. For example, the word lamas by itself means both light and to illuminate. This is because the Lamian philosophy states that the statement of a noun automatically indicates the main reoccurring tenancy of the thing, and statement of a verb automatically implies the presence of the thing which naturally/continually preforms that action. Therefore, to say "lamas" implies the presence of light as well as the reoccurring action of light, which is to illuminate, thus expressing the existence of light.

However, there are times when one object preforms an action that is not typical to it; for example, a light could burn something or blind something. In this case, you would state both the noun lamas and the word for burning, beras. The object of the sentence, which is the receiver of the action, can also be attached to the verb by using an -a- stem, for example, lamam ganas, which means "to summon light", can also be expressed as "lamaganas". Lamas has its ending changed to a simple -a and then added onto ganas, which means to call or summon.

Word order is usually subject - object - verb. Whenever the verb happens to be the same as the subject, for example lamas - light and to illuminate, the order is simply subject - object or verb-object, since they are the same. When the object is attached to the verb, it becomes subject - verb, since in that case, the verb is not the same as the subject.

This way redundancy is reduced, so instead of saying lamas modam lamas ("the light lights the world"), you would say "lamas modam" or "modam lamas", or even just "modalamas".


Verb list:

aithas    to breath, fluctuate, rhythm

agas    to absolve, eat, absorb (dumie eragas - to fade (into darkness), also gamageas - to fade, lit. stretch heat, experience entropy, to bleed)

beras    to pulse, throb, twinkle, go in and out (when paired with noun in locative case = in and out of (noun), e.g. in and out of the trees). Related word: belai - flowers (lit. the blooms, blossoms,)

degas    to burn

eas    to exist, to be; Related words: eam - existence

eras    to thus be, to so be (eas paired with prefix -er)

einas    to become, turn, rotate; Related words: einai - rotational periods, of day cycle, rotation

elas    to keep, hold, retain, withhold, have, show, bear, exhibit

enas    to command, put forth, lead, decide, rule, reign, take ownership/responsibility, put, mandate, enact; Related words: enam - ruler, lord, king, ienas - to disperse, dismiss

erenas    to so be ordered/commanded

galas    to nurture, sustain, produce; Related word: galam - fount, fountain, well, star, duct

gamas    to charge, warm, Related word: gamen - hearth, fireplace

geas    to gape, stretch, open wide, n. chasm, gap, universe/cosmos (also yasma/gasma/casma)

gemas    to pour, flow into, flood, swarm

ganas    to call, summon, bring, charge, call out for, conjure, name

duorganas - to summon a bridge

genas    to progenate, continue, produce, make alive, go on, make go on

geras    to make timed, emerge, begin, coming into being, make becoming; geram - plant (?) (lit. growths), geraduen - time's flow

geril - plant, flower

 gerith - garden

geren    vessel of time, ath. that bears the mark of time, the fruit of time, grain, harvest, crop, culture; sth through which you can mark the time

lamas    to illuminate, emit; lamam - light, lamen - lamp, lantern, vessel

leas    to gather, collect, count, tell, lay down, choose, judge, found; layam - law, order, dictation, judgement, transform

eleas    to lie across or on something, or, to stretch across, lie (as in a place), be placed on sth., or, to traverse

erleas    to found, dictate

lipas    to slip, evade, glide, get out of or in way, +gen. slip away from, when paired with noun in locative case = slip into, through or within

litas    to slide, ski or surf. Similar to lipas except it requires a medium to run down; to tear or rain

luas    to record, mark, scratch, leave mark, crest, stroke; luam - record, recording, text, work, piece of work

oluen    book, written material, codex

ithas    to meet, congregate, transit; allign; galithas - planetary allignment, planetary transit

luseas    to search for

meas    to mow, reap, cut, take, put into, insert, take (as in to eat); omean - scythe, tool for reaping

melas    to crush, hit, bring in, grind, compact (i.e. gravity); melen - container of gravity, hammer, graviton

miras    to behold, bear witness, witness; miram - miracle, spectacle, sight, vista, vision

nathas    to give, the accusitive to need or be needed by

niuras    to come, be soon, be resultant

pagas    (unknown)

samas    to unify, make one, bring together

semas    n. sense, nature, as in something's nature, aspect, essence, being

seas    to say, differentiate, tell, judge to be so, discern, proclaim

oseas    to depart

eseas    to see through, see visions, use the third eye, see from afar, to dictate from divine posession

erseas    to say, speak, proclaim

thas    to concieve, give birth to, make, create, bring into world (or asthas); lamasthas - create light


Verb prefixes:

e       through, across, around, over
a       over, into
o       related to an object, means to an end
er, ere    literally, physically, resultantly
tha         fore-, in favor of, -like,
i             inter-, ex-, dis-, un-, atomize
po          with-, con-