Sussex R., Cubberley P. The Slavic Languages

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Tense: present, past, future, imperfect, aorist, pluperfect, as well as

various combinations, like the Bulgarian future-in-the-past.

Voice: active, passive, reflexive

Mood: indicative, conditional, imperative

Renarration: ‘‘authentic’’, renarrated (Bulgarian and Macedonian)

Case: as for adjectives; case is marked in verbs only on participles.

These are the inflexional morphological categories of Slavic. Although aspect is

conventionally treated with paradigmatics, it is formally more closely related to

word formation, and we discuss it in 6.3 and especially in 8.3.

These inflexional categories divide into two types: those which the verb

‘‘acquires’’ by agreement from the subject (number, person, gender, case); and

those which are inherent in the verb. The acquired characteristics are marked on

the various verb forms as follows:

1. No acquired characteristics: non-finite forms of the verb:

infinitive (not in Macedonian or Bulgarian)

supine (only Czech and Slovenian)

gerund (though Czech gerunds inflect for gender and number)

2. Gender and number:

Tense forms with the l-participle, and lacking an auxiliary on which

[Person] would be marked: East Slavic past and conditional tenses, as

well as the 3 Person past which lacks the auxiliary in Czech, Slovak,

Polish and Macedonian.

(116) Rus ja

/ty

on vernu

-l-sja ‘I [Masc]/you [Masc]/he returned

Czech gerunds also mark gender and number:

(117) Cz

‘doing’: d

elaj-e [Masc], d

elaj-ı

c [Fem-Neut], d

elaj-ı

ce [Pl]

‘having done’: d

elav-ø [Masc], d

elav-

si [Fem-Neut], d

elav-

se [Pl]

3. Gender, number and case:

(118) Participles:

Rus zanima

c-ij ‘occupying’ [Pres Act]

zanima

s-ij/zanja

s-ij ‘having occupied’ [Past Act]

zanima

em-yj ‘being occupied’ [Pres Pass]

njat-yj ‘occupied’ [Past Pass]

5.5 Paradigms 279

4. Person and number:

All finite verbs forms except the past in East Slavic:

(119) Sln present: dr ˇz-ı

m ‘I hold’, dr ˇz-ı

ta ‘you [dual=two] hold’,

dr ˇz-ı

jo ‘they hold’

(120) Rus future perfective: ja otpra

v-lju ‘I shall send’,

ty otpra

v-i

‘you [Sg] will send’

(121) Rus imperative: pi

s-ı

: ‘write’ [2Sg]; napı

s-em ‘let us write’

5. Person, number and gender:

All l-participle forms with the auxiliary as a separate and inflecting

word; and in Polish, the l-participle forms with the affix-auxiliary:

(122) Sorb past perfective:

sym dz

´ˇ

ełał-ø ‘I have worked’

oj dz

´ˇ

ełał-oj ‘we [Du MascPers] have worked

smy dz

´ˇ

ełal-i ‘we [Pl MascPers] have worked’

In contrast, the inherent morphological categories of the verb combine to form

the various ‘‘parts of the verb’’, including the tenses, moods, voices and so on, as

well as the non-finite parts of the verb like the gerunds, infinitive and supine.

Table 5.25 shows which parts of the verb are present in which language, and also

specifies basic information about their form and currency. This table should also be

used for orientation purposes. There are so many variations in verb forms that it is

not practicable to put them all into a single table of conjugational forms. So once it

is known from this table that a given category is present in a language, the actual

forms of the paradigm can be retrieved from the individual sections on the infini-

tive, present tense and so on.

5.5.5.2 Verbs: Morphological forms (conjugation)

The simplex verb form consists of a stem plus an optional derivational suffix

(absence ¼ non-derived root) and theme (usually a thematic vowel; absence ¼

‘‘athematic’’), plus an inflexion and optional reflexive postfix. The forms of these

parts of the verb differ significantly from one language to another and from one

verb paradigm to another. The traditional (‘‘Leskien’’) description of Proto-Slavic

and Old Church Slavonic has five verb paradigms, based on the thematic vowel or

‘consonant þ vowel’ syllable of the present tense (table 5.26).

The five classes of Proto-Slavic still provide a useful point of reference for

modern typologies, even though there have been four major types of change to

the Proto-Slavic system:

280 5. Morphology: inflexion

Table 5.25. Verbs: inherent morphological categories

Pres Fut FutPerf Aor Impf Perf Plupf Imper Cond PastCond Inf Sup

B/C/S S C C (S) (S) C C S C C S –

Sln S C – – – C (C) S C C S S

Blg S C C S S C C S C – – –

Mac S C C S S C C S C – – –

Bel S S/C – – – S – S C – S –

Russ S S/C – – – S – S C – S –

Ukr S S/C – – – S C S C – S –

Pol S S/C – – – S – S S (C) S –

Sorb S S/C – S S C C S C – S –

Cz S S/C – – – C – S C – S (S)

Slk S S/C – – – C C S C C S –

Notes:

S ¼ simplex form

C ¼ complex form, i.e. formed with at least one auxiliary

S/C ¼ simplex or complex according to perfective/imperfective aspect

– ¼ absent form or paradigm (note in addition that gerunds, the past conditional, pluperfect, and all the remote past tenses are not usually found in the

spoken language)

()¼ rare or not commonly used form

‘S’ under ‘Imper’ refers to 2 Person imperative; 1 Person imperative forms are S or C; 3 Person forms are always C.

Bulgarian and Macedonian have in addition a ‘‘future in the past’’ and a ‘‘future perfect in the past’’, as well as ‘‘renarrative’’ forms (5.5.5.8).

1. The collapse of Classes I–III into one class: (a) in Russian and

Belarusian by the prepalatalization of consonants before e; and (b) in

Bulgarian and Macedonian through the merging of e and je into e.

2. The development of a new class of -a- verbs in West and South Slavic

(which we shall call Class VI), through the contraction of aje to a

(Rus de

lae

,Czd

ela

s ‘you [Sg] do’).

3. Lower Sorbian has a unique new paradigm with the theme j, derived

mainly from roots in j: stojas

‘to stand’, stojm ‘I stand’, stoj

s ‘you [Sg]

stand’. We shall call this Class VII.

4. Diversification of inflexions through stress alternations, especially in

Russian and Belarusian, resulting in differences of vowel quality: ‘I take’:

Rus beru

I¨ru], Bel bjaru

; ‘you [Sg] take’: Rus ber

, Bel bjare

We shall continue to use these class names (I–V, plus VI–VII) for the modern

languages.

The modern languages therefore show (excluding athematic verbs):

a. two paradigms (I þ II þ III (e), and IV (i) ): Rus, Bel, Ukr

b. three paradigms (I þ II þ III (e), IV (i), VI (a) ): Blg, Mac, B/C/S, Sln,

Cz, Slk, USorb, Pol

c. four paradigms (I þ II þ III (e), IV (i), VI (a), VII (j) ): LSorb

(e thus now includes ne (II) and je (III) in all languages; the traditional description

in some languages may distinguish one or both of these, but the range of possibi-

lities is essentially the same across the whole group).

Stem The stem can undergo morphophonological alternations in different parts

of the verb, and, in order to predict the correct forms of even regular verbs, one

must know four forms: the infinitive, 1 Person singular present, 2 Person singular

present, and past passive participle (e.g. Rus pe

‘to bake’, peku

, pe

ennyj).

In this example the palatalization apparently shows two major stems for the same

Table 5.26. Proto-Slavic conjugational classes

Class Theme PSl examples (stems)

I -e- nes- ‘carry’, mog- ‘be able’

II -ne- dvig- ‘move’, gib- ‘bend’

III -je- a. stem in vowel: zna- ‘know’, my- ‘wash’

b. stem in consonant: pis- ‘write’, plak- ‘cry’

IV -i- pros- ‘ask’, vid- ‘see’, le ˇz- ‘lie’ (< earlier *leg-)

V -ø- (‘‘athematic’’) ( j)es- ‘be’, da(d )- ‘give’

282 5. Morphology: inflexion

verb, and this is the traditional approach. The ‘‘one-stem’’ approach developed by

Jakobson (4.6), while a most attractive and powerful idea, is complicated enough

for Russian, and very complicated for all eleven languages. It also raises theoretical

issues which are beyond the scope of this book. So when we speak of the ‘‘stem’’ of a

verb, we shall mean only the appropriate form to which the given inflexions are

added in the paradigm under discussion.

5.5.5.3 Infinitive

The infinitive is absent in Macedonian, and effectively also in Bulgarian, where it is

present only in a now rare vestigial form (see below). These languages use either the

1 Person singular present (Blg) or the 3 Person singular present (Mac) as the

citation form, where the other nine languages use the infinitive.

The infinitive may be imperfective or perfective, and is formed from the stem by

the addition of a thematic vowel and a suffix/ending (PSl -ti). Although the

infinitive (where present) is the regular citation form, it is not a reliable guide to

all the other forms of the verb, and itself shows certain irregularities.

Ending Slovak and Ukrainian have generalized the infinitive ending for all classes

of verb (-t’, -ty respectively). The other languages have special endings for Class I

velar stems (resulting from the early Proto-Slavic change of the clusters kt and gt to

tj/t’), and Belarusian and Russian also have special endings (-ci, -ti respectively) in

Class I non-velar stems against the regular reduction of the final vowel to -c

, -t

respectively. The Russian -ti, unlike the Belarusian -ci, is always stressed. All

of West Slavic has also lost the final vowel, Czech only now completing this process

(-ti > -t, e.g. psa

ti ‘to write’ > psa

t); the unreduced form is now literary, and resists

best in the velar stems (pe

ci ‘to bake’, alongside new pe

ct).

Thematic vowel The thematic vowel of the infinitive shows up again in the past,

and to some extent controls the form of the past participle passive. It is more varied

in Classes III and IV.

Typical examples of infinitives include:

Class I non-velars: ‘to take’ (PSl b{ra-ti): Rus brat

, Ukr bra

ty, Bel brac

, Pol

Sorb brac

,Czbrat, Slk brat’, B/C/S, Sln bra

ti.

Class I velars: ‘to bake’ (PSl pek-ti): Rus pe

, Ukr pekty

, Bel pja

; Pol piec,

Cz pe

ci/pe

ct, Slk piect’, Sorb pjec, B/C/S pe

i, Sln pe

ci.

Class II: ‘to move’ (PSl dvig-nu-ti): Rus dvı

nut

, Ukr dvy

nuty, Bel pasunu

Pol dwigna

,Czhnout, Slk posunu

t’, Sorb hibnyc

‘touch’, B/C/S dı%gnuti

‘lift’, Sln dvı

gniti ‘lift’.

5.5 Paradigms 283

Class III

1. Verb roots in -a. ‘to be acquainted with’ (PSl zna-ti): Rus znat

Ukr zna

ty, Bel znac

, also Sorb znac

; West and South Slavic have

contracted the present -aje- in these verbs to -a-, making them

Class VI.

2. Verbs in -o-/-e- (PSl roots in -or/-ol/-er/-el ): ‘to grind’ (PSl mel-ti):

Rus mol

, Ukr mol

oty, Bel mal

, B/C/S mle``ti, Sln mle

ti,Czmlı

Pol mlec

, Slk mliet’, Sorb ml

3. Verbs in ‘vowel + suffix -va-’: ‘to sign’: Rus podpı

syvat

,Ukrpidpy

suvaty,

Bel padpı

svac

, B/C/S potpisı

vati,Slnpodpisova

ti,Polpodpisywac

Cz podpisovat,Slkpodpisovat’,Sorbpodpisowac

Class IV

1. Verbs in -i-: ‘to praise’ (PSl xval-i-ti): Rus xvalı

, Ukr xvaly

ty,

Bel xvalı

, B/C/S Sln hvaliti, Pol chwalic

,Czchvalit, Slk chvalit’,

Sorb chwalic

2. Verbs in -e- (< PSl

e): ‘to see’ (PSl vid-

e-ti): Rus vı

det

(Ukr vertı

‘to turn’:

e > i, Bel vjarce

‘to turn’), B/C/S vı%deti, Sln vı

deti,

Pol widziec

,Czvid

et, Slk vidiet’, Sorb widz

3. Verbs in -a- (< PSl

e, stems in palatals, including j): ‘to lie’ (PSl le ˇz-a-ti <

*leg-

e-ti): Rus le ˇza

,Ukrle ˇza

ty,Bellja ˇza

,B/C/Sle

ˇzati,Slnle ˇza

ti,

Pol le _zec

,Czle ˇzet,Slkle ˇzat’, Sorb le ˇzec

Class V: (athematic) verbs are idiosyncratic: ‘to eat’ (PSl

es-ti/jas-ti): Rus est

Ukr jı

sty, Bel e

sci, B/C/S je`` sti, Sln je

sti, Pol jes

,Czjı

st, Slk jest’, Sorb j

esc

Class VI: Verbs in -a-, former Class III: ‘to know’ (of people) (PSl zna-ti): B/C/S

zna`` ti, Sln zna

ti,Czznat, Pol znac

, Slk znat’; Sorb dz

´ˇ

‘

‘to work’ (Sorb znac

has

remained in Class III).

Class VII: Verbs in -j (a)-, former Class IV: ‘to stand’ (PSl stoj-a-ti): LSorb stojas

;

‘to undo’ (PSl *por-ti), LSorb projs

The Bulgarian ‘‘infinitive’’ is used only after two modal verbs, and only option-

ally, always replaceable by the normal da + present. It is formed as a bare verb

root, identical to the 2–3 Sg Aorist (xva

li ‘praise’). Verbs ending in a dental lose that

as well (ja ‘eat’ < root jad-).

5.5.5.4 Present tense

Slavic has only one present tense, which expresses both ‘I do’ and ‘I am doing’. In

Slovenian it is the only simplex tense. It is formed from the imperfective stem,

284 5. Morphology: inflexion

which may undergo a number of characteristic morphophonological alternations.

The inflexions themselves also show certain differences between languages – and

between paradigms in individual languages, though not as much as with nouns.

The same inflexions occur with the simplex future perfective, formed like the

present but with the perfective stem, in East and West Slavic (hence the use of

‘‘non-past’’ for this set of inflexions). We omit here the present tense of irregular

and athematic verbs (5.5.6).

The stem is often different from that of the infinitive, which is not a reliable guide

to the present tense (typical stems are listed above). Then follow the thematic forms

determining the class of the verb, as noted above, and then the endings. Table 5.27

shows the Proto-Slavic endings.

Morphophonology

1. Alternations occurring between the present-tense and infinitive stems are:

a. vowel quality or even syllable structure, especially in Classes I–III:

(123) ova  uj:Czkup-ova-t ‘to buy’, 1Sg kup-uj-i, 2Sg kup-uj-e-

s ...

b. alternations associated with ‘vowel þ liquid’ combinations:

(124) Cz mlı

-t ‘to grind’, 1Sg mel-u;

Rus umere

-t

‘to die’ (Prfv), 1Sg umr-u

c. alternations reflecting old ablaut:

(125) Pol br-a-c

‘to take’, 1Sg bior-e˛

Table 5.27. Proto-Slavic present-tense inflexions

Endings I–IV Examples I–IV Endings V Examples V

(roots jes-, dad-)

1Sg -o˛ nes-o˛,pi

s-o˛, pro

s-o˛ -m{ jes-m{ da-m{

2Sg -

si nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -si je-si da-si

3Sg -t{ nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -t{ jes-t{ das-t{

1Du -v

e nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -v

e jes-v

e da-v

2Du -ta nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -ta jes-ta das-ta

3Du -te nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -te jes-te das-te

1Pl -my nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -my jes-my da-my

2Pl -te nes-e-, pi

s-e-, pros-i- -te jes-te das-te

3Pl Class I, II, III: -o˛t{; Class IV: -e˛t{; Class V mixed:

nes-o˛t{,pi

s-o˛t{, pros-e˛t{ s-o˛t{ dad-e˛t{

5.5 Paradigms 285

d. ‘‘concealed’’ nasal consonants:

(126) Rus na

c-a

-t

‘to begin’ [Prfv], 1Sg na

c-n-u

;

Pol cia

-c

‘to cut’, 1Sg tn-e˛

e. quality/quantity alternations: Pol m

o-c ‘to be able’, 1Sg mog-e˛

2. The alternations occurring within the present-tense stem involve pala-

talization. Stem-final consonants may undergo PV1 before thematic -e-

(Class I):

(127) Rus mo

‘to be able’, 1Sg mog-u

,2Sgm

oˇz-e

and mutation of dentals and labials, in three patterns:

a. only 1Sg is palatalized (Class IV): Rus xod-ı

‘to go’, 1Sg xo ˇz-u

, 2Sg

od-i

‘you go’; Rus ljub-ı

‘to love’, 1Sg ljubl-ju

, 2Sg lju

b-i

b. 1Sg and 3Pl are palatalized (Class IV): Pol prosic

‘to request’, 1Sg

prosze˛, 2Sg prosisz, 3Pl prosza

; Ukr (labial stems only): 1Sg ljubl-ju

2Sg lju

b-y

s, 3Pl lju

bl-jat

c. all the present is mutated (Class III): B/C/S pı

s-ati ‘to write’,

1Sg pı



em, 2Sg pı



s ‘you write’.

3. Alternations involving the thematic vowel:

Classes I–III

When stressed in Russian (and Belarusian, l Person plural only) -e-

becomes -

e- (¼ /o/):

(128) Rus sme-

e-m-sja, Bel smja-

e-m-sja ‘we laugh’

Rus nes-u

, ‘I carry’, nes-

‘you carry’; Bel njas-u

, njas-e

(cf. Cz nes-u, nes-e-

Thematic vowel The thematic vowel operates in the 1 Person singular only with

the new -m ending (Class VI):

(129) Rus pi

s-u

‘I write’, pı

s-e-

; B/C/S pı



e-m, pı



In Macedonian the 1 Singular vowel is always -a-: mo ˇz-am ‘I can’, mo ˇz-e

s ‘you can’.

In the 3 Person plural the thematic vowel is retained only in Macedonian:

vik-a-at ‘they shout’; a nd (optiona lly) in Sl ovenia n: sed-ı

-jo/sed-e

‘they sit’.

Inflexions

1 Person singular

The 1 Person Singular has widely adopted the -m once found only in athematic

verbs, but not in East Slavic and restricted in West Slavic, except Slovak, which has

286 5. Morphology: inflexion

generalized it. Lower Sorbian has it in all but Class I, Czech has it in Classes IV and VI,

Polish and Upper Sorbian in Class VI only:

‘I do, I work’ (Class VI): all have -m:Czd

el-a

m, Pol dział-am,

Sorb (d )z

´ˇ

eł-am;

‘I hear’ (Class IV): Cz

sly

s-ı

m, Pol słysz-e˛, USorb sły

s-u, LSorb

sły

s-ym;

‘I give’ (Class III): Cz daruji, Pol daruje˛, USorb daruju, LSorb studuju/

studujom ‘I study’.

3 Person singular

The 3 Person singular shows no final consonant (that is, the ending is zero after the

theme) except in East Slavic.

Ukrainian has -t

for Classes IV and V: pita

-je-ø ‘he asks’ (III), xva

l-y-t

‘he

praises’ (IV).

Belarusian has -c with reflexive verbs, but -ø elsewhere: smjae

-c-ca ‘he laughs’,

dz-e-ø ‘he goes/travels’.

Russian always has -t: zna

-e-t ‘he knows’, e

d-e-t ‘he travels’, x

od-i-t ‘he goes’.

2–3 Person dual

The 2 and 3 Person dual show secondary gender in Sorbian: -taj for [MascPers],

-tej elsewhere : njes-e-taj ‘you two [MascPers] carry’.

3 Person plural (PSl Class I–III: -o˛ t-; Class IV -e˛t-; Class V mixed)

Sln: -jo for all classes; some classes allow alternatives in -e and -jo: dr ˇz-ı

-jo/

dr ˇz-e

‘they hold’, in -o and -jo: be

r-e-jo/ber-

o ‘they take’.

Cz: -ı

for Class IV and after j; -jı

after a (Class VI); -ou elsewhere: ved-ou ‘they

lead’, pros-ı

‘they ask’.

Slk: -ia for Class IV; -u

after consonant stems; -ju elsewhere: ved-u

‘they lead’,

pros-ia

‘they ask’.

Sorb: -( j)a for Class IV, -( j)a/-( j)u elsewhere: njes-u ‘they carry’, sły

s-a ‘they

hear’. Lower Sorbian has -e in Classes IV and VII: sły

s-e ‘they hear’, stoj-e

‘they stand’.

Pol: -ja

if the stem ends in a vowel; -a

elsewhere: prosz-a

‘they ask’.

East: retain the Proto-S lavic vowel and the consona nt (-ut(

), -jat(

)):

Rus nes-u

t ‘they carry’, pr

os-jat ‘they ask’.

Both stem and inflexion may be affected by variations of stress or pitch:

a. stem stress: Rus de

l-a-t

‘to do’, de

l-a-ju, de

l-a-e

, ... de

la-jut;

b. desinence (end) stress: Rus br-a-t

‘to take’, ber-u

, ber-

, ... ber-u

c. 1Sg desinence stress, elsewhere stem stress: Rus pis-a

-t

‘to write’, pi

s-u

pı

s-e-

, ...pı

s-ut.

5.5 Paradigms 287

5.5.5.5 Future tenses

a. Simplex future tenses

1. Perfective future

In East and West Slavic the perfective future is formed by adding

present-tense endings to the perfective stem:

(130) Cz za-zpı

vat ‘to sing’ [Prfv]

za-zpı

m ‘I shall sing, I shall have sung’

2. Imperfective future

Ukrainian and Belarusian have a special simplex imperfective future

as well as a complex formation. It is formed from the infinitive plus

forms of the verb ‘to take/have’, the two /i/s being contracted:

(131) ‘to praise’: Ukr xval-y

-ty (þ *im-u ‘I (shall) have),

xvaly

ty-mu ‘I shall praise’

In Ukrainian the simplex form is more common than the complex

form, while in Belarusian the simplex form is now archaic. In Czech,

Slovak and Sorbian, with a few verbs of determinate motion and

conveying, the prefix po- does not perfectivize the stem:

(132) Cz hn-a

-t ‘to drive’ po- ˇzen-u ‘I shall be driving’

pl-ou-t ‘to swim’ po-pluj-i ‘I shall be swimming’

ust ‘to grow’ po-rost-u ‘I shall be growing’

3. Bi-aspectual

South Slavic has only one simplex future tense (also as alternative to

the complex forms): B/C/S affixes enclitic forms of the verb hte``ti ‘to

want’ (full present ho

-u, etc.) to the imperfective verb stem (a pattern

also found in Romanian):

(133a) B/C/S future suffixes

1Sg -c

u 1Pl -c

emo

2Sg -c

s 2Pl -c

ete

3Sg -c

e 3Pl -c

(133b) B/C/S pı

sa-ti ‘to write’ pı

sa-c

u ‘I shall write, I shall be writing’

me-ti ‘to know how’ u

me-c

u ‘I shall know how’

Only the positive future here is simplex, since the negative form

attaches ne- to the clitic form:

(134) B/C/S ne

upı

sati ‘I shall not write’

288 5. Morphology: inflexion