All Indo-European languages (or practically all, for you not to search for exceptions) have some sort of verbal nouns or verbal adjectives. The Proto-Indo-European language also had several different kinds of participles, and some number of other verbal nouns. All ancient Indo-European tongues, including Hittite, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Avestan, Common Slavic, Germanic and Baltic, had also infinitives, some of them used the supine. Lithuanian has got quite a rich system of verbal formations, and we will look through all of them below.
1. Participles.
Active participles may be called just verbal adjectives (like in Gaelic),
for they are declined and act as qualitative adjectives of the 1st and
2nd classes. The only exception is the endings in nominative singular and
plural. The original suffix for present active participles was -nt-
with the corresponding thematic vowel connecting the root with the suffix.
The suffix of past active participles is -us-, and it was
the same in Proto-Indo-European. Here are the forms of active participles,
given only in nominative, but can always see how qualitative adjectives
are declined, and decline a participle the same way. Here are the forms,
and note that the participles reflect the verbs of corresponding conjugations:
Present active participles:
|
Singular
|
Plural | |||
| masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |
| 1st conj. | dirb-a,s | dirb-anti | dirb-a, | dirb-ančios |
| 2nd conj. | myl-i,s | myl-inti | myl-i, | myl-inčios |
| 3rd conj. | mat-a,s | mat-anti | mat-a, | mat-ančios |
The suffix -ant- nasalized the vowel, which you can see in masculine froms (analogues with nasal i). When being declined those nasals come back as -ant-, -int-, -anč-, -inč- respectively.
Past active participles:
|
Singular
|
Plural | |||
| masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |
| 1st conj. | dirb-ęs | dirb-usi | dirb-ę | dirb-usios |
| 2nd conj. | myle.j-ęs | myle.j-usi | myle.j-ę | myle.j-usios |
| 3rd conj. | mat-ęs | mač-iusi | mat-ę, | mač-iusios |
Here the suffix -us- is replaced by nasal e in masculine forms, and this is another interesting phonologic phenomenon.
There are also active participles of the Future tense. They can be formed by the present tense stem + the future tense suffix -s- + the endings of the present participles seen above (e.g. dirbsanti žmona - a woman that will work). The same order is valid with active participles of the Past Habitual tense: present stem + suffix -dav- + endings of past simple participles (e.g. dirbdavusi žmona - the woman that used to work)
The usage of active participles in the
Lithuanian sentence has several cases:
a) they can behave
as an attribute (Tekantis vanduo búna švarus - Flowing
water can be clear [a proverb])
b) they can act as
an adverbail modifier (Gri,že,s pavalgiau - Having come,
I had a meal)
c) past active participles
can be a part of the nominal predicate, and it looks like the English or
French perfect (Aš esu skaite, ta, knyga, - I have read
this book)
Passive participles are declined simply like 1st class adjectives; they
have a short suffix and simple adjective endings following it. Passive
participles can be used as attributes:
Važiavau neseniai
nutiestu keliu - I was driving
along the road laid recently
or as a part of a nominal predicate:
Aš buvau kvečiamas
i, pose.di, - I was invited to the meeting
or - in neuter gender - in an impersonal
construction:
Visur nutarta
, kad rúkyti žalinga - It is written everywhere that smoking
is prohibited
The nominative forms are as follows:
a) present
the 3rd person present + -mas (masc. sg.), -ma
(fem., neut. sg.), -mi (masc. pl.), -mos (fem.,
neut. pl.)
Aš esu kvečiamas - I am invited
b) past
the infinitive stem + -tas, -ta, -ti, -tos
Atvyko músu, seniai lauktas svečias - Our long awaited guest
has come
c) future (expresses necessity or obligation)
the infinitive stem + -tinas, -tina, etc.
Jis yra ateitinas vyras - He is a man who is expected
to come
Semi-participles and verbal adverbs are considered as just participles; this can go formally with semi-participles, but the main difference between a participle and a verbal adverb is that the second cannot be declined, it has only one form, though the suffixes of active participles and verbal adverbs are the same.
Semi-participles are formed by adding the -damas suffix
to the infinitive stem and are declined as 1st class adjectives. They are
syntaxically used to mark the action simultaneous with the predicate:
Gri,ždamas iš
instituto jis užeis i, biblioteka, - While
returning from the institute, he will drop into the library
Verbal nouns mark the action of the object
in the sentence, or can be used in impersonal sentences. For more understanding
see for yourself:
a) present
the present stem + -ant (in 1st and 3rd conjugation verbs),
-int (in the 2nd conjugation verbs)
Saulei (note dative case) tekant, čiulbe.jo paukščiai
- The sun was rising, the birds were singing (lit. "The sun
rising, the birds singing)
Man skaitant , kažkas pasibelde. i, duris - When (I was)
reading, someone knocked at the door
Stojant i, instituta, , reike.jo laikyti egzaminus - When
entering the institute, I had to take exams
b) past simple
the past simple stem + -us (1-2 conjugation), -ius
(3rd conjugation)
Baigus darba, , galima pailse.ti - Having finished
the work, one can take a rest
Ji e.jo namo palijus - She went home after the rain
c) past habitual
the infinitive stem + -davus
d) future
the present stem + -siant
The rest of verbal substantives in Lithuanian include infinitives and the supine. The Proto-Indo-European language had no infinitive, it used only some verbal nouns to express the indefinite form of the predicate. That is why the infinitives in different Indo-European languages were derived from different verbal noun forms. Latin had 6 infinitives, and English uses 4 or even 8 varieties nowadays. Russian has only one, and Lithuanian - two infinitives.
The first one has a -ti ending and was widely used in examples of the present article. It has simple infinitive functions: dirbti, nore.ti, laikyti are used the same way as "to work, to want, to hold". The second infinitive has a -te ending and is seldom heard in modern colloquial speech - just in some emphasis constructions: be.gte be.ga - "he is running and running" (lit. "he is runnning by run).
The supine has -tu, derived from -tum after
the infinitive stem. It means just another variety of infinitive used only
after the verbs of movement:
Iše.jo pavaikščioti
- went for a walk
That's all for the Lithuanian verb and
its derivatives, I think. Don't you?
§ 10. The Lithuanian Preposition.
The Proto-Indo-European language did not have any prepositions, they
were just appearing from adverbs and adjectives, becoming the auxiliary
part of speech. That is why all branches already used prepositions or postpositions,
using them with nouns of this or that case.
Lithuanian places prepositions before genitive, accusative and instrumental.
When it had the ablative case (in Common Balto-Slavic epoch) some prepositions
also used it, and now they joined genitive nouns. Here is the table:
1. With genitive:
ant - on, upon (where?)
be - without
de.l - due to, because of
iki - until, till
iš
- from, since, out of (former ablative)
nuo - since (time), from
(former ablative)
prie - near, next to, towards
šalia - near, next to, nearby
tarp - between, among
už - behind
virš - above
po - after, in (some time)
link - towards (a postposition)
2. With accusative:
apie - about, near, approximately
aplink - around
i, - in (where? and whither?)
pas - at somebody's, to,
towards
per - through, during (per
vasara, - for the summer, per gatve, - along the
street)
pro - through, past (pro
langa, - through the window, pro mane - past me)
prieš - before, in front
of, against, ago
po - along, through (vaikščioti
po soda, - to walk all through the garden, duoti visiems
po obuoli, - to give everyone an apple)
už - instead of, for (pirkti
už lita, - to buy for a litas)
3. With instrumental:
su - with
po - under
§ 11. The Lithuanian Conjunction, Particle and Interjection.
1. Coordinative conjunctions.
ir - and
o - and, but (co-incides with Russian a)
bet - but
tačiau
- however
ar, arba - or, else
2. Subordinative conjunctions.
nes - as, because (tearing
the main and the clause)
kadangi - as, because of
(at the beginning of the sentence)
tode.l kad - because
jei - if
kad - that
kaip - than (with a verb)
negu - than (with a noun)
kuris - which (see Pronouns)
kol - until
juo... juo - the (more)...
the (better)
3. Particles.
ar - an interrogative particle
ne - a negative particle
(not with verbs, see Verbs)
štai - here (štai
mano motina - this (here) is my mother)
juk - emphatic particle (corresponding to Russian ved')
gi - doesn't have a corresponding
word in English, equals Russian zhe or Latin autem
4. Interjections.
taip - yes (lit. "so")
ne - no
na - well
§ 12. The Lithuanian Syntax.
The Lithuanian syntax is purely Indo-European, and this is very pleasant:
for me personally it is always nice to see the subject at the beginning
and the predicate after the subject. However, there are some languages
where other features were developed: Latin often has the predicate at the
end, German moves the negatives to the final position. Lithuanian is easier
here: the word order, though frequently free, has actually the fixed form:
subject - predicate - objects - adverbial modifiers. For
example:
Motina , paklause. dukteri, nupirkti duonos
parduotuve.je. - Mother asked daughter to buy some bread in the
shop.
And the attribute is placed before the noun: mano sesuo, Juozapo žmona, gramatine.s sistemos raida - my sister, Joseph's wife, the grammar system development.
Now some constructions important not only for better understanding of Lithuanian grammar, but also for colloquial language.
1. The obligation.
subject in dative case
+ reikia (needs) + infinitive:
Man reikia eiti i, dirba, - I need to (have to, should) go
to work
the form of the verb
ture.ti (to have) + infinitive:
Ji turi mums pakviesti - She should invite us
2. The possibility.
subject in dative case
+ galima (may) + infinitive:
Mums galima nusipirkti šita, laikrašti, - We may (can) buy
this newspaper
the form of the verb
gale.ti (to may) + infinitive:
Galiu nedaug pavaikščioti - I can walk a little
3. The indirect speech.
Jis sake. man
, kad šiandien ateis pas mane - He told me, that today he would
come to me
(note: no sequence
of tenses in Lithuanian)
Jis klause. man
, ar aš eisiu i, teatra, - He asked me, if I would go to the theater.
(note the interrogative
particle ar in interrogative clauses)
Jis klause. man , kur aš gyvenu - He asked me, where I lived
Jis praše. mane
kad aš nupirkčiau jam šita, laikrodi, - He asked me to buy him
this watch.
(note the subjunctive
mood after the conjunction kad in such clauses, also seen
in Aš einu ten kad nupirkčiau duonos - I go there to buy
some bread)
And now, finally, a little text in Lithuanian for you to see the genuine speech. If I can, I shall try to place a sound file for this text, but now it is just a text for you.
Laima. Rimai , ar dar nebuvo vakarinio laikraščio?
Rimas. Jau yra. O ka, tu nori sužinoti?
Laima. Pažiúre.ti oro prognoze.s rytdienai. Juk mes ruošiame.s eiti slidine.ti.
Rimas. Tai laikraštis, paskaityk balsu.
Laima. Vilniuje šiandien nakti, temperatúra buvo dvidešimt trys laipsniai šalčio , o diena, trilikta valanda,
dvidešimt vienas laipsnis šalčio. Rytoj Vilniuje dar bus šalti orai. Temperatúra nakti, penkiolika -
septyniolika laipsniu, šalčio. Truputi, snigs. Ve.jas pús iš vakaru,.
Rimas. Na ka, gi , ne taip jau ir šalta , slidine.ti beveik galima.
Laima. Dar ryte paklausysime pranesimo apie ora,. Tada ir nuspre,sime - eisime ar neisime slidine.ti.
Laima. Rimas, wasn't
there evening newspaper yet?
Rimas. It was already.
And what do you want to learn?
Laima. To watch the
tomorrow weather forecast. You know, we were preparing to go skiing.
Rimas. Here's the newspaper,
read aloud.
Laima. In Vilnius tonight
the temperature was 23 degrees below zero, and in the day at 13 o'clock
21 degrees below zero.
Tomorrow in Vilnius still will be cold weather. The temperature at night
15-17, in the day 12-15 degrees below zero.
Will be snowing a little. The wind will blow from the west.
Rimas. So what, it's
not that cold, we almost can ski.
Laima. Also in the morning
we will listen to the report about the weather. Then we will decide whether
we will go or not
skiing.
Glossary:
Rimai - vocative case of
Rimas, used when addressing
ar - an interrogative particle
(see)
dar - yet, still
nebuvo - was not
vakarinio - genitive case
of vakarinis (evening, adj.); see Relative Adjectives
laikraščio
- genitive of laikraštis (a newspaper)
jau - already
yra - is, are (3rd person)
o - and, but
ka, - accusative of kas (what, who)
tu - you (singular)
nori - want, wants (2nd and 3rd person)
sužinoti
- to learn (a prefix su- to the verb "to know" meaning "to
have it known")
pažiúre.ti - to have a look,
to look, to watch
oro - genitive of oras
(weather)
prognoze.s - nominative
plural of prognoze. (a forecast)
rytdienai - dative of rytdienas
(tomorrow's day)
juk - the emphatic particles
(see)
mes - we
ruošiame.s - past simple
in the 1st person plural of the verb ruoštis (to prepare
oneself)
eiti - to go
slidine.ti - to ski
tai - here, here it is
paskaityk - imperative of
the 2nd person singular of the verb skaityti (to read)
balsu - loudly, aloud (neuter adjective)
šiandien - today
Vilniuje - lovcative case
of Vilnius
nakti, - at night (the adverb
from the noun)
laipsniai - plural of laipsnis
(degree)
šalčio - genitive of šaltis
(frost, coldness)
diena, - in the day
valanda, - o'clock (accusative)
rytoj - tomorrow
bus - will be
šalti - plural masculine
of šaltas (cold)
orai - weather (used here
in plural)
laipsniu, - genitive plural
of laipsnis (after the numerals
more than 10)
truputi, - a little
snigs - 3rd person future
of snigti (to snow)
ve.jas - wind
pús - 3rd person future
of pústi (to blow)
iš - from (with genitive)
vakaru, - genitive plural
of vakaras (evening; west)
na - well (interjection)
ka, - what (accusative)
gi - particle
taip - so
ir - and
beveik - almost
galima - may, can (impersonal)
ryte - in the morning (locative
of rytas)
paklausisime - 1st peson
plural future of paklausyti (to listen to)
pranešimo - genitive of
"report"
apie - abot (with accusative)
tada - then
nuspre,sime - 1st person
plural future of nuspre,sti (to decide)
eisime - 1st person plural
future of eiti (to go)
neisime - negative of eisime