Verbalization Ablaut

All verbs are created through verbalization ablaut. Verbs formed from nouns are intransitive, verbs formed from modifiers are transitive, and verbs formed from conjunctions are ditransitive. There are special parts of speech (pronouns, interjections, numbers, adjectives, particles, measure words, and proper names) that cannot be formed into verbs through verbalization ablaut.

Tense, Aspect and Mood

Verb tense, aspect and mood are marked with prefixes. The tenses are distant past, past, proximal, future, distant future. There are 4 moods, Realis, Irrealis as well as True-Conditional and False-Conditional. There are 2 aspects, Simple and Progressive/Habitual. The TAM marker will detach from the verb if the word would exceed the 4 syllable word limit, however, it will only detach after all other affixes have detached.

1 Irrealis is unmarked, either being tenseless or relying on the tense of the verb in a main clause of which it is a dependant.
2 first instance of a True conditional is an “if” statement
3 Second instance of a True conditional without intervening conjunction is a ‘then’ statement
4 False conditional is the ‘else’ statement 
 

Voice

There is no passive voice; the equivalent thereto is rendered with an indicative construction using the 0-Pronoun as Agent.

Middle Voice

There is a middle voice in Kanhlengo: verbs are inflected in the same manner as in the active voice but when reflexive or reciprocal special pronouns are used to indicate the middle voice. 

Using a reflexive or reciprocal pronoun with an intransitive verb is equivalent to using a transitive verb in English by simply replacing the plain pronoun with its reflexive or reciprocal counterpart. 

Mëküoddi reviravi kuku "I see myself" lit. "See myself"

hSekihli dageftë üopüopug "We will be helping each other"/"We will be loyal to each other" lit. "Will be helping each other"/"Will be loyal to each other"

Applicatives

Kanhlengo has a set of applicatives, prefixes which go immediately after the tense prefixes (before even positive -i) and which redefine the role of the direct object. An intransitive verb taking an applicative can now accept an object.

Many of these prefixes start with vowels, triggering the parenthetical endings of the tenses they follow. Those starting with a consonant ignore the parenthetical final consonants of tenses.

On intransitive verbs, the applicative may have a causative meaning, where the subject is an agent causing a result on the new object. 

-uhs = an object is damaged by the verb

-k = an object is improved by the verb

-av = an object is created by the verb

-ipp (-ip-i) = an object is consumed by the verb

-ug = an object receives the result of the verb

-eü = an object is thematic to the verb 

-min = an object is the destination of a verb

-hsix = an object is the source of the verb

-r = the verb takes place at the object 

For the distant future tense, the tense-applicative-positive combo may break four syllables. In this case, the tense prefix stands alone, and the applicative takes the -i suffix. If this applicative-positive combo starts with a vowel, then it takes the final consonant of the preceding tense marker. For example, mëkhtëni hleüi (distant future, object is consumed in the action.)

On a neutral or negative verb of more than 4 syllables, the applicative breaks off before the tense marker, still taking the tense marker's final consonant but moving before the tense marker. So, 'meküoddavi fuüo' in the positive, but 'ddav mëküofuüo ña' in the negative.

In addition, the affix (e)k, at the very end of a TAM marker, indicates possibility ("can").

Copulas

There are seven copulas.

All of them require a subject, which must be a noun and must be marked as the topic, and a complement which may be a noun, modifier/adjective or phrase, which follows the copula. Nouns which have formed a plural by reduplications, or which are followed by an adjective, may not be the subject of a copula; they may use the verb ñana (to be there), with TAM markers, to perform a similar function. Complements may not take subject or object markers.

Copulas do not take TAM markers.

Copulas 3-7 can be made negative by the addition of -ña

1.POSITIVE COPULA: -m
The positive copula identifies the subject and the complement. Think of it as an equals sign. Depending on context, it might be translated as "am", "are", "is", "will be", "was" or "were".

The -m is simply attached to the end of the topic marker.

Examples:
Mizom zezo: you are a blackbird
Pætfam üethsæ: the soldier is beautiful
Vifxiüëzom vitë vitë: all children are people

2. NEGATIVE COPULA: ñumëne
The negative copula states that there is no identity between the subject and the complement.

Examples: 
Mizo ñumëne zezo: you are not a blackbird
Pætfa ñumëne üethsæ: the soldier is not beautiful
Vifxiüëzo ñumëne zësxëgo: children are not a flock of birds

3. OPTATIVE COPULA: ni 
The optative copula states that there is no identity between the subject and complement, but that the speaker wishes there was.

Examples:
Mizo ni zezo: I wish you were a blackbird
Pætfa ni üethsæ: I wish the soldier was beautiful
Vifxiüëzo ni nëf nëf: I wish children were leaders

4. NEGATIVE OPTATIVE COPULA: ñañeni
The negative optative copula states that there is  identity between the subject and complement, but the speaker wishes there wasn't.

Examples: 
Mizo ñañeni zezo: I wish you were not a blackbird
Pætfa ñañeni üethsæ: I wish the soldier wasn't beautiful
Vifxiüëzo ñañeni didd: I wish children weren't weak

5. DIMINISHING COPULA: nimonu 
The diminishing copula states that the identity between the subject and complement is or was decreasing over time. 

Examples:
Mizo nimonu zezo: you are less and less a blackbird
Pætfa nimonu üethsæ: the soldier is less and less beautiful
Vifxiüëzo nimonu didd: children are getting less and less weak

6. AUGMENTING COPULA: munæme
The augmenting copula states that the identity between the subject and complement is or was increasing over time.

Examples:
Mizo munæme zezo: you are more and more a blackbird
Pætfa munæmeña üethsæ: the soldier is not getting more and more beautiful
Vifxiüëzo munæme didd: children are getting weaker and weaker

7. SIMILE COPULA: nemëne
The simile copula points to a similarity between the subject and the complement.

Examples:
Mizo nemëne zezo: you are like a blackbird 
Pætfa nemëneña hsæhso: the soldier is not like a snake
Vifxiüëzo nemëne hüekhüëk: children are like stars

Argument marking

Kanhlego is a split-ergative language with a split between when verbs are in the realis and irrealis.

Arguments are marked with Nominative-Accusative when verbs are in the realis mood.

Arguments are marked with Ergative-Absolutive when verbs are in the irrealis mood.

-se- and -ve- infixes

Se or ve are often used as an infix, following the first vowel of a verb (including a copula), and also at the end of a noun, where they are an affix representing movement, time or space.

1. When se is an infix in the verb and se is an affix at the end of a noun, it means in front of (spatially) or after (temporally), eg Mëküo hlosengo ku færse, I’m playing in front of the box

2. When ve is an infix in the verb and se is an affix at the end of a noun, it means behind (spatially) or before (temporally), eg Mëküo hlovengo ku færse, I’m playing behind the box

3. When se is an infix in the verb and ve is an affix at the end of a noun, it means “in,” or “within” – eg Mëküo hlosengo ku færve, I’m playing inside the box

4. When ve is an infix in the verb and ve is an affix at the end of a noun, it suggests that the action of the verb takes place (or with an optative that the speaker wishes it was taking place!) in the same location as the speaker – eg Mëküo hlovengo ku færve, I’m playing in the vicinity of the box, here

5. Se can be used as an affix, when there is no infix in the verb, meaning to/towards (spatially) or as a gift for, eg færse, towards the box, pætse, (I gave something) to the soldier

6. Ve can be used used as an affix, when there is no infix in the verb, meaning from (spatially) or by means of, eg færve, from the box/by means of the box

Note that se or ve can follow copula -m directly

Commands

Since the military catastrophe of the 1840s, kanhlengo has tended to avoid the use of an imperative where possible, preferring the optative copulas “ni” (I wish A was B) and ñañeni (I wish A was not B), without the use of a topic marker.

Example: Det ni xëhlid, "let the pasta be cooked", = "cook the pasta".