Conjugations

In order to use the various forms of a Kunwok verb, you need to know which class (or "conjugation") it is in. The table below shows the conjugation patterns of the 11 verb classes. A longer list of Verbs is available. Below the table, you will find a guide to the grammatical terms used in the table and notes on each of the conjugation patterns.

Nonpast	Conj	Past Perfective	Past Imperfective	Imperative	Irrealis	English
yime	1	yimeng	yimeni	yimen	yimeninj	say, do, call, act
ngalke	2a	ngalkeng	ngalkeni	ngalkemen	ngalkeyinj	find
dowen	2b	doweng	doweni	dowemen	dowemeninj	die, feel unwell
bekkan	3a	bekkang	bekkani	bekka	bekkayinj	feel, hear, touch, listen
nahnan	3b	nahnang	nahnani	nahna	nahnayinj	look after, watch over
bawon	3c	bawong	bawoni	bawo	bawoyinj	leave, give up
yawan	4a	yawam	yawani	yawa	yawayi(nj)	look for
bimbun	4b	bimbom	bimbuni	bimbu	bimbuyinj	write, draw, paint
rung	5a	ruy	rungi	ru	ruyinj	burn
durndeng	5b	durndi	durndengi	durnde	durndeyi(nj)	return
mang	5c	mey	mangi	ma	mayi	take, get
dangen	6a	danginj	dangeni	dangimen	dangemeninj	stand up
waydan	6b	waydi	waydanj	wayda	waydangemeninj	be raised
di	7a	di	di	din	diwirrinj	be, be standing
wokdi	7b	wokdanj	wokdi	wokdin	wokdiwirrinj	talk, speak
yo	8	yoy	yoy	yun	yuwirrinj	lie
re	9	wam	rayi	ray	rayinj	go
burren	10	burrinj	burreni	burremen	burremeninj	fight
warremen	11	warreminj	warremeni	warremimen	warremeninj	go bad

Notes on grammatical terms

• Non-past is the verb form to use for present tense and future tense, e.g. ngaborrkke (I dance, I am dancing, I do dance, I will dance)

• Past Perfective is the past tense form used for a completed action, e.g. ngaborrkkeng (I danced)

• Past Imperfective is the past tense form for an action that was on-going, incomplete or interrupted by another action, e.g. ngaborrkkeyinj (I was dancing, I used to dance) ngadjareni (I wanted it)

• Imperative is used when giving an affirmative order or instruction, e.g. Yiborrkkemen! (dance!)

• Irrealis is used when the action is unsure or a negative in the past tense, e.g. minj ngaborrkmeninj (I didn't dance, I wouldn't dance), yiborrkmeninj? (Did you dance?, Were you dancing?, Would you dance?, Would you have danced?, Were you going to dance?)

Conjugation Classes

Verbs can be grouped into several classes based on their pattern of conjugation. The table above lists some Kunwok verbs and the conjugation class that the verb belongs to. Here is a summary of the groups according to their non-past endings

• Conjugation Group 1: This group ends in -me
• Conjugation Group 2: This group ends in -ke, -ye or -we(n)
• Conjugation Group 3: This group ends in -kan, -nan, -won or -ngun
• Conjugation Group 4: This group ends in -bun or -wan. Note that there is a vowel change in -bu verbs in the past perfective
• Conjugation Group 5: This group ends in -ung, -ong, -eng or -ang. Note that there is a vowel change in mang in the past perfective
• Conjugation Group 6: This group ends in -dan or -dangen. Note that there is a vowel change in -dan verbs in the past perfective
• Conjugation Group 7: This group ends in -di or -ni. Note that there is a vowel change in wokdi in the past perfective
• Conjugation Group 8: This group ends in -yo. Note that there is a vowel change in the imperative and the irrealis
• Conjugation Group 9: This group ends in -re
• Conjugation Group 10: This group ends in -rren
• Conjugation Group 11: This group ends in -men. Note that there is a vowel change in the past perfective. These verbs are generally derived from Adjectives.