A grammar of Pite Saami, 2014

8 Verbs
Table 8.22 summarizes the preliminary class suffix pattern for Class IV verbs,
as well as the presence of a person/number suffix which deviates from the corresponding
person/number suffixes in other verb classes. This is based on the
paradigm for välldut in Table 8.21 on the previous page and the paradigm for
tjerrot provided in Lehtiranta (1992: 154). 16
Table 8.22: The preliminary inflectional verb class suffix and deviant person/number
suffix features (marked by ✓) for Class IV
singular dual plural
prs 1 st -V- -V- ✓ -V-
2 nd -V -V- -V-
3 rd -V- ✓ -V- -V- ✓
pst 1 st -V- ✓ -V- -V-
2 nd -V- ✓ -V- -V-
3 rd -V- -V- -V- ✓
imp 2 nd n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
inf -V- conneg -V
prf -V-
8.5.5 Class V
Verbs in Class V are characterized by:
• a trisyllabic infinitive form with the class marking suffix -i
• absence of consonant gradation, umlaut and vowel harmony
Many Class V verbs are derived verbs based on a bisyllabic verb (cf. gullat ‘hear’
and gulladit ‘be in touch’ (lit.: let someone hear from you)). 17 The paradigm in
Table 8.23 on the facing page provides an example for the verb ságastit ‘speak’;
other Class V verbs include bargatjit ‘work a little’, gatjadit ‘ask’, gullalit ‘listen’,
málestit ‘cook, boil’, gávnadit ‘meet’ and leradit ‘teach’. Table 8.24 then summarizes
the gradation pattern and class suffixes for Class V verbs.
16 Note the difference in orthographic forms between those used here, with tjerrot for the infinitive
form, and the forms used in Lehtiranta (1992), with tjierˈrut for the infinitive form.
17 Because many derived verbs are in Class V, the semantic aspects accompanying the relevant
derivational suffixes align in Class V, but their membership in Class V is due to their
(morpho-)phonemic structure, not their semantics. Cf. §10.2 on verbal derivation.
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