Aratasa

The Praseo verb is highly inflected for tense, aspect, evidentiality, and focus, but it does not have any agreement for person, number, or any other categories. The core inflectional paradigm of the verb is supplemented by a set of particles which indicate mood and politeness.

Throughout this discussion we will use the verb śeśya "to crush, to grind" as paradigmatic.

Verb stems and aspect

Most Praseo verbs share a stem with a corresponding noun, and by convention the verb is described as being derived from the noun (though in many cases the direction of derivation is arguably in the other direction, or is arbitrary). All noun stems end with a vowel which indicates the noun class (see Praseo nouns), and this vowel is dropped to provide the root stem from which verbs are derived.

There are four different endings which may be attached to the root stem, which are known as the four aspects of the verb.

The simple aspect of the verb is formed by adding -ya to the root stem. This ending triggers palatalization of stem-final velars and affrication of stem-final dentals (see Praseo_phonology#Palatalization and Praseo_phonology#Affrication).

Noun form	Root stem	Simple verb form
śutta	śutt-	śuttsya
zaka	zak-	začya
tsipa	tsip-	tsipya

The simple aspect refers to a single instance of an action, without reference to its telicity, distribution, or frequency. It is the most general and most commonly used aspect.

The habitual aspect of the verb is formed by adding -oa to the root stem. This ending triggers affrication of stem-final dentals.

Root stem	Habitual verb form
śutt-	śuttsoa
zak-	zakoa
tsip-	tsipoa

The habitual aspect refers to an action which is repeated, widely distributed, or regular. In the preterite tense it has a meaning similar to the English phrase "used to".

The causative aspect is formed by adding -ãya to the root stem.

Root stem	Causative verb form
śutt-	śuttãya
zak-	zakãya
tsip-	tsipãya

The causative indicates that the subject caused the object to do the action indicated by the stem. This is a valency-increasing aspect: verbs which are intransitive in the simple or habitual aspects are transitive in the causative aspect, and transitives become ditransitives:

Nioa hapẽo    śeśya.
I    corn-ACC grind.

I grind corn.

Nioa yirẽoa  ma hapẽo    śeśãya.
I    boy-ACC    corn-ACC grind-CAUSE.

I make the boy grind corn.

Note that in the second example above there are two accusative arguments, the second of which is preceded by ma. This is discussed in more detail in Praseo_syntax.

The habitual causative aspect is formed by adding -ača to the root stem of the verb.

Root stem	Habitual causative verb form
śutt-	śuttača
zak-	zakača
tsip-	tsipača

The meaning of the habitual causative is a straightforward conjunction of the habitual and causative aspects, and it indicates that someone causes someone else to undertake a habitual or regular action.

Tense and evidentiality

The Praseo categories of tense and evidentiality are always conflated, with a single morpheme for present affirmative, etc. Praseo distinguishes only two tenses: present and preterite. It also distinguishes three kinds of evidentiality: affirmative, negative, and reported. These endings do not vary based on the aspect of the verb. The endings for these categories are indicated in the following table:

Tense	Affirmative	Negative	Reported
Present	śeśya	śeśyatsi	śeśyasa
Preterite	śeśyalu	śeśyara	śeśyao

The present tense is used to indicate all sorts of non-past actions, including future actions and actions which began in the past and continue into the present. The preterite tense is used for completed past actions.

The affirmative and negative categories are used for information which the speaker personally attests to. Use of either of these forms does not necessarily mean that the speaker was a direct witness to the action being described, but if the speaker was not a direct witness then these forms indicate that the speaker considers the source to be beyond reproach, and the speaker has total confidence in the information given. Past events which have entered into common knowledge are discussed in the past affirmative, regardless of whether the speaker was a witness to those events.

The reported category indicates that the speaker is giving information which is second-hand, unclear, or uncertain. The use of the reported form indicates that the speaker is not confident in the information, and that there is doubt as to whether the statement is actually true.

There are complicated social dynamics involved in choosing to relate a second-hand story in the reported or the affirmative/negative forms. When first relating a piece of second-hand news to a new listener, Praseo speakers will always use the reported form and avoid the affirmative. The presence of a second corroborating source will not always suffice to give the speakers confidence to use the affirmative form, but if a third speaker can be found who corroborates the information, then all speakers will switch to the affirmative rather than the reported form. Failing to switch to the affirmative form when the other speakers switch is seen as casting doubt on their truthfulness and may provoke offense. Conversely, switching to the affirmative form too quickly may indicate to others that you are a hasty and untrustworthy person.

Non-native speakers of Praseo are generally encouraged to use the reported form of the verb to discuss events which they don't have direct knowledge of, and to follow the lead of the native Praseo speakers when they switch to the affirmative/negative forms.