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Verbs

Verbs

Version: 1.0
Last Updated: May 26, 2026

This section is part of our living public grammar of Avar and is regularly updated to reflect the latest linguistic research, database enhancements, and morphological analyses.

Avar verbal morphology is highly complex, governed by grammatical class agreement, syntactic transitivity, and rich derivational patterns. Unlike Indo-European languages, Avar verbs lack personal agreement (I, you, he/she) but feature a highly grammaticalized system of noun class concord.

1. Morphological Categories

Avar verbs are characterized by the following five defining morphological properties:

  1. Class (Грамматический класс): Agreement with the noun class (I, II, III, Plural) of the Absolutive argument, utilizing the markers в- / й- / б- / р-.
  2. Number (Число): Singular vs. Plural, inherently tied to the plural class marker р-.
  3. Tense (Время): Past, Present, and Future, formed synthetically or analytically.
  4. Mood (Наклонение): Indicative, Imperative, Prohibitive, Optative, Conditional, Interrogative, etc.
  5. Transitivity (Переходность): Transitive vs. Intransitive, which entirely dictates case assignment and syntactic government.
The Infinitive

The infinitive (целевая форма) is the dictionary form, expressing purpose or obligation. It is formed using two primary suffixes:

  • -зе: The most productive suffix, added to both bound and unbound stems (цӀализе "to read", хъвазе "to write").
  • -не: Added strictly to stems ending in -ин (воржине "to fly", букӀине "to be").
2. Transitivity and Syntactic Government

In Avar, transitivity is entirely syntactic, not morphological. Verbs carry no explicit transitive markers; their transitivity is defined by the case frame they assign to their arguments.

Intransitive Verbs (Nominative Construction)

With intransitive verbs, the subject is in the Nominative (Absolutive) case, and the verb agrees with the subject. These typically fall into two semantic groups:

  • Motion Verbs (вачӀине "to come", ине "to go", воржине "to fly"): Къурбан вачӀана. [qʼur.ban wa.t͡ʃʼa.na] — (Kurban.NOM came.I) "Kurban came."
  • State Verbs (кьижизе "to sleep", букӀине "to be"): ХӀинчӀ боржана. [ħint͡ʃʼ bor.ʒa.na] — (Bird.NOM flew.III) "The bird flew."
Transitive Verbs (Ergative Construction)

With transitive Action Verbs (e.g., creating, breaking, doing), the subject (agent) takes the Ergative case, and the object (patient) takes the Nominative case. The verb strictly agrees with the Nominative object.

  • босизе (to take/buy), хъвазе (to write), гьабизе (to do)
  • Чакарица горде гьабуна. [t͡ʃa.ka.ri.t͡sa gor.de ha.bu.na] — (Chakar.ERG dress.NOM made.III) "Chakar made a dress."
Perception and Emotion Verbs (Affective Construction)

Verbs of perception and emotion assign oblique cases to the experiencer subject, while the stimulus object is in the Nominative case. The verb agrees with the Nominative object.

  • Emotion / Cognition (Dative Subject): бокьизе (to love), лъазе (to know).
    • Асмае вас вокьула. [as.ma.je was wo.t͡ɬʼu.la] — (Asma.DAT son.NOM loves.I) "Asma loves the son."
  • Perception (Locative Subject): вихьизе (to see), рагӀизе (to hear).
    • Лъималазда Къасум вихьана. [t͡ɬi.ma.laz.da qʼa.sum wi.xja.na] — (Children.LOC Kasum.NOM saw.I) "The children saw Kasum."
Labile Verbs

Some verbs have dual semantics and can behave as either transitive or intransitive depending purely on the syntactic frame (e.g., биизе "to melt", хисизе "to change"):

  • Intransitive: ГӀазу биана. [ʕa.zu bi.ja.na] — (Snow.NOM melted.III) "The snow melted."
  • Transitive: Эбелалъ нах биана. [e.be.lat͡ɬ nax bi.ja.na] — (Mother.ERG butter.NOM melted.III) "The mother melted the butter."
3. Class Agreement Mechanics

Class agreement utilizes four core markers:

Class Marker Example Subject Infinitive Form
I (Masculine) в- вас (son) вукӀине (to be)
II (Feminine) й- яс (daughter) йикӀине
III (Neuter) б- чу (horse) букӀине
Plural (All) р- чуял (horses) рукӀине
Prefixal vs. Infixal Agreement
  • Prefixal (Common): Markers attach to the beginning of the root (вакъизе "to be hungry").
  • Infixal (Rare): Markers are embedded inside the root (гьавизе "to do", кӀивикӀизе "to rock").
Class-Based vs. Non-Class-Based Verbs
  • Class-Based Verbs: Mutate based on grammatical class (букӀине, гьабизе, бахъине).
  • Non-Class-Based Verbs: The verbal root is invariant and takes no class prefix (кӀанцӀизе "to jump", цӀализе "to read"). However, analytical auxiliary verbs accompanying them (буго, йиго, etc.) still undergo class agreement.
4. Masdars (Verbal Nouns)

The masdar represents the name of an action. It possesses both nominal properties (full case declension) and verbal properties (case government, lack of temporal reference).

Formation: Formed using suffixes -и, -ин, -ей, or -й.

  • цӀал → цӀали (reading)
  • букӀ → букӀин (being)
  • хъва → хъвай (writing)

Declension: Masdars decline following the vowel-final (Type II) nominal declension pattern.

  • Nominative: цӀали
  • Ergative: цӀалиялъ
  • Dative: цӀалиялъе

Differentiation from Abstract Nouns: While processual masdars can be formally identical to abstract nouns, masdars cannot take attributive modifiers and denote a process, whereas nouns can take adjectives and denote concrete referents.

5. Participles and Adverbial Verbs (Infinite Forms)

Alongside the masdar, Avar features rich non-finite verbal forms used for attributive modification and clause chaining.

Participles (Причастия)

Participles function syntactically like adjectives but retain verbal case government and temporal reference. They are formed by adding a class marker (в/й/б/л for plural) to a tense base:

  • Past Participle: Past simple stem + -ра- + class marker (букӀана → букӀараб "that which was").
  • Present Participle: Constative stem (changing final -а to -е) + class marker (букӀуна → букӀунеб "that which is").
  • Future Participle: Future synthetic stem (changing -а to -е) + class marker (букӀина → букӀинеб "that which will be").
  • Intentional Participle: Infinitive + -хъин (цӀализехъин "that which is about to read").

[!NOTE] When a participle is used substantivally (without a head noun), it undergoes a full 20-case local declension acting exactly like a noun.

Adverbial Verbs / Gerunds (Деепричастия)

Adverbial verbs denote actions accompanying a main verb and are the primary mechanism for clause chaining in Avar.

  • Past Adverbial: The base form for analytical tenses and chains (цӀалун "having read", гьабун "having done").
  • General Adverbial: Formed from the Constative (букӀунаго "while being").
  • Negative Formation: Adverbials are negated by suffixing -го to the negative past or negative constative stem (гьабичӀого "without doing", букӀунарого "without being").
6. Tense and Temporal Paradigms

Avar features synthetic (simple) and analytic (composite) tenses.

The Constative (General Habitual)

Expresses habitual actions or general truths.

  • Formation Rule:
    • Infinitive -ине → change и to у + -на (боржине → боржуна).
    • Infinitive -изе → remove -зе, add -ула (цӀализе → цӀалула).
    • Infinitive -езе → remove -зе, add -ола (кьейзе → кьейола).
  • Negative: Suffix -ро (цӀалуларо "does not read").
Present Tense
  • Analytical: Present Participle + auxiliary буго.
  • цӀалулев вуго (is reading [Class I]).
Past Tenses
  • Simple Past:
    • Infinitive -ине → remove -ине, add -ана (боржине → боржана).
    • Infinitive -изе → remove -изе, add а/у + -на (цӀализе → цӀалана, гьабизе → гьабуна).
    • Masdar in -й (e.g. хъвазе) → remove -й, add -на (хъва-й → хъвана).
    • Negative: Suffix -чӀо (цӀаличӀо).
  • Remote Past / Imperfect: Habitual past formed via Constative + -ан (цӀалулаан "used to read").
  • Composite Pasts: Combinations of adverbial pasts/participles with букӀана (Past of "to be").
    • Past Perfective: цӀалун букӀана (had read).
    • Past Imperfective: цӀалулеб букӀана (was reading).
Complex / Secondary Analytic Tenses

Avar forms highly nuanced tenses by stacking multiple auxiliaries:

  • Evidential Resultative (unwitnessed result): Past Adverbial + букӀун буго (цӀалун букӀун буго "turns out it was read").
  • Subjunctive Obligative (counterfactual): Infinitive + букӀун буго (цӀализе букӀун буго "should have read").
  • Intentional Past: Infinitive + -хъин + вукӀана (вачӀинехъин вукӀана "intended to come").
Future Tenses
  • Simple Synthetic: Stem + -ина (цӀалина "will read").
  • Inceptive Future: Infinitive + -хъин + auxiliary (цӀализехъин вуго "is about to read").
Irregular Verbs Paradigm

The existential verb букӀине (to be) and motion verb ине (to go) exhibit highly suppletive paradigms:

Tense Positive (To Be) Positive (To Go) Negative (To Be) Negative (To Go)
Present буго унев буго гьечӀо унев гьечӀо
Past букӀана ана букӀинчӀо инчӀо
Future букӀина ина букӀинаро инаро
Constative букӀуна уна букӀунаро унаро
7. Moods
Commands and Wishes
  • Imperative: The base command. Masdar stem + -е or -а (хӀалтӀе "work!").
  • Prohibitive: Negative command. Constative stem + -ге (цӀалунге "don't read!").
  • Optative: Expressing a wish or blessing. Imperative + -ги (таги "let him leave!").
  • Hortative: Joint action. Infinitive stem + -ин (воржинин "let's fly!").
  • Optative-Participle: Wish with class agreement. Imperative + -я + class marker (воржая-в "may he fly!").
  • Analytical Directive: Command via third party. Imperative + абе (цӀале абе "tell him to read").
Conditional and Interrogative
  • Conditional: Expressing "if". Past stem + -ни (цӀалани "if he reads"). Negative conditional uses -чӀони (цӀаличӀони "if he doesn't read").
  • Interrogative: Expressing a question. Formed by dropping the final vowel and adding -ищ (бихьанищ "Did you see?").
8. Verbal Derivation and Aspectual Forms
Aspect (Вид)

While not marked as systematically as in Slavic languages, Avar expresses aspect (Perfective vs. Imperfective) lexically or via analytical pairings:

  • Imperfective: The base verb (цӀализе "to read [process]").
  • Perfective: Often formed analytically using an auxiliary like бахине (цӀалун бахине "to read [completely/once]").
Causative Verbs (Понудительные Формы)

Causatives denote compulsion or permission, derived by fusing the infinitive with the auxiliary гьабизе (to do/make).

  • хъвазе (write) → хъваз-абизе (to make write)
  • гӀедегӀизе (hurry) → гӀедегӀиз-абизе (to make hurry)

[!WARNING] Double Class Mutation: Because the suffix -абизе derives from the class-based гьабизе, the internal -б- also mutates. Thus, a causative verb mutates across classes via its suffix: -авизе (I), -айизе (II), -абизе (III), -аризе (Plural).

Durative / Continuous Forms

Express prolonged, continuous, or habitual action. They are formed either affixally or via ablaut (vowel alternation).

  • Affixal Patterns: Using suffixes like -ар, -дар, -д, -де, -олд (бохьизе → бохьаризе "to smear repeatedly"; хъвазе → хъвадаризе "to scribble habitually").
  • Ablaut: Internal vowel mutation, often double or single shift (кӀутӀизе → кӀетӀезе "to knock repeatedly").
Frequentative Forms (Многократный Вид)

Express repeated or distributive action, primarily formed through reduplication.

  • Full Reduplication: бекизе (break) → бек-бекизе (smash to pieces).
  • Synonymous/Rhyming Reduplication: жубазе (mix) → жуба-гъубазе (mix up).
Preverbal Compounds

Avar forms new verbal concepts by compounding locative adverbs (acting as preverbs) with verbal roots.

  • тӀад (on) + къазе (put) → тӀад къазе (to entrust).
  • нахъа (behind) + буссине (turn) → нахъбуссине (to return).
9. Complex Word-Formation (Словообразование глаголов)

Beyond the morphological derivations above, Avar has highly productive patterns for creating new verbal concepts from nouns, adverbs, and numerals.

Denominal and Onomatopoeic Verbs

Verbs can be derived directly from nouns, adverbs, or sound-symbolic roots using specific suffixes:

  • Masdar Suffixes (-и, -ай, -ей): Added to noun/adverb stems (гӀетӀ "sweat" → гӀетӀизе; хӀадур "ready" → хӀадуризе).
  • Onomatopoeic Suffixes: Simple sound roots take -и or the frequentative -ди (хӀап "woof" → хӀапизе "to bark"; мими "meow" → мимидизе).
Becoming/Transformation Verbs (-лъизе, -ххине)

Suffixes like -лъизе and -ххине are extremely productive for deriving verbs meaning "to become" or "acquire a state."

  • From Adverbs: бецӀ (dark) → бецӀлъизе (to darken); лъикӀ (well) → лъикӀлъизе (to improve).
  • From Numerals: цо (one) → цолъизе (to unite); кӀиго (two) → кӀилъизе (to split in two).
  • From Nouns: ццин (anger) → ццидаххине (to become enraged).
Analytical / Phrasal Verbs (Описательные глаголы)

To compensate for a limited set of simple verbal roots, Avar extensively employs analytical combinations of a Noun (in Nominative) + Verb to act as a single semantic verbal unit. These often utilize body parts.

  • ракӀ (heart) + хвезе (die/spoil) → ракӀ хвезе (to be upset / quarrel).
  • бер (eye) + биххизе (scatter) → бер биххизе (to be dazzled / amazed).
  • кӀал (mouth) + гьикъизе (ask) → кӀал гьикъизе (to reproach).

[!NOTE] Subject Selection Rule: In these "Body Part + Verb" idioms, the body part acts as the grammatical Nominative subject (governing verb class agreement), while the human possessor becomes the logical subject placed in the Genitive case (дица → дир ракӀ хун буго "My heart died" = "I was upset").

10. Syntactic Properties of Derived Verbs

The morphological derivation of a verb directly impacts its syntactic valency (the number and case of arguments it takes):

Valency Shifts
  • Causatives (-абизе): Compulsorily increase valency. They turn an Intransitive verb into a Transitive one (adding an Ergative Causer), and a Transitive verb into a Ditransitive one.
  • Frequentatives / Iteratives: Retain the exact transitivity and case government of their base root.
  • Onomatopoeic Verbs (-изе / -дизе): Are overwhelmingly Intransitive, taking an Absolutive sound-source.
  • Masdar-Based Verbs: When derived from nouns/adjectives, these are predominantly Intransitive (inchoative), indicating "entering a state" (бецӀлъизе "to become dark").
Split Agreement (Bi-absolutive Constructions)

In continuous analytical tenses where both the logical subject and the object are in the Absolutive case (Bi-absolutive construction), Avar exhibits Split Agreement:

  • The main lexical participle agrees with the Direct Object.
  • The auxiliary verb (буго, вуго, йиго) agrees with the Subject.
  • Вас (I) хӀалтӀи (III) гьабулев (III) вуго (I). — "The boy is doing the work." (The participle гьабулев has the internal -б- for "work", but the external -в and auxiliary вуго align with "boy").
11. Negative Reinforcement Clitics

Avar verbs can be aggressively negated or emphasized using negative polarity clitics attached to the verb or its dependents:

  • -ниги (even if / not even): цӀаличӀониги "even if he didn't read".
  • -го / -ги (at all / and): бихьичӀоги "didn't see at all".