Tsou Language - Grammar - Verbs

Verbs

Main verbs can take on three types of voices (Zeitoun 2005:284).

1. Patient voice: -a
2. Locative voice: -i
3. Instrumental/benefactive voice: -(n)eni

Tsou verbs can be divided into five major classes (I, II, III-1, III-2, IV, V-1, V-2) based on morphological alternations (Zeitoun 2005:285). Tsou verbs do not have as many morphological distinctions as other Formosan languages do, since the Tsou language makes more extensive use of auxiliary verbs. For instance, there are no temporal/aspectual distinctions, separate markings for imperatives, and stative/dynamic distinctions. Nevertheless, Tsou still preserves the causative poa- (allomorphs: p-, pa-).

Tsou auxiliary verbs can carry temporal/aspectual and modal information as well as voice. They are marked for the following voices:

1. Actor voice (AV)
2. Undergoer voice (UV)

These auxiliary verbs can be divided into three classes:

1. AV constructions - mio, mo, mi-, moso, mo(h)-
2. UV constructions - i-, o(h)-
3. AV/UV constructions - te, ta, tena, nte, ntoso, nto(h)-, la

Tsou has the following aspectual suffixes:

1. -cu/-c'u - already
2. -n'a - still, just, about to
3. -la - once