Udmurt grammar
This article deals with the grammar of the Udmurt language.
Pronouns
Udmurt pronouns are inflected much in the same way that their referent nouns are. However, personal pronouns are only inflected in the grammatical cases and cannot be inflected in the locative cases.
Personal pronouns
Somewhat like in English, Udmurt personal pronouns are used to refer to human beings only. However, the third person singular can be referred to it. Udmurt personal pronouns only inflect in the grammatical cases and the allative case. The nominative case of personal pronouns are listed in the following table:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | мон /mon/ I |
ми /mi/ we |
| 2nd person | тон /ton/ you |
тӥ /ti/ you |
| 3rd person | со /so/ she or he or it |
соос /soːs/ they |
Reflexive pronouns
Udmurt reflexive pronouns only inflect in the grammatical cases and the allative case. The nominative case of reflexive pronouns are listed in the following table:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | аслам /ɑsɫɑm/ me myself |
асьмеос /ɑɕmeos/ we ourselves |
| 2nd person | аслад /ɑsɫɑd/ you yourself |
асьтэос /ɑɕteos/ you yourselves |
| 3rd person | аслаз /ɑsɫɑz/ she herself/he himself/it itself |
асьсэос /ɑɕseos/ they themselves |
Interrogative pronouns
Udmurt interrogative pronouns inflect in all cases. However, the inanimate interrogative pronouns 'what' in the locative cases have the base form кыт-. The nominative case of interrogative pronouns are listed in the following table:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| what | ма /mɑ/ | маос /mɑos/ |
| who | кин /kin/ | кинъëс /kinjos/ |
The following table shows Udmurt interrogative pronouns in all the cases :
| Case | кин- /kin/ | English | ма-/кыт- /mɑ/kɨt/ | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | кин /kin/ | who | ма /mɑ/ | what |
| Accusative | кинэ /kine/ | whom | мае /mɑje/ | what |
| Genitive | кинлэн /kinɫen/ | whose | малэн /mɑɫen/ | of what |
| Ablative | кинлэсь /kinɫeɕ/ | from whom | малэсь /mɑɫeɕ/ | from what |
| Dative | кинлы /kinɫɨ/ | to whom | малы /mɑɫɨ/ | to what |
| Instructive | кинэн /kinen/ | with whom | маин /mɑin/ | with what |
| Abessive | кинтэк /kintek/ | without whom | матэк /mɑtek/ | without what |
| Adverbial | кинъя /kinjɑ | in whose way | мая /mɑjɑ | in what way |
| Inessive | – | – | кытын /kɨtɨn/ | where |
| Illative | – | – | кытчы /kɨt͡ːʃɨ/ | to where |
| Elative | – | – | кытысь /kɨtɨɕ/ | from where |
| Egressive | – | – | кытысен /kɨtɨɕen/ | start from where |
| Terminative | – | – | кытчыозь /kɨt͡ːʃɨoʑ/ | end up where |
| Prolative | – | – | кытӥ /kɨti/ | along where |
| Allative* | кинлань /kinɫɑɲ/ | towards whom | малань /mɑɫɑɲ/ | towards where |
*The allative case is commonly called "approximative" when talking about Udmurt and Komi.
Noun forms
Udmurt does not distinguish gender in nouns or even in personal pronouns: 'со' = 'he' or 'she' depending on the referent.
Cases
Udmurt has fifteen noun cases: eight grammatical cases and seven locative cases. Notice that the word in a given locative case modifies the verb, not a noun. The locative cases can only be used with inanimate references with the exception of the allative case. Alternative forms containing -ы- can only used after the plural suffix (i.e. the illative singular гуртэ, but plural гуртъёсы). The less common accusative suffix -ты is used after the plural suffix, in addition to more common -ыз.
| Udmurt cases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Example | Translation |
| Grammatical | ||||
| nominative | – | – | гурт /gurt/ |
village |
| genitive | -лэн /ɫen/ |
of / 's | гуртлэн /gurtɫen/ |
of a village / village's |
| accusative | -эз/-ез/-ты/-ыз /ez/jez/tɨ/ɨz/ |
– | гуртэз /gurtez/ |
village (as an object) |
| ablative | -лэсь /ɫeɕ/ |
from | гуртлэсь /gurtɫeɕ/ |
from a village |
| dative | -лы /ɫɨ/ |
to/for | гуртлы /gurtɫɨ/ |
to a village |
| instrumental | -эн/-ен/-ын /en/jen/ɨn/ |
with/by means of | гуртэн /gurten/ |
by means of a village |
| abessive | -тэк /tek/ |
without | гурттэк /gurtːek/ |
without a village |
| adverbial | -я /jɑ/ |
in a way | гуртъя /gurtjɑ/ |
in a village way |
| Locative cases | ||||
| inessive | -ын /ɨn/ |
in | гуртын /gurtɨn/ |
in a village |
| illative | -э/-е/-ы /e/je/ɨ/ |
into | гуртэ /gurte/ |
into a village (or house) |
| elative | -ысь /ɨɕ/ |
from | гуртысь /gurtɨɕ/ |
from a village |
| egressive | -ысен /ɨɕen/ |
starting from | гуртысен /gurtɨɕen/ |
starting from a village |
| terminative | -озь /oʑ/ |
end up | гуртозь /gurtoʑ/ |
end up at a village |
| prolative | -этӥ/-етӥ/-ытӥ/-тӥ /eti/jeti/ɨti/ti/ |
along | гуртэтӥ /gurteti/ |
along a village |
| allative* | -лань /ɫɑɲ/ |
towards | гуртлань /gurtɫɑɲ/ |
towards a village |
*The allative case is commonly called "approximative" when talking about Udmurt and Komi.
Udmurt case endings affix directly to nouns quite regularly with the exception of a few lexemes of Uralic origin. These lexemes have stem changes when declining in the locative cases whose endings begin with a vowel:
| Examples of lexemes with varied stems | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexeme | Stem | Inessive | English | Original stem form | Cognate example | |
| син /ɕin/ |
синм- /ɕinm/ |
синмын /ɕinmɨn/ |
(in an) eye | *-lm- → *-nm- | Finnish: silmä 'eye' | |
| ин /in/ |
инм- /inm/ |
инмын /inmɨn/ |
(in the) sky | Finnish: ilma 'air' | ||
| кус /kus/ |
куск- /kusk/ |
кускын /kuskɨn/ |
(in the) hips | *-sk- | Erzya: каске 'rump' | |
| нюлэс /ɲuɫes/ |
нюлэск- /ɲuɫesk/ |
нюлэскын /ɲuɫeskɨn/ |
(in the) forest | |||
| кык /kɨk/ |
кыкт- /kɨkt/ |
кыктэтӥ /kɨkteti/ |
two; second | *-kt- | Northern Sami: guokte 'two' | |
The personal pronouns, however, have irregularities in comparison to the declension of other nouns:
| Udmurt personal pronoun declensions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | 1st pers. sing. | 2nd pers. sing. | 3rd pers. sing. | 1st pers. pl | 2nd pers. pl. | 3rd pers pl. |
| nominative | мон /mon/ |
тон /ton/ |
со /so/ |
ми /mi/ |
тӥ /ti/ |
соос /soːs/ |
| genitive | мынам /mɨnɑm/ |
тынад /tɨnɑd/ |
солэн /soɫen/ |
милям /miʎɑm/ |
тӥляд /tiʎɑd/ |
соослэн /soːsɫen/ |
| accusative | монэ /mone/ |
тонэ /tone/ |
сое /soje/ |
милемыз ~ милемды /miʎemɨz/ ~ /miʎemdɨ/ |
тӥледыз ~ тӥледды /tiʎedɨz/ ~ /tiʎeddɨ/ |
соосыз ~ соосты /soːsɨz/ ~ /soːstɨ/ |
| ablative | мынэсьтым /mɨneɕtɨm/ |
тынэсьтыд /tɨneɕtɨd/ |
солэсь /soɫeɕ/ |
милесьтым /miʎeɕtɨm/ |
тӥлесьтыд /tiʎeɕtɨd/ |
соослэсь /soːsɫeɕ/ |
| dative | мыным /mɨnɨm/ |
тыныд /tɨnɨd/ |
солы /soɫɨ/ |
милем(лы) /miʎem(ɫɨ)/ |
тӥлед(лы) /tiʎed(ɫɨ)/ |
соослы /soːsɫɨ/ |
| instrumental | монэн ~ монэным /monen/ ~ /monenɨm/ |
тонэн ~ тонэныд /tonen/ ~ /tonenɨd/ |
соин /soin/ |
милемын ~ миленымы /miʎemɨn/ ~ /miʎenɨmɨ/ |
тӥледын ~ тӥленыды /tiʎedɨn/ ~ /tiʎenɨdɨ/ |
соосын /soːsɨn/ |
| abessive | монтэк /montek/ |
тонтэк /tontek/ |
сотэк /sotek/ |
митэк /mitek/ |
тӥтэк /titek/ |
соостэк /soːstek/ |
| adverbial | монъя /monjɑ/ |
тонъя /tonjɑ/ |
соя /sojɑ/ |
мия /mijɑ/ |
тӥя /tijɑ/ |
соосъя /soːsjɑ/ |
| allative | монлань /monɫɑɲ/ |
тонлань /tonlɑɲ/ |
солань /soɫɑɲ/ |
милань /miɫɑɲ/ |
тӥлань /tiɫɑɲ/ |
соослань /soːsɫɑɲ/ |
Plural
There are two types of nominal plurals in Udmurt. One is the plural for nouns -ос (after vowels)/-ëс (after consonants)/-ъёс (after certain consonants to avoid palatalization) and the other is the plural for adjectives -эсь/-есь.
Nominal plural
The noun is always in plural. In attributive plural phrases, the adjective is not required to be in the plural:
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| чебер(есь) нылъëс | (the) beautiful girls |
The plural marker always comes before other endings (i.e. cases and possessive suffixes) in the morphological structure of plural nominal.
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| нылъëслы | to the girls |
| гуртъëсазы | to/in their villages |
Predicative plural
As in Hungarian, if the subject is plural, the adjective is always plural when it functions as the sentence's predicative:
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| нылъëс чебересь | the girls are beautiful |
| толъёс кузесь | the winters are cold |
Following numerals
Nouns are ordinarily in the singular when following cardinal numbers. However, a living being as the sentence's subject may be in the plural. In this case, the predicate verb must be in congruency with the subject.
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| Та гуртын витьтон куать корка | There are fifty-six houses in this village |
| Аудиториын дас студент пуке ~ Аудиториын дас студентъëс пуко | There are ten students sitting in the lecture hall |
Possessive suffixes
Nominal possessive suffixes
Udmurt possessive suffixes are added to the end of nouns either before or after a case ending. The possessive suffixes vary in the nominative and accusative cases and with case endings. The consonant of the second and third person plural depends on if the last phoneme of the word is voiced or unvoiced.
| Suffix ending | Udmurt | English |
|---|---|---|
| -е/-э | эше | my friend |
| -ед/-эд | эшед | your friend |
| -ез/-эз | эшез | his/her friend |
| -мы | эшмы | our friend |
| -ды/-ты | эшты | your (pl) friend |
| -зы/-сы | эшсы | their friend |
Certain lexemes of Finno-Ugric origin (especially those ending with a vowel or meaning an inalienable object) contain the vowel -ы- in the first, second and third person singular nominative possessive suffixes:
| Suffix ending | Udmurt | Finnish equivalent | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ы | киы | käteni | my hand |
| -ыд | киыд | kätesi | your hand |
| -ыз | киыз | kätensä | his/her hand |
Accusative possessive suffixes
Accusative possessive suffixes are shown in the following table. The consonant of the second and third person singular and plural depends on if the last phoneme of the word is voiced or unvoiced.
| Accusative possessive suffix | ||
|---|---|---|
| Suffix ending | Udmurt | English |
| -ме | эшме | my friend |
| -тэ/-дэ | эштэ | your friend |
| -сэ/-зэ | эшсэ | his/her friend |
| -мес | эшмес | our friend |
| -дэс/-тэс | эштэс | your (pl) friend |
| -зэс/-сэс | эшсэс | their friend |
Possessive suffixes with case endings, singular
The morphological placement of possessive suffixes with other endings depends on the case. Possessive suffixes are the same as nominative suffixes after which the genitive, ablative, dative, abessive, adverbial and allative cases agglutinates.
| Possessive suffixes with case endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Udmurt (first person singular) | English | |
| nominative | гуртэ | my village | |
| genitive | гуртэлэн | my village's/of my village | |
| ablative | гуртэлэсь | from my village | |
| dative | гуртэлы | for my village | |
| abessive | гуртэтэк | without my village | |
| adverbial | гуртэя | across my village | |
| allative | гуртэлань | towards my village | |
The possessive suffix follows the instrumental, inessive, illative, elative egressive, terminative and prolative cases and the vowel reduces to ы in the singular persons. An м, an old Uralic first person singular marker, appears in the first person singular. When adding a possessive suffix, the inessive and illative forms change to -а- and the elative form changes to -ысьт-. The ы does not appear in the inessive, illative, terminative and prolative cases where the case ends with a vowel.
| Possessive suffixes with case endings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| person | instrumental | inessive | illative | elative | egressive | terminative | prolative |
| Singular | |||||||
| first | гуртэным | гуртам | гуртам | гуртысьтым | гуртысеным | гуртозям | гуртэтӥм |
| second | гуртэныд | гуртад | гуртад | гуртысьтыд | гуртысеныд | гуртозяд | гуртэтӥд |
| third | гуртэныз | гуртаз | гуртаз | гуртысьтыз | гуртысеныз | гуртозяз | гуртэтӥз |
| Plural | |||||||
| first | гуртэнымы | гуртамы | гуртамы | гуртысьтымы | гуртысенымы | гуртозямы | гуртэтӥмы |
| second | гуртэныды | гуртады | гуртады | гуртысьтыды | гуртысеныды | гуртозяды | гуртэтӥды |
| third | гуртэнызы | гуртазы | гуртазы | гуртысьтызы | гуртысенызы | гуртозязы | гуртэтӥзы |
Possessive suffixes with case endings, plural
As in the singular, possessive suffixes precede the genitive, ablative, dative, abessive, adverbial and allative cases. However, the vowel of the singular persons reduce to ы:
| Possessive suffixes with case endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Udmurt (first person singular) | English | |
| nominative | гуртъëсы | my villages | |
| genitive | гуртъëсылэн | my villages'/of my villages | |
| ablative | гуртъëсылэсь | from my villages | |
| dative | гуртъëсылы | for my villages | |
| abessive | гуртъëсытэк | without my villages | |
| adverbial | гуртъëсыя | across my villages | |
| allative | гуртъëсылань | towards my villages | |
As in the singular, possessive suffixes follow the instrumental, inessive, illative, elative, egressive, terminative and prolative cases. The suffix forms follow the same structure as in the singular. The same exceptions appear in the plural as in the singular with the added exception of the instrumental э/е reducing to ы and the prolative э/е not used.
| Possessive suffixes with case endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Udmurt (first person singular) | English | |
| instrumental | гуртъëсыным | by means of my villages | |
| inessive | гуртъëсам | in my villages | |
| illative | гуртъëсам | to my villages | |
| elative | гуртъëсысьтым | from my villages | |
| egressive | гуртъëсысеным | starting from my villages | |
| terminative | гуртъëсозям | ending up at my villages | |
| prolative | гуртъëстӥм | along my villages | |
Some words can be used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs without a change in form. For example, чылкыт /t͡ʃɨɫkɨt/ means "cleanliness", "clean", and "clearly".
The third person singular possessive suffix also acts as a definite article: удмурт кыл(ыз) чебер /udmurt kɨɫ(ɨz) t͡ʃeber/ ("the Udmurt language is nice" – literally "Udmurt language's nice").
Adjectives
There is no congruency between adjectives and nouns in neutral Udmurt noun phrases, i.e. there is no adjective declension as in the inessive noun phrase бадӟым гуртын, 'in a large/big village' (cf. Finnish inessive phrase isossa kylässä 'in a large/big village', in which iso 'big/large' is inflected according to the head noun). However, as stated earlier, Udmurt adjectives in neutral attributive (non-predicative) noun phrases may have a plural marker when the noun is pluralised.
Determinative
Udmurt does have an emphasising determinative suffix. Its function is to place emphasis on the features of the referent, defining and separating it from a group of other similar referents. The third person singular possessive suffix -ез/-эз and -из and plural -ыз acts as the determinative suffix. The determinative adjective conjugates as in the third person singular or plural and the noun conjugates without any other marker.
| Determinative suffix | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | neutral | English | determinative | English |
| Singular | ||||
| nominative | бадӟым гурт | (a) big village | бадӟымез гурт | (specifically) a big village |
| inessive | бадӟым гуртын | in a big village | бадӟымаз гуртын | in the (specifically) big village |
| illative | бадӟым гуртэ | to a big village | бадӟымаз гуртэ | to the (specifically) big village |
| elative | бадӟым гуртысь | from a big village | бадӟымысьтыз гуртысь | from the (specifically) big village |
| Plural | ||||
| nominative | бадӟым(есь) гуртъëс | (the) big villages | бадӟымъëсыз гуртъëс | the (specifically) big villages |
| inessive | бадӟым(есь) гуртъëсын | in the big villages | бадӟымъëсаз гуртъëсын | in the (specifically) big villages |
| illative | бадӟым(есь) гуртъëсы | to the big villages | бадӟымъëсаз гуртъëсы | to the (specifically) big villages |
| elative | бадӟым(есь) гуртъëсысь | from a big village | адӟымъëсысьтыз гуртъëсысьб | from the (specifically) big village |
Comparative
Comparative is used when two referents are compared to each other but the subject of comparison does not necessarily need to be expressed.
The comparative suffix in Udmurt is -гес. The subject of comparison can be expressed either in the ablative case or with the postposition сярысь structure. If the subject of comparison it is shown the comparative suffix can be left out.
| Comparative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Udmurt | English | ||
| Скал ыжлэсь бадӟым(гес) ~ Скал ыж сярысь бадӟым(гес) | A cow is larger than a sheep | ||
Superlative
There is no superlative suffix in Udmurt. Superlative is expressed with the Russian particle самой or indefinitive expressions ваньмызлэсь, котькинлэсь or котьмалэсь.
| Superlative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Udmurt | English | ||
| самой ~ ваньмызлэсь ~ котькинлэсь ~ котьмалэсь бадӟым | biggest (of them all) | ||
| самой ~ ваньмызлэсь ~ котькинлэсь ~ котьмалэсь выль | newest (of them all) | ||
| самой ~ ваньмызлэсь ~ котькинлэсь ~ котьмалэсь дун | cleanest (of them all) | ||
Postpositions
Udmurt makes use of postpositions rather than prepositions. A large percentage of the stems of Udmurt postpositions have a locative meaning and can conjugate in the local cases. For example, выл means 'top' and also 'surface' and can inflect in all the locative cases: (inessive) вылын, (elative) вылысь, (illative) вылэ, (prolative) вылтӥ, (egressive) вылысен, (terminative) вылозь and (allative) выллань.
However less than the seven locative cases are included in paradigm inflection of many of the postpositions. The paradigm usually consists of the inessive, elative and illative cases. Like nominals of foreign Uralic origin, some postpositions have a consonant in their stem. such as вис(к-), 'between'.
Some common postpositions are:
| Postpositions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | Example (inessive) | English | |
| азь | азьын | in front of | |
| выл | вылын | on top of | |
| дор | дорын | next to, at | |
| бӧрсьы | бӧрсьыын | in back of/behind | |
| пум | пумын | at the end of | |
| ул | улын | under | |
The illative case can vary between -э/-е and -ы. The illative form of the postposition пал 'side' is пала 'to the side of'.
| Postpositions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | Example (illative) | English | |
| -э/-е | |||
| азь | азе | to the front of | |
| выл | вылэ | to the top of | |
| пум | пуме | to the end of | |
| ул | улыэ | under | |
| -ы | |||
| дор | доры | next to, at | |
| шор | шоры | to the centre of | |
| сьӧр | сьӧры | to the behind of | |
| вис(к-) | вискы | between | |
There is also a small group of non-inflecting postpositions in addition to those inflecting in the locative cases (cf. Finnish kanssa "with (a person)" that always takes the genitive case: ystävän kanssa "with a friend"). A few examples of these are:
| Postposition | English |
|---|---|
| артэ | next to |
| бере | after |
| быдэ | all, each |
| валче | together; because of, due to |
| дыръя | during |
| кузя | along |
| сямен | in the way of/ -wise |
| сярысь | about |
| ӵоже | within |
| ӵош | together |
Most of the nouns in Udmurt postposition phrases are inflected in the nominative but there are a few postpositions that require the noun to be in the dative, ablative or instrumental cases:
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Nominative | |
| ӝок вылын | on top of a/the table |
| писпу сьӧрысь | from behind a/the tree |
| анай сярысь | about (a) mother |
| университет бере | after university |
| тон понна | because of you |
| Dative | |
| арлы быдэ | every year |
| тӧллы пумит | against the wind |
| Ablative | |
| талэсь азьло | before this |
| Instrumental | |
| анаен ӵош | with mother |
| соин валче | because of it |
| монэн артэ | next to me |
Verbs
Udmurt verbs are divided into two groups or two conjugations, both having the infinitive marker -ны. The conjugation I type verb is structured with ы as in мыныны, 'to go'. The conjugation II type verb features an -а- in the infinitive as in ужаны, 'to work'. The conjugation I verb can also have two stems, a full stem as in мыны- and a short stem as in мын-.
There are three verbal moods in Udmurt: indicative, conditional and imperative. There is also an optative mood used in certain dialects. The indicative mood has four tenses: present, future, and two past tenses. In addition there are four past tense structures which include auxiliary verbs. Verbs are negated by use of an auxiliary negative verb that conjugates with personal endings. Separate personal pronouns are not required in verb phrases.
The basic verbal personal markers in Udmurt are (with some exceptions):
| Personal endings of verbs | |
|---|---|
| Person | Ending |
| Singular | |
| 1st | -Ø |
| 2nd | -д |
| 3rd | -з |
| Plural | |
| 1st | -мы |
| 2nd | -ды |
| 3rd | -зы |
Present tense
Present tense in Udmurt, in all but the third person, is marked with -(ӥ)сько-/-(и)сько-. Third person singular is marked with -э/-е (conjugation I) or unmarked (conjugation II) and third person plural is marked with -о (conjugation I) or -ло (conjugation II).
| Present tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодӥсько | I know | кырӟасько | I sing/I am singing |
| 2nd | тодӥськод | you know | кырӟаськод | you sing/you are singing |
| 3rd | тодэ | he/she knows | кырӟа | he/she sings / he/she is singing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодӥськомы | we know | кырӟаськомы | we sing/we are singing |
| 2nd | тодӥськоды | you know | кырӟаськоды | you sing/you are singing |
| 3rd | тодо | they know | кырӟало | they sing/they are singing |
The negative indicative present is formed by the auxiliary у- negative verb and the marker -(ӥ)ськы/-(и)ськы in the first and second person singular or -(ӥ)ське/-(и)ське in the first and second plural of the main verb. The third person singular main verb is either marked by the full stem (conjugation I) or unmarked (conjugation II). The third person plural is marked with -о (conjugation I) or -ло (conjugation II).
The negative verb conjugates with the ending -г in first and third person singular and third person plural. Second person singular and plural both conjugate with the ending -д and first person plural with -м.
| Present tense negative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | уг тодӥськы | I do not know | уг кырӟаськы | I do not sing/I am not singing |
| 2nd | уд тодӥськы | you do not know | уд кырӟаськы | you do not sing/you are not singing |
| 3rd | уг тоды | he/she does not know | уг кырӟа | he/she does not sing / he/she is not singing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | ум тодӥське | we do not know | ум кырӟаське | we do not sing/we are not singing |
| 2nd | уд тодӥське | you do notknow | уд кырӟаське | you do not sing/you are not singing |
| 3rd | уг тодо | they do not know | уг кырӟало | they do not sing/they are not singing |
Future tense
The future tense in Udmurt is marked with -о- in conjugation I verbs and -ло- in conjugation II verbs.
| Future tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодо | I will know | кырӟало | I will sing/I will be singing |
| 2nd | тодод | you will know | кырӟалод | you will sing/you will be singing |
| 3rd | тодоз | he/she will know | кырӟалоз | he/she will sing / he/she will be singing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодомы | we will know | кырӟаломы | we will sing/we will be singing |
| 2nd | тододы | you will know | кырӟалоды | you will sing/you will be singing |
| 3rd | тодозы | they will know | кырӟалозы | they will sing/they will be singing |
The negative indicative future is formed by the auxiliary у- negative verb and the stem of the main verb in singular persons. The plural persons are marked either with -э/-е (conjugation I) or -лэ (conjugation II)
The negative verb conjugates with the ending -г in first person singular. Third person singular and third person plural have the ending -з and the remaining are as in present negative.
| Future tense negative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | уг тод(ы) | I will not know | уг кырӟа | I will not sing/I will not be singing |
| 2nd | уд тод(ы) | you will not know | уд кырӟа | you will not sing/you will not be singing |
| 3rd | уз тод(ы) | he/she will not know | уз кырӟа | he/she will not sing / he/she will not be singing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | ум тодэ | we will not know | ум кырӟалэ | we will not sing/we will not be singing |
| 2nd | уд тодэ | you will not know | уд кырӟалэ | you will not sing/you will not be singing |
| 3rd | уз тодэ | they will not know | уз кырӟалэ | they will not sing/they will not be singing |
Past tense
The conventionally used designations preterite and perfect are used with denotations which are divergent from their usual meanings in the grammar of other languages.
Preterite I
The first preterite can be compared with the simple past in English. Preterite I is marked with ӥ/и in conjugation I. There is no past tense marker in conjugation II verbs with the exception of й in the first person singular.
| Preterite I | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодӥ | I knew | кырӟай | I sang |
| 2nd | тодӥд | you knew | кырӟад | you sang |
| 3rd | тодӥз | he/she knew | кырӟаз | he/she sang |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодӥм(ы) | we knew | кырӟам(ы) | we sang |
| 2nd | тодӥды | you knew | кырӟады | you sang |
| 3rd | тодӥзы | they knew | кырӟазы | they sang |
The negative preterite I is formed by the auxiliary ӧ- negative verb and the stem of the main verb in singular persons. The plural persons are marked either with -э/-е (conjugation I) or -лэ (conjugation II)
The negative verb conjugates with the ending -й in first person singular. Third person singular and third person plural have the ending -з and the remaining are as in present negative.
| Preterite I negative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | ӧй тоды | I did not know | ӧй кырӟа | I did not sing |
| 2nd | ӧд тоды | you did not know | ӧд кырӟа | you did not sing |
| 3rd | ӧз тоды | he/she did not know | ӧз кырӟа | he/she did not sing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | ӧм тодэ | we did not know | ӧм кырӟалэ | we did not sing |
| 2nd | ӧд тодэ | you did not know | ӧд кырӟалэ | you did not sing |
| 3rd | ӧз тодэ | they did not know | ӧз кырӟалэ | they did not sing |
Preterite II
The second preterite is a past tense with an evidentiality distinction. It can be compared to the English perfect in which the speaker did not personally observe the past event. The preterite II is marked with (э)м/(е)м, which is historically related to the third infinitive in Finnish.
In addition to the normal personal endings, the present indicative marker -(ӥ)ськ-/-(и)ськ- is featured in first persons and a frequentive verbal marker -лля- is present in the second and third person plural. There is no personal ending in the third person singular and sometimes featured in the third person plural.
| Preterite II | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодӥськем | I have evidently known | кырӟаськем | I have evidently sung |
| 2nd | тодэмед | you have evidently known | кырӟамед | you have evidently sung |
| 3rd | тодэм | he/she has evidently known | кырӟам | he/she has evidently sung |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодӥськеммы | we have evidently known | кырӟаськемм(ы) | we have evidently sung |
| 2nd | тодӥллямды | you have evidently known | кырӟаллямды | you have evidently sung |
| 3rd | тодӥллям(зы) | they have evidently known | кырӟаллям(зы) | they evidently sung |
The negative preterite II is formed either by including the auxiliary copular negative verb ӧвӧл 'is not' or with the negation marker -мтэ-.
| Preterite II negative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодӥськымтэе ~ ӧвӧл тодӥськем | I have evidently not known | кырӟаськымтэе ~ ӧвӧл кырӟаськем | I have evidently not sung |
| 2nd | тодымтэед ~ ӧвӧл тодэмед | you have evidently known | кырӟамтэед ~ ӧвӧл кырӟамед | you have evidently not sung |
| 3rd | тодымтэ ~ ӧвӧл тодэм | he/she has evidently known | кырӟамтэ ~ ӧвӧл кырӟам | he/she has evidently not sung |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодӥськымтэмы ~ ӧвӧл тодӥськеммы | we have evidently not known | кырӟаськымтэмы ~ ӧвӧл кырӟаськемм(ы) | we have evidently not sung |
| 2nd | тодӥллямтэды ~ ӧвӧл тодӥллямды | you have evidently not known | кырӟаллямтэды ~ ӧвӧл кырӟаллямды | you have evidently not sung |
| 3rd | тодӥллямтэ ~ ӧвӧл тодӥллям(зы) | they have evidently not known | кырӟаллямтэ ~ ӧвӧл кырӟаллям(зы) | they evidently not sung |
Auxiliary past tenses
There are four past tenses in Udmurt which use a preterite form of the main verb and a preterite form of the auxiliary verb 'to be'.
Pluperfect I
The Udmurt pluperfect makes use of the preterite I main verb and the auxiliary вал, 'was' in third person singular, also in simple past. The pluperfect I tense expresses a process of action that has happened in the (distant) past.
| Pluperfect I | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | тодӥ вал | I had known | кырӟай вал | I had sung |
| 2nd | тодӥд вал | you had known | кырӟад вал | you had sung |
| 3rd | тодӥз вал | he/she had known | кырӟаз вал | he/she had sung |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | тодӥм(ы) вал | we had known | кырӟам(ы) вал | we had sung |
| 2nd | тодӥды вал | you had known | кырӟады вал | you had sung |
| 3rd | тодӥзы вал | they had known | кырӟазы вал | they had sung |
The negative Pluperfect I is formed by the negative preterite I negative plus the auxiliary вал.
| Pluperfect I negative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | тодыны (conjugation I) | English | кырӟаны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | ӧй тоды вал | I had not known | ӧй кырӟа вал | I had not sung |
| 2nd | ӧд тоды вал | you had not known | ӧд кырӟа вал | you had not sung |
| 3rd | ӧз тоды вал | he/she had not known | ӧз кырӟа вал | he/she had not sung |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | ӧм тодэ вал | we had not known | ӧм кырӟалэ вал | we had not sung |
| 2nd | ӧд тодэ вал | you had not known | ӧд кырӟалэ вал | you had not sung |
| 3rd | ӧз тодэ вал | they had not known | ӧз кырӟалэ вал | they had not sung |
Pluperfect II
There are two structures of the pluperfect II tense. One uses the preterite II third person singular form of the main verb inflected with a personal possessive suffix and the auxiliary вал. The other is the preterite II of the main verb (with normal personal inflection) and the preterite I form of the 'to' be verb вылэм. The pluperfect II tense expresses the result of an action that has been completed, but no one had seen.
| Pluperfect II (тодыны) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Pluperfect II a | Pluperfect II b | English |
| Singular | |||
| 1st | тодэме вал | тодӥськем вылэм | I had evidently known |
| 2nd | тодэмед вал | тодэмед вылэм | you had evidently known |
| 3rd | тодэм вал | тодэм вылэм | he/she had evidently known |
| Plural | |||
| 1st | тодэммы вал | тодӥськеммы вылэм | we had evidently known |
| 2nd | тодэмды вал | тодӥллямды вылэм | you had evidently known |
| 3rd | тодэмзы вал | тодӥллям(зы) вылэм | they had evidently known |
The negative pluperfect II is formed either by with the preterite II third person singular of the main verb in the negative (marked with -мтэ-) with a personal possessive suffix and the auxiliary verb вал (pluperfect II a) or with the negative preterite II of the main verb marked with -мтэ- with the preterite II auxiliary verb вылэм.
| Preterite II negative (тодыны) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Pluperfect II a | Pluperfect II b | English |
| Singular | |||
| 1st | тодымтэе вал | тодӥськымтэе вылэм | I had evidently not known |
| 2nd | тодымтэед вал | тодымтэед вылэм | you had evidently known |
| 3rd | тодымтэ вал | тодымтэ вылэм | he/she had evidently known |
| Plural | |||
| 1st | тодымтэмы вал | тодӥськымтэмы вылэм | we had evidently not known |
| 2nd | тодымтэды вал | тодӥллямтэды вылэм | you had evidently not known |
| 3rd | тодымтэзы вал | тодӥллямтэ вылэм | they had evidently not known |
Durative preterite
The durative preterite in Udmurt can be compared to the past progressive in English "was doing". Its function can be described as expressing a process in the past. The structure is the present tense of the main verb with either preterite of the auxiliary verb. The structure of the negative durative preterite is the negative present tense of the main verb with either preterite of the auxiliary verb.
| Durative preterite (кырӟаны) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Affirmative | English | Negative | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | кырӟасько вал/вылэм | I was singing | уг кырӟаськы вал/вылэм | I was not singing |
| 2nd | кырӟаськод вал/вылэм | you were singing | уд кырӟаськы вал/вылэм | you were not singing |
| 3rd | кырӟа вал/вылэм | he/she was singing | уг кырӟа вал/вылэм | he/she was not singing |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | кырӟаськомы вал/вылэм | we were singing | ум кырӟаське вал/вылэм | we were not singing |
| 2nd | кырӟаськоды вал/вылэм | you were singing | уд кырӟаське вал/вылэм | you were not singing |
| 3rd | кырӟало вал/вылэм | they were singing | уг кырӟало вал/вылэм | they were not singing |
Frequentative preterite
The frequentative preterite in Udmurt expresses a repeated action in the past. The structure is the future tense of the main verb with either preterite of the auxiliary verb. The structure of the negative frequentative preterite is the negative future tense of the main verb with either preterite of the auxiliary verb.
| Frequentative preterite (кырӟаны) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Affirmative | English | Negative | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | кырӟало вал/вылэм | I sang (always) | уг кырӟа вал/вылэм | I did not sing (always) |
| 2nd | кырӟалод вал/вылэм | you sang (always) | уд кырӟа вал/вылэм | you did not sing (always) |
| 3rd | кырӟлоз вал/вылэм | he/she sang (always) | уз кырӟа вал/вылэм | he/she did not sing (always) |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | кырӟаломы вал/вылэм | we sang (always) | ум кырӟалэ вал/вылэм | we did not sing (always) |
| 2nd | кырӟалоды вал/вылэм | you sang (always) | уд кырӟалэ вал/вылэм | you did not sing (always) |
| 3rd | кырӟалозы вал/вылэм | they sang (always) | уз кырӟалэ вал/вылэм | they did not sing (always) |
Passive voice
Udmurt does not have a separate affix to express a passive voice. The plural third person of the verb is used as a personal form to express an unknown, non-determinative actor.
| Passive voice | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd pers. pl | English | Passive voice | English |
| Соос ужало | They are working | Татын ужало | (People) are working here |
| Соос удмурт сямен верасько | They speak Udmurt | Татын удмурт сямен верасько | Udmurt is spoken here |
| Соос ӟуч сямен уг верасько | They do not speak Russian | Татын ӟуч сямен уг верасько | Russian is not spoken here |
Moods
Conditional
The conditional mood expresses an unrealistic action which the speaker considers to be supposed, possible or hopeful. The conditional marker is -сал and is attached to the stem of the verb (i.e. full stem of conjugation I verbs) along with personal endings. The third person singular, however, can function without a personal ending. The first person singular preterite I negative verb ӧй is used in the negative conditional.
| Conditional (карыны) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Affirmative | English | Negative | English |
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | карысал | I would do | ӧй карысал | I would not do |
| 2nd | карысалыд | you would do | ӧй карысалыд | you would not do |
| 3rd | карысал(ыз) | he/she would do | ӧй карысал(ыз) | he/she would not do |
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | карысалмы | we would do | ӧй карысалмы | we would not do |
| 2nd | карысалды | you would do | ӧй карысалды | you would not do |
| 3rd | карысалзы | they would do | ӧй карысалзы | they would not do |
Imperative
The stem of the verb is used for the second person singular imperative in Udmurt. If the stem of a conjugation I verb ends in one consonant or is one syllable and ends in a vowel, the short stem is the imperative. If the stem of a conjugation I verb ends in two consonants, the full stem is used.
The second person plural infinitive is marked with -е(лэ)/-э(лэ) in conjugation I verbs and -лэ in conjugation I verbs.
The imperative negative auxiliary is эн which precedes the infinitive form.
| Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | сиыны (conjugation I) | English | басьтыны (conjugation I) | English | вараны (conjugation II) | English |
| Singular | ||||||
| 2nd | си! | eat! | басьты! | take/buy! | вара! | talk/speak! |
| Plural | ||||||
| 2nd | сие(лэ)! | eat! | басьтэ(лэ)! | take/buy! | варалэ! | talk/speak! |
| Negative singular | ||||||
| 2nd | эн си! | do not eat! | эн басьты! | do not take/buy! | эн вара! | do not talk/speak! |
| Negative plural | ||||||
| 2nd | эн сие(лэ)! | do not eat! | эн басьтэ(лэ)! | do not take/buy! | эн варалэ! | do not talk/speak! |
Optative
An optative mood is used in certain dialects.
Modals
Udmurt makes use of the morphosyntactic structure of inflected nominals and verbs with an auxiliary for modal expressions.
To express ability, the verb луыны, 'to be' is inflected in the third person singular (in all tenses) with the subject in the genitive case. The verb to which the subject directs ability is inflected with the past participle (э)м/(е)м (preterite II, third person singular) with a personal possessive suffix.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Тынад лыктемед луиз | You could come | "yours your came was" |
| Кышномуртлэн магазинэ мынемез ӧз луы | The woman could not go to the store | "woman's to the store her went was not" |
Desiderative
The desiderative modal expresses desire. The verb потынын, 'to want' is inflected in the third person singular (in all tenses) with the subject in the genitive case. The verb to which the subject directs the desire is inflected with the past participle (э)м/(е)м (preterite II, third person singular) with a personal possessive suffix.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Мынам иземе потэ | I want to sleep | "mine my slept wants" |
| Кышномуртлэн магазинэ мынемез уг поты | The woman does not want to go to the store | "woman's to the store her went not want" |
Necessive
To express necessity, the word кулэ, 'necessary' is used with the copula verb inflected in the third person singular (in all tenses) with the subject in the dative case. The infinitive of the verb to which the subject directs necessity or an object is used.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Солы трос лыдӟиськыны кулэ | He/she needs to read a lot | "to him/her much to read necessity is" |
| Мыным книга кулэ ӧвӧл | I did not need a book | "to me book necessity is not" |
Permissive
To express permissiveness, the verb яраны, 'to suit/to be valid' is inflected in the third person singular (in all tenses) with the subject in the dative case. The infinitive of the verb to which the subject directs permissiveness is used.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Мыным кошкыны яра-а? | May I leave? | "to me to leave suits?" |
| Тӥледлы пырыны уг яра | You (pl) may not come in | "to you (pl) to come in does not suit" |
Participles
Udmurt verbs have past, present and future participles. Participles can be used in different ways than ordinary adjectives. In addition to affirmative participles, Udmurt also has caritive participles.
Present
The present participle is -(ӥ)сь/-(и)сь. It is a participle which expresses continuous action. It is affixed to short stems in conjugation I verbs. The present participle caritive is -(ӥ)сьтэм/-(и)сьтэм
| Affirmative | English | Caritive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| лыдӟись ныл | a girl that reads | лыдӟисьтэм ныл | a girl that does not read |
| кырӟась пи | a boy that sings | кырӟасьтэм пи | a boy that does not sing |
In addition to functioning as regular attributive participles, the present participle also functions as a nominalising derivational suffix.
| as a participle | English | as a noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| дышетскись ныл | a girl that studies | дышетскись | student |
| висись ныл | a girl that gets sick | висись | patient |
| кырӟась ныл | a girl that sings | кырӟась | singer |
Past
The past participle is -(э)м/-(е)м. It is an attributive participle which expresses completed action. It is affixed to short stems in conjugation I verbs. The past participle caritive is -(э)мтэ/-(е)мтэ.
| Affirmative | English | Caritive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| лыктэм куно | a guest that arrived | лыктэмтэ куно | a guest who did not arrive |
| пограм писпу | a tree that fell | пограмтэ писпу | a tree that did not fall |
| лыӟем книга | a book that has been read | лыӟемтэ книга | a book that has not been read |
The past participle can also be inflected with the inessive ending -(э)мын/-(е)мын. This is a predicative participle which expresses completed action.
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| Куно лыктэмын. | The guest has arrived. |
| Писпу пограмын. | The tree had fallen. |
| Книга лыӟемын. | The book has been read. |
Future
The modal-future participle is -(о)но. It is affixed to short stems in conjugation I verbs. The future participle caritive is -(о)нтэм and expresses that which is unable to be done.
| Affirmative | English | Caritive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| пияно кышномурт | a woman who will give birth soon | пиянтэм кышномурт | a woman who will not be able to give birth |
| лыӟоно книга | a book that will be read | лыӟонтэм книга | a book that is not able to be read |
There is also a modal participle similar to gerunds in function. It expresses the ability to do some action or that it is possible to do the action. The marker is -мон and it is affixed to short stems in conjugation I verbs.
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| лэсьтымон уж | a job (work) which is possible to do |
| улымон корка | a house in which one can live |
Gerunds
There are four gerunds in Udmurt, one being a caritive. that are affixed to the verb's full stem. One gerund, which also has a caritive, is formed by the past participle (э)м/(е)м (preterite II, third person singular) with the instrumental or elative case.
The "basic" -са gerund (and its caritive -тэк) can be compared to the English present active participle -ing and Finnish second or third infinitives, however having more functions. They can express a way of doing something, a reason for the action or a certain condition.
The temporal -ку gerund (-кы in southern dialects) expresses action or state of being which happens simultaneously with the action of the main verb of the clause.
The fourth gerund is -тозь which can express an action or an event that lasts to the starting or ending limit of the action expressed by the predicate verb of the sentence. The gerund also expresses the structure "instead of". In addition, possessive suffixes can be affixed after the -тозь gerund.
| Gerunds | |
|---|---|
| Udmurt | English |
| -са | |
| Адями дыртыса мынэ | A person is going in a hurry (lit. rushing) |
| Адями дыртытэк мынэ | A person is going without rushing |
| дышетскись малпаськыса пуке | The student sits (there) thinking |
| Атае, корка пырыса, ӝӧк сьӧры пукиз | My father sat at the table when he came into the house (lit. when coming in) |
| -ку | |
| Лымыяку куазь шуныгес кариське | It (lit. the weather) gets warmer when it snows |
| -тозь | |
| Туннэ шунды пукськытозь ты дурын улӥмы | We were at the river bank today until sun set (lit. until the setting of the sun) |
| Ми вуытозь, та ужез быдэсты | Finish this work by the time we get there (lit. until the time when we arrive) |
| Тэк пукытозь, книга коть лыӟы | Instead of idly sitting, why do not you read a book |
| Вуытозям та ужез быдэсты ~ Mон вуытозь, та ужез быдэсты | Finish this work by the time I get there (lit. until the time when I arrive) |
The past participle gerund is inflected with either the instrumental -(э)мен/-(е)мен (caritive -мтэен) or elative -(э)мысь/-(е)мысь (caritive -мтэысь) case, both having the basic same meaning of "because". In literary Udmurt, the gerund in the instrumental case is preferred. However, the gerund in the elative case is used with some verbs such as дугдыны 'to cease/stop'.
| Gerunds | |
|---|---|
| Udmurt | English |
| -(э)мен/-(е)мен | |
| куазь зоремен | because it (lit. the weather) stops raining |
| -(э)мысь/-(е)мысь | |
| куазь зоремысь | because it (lit. the weather) stops raining |
| висись ӝуштемысь дугдӥз | The patient stopped moaning (lit. from moaning) |
| Caritive | |
| куазь зормтэен ~ куазь зормтэысь | because it (lit. the weather) did not stop raining |
Personal possessive suffixes can also be affixed to -(э)м-/-(е)ме- gerunds:
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| Affirmative | |
| Висеменым (~ висемысьтым) та ужез ас дыраз лэсьтыны ӧй быгаты | I could not complete this work on time because I was sick |
| Caritive | |
| Тазэ ужез дыраз лэсьтымтэеным (~ лэсьтымтэысьтым), мукетъëсыз туж кулэ ужъëс ӝегало | Other important things got delayed because I did not to this job on time |
Interrogative suffix
If there are no interrogative (question) words (who, what, when etc.), an interrogative phrase is formed by the suffix -а. The interrogative suffix is affixed to the constituent to which the question is concerned. The suffix's placement can also vary according to dialect. Both southern and northern dialect forms are used in literary Udmurt.
| Interrogative suffix | |
|---|---|
| Udmurt | English |
| Мынӥськод-а? | Are you going? |
| Уд-а мынӥськы? ~ Уд мынӥськы-а? | Aren't you going? |
| Чай юиськод-а? | Are you drinking tea?/Do you drink tea? |
| Чай уд-аюиськы? ~ Чай уд юиськы-а? | Don't you drink tea? |
| Чай-а юиськод? | Is it tea which you drink? (not e.g. coffee) |
| Чай-а уд юиськы? | Is it tea which you do not drink? (not e.g. coffee) |
| Нюлэс пичи-а? | Is the forest small? |
| Пичи-а нюлэс ? | Is the forest small? (but not big) |
| Коля студент ӧвӧл-а? ~ Ӧвӧл-а Коля студент? | Isn't Kolja a student? |
| Отын шур вал-а? ~ Отын вал-а шур ? | Was there a river there? |
| Шур мтын-а вал? | Was the river close by? |
| Ммтын-а шур вал? | Was the river close by? (not far away) |
| Шур ӧй вал-а мтын? | Wasn't the river close by? |
Word formation
There are a few main derivational suffixes in Udmurt word formation.
Nouns
Udmurt has the productive deverbalising nominal suffix -(о)н/-(ë)н. -(о)н/-(ë)н is affixed to the short stem of conjugation I verbs and -н affixes directly to the stem of conjugation II verbs The function of this suffix is quite diverse. With this deverbalising affix, the nominal usually:
1. expresses the action (deverbalised noun) set out by the base verb:
| Verb | English | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| сылыны | to stand | сылон | (a) standing |
| ӝуаны | to burn | ӝуан | (a) burning |
| куасьмыны | to dry | куасьмон | (a) drying |
2. expresses the result of action:
| Verb | English | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| вормыны | to win | вормон | a victory |
| кырӟаны | to sing | кырӟан | a song |
3. expresses an instrument or tool denoted by an action:
| Verb | English | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| портыны | to drill | портон | a drill |
4. expresses the focus of action:
| Verb | English | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| сиыны | to eat | сиëн | food |
| юыны | to drink | юон | drink |
Most of these derivations have both abstract and concrete meanings. The derivation can expresses both the action set out by the base verb or result or instrument:
| Verb | English | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| пукыны | to sit | пуконы | (a) sitting, a seat, a chair |
| висьыны | to become ill | висëн | getting ill, a disease, an illness |
| шудыны | to play | шудон | playing, play, a toy, a plaything |
Deverbalised nominal derivations can function as qualifiers of collocations, such as лыдӟон книга 'reader, digest' or юон ву 'drinking water'.
Adjectives
Udmurt has the denominalising adjectival suffixes -о/-ë and carritive -тэм. The adjectives formed by the suffix -о/-ë express the condition of a quality, feature or phenomenon of the base word or possession of the referent. The adjectives formed by the suffix -тэм express the lack of quality, feature, phenomenon or referent. This suffix can be compared to the prefix un- or suffix -less in English.
| Adjectival derivational suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | English | Example | English |
| -о/-ë | |||
| визь | sense | визьмо адями | a wise person |
| кужым | strength | кужымо ки | a strong hand |
| шуд | luck | шудо нылпи | a lucky child |
| куар | leaf | куаро писпу | a leafy tree (a tree with leaves) |
| туш | beard | тушо пиосмурт | a bearded man (a man with a beard) |
| -тэм | |||
| шуд | luck | шудтэм нылпчагыр | an unlucky child |
| туш | beard | туштэм пиосмурт | a beardless man (a man with no beard) |
| нылпи | child | нылпитэм семъя | a childless family (a family with no children) |
Adjectives formed by the -ӧ suffix can also have a qualifier:
| Nominal | English | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| чагыр син | blue eye | чагыр сино ныл | a blue-eyed girl |
| кузь ки | long arm | кузь киë адями | a long-armed person (a person with long arms) |
Udmurt also has moderative adjectival suffixes (-алэс, -мыт and -пыр(ъем)) which express a somewhat large, but not complete, amount of quality of an adjective base, usually a colour or flavour. They can be compared to the English suffix -ish. The suffix -мыт does not normally associate with flavour, but Southern dialect variant -пыр(ъем) does.
| Moderative adjectival derivational suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | English | Example | English |
| вож | green | вожалэс ~ вожмыт ~ вожпыръем дэрем | a greenish shirt |
| лыз | blue | лызалэс ~ лызмыт ~ лызпыръем кышет | a blueish scarf |
| сьӧд | black | сьӧдалэс ~ сьӧдмыт ~ сьӧдпыръем йырси | blackish hair |
| курыт | bitter | курыталэс ~ курытпыръем кияр | a rather bitter cucumber |
Verbs
In Udmurt grammar, the lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs is called verbal aspect. Udmurt verbs can be divided into two categories: momentane verbs and frequentative verbs. The transitivity or of a verb mainly relies on if the verb is frequentative or not.
In Udmurt word formation, verbs can be derived by frequentative or causative deverbalising suffixes.
Momentane
The momentane aspect of Udmurt verbs expresses action (state of being or process) that happens only once. There is no transparent base momentane marker (cf. Finnish momentane verbs). For example, лыӟыны 'to read (once)'. However a causative -т- denotes momentanity and those verbs can be derived into frequentative verbs.
Frequentative
The frequentative aspect expresses that the action (state of being or process) does not happen just one time. The action is continuous or frequent. There are various frequentative markers, usually containing an л, for example лыӟылыны 'to read (frequently/often)'. The frequentative aspect, however, does not denote continuous repetitiveness as in e.g.some Finnish frequentative derivations.
The frequentative deverbalising affixes in Udmurt are -лы- (conjugation I), -лля- (conjugation II) (both historically related to the Finnish frequentative derivational suffix -ele-) and -а-/-я- (conjugation I) which precede the infinitive marker ны.
| Frequentative derivation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | English | Derivation | English | |
| -л- | ||||
| лыдӟыны | to read | → | лыдӟылыны | to read (often) |
| лыктыны | to come | → | лыктылыны | to come (often) |
| юыны | to drink | → | юылыны | to drink (often) |
| -лля- | ||||
| ужаны | to work | → | ужалляны | to work (often) |
| кораны | to chop | → | коралляны | to chop (often) |
| -а-/-я- | ||||
| пырыны | to step inside | → | пыраны | to step inside (often) |
| потыны | to step outside | → | потаны | to step outside (often) |
| гожтыны | to write | → | гожтъяыны | to write (often) |
Some verbal derivations, that follow the pattern потыны → потаны, have parallel frequentative derivations, and -лля- can be affixed to an already frequentative derivation:
тубыны 'to rise' → тубылыны 'to rise (often)'
тубыны 'to rise' → тубаны → тубалляны 'to rise (often)'
Another frequentative verb affix is -иськы-/-ӥськы-, which is historically related to the Finnish frequentative derivational suffix -skele-. -иськы-/-ӥськы- frequentative verbs can be considered different from the above-mentioned derivations. -иськы-/-ӥськы- verbs do not semantically denote frequency in the same way; their "oftenness" is related to objective or non-objective relation. For example, the verb лыдӟыны ('to read') requires an object and the verb лыдӟиськыны does not.
| Udmurt | English |
|---|---|
| мон лыдӟиськыны яратӥсько | I like to read (generally) |
| мон книга лыдӟӥсько | I am reading a book |
Syntax
Udmurt is an SOV language.
Nominal sentence
The copular verb (вань vań, – "to be") is omitted if the sentence is in the present tense: туннэ кыӵе нунал? tunne kiče nunal? ("What day is it today?"). If the sentence expresses possession, the vań can be part of the predicate: тӥ палан нюлэсъёс вань-а? ti palan ńulesjos vań-a? ("At you (plur.), are there forests?")
Existential sentences
These are sentences which introduce a new subject – they often begin with 'there is' or 'there are' in English.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Финляндиын трос нюлэсъëс | there are many forests in Finland | "in Finland many forests (is/are)" |
Possessive sentences
As in most Uralic languages, ownership in Udmurt is expressed by inflection and sentence structure, rather than with a separate verb 'have'. The owner of the object and the possessed object are both inflected with a possessive suffix and used with the copula verb to express ownership.
| Udmurt | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| мынам книгае вань | I have a book | "mine my book is" |
| мынам книгае ӧвӧл | I do not have a book | "mine my book is not" |
| мынам книгае вал | I had a book | "mine my book was" |
| мынам книгае ӧй вал | I did not have a book | "mine my book was not" |
Sources
- Kel'makov, Valentin; Sara Hännikäinen (2008). Udmurtin kielioppia ja harjoituksia (in Finnish) (2nd ed.). Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 978-952-5150-34-6.
- Winkler, Eberhard (2011). Udmurtische Grammatik (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- Winkler, Eberhard (2001). Udmurt. Languages of the World. Vol. Materials 212. München: Lincom Europa.
- Tánczos, Orsolya (2010). "Szórendi variációk és lehetséges okaik az udmurtban" [Word order variation and its possible causes in Udmurt] (PDF). Nyelvtudományi Közlemények (in Hungarian). 107: 218–229.