5 Parts of a Verb
Verbs is Mvskoke include both PREFIXES (which come before the root) and SUFFIXES (which come after the root).
Prefixes
The most common prefixes on verbs are shown in the table below.
| Directional: | Instrumental: | Dative: | Patient: | Locative: | ROOT |
| a- | es- | vm | cv- | v- | |
| er- | cem | ce- | ak- | ||
| ra- | em | oh- | |||
| ‘ye- | pum | pu | tak- |
DIRECTIONAL prefixes indicate direction or motion.
| hecetv | ‘to look, see’ | |
| ahecetv | ‘to look this way’ | |
| erhecetv | ‘to go a distance and look’ | |
| rahecetv | ‘to go a short distance and and look; to look back’ | |
| ‘yehecetv | ‘to come and see, visit’ |
| taces | ‘he/she is cutting it’ | |
| estaces | ‘he/she is cutting it with it’ |
DATIVE PERSON MARKERS often indicate someone indirectly affected by the action.
| vntaces | ‘he/she is cutting it for me’ | |
| centaces | ‘he/she is cutting it for you’ | |
| entaces | ‘he/she is cutting it for him/her’ | |
| puntaces | ‘he/she is cutting it for us’ |
PATIENT PERSON MARKERS indicate someone directly affected by the action or in a state of being.
| cvnafkes | ‘he/she is hitting me’ | cvfeknokkēs | ‘I’m sad’ | |
| cenafkes | ‘he/she is hitting you’ | cewvnhkēs | ‘you’re sad’ | |
| nafkes | ‘he/she is hitting him/her’ | feknokkēs | ‘he/she is sad’ | |
| punafkes | ‘he/she is hitting us’ | pufeknokkēs | ‘we are sad’ |
LOCATIVE prefixes clarify where the action in directed.
| aklikes | ‘he/she is sitting in water or a low place’ | |
| ohlikes | ‘he/she/it is sitting on (a table, shelf, etc.)’ | |
| taklikes | ‘he/she/it is sitting on the ground or floor’ | |
| vlikes | ‘he/she/it is sitting at (a table), sitting on (a wall, etc.)’ |
Suffixes
Verbs also take many different suffixes.
| ROOT | Spontaneous | Plural | Near Future | Agent | Negative | Tense | Mood |
| -ep | -vk | -vhan | -i | -eko | -is | -es | |
| -etsk | -vnk | -v | |||||
| -ē | -emvt | -vs | |||||
| -atsk | -vtē | ||||||
| -vrē |
The spontaneous suffix -ep has different forms -ēp and -ehp. One use is to give the action a casual reading.
| ayvtēs | ‘he/she went (very long ago)’ | |
| vyēpvtēs | ‘he/she took off (very long ago)’ |
Depending on how it’s used, the plural suffix -vk has different forms -ak and -ahk. It generally indicates a plural subject.
| nēses | ‘he/she is buying it’ | |
| nesakes | ‘they are buying it’ |
The near future suffix -vhan usually translates as ‘going to’.
| hompis | ‘I’m eating’ | |
| hompvhanis | ‘I’m going to eat’ |
AGENT PERSON MARKERS show the person responsible for an action.
| hompis | ‘I‘m eating’ | |
| hompetskes | ‘you‘re eating’ | |
| hompes | ‘he/she is eating’ | |
| hompēs | ‘we are eating’ | |
| hompatskes | ‘you all are eating’ |
Mvskoke makes several distinctions in tense.
| nēses | ‘he/she is buying it’ | |
| nēsis | ‘he/she was buying it (today/last night)’ (pronounced [nēsîs]) | |
| nēsvnks | ‘he/she bought it (yesterday/several weeks ago)’ | |
| nēsemvts | ‘he/she bought it (several weeks ago to about a year)’ | |
| nēsvntvs | ‘he/she used to buy it (long ago, at least several years)’ | |
| nēsvtēs | ‘he/she bought it (very long ago)’ |
Suffixes at the end of a verb show the function of the sentence or mood.
| hompes | ‘he/she is eating’ | statement | |
| hompvs! | ‘eat!’ | command | |
| hompv? | ‘is he/she eating?’ | question |
Additional suffixes on verbs are used to connect one sentence to another.
| ayet… | ‘he/she is going and (the same one is the subject of the next sentence)’ | |
| ayen… | ‘he/she is going and (someone else is the subject of the next sentence)’ | |
| ayat… | ‘as he/she goes, where he/she goes, the one who goes…’ | |
| ayof… | ‘when he/she goes…’ | |
| ayen owat… | ‘if he/she goes…’ | |
| ayekv… | ‘he/she is going, so…’ | |
| ayet owisen… | ‘he/she is going, but…’ |
