We'll begin with the worst of them: -skalaa-, 'to say, to count, to recount'
Let's run it through the present tense transitive paradigm:
>1p sg & pl | >2p sg & pl | >3p sg. masc/3p inan | >3p sg. fem/anim | >3p pl. animate | |
1sg | **** | -skalássú | -skalásso | -skalássʌ | -skalássuhé |
2sg | skalajen | *** | skalajea | skalajei | skalajéssé |
3sg | -skalaʌ | -skalaá | -skalaaj | -skalaé | -skalaahé |
1pl | **** | -skalajó | -skalajoa | -skalajoi | -skalajóssé |
2pl | -skalássʌ | **** | -skalássá | -skalássé | -skalássahé |
3pl | -skalajiʌ | -skalajé | -skalajia | -skalajii | -skalajéssé |
OK, so that's just a table with barely distinguishable pronominal suffixes -- what of it?
Well, what is happening is that -skalaa- has a slightly different form for each different agent, as reflected in the table below:
1sg | -skaláss- |
2sg | -skalaj- |
3sg | -skala- |
1pl | -skalaj- |
2pl | -skaláss- |
3pl | -skalaj- |
The third person singular uses the -skala- variant, the first person singular and second person plural use -skaláss-, and the second person singular, first person and third person plural use -skalaj-.
Now, the root -skala- forms agentive verbs:
[*] mésséskalae, 'he is a prophet' > mésséskalássu 'I am a prophet', mésséskalajá 'they are prophets'.
And transitive verbs:
goolʌ́skalássú 'I promise you', goolʌ́skalaʌ, 'he promises me'.
That last example allows me to point out another irregularity: the 3sg > 1sg suffix is -ʌ, instead of the usual -n.
In the past tense, the stem becomes skalaj for all persons:
mésséskalajae 'he was a prophet', mésséskalajao, 'I was a prophet'
goolʌ́skalajaó 'I promised you', goolʌ́skalajaan, 'he promised me'.
And the future stem is skalát (with a future marker in -t):
goolʌ́skalátan, "he'll promise me', mésséskaláto 'i shall be a prophet'
Other than this, most verbs alternate between two stems, using both in different persons of the present tense, and reserving one of each for past and future. To wit:
-rél-, 'to have' has the following stems in the present tense:
1sg | -rée- |
2sg | -rél- |
3sg | -rél- |
1pl | -rél- |
2pl | -rée- |
3pl | -rél- |
The stem is -rée- for 1sg and 2pl, -rél- everywhere else.
The past stem is -rél-, and the future -réet- (with a future marker in -t)
-ks-, 'to know'
The stem is -sk- for 1sg and 2pl, -ks- everywhere else.
The past stem is -ks-, and the future -sket- (with a future marker in -t)
-skat-, 'to have'
The stem is -skad- for 1sg and 2pl, -skat- everywhere else.
The past stem is -skat-, and the future -skadat- (with a future marker in -t)
-lad-, 'to make'
The stem is -lad- for 1sg and 2pl, -lat- everywhere else.
The past stem is -lat-, and the future -làt- (with a future marker in -t)
-àgí-, 'to make'
The stem is -àgì- for 1sg and 2pl, -àgí- everywhere else.
The past stem is -àgí-, and the future -àgìt- (with a future marker in -t)
And, finally, -ìd- 'to hold' has regular present and past tenses with the stem -ìd-, but the future stem is -ìtt- (including the future marker in -t)
And we're done with tense/person marking! Next time we'll start looking into aspect.