Structure of Lithuanian
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Structure of Lithuanian
Class 04: The Basics of Verbs
1
Introduction
In this class, we will shift gears and look at the verbal domain before returning to nominals
(where a lot remains unexplored). Learning some fundamental things about verbs will help us
manipulate grammatical structures and examples more easily.
Just like nouns, Lithuanian verbs in finite clauses use bound inflectional affixes to express certain
morpho-syntactic features:
• Tense: present, past, past habitual and future:
(1)
dı̀rba ‘he works’
dı̀rbo ‘he worked’
dı̀rbdavo ‘he used to work’
dir̃bs ‘he will work’
• Mood: indicative, conditional and imperative:
(2)
dı̀rba ‘he works’
dı̀rbtų ‘he would work’
dı̀rbk! ‘work!’
• Agreement: person and number (always tracking the subject):
(3)
dı̀rbu ‘I work’
dı̀rbame ‘we work’
dı̀rba ‘he works / they work’
etc.
Non-finite forms are divided into the following groups:
• Infinitival forms: the infinitive and the supine, each using a fixed bound affix;
(4)
dı̀rbti ‘to work (inf)’
dı̀rbtų ‘to work (sup)’
• Gerunds: gerunds inflect for tense only;
(5)
dı̀rbant ‘while working’
dı̀rbus ‘having worked’
dı̀rbsiant –no English equivalent–
• Participles: based on gerunds (the active ones) or using their own dedicated affixes, they
inflect like adjectives and can be declined:
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Structure of Lithuanian
(6)
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
dı̀rbantis ‘the working one m.sg.nom’
dı̀rbančia ‘with the working one f.sg.instr’
dı̀rbantiems ‘for the working ones m.pl.dat’
• The converb: is similar to the present active participle, but is not based on a gerund and
has a dedicated affix:
(7)
dı̀rbdamas ‘while working m.sg’
The valency of a verb can change when derivational affixes are applied to roots:
(8)
bùd-o ‘he woke up (by himself)’
bùd-in-o ‘he woke (someone else) up’
Valency can also be reduced by using a periphrastic passive or a special reflexive/middle affix:
(9)
2
rãšo ‘he is writing’
yrà rãšoma ‘it is being written’ (AUX + passive participle with /-m-/)
rãšosi ‘it is written’ (generic expression)
Finite Verbs
2.1
The Three Stems
All verbal forms – finite and non-finite – are based on three basic stems:
• The present-tense stem: bund-ù ‘I wake up’;
• The past-tense stem: bud-a-ũ ‘I woke up’;
• The infinitival stem: bùs-ti ‘to wake up’.
The major stem alternations types can be seen in Table 1. Since these alternations are largely
unpredictable and since the stem alternation type only partially correlates with the theme vowels
added in various forms (see below), it is highly recommended to learn each verbs in three basic
forms: the infinitive, the 3rd -person form of the present tense, and the same form of the past
tense, e.g.:
(10)
pı̀l-ti, pı̀l-a, pýl-ė ‘to pour’
keı̃s-ti, keı̃č-ia, keı̃t-ė ‘to change (tr)’
kı̀l-ti, kỹl-a, kı̀l-o ‘to rise’
It is important to remember not only the segmental strings in the respective forms, but also the
accentual properties.
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Structure of Lithuanian
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Table 1: Verb stem alternation types
Class
Stem Change
Infinitive
Present
Past
Primary verbs Cl. 1
Primary verbs Cl. 2
Primary verbs Cl. 3
no changes throughout
vowel lowering, prs stem
lengthening, pst stem
Primary verbs Cl. 4
Primary verbs Cl. 4.a
Primary verbs Cl. 5
shortening, prs stem
historic shortening, prs stem
n-suffixing, prs stem
Primary verbs Cl. 6
Primary verbs Cl. 7
st-suffixing, prs stem
n-suffixing in prs +
vowel lengthening in pst
aug-ti
kirs-ti
kel-ti
pil-ti
pūs-ti
vog-ti
bus-ti
au-ti
sprog-ti
šau-ti
aug-a
kert-a
kel-ia
pil-a
puč-ia
vag-ia
bu<n>d-a
au-n-a
sprog-st-a
šau-n-a
aug-o
kirt-o
kėl-ė
pyl-ė
pūt-ė
vog-ė
bud-o
av-ė
sprog-o
šov-ė
kalb-ė-ti
gied-o-ti
myl-ė-ti
žin-o-ti
raš-y-ti
dal-y-ti
dain-uo-ti
skal-au-ti
kalb-a
gied-a
myl-i
žin-o
raš-o
dal-i-j-a
dain-uo-j-a
skal-au-j-a
kalb-ė-j-o
gied-o-j-o
myl-ė-j-o
žin-o-j-o
raš-ė
dal-i-j-o
dain-av-o
skal-av-o
Mixed verbs A
suffix in inf and pst
Mixed verbs B
suffix in inf
Suffixal verbs
suffixes throughout
2.2
The Theme Vowels and Agreement
The morphological structure of a typical finite form in Lithuanian can be seen in the example
below:
(11)
rãš-ė-me ‘we wrote’
The past-tense stem rãš- is followed by the theme vowel -ė-, which is then followed by an
agreement affix: -me. The following theme vowels are found:
(12)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
-a-ia-i-o-ė-
found
found
found
found
found
only in the present tense
only in the present tense
in the present tense of some verbs and in the future tense of all verbs
in the present and the past tense
only in the past tense
Even though the theme vowel -o- can be found in both present and past paradigms, almost no
verbs use it in both. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, the present and the past have
distinct theme vowels. The theme vowel -i- behaves slightly differently in the present and future
paradigms. We will see this shortly.
The agreement markers are the same for all indicative tenses and have the following shape:
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Structure of Lithuanian
(13)
1
2
3
Sg
-u
-i
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Pl
-me
-te
-Ø
The theme vowels interact with agreement in the following uniform way:
Table 2: The theme vowels’ interaction with agreement
1SG
2SG
1PL
2PL
3
-aPRS
kàsdig
kas-Ø-ù
kas-Ø-ı̀
kãs-a-me
kãs-a-te
kãs-a-Ø
-iaPRS
láužbreak
láuž-i-u
láuž-Ø-i
láuž-ia-me
láuž-ia-te
láuž-ia-Ø
-iPRS
mýllove
mýl-i-u
mýl-Ø-i
mýl-i-me
mýl-i-te
mýl-i-Ø
-iFUT
mylė́-slove
mylė́-s-i-u
mylė́-s-Ø-i
mylė́-s-i-me
mylė́-s-i-te
mylė̃-s-Ø-Ø
-oPRS
màtsee
mat-a-ũ
mat-a-ı̃
mãt-o-me
mãt-o-te
mãt-o-Ø
-ėPST
màtsee
mač-ia-ũ
mat-e-ı̃
mãt-ė-me
mãt-ė-te
mãt-ė-Ø
+ The stem of the future tense is based on the infinitival stem, plus an /-s-/. If the infinitival
stem ends in -s, -š, -z, -ž, the /-s-/ is absorbed into this final segment producing either -s or -š:
(14)
vèsti → vès ‘he
nèšti → nèš ‘he
zỹzti → zỹs ‘he
vèžti → vèš ‘he
will
will
will
will
lead’
carry’
whine’
transport’
+ The low stem vowels ‘a’ and ‘e’ are never lengthened in the infinitive / future.
The verbs from Table 2 have the following specifications in the dictionary:
(15)
2.3
kàs-ti, kãs-a, kãs-ė ‘dig’
láuž-ti, láuž-ia, láuž-ė ‘break’
mylė́-ti, mýl-i, mylė́-j-o ‘love’
matý-ti, mãt-o, mãt-ė ‘see’
Exercise
Let us now conjugate these four verbs in the three basic tenses. Ignore accentuation for now.
3
Stem and Theme Vowel Correlations
• Most verbs that end in -yti conjugate like matýti:
(16)
rašýti, rãšo, rãšė ‘write’
skaitýti, skaı̃to, skaı̃tė ‘read’
válgyti, válgo, válgė ‘eat’
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Structure of Lithuanian
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
• Verbs that end in -ė́ti always take -o- in the past, but they can take -i-, -a- and sometimes
even -ia- or -o- in the present:
(17)
norė́ti, nóri, norė́jo ‘want’
kalbė́ti, kal̃ba, kalbė́jo ‘speak’
But:
kentė́ti, keñčia, kentė́jo ‘suffer’
privalė́ti, privãlo, privalė́jo ‘be obligated’
• Verbs with the stem extension -úo- conjugate according to the following pattern:
(18)
dainúoti, dainúoja, dainãvo ‘sing’
• Verbs with the stem extension -áu- are similar:
(19)
skaláuti, skaláuja, skalãvo ‘rinse’
• Verbs without an extension vowel in the infinitival stem normally take -a- or -ia- in the
present and -o- or -ė- in the past:
(20)
dı̀rbti, dı̀rba, dı̀rbo ‘work’
vèsti, vẽda, vẽdė ‘lead’
árti, ãria, ãrė ‘plow’
• Verbs whose present stem features a suffixed -N- or -st- always have -a- in the present:
(21)
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4.1
šáuti, šáuna, šóvė ‘shoot’
tàpti, tam̃pa, tãpo ‘become’
mė́gti, mė́gsta, mė́go ‘like’
Verbal Accentuation
The Infinitive and the Future
In the infinite and the future, the verb always retains the accent of the infinitival stem:
(22)
tàpti ‘to become’
tàpsiu ‘I will become’
tàps ‘he/she/it/they will become’
etc.
+ Exception: In the third-person future form, the falling intonation is replaced with the rising
accent:
(23)
matýti ‘to see’
matýsiu ‘I will see’
matỹs ‘he/she/it/they will see’
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Structure of Lithuanian
4.2
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
The Present and the Past
In the present and the past, the agreement morphemes -me, -te are weak, and so the stress is
consistent with the third-person form based on present-tense stem:
(24)
kãsa ‘he digs’
kãsame ‘we dig’
kãsate ‘you all dig’
The agreement morphemes -u, -i are, however, capable of attracting stress, much like the attracting endings in the nominal domain:
(25)
If the singular inflections -u, -i follow an accented heavy rising or light stem-final syllable,
the stress will shift to these vowels in the present/past tense forms:
a. láužia ‘he breaks’ → láužiu ‘I break’, láuži ‘you break’
b. baũdžia ‘he punishes’ → baudžiù ‘I punish’, baudı̀ ‘you punish’
In nouns, the final accented mora of the stem must be adjacent to the mora of the inflection.
Interestingly enough, in verbs, the theme vowel is completely ignored:
(26)
4.3
a.
b.
mãto ‘he sees’ → mat<a>ũ ‘I see’
baũdė ‘he punished’ → baud<e>ı̃ ‘you punished’
Particle Verbs
In one of the upcoming classes, we will take a look at the morphology and semantics of preverbs
(verbal particles attached to the left edge of the root). One thing that we need to know about
the accentuation of particle verbs is that some of these forms tend to be stressed on the particle
throughout the present and past paradigms. We will see the processes behind this when we are
looking at particle verbs in detail. For now, note the following changes that happen when the
preverb iš- (equivalent of German ‘heraus-’) is added to two different verbs in the present tense:
(27)
4.4
1SG
2SG
1PL
2PL
3
nèšti
to carry
išnèšti
to take out
keı̃sti
to change
iškeı̃sti
to trade in
nešù
nešı̀
nẽšame
nẽšate
nẽša
ı̀šnešu
ı̀šneši
ı̀šnešame
ı̀šnešate
ı̀šneša
keičiù
keitı̀
keı̃čiame
keı̃čiate
keı̃čia
iškeičiù
iškeitı̀
iškeı̃čiame
iškeı̃čiate
iškeı̃čia
The Copula
The copula bū́ti ‘to be’ is the only truly irregular verb in Lithuanian. It displays two highly
distinct stem allomorphs in the present tense, but is much better-behaved in the past/future:
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Structure of Lithuanian
(28)
1SG
2SG
1PL
2PL
3
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Present
Past
Future
esù
esı̀
ẽsame
ẽsate
yrà
buvaũ
buvaı̃
bùvome
bùvote
bùvo
bū́siu
bū́si
bū́sime
bū́site
bùs
+ The shortening of ū in the 3rd -person form of the future tense is not unusual for one-syllable
verb stems ending in the long vowels y, ū.
4.5
The Personal Pronouns
In order to be able to form sentences with personal pronouns, let us take a look at their declension
patterns and, for now, learn the nominative forms:
(29)
1sg
2sg
3sg.m
3sg.f
1pl
2pl
3pl.m
3pl.f
N
àš
tù
jı̀s
jı̀
mẽs
jū̃s
jiẽ
jõs
G
D
A
I
L
manę̃s
mán
manè
manimı̀
manyjè
tavę̃s
táu
tavè
tavimı̀
tavyjè
jõ
jám
jį̃
juõ
jamè
jõs
jái
ją̃
jà
jojè
mū́sų
mùms
mùs
mumı̀s
mumysè
jū́sų
jùms
jùs
jumı̀s
jumysè
jų̃
jı́ems
juõs
jaı̃s
juosè
jų̃
jóms
jàs
jomı̀s
josè
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Structure of Lithuanian
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2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Exercises
5.1
A. For the nouns in the glossary below, infer how they would behave:
• with a weak non-attracting ending;
• with a weak attracting ending;
• with a strong non-attracting ending;
• with a strong attracting ending.
5.2
B. Translate the following sentences into Lithuanian:
1. She is walking to the city.
2. Father was working in the forest.
3. He loves his own (sàvo) job.
4. I am going to work.
5. You (sg) were breaking the stick / sticks.
6. I want a beard.
7. We are talking with the children.
8. You (sg) have three (trı̀s) children.
9. You (pl) saw the garden.
10. Mother sees a lizard in the garden.
11. I see your (tàvo) face.
12. I was reading a letter from dad.
13. You (sg) were writing a book for children.
14. Mother’s house is in the forest.
15. We see lizards in forests.
16. He is writing with a stick.
17. We are at work.
18. We were reading books in the garden.
19. The books were on the table / tables.
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Structure of Lithuanian
2016 © Yuriy Kushnir
Glossary
Nouns:
mylė́-ti (mýl-i, mylė́-j-o) – love
dı̀rb-ti (dı̀rb-a, dı̀rb-o) – work
matý-ti (mãt-o, mãt-ė) – see
rašý-ti (rãš-o, rãš-ė) – write
skaitý-ti (skaı̃t-o, skaı̃t-ė) – read
láuž-ti (láuž-ia, láuž-ė) – break
kalbė́-ti (kal̃b-a, kalbė́-j-o) – speak
eı̃-ti (eı̃n-a, ė̃-j-o) – walk
norė́-ti (nór-i, norė́-j-o) – want (+ Gen!)
turė́-ti (tùr-i, turė́-j-o) – have, own
lazd- (II.a, 4) – stick
sod- (I.a, 2) – garden
laišk- (I.a, 3) – letter (der Brief)
knyg- (II.a, 2) – book
mišk- (I.a, 4) – forest, woods
darb- (I.a, 3) – work/job
veid- (I.a, 3) – face
mótin- (II.a, 1) – mother
tėv- (I.a, 3) – father
drı́ež- (I.a, 3) – lizard
barzd- (II.a, 4) – beard
stal- (I.a, 4) – table
miest- (I.a, 2) – city
Misc:
į̃ (+ Acc) – to, into
ı̀š (+ Gen) – from, out of
añt (+ Gen) – on, onto
Verbs:
Bibliography
Ambrazas, Vytautas (2006): Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos gramatika (A grammar of Modern
Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, Vilnius.
Dambriūnas, Leonardas, Antanas Klimas and William R Schmalstieg (1998): Beginner’s
Lithuanian. Hippocrene Books.
Meilutė Ramonienė and Joana Pribušauskaitė (2008): Praktinė lietuvių kalbos gramatika (A
practical grammar of Lithuanian). Baltos Lankos, Vilnius.
Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007): Lietuvių kalbos etimologinis žodynas. Edytor "Printer Polyglott".
Stang, Chr. S. (1966): Vergleichende Grammatik der baltischen Sprachen. Universitetsforlaget,
Oslo-Bergen-Tromsø.
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