Verbs (or action words) are the main part of Lahu speech. Many complete sentences can be composed of just a verb and a particle (see example [ex:is-here]). Verbs in their infinitive form are usually written with the particle ‘ve’ after them. This is usually separated by a space that is purely to assist the reader.

[Basic verbs used in the following sections]{}

have, to

eat, to

drink, to

write, to

go, to

read, to

know, to

do, to

study, to

pay respect, to

Verb negation {#sec:negation}

To negate the meaning of a verb the word ‘maˇ’ is used before the verb. The particle ‘ve’ is often omitted when a verb is negated as example [ex:neg-verb] shows.

[ex:neg-verb] maˇ cawˇ not eat

. We not have ‘We do not have [it].’

. She not know ‘She does not know.’

Verb Combination

Verbs can be combined in various ways to produce more complex ideas. A main verb can have an additional verb placed before it (pre-head) or after it (post-head).

Pre-head Verbs

Pre-head verbs are often used to indicate the number, aspect, time, limitiations etc..

g’a [cawˬ ve]{} must have

[ex:must-go] g’a [k’ai ve]{} must go

h’aw [k’ai ve]{} again go ‘to go again’

g’a henˇ ve must study

k’aw [hawˇ ve]{} again study ‘to study again’

Note in example [ex:must-go] that if the word ‘g’a’ is placed after the main verb it would be a different word meaning ‘to be able to’. Compare example [ex:able-go].

Post-head Verbs {#sec:post-head .unnumbered}

‘Post-head’ verbs often indicate the direction of the main verb.

caˇ [cawˇ ve]{} eat should ‘should eat’

[ex:neg-post-verb] maˇ caˇ cawˇ not eat should ‘should not eat’

hpaw k’ai ve flee go ‘to flee away’

hpaw taˆ ve flee up ‘to flee to higher point’

maˇ laˬ cawˇ not come should ‘shouldn’t come’

[ex:able-go] k’ai g’a ve go can ‘[I] can go’

Remember that the verb particle ‘ve’ is omitted when the verb is negated, as example [ex:neg-post-verb] shows.

Verb Duplication

To intensify the effect of some verbs they can be duplicated. This is quite common in Lahu as it is in Thai.

respect do

[ex:dup-verb] ‘many’

maˇ maˇ [cawˬ ve]{} many many have ‘to have many’

[ex:neg-dup-verb] maˇ maˇ maˇ cawˬ many many not have ‘to have not many’

In example [ex:neg-dup-verb] the last ‘maˇ’ is the negative one. It can also be seen that example [ex:dup-verb] is not negative as the verb particle ‘ve’ is present.

You should now be able to form many sentences using just nouns, verbs and some particles.

Verb Tense

Verb tense in Lahu is denoted by means of suffixes. Not all tenses and aspects¹ in the English language can easily be expressed in Lahu so some of the following sections combine some English language concepts.

Present Tense

This is the ‘default’ tense for verbs.

Ngaˬ te I do

Yawˇ te He does

Past Tense

This describes actions that occurred in the past. The word peuˬ is used after the verb to signify it is in the past tense.

Ngaˬ te peuˬ I did

Nawˬ te peuˬ You did

Perfect Tense {#sec:perfect}

Perfect aspect can be described as an action that has been completed, for example, “I have eaten rice”. ² The particle peuˬ is used as a suffix to denote the affirmative perfect tense.

Yawˇ [gaˬ la]{} peuˬ he arrive (par) ‘He has arrived’

Ngaˬ awˬ caˇ peuˬ I rice eat (par) ‘I have eaten rice’

To denote the negative perfect tense the particle peuˬ is omitted and maˇ … sheˍ wraps the verb. sheˍ could be interpreted as ‘yet’ so it would become “not something yet”.

Yawˇ maˇ [gaˬ la]{} sheˍ he not arrive yet ‘He has not arrived yet’

Ngaˬ awˬ maˇ caˇ sheˍ I rice not eat yet ‘I have not eaten [rice] yet’

Future Tense {#sec:future}

To speak in the future tense simply use the particle ‘tuˬ’ after the verb that is in the future but before any final particle such as ‘yoˬ’.

Ngaˬ li teˇ k’oˆ hta g’aw tuˬ yoˬ I book one (clf) (par) read [will] (fp) ‘I will read one book’

maˇ yaw tuˬ they not speak [will] ‘They will not speak’

Continuous Tense

Continuous tense in English is primarily represented by adding ‘ing’ to the end of a verb. To indicate continuous tense in Lahu add the verb ‘chehˇ’ (to be) after the verb that is continuing. This is an example of a post-head verb (see section [sec:post-head]).

Yawˇ k’ai [chehˇ ve]{} yoˬ he go [continue] (par) ‘He is going’

Ngaˬ ngaˆ teˇ hkeh [oˇ ve]{} hta caˇ [chehˇ ve]{} yoˬ I bird two (clf) those (par) eat [continue] (par) ‘I am eating those two birds’

Indefinite Perfect Tense

This is similar to the perfect tense (see section [sec:perfect]) except that it points to some more distant or less distinct time. In English we would perhaps use the word ‘ever’ or ‘never’.

Awˉsa-hteˉliˍ-a ngaˬ maˇ k’ai jaw Australia I not go ever ‘I have never been to Australia’

Awˉsa-hteˉliˍ-a yawˇ k’ai jaw Australia he go ever ‘He has been to Australia’

Imperative Mood

The imperative mood expresses commands or requests. In Lahu the particles ‘mehˍ’ or ‘sheˍ’ are used at the end of the sentence. The word ‘sheˍ’ is more forceful.

Ngaˬ hta [maˍ laˇ]{} mehˍ me (par) teach (par) ‘Teach me’

Awˬ caˇ sheˍ rice eat (par) ‘Eat rice!’

Lo-e sheˍ enter (par) ‘Enter!’

Laˬ mehˍ come (par) ‘Come’

Mui sheˍ sit (par) ‘Sit!’

Li teˇ k’oˆ hta g’aw mehˍ book one (clf) (par) read (par) ‘Read the book’

Negative commands simply use the word ‘taˇ’ before the verb. As with verb negation (see section [sec:negation]) the particle ‘ve’ is omitted. The imperative particles ‘mehˍ’ and ‘sheˍ’ can also be used to give added meaning.

Taˇ te don’t do ‘Don’t do [that]!’

Taˇ mui don’t sit ‘Don’t sit!’

Participles

Participles describe a type of verb, either the action is happening now (present participle), or the action happened in the past (past participle). The present participle is denoted by the word ‘tcuhˉ taˍ’ added after the verb.

k’ai [tcuhˉ taˍ ve]{} go continuous ‘to go continuously’

Yawˆ dawˇ [tcuhˉ taˍ ve yoˬ]{} he think continuous ‘He is thinking’

lehˉ [laˬ ve yoˬ]{} they fight continuous and come ‘They came fighting’