Papiamentu

Conjugate Verbs

Introduction

Papiamento or Papiamentu is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands having official status in Aruba and Curaçao. Papiamento is also a recognised language in the Dutch public bodies of Bonaire, Sint-Eustatius and Saba.

The Papiamentu Verb

Papiamentu has four overt tense, aspect, and mood markers (ta, a, tabata, and lo), which all precede the verb, and a zero-marker. The following combinations occur: lo ta, lo a, and lo tabata. Three types of verbs have to be distinguished according to their possibility of being modified by the present tense marker ta:

1. all dynamic verbs (and some stative verbs like kere ‘believe’ or dependé di ‘depend on’), which are obligatorily marked for ta for present reference,
2. type-1 statives, which are obligatorily zero-marked for present reference (ke ‘want’, konosé ‘know’, mester ‘need, have to’, sa ‘know’, por ‘can’, ta ‘be’, tin ‘have’, and yama ‘be called’), and
3. type-2 statives, which – in most cases freely – are either zero-marked or marked by ta for present reference (bal ‘be worth’, debe ‘owe’, dependé ‘it depends’, falta (LH) ‘miss (a class), not show (respect)’, falta (HL) ‘not have’, gusta ‘like’, meresé ‘merit’, parse ‘seem, resemble’, and stima ‘love’)

Some stative verbs do not combine with the perfective marker a (ke ‘want’, mester ‘have to’, por ‘can’, sa ‘know’, ta ‘be’, tin ‘have’).

Tense-Aspect-Mood markers

• Ø: type-1 and type-2 statives: simple present
• Ø: all: present habitual
• ta: dynamic verbs: present
• ta: some statives, type-2 statives: progressive
• ta: type-2 statives: simple present, present habitual
• a: dynamic verbs, most stative verbs: perfective aspect
• tabata ~ taba: all: past progressive, past habitual
• lo: all: future

Notes

• Papiamentu notes
• Papiamentu notes