Mahican VAI Preterite and Present Tenses

The preterite tense is a way to talk of something in the past that has been completed.

He was killed. I was happy. We went there. 

The present tense also specifies information that the past action occurred in a more distant past than another past action. It is almost always found in questions in Mahican texts with rare exceptions (P mlh29).

Who had been there? What had been done? 

In phrases without reference to another past event, the present tense may refer to a past event with ongoing or present time relevance. (HA23)(HA58)

How has he been working?  What day has he ordained? 

This tense can also be used for a hypothetic or conditional expression in the past. (P mlh29)

If he had never been born. 

The Preterite

Preterite Indicative

Preterite forms are constructed using by first building the verb form using the appropriate personal prefix and the appropriate ending, then adding the preterite ending -pan. Plural and obviative endings follow the preterite ending and use preterite specific forms. If no additional endings such as a plural or an obviative ending follow, the the preterite ending -pan is shortened to -p.

Anahkaap. He worked.
Anahkaapaniik. They worked.

Note the preterite plural ending iik which is also used in the present when a plural ending is required.

The 1st and 2nd person forms use a more complete form of this ending: -hupan

kiisanahkaaw vai-s be ready

Ngiisanahkah. I am ready. 
Ngiisanahkahup.  I have been ready. (preterite)(s114)
Ktanahkahup. You worked. 

machaayuw vai-cv sin, do evil

Numachaay. I sin. 
Numachaayhup.  I sinned. (s127)
Kumachaayhup. You sinned. 

When added to a form that has the ending -uw a contraction occurs which preserves the oo sound resulting in uw + -upan => -oopan. This shortens to -oop when no further endings follow the preterite suffix.

Machaayoop.  He sinned. (s127)
Miitθoop. He ate. 
Oop.. He said. 

Vowel stem verbs in the 3rd person forms add the preterite suffix -upan to the final w and the sequences aaw-upan and ąąw-upan contract to aap and ąąp respectively for the sg forms. Plural 3rd person forms contract to aapaniik and ąąpaniik.

Anahkaaw. He works. 
Anahkaak. They work. 
Anahkaap.  He worked. 
Anahkaapaniik. They worked. 

Consonant stem verbs simply add -upan directly.

Siiwaanŭtamup.  He was sad. 
Siiwtaanŭtamupaniik.  They were sad. 

The preterite suffix may be added to the 1st and 2nd plural forms. The final h of these endings drops and the long vowel that had been shortened now reappears and the preterite suffix is added directly.

Ndanahkahnah.  We work.
Ndanahkahnąąp. We worked. 
Kmachaayhmąąp. You (pl) sinned. 
Nsihnąąp. We said so. 

No instances of a preterite form were found in Mohican source materials built on the all inclusive 1st pl or 2nd pl suffix -hnookw.

Examples:



ndanahkahup I worked
ktanahkahup
anahkaap
ndanahkahnąąp
ktanahkahmąąp
anahkaapaniik

numachaayhup I sinned
kumachaayhup
machaayoop
numachaayhnąąp
kumachaayhmąąp
machaayoopaniik

nsihup I said so
ksihup
oop
nsihnąąp
ksihmąąp
oopaniik

numiitθihup I ate
kumiitθihup
miitθoop 
numiitθihnąąp
kumiitθihmąąp
miitθoopaniik

nsiiwaanŭtamhup I was sad.
ksiiwaanŭtamhup
siiwaanŭtamup
nsiiwaanŭtamhnąąp
ksiiwaanŭtamhmąąp
siiwaanŭtamupaniik

Preterite Subordordinative Mode

For the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person sg the preterite suffix is linked to the n endings of the subordinative mode with the long vowel aa.

Ndanahkaan. I work. 
Ndanahkaanaap. I worked. 
Ktanahkaanaap.
Wtanahkaanaap.

(This reflects the fact that the true n ending is -naa before phonetic simplification for general use.)

The plural forms follow the same principle as the indicative mode forms, the final h drops and the suppressed long vowel ąą forms the bridge to the preterite suffix.

Ndanahkaanaanah.  We work. 
Ndanahkaanaanąąp.  

Examples:



ndanahkaanaap I worked
ktanahkaanaap
wtanahkaanaap
ndanahkaanaanąąp
ktanahkaanaanąąp
ktanahkaanaawąąp
wtanahkaanaawąąpaniik

numachaayunaap I sinned
kumachaayunaap
wumachaayunaap
numachaayunaanąąp
kumachaayunaawąąp
wumachaayunaawąąpaniik

nsiinaap I said so
ksiinaap
wsiinaap
nsiinaanąąp
ksiinaawąąp
wsiinaawąąpaniik

numiitθiinaap I ate
kumiitθiinaap
miitθiinaap 
numiitθiinaanąąp
kumiitθiinaawąąp
miitθiinaawąąpaniik

nsiiwaanŭtamunaap I was sad.
ksiiwaanŭtamunaap
wsiiwaanŭtamunaap
nsiiwaanŭtamunaanąąp
ksiiwaanŭtamunaawąąp
wsiiwaanŭtamunaawąąpaniik

Preterite Conjunct Order

The preterite suffix is added to the conjunct endings as -upan and as in other settings, -upan simplifies to -up.

The 1st person sg conjunct ending ah adds the preterite to the full ending of -ąąn:

Aānih-anahkayąąnup.  Because I worked. 

Examples:



aanahkaanayąąnup I worked
aanahkayanup
aanahkaatup
aanahkayaakup
aanahkayakoop
aanahkayaakoop
aanahkahtiitup  (or aanahkaatupaniik)

Examples with modal ending (-ah) which becomes -aa- before the preterite suffix:



aanahkaanayąąnaap When I had worked
aanahkayanaap
aanahkaataap
aanahkayakaap
aanahkayakwaap
aanahkayaakwaap
aanahkahtiitaap  (or aanahkaataapaniik)

The three ways to indicate completed action:

1. Use of anih-

Nuyah ndunih-ptamun. I already heard. (s79)

2. Use of pakachih pc already
Nuyah pakachih mbutamun. I already heard. (s79)

3. Use of preterite:
Mbutamunaap. I have heard.

The Present

Inflection patterns are similar to those used with the preterite suffix. The present suffix -θan shortens to -θah when no additional endings follow.

Anahkaaθah. He has been working. 
Anahkaaθaniik. They have been working. 

Note the plural ending iik which is also used in the preterite when a plural ending is required.

The 1st and 2nd person forms add this ending directly:

kiisanahkaaw vai-s be ready

Ngiisanahkah. I am ready. 
Ngiisanahkaaθah.  I have been getting ready. (present)(s114)
Ktanahkaaθah. You have been working. 

Anahkaaθah wunąąkwah. He had been working yesterday.

machaayuw vai-cv sin, do evil

Numachaay. I sin. 
Numachaayuθah.  I have sinned. (s127)
Kumachaayuθah. You have sinned. 

When added to a form that has the ending -uw a contraction occurs which preserves the oo sound resulting in uw + -uθan => -ooθan. This shortens to -ooθah when no further endings follow the present suffix.

Machaayooθah.  He had been sinning. (s127)
Miitθooθah. He has eaten. 
Ooθah.. He had said so. 

Vowel stem verbs in the 3rd person forms add the preterite suffix -uθan to the final w and the sequences aaw-uθan and ąąw-uθan contract to aaθah and ąąθah respectively for the sg forms. Plural 3rd person forms contract to aaθaniik and ąąθaniik.

Anahkaaw. He works. 
Anahkaak. They work. 
Anahkaaθah.  He had worked. 
Anahkaaθaniik. They have worked. 

Consonant stem verbs simply add -uθan directly.

Siiwaanŭtamuθah.  He had been sad. 
Siiwtaanŭtamuθaniik.  They have been feeling sad. 

The present suffix may be added to the 1st and 2nd plural forms. The final h of these endings drops and the long vowel that had been shortened now reappears and the suffix is added directly.

Ndanahkahnah.  We work.
Ndanahkahnąąθah. We had been working. 
Kmachaayhmąąθah. You (pl) have sinned. 
Nsihnąąθah. We have said so. 

No instances of a present form were found in Mohican source materials built on the all inclusive 1st pl or 2nd pl suffix -hnookw.

Examples:



ndanahkaaθah I have worked
ktanahkaaθah
anahkaaθah
ndanahkahnąąθah
ktanahkahmąąθah
anahkaaθaniik

numachaayuθah I had been sinning
kumachaayuθah
machaayooθah
numachaayhnąąθah
kumachaayhmąąθah
machaayooθaniik

nsiiθah I have said so
ksiiθah
ooθah
nsihnąąθah
ksihmąąθah
ooθaniik

numiitθiiθah I have eaten
kumiitθiiθah
miitθooθah
numiitθihnąąθah
kumiitθihmąąθah
miitθooθaniik

nsiiwaanŭtamuθah I have been sad.
ksiiwaanŭtamuθah
siiwaanŭtamuθah
nsiiwaanŭtamhnąąθah
ksiiwaanŭtamhmąąθah
siiwaanŭtamuθaniik

Present Subordordinative Mode

For the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person sg the present suffix ls linked to the n endings of the subordination mode with the long vowel aa.

Ndanahkaan. I work. 
Ndanahkaanaaθah. I have worked. 
Ktanahkaanaaθah.
Wtanahkaanaaθah.

(This reflects the fact that the true n ending is -naa before phonetic simplification for general use.)

The plural forms follow the same principle as the indicative mode forms, the final h drops and the suppressed long vowel ąą forms the bridge to the preterite suffix.

Ndanahkaanaanah.  We work. 
Ndanahkaanaanąąθah.  

Examples:



ndanahkaanaaθah I have worked
ktanahkaanaaθah
wtanahkaanaaθah
ndanahkaanaanąąθah
ktanahkaanaanąąθah
ktanahkaanaawąąθah
wtanahkaanaawąąθaniik

numachaayunaaθah I have sinned
kumachaayunaaθah
wumachaayunaaθah
numachaayunaanąąθah
kumachaayunaawąąθah
wumachaayunaawąąθaniik

nsiinaap I have said so
ksiinaaθah
wsiinaaθah
nsiinaanąąθah
ksiinaawąąθah
wsiinaawąąθaniik

numiitθiinaaθah I have eaten
kumiitθiinaaθah
miitθiinaaθah
numiitθiinaanąąθah
kumiitθiinaawąąθah
miitθiinaawąąθaniik

nsiiwaanŭtamunaaθah I have been feeling sad.
ksiiwaanŭtamunaaθah
wsiiwaanŭtamunaaθah
nsiiwaanŭtamunaanąąθah
ksiiwaanŭtamunaawąąθah
wsiiwaanŭtamunaawąąθaniik

Present Conjunct Order

The present suffix is added to the conjunct endings as -uθan and as in other settings, -uθan simplifies to -uθah.

The 1st person sg conjunct ending ah adds the preterite to the full ending of -ąąn:

Aānih-anahkayąąnuθah.  Because I have worked. 

Examples:



aanahkaanayąąnuθah I have worked
aanahkayanuθah
aanahkaatuθah
aanahkayaakuθah
aanahkayakwuθah
aanahkayaakwuθah
aanahkahtituθah  (or aanahkaatuθaniik)

Examples with modal ending



aanahkaanayąąnaaθahWhen I had been working
aanahkayanaaθah
aanahkaataaθah
aanahkayaakaaθah
aanahkayakwaaθah
aanahkayaakwaaθah
aanahkahtitaaθah  (or aanahkaataaθaniik)