The preterite 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 is used to specify information about past action which 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 doing it?  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.

Wtahtaanaap. He has put it down. 
Wtahtaanaapaniik. They have put it down.

Note the preterite plural ending -iik added to the end of the non shortened version of the preterite suffix. This plural ending is also used in the present tense when a plural ending is required.

VTIs have an object which can be singular or plural. Plural objects are marked with the inanimate plural ending -ih.

Wtahtaanaapanih. He had put them (inanimate) down. (P mlh30)

Preterite endings are preceded by -aa when a n ending
is used. This reflects the non shortened version of the n ending which is -naa that is shortened to -n under most circumstances.

naam vti3 see s.t.
putam vti1a hear s.t.

Nuyah naamunaap. I did see it. (s121)
Kunaamunaap. You did see it. 
Wunaamunaap. He did see it. 
Mbutamunaap. I have heard.

The 1st and 2nd person forms use a more complete form of this ending, when no n ending is present: -hupan

Kunaamhup kaakway. I saw something. 
Mbutamhup kaakway.  I heard something.

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. This situation only happens in VTIs with absolute forms (noun required forms).

Miichoop kaakway.  He ate something. (s127)
Oop kaakway.. He said something.

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.

Wtahtaanaap. He has put it down. 
Wtahtaanaapaniik. They have put it down.

Consonant stem verbs simply add -upan directly except after n endings as noted above.

Siiwaanŭtamup kaakway.  He was sad about something. 
Siiwtaanŭtamupaniik kaakway.  They were sad about something.

When the preterite suffix is added to the 1st and 2nd plural forms, the final h drops and the long vowel that had been shortened now reappears and the preterite suffix is added to that long vowel.

Kuyaawah kputamunaawąąp. You (pl) have heard.
Naamunaanąąp. We did see it. 
Kunaamunaawąąp. You (pl) did see it. 
Wunaamunaawąąp. They did see it.

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

Preterite Conjunct Order

The preterite suffix is added to the conjunct endings as -upan and as in other settings, -upan simplifies to -up when no additional endings are present.

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

Aanih-kwiinamąąnup.  Because I looked for it.

Examples:



aatanih-naamąąnup I have seen it
aatanih-naamanup
aatanih-naakup
aatanih-naamaakup
aatanih-naamakoop
aatanih-naamaakoop
aatanih-naamhtiitup

Plural Participles:



naamąąnupanih The things I have seen
naamanupanih
naakupanih
naamaakupanih
naamakoopanih
naamaakoopanih
naakupaniik

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


aatanih-naamąąnaap When I saw it
aatanih-naamanaap
aatanih-naakaap
aatanih-naamaakup
aatanih-naamakwaap
aatanih-naamaakwaap
aatanih-naamhtiitaap

Plural participles of above forms add -ih to the preterite suffix -pan- in similar fashion to the plural forms without modal ending.

The three ways to indicate completed action:

1. Use of anih-
Nuyah ndunih-ptamun. I already heard it. (s79)

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

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

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.

Thah wkwiinamunaaθah? Where had he looked for it?
...wkwiinamunaawąąθah ...they had looked for it
...wkwiinamunaaθanih ...he had looked for them
...wkwiinamunaawąąθanih ...they had looked for them

The plural ending -iik added after the non shortened version of the present tense suffix (also used in the preterite when a plural ending is required) may be found in VTI absolute forms which otherwise follow conjugation patterns identical to usual VAI conjugation patterns.

Kahnah wunutup niik wkwiinamuθaniik aθunan. It was really nice that they had looked for some stones.

The 1st and 2nd person forms add aa between the present tense suffix and to those n endings which end with -n. This happens because the final n of the n ending is a shortened by sound law from -naa-, the underlying full ending.

ahtaaw vti2 put it there

Ndahtaanaaθah. I had put it there. 
Ktahtaanaanaaθah. You had put it there. 
Wtahtaanaaθah. He had put it there.

naam vti3 see s.t.

Thah naamunaaθah? Where had I seen it?
...kunaamunaaθah you had seen it
...wunaamunaaθah ...he had seen it

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. This only happens in TI verbs in absolute forms in the 3rd person.

Wunutup nah miichooθah xaθkwiim.  It was good that he had been eaten some corn. (s127)
Nsiiwaantamup nah ooθah kaakway.. I was sad he had said  something.

Vowel stem verbs in the 3rd person absolute 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.

Ahtaaw kaakway. He put something there. 
Ahtaak kaakway. They put something there. 
Nąąwatah ahtaaθah kaakway.  Long ago he had put something there. 
Nąąwatah ahtaaθaniik kaakway. Long ago they had put something there.

Consonant stem verbs in absolute constructs simply add -uθan directly.

Siiwaanŭtamuθah kaakway.  He has been sad about something. 
Siiwtaanŭtamuθaniik kaakway.  They have been feeling sad about something.

The present suffix may be added to the 1st and 2nd and 3rd 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.

Objective Forms:

Ndahtaanaanąąθah.  We had put it there.
Kumiichiinaanaawąąθah. You (pl) had eaten it. 
Wθiinaawąąθah. They have said it.

Absolute Forms:

Ndahtahnąąθah kaakway.  We had put something there.
Kumiichihnąąθah xaskwiin. You (pl) had eaten some corn. 
Ooθaniik kaakway. They had said something.

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

Present Tense in the Conjunct Order

The present suffix may be added to the conjunct endings as -uθan and as in other settings, -uθan simplifies to -uθah when no additional endings are required.

The 1st person sg conjunct ending ah reverts to the full ending of -ąąn then adds the present tense suffix.

Aanih-kwiinamąąnuθah. Because I had looked for it.