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Verb stems (present tense stems) with and without final consonant

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The final consonant of the present tense stem of the verbs dwaan /dwa:n/ to do, hawwe /havə/ to have, hoege /huɣə/ need to, sille /sɪlə/ will, shall, sjen /sjɛn/ to see; to look, and wolle /volə/ to want, to wish is often not realized. The consonant-final stem is shown to be the basic form. The consonant-less stem of the highly frequent verb hawwe have appears to have a more independent status.

The verbs dwaan /dwa:n/ to do, hawwe /havə/ to have, hoege /huɣə/ need to, sille /sɪlə/ will, shall, sjen /sjɛn/ to see; to look, and wolle /volə/ to want, to wish have the present tense stems doch /doɣ/, haw /hav/, hoech /huɣ/, sil /sɪl/, sj{o/u}ch /sj{o/ø}ɣ/, and wol /vol/, respectively. With the exception of hoege, these are strong/irregular verbs.

The stem-final consonant is often not realized, which gives rise to the alternating forms in (1) (see also Visser (1988:210-216):

Verbs with and without final consonant

With and without final /ɣ/

doch

/doɣ/

to do

/do/

sj{o/u}ch

/sj{o/ø}ɣ/

to see; to look

sj{o/u}

/sj{o/ø}/

hoech

/huɣ/

to need to

hoe

/hu/

With and without final /l/

wol

/vol/

to want, to wish

/vo/

sil

/sɪl/

will, shall

/sɪ/

With and without final /v/

haw

/hav/

to have

/ha/

hoef

/huv/

to need to

hoe

/hu/

extra

With the exception of ha, the forms in the right-hand column of (1) are not recognized in the official spelling. This also holds for dost and dot (the shortened forms of dochst and docht) in (2) below.

extra

In the remainder of this topic, the stems hoech /huɣ/ and hoef /huv/ will be collapsed into hoech.

In the second and third person singular, both the full and the shortened stem are regularly inflected, as shown for dwaan do in (2):

The second and third person singular of dwaan 'to do'

do dochst

do dost

you do

hy docht

hy dot

he does

The first person singular present tense of strong/irregular and weak -e-verbs does not carry overt inflection. Since they belong to the class of the so-called preterite present verbs, the third person singular present tense of sille will, shall and wolle to want, to wish is not inflected with /-t/, so it is hy sil he shall, he will and hy wol he wants, he wishes, not *hy silt /sɪl+t/ and *hy wolt /vol+t/. This implies that these shortened stems are free to occur in sentence-final position, which is exemplified in (3):

The shortened stems in sentence-final position

Ik leau, dat ik dat noait wer do

I believe that I that never again do

I believe that I will never do that again

Ik tink, dat ik him dêr sj{o/u}

I think that I him there see

I think that I see him there

Ik haw sein, dat ik neat hoe

I have said that I nothing want/need

I have said that I do not want/need anything

Ik kin dwaan, sa't ik sels wo

I can do as I self want/wish

I can do as I like/please

Ik leau, dat ik mar ris op bêd si

I believe that I just a time on bed will

I believe it is about time I go to bed

Ik leau, dat er ek mei wo

I believe that he also along wants/wishes

I believe that he also wants to come with us

Leausto, dat er dat dwaan si?

believe.2SG that he that do will

Do you really believe that he will do that?

extra

In sentence-final position − as in ik leau, dat ik mar ris op bêd si I think it is about time I went to bed and leausto, dat er dat dwaan si? do you really think that he will do that? − the shortened stem si /sɪ/ sounds somewhat strange and uncommon. In any case, si is (far) less common in that position than the other shortened stems.

The present plural form of strong/irregular verbs ends in schwa. This schwa drops quite easily if the verb is followed by another word in the same sentence, especially when the latter is vowel-initial (see Schwa deletion as a synchronic process: other configurations than hiatus). This conditioning factor is absent if the verb is in sentence-final position. Moreover, schwa is generally not deleted preceding a pause.

The shortened verb stems at hand resist inflection with -e. The only exception is hoeë /hu+ə/, in which case we end up with a bisyllabic surface form, with the glide [w] inserted between stem-final /u/ and schwa (see The resolution of hiatus between a monophthong and a following vowel): [(hu)(wə)]. But doë /do+ə/, sjoë //sjo+ə/ or sjuë /sjø+ə/, woë /vo+ə/, and sië /sɪ+ə/ do not occur. This may be due to the short monophthong they contain, for glide insertion only takes place after a long monophthong. Since glide insertion is impossible, inflection with -e creates a word-internal configuration of two vowels in hiatus, which is not allowed in Frisian (see The resolution of vocalic hiatus). But why then are these inflected stems not realized with a centring diphthong, resulting in the monosyllabic forms doë /do+ə/ [(doə)], sjoë /sjo+ə/ [(sjoə)] or sjuë /sjø+ə/ [sjøə], woë /vo+ə/ [(voə)], and sië /sɪ+ə/ [(sɪə)]? Words ending in /-oə/ and /-øə/ are rare in Frisian, though they do occur, whereas words ending in /-ɪə/ are quite common. The right generalization here seems to be that it is only tautomorphemic vowel sequences which translate into diphthongs in Frisian, as a consequence of which sequences of stem vowel + inflectional vowel do not. Therefore, if the embedded clauses in (3) have a plural subject, only the inflected full stems of the verbs occur, as in (4):

The impossibility of the shortened stems with a plural subject in sentence-final position

Ik leau, dat sokken dat noait wer dogge /*do

I believe that such people that never again do

I believe that such people will never do that again

Ik tink, dat wy him dêr sj{o/u}gge/*sj{o/u}

I think that we him there see

I think that we see him there

Ik haw sein, dat wy neat hoege/*hoe

I have said that we nothing want/need

I have said that we do not want/need anything

Wy kinne dwaan, sa't wy sels wolle /*wo

we can do as we self want/wish

We can do as we like/please

Ik leau dat wy mar ris op bêd sille/*si

I believe that we just a time on bed will

I think it is about time we go to bed

Ik leau, dat de bern ek mei wolle/*wo

I believe that the children also along want/wish

I believe that the children also want to come with us

Leausto, dat se dat dwaan sille/*si?

believe.2SG that they that do will

Do you really think that they will do that?

In the context of inversion the inflectional -e ( [-ə]) of the plural form of verbs drops quite easily. As argued above, the shortened verb stems under discussion resist inflection with -e, so the inversion context should be a kind of ‘natural habitat’ for them. And so it is, as shown in (5), which contains the same sort of sentences as (4), but now with inversion of subject and finite verb:

The shortened stems with a plural subject in the context of inversion

Dat dogge/do sokken noait wer

that do such people never again

They will never do that again

Dêr sj{o/u}gge/sj{o/u} wy him

there see we him

We see him there

Dat hoege/hoe wy net

that want/need we not

We do not want/need that

Dat wolle/wo wy sa hawwe

that want we so have

That is how we want it

Sille/si wy mar net ris op bêd?

shall/will we just not a time on bed

Is not it about time we went to bed?

Wolle/wo jim ek mei?

want you (subject form, pl., familiar and polite) also along

Do you also want to come with us?

Sille/si jim dat wier dwaan?

shall/will you (subject form, pl., familiar and polite) that truly do

Will you really do that?

The shortened verb forms are so common in this context that the full forms seem to be restricted to a more formal and 'correct' speech style.

extra

Since inflectional -e easily drops in the context of inversion, the full forms without final schwa − dogg' /doɣ/, sj{o/u}gg' /sj{o/ø}ɣ/, hoeg' /huɣ/, woll' /vol/, and sill' /sɪl/− are also expected to occur in the sentences in (5). Realizations like woll'wy [volvi] and sill'jim [sɪljɪm] occur, although they are less frequent than both wolle wy/sille jim and wo wy/si jim. On the other hand, both dogg'se [doɣzə] and sj{o/u}gg'wy [sj{o/ø}ɣvi] are very uncommon, if not unacceptable, realizations. Since woll' and sill' end in the liquid /l/, a segment with a high degree of sonority, there is a much better syllable contact in woll'wy [(vol)(vi)] and sill'jim [(sɪl)(jɪm)] than there is in dogg'se [(doɣ)(zə)] and sj{o/u}gg'wy [(sj{o/ø}ɣ)(vi)], in which the first syllable ends in an obstruent (the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/). This may cause the differences in commonness or acceptability here.

Attaching a vowel-initial suffix to these shortened stems creates a configuration of word-internal vocalic hiatus, which is disallowed in Frisian (see The resolution of vocalic hiatus). On purely phonological grounds therefore these stems cannot figure in such derivations. Examples of derivations on the basis of the full stem are provided in (6):

Examples of derivations with vowel/initial suffixes based on the full stems

drokdoggerich

/drok+doɣ+ərəɣ/

fussed, fussy

spoeksjoggerich

/spu:k+sjoɣ+ərəɣ/

skittish, shy (of a horse)

steksjoggerich

/stɛk+sjoɣ+ərəɣ/

short-sighted

dogger

/doɣ+ər/

doer, go-getter

neidogger

/[[nai#doɣ]+ər]/

imitator

sjogger

/sjoɣ+ər/

spectator, onlooker

neisjogger

/[[nai#sjoɣ]+ər]/

corrector

ûnsjoggens

/[[un+sjoɣ]+əns]/

unsightliness, ugliness

Consonant-initial derivational suffixes, however, combine with the full stem as well:

Examples of derivations with consonant-initial suffixes based on the full stems

ûnsjochber

/[un+[sjoɣ+bər]]/

invisible

dochsel

/doɣ+səl/

what one can do

Also when the verb is the right-hand part of the derivation, it is only the full stem which shows up:

Examples of derivations with the full stems as the right-hand part

gedoch

/ɡə+doɣ/

goings-on, fuss

besjoch

/bə+sjoɣ/

in:

gâns - hawwe

attract a great deal of attention, notice

(foar)útsjoch

/[[([fwar#])[yt]]#[sjoɣ]]/

prospect, outlook

omsjoch

/om#sjoɣ/

in:

yn in -

in the wink of an eye

steksjoch

/stɛk#sjoɣ/

short-sighted

ûnsjoch

/un+sjoɣ/

unsightly, ugly

The full stem is also in use in the gerund form of the infinitive, which ends in -en ( /-ən/) (see Infinitive):

The full stems in the gerund form of the infinitive

it/te hoegen

/huɣ+ən/

it/te wollen

/vol+ən/

it/te sillen

/sɪl+ən/

extra

The gerund of dwaan and sjen is it/te dwaan and it/te sjen, respectively, and not *it/te doggen and *it/te sj{o/u}ggen. Both dwaan and sjen belong to the seven verbs with an infinitive ending in -n, all of which have a gerund form which equals that of the infinitive.

All in all, there is a good deal of evidence that the full form of these verb stems is the basic form, from which the shortened form is an allomorph.

The verb hawwe /havə/ stands out. For many speakers, the full stem haw /hav/ has been replaced by the shortened stem ha /ha/. Firstly, as noted before, the finite forms of both the second and the third person singular present tense no longer show any variation between forms with and without [f] (< stem-final /v/). It is do hast [hast] you have and hy hat [hat] he has, respectively, whereas *do hafst [hafst] and *hy haft [haft] are out. Secondly, ha can occur in sentence-final position, whether it is in agreement with a singular or a plural subject:

Examples of ha in sentence-final position

Ik tink dat ik wol in kopy ha

Ik tink dat wy wol in kopy ha

Thirdly, ha can also be used as an infinitive, both the verbal infinitive and the gerund. This is a most outstanding feature of ha: as a verbal infinitive, it is the only one ending in a full vowel, and as a gerund, it is the only one which does not end in -en. This behaviour is exemplified below:

Ha as an infinitive

Dat moatte wy net ha

It ha fan in eigen hûs is djoer

Hy hoecht gjin grut kado te ha

This, however, is not the whole story. Though do hast [hast] you have and hy hat [hat] he has do not have the variants *do hafst [hafst] and *hy haft [haft], the form ha in (10) and (11) does have variant realizations with /v/:

Variant realizations with /v/ of ha

Ik tink dat ik wol in kopy haw

[haf]

I think that I all right a copy have

I think that I do have a copy

Ik tink dat wy wol in kopy hawwe

I think that we all right a copy have

[havə]

I think that we do have a copy

Dat moatte wy net hawwe

[havə]

that must we not have

we would not want that to happen

It hawwen

[havən]

fan in eigen hûs is djoer

the having of an own house is expensive

having a house of one's own is expensive

Hy hoecht gjin grut kado te hawwen

[havən]

he needs no huge present to have

We need not give him a huge present

See also the derivations in (13):

Derivations based on the full stem /hav/

gelykhawwerich

/ɡəlik+hav+ərəɣ/

insistent on being right (all the time)

leafhawwer

/[[lɪəv#hav]+ər]/

lover

The impossibility of the shortened stem in the above forms can be explained on phonological grounds: the central vowel /a/ is not able to trigger the insertion of a glide (see The resolution of hiatus between /a(:)/ and a following vowel), as a result of which a forbidden configuration of word-internal vocalic hiatus would arise. So, although haw /hav/ and ha /ha/ act as two separate and independent stems, the former has a wider distribution than the latter.

extra

Basically, the verb have has four dialectal variants: hawwe [havə], hewwe [hɛvə], habbe [habə], and hebbe [hɛbə], of which hawwe is the (written) Standard Frisian form. This variation has been left out of consideration here.

extra

In some dialects, the stem haw /hav/ has been replaced by har /har/, which has developed intervocalically; see Veenstra (1994) on how this new stem may have developed.

extra

As noted before, the above verbs all belong to the strong/irregular class, with the exception of hoege need to, which is a fully regular, weak verb. The verb hoege has the full stem hoech /huɣ/ and the shortened one hoe /hu/. Since weak verbs do not have a separate past tense stem and past participle, the shortened stem hoe can also be the basis for the past tense and the past participle. So, we needed to can be either wy hoegden /huɣ+dən/ or wy hoeden /hu+dən/, whereas the past participle can be both hoegd /huɣ+t/ [huxt] and hoed /hu+d/ [hut], as in dat hie net hoegd/hoed you didn't have to do that; you should not have done that. As a monosyllabic weak past participle ending in /d/, hoed can be expanded with the ending -en of the strong past participle: dat hie net hoeden /hu+d+ən/ [hudn̩] you did not have to do that; you should not have done that.

extra

A word-internal configuration of two vowels in hiatus is not allowed in Frisian. This is different for such a configuration between two separate words. This means that the shortened stems may occur in sentences like the following:

Examples of the shortened stems in sentence-internal configurations of hiatus

Ik si Albert

[sɪ ʔɔlbət]

wol freegje

I will Albert all right ask

I will ask Albert

Ik wo Elske

[vo ʔɛlskə]

wol freegje

I want Elske all right ask

I will ask Elske

Ik do altyd

[do ʔɔltit]

myn bêst

I do always my best

I always do my best

Ik sjo/sju alle

[sjo ʔɔlə / sjø ʔɔlə]

dagen nei it sjoernaal fan 8 oere

I see all days to the newscast of eight hour

I watch the 8 o'clock news every day

As indicated, hiatus may be resolved here by the insertion of the glottal stop.

As shown in (2), both the full and the shortened stem of the verbs at hand can be inflected. However, sille will, shall and wolle want, wish are deviant in this respect. The second person singular present tense forms do silst you will, you shall and do wolst you want, you wish are never realized with [l], but only as [sɪst] and [vost]. There is no general process of /l/-deletion in verbs with a stem ending in /-ɪl/ or /-ol/, for dolle /dolə/ to dig and tille /tɪlə/ to lift, to raise; to carry, for example, have the inflected forms do dolst you dig and do tilst you lift, you raise; you carry, which can only be realized with [l], as [dolst]/ [*dost] and [tɪlst]/ [*tɪst].

We might express the relation between the full stem of sille/wolle and the second person singular present tense form as follows:

stem-second person singular relation

Figure 1

[click image to enlarge]

This specific statement is complemented by the more general statement concerning the relation between the verb stems with and without final consonant below:

stem-final consonant ~ zero relation

Figure 2

[click image to enlarge]

References

Veenstra, Durk H1994Merkwaardige vormen van de werkwoorden hebben, doen, slaan en zien in het FriesTaal en tongval46110-136
Visser, Willem1988In pear klitisearringsferskynsels yn it FryskDyk, dr. S. & Haan, dr. G.J. (eds.)Wurdfoarried en Wurdgrammatika. In bondel leksikale stúdzjesLjouwertFryske Akademy, Ljouwert175-222

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About this article

Author(s): Willem Visser

Category: Frisian Phonology

Keywords: present tensesteminflectionfinal consonantconsonant deletioninversion

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Willem Visser	December 2015

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