Romance verbs
Romance verbs are the most inflected part of speech in the language family. In the transition from Latin to the Romance languages, verbs went through many phonological, syntactic, and semantic changes. Most of the distinctions present in classical Latin continued to be made, but synthetic forms were often replaced with more analytic ones. Other verb forms changed meaning, and new forms also appeared.
Overview
The following table presents a comparison of the conjugation of the regular verb cantare "to sing" in Classical Latin, and Vulgar Latin (reconstructed as Proto-Italo-Western Romance, with stress marked), and nine modern Romance languages. The conjugations below were given from their respective Wiktionary pages.
| Form | Classical Latin | Vulgar Latin | Major languages | Minor languages | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Portuguese | Italian | French (written)[a] |
French (spoken)[a] |
Romanian | Sardinian (Logudorese) |
Sicilian | Catalan | Romansh (Grischun) | ||||||
| Infinitive | cantāre | *cantáre | cantar | cantar | cantare | chanter | /ʃɑ̃te/ | cânta | cantare | cantari | cantar | chantar | |||
| Present participle[b] | cantandus | *cantándo | cantando | cantando | cantando | chantant | /ʃɑ̃tɑ̃/ | cântând | – | cantannu | cantant | chantond | |||
| cantāns | *cantánte | cantante | cantante | cantante[c] | – | – | – | cantende | – | – | – | ||||
| Past participle | cantātum | *cantáto | cantado | cantado | cantato | chanté | /ʃɑ̃te/ | cântat | cantadu | cantatu | cantat | chantà | |||
| Indicative | Present | cantō cantās cantat cantāmus cantātis cantant |
*cánto *cántas *cántat *cantámos *cantátes *cántant |
canto cantas canta cantamos cantáis cantan |
canto cantas canta cantamos cantais cantam |
canto canti canta cantiamo cantate cantano |
chante chantes chante chantons chantez chantent |
/ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃tɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃te/ /ʃɑ̃t/ |
cânt cânți cântă cântăm cântați cântă |
canto cantas cantat cantamus cantades cantant |
cantu canti canta cantamu cantati càntanu |
canto cantes canta cantem canteu canten |
chant chantas chanta chantain chantais chantan | ||
| Imperfect | cantābam cantābās cantābat cantābāmus cantābātis cantābant |
*cantába *cantábas *cantábat *cantábamos *cantábates *cantábant |
cantaba cantabas cantaba cantábamos cantabais cantaban |
cantava cantavas cantava cantávamos cantáveis cantavam |
cantavo cantavi cantava cantavamo cantavate cantavano |
chantais chantais chantait chantions chantiez chantaient |
/ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tje/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ |
cântam cântai cânta cântam cântați cântau |
cantaia cantaias cantaiat cantaiamus cantaiades cantaiant |
cantavu cantavi cantava cantàvamu cantàvavu cantàvanu |
cantava cantaves cantava cantàvem cantàveu cantaven |
chantava chantavas chantava chantavan chantavas chantavan | |||
| Preterite | cantāvī cantāvistī cantāvit cantāvimus cantāvistis cantāvērunt |
*cantái *cantásti *cantáut *cantámos *cantástes *cantáront |
canté cantaste cantó cantamos cantasteis cantaron |
cantei cantaste cantou cantámos cantastes cantaram |
cantai cantasti cantò cantammo cantaste cantarono |
chantai chantas chanta chantâmes chantâtes chantèrent[d] |
/ʃɑ̃te/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃tam/ /ʃɑ̃tat/ /ʃɑ̃tɛʁ/ |
cântai cântași cântă cântarăm cântarăți cântară |
cantesi cantesti cantesit cantemus cantezis canteint |
cantai cantasti cantau cantammu cantastivu cantàrunu |
cantí cantares cantà cantàrem cantàreu cantaren |
– | |||
| Pluperfect | cantāveram cantāveras cantāverat cantāverāmus cantāverātis cantāverant |
*cantára *cantáras *cantárat *cantáramos *cantárates *cantárant |
cantara cantaras cantara cantáramos cantarais cantaran[e] |
cantara cantaras cantara cantáramos cantáreis cantaram[f] |
– | – | – | – | – | cantirìa cantirissi cantirìa cantirìamu cantirìavu cantirìanu[g] |
– | – | |||
| Future[h] | cantābō cantābis cantābit cantābimus cantābitis cantābunt |
– | cantaré cantarás cantará cantaremos cantaréis cantarán |
cantarei cantarás cantará cantaremos cantareis cantarão |
canterò canterai canterà canteremo canterete canteranno |
chanterai chanteras chantera chanterons chanterez chanteront |
/ʃɑ̃tʁe/ /ʃɑ̃tʁa/ /ʃɑ̃tʁa/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tʁe/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɔ̃/ |
– | – | cantirò cantirai cantirà cantiremu cantireti cantirannu |
cantaré cantaràs cantarà cantarem cantareu cantaran |
– | |||
| Conditional (Future in the past)[h] |
– | – | cantaría cantarías cantaría cantaríamos cantaríais cantarían |
cantaria cantarias cantaria cantaríamos cantaríeis cantariam |
canterei canteresti canterebbe canteremmo cantereste canterebbero |
chanterais chanterais chanterait chanterions chanteriez chanteraient |
/ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃təʁjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃təʁje/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ |
– | – | cantirìa cantirissi cantirìa cantirìamu cantirìavu cantirìanu |
cantaria cantaries cantaria cantaríem cantaríeu cantarien |
– | |||
| Future perfect | cantāverō cantāveris cantāverit cantāverimus cantāveritis cantāverint |
*cantáre *cantáres *cantáret *cantáremos *cantáretes *cantárent |
cantare cantares cantare cantáremos cantareis cantaren[i][j] |
cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantarem[i] |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Subjunctive | Present | cantem cantēs cantet cantēmus cantētis cantent |
*cánte *cántes *cántet *cantémos *cantétes *cántent |
cante cantes cante cantemos cantéis canten |
cante cantes cante cantemos canteis cantem |
canti canti canti cantiamo cantiate cantino |
chante chantes chante chantions chantiez chantent |
/ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃tjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tje/ /ʃɑ̃t/ |
cânt cânți cânte cântăm cântați cânte |
cante cantes cantet cantemus cantedes cantent |
cantu canti canta cantamu cantati càntanu |
canti canti canta cantem canteu cantin |
chantia chantias chantia chantian chantias chantian | ||
| Perfect | cantāverim cantāveris cantāverit cantāverimus cantāveritis cantāverint |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Imperfect | cantārem cantārēs cantāret cantārēmus cantārētis cantārent |
*cantáre *cantáres *cantáret *cantáremos *cantáretes *cantárent |
– | cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantarem[k] |
– | – | – | – | cantere canteres canteret canteremus canterezes canterent |
– | – | – | |||
| Pluperfect[l] | cantāvissem cantāvissēs cantāvisset cantāvissēmus cantāvissētis cantāvissent |
*cantásse *cantásses *cantásset *cantássemos *cantássetes *cantássent |
cantase cantases cantase cantásemos cantaseis cantasen |
cantasse cantasses cantasse cantássemos cantásseis cantassem |
cantassi cantassi cantasse cantassimo cantaste cantassero |
chantasse chantasses chantât chantassions chantassiez chantassent[j] |
/ʃɑ̃tas/ /ʃɑ̃tas/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃tasjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tasje/ /ʃɑ̃tas/ |
cântasem cântaseși cântase cântaserăm cântaserăți cântaseră |
– | cantassi cantassi cantassi cantàssimu cantàssivu cantàssiru |
cantés cantessis cantmés cantéssim cantéssiu cantessin |
chantass chantasses chantass chantassen chantasses chantassen[m] | |||
| Imperative[n] | cantā cantāte |
*cánta *cantáte |
canta cantad |
canta cantai |
canta cantate |
chante chantez |
/ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃te/ |
cântă cântați |
canta cantade |
canta cantati |
canta canteu |
chanta chantai | |||
- ^ a b Because of the phonetic erosion of verb endings, French has become a non-pro-drop language: each sentence always contains an explicit subject. The subjunctive is also always accompanied with the particle que.
- ^ Both cantandus and cantāns change to their accusative forms cantandum and cantmāntem.
- ^ Functions as gerund in Italian.
- ^ Literary.
- ^ Its meaning has mostly shifted to that of an imperfect subjunctive in modern Spanish. It is now usually interchangeable with cantase, cantases, cantase, etc. Nevertheless, a few rare uses as a pluperfect subsist.
- ^ Fell into disuse in modern Portuguese, now found only in literary texts. Nowadays largely replaced by the compound forms tinha cantado or havia cantado (had sung).
- ^ Its meaning has shifted to that of a conditional in Sicilian.
- ^ a b The future indicative tense of the modern languages does not derive from the Latin form (which tended to be confounded with the imperfect due to sound changes in Vulgar Latin), but rather from an infinitive + habeō periphrasis (*cantāre habeō > *cantáre áio > Sp. cantaré), later reanalysed as a simple tense. By analogy a conditional or future-in-the-past tense was formed from the imperfect or preterite of habeō (*cantāre habēbam > *cantáre aía > Sp. cantaría).
- ^ a b Its meaning has shifted to that of a future subjunctive in Spanish and Portuguese.
- ^ a b Disused.
- ^ Reanalysed as a personal infinitive. See below.
- ^ Its meaning has shifted to that of an imperfect subjunctive in most Romance languages, but as a pluperfect in Romanian and as a conditional in Romansh. But note the normal use, in modern south-eastern Umbrian of cantassimo instead of standard Italian cantammo to express an indicative past perfect.
- ^ Its meaning has shifted to that of a conditional in Romansch.
- ^ Only the second person singular and plural given on these examples. Other forms, the first person plural and third persons are usually supplied by the subjunctive present tense, but indicative present tense and only supplies the first plural in French.
Note that the Vulgar Latin reconstructions are believed to have regularized word stress within each tense (except the present and imperative). Word-final ⟨e⟩ probably converged on /ə/. Many verb forms have undergone elisions, like the indicative pluperfect cantāveram > *cantára and the subjunctive imperfect cantāvissem > *cantásse.
Vulgar Latin
In this section, "Vulgar Latin" is actually reconstructed as reconstructed Proto-Italo-Western Romance, most notably the shift from Classical Latin -i- and -u- to -e- /e/ and -o- /o/, as opposed to inherited /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively. The developments include:
- The -v- of the perfect tenses were dropped or elided, but sometimes become /u/ after vowels.
- The past participle were sometimes sporadically rounded to *-ū-, this situation is preserved in French.
- The "unstressed" indicative imperfect is very likely from shortened *-bămus, *-bătis, yielding to the stress on the third-from-last syllable (cantā́bămus), as opposed to Classical Latin stress on the second-from-last syllable (cantābā́mus). Languages which retain this irregular stress were the languages of Iberia, Sicilian, and French.
- Romance metaphony. In forms containing -ī next to mid-open vowels, especially in preterite forms were heightened.
In the Proto-Romance grammatical tradition, the second and third conjugation are known as third conjugation, similarly to French.
First conjugation
Verbs in the first conjugation are in -āre (*-áre), later evolved to -are in Italian, -ar in most Romance languages and -er in French.
| Infinitive | *-áre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-ánte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-ándo | ||||||
| Supine | *-áto | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-o[a] | *-as[a] | *-at[a] | *-ámos | *-átes | *-ant[a] |
| Imperfect | *-ába | *-ábas | *-ábat | *-ábamos | *-ábates | *-ábant | |
| Preterite | *-áui | *-áusti | *-áut | *-ámos | *-ástes | *-áront | |
| Pluperfect | *-ára | *-áras | *-árat | *-áramos | *-árates | *-árant | |
| Future perfect | *-áro | *-áres | *-áret | *-áremos | *-áretes | *-árent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-e[a] | *-es[a] | *-et[a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ent[a] |
| Imperfect | *-áre | *-áres | *-áret | *-arémos | *-arétes | *-árent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ásse | *-ásses | *-ásset | *-assémos | *-assétes | *-ássent | |
| Imperative | *-a[a] | *-áte | |||||
Second conjugation
Verbs in the second conjugation are in -ēre (*-ére), later evolved to -ere in Italian, -er in most Romance languages and -oir in French (no "regular" -oir verbs). Another infinitive -ere has merged into this paradigm.
| Infinitive | *-ére | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-énte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-éndo | ||||||
| Supine | *-eto[a] | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-io[a] | *-es[a] | *-et[a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ent[a] |
| Imperfect | *-éba | *-ébas | *-ébat | *-ébamos | *-ébates | *-ébant | |
| Preterite | *-í | *-ísti | *-ét | *-émos | *-éstes | *-éront | |
| Pluperfect | *-éra | *-éras | *-érat | *-éramos | *-érates | *-érant | |
| Future perfect | *-éro | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-ia[a] | *-ias[a] | *-iat[a] | *-iámos | *-iátes | *-iant[a] |
| Imperfect | *-ére | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ésse | *-ésses | *-ésset | *-essémos | *-essétes | *-éssent | |
| Imperative | *-é[a] | *-éte | |||||
Third conjugation
Verbs in the third conjugation are in -ere (*-ere, caused stress in previous syllable), later merged with -ere (*-ere, causes stress in antepenultimate syllable), but -re in French and Catalan. The suffix -re in French are in the third group, also known as irregular verbs.
The -iō variant (*-io in Vulgar Latin) now defunct, later merged with the second conjugation; the paradigm now only exists in some descendants of the verb faciō.
| Infinitive | *-ere[a] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-énte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-éndo | ||||||
| Supine | *-eto[a] | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-o[a] | *-es[a] | *-et[a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ont[a] |
| Imperfect | *-éba | *-ébas | *-ébat | *-ébamos | *-ébates | *-ébant | |
| Preterite | *-í | *-ísti | *-ét | *-émos | *-éstes | *-érent | |
| Pluperfect | *-éra | *-éras | *-érat | *-éramos | *-érates | *-érant | |
| Future perfect | *-éro | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-a[a] | *-as[a] | *-at[a] | *-ámos | *-átes | *-ant[a] |
| Imperfect | *-ére | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ésse | *-ésses | *-ésset | *-essémos | *-essétes | *-éssent | |
| Imperative | *-e[a] | *-éte | |||||
Fourth conjugation
Verbs in the fourth conjugation are in -īre (*-íre), later evolved to -ire in Italian, and -ir in most Romance languages. This conjugation type are infixed with once-inchoative -īsc- → *-ísc- in some languages, but its placement varies.
| Infinitive | *-íre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-iénte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-iéndo | ||||||
| Supine | *-íto | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-io[a] | *-is[a] | *-it[a] | *-ímos | *-ítes | *-iont[a] |
| Imperfect | *-iéba | *-iébas | *-iébat | *-iébamos | *-iébates | *-iébant | |
| Preterite | *-i | *-ísti | *-it | *-ímos | *-ístes | *-íront | |
| Pluperfect | *-íra | *-íras | *-írat | *-íramos | *-írates | *-írant | |
| Future perfect | *-íro | *-íres | *-íret | *-íremos | *-íretes | *-írent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-ia[a] | *-ias[a] | *-iat[a] | *-iamos | *-iates | *-iant[a] |
| Imperfect | *-íre | *-íres | *-íret | *-íremos | *-íretes | *-írent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ísse | *-ísses | *-ísset | *-íssemos | *-íssetes | *-íssent | |
| Imperative | *-i[a] | *-íte | |||||
In Italian, Catalan, and Romanian, the infix -isc-; -esc-, -eix- (Catalan), and -ăsc- (Romanian) is placed on once-stressed indicative and subjunctive present forms (the first-, second-, third-singular and third plural present tenses), and stressed imperatives. In French, the infix -iss- is placed on all indicative present forms, the indicative imperfect, the subjunctive present, and plural imperatives.
While there are few non-infixed -īre verbs (also known are pure -īre verbs), in French the infixed verbs are the only regular verbs, otherwise irregular.
Modern languages
While the nominal morphology in Romance languages is primarily agglutinative, the verbal morphology is fusional. The verbs are highly inflected for numbers (singular and plural), persons (first-, second-, and third-person), moods (indicative, conditional, subjunctive, and imperative), tenses (present, past, future), and aspects (imperfective and perfective).
Because of the complexities in Romance conjugation, certain languages have a separate article regarding these conjugations:
- Italian conjugation
- Spanish verbs
- Portuguese verb conjugation
- Romanian verbs
- French conjugation
- Catalan verbs
- Occitan conjugation
- Sardinian conjugation
While there are 4 regular infinitives in Classical Latin, namely -āre, -ēre, -ere, and -īre, some of these infinitive were merged. In many Romance languages including Spanish and Portuguese, the main infinitives are -ar, -er, and -ir, with addition of -ôr (Portuguese only) which only exists in the verb pôr, traditionally considered as -er verbs. While in Italian, the infinitives are -are, -ere, -ire. The infinitives -er and -ere (Italian) resulted from the merge of Latin infinitives -ēre and -ere. In French, the infinitives are -er, -oir, -re, -ir, but verbs with -oir and -re are in the third group, also known as irregular verbs.
Latin deponent verbs like sequor and nascor (infinitive sequī, nascī) changed to active counterparts *séquo and *násco (infinitive *séquere, *nascere), as in Portuguese seguir, Spanish seguir, and Italian seguire; and Portuguese nascer, Spanish nacer, and French naître.
Irregularities
| Hard | Soft | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Back vowels | Front vowels | Back vowels | Front vowels |
| c- | quV- | z- | c- |
| g- | guV- | j- | g- |
In many Romance languages, verb stems ending in -c, -z shown above were regularly altered to preserve its pronunciation. However, it is not considered irregular.
True irregular verbs
Copula
While the passive voice became completely periphrastic in Romance, the active voice has been morphologically preserved to a greater or lesser extent. The tables below compare the conjugation of the Latin verbs sum and stō in the active voice with that of the Romance copulae, their descendants. For simplicity, only the first person singular is listed for finite forms. Note that certain forms in Romance languages come from the suppletive sources sedeo (to be seated) instead of sum, e.g. subjunctive present: sedea > sia, sea, seja... (medieval Galician-Portuguese, for instance, had double forms in the whole conjugation: sou/sejo, era/sia, fui/sevi, fora/severa, fosse/sevesse...)
| Form | Latin | Italian | French1 | Spanish | Portuguese | Logudorese | Catalan | Sicilian | Romansh | Romanian | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | Present | sum | stō | sono | sto | suis | – | soy | estoy | sou | estou | so | isto | sóc | estic | sugnu | staiu | sun | sunt | |
| Imperfect | eram | stābam | ero | stavo | – | étais | era | estaba | era | estava | essia | istaia | era | estava | era | stava | era | eram | ||
| Preterite | fuī | stetī | fui | stetti | fus | – | fui | estuve | fui | estive | essesi | istesi | fui | estiguí | fui | stesi | – | fui, fusei | ||
| Pluperfect | fueram | steteram | – | – | – | – | fuera | estuviera | fora | estivera | – | – | fóra | estigués | fora | – | – | – | ||
| Future2 | erō | stābō | sarò | starò | serai | – | seré | estaré | serei | estarei | – | – | seré | estaré | – | – | – | – | ||
| Subjunctive | Present | sim | stem | sia | stia | sois | – | sea | esté | seja | esteja | sia | iste | sigui, siga | estigui, estiga | – | – | saja | să fiu | |
| Perfect3 | fuerim | steterim | – | – | – | – | fuere | estuviere | for | estiver | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Imperfect | essem | starem | – | – | – | – | – | – | ser | estar | essere | istere | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Pluperfect | fuissem | stetissem | fossi | stessi | fusse | – | fuese | estuviese | fosse | estivesse | – | – | fos | estigués | fussi | stassi | fiss | fusesem | ||
| Infinitive | esse | stāre | essere | stare | être | – | ser | estar | ser | estar | essere | istare | ser, ésser | estar | siri | stari | esser | fire, a fi | ||
| Supine | – | statum | – | stato | – | été | sido | estado | sido | estado | essidu | istadu | estat, sigut, sét | estat | statu | statu | stà | fost | ||
| Gerund | – | standum | essendo | stando | – | étant | siendo | estando | sendo | estando | essende | istande | sent, essent | estant | sennu | stannu | essend, siond | fiind | ||
- In French the outcomes of sum and stō merged into a single verb paradigm; here the various forms are separated according to which root they descend from.
- The future indicative tense does not derive from the Latin form (which tended to be confounded with the preterite due to sound changes in Vulgar Latin), but rather from an infinitive + habeō periphrasis, later reanalysed as a simple tense.
- Formally identical to the future perfect indicative, the two paradigms merged in Vulgar Latin.
Other irregular verbs
- "To have": The verb habeō was regularly conjugated in Classical Latin, but later tends to be highly irregular in the Romance languages. The verb later transformed to *haveō in many Romance languages (but etymologically Spanish haber), resulting in irregular indicative present forms *ai, *as, and *at (all first-, second- and third-person singular), but ho, hai, ha in Italian and -pp- (appo) in Logudorese Sardinian in present tenses.
- In Logudorese Sardinian, two -b-es lost in imperfect tenses.
- In French, the past participle eu including the perfect stems (past historic and subjunctive imperfect stems) eu-/eû- rather evolved from earlier *habū-.
This is the Vulgar Latin conjugation of the verb *avére:
| Infinitive | *avére | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *avénte | ||||||
| Gerund | *avéndo | ||||||
| Supine | *áuto | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *áio | *áus | *áut | *avémos | *avétes | *áunt |
| Imperfect | *avéba | *avébas | *avébat | *avébamos | *avébates | *avébant | |
| Preterite | *áui | *avésti | *áut | *avémos | *avéstes | *áuront | |
| Pluperfect | *avéra | *avéras | *avérat | *avéramos | *avérates | *avérant | |
| Future | *avére áio | *avére áus | *avére áut | *avére avémos | *avére avétes | *avére áunt | |
| Conditional | *avére avéba | *avére avéba | *avére avébat | *avére avébamos | *avére avébates | *avére avébant | |
| Future perfect | *avéro | *avéres | *avéret | *avéremos | *avéretes | *avérent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *áia | *áias | *áiat | *aiámos | *aiátes | *áiant |
| Imperfect | *avére | *avéres | *avéret | *avéremos | *avéretes | *avérent | |
| Pluperfect | *avésse | *avésses | *avésset | *avessémos | *avessétes | *avéssent | |
| Imperative | *áu | *avéte | |||||
Notice that these forms sometimes also have an inconsistent form, as the table above more resembling with that of French.
- "To do": The verb faciō is also irregular in Classical Latin, with fēc- before perfect tenses (although the passive form of the verb was supplied by fīō, this suppletion is not included as the passive voice became periphrastic). This verb is one of the few verbs that retains perfect ablaut in Romance languages, with some changing the perfect stem to fi- due to metaphony rules.
Semantic changes
In spite of the remarkable continuity of form, several Latin tenses have changed meaning, especially subjunctives.
- The verbal noun became a present participle in all Romance languages except in Italian and Romanian, where it became a gerund, and Sardinian, where it does not exist. However, the French and Catalan suffixes -ant conflate with the accusative of present active participle suffix -āntem.
- The supine became a past participle in all Romance languages.
- The pluperfect indicative became a conditional in Sicilian, and an imperfect subjunctive in Spanish.
- The pluperfect subjunctive developed into an imperfect subjunctive in all languages except Romansh, where it became a conditional, and Romanian, where it became a pluperfect indicative.
- The future perfect indicative became a future subjunctive in Old Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician.
The Latin imperfect subjunctive underwent a change in syntactic status, becoming a personal infinitive in Portuguese and Galician.[1] An alternative hypothesis traces the personal infinitive back to the Latin infinitive, not to a conjugated verb form.[2]
Periphrases
In many cases, the empty cells in the tables above exist as distinct compound verbs in the modern languages. Thus, the main tense and mood distinctions in classical Latin are still made in most modern Romance languages, though some are now expressed through compound rather than simple verbs. Some examples, from Romanian:
- Perfect indicative: am fost, ai fost, a fost, am fost, ați fost, au fost;
- Future indicative: voi fi, vei fi, va fi, vom fi, veți fi, vor fi;
- Future perfect indicative: voi fi fost, vei fi fost, va fi fost, vom fi fost, veți fi fost, vor fi fost.
New forms also developed, such as the conditional, which in most Romance languages started out as a periphrasis, but later became a simple tense. In Romanian, the conditional is still periphrastic: aș fi, ai fi, ar fi, am fi, ați fi, ar fi.
See also
Notes
References
- Maurer, Theodoro H. (1968). O infinitivo flexionado português: estudo histórico-descritivo (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional.
- Paola Monachesi, The Verbal Complex in Romance: A Case Study in Grammatical Interfaces. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Osborne, Bruce (1982). "On the origin of the Portuguese inflected infinitive". In Anders Ahlqvist (ed.). Papers from the Fifth International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Galway, April 6–10, 1981. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 243–48. ISBN 978-90-272-3514-5.
- Williams, Edwin Bucher (1962). From Latin to Portuguese: Historical phonology and morphology of the Portuguese language (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Wireback, Kenneth J. (1994). "The Origin of the Portuguese Inflected Infinitive". Hispania. 77 (3): 544–554. doi:10.2307/344992. JSTOR 344992.