FutOptPfr: Grammatical expression of future time is optional; when used, it is expressed through the use of an auxiliary verb in addition to some form of the main verb, usually nonfinite.
person | singular | plural | |
1. | tot-ēγ-ǝm | tot-ew | |
present tense | 2. | tot-ēγ-ǝn | tot-ēγ-ǝn |
3. | tot-i | tot-ēγ-ǝt |
Table 1: The verb ‘take’ in indeterminate conjugation (present tense) (based on Kálmán 1976)
person | singular | plural | |
1. | ōluŋkwe pat-ǝγ-ǝm | ōluŋkwe pat-ēw | |
future tense | 2. | ōluŋkwe pat-ǝγ-ǝn | ōluŋkwe pat-ēγ-ǝn |
3. | ōluŋkwe pat-i | ōluŋkwe pat-ēγ-ǝt |
Table 2: The verb ‘sit’ in indeterminate conjugation (future tense) (based on Rombandeeva 1973)
person | singular | plural | |
1. | ūnt-ēγ-ǝm taχ | ūnt-ew taχ | |
future tense | 2. | ūnt-ēγ-ǝn taχ | ūnt-ēγ-ǝn taχ |
3. | ūnt-i taχ | ūnt-ēγ-ǝt taχ |
Table 3: The verb ‘sit’ in indeterminate conjugation (future tense) (based on Rombandeeva 1973)
There are three ways to express future tense in Northern Mansi, all of them are periphrastic. The future reference of the action can be implied by 1) adverbials, 2) the auxiliary construction of the infinitive of the main verb + the present tense form of pati ‘fall, start’ (cf. table 1 and 2), and 3) the combination of tajaχ ‘after’ and the present tense of the verb (table 3) (cf. Rombandeeva 1973: 125). The grammaticalization of the last construction is evident from the fact that taχ is a modified form of the word and its place in the the word order is fixed (obligatory postverbal position).