SuffT: Tense is expressed through the use of a special suffix.
PerifT: Tense is expressed periphrastically.
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. | tot-s-ǝm | tot-s-uw | |
past tense | 2. | tot-s-ǝn | tot-s-ǝn |
3. | tot-ǝs | tot-s-ǝt |
Table 2: The verb ‘take’ in indeterminate conjugation (past tense) (based on Kálmán 1976)
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)
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 4: The verb ‘sit’ in indeterminate conjugation (future tense) (based on Rombandeeva 1973)
In Northern Mansi, tense is coded predominantly by suffixes. The marker of present tense is –ēγ–, while the past tense is coded by the -s- morpheme (cf. table 1 and 2). These suffixes are special tense markers. There are, however, some verb forms (e.g. verbs in the determinate conjugation, third person singular verb forms in the present tense indeterminate conjugation, or verbs marked for mood; cf. table 1) that have zero morphemes. In contrast, the future tense is always coded periphrastically. It can be expressed by adverbials and the word tajaχ ‘after’ which is accompanied by the present tense form of the verb (table 3). The other possibility is to use an auxiliary construction in which the conjugated auxiliary pati ‘fall, start’ and the infinitive of the main verb take part (table 4) (Rombandeeva 1973: 125–126).