So far, we have been using simple endings with verbs:
| takuvunga | I see. |
-vunga tells us just one thing: who is doing the action of seeing. We might say, instead:
| takuvaga | I see him/her/it. |
The verb ending -vaga tells us two pieces of information:
- It indicates that I am the one who sees
- It indicates that he, she or it is the one who is seen.
We call this a double verb ending becuase it gives us two pieces of information. Compare the following single and double verb endings:
| tusâvunga (single verb ending) | I hear (something). |
| tusâvaga (double verb ending) | I hear him/her/it. |
| malivuk | He/she is following (someone). |
| malijânga | He/she is following me. |
Here are the simplest forms of these transitive verb endings:
| Where I am doing the action: | |
| takuvagit | I see you. |
| takuvaga | I see him / her / it. |
| Where you are doing the action: | |
| takuvamma | You see me. |
| takujait | You see him / her / it. |
| Where he/she/it is doing the action: | |
| takujânga | He/she sees me. |
| takujâtit | He/she sees you. |
| takujanga | He/she sees him/her. |
The basic form of these affixes begin with j- when added to a root ending in a vowel. With some verbs, you may hear some speakers use verb roots ending in a t: and following them with a verb ending that starts with t-:
| malit + taga = | |
| malittaga | I am following him/her. |
| ikajut + tânga = | |
| ikajuttânga | He/she is helping me. |