Old Occitan > Morphology, Part Two
Apart from the expected irregulars ("to be, to have," etc.) Old Occitan has two systems of conjugation. Note that some forms of the first person singular and the third person plural have several possible endings.
Pay particular attention to the accenting of the endings. This is especially important if the verb stem has an accented è or ò since these may diphthongize when accented. So, volém we want but vuèlh or vuòlh I want, s/he wants.
Final -nt often reduces to -n, so cant, I sing, or can.
When a verb form would normally have no ending
(say, first person singular present indicative) ends in a consonant
cluster unpronounceable in Old Occitan a support -e will be
added, obre from obrir. Sometimes this will appear even
when not necessary.
This reflects the original Latin -are
class. Foreign verbs taken into the language also tended to end up in
the -ar conjugation.
cantár, to sing
Verbs in -ar
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | |
| 1st.sg | cant | cant |
| 2nd.sg | cántas | cantz |
| 3rd.sg | cánta | cant |
| 1st.pl | cantám | cantém |
| 2nd.pl | cantátz | cantétz |
| 3rd.pl | cántan, -on | cánton |
| Imperfect | ||
| 1st.sg | cantáva | |
| 2nd.sg | cantávas | |
| 3rd.sg | cantáva | |
| 1st.pl | cantavám | |
| 2nd.pl | cantavátz | |
| 3rd.pl | cantávan, -on | |
| Future | First Conditional | |
| 1st.sg | cantarái | cantaría |
| 2nd.sg | cantarás | cantarías |
| 3rd.sg | cantará | cantaría |
| 1st.pl | cantarém | cantariám |
| 2nd.pl | cantarétz | cantariátz |
| 3rd.pl | cantarán | cantarían |
| Preterit | Past Subjunctive | |
| 1st.sg | cantèi | cantès |
| 2nd.sg | cantèst | cantèsses |
| 3rd.sg | cantèt | cantès |
| 1st.pl | cantèm | cantessém |
| 2nd.pl | cantètz | cantessétz |
| 3rd.pl | cantèron | cantèsson |
| Second Conditional | ||
| 1st.sg | cantèra | |
| 2nd.sg | cantèras | |
| 3rd.sg | cantèra | |
| 1st.pl | canterám | |
| 2nd.pl | canterátz | |
| 3rd.pl | cantèran | |
| Present Participle | ||
| cantán | ||
| Past Participle | ||
| cantát, -áda |
Verbs not in -ar
This is where the other three Latin conjugations went. The infinitives of these may be -er, -re and -ir. Some verbs switch between -re and -er
partír, to leave
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | |
| 1st.sg | part, parte, parti | párta |
| 2nd.sg | partz | pártas |
| 3rd.sg | part | párta |
| 1st.pl | partém | partám |
| 2nd.pl | partètz | partátz |
| 3rd.pl | párton | pártan |
| Imperfect | ||
| 1st.sg | partía | |
| 2nd.sg | partías | |
| 3rd.sg | partía | |
| 1st.pl | partiám | |
| 2nd.pl | partiátz | |
| 3rd.pl | partían, -on | |
| Future | First Conditional | |
| 1st.sg | part(i)rái | part(i)ría |
| 2nd.sg | part(i)rás | part(i)rías |
| 3rd.sg | part(i)rá | |
| 1st.pl | part(i)rém | part(i)riám |
| 2nd.pl | part(i)rétz | part(i)riátz |
| 3rd.pl | part(i)rán | part(i)rían |
| Preterit | Past Subjunctive | |
| 1st.sg | partí | partís |
| 2nd.sg | partís | partísses |
| 3rd.sg | partí, -ít, -íc | partís |
| 1st.pl | partím | partissém |
| 2nd.pl | partítz | partissétz |
| 3rd.pl | partíron | partísson |
| Second Conditional | ||
| 1st.sg | partíra | |
| 2nd.sg | partíras | |
| 3rd.sg | partíra | |
| 1st.pl | partirám | |
| 2nd.pl | partirátz | |
| 3rd.pl | partíran | |
| Present Participle | ||
| partén | ||
| Past Participle | ||
| partít, -ída |
There are a number of non-ar verbs for which there is no vowel ending in the preterit for 1st and 3rd singular. So, the preterit indicative of saber to know is saup, saubist, saup, saubem, saubetz, saubron.
Compound Tenses
The Present Perfect is formed by combining the present tense of aver with the past participle:
ai perdut mon gaug I have lost my joy
pèrdre to lose, past part. perdut;
gaug joy, masc.
The participle may or may not agree with the direct object: ai preza venjansa I have taken vengeance.
With intransitive verbs (verbs of motion or rest "approach, rest, come," etc.) the present of eser is used. In this case the past participle agrees with the subject.
Most reflexive verbs are considered intransitive and thus take eser: me sui partitz de lai I have gone away from there.
Anar may use either aver or eser for the present perfect.
A form of Present Progressive is formed with anar (to go) and the present participle: so qu'ieu vauc deziran that which I am desiring.
Habitual action is indicated with soler with the infinitve. Note that the present of soler is used but that it has a past meaning: il solon anar prezicant they used to go (around) preaching. The imperfect of soler with the infinitive implies either past habitual or a past perfect habitual: cil qu'amar solia that (lady) whom I used to love.
