Serial verb

A serial verb is created when two or more verbs are linked together. They are a very powerful construct in Toaq grammar: any verb with a “satisfies property…” or “is the case” slot can essentially act as an auxiliary verb to another.

Serial verb examples

juoq guaı	should work
deq koı	can walk
sheo fıeq	regret inventing
leo kuaq	try.to express
bu suaojıe	not care.about
taq loı	self- hate

When joining two verbs together into one, their definitions are merged according to the serialization algorithm.

Property slot “merge-away”

leo	___ tries to satisfy property	___
baı		___	builds	___
leo baı	___ tries to build ___

Event slot “merge-into”

le	it is probable that	___
guq		___	is underneath	___
le guq	___ is probably underneath ___

For more than two verbs, this merging process is right-grouping:

sheo (leo kuaq)
regret (trying to express)

le (haı (luı (shaı guaı)))
possibly (already (have (stopped working)))

The result can be used as a verb by saying each word in :

Dẻq kỏı súq moq?
Can you walk?

Bủ sủaojıe jí ní da.
I don't care about that.

Only the first word is conjugated for tone, and everything else stays in .

táq lỏı
self- hater

täq lỏı
… who self- hates