The words ui and uet in the above examples are called preverbs. They are placed just before the verb. Preverbs mark tense, aspect or mood.
Future: nika, tshika, tshe
Conditional: nipa, tshipa
Subordinate: e (present), ka (past)
Completed action: tshi
Futur accompli: tshetshi
Passé accompli : katshi
Cause, origin: ut, uet (changed form of ut)
Volition: ui
Possibility: tshi
When the conjugation has personal prefixes, they attach themselves to to the preverb. We can even use several preverbs. If there are many, the prefix attaches itself to the first preverb. In the examples below, we see the combinations of the preverb ui (volition) or tshi (possibility) with the future -ka, or with the conditional tshipa:
Nui nipan.
Nika ui nipan.
I want to sleep.
I will want to sleep.
Tshika nipan.
Tshika ui nipan.
You will sleep.
You will want to sleep.
Shash tshipa ui nipan.
You should already be asleep.
Tshika tshi uapamau a?
Will you be able to see him/her?
Preverb Order
Some preverbs are only used in the independent, others only in the conjunct, and other still are used in every order, including the imperative. Some conjugations can combine with many preverbs, such as 01 and 11. The aspect preverbs can only be combined with certain verbs. When many preverbs are used, their order is fixed:
conjunct order preverbs
tense preverbs
modal preverbs
aspect preverbs
The aspect preverbs are the ones placed closest to the radical; some act either as a preverb or as an initial element (of the radical). Here is a summary of our observations on the order of preverbs:
PREVERB ORDER
1
2
3
4
VERB
Conjunct
Tense:
Mood:
Aspect
RADICAL
suffixes
future
volition
Quality
past
possibility
Conditional
APA:
Junker, M.-O., Mollen, Y., & St-Onge, H. (2011). Preverbs. In Grammaire innue / Innu Grammar / Aimun-Mashinaikan. Retrieved from [URL]
MLA:
Marie-Odile Junker, Yvette Mollen and Hélène St-Onge. Preverbs. In Grammaire innue / Innu Grammar / Aimun-Mashinaikan. 2011. Web. [date]
[URL] = website address, beginning with “http://” [Date] = the date you accessed the page, styled as follows: 13 Dec. 2015