Observation

petueu

s/he hears him/her

tshipetatin

I hear you

The stem of these verbs alternates between u and a: the verb petueu has a stem that sometimes ends in u, and sometimes in a as in tshipetatin.

Here are some examples: petueu s/he hears him/her, tshipetun you hear me, tshipetatin I hear you, nipetakᵘ s/he hears me; natutueu s/he listens to him/her, tshinatutun you listen to me, tshinatutatin I listen to you, ninatutakᵘ s/he listens to me.

When conjugating verbs with alternating u stems, the alternative form of the stem ending in a is used in the following cases:

• With all inverse forms of the Independent; however, in the Western dialect, mixed inverse forms with a 4^th person subject keep the stem ending in u, because they are conjugated differently.

tshipetatinau	I hear you (pl)
tshipetatinan	we hear you (pl)
tshipetakᵘ	s/he hears you
tshipetakunanat	they hear us
petaku	s/he (obv) [his/her brother/sister] hears him/her

• In the Conjunct, with local inverse forms, non-local inverse forms, and some mixed inverse forms: 3s-2s, 3s-21p, 3s-2p, 3p-2s, 3p-21p, 3p-2p; 4-2sIn the Western dialect, the conjugation of mixed inverse forms with a 4^th person subject (4-2s, 4-21p, 4-2p) is different and the stem ends in u. See the conjugation guide., 4-21p, 4-2p; 4-3s, 4-3p.

apu petatan	I don’t hear you
apu petatikut	I don’t hear you (pl)
apu petashk	s/he doesn’t hear you
apu petatakut	they don’t hear us
apu petakut	s/he (obv) doesn’t hear him/her

• In the Imperative, only the u form of the stem is used.

For the rest of the TA conjugation, the form of the stem ending in -u is used.

TA VERBS WITH u STEMS (alternating with a)

natutueu	s/he listens to him/her	tshinatutatin	I listen to you
mupishtueu	s/he visits him/her	tshimupishtatinau	I visit you (pl)
tshissitutueu	s/he remembers him/her	nitshissitutakᵘ	s/he remembers me
nipekueu	s/he puts him/her to sleep	ninipekakᵘ	s/he puts me to sleep
mishkueu	s/he finds him/her	apu mishkatat	we don’t find you
uitamueu	s/he tells him/her something	apu uitamashk	s/he does not tell you something
natueńitamueu	s/he asks him/her for something	apu natueńitamatat	we don’t ask you for anything
memekatueu	s/he sings him/her a lullaby	tshimemekatakᵘ	s/he sings you a lullaby
naitueu	s/he hears him/her well	tshinaitatin	I hear you well
naikueu	s/he cleans him/her, it (anim)	naikaku	s/he (obv) cleans him/her, it (anim)
atushkueu	s/he works for him/her	nitatushkakᵘ	s/he works for me