Class IV verbs have a long root vowel and end in a consonant cluster.

They form their basic tenses with tense vowels and a fixed final -n.

Class IV verbs do not use the full dependent or independent agreement endings. Instead, they use -n for all subjects.

What is Class IV?

A verb belongs to Class IV when its root has:

Feature	Value
root vowel	long
final setting	consonant cluster

Examples:

Root	Vowel	Final cluster	Infinitive	Meaning
lámt	á	mt	ym lámta	to measure length
bríns	í	ns	ym ska-brínsa	to brighten
lýns	ý	ns	ym ska-lýnsa	to whiten
hrént	é	nt	ym hrénda	to become winter; to winter
kǿnt	ǿ	nt	ym kǿnda	to become a month; to last a month
båns	å	ns	ym bånsa	to be heavy; to be big

These roots are Class IV because they contain a long vowel and end in a consonant cluster.

Root-final mutation in Class IV

Some Class IV roots change their final consonant when a vowel follows.

This matters because the infinitive ending -a and the Class IV tense vowels -a-, -ø-, and -y- all begin with a vowel.

For example, the dictionary root is hrént, not hrénd.

However, before a vowel, root-final -nt may surface as -nd.

Dictionary root	Surface stem before vowel	Example
hrént	hrénd-	ym hrénda
hrént	hrénd-a-	a’hréndan
hrént	hrénd-ø-	a’hréndøn
hrént	hrénd-y-	a’hréndyn

The same applies to roots like kǿnt:

Dictionary root	Surface stem before vowel	Example
kǿnt	kǿnd-	ym kǿnda
kǿnt	kǿnd-a-	a’kǿndan
kǿnt	kǿnd-ø-	a’kǿndøn
kǿnt	kǿnd-y-	a’kǿndyn

This mutation belongs to Maþal morphophonology. It does not change the verb class.

For class identification, hrént is still Class IV because the dictionary root has a long vowel and ends in the consonant cluster -nt.

Class IV agreement: fixed -n

A finite Maþal verb must show its subject.

In Class I, II, and III, the verb endings show person, gender/class, and number.

Class IV is different.

Class IV verbs use the same final -n for all subjects.

Person	Gender / Class	Number	Pronoun	Ending
1st	common	singular	míne	-n
1st	common	plural	vído	-n
2nd	common	singular	dúle	-n
2nd	common	plural	týro	-n
2nd	neuter	singular	kóri	-n
2nd	neuter	plural	gainu	-n
3rd	common	singular	reise	-n
3rd	common	plural	nágo	-n
3rd	neuter	singular	púvi	-n
3rd	neuter	plural	lábu	-n
dummy	—	—	ðása	-n

The ending -n marks the form as finite, but it does not identify the subject by itself.

For example:

Form	Possible meanings
lámtan	I measure / you measure / he measures / it measures / they measure
lámtøn	I measured / you measured / he measured / it measured / they measured
lámtyn	I will measure / you will measure / he will measure / it will measure / they will measure

Because the same verb form can fit many subjects, Class IV normally needs an overt subject pronoun or a full noun phrase.

Class IV tense vowels

Class IV verbs form tense by inserting a tense vowel after the root and before final -n.

Tense	Marker
present	-a-n
past	-ø-n
future	-y-n

Examples:

Root	Present stem	Past stem	Future stem
lámt	lámt-a-n	lámt-ø-n	lámt-y-n
bríns	bríns-a-n	bríns-ø-n	bríns-y-n
lýns	lýns-a-n	lýns-ø-n	lýns-y-n
hrént	hrénd-a-n	hrénd-ø-n	hrénd-y-n
kǿnt	kǿnd-a-n	kǿnd-ø-n	kǿnd-y-n
båns	båns-a-n	båns-ø-n	båns-y-n

The root vowel stays the same. The tense is shown by the tense vowel before -n.

Finite mood markers

Finite verbs also need a mood marker.

The mood marker stands before the verb.

Mood	Marker	Basic use
indicative	a’	real, stated, factual
subjunctive	u’	wished, possible, required, imagined, dependent

The indicative is used for ordinary statements.

The subjunctive is used for meanings such as possibility, wish, requirement, uncertainty, or dependent verbal meaning.

Examples:

Mood	Form	Meaning
indicative	Míne a’lámtan.	I measure length.
subjunctive	Míne u’lámtan.	that I measure length; I may measure length; I should measure length

The exact English translation of the subjunctive depends on context.

Basic tense formation

Class IV finite verbs are built like this:

Structure
subject + mood marker + root/stem + tense vowel + -n

Tense	Structure
present	subject + mood + root/stem + -a- + -n
past	subject + mood + root/stem + -ø- + -n
future	subject + mood + root/stem + -y- + -n

Example with lámt “to measure length”:

Tense	Parts	Form	Meaning
present	Míne + a’ + lámt + -a- + -n	Míne a’lámtan.	I measure length.
past	Míne + a’ + lámt + -ø- + -n	Míne a’lámtøn.	I measured length.
future	Míne + a’ + lámt + -y- + -n	Míne a’lámtyn.	I will measure length.

The same pattern works with the subjunctive:

Tense	Parts	Form	Approximate meaning
present	Míne + u’ + lámt + -a- + -n	Míne u’lámtan.	that I measure length; I may measure length
past	Míne + u’ + lámt + -ø- + -n	Míne u’lámtøn.	that I measured length; I might have measured length
future	Míne + u’ + lámt + -y- + -n	Míne u’lámtyn.	that I will measure length; I should measure length later

Full paradigm: lámt

The root lámt means “to measure length.”

Its three tense forms are:

Tense	Form
present	lámtan
past	lámtøn
future	lámtyn

Unlike Class I, II, and III, these forms do not change for person, gender, or number.

The subject changes, but the verb form stays the same.

Indicative forms

Subject	Present	Past	Future
I	Míne a’lámtan	Míne a’lámtøn	Míne a’lámtyn
we	Vído a’lámtan	Vído a’lámtøn	Vído a’lámtyn
you	Dúle a’lámtan	Dúle a’lámtøn	Dúle a’lámtyn
you, plural	Týro a’lámtan	Týro a’lámtøn	Týro a’lámtyn
you, neuter singular	Kóri a’lámtan	Kóri a’lámtøn	Kóri a’lámtyn
you, neuter plural	Gainu a’lámtan	Gainu a’lámtøn	Gainu a’lámtyn
he/she	Reise a’lámtan	Reise a’lámtøn	Reise a’lámtyn
they, common	Nágo a’lámtan	Nágo a’lámtøn	Nágo a’lámtyn
it	Púvi a’lámtan	Púvi a’lámtøn	Púvi a’lámtyn
they, neuter	Lábu a’lámtan	Lábu a’lámtøn	Lábu a’lámtyn

Subjunctive forms

Subject	Present	Past	Future
I	Míne u’lámtan	Míne u’lámtøn	Míne u’lámtyn
we	Vído u’lámtan	Vído u’lámtøn	Vído u’lámtyn
you	Dúle u’lámtan	Dúle u’lámtøn	Dúle u’lámtyn
you, plural	Týro u’lámtan	Týro u’lámtøn	Týro u’lámtyn
you, neuter singular	Kóri u’lámtan	Kóri u’lámtøn	Kóri u’lámtyn
you, neuter plural	Gainu u’lámtan	Gainu u’lámtøn	Gainu u’lámtyn
he/she	Reise u’lámtan	Reise u’lámtøn	Reise u’lámtyn
they, common	Nágo u’lámtan	Nágo u’lámtøn	Nágo u’lámtyn
it	Púvi u’lámtan	Púvi u’lámtøn	Púvi u’lámtyn
they, neuter	Lábu u’lámtan	Lábu u’lámtøn	Lábu u’lámtyn

Pronouns and verb forms

Because Class IV uses the same -n ending for every subject, the verb form alone does not tell the listener who or what the subject is.

For this reason, Class IV normally needs an overt subject pronoun or a full noun phrase.

With subject	Meaning
Míne a’lámtan.	I measure length.
Dúle a’lámtan.	You measure length.
Reise a’lámtan.	He/she measures length.
Púvi a’lámtan.	It measures length.
Nágo a’lámtan.	They measure length.

A full noun phrase can also serve as the subject:

Maþal	Meaning
nóteng a’lámtan.	The person measures length.

Without an overt subject, a’lámtan is usually ambiguous.

Example sentences

Maþal	Meaning
Míne a’lámtan.	I measure length.
Míne a’lámtøn.	I measured length.
Míne a’lámtyn.	I will measure length.
Púvi a’bånsan.	It is heavy.
Púvi a’bånsøn.	It was heavy.
Púvi a’bånsyn.	It will be heavy.
Ðása a’hréndan.	It becomes winter.
Ðása a’hréndyn.	It will become winter.
Reise a’ska-brínsan ei:púvi.	He/she brightens it.

Class IV with voice prefixes

Voice prefixes do not change the verb class.

A Class IV root stays Class IV even when ska-, sma-, or sva- is added.

The voice prefix stands after the mood marker and before the root.

Structure
subject + mood marker + voice prefix + root/stem + tense vowel + -n

Example with bríns “brightness; bright”:

Voice	Present	Meaning
default	Púvi a’brínsan	it is bright
agentive	Reise a’ska-brínsan	he/she brightens
patientive / eventive	Púvi a’sma-brínsan	it is brightened
resultant state	Púvi a’sva-brínsan	it is brightened; it remains brightened

The tense pattern stays the same.

Voice	Present	Past	Future
default	Púvi a’brínsan	Púvi a’brínsøn	Púvi a’brínsyn
agentive	Reise a’ska-brínsan	Reise a’ska-brínsøn	Reise a’ska-brínsyn
patientive / eventive	Púvi a’sma-brínsan	Púvi a’sma-brínsøn	Púvi a’sma-brínsyn
resultant state	Púvi a’sva-brínsan	Púvi a’sva-brínsøn	Púvi a’sva-brínsyn

The voice prefix changes the relationship between the subject and the root meaning, but it does not change the Class IV tense formation.