Many people visiting this page may be a bit surprised to learn that page concerns not two separate grammatical moods, but a single mood. The imperative (a mood used to issue commands such as be here or stop talking) can seem very different to the subjunctive, a mood most often describing an emotion, possibility or irreality (I wish that s/he were here; I want you to stop talking.) However, in Celinese, they are intricately linked, because the language has never had a separate imperative as such.
In a reflection of the Celinophones' egalitarian nature, all commands were actually requests. In Old Perisian, for example, one said chlení þa barùs (I ask that you stop - Modern flyní ðo parús) and Old Iferðisc used no t-Der ðo (in God that). As Celinese variants mixed and mingled, the request phrases - which varied greatly from area to area - were dropped, leaving only the subjunctive. Thus a verb in the subjunctive not preceded by ðo is interpreted as an imperative.
The subjunctive itself is used for many other purposes:
- To express doubt or uncertainty:nêsío fortig ðo aithrúo; gyrthím ðo sé syrún. It is unlikely that he will come; we doubt that they like it. - To express a desire:norí ðo twys sús; marís ðo trosún. I want you to be here; you wish that they will come back. - To describe a feeling, opinion or thought: crestí ðo nodeisí fyðúo; trêníom ðo esfrofamús. I believe that s/he will win; I am saddened that you disagreed. - Requests and recommendations: cairí ðo tysúot (I recommend that you try), flynoí ðo ceonand parús (I asked you to stop talking) - Denial or refutation:nêsío tynðeg ðo naint caithú (It's not true that I work there), angweneg sío ðo sé escorún (it's impossible that they chose him!) - Intent: Lo Leigro anðoío, ceðo sé sycús (he went to England so that you would follow him)
The subjunctive is formed by taking off the indicative í at the end of the verb and replacing it with one of the following: ú - I úm - we ús - You (sg.) úot - you (plural) úo - s/he, it ún - they
As the examples above show, the same subjunctive form can be used with the present (marí ðo moir laiðús - I want you to sing to me), the past (coroínom sair ðo êlth cêith ceonúo - I was so angry that s/he spoke to you like that), the future (ôn alssyros fair dyðúo athecosair, lo Mylfeth anðí fyðím - we'll go to Mylveti if the university gives us funding), the conditional (ôn naint ochaithrún awyntírain, lo d-tain go genthoiot laiðí weðío - if separatists prevailed there, it would cause a lot of problems) and with other more complex compound verbal forms. The use of a dedicated future and past subjunctive (used by using fyðí and anðí in their subjunctive forms alongside the primary verb - as in ôn aithrí fyðúo, if he will come, or ôn sé tyrthí anðúo, if you had said it) is now mostly confined to writing.