| . | ¡ Mo̱ | ch-ó̱ | s' | i̠a̠ | tulúk | shé̠i̠ | tju̠-a̠ | ts-a̠=të | batsë́ë́! |
| Cabecar | 2.sg | go-sbj | [1.sg | dat | needle | thread | [buy-vsn | transport-vsn=ven]VC | red] |
| Go buy and bring me red sewing thread! |
Diagram 2. Serial verb construction
| [ |
[ V1 ]Vα |
[ V2 ]Vα |
(=L*) |
]VCα |
|
‘V1 as specified by V2 (and by L)’ |
Diagram 3. Lexical verb series
|
V1 |
V2 |
|
(=L*) |
|
| [ [ |
V.tr |
V.tr |
]V.trα |
clitic |
]VC.tr.α |
|
α |
α |
|
|
|
|
‘V1 as specified by V2 (and by L)’ |
| . | ¡ Ju-í | tä́ | sik-ö́ | ju̱-ó̱=ta̱na̱ | ma̱né̱é̱ ! |
| Cabecar | house-spc | track | drag-sbj | throw-sbj=term | clean |
| Sweep the courtyard clean! |
Light-verb series
Transitive light-verb series
Transitive light verbs
| # |
infinitive |
lexical meaning |
function |
| 1 |
ju̱a̱ |
throw |
V1
affects NU by a fast movement |
| 2 |
ma̱ |
put, give |
V1 is finished, getting NU ready |
| 3 |
tkä |
set, place |
V1 ends by putting NU into place |
| 4 |
tulä |
throw [plural NU], scatter |
V1 multiple times / on a plurality of NU |
| . | a. | i | tú̱-n-á̱ | jú̱-n-á̱=mi̱ |
| Cabecar | 3 | run-mid-pfv | throw-mid-pfv=it |
| he dashed off |
| | b. | i | tú̱-n-á̱ | jú̱-n-á̱=të |
| | 3 | run-mid-pfv | throw-mid-pfv=ven |
| he dashed hither |