the semantic load, while the second element, often called a vector verb (light verb) or explicator verb, provides fine distinctions (such as speaker attitude or grammatical aspect) and carries the inflection (markers of tense, mood and agreement). The first element may be a verb in conjunctive participle form, or as in Hindi and Punjabi, a bare verbstem). For example, in Hindi, in the second example below, लिया (liyā) (from the verb लेना lenā "to take") is a vector verb that indicates a completed action which is done for one's own benefit, and खा (khā) "eat" is the main or primary verb. In the third example below, डाला (ḍālā) (from the verb डालना ḍālnā "to put" or "to insert") is the vector verb, which indicates recklessness, gruesomeness, or an unwanted action. Both खा लिया (khā liyā) and खा डाला (khā ḍālā) alternate with the corresponding perfective form of the main verb (in this case, खाया khāyā "ate") under partly specifiable semantic and pragmatic conditions. Negating the compound verbs in the indicative mood usually suppresses the vector verb in favor of their non-compound counterparts. This following sentence makes use of the vector verb लेना (lenā) "to take", which is dropped in the negative: However, compound verbs in the subjunctive mood retain the vector verbs when negated. See also Genitive construction References Sources Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. and R.M.W. Dixon. 2006. Serial Verb Constructions: a cross-linguistic typology. (Explorations in Linguistic Typology, 2.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crowley, Terry. 2002. Serial Verbs in Oceanic: A Descriptive Typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haspelmath, Martin. 2016. The serial verb construction: Comparative concept and cross-linguistic generalizations. Language and Linguistics 17(3). 291–319. DOI:http://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895. External links Akan.org Teleteaching course, serial verbs subsection SIL LinguaLink on Serial Verbs Syntactic entities Verb types Grammatical construction types