Sotho deficient verbs

In the Sotho language, the deficient verbs are a special subset of Sesotho verbs that require a subordinate or complementary verb to complete their action, and which are used to form many tenses and to impart certain shades of meaning to the predicate. These verbs form part of "multi-verbal conjugations" comprising a string of verbs (each with its own subjectival concord) and verbal auxiliaries.
Deficient verbs, being "deficient", are never used alone. Many of them are irregular in form and have irregular inflexions. Many of these verbs seem radical in nature, while others (especially those with complex implications) are obviously derived from certain extant normal verbs (but are used with slightly different meanings). What distinguishes the deficient usage of these normal verbs is the fact that they are followed by another verb and affect its meaning (and only the main verb may carry an objectival concord).
Multi-verbal syntax.
Deficient verbs are used to alter the meaning of complementary normal verbs, which have to follow the deficient verb(s) in word order. The following diagram represents the general shape of a typical multi-verbal conjugation ("In vain I edit them all"):
Apart from the verbal complex, researchers of Bantu languages have noted that when the main verb is followed by its (first) direct object then this structure creates a "verb phrase" (or "prosodic phrase"), which may be treated as one phonological unit or domain by some grammatical processes. For example, many languages with unbounded tonal shift or spread laws (unlike Sesotho's bounded spread — see Sesotho tonology) may often shift or spread a high tone underlying in the verbal complex all the way to the final, penult, or antepenultimate syllable of the following word, but only if that word is the verb's object. One Sesotho tonal law that's mildly sensitive to the verb phrase is the finality restriction (FR), which is not applied if the verb is immediately followed by the object.
The structure created by deficient verbs followed by a normal verb is unique in a few ways:
Classification.
Even though many other Bantu languages have some deficient verbs, the system used in the Sotho–Tswana languages is unusually intricate and specialized, with a rather large number of verbs that may be used deficiently. Although the deficient verbs themselves may usually be used in various moods and tenses, the main verb is limited to only a limited number of moods and tenses, and it is the job of the deficient verb to reflect any changes in these parameters (if it supports them). If multiple deficient verbs are used then each verb affects the mood of the following.
By examining the mood and tense of the main verb, deficient verbs may be classified into six groups according to the type of complement they govern. It is clear that most groups are followed by participial or subjunctive moods, which are precisely the moods often used when forming sequences of verbs or subordinate clauses using non-deficient verbs.
Within the groups, the verbs tend to have similar forms, but often vastly differing conjugation possibilities and behaviours. Some of the verbs are only used in a handful of tenses and moods; some verbs indicate negation by negating the deficient verb itself, some by negating the main verb, and some may do either (or even both at the same time).
Within Groups IV to VI, there is no set number of members and different speakers and communities may differ in the verbs they regularly use. Basically, a verb may become deficient if it used in certain consecutive constructions with a slightly modified meaning that disappears when the verb is used alone. Since the modified meaning does not make any sense when the verb is used alone, the deficient use is marked by having the complement follow the verb directly and with no pause (thus creating a multi-verbal phrase).
In the example sentences under the following sections, the entire verb sequence is bold while the complement verb to the deficient verbs is bold and underlined.