Talk:Poswa nouns

Differences in usage

The two plural suffixes can be used to show differences in meaning. The choice of which plural marker to use can indicate different shades of meaning. The sentences

Mapobum žolpippep bežobaba.

and

Mapoby žolpippep bežobaba.

both mean

The girls are drinking lemonade.

But the sentence with -bum implies that the girls are drinking their lemonade in an ordinary way, whereas the sentence with -by might be used of girls participating in a drinking contest. The marking of this distinction on the noun rather than the verb is unique to Poswa, not found in any related language either nearby or far away. It has also disappeared from Pabappa.

A similar difference in meaning can be implied by using plural markers on the object of the verb:

NOTE. THIS WILL HAVE TO BE REWORKED TO USE THE DATIVE AND THEREFORE NONE OF THE SENTENCES ARE GOOD EXAMPLES.

Tus₁, potwope₂ pwobebe₃ potiob₄?

Did₁ you give₃ each soldier₂ a lollipop₄?

As compared to

Tus₁, potiepe₂ pwobebe₃ potiabie?

Did₁ you give₃ the soldiers₂ their lollipops₄?

Often, when a subject and object are both plural, only one of them will take a plural marker. The second sentence above could be reworded as

Tus₁, potiepe₂ pwobebe₃ potiob?

Did₁ you give₃ the soldiers₂ their lollipops₄?

Where potiob "lollipop" has no plural marker but is perceived as plural by the listener because one would not normally imagine a large crowd of soldiers would be happy sharing just one lollipop.