Poswa verbs

Poswa verbs have 8 conjugation classes corresponding to the final letter of the stem of the verb. The commonest final vowel is /a/, so -a is considered the first conjugation class. Each verb also conjugates for three persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and three tenses: past, present, and imperative. The "plain" future tense is derived from the imperative. Verbal moods are handled by inflecting the conjugated verb (which always ends in a vowel) with consonants that resemble noun inflections. It could thus be said that verbs in Poswa are merely a subset of nouns. Lastly, each verb can be inflected for transitivity, so from each verb stem can be formed 54 forms.

Conjugation tables

-a

The verb luba "to change color, repaint" is used here as an example of an -a verb.

luba		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	lubi	lubo	lubub
	2nd person	lube	lubae	lubi
	3rd person	lubel	luba	lubob
Transitive	1st person	lubebi	lubabo	lubbub
	2nd person	lubebe	lubabae	lubbi
	3rd person	lubebel	lubaba	lubbob

Thus one can say Blebblobop lippipa lubebi, "I painted the wall green", but Lusafampi lubi žužum "I turned pink from embarrassment" after discovering you've painted over the windows as well.

-e/-i

As Poswa inherited the "a e i o u" vowel order from Pabappa, and places its vowels before its consonants, the second conjugation is the one representing verb stems ending in -e or -i. The verb wape "to help, provide for" is used here as an example of an -e verb. The endings would be the same if the verb ended in -i instead. Unlike the -a conjugation, the -e/-i conjugation always adds a syllable to the intransitive form and two syllables to the transitive form. This is because the final vowel of the verb stem does not collapse the way it does in the -a words.

wape		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	wapebi	wapebo	wapebub
	2nd person	wapebe	wapebae	wapebi
	3rd person	wapebel	wapeba	wapebob
Transitive	1st person	wapebebi	wapebabo	wapebbub
	2nd person	wapebebe	wapebabae	wapebbi
	3rd person	wapebebel	wapebaba	wapebbob

-o/-u/-y

A more complicated setup is the third conjugation, that which reflects words ending in the rounded vowels /o/, /u/, and /y/ (a rounded schwa-like sound).

The verb subu "to conquer, take over" is used here as an example of an -u verb. The endings would be the same if the verb ended in -o or -y instead, but note that most verb stems ending in -o do not belong to this conjugation.

subu		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	subwi	subwo	subwub
	2nd person	subwe	subwae	subwi
	3rd person	subwel	subwa	subwob
Transitive	1st person	subwebi	subwabo	subwubub
	2nd person	subwebe	subwabae	subwubi
	3rd person	subwebel	subwaba	subwubob

The first person imperative is used in the sense of "let me X!", so the one-word sentence Subwubub! would mean "Let me take you over!" (If no object is given, it is understood to be a 2nd person object.) Whereas the third person imperative is also used with a similar sense: Pupipup subwubob! translates as "Let him take over the world!"

-p

The first consonant-stem conjugation is the -p conjugation, because /p/ is the first consonant in the Poswa alphabet. Since all reflexive verbs end in /p/, this conjugation is more common than the other consonant conujgations. However, many verb stems that end in /p/ are normal verbs, not reflexives. The verb blop "to see, focus" is used below as an example of a non-reflexive /p/ verb. Note that, unlike the vowel conjugations above, the transitive form is not merely derived by inserting the infix "-ab-" into the intransitive form.

blop		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	blofi	blofo	blofub
	2nd person	blofe	blofae	blofi
	3rd person	blofel	blofa	blofob
Transitive	1st person	blobbi	blobbo	blobbub
	2nd person	blobbe	blobbae	blobbi
	3rd person	blobbel	blobba	blobbob

-m

The -m conjugation is very simple. The verb pessam "to cuddle, hug, squeeze someone" is used here as an example of an -m verb.

pessam		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	pessambi	pessambo	pessambub
	2nd person	pessambe	pessambae	pessambi
	3rd person	pessambel	pessamba	pessambob
Transitive	1st person	pessambebi	pessambabo	pessambybub
	2nd person	pessambebe	pessambabae	pessambybi
	3rd person	pessambebel	pessambaba	pessambybob

-s

The -s conjugation has a few slipups. The verb pipsis "to sleep in a tree, camp out" is used here as an example of an -s verb.

pipsis		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	pipsiši	pipsišo	pipsišub
	2nd person	pipsiše	pipsišae	pipsiši
	3rd person	pipsišel	pipsiša	pipsišob
Transitive	1st person	pipsispi	pipsispo	pipsispub
	2nd person	pipsispe	pipsispae	pipsispi
	3rd person	pipsispel	pipsispa	pipsispob

Note that the transitive sense of verbs like pipsis is not "to sleep in a tree" (with the tree as the object of the verb) but "to sleep (someone) in a tree; to put someone to sleep in a tree" and thus one would not normally find a word for tree in the accusative in this sentence. Thus, with both pronouns understood, Pipsispi fadžam can mean "I put you to sleep in a palm tree". (It can also mean "(You) put me to sleep in a palm tree!" (imperative), but this would be distinguished by tone of voice and context.

Some verbs ending in -s have a reflexive meaning, even though the reflexive ending in Poswa is -p. This refers to an old sense related to the genitive, in which verbs for things like "to comb one's hair" (pampapes) were used with the genitive instead of the accusative.

-l

The -l conjugation appears to have arisen as a combination of two divergent ones. The verb pumpel "to drill, cut deeply" is used here as an example of an -l verb.

pumpel		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	pumpeži	pumpežo	pumpežub
	2nd person	pumpeže	pumpežae	pumpeži
	3rd person	pumpežel	pumpeža	pumpežob
Transitive	1st person	pumpellwi	pumpellwo	pumpellwub
	2nd person	pumpellwe	pumpellwae	pumpellwi
	3rd person	pumpellwel	pumpellwa	pumpellwob

-o

The -o conjugation is considered a consonantal one, because it reflects a lost final /r/ that changed to /b/ in some words but coalesced with the preceding vowel in others. This is why most verb stems with final -o are not in the -o/-u/-y conjugation above, but rather in this one. The verb poto "to chase down, run and catch, as in war" is used here as an example of an -o verb.

poto		Past	Present	Imperative
Intransitive	1st person	potabi	potabo	potabub
	2nd person	potabe	potabae	potabi
	3rd person	potabel	potaba	potabob
Transitive	1st person	potolwi	potolwo	potolwub
	2nd person	potolwe	potolwae	potolwi
	3rd person	potolwel	potolwa	potolwob

Since the 2nd person imperative and the 1st person past are the same, Potolwi can either mean "I caught you!" or "Catch me!" (The 2nd person transitive imperative defaults to using the speaker as the object, just as the 1st person transitives default to using the listener as the object.) Context and tone of voice pull apart the two meanings here, although an added pronoun can be used to clarify the distinction.

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is formed, in every case, by adding -p to the inflected form of the verb. For those forms that end in consonants, the same regular sound changes that apply to nouns also apply here. Effectively the verbs are considered as nouns and the subjunctive mood marker is the same as the accusative case marker -p.

Since the vowels are the same on all of the tables above, it is only necessary to produce one table showing the subjunctive mood, as the endings here can be applied equally to all of the verbs in the tables above. The verb pwembwi "to shoot, to throw an object forcefully at a target" is used because there was no example of a verb ending in -i in the -e/-i table above.

INDICATIVE pwembwi Past Present Imperative Intransitive 1st person pwembwibi pwembwibo pwembwibub 2nd person pwembwibe pwembwibae pwembwibi 3rd person pwembwibel pwembwiba pwembwibob Transitive 1st person pwembwibebi pwembwibabo pwembwibbub 2nd person pwembwibebe pwembwibabae pwembwibbi 3rd person pwembwibebel pwembwibaba pwembwibbob

SUBJUNCTIVE pwembwi Past Present Imperative Intransitive 1st person pwembwibup pwembwibop pwembwibup 2nd person pwembwibep pwembwibaep pwembwibup 3rd person pwembwibep pwembwibap pwembwibop Transitive 1st person pwembwibebup pwembwibabop pwembwibbup 2nd person pwembwibebep pwembwibabaep pwembwibbup 3rd person pwembwibebep pwembwibabap pwembwibbop

Note that many forms merge in the subjunctive mood, and the use of pronouns or other words is sometimes necessary to keep the distinction. Whereas the merger between the 2nd person imperative and the 1st person past generally causes no trouble in indicative verbs, the three way merger between the various -bup forms can cause confusion in the subjunctive.