Pabappa verbs: Difference between revisions
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==The copula verb== | ==The copula verb== | ||
Unlike [[Poswa verbs|Poswa]], Pabappa has a copula verb, '''pip'''.<ref>Historically ''pis''.</ref> It is historically the same word as Poswa's ''pys-'' "to find". | Unlike [[Poswa verbs|Poswa]], Pabappa has a copula verb, '''pip'''.<ref>Historically ''pis''.</ref> It is historically the same word as Poswa's ''pys-'' "to find".<ref>Previously wrote ''It behaves like a normal verb except that it can contract at the end of another word and lose the ''-i-'' vowel, thus becoming a suffix that would in isolation be impossible under the phonological rules of modern Pabappa. (Although words beginning with ''ps-'' were common in earlier stages of Pabappa, these were gone before the sound shift that removed the ''-i-'' of '''pis''' took place, so it did not follow the further sound changes that the ''ps-'' words had.)''.</ref> | ||
''' | '''Pip''' is conjugated like a regular ''-p'' verb, meaning its basic indicative forms are '''pisi''', '''pisa''', and '''pisu''', with the subjunctives being '''pisep''', '''pisap''', and '''pisop'''. <ref>Earlier, I wrote: ''The C₁VC₂C₂ ---> C₁C₂ rule creates the contracted forms, and thus it is not just the ''-i-'', but the ''-is-'' in the middle of the verb that drops out when the stress is removed. Normally, this change would not have taken place, because modern Pabappa's ''-ss-'' is generally derived from an earlier ''-sp-'', but the copula was analogized from alternate forms in which an extra ''-i-'' had been inserted, thus leading to a different proto-form.'' It might actually be the other way around: the stressed forms would have a single ''s'', and the compressed form would be from the originally transitive "piss" form. That is to say, CVCC compresses but CVC doesnt.</ref> | ||
==Serial person marking== | ==Serial person marking== | ||
Revision as of 13:01, 29 April 2016
Pabappa verb conjugation is much like a radically simplified version of that of Poswa. Only tense is marked on the verb, and there are only 3 tenses, since aspect is not marked either. Neither agent nor patient person markers are present on the verb, and there is no distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs, or between active and passive verbs.
There are separate conjugation classes in Pabappa, but these differ only in which consonant the ending begins with, not in any vowels.
Conjugation tables
The basic Pabappa suffixes are -pi, -pa, and -pu for the past, present, and imperative respectively. They appear as if they are related to Poswa's monosyllabic intransitive suffixes (-bel, -ba, -bob), perhaps through analogy with the respective subjunctive forms, but are in fact heavily analogized descendants of the disyllabic transitive suffixes. Early on, the "extra" vowel remained, but a later sound change pushed the last vowel of the stem into the suffix. Later, these were analogized in such a way that it appeared the initial vowel had never existed.
Vowel stems
All verbs whose stems end in a vowel take endings beginning with -b. Below is the verb pepu "to bend, fold":
| pepu | Past | Present | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | pepubi | pepuba | pepubu |
| (Subjunctive) | pepubep | pepubap | pepubop |
Since Pabappa verbs are not marked either for person or for transitivity, pronouns must be present for context. However, when two pronouns come together in a word, they can be elided into a single word stressed on the initial syllable. Thus for example:
- Pom pubulap pepubi.
- I folded the shorts.
- Pomap pepubi pasuappububom.
- I bent you over my knee.
Note that the subjunctive forms are the same as those of the 3rd person Poswa intransitive subjunctives, but that, as above, they are in fact derived from the transitives.
-p stems
Verbs whose stems end in -p change the p to s and omit the -b-. Below is the conjugation of pupimip "to sit (up)":
| pupimip | Past | Present | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | pupimisi | pupimisa | pupimisu |
| (Subjunctive) | pupimisep | pupimisap | pupimisop |
- Pom pupimisa popapimpemibam.
- I'm sitting in my chair.
-m stems
Verbs whose stems end in -m keep the -m and add -p- instead of *-b. Below is the conjugation of pudem "to ask (for information)":
| Past | Present | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | pudempi | pudempa | pudempu |
| (Subjunctive) | pudempep | pudempap | pudempop |
-s stems
Verbs whose stems end in -s keep the s and omit the -b-. Below is the conjugation of wapipas "to wall out, seal from within":
| Past | Present | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | wapipasi | wapipasa | wapipasu |
| (Subjunctive) | wapipasep | wapipasap | wapipasop |
Note, however, that verbs ending in -s do not always correspond to nouns ending in -s, because historically all final -s was dropped. Nouns lost their -s but verbs often did not because the stem of a verb in Pabappa is never used in its bare form, and thus the -s was never word-final.
-l stems
Verbs whose stems end in -l omit the -l and also omit the -b-. Below is the conjugation of parsappel "to growl in anger, to bare one's teeth":
| Past | Present | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | parsappei | parsappea | parsappeu |
| (Subjunctive) | parsappep | parsappeap | parsappeop |
- Pom parsappea!
- I'm angry!
-r stems
Verbs whose stems end in -r change the r to b and thus resemble vowel stems. Below is the conjugation of piner "to drink (alcohol)":
| Past | Present | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Indicative) | pinebi | pineba | pinebu |
| (Subjunctive) | pinebep | pinebap | pinebop |
- Pom pampomop pineba.
- I drank the wine.
- Pom papsapomop pineba porlap.
- I drank the beer too.
Aspect
Pabappa uses suffixes to mark aspect. They go after the stem of the verb and before the tense markers. They are descended from infixes, and are still infixes in Poswa. In Pabappa they became suffixes because sound changes split each one into three depending on the final vowel of the stem, and then these were mostly merged into one form for each aspect marker.
The copula verb
Unlike Poswa, Pabappa has a copula verb, pip.[1] It is historically the same word as Poswa's pys- "to find".[2]
Pip is conjugated like a regular -p verb, meaning its basic indicative forms are pisi, pisa, and pisu, with the subjunctives being pisep, pisap, and pisop. [3]
Serial person marking
Infinitive
Pabappa does not have an infinitive verb form such as English "to work" and Spanish trabajar. Instead, functions that are in other languages given to infinitives are in Pabappa taken up by serial verbs and by nouns.
Serial verbs
Generally, the person and tense will match between the two members of a serial verb construction. For example, one can say
- Pom panampi parpabompibap blabusi.
- I enjoyed cleaning my apartment.
- Papubes, pom topuba pulmasa.
- Now, I want to sleep.
Interjections
Interjections can be considered to be either a subset of the nouns or a subset of the verbs. However, going far enough back in the history of the language, the "verb" analysis is shown to be the only correct one, as the nouns that resemble interjections were themselves originally verbs.
Many interjections are used to express pain and unpleasant emotions. Interjections have a lesser role in Pabappa than they do in Poswa, and the Pabaps consider the Poswobs' frequent use of interjections to be a prime example of their cultural impoliteness.
Some interjections have been borrowed from Poswa. For example, young Pabap children can say
- Bebo!
- I have to go to the bathroom!
This is a recent loanword from Poswa's bevo. However, while Poswobs will keep on interrupting each other's conversations to say "Bevo!" at the most seemingly inappropriate times even as adults, Pabaps learn to break themselves of this habit in early childhood. A Pabap would be more likely to use a softer phrase such as
- Pom liplempa.
- I'm uncomfortable.
Notes
- ↑ Historically pis.
- ↑ Previously wrote It behaves like a normal verb except that it can contract at the end of another word and lose the -i- vowel, thus becoming a suffix that would in isolation be impossible under the phonological rules of modern Pabappa. (Although words beginning with ps- were common in earlier stages of Pabappa, these were gone before the sound shift that removed the -i- of pis took place, so it did not follow the further sound changes that the ps- words had.).
- ↑ Earlier, I wrote: The C₁VC₂C₂ ---> C₁C₂ rule creates the contracted forms, and thus it is not just the -i-, but the -is- in the middle of the verb that drops out when the stress is removed. Normally, this change would not have taken place, because modern Pabappa's -ss- is generally derived from an earlier -sp-, but the copula was analogized from alternate forms in which an extra -i- had been inserted, thus leading to a different proto-form. It might actually be the other way around: the stressed forms would have a single s, and the compressed form would be from the originally transitive "piss" form. That is to say, CVCC compresses but CVC doesnt.
