Poswa verbs

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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. [1]

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.

Distance verbs

/-s/ can also indicate "distance verbs". e.g. tura = "bomb"; turas = "there are bombs here". fap = "to be happy"; fakas = "for you to be happy". Hence Faka

-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.

Notes

  1. This seems low? I think there is a second conjugation which substitutes an -al- for all of the -ab- infixes, changing the meaning to passive (and can only be used with transitive verbs). Also, I just remembered that the -ab- changes to -eb- to mark yet another shade of meaning, and that there is probably an -el- too, so the transitive tables should actually be quadrupled.