Poswa locative verbs

Poswa locative verbs are verbs that govern the locative case instead of the accusative case as most other verbs do. They are always grammatically intransitive, even when they are syntactically transitive.

Structure

Locative verbs always directly follow a word in the locative case. There is no free word order. They are considered to be tied to their object in a way that ordinary wi verbs are not.

Use as unstressed suffixes

When an indefinite meaning is intended, any locative verb can be unstressed and treated as merely a suffix on the noun to which it relates. For example, using the word tipiam "nail", whose locative case is also tipiam, one can say

Tipiam babo.

I need the nail.

But

Tipiambabo.

I need a nail.

Verbs with literal locative meanings

these verbs can be unstressed and therefore perceived to be mere affixes rather than separate words; this is why they have undergone sound changes typical of unstresssed syllables, such as pt > p.

Inessive constructions

One example is bas, which means "deep inside; deeply buried; surrounded on all sides". Because it ends in an -s, it is a sticky noun, and therefore its locative form is babam. However, the sound change bab > b was analogized from unstressed syllables to this word even when stressed, and the locative is bam. Thus one says

Mamampta rumom bamba.

The swimmer is deep inside the water. (That is, she is underwater.)

Adessive constructions

This can be expressed in two different ways. The English word "on" can either refer to something being on top of something else, also referred to as the superessive case, or something being on the outside of something else.

When the superessive meaning is intended, Poswa follows the object on the bottom with one of a few words meaning "top, upper surface", and then attaches the bare locative to the second word. Usually, this is also followed up with an intransitive verb suffix. Thus, it could be said that Poswa has a verb meaning "to be on top of". However, note that this verb is intransitive and therefore it does not place the "bottom" word into the accusative case.

For humans and sapient animals, the commonest "chain" word used is pipi.

Sabas paefiam pipemba.

The man is on top of the woman.

Subessive constructions

This can be expressed in two different ways. The English word "on" can either refer to something being on top of something else, or something being on the outside of something else.

Illative constructions

Many languages have an illative case, which corresponds to English "into". Poswa expresses illative meanings with a different construction than that used for the adessive and inessive cases. The object being entered is still placed in the locative, but after that noun is placed the verb pallo, "to enter; open the door".

Fufalam pallwi.

I entered the school.

Another option is to use piap. Here, the object being entered is placed into the locative case, and a syncopated verb root, piap, is attached to the end of this word. Thus, the illative case can be expressed in a single word.

Pimpup pwuwumbampiap taebel.

The boy ran into the forest.

If context allows, the verb can be omitted and its ending transferred onto the object:

Pimpup pwuwumbampiafel.

The boy (went) into the forest.

Lative constructions

Some languages have a lative case, corresponding to English "to, towards". This refers to motion in which a subject approaches an object but stops short of entering inside.

Elative constructions

Many languages have an elative case, which corresponds to English "out of". Poswa expresses elative meanings with a construction similar to that used for the illative. The verbs in use here are dži pulo "to exit" and dži pob "to leave behind, come out of". There is little difference in meaning between the two, but in general, pulo is used more commonly with animate subjects and conscious decisions whereas pob is a cover-all term but often implies passivity.

NOTE: There is also dži vob, from the parent language form ŋivu, but this would be more likely to simply merge with dži pob since its free form would be kivu (kivu > kʲuu > kʲū > kʲur > kʲor > tšor > pšor > pšob > pob; the tš > pš change is because it always follows /m/.) ŋivu is not likely to be used because it would sound too much like the (related) word for anus ... this would not bother Poswobs, but it would bother their ancestors and therefore the word wouldnt have been passed down, even assuming that they viewed the word for anus as a euphemism. ("exit pipe" etc.) Also, ŋivu would not work for Pabappa anyway since it would (twice) suffer the sound change ŋ > n. (That is, even if it were restored analogically the first time, it would happen again just a little later on.) A third form of the word, ivu, drops the initial consonant entirely, though this is not likely to happen if it always came after a word ending in -m.

Ablative constructions

Some languages use an ablative case, corresponding to English "away from". In Poswa this is handled using the locative case and one of two verbs describing motion away from an object. The difference between the elative and the ablative is that elative movement describes a subject that starts out inside an object, and then exits that object. By contrast, in the ablative scenario the subject of the verb was outside the object all along, and merely moves further away.

If the subject (usually an animate being) is moving away from the object, the commonest verb to use is dži papwa. This is cognate to the ordinary verb wapwa.

Inanimate objects are instead given the verb dži piepa.

Perlative constructions

Some languages use a perlative case, corresponding to English "through" or "across". In Poswa, this is usually expressed with the basic locative followed by the verb dži pupa "to move through". As a dži verb, the object of the verb is placed into the locative case rather than the accusative, and the verb is always intransitive.

This word was originally derived from a word for a long, powerful claw, and described the action of sticking partway into something but not all the way through. This meaning has now been lost. This is an irregular verb which gains an extra -p- in its conjugation (due to consonant mutation of a now lost -r-):

Pwafi lospwem puppi.

I walked through the hallway.

There is also another verb dži pupem "(to be) across", but this refers to the situation of two objects or reference points being separated by some other object, rather than the action of one of them moving towards the other. The object is still placed into the locative case rather than the accusative. Thus one says

Pumpella ramarpum pupemba.

The bank is on the other side of the street.

Pertingent constructions

Some languages use a pertingent case, corresponding to English "touching, tangent to". Poswa expresses this in several different ways.

-pwa

One method of expressing physical contact is to add the suffix -pwa to the locative case of the object being touched. This suffix was historically -twa, but a sound change of -mt- ---> -mpt- ---> -mp- took place. This caused the affix to merge with a preexisting and unrelated verb meaning "to push, bump, move an object with one's body". The new affix thus merges the meanings of both original words, and when used with an animate subject, implies purposeful contact, regardless of whether the object being touched is moved out of place or not.

Likewise, since one of the two morphemes was originally a separate word, pwa can either be used as an affix or as a separate word. Expressing it as a separate word can be used for emphasis, since it will be stressed whereas the affix is always unstressed. In either case, it behaves as a regular verb, meaning that its stem contracts into pi- just like any other verb stem ending in -wa:

Wovompio.

I'm touching the leaves.

Wovom pio.

I'm brushing against the leaves.

Like most affixes, this can be replaced with a transitive verb if the subject is animate, and particularly if the object is animate as well:

Piebi.

I brushed against you.

I bumped into you.

When the object is explicitly stated, it will be in the accusative case rather than the locative, and usually precedes the verb:

Polaputapi piebi.

I brushed against the cat.

With the intensive prefix po-, it can also imply more forceful action:

Našiepi popiebi.

I body-slammed the fence.

With the iterative aspect marker -at-, this verb can take on extended meanings:

Pitšo puvapiop pwafabo.

My hand is repeatedly bumping into your door.

I'm knocking on your door.

pip

Another way to express physical contact is with the standalone verb pip. This is a broad term, making no implications of whether the contact was intentional or not, or whether the object being touched was moved out of place or not. Like all Poswa words whose Romanization ends in -ip, the final /p/ is labialized, and the verb thus belongs to the -y conjugation (which includes /pʷ/) rather than the -p conjugation:

Wožbaši blebblobom pipwi.

I walked backwards, bumping myself against the wall.

I walked backwards into the wall.

Pip can also be used as an affix:

Wožbaši blebblobompipwi.

I walked backwards into the wall.

Translative constructions

Not all uses of the locative case describe physical location in space. The translative construction describes the action of one object turning into another. It is almost exclusively used in its full, verbal form, and can be analyzed as a dži verb; that is, a verb that is always intransitive and places the object into the locative rather than the accusative case. The morpheme expressing the translative meaning is one of the shortest of all: pa, and it is hyper-regular, meaning that the -a drops out in conjugation but the -p- stays -p-. (Thus, it is a "wet syllable".)

This was originally a verb, tiša, that underwent syncope and then a sound change resulting from the ever-present -m on the previous word. Thus one can say:

Sabas manwam pel.

The man turned into a tree.

Other locative constructions

Note that Poswa does not use the locative or any form thereof for "associative" meanings such as English "what you should know about acid rain". However, English about can sometimes overlap with this meaning, such as

Sababum plebumbiom silumba.

The men are worried about acid rain.

Use of extended locatives to express time

Note that Poswa uses the genitive -s ending rather than the locative -m to express measurements of time such as English "while" and "during". However, these can be paired with the extended locative constructions above to produce the same fine distinctions of meaning that are available to describe physical location. For example, one can say

Swi paefwas puppi.

I slept throughout the night. (I fell asleep before the night began, and woke up after it was over.)

Verbs with metaphorical locative meanings

Not all locative verbs have a literal locative meaning.

dži pa

For example, the verb for "to become" is dži pa. It is both an irregular verb and one that places its object into the locative case rather than the accusative. The verb behaves mostly as if its stem were a hyper-regular p-. Thus one can say

Pobbam pebel.

He became an oak tree.

(The stem was originally tiša; this stem contracts to simply p- because of sound rules that are triggered in constructions such as this where two words are spelled separately but treated as a prosodic unit.) Because of the potential for confusion, this verb is usually used directly after its object; that is, the word order is not flexible the way it is for most accusative verbs. Thus, for example, one would not normally say

*Pobbam pwuwumbam pebel.

He became an oak tree in the forest.

Because the speaker would likely initially hear the sentence as if pwuwumbam "in the forest" were the object of the verb, and thus imagine a man becoming a forest while trapped inside an oak tree.

dži miswab

The concept of "to need, require" can be expressed by the locative verb dži miswab. Thus one can say

Tipiam miswabo.

I need a nail.

This can be abbreviated to just bo:

Tipiam babo.

I need a nail.

And can even be unstressed, so long as the object is indefinite, like all other dži verbs:

Tipiambabo.

I need a nail.

Furthermore,

Tipiambabom.

Because I need a nail.