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VERBS AND VERB SUFFIXES

Pabappa verbs are very heavily inflected. There are eleven tense/mood combinations which are manifested as fusional suffixes on the root. There are also other kinds of verb inflection which can be described as agglutinative suffixes and infixes upon one of the eleven tense forms.

Verbs are conjugated for six persons as well as a contrast of singular versus plural. The six persons are 1st person singular (pom/sap), 2nd person singular (tap/tup), 3rd person singular (pa/pup), 1st and 2nd person dual, also called intimate (papa/sapa ), 1st and 3rd person dual ( pata/sista ), and 2nd and 3rd person dual ( pala/sumbla ). The plurals are simply all of these with plural number. There is no special form for the plural pronouns because they are simply the singular ones with the addition of the plural suffix -pen.

Each verb is listed in the dictionary in the 3rd person singular present progressive tense. Infinitives do not exist in Pabappa, and gerunds are not always useful for obtaining the root of the verb.

NORMAL VERBS

Most of Pabappa's verbs fall into the normal class, which is described below.

Simple Present:

Singular Plural Gerund pelmapsap 1ps pelmaba 2ps pelmara 3ps pelmala pelmanep 1+2 pelmanup pelmamurpi 1+3 pelmasap pelmablup 2+3 pelmapaba pelmabbap

The most common tense is the simple present, which is also used for the present progressive.

Present Perfect:

Singular Plural Gerund pelma possap 1ps pelmabet 2ps pelmapis 3ps pelmabam pelmanebam 1+2 pelmanebe pelmanelsam 1+3 pelmanebi pelmanelpa 2+3 pelmasupa pelmanelsup

The present perfect is used to indicate actions which, at the present time, are completed. It expresses the same meaning as the simple past but unlike the simple past, it does not shift the focus of the sentence to the past. Although English also distinguishes between simple past and present perfect, the differentiation is different in Pabappa. Pabappa uses present perfect in many constructions which in English would take the simple past, especially in questions.

Habitual

Singular Plural Gerund pelmapsup 1ps pelmasa 2ps pelmadup 3ps pelmabup pelmanebo 1+2 pelmaneso pelmanelap 1+3 pelmanero pelmaneli 2+3 pelmalumbla pelmanelum

The habitual tense is historically identical with some of Pabappa's noun suffixes, but now it behaves as a verb tense and not a subset of nouns. Yet, there are still some forms which are identical when expressed as a noun and as a habitual verb; e.g. pelmabup is both "sleeper" and "he who sleeps". Pom wapsa. I teach (for a living).

Simple Past:

Singular Plural Gerund pelma pompsap 1ps pelmapep 2ps pelmapte 3ps pelmarpo pelmanel 1+2 pelmampep pelmapopmurpi 1+3 pelmapeta pelmapopplup 2+3 pelmapoppaba pelmapoppap

The simple past of Pabappa is used less often than its English equivalent. It is mostly used to recall past events whose effects are no longer visible or relevant in the present, or verbs of which the agent or patient no longer exists. Note the merger of the compound person forms with those of the past perfect.

Past Perfect:

Singular Plural Gerund pelma popap 1ps pelmapoppa 2ps pelmapopra 3ps pelmabuleb pelmapopmep 1+2 pelmapopmup pelmapopmurpi 1+3 pelmapopsap pelmapopplup 2+3 pelmapoppaba pelmapoppap

The past perfect tense expresses the combination of the meanings of the simple past and the present perfect; it is used to reference actions that, in the past, were already completed but still had relevance to that time in the way actions denoted with the present perfect have relevance to the present. If this is not the intended meaning, a regularly formed double past tense can be used, formed by affixing -peb- to the stem of the verb and then attaching the simple past ending. Note that -peb- can be used on nouns too, to indicate former existence.

Simple Future

Singular Plural Gerund pelma pubbap 1ps pelmapubbet 2ps pelmapuppis 3ps pelmapubbam pelmapudam 1+2 pelmapude pelmapurplam 1+3 pelmapudi pelmapurpla 2+3 pelmapupsupa pelmapurplup

The simple future is used for plans and assumed truths.

Desiderative Future

Singular Plural Gerund pelma purpap 1ps pelmapurbet 2ps pelmapurpis 3ps pelmapurbam pelmapurnep 1+2 pelmapurnup pelmapubmurpi 1+3 pelmaputsap pelmapurlup 2+3 pelmaputsupa pelmapubbap

The desiderative future is used to express the agent's wishes (not the speaker's).

Potential Future

Singular Plural Gerund pelma pumpap 1ps pelmapumbet 2ps pelmapumpis 3ps pelmapumbam pelmapunebam 1+2 pelmapunebe pelmapunelsam 1+3 pelmapunebi pelmapunelpa 2+3 pelmapumpsupa pelmapunelsup

The potential future is used to express the meaning of "may" or "might" in English.

Imperative Future

Singular Plural Gerund pelma pussap 1ps pelmapuspet 2ps pelmapuspis 3ps pelmapuspam pelmapussepam 1+2 pelmapussepe pelmapusselsam 1+3 pelmapussepi pelmapusselpa 2+3 pelmapussupa pelmapusselsup

The imperative future is used to express the speaker's wishes. In the second person and the 1+2 and 2+3 persons, it behaves like the classic imperative of most languages, but in the first person and the 1+3 person it takes on the meaning "let me..." or "let us...", and in the third person it takes on the meaning "let him....".

Since Pabappa lacks an infinitive, certain constructions that involve infinitives in English and similar languages have to be worked around in other ways. Often, Pabappa will use a verb form with an inflection for person:

Panampsa miraba. I love to read.
Popumba popsobet puppam. I wish I had talked to her.

Pabappa does have a rarely used gerundive suffix, pissap (which becomes -psap after many verb stems). This suffix is formed from the gerundive of pospa, the only verb which still has a functioning gerund. It is used when a verb is referred to in a context where a person marker would be inappropriate:

Piwipsap wemea ruporpeppa pospe. Drinking paint is unhealthy.

ESSIVE VERBS

Pabappa has only one true essive verb, pospa, to be. It is actually a left-over from an earlier stage of the language in which the then highly irregular verb system with its four separate conjugations was generalized and regularized with the exception of that one verb, which remained outside of the new system because it behaved differently from all of the other verbs and was in many ways not really a verb at all. The different tenses of pospa are often thought of as being separate verbs all their own, since unlike the other Pabappa verbs, it is the stem rather than the ending which changes for tense.

The stem of pospa is pos-, but it takes different suffixes than all the other verbs. Thus, it is necessary to write up a whole separate series of conjugation tables for pospa. Since it doesn't share its suffixes with any other verbs, in conjugation the stem can be completely dropped out as the stems are sufficient to carry the meaning all by themselves. Below is a set of conjugation tables for pospa:

Simple Present:

Singular Plural Gerund possap 1ps posla 2ps posta 3ps pospa pula 1+2 posattum possana 1+3 pospalan pana 2+3 poseporpan possula

The present tense of pospa is used to connect two nouns or certain kinds of adjectives. It is usually found in final position, after the two nouns and all their modifiers, although it can also be placed between them and weakened to pispa, which conjugates exactly the same way as pospa except for the vowel. Pabep peto paslappa pospa. This sword is sacred.

Present Perfect:

Singular Plural Gerund pebbap 1ps pebla 2ps pepta 3ps pebba peppula 1+2 pebattum pebbana 1+3 pebbalan peppana 2+3 pebeporpan pebbula

Habitual

Singular Plural Gerund possup 1ps possom 2ps postap 3ps possa possapen 1+2 possapa possapapen 1+3 possata possatapen 2+3 possala possalapen

Alone among Pabappa verbs, pospa actually conjugates for gender, although only in the habitual tense. This is because historically the habitual tense of -pa verbs was made of the bare stem of the verb plus a pronoun representing the subject. Thus, the forms listed to the left are valid only for male subjects and those of default gender; for females the forms must change to the corresponding feminine forms. Also note that some nouns conjugate to match the verb; this is because historically they were verbs too. Pom wapom possom. I am a teacher. Morpolam pubelup possup. Morpolam is a judge. Pajopetup papsapa nimmabup possup. It takes courage to be a blasphemer.

Simple Past:

Singular Plural Gerund pompsap 1ps pombla 2ps pompta 3ps pompa pompula 1+2 pomattum pombana 1+3 pompalan pompana 2+3 pomeporpan pombula

Past Perfect:

Singular Plural Gerund popap 1ps popla 2ps popta 3ps poppa poppula 1+2 popattum pobbana 1+3 poppalan poppana 2+3 popeporpan pobbula

Simple Future

Singular Plural Gerund pubbap 1ps publa 2ps pupta 3ps pubba puppula 1+2 pubattum pubbana 1+3 pubbalan puppana 2+3 pubeporpan pubbula

Desiderative Future

Singular Plural Gerund purpap 1ps purbla 2ps purpla 3ps purpa purpula 1+2 pudattum purbana 1+3 purpalan purpana 2+3 pudeporpan purbula

Potential Future

Singular Plural Gerund pumpap 1ps pumbla 2ps pumpta 3ps pumpa pumpula 1+2 pumattum pumbana 1+3 pumpalan pumpana 2+3 pumeporpan pumbula

Imperative Future

Singular Plural Gerund pussap 1ps pusla 2ps pusta 3ps puspa puspula 1+2 pusattum pussana 1+3 puspalan puspana 2+3 puseporpan pussula

PASSIVE VERBS

Pabappa also has some verbs that are made up of adjectives followed by a form of the verb pospa. For example, pajopa pospa "to need". The objects of these verbs are expressed with wa followed by the object in the absolutive case:

Raba peto pom pempupa pospa. This nail is cutting me.
Lamapapap peto wapampeto rilpepa peppa. This conlang is not finished yet.
Pom pajola posla wa pompom. I need to go to the bathroom.

Note that the adjectives "conjugate" to match the forms of pospa that follow it. This is because they are considered as one unit.

EMPHATIC VERBS

Pabappa also has a set of verbs left over from Pespimbesa that mostly describe aggressive physical actions. They are etymologically related to the instrumental case of nouns, but have lost their use as nouns and function now almost exclusively as verbs. The conjugations follow those for pispa, except that there is no gender distinction and the endings ba, ra, la, la, ta, pa are replaced by bba, dep, wam, bbum, dom, plum. The -w- of wam disappears in some environments. One exception to the rule that they are never used as nouns is that the third person forms can still be transformed into nouns by changing the final -m into a -p. Generally, these verbs can be used with the normal endings too, but their meaning is taken to be less emphatic that way. For example, wabbapla means "to hit", but wabbapam means "to hit hard" and wabbapap means "bully". Meanwhile wabbaplum means "to be hit hard" and wabbaplup means "bully victim".