POPE (Mòmì) Verbs

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Verbs are really different in POPE. The notions of tense (e.g. present vs. past) and person (e.g. we vs. you) are unknown in this language. Verbs are conjugated according to mood, number and politeness.
In most Indo-European languages, verb conjugations say something about the person and number of the subject. This is different in POPE: the verb says something about both the subject and the object.
As with nouns and adjectives, there are two conjugation groups: J (r) and L (l).

Mood

A verb can be uttered either as a fact (the speaker believing it to be true), as a suspition (the speaker is not sure) or as hearsay (the speaker has heard or read about the topic somewhere).

A suspition is expressed using neuter phonemes, for example O (ò).
A fact is expressed using hard phonemes, for example Ó (o).
Hearsay is expressed using soft phonemes, for example Õ (ö).

Politeness

POPE distinguishes three politeness degrees: respectful, equal and humble.
When you talk about yourself, you should always use the humble degree. When talking about the person(s) you speak to, always use the respectful degree. In the third person (he/she/it/they), it depends on how you see those people...

A humble absolutive is expressed by adding OLI or LI at the very end of the verb. The O is only dropped when the verb ends with a vowel.
A humble ergative is expressed by adding ILO or IL at the very beginning of the verb. The O is only dropped when the verb starts with a vowel.

The respectful forms are more complicated, since it depends on the stressed vowel in the verb:

• If a J (r) conjugation verb ends with a vowel, you add J + stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled at the very end of the verb to obtain a respectful absolutive.
• If a L (l) conjugation verb ends with a vowel, you add L + stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled at the very end of the verb to obtain a respectful absolutive.
• If a verb ends with a consonant, you add stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled at the very end of the verb to obtain a respectful absolutive.
• If a J (r) conjugation verb starts with a vowel, you add stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled + J at the very beginning of the verb to obtain a respectful ergative.
• If a L (l) conjugation verb starts with a vowel, you add stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled + L at the very beginning of the verb to obtain a respectful ergative.
• If a verb starts with a consonant, you add stressed vowel doubled + T + stressed vowel doubled at the very beginning of the verb to obtain a respectful ergative.

Example: If the L-conjugation verb PATTE (with the stressed vowel A) is used with a respectful absolutive and a humble ergative (such as "I see you"), it becomes ILOPATTELAATAA, still stressed on the first A.

Number

Apart from the politeness degree, the number is expressed for both absolutive and ergative. Read the chapter about nouns and adjectives to learn when to use singular, dual and plural.

The absolutive singular is the basic form of the verb.
For an absolutive dual, you add KU right behind the stressed vowel.
For an absolutive plural, you add either JI or LI (depending on the conjugation type) right behind the stressed vowel.

For an ergative singular, you add either UT or (when the verb starts with a consonant) U at the beginning of the verb.
When the verb starts with a vowel, you add either ALUJ or ALUL (depending on the conjugation type) at the beginning of the verb to obtain the ergative dual.
When the verb starts with a consonant, you add ALU at the beginning of the verb to obtain the ergative dual.
When the verb starts with a vowel, you add either TEJ or TEL (depending on the conjugation type) at the beginning of the verb to obtain the ergative plural.
When the verb starts with a consonant, you add TE at the beginning of the verb to obtain the ergative plural.

Note that this is added before adding the politeness degrees.

Example: If the L-conjugation verb PATTE (with the stressed vowel A) is used with a respectful plural absolutive and a humble singular ergative (such as "I see you guys"), it becomes ILUPALITTELAATAA, still stressed on the first A.

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1. Introduction
2. Pronunciation
3. Nouns and Adjectives
4. Postpositions
5. Articles
6. Numbers
7. Verbs
8. PU (to be)
9. Word Order
10. Origin of the Name
11. Vocabulary
12. Examples

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