The PAM (polarity, aspect, and mood) suffixes are an essential feature of Siye, the language of the Simayamka. Their complexity derives from a long history of linguistic change. Professor Kewim Lempinim of the Guild of Scholars has been kind enough to provide a systematic analysis of that history, for the moral improvement of the grammar of Simuyamka (those who do not speak Siye), Sinimmuyamka (those who do not speak it well), and Sinammayamka (those who are learning Siye). I have translated it in a less moralistic manner than the version in the original language. I have also omitted Professor Lempinim’s diatribe against White Bluff Siye, an abomination in the eyes of the Guild, which is meaningless without a more profound knowledge of Simayam morality. I apologize for the all the nasal doublets: these are translations of Guild technical terms which I could render either in the longer forms below or in less pronounceable forms such as -Ne and -Neku.

“Thank you for attending this lecture. It is an easy gamble that you will be better for it. The fundamental distinction between the imperfective and the perfective aspects is m vs n. At one stage, the PAM suffix was only an A suffix. The suffix -me indicated imperfective aspect, while the suffix -ne indicated perfective aspect. The negative was still external. At this point, the default mood was realis (unlike the modern irrealis -ne) and the default polarity was positive. The metrical foot system, already based on trochees and dactyls had two levels: primary stress and secondary stress. Primary stress lay on the initial metrical syllable (extra-metrical syllables will be addressed in a later lecture). Secondary stress could lie elsewhere, as long as the feet remained trochees and dactyls.

The floating suffix -ku, from uku ‘nothing’, was added to -me and -ne to create PA suffixes –meku and -neku. Since this -ku was a floating suffix, it was ‘weaker’ than -me and -ne, and therefore could receive stress at all. This was called a secondary suffix. Remember that the only allowable feet were trochees and dactyls, so the new suffixes -meku and -neku could only be a trochee or the latter two syllables of a dactyl. As yet, this had a minimal effect on the metrical structure of the verb.

Another floating suffix, the energetic suffix -a, became a secondary suffix, but originally only in the positive polarity. The new suffixes -mea and -nea were born, and suffered under the same restrictions as -meku and -neku. The energetic suffix indicated a degree of emphasis beyond that indicated by the original suffixes -me and -ne.

The popularity of -mea and -nea led to the analogous creation of new PA suffix -meu and -neu, which were derived from -me and -ne and the other syllable of uku. These four PA energetic suffixes (-mea, -nea, -meu, and -neu) were so popular that their energetic meaning was bleached to a prosaic realis use. The original prosaic suffixes, at the same time, were weakened to irrealis mood.

In an altogether moral world, the evolution would have ceased at that point. Alas, morality in language requires constant vigilance. Since the PAM suffixes -me and -ne were now irrealis mood and positive polarity, and negative polarity was indicated by the secondary suffix -ku, speakers reinterpreted all the -me and -ne components of the PAM suffixes as irrealis. If this were the case, then the PAM suffixes -meu and –neu contained irrealis rather than realis mood. The original negative suffixes -meku and -neku, although they remained irrealis and correct, were marginalized even further and could have disappeared.

The descent into irrealis of -meu and -neu left a negative gap in the realis mood. Since both -u and -ku were valid secondary suffixes for negative polarity, four new PAM suffixes were born: -meau, -neau, -meaku, -neaku. Each dialect chose either -meau and -neau or -meaku and -neaku. The creation of these suffixes sparked a revolution in the metrical structure of the verb. Since the only allowable feet were trochees and dactyls, the new suffixes had to be their own separate foot, that foot determined the metrical structure of the rest of the verb. The primary stress remained unmoved, but the other secondary stresses were governed by the PAM suffix.

Up to this point in the history of the language, the default structure of the verb root was a root of one to three syllables. A directional suffix following the pronominal suffix was optional and could be expressed externally. Since a three-syllable verb root formed its own dactylic foot, the following one-syllable pronominal suffix always received secondary stress.

The creation of the latest, dactylic PAM prefixes caused a verb with a three-syllable root and no directional suffix to have two dactyls separated by a single syllable. This was obviously unmetrical. The counterpart with a directional suffix did not suffer in a similar fashion. The directional suffix, therefore, became an integral part of the ‘extended root’ of the verb in original three-syllable verb roots. This integration of the directional suffix then spread to the verb roots of one and two syllables, reversing the default pattern of the verb root. A few extremely common verb roots without directional suffixes remained in use. The directional suffix, now integrated to the verb root, attracted secondary stress where possible. Ironically, this stress attraction was not possible with the presence of the negative suffixes which had triggered this integration.

The Great Vowel Contraction, which will be covered more thoroughly in a later lecture, once again shattered the moral balance of the trochaic-dactylic metrical structure. The distinction between realis and irrealis mood disappeared in the negative polarity in dialects that used spoken -mu and -nu rather than -maku and -naku versus -meku and -neku. Final syllables with secondary stress appeared, rendering half of the basic paradigms immoral and unmetrical. For brief time, mood was once again rendered external to the verb in the -mu and -nu dialects. Sometimes individuals wrote the realis and irrealis homophones differently, as -me’u and -ma’u.

Soon, the two dialects mixed together. The irrealis form -meku replaced irrealis -mu, and -mu specialized to indicate only realis. Even this left a variety of metrical patterns that were difficult to remember, so secondary stress returned to the directional suffix wherever possible.

I hope this lecture has been useful. Please return next week for the lecture on the Great Vowel Contraction.”