Chapter 15 Voice and possibility
Possibility po
po presents an event as something that can or may occur. Context decides whether the opening comes from ability, permission, or circumstances. Some speakers hear the word's own shape as a mnemonic for that opening: a quick release of the lips into a rounded vowel, a door set ajar.
Three ordinary readings
mia po theo. — I can read.
thia po wepu. — You may go.
lo mia po nuawe thuroa. — We might grow together.
The second clause can express permission only in a context where someone is granting or recognizing it. po supplies neither the person's standing to permit the action nor consent from the person affected.
Possibility is not source
Evidentiality says where a claim came from. po says whether the event is presented as possible:
pheralu ke lepa. — I infer from signs that rain is falling.
pheralu po lepa. — Rain may fall.
The first clause asserts rain and marks inference as its source. The second makes no source claim and presents rainfall as possible. A speaker may combine the two when both distinctions matter, with evidentiality before modality.
In a Slot 1 stack
The modal rank follows evidentiality and precedes negation:
| Phi | English |
|---|---|
mia to po naphe. | I was able to help. |
shia so po kamo. | They may arrive. They will be able to arrive. |
mia si po shonela. | I may be learning. |
thinoe ki po thuroa. | The seeds may have grown. |
Only one modal belongs in a clause. po ma denies possibility:
mia po ma thalo. — I cannot walk.
Leaving po out produces a plain assertion, not a claim of certainty or overconfidence. Adding it makes possibility part of the proposition, where a listener can weigh it.