Of the Pokonchi Language I have a short grammar, by Thomas Gage, which has also been used by Vater and Gallatin. Following are a few of its prominent features:
Nouns are declined by the aid of particles, of which there are two kinds, varying accordingly as the word to be declined commences with a consonant or with a vowel. For words commencing with a consonant the particles nu, a, ru, ca, ata, and quitacque are used; and for those commencing with a vowel, v, av, r, c, or q, ta, qu, and tacque. These particles are partly prefixed and partly affixed, as will appear in the following examples. So the word pat, house, and tat, father, are by Gage declined in the following manner.
| My house | nupat | Our house | capat |
| Thy house | apat | Your house | apatta |
| His house | rupat | Their house | quipattacque |
| My father | nutat | Our father | catat |
| Thy father | atat | Your father | atatta |
| His father | rutat | Their father | quitattacque |
The declension of the word acun, son, and ixim, corn, are given by Gage, as follows:
| My son | vacun | Our son | cacun |
| Thy son | avacun | Your son | avacunta |
| His son | racun | Their son | cacuntaque |
| My corn | vixim | Our corn | quixim |
| Thy corn | avixim | Your corn | avicimta |
| His corn | rixim | Their corn | quiximtacque |
Verbs in like manner change the particles, by means of which they are conjugated, accordingly as the word commences with a consonant or a vowel. For those commencing with a consonant the particles are;—nu, na, inru, inca, nata, inquitacque. Thus the word locoh, to love, is conjugated as follows:
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOCOH, TO LOVE.
| PRESENT INDICATIVE. | |||
| I love, | nulocoh | We love, | incalocoh |
| Thou lovest, | nalocoh | You love, | nalocohto |
| He loves, | inrulucoh | They love, | inquilocohtacque |
| PRESENT PASSIVE. | |||
| I am loved, | quiloconhi | We are loved, | coloconhi |
| Thou art loved, | tiloconhi | You are loved, | tiloconhita |
| He is loved, | inroconhi | They are loved, | quiloconhitacque |
| PERFECT PASSIVE. | |||
| I have been loved, | xinloconhi | ||
| Thou hast been loved, | ixtiloconhi | ||
| He has been loved, | ixloconhi | ||
| We have been loved, | xoloconhi | ||
| You have been loved, | ixtiloconhita | ||
| They have been loved, | xiloconhi tacque | ||
| IMPERATIVE. | |||
| Be thou loved, | tiloconhi | ||
| Let him be loved, | chiloconho | ||
| Let us be loved, | chicaloconho | ||
| Be ye loved, | tiloconhota | ||
| Let them be loved, | chiquiloconho taque | ||
| I can love, | inchoinulocoh | ||
| I will love, | inranulocoh | ||
| I have been willing to love, | ixnulocoh | ||
| I have been able to love, | ixcholixnulocoh | ||
| I can love thee, | tichol nulocoh | ||
| I will love thee, | tira nulocoh | ||
Sometimes the verb I will is added to express the future;—inva, I will; nava, thou wilt; inra, he will.