CHAPTER 3 YAMI VOICE AFFIXES
3.2.2 N ON - ACTOR VOICE AFFIXES
3.2.2.2 The affix -an
the other genitive case-marked participant exhibits the actor property. The semantic property of -en and ni- clause subject is shown in Figure 9.
Table 31 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of -en and ni- clauses
Figure 9 Semantic property of -en and ni- clause subject Actor: volitional performer
causing an event or change of state sentience
movement A U
stationary
causally affected
Undergoer: undergoing a change in state -en/ni- or being in a state
Note that the affix -en serves at least two functions—one is to signal an undergoer subject, and the other one is to indicate that the event has not been completed
(imperfective/irrealis). Similarly, the affix ni- also serves two functions—one is to signal an undergoer subject, and the other one is to indicate that the event has been completed
(perfective/realis).
3.2.2.2 The affix -an
The affix -an is known as a locative voice or applicative affix. The affixation of -an singals that the clause subject is a location in Yami. However, the subject of an -an affixed predicate clause does not always turn out to be the location of the event or anything related to a location, such as source, goal, …etc. The following section discusses clauses containing -an
Root/Stem Root + -en Meaning Number of
tear off 2 [NOM], [GEN] undergoer, volitional performer
zakat zakat-en ni-zakat
kill 2 [NOM], [GEN] undergoer, volitional performer
kan kan-en
ni-kan
eat 2 [NOM], [GEN] undergoer, volitional performer
iwang iwang-en ni-iwang
open 2 [NOM], [GEN] undergoer, volitional performer
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
affixed predicate with undergoer-like subjects before the discussion moves onto the locative -an clauses.
3.2.2.2.1 Causally affected -an clauses
Ho (1990) has observed that some predicates that are affixed with -an have a similar syntactic patterning as -en clauses in Yami, and has suggested that the formation of
declarative PF clauses require affixation of either -en or -an (Ho 1990: 68). The PF clauses refer to the clauses whose subject is the entity who undergoes the influence of the action. In other words, the subject of -an and -en clauses discussed in Ho (1990) has properties towards the undergoer end of the modified version of the revised macro-role hierarchy.
Within the available data, three sets of roots/stems are observed in Yami; one can only be affixed with the affix -an, one can only be affixed with the affix -en, and the last set can be affixed with both -an and -en.
Examples of the set of roots/stems that can only be affixed with -an are provided in (64). The root/stem rasag ‘step on’, bakbak ‘hit’, vatvatek ‘write’, and sazang ‘buy’ are incompatible with the affix -en, as illustrated by the ungrammaticality of (64a’-d’). These roots/stems can only be affixed with -an for the clause subject to be the entity that is causally affected by the action. Unlike the affix -en, the affix -an is compatible with the perfective ni-, as the co-occurrence of these two affixes does not render the clauses ungrammatical, as in (64a-d).
(64)
a. ya na ni-rasag-an ni namet si manlok
AUX 3.S.GEN PFV-step_on-PV GEN PN NOM PN
‘Namet has stepped on Manlok.’ (Ho 1990: 76)
a’. *ya rasag-en ni namet o soli
AUX step_on-IPFV.PV GEN PN NOM taro Intended meaning: ‘Namet steps on taro.’
b. ya na ni-bakbak-an ni mapapo yaken
AUX 3.S.GEN PFV-hit-PV GEN PN 1.S.NOM
‘Mapapo has hit me.’ (Ho 1990: 70)
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Roots/stems that can only be affixed with an -an, -an affixed predicate, its meaning, number of participants involved, semantic property of the involved participants, and its case marking are summarized in Table 32.
Table 32 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of the -an clause Root/Stem Root + -an Meaning Number of Participants
Involved
Semantic Property of Involved Participants rasag rasag-an step on 2 [NOM], [GEN] causally affected, causer bakbak bakbak-an hit 2 [NOM], [GEN] causally affected, causer vatvatek vatvatek-an write 2 [NOM], [GEN] causally affected
/existence, causer sazang sazang-an buy 2 [NOM], [GEN] causally affected
/existence, causer
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The clause subject of this type of -an clause exhibits the property of being causally affected—a property towards the undergoer end of the modified version of the revised macro-role hierarchy, as shown in Figure 10. Both -an and -en clauses involve at least two
participants—one who carries out the action is genitive case-marked, and the other one is the entity that undergoes the influence of the action and is nominative case-marked. These two types of clauses have similar syntactic patterns, but the property of their clause subject has some subtle differences and is to be discussed in chapter four. This type of -an clause is referred to as causally affected -an clauses in the present study.
Figure 10 Semantic property of causally affected -an clause subject Actor: volitional performer
causing an event or change of state sentience
movement A U
stationary
causally affected -an
Undergoer: undergoing a change in state or being in a state
3.2.2.2.2 Locative -an
Clauses that always involve more than two participants and whose subject always expresses the location of the event are referred to as locative -an clauses in the present study.
The examples of locative -an clauses are listed in (65). Note that these examples all involve three participants—a participant who carries out the action described by the predicate, a participant who undergoes the influence or effect of the action, and a participant that encodes the location where the event takes place or the place where the affected participant moves to or comes from. The locative participant could either be an inanimate entity, as in (65a-b), or an animate being, as in (65c-d), and it is the place where the affected participant ends up when the action described by the predicate is done, as in (65b-d), or the place where the action takes place, as in (65a).
(65)
a. ko ci-cinon-an so talili o vahay namen
1.S.GEN RED-weave-LV OBL clothes NOM house 1.P.EXCL.GEN
‘I wove clothes in my house.’ (Shih 2013: 115)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
b. ko pangay-an so soli o li-lisnan 1.S.GEN put-LV OBL taro NOM chair
‘I put taros on the chair.’ (Shih 2013: 115) c. ko toro-an si masaray so nizpi
1.S.GEN give-LV NOM PN OBL money
‘I give Masary money.’ (Y. Chang 2011: 8) d. pant-an namen sira so kanen da
give-LV 1.P.GEN 3.P.NOM OBL food 3.P.GEN
‘We give them food.’
The -an affixed predicate can sometimes be observed in interrogative constructions that seek information on the location where the event takes place, as illustrated in (66). The interrogative word anjin ‘where’ case marked by the locative case marker do takes the clause-initial position followed by the nominalized phrase in that the -an affixed predicate is observed. Note that the number of participant involved need not to be more than two in interrogative constructions, as the example shown in (66b). The main predicate of the
nominalized phrase in (66b) is an existential verb and only two participants are involved—an unknown location and the entity whose location is unknown. However, it is rare to find location -an in two-participant declarative clauses.
(66)
a. do anjin o ni-zakat-an na ji namet ni mapapo
where NOM PFV-kill-LV 3.S.GEN LOC PN GEN PN
‘What is the place where Mapapo killed Namet?’ (Where did Mapapo kill Namet?) (Ho 1990: 84)
b. do anjin o na yan-an no vahay mo?
where NOM 3.S.GEN be-LV GEN house 2.S.GEN
‘Where is your house? OR What is the location of your house?’
The locative -an affixed predicate, its meaning, number of participants involved, semantic property of the involved participant, and its case marking are summarized in Table 33. The affixed predicates within interrogative constructions in (66) are also included in Table 33 for comparison.
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Table 33 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of the locative -an clause