CHAPTER 3 YAMI VOICE AFFIXES
3.2.1 A CTOR VOICE AFFIXES
3.2.1.4 The affix <om>/om-
rakep catch mi-rakep catch 2 [NOM], [OBL] volitional performer, incremental theme mowa plant mi-mowa plant 2 [NOM], [OBL] volitional performer,
incremental theme (a)pis wash
cloth
mi-pipis wash cloth
2 [NOM], ([GEN]) volitional performer, (instrument)
The subject of both types of mi- clauses exhibits the property of carrying out the action—an actor-like property. Hence, the affix mi- is positioned right next to the volitional performer in the modified version of the revised macro-role hierarchy in Figure 4.
Figure 4 Semantic property of the mi- clause subject
Actor: volitional performer mi-
causing an event or change of state sentience
movement A U
stationary
causally affected
Undergoer: undergoing a change in state or being in a state
3.2.1.4 The affix <om>/om-
The affixation of <om>/om- involves sound changes (Section 2.2.5). According to Rau and Dong (2006), the affix om surfaces as an infix when the roots/stems it attaches to initiate with /s/, /t/, /k/, or /g/, as in s-om-dep ‘enter’, t-om-anek, ‘stand’, k-om-ala ‘search’. It can surface as either infix or prefix when the roots/stems it attaches to initiate with /l/, /d/, /r/, or /z/. In other cases, om can only surface as a prefix—om-.
Based on the semantic property of the clause subject, the om clauses could be further divided into three sub-types. Two involve one-participant and one involves two participants.
Within the two one-participant clause types, the semantic property of the clause subject differs. One exhibits properties towards the actor end of the modified version of the revised macro-role hierarchy, and the other one exhibits properties towards the undergoer end. For the two-participant clause, the clause subject exhibits property towards the actor end of the hierarchy.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
3.2.1.4.1 One participant undergoer <om>/om- clauses
The nominative case-marked subject of <om>/om- clauses in (45a) is the only participant involved, and the <om> affixed predicate depicts the status of the only participant—getting fat. The subject is undergoing a change of state of getting fat—a property towards the undergoer end of the hierarchy. While the only participant in example (45a) is undergoing a change of state—getting fat; the only participant, lima ko ‘my hand’ in example (45b) is being in a state—stuck.
(45)
a. ya t-om-ava si mapapo
AUX <OM>fat NOM PN
‘Mapapo is getting fat.’ (Ho 1990: 60)
b. yaken rana ya am, ya ni-s-om-let o lima ko
1.S.NOM already this PAR AUX PFV<OM>get_stuck NOM hand 1.S.GEN
‘As for me, my hand got stuck (in the hole). (Rau and Dong 2006: 96)
The roots/stems, <om>/om- affixed predicates, meaning, number of involved
participants, semantic property of involved participants, and its case marking are summarized in Table 21. The subject of this type of <om> clause exhibits properties towards the
undergoer end of the hierarchy and are referred to as one participant undergoer <om>/om- clauses in the present study.
Table 21 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of one-participant om clauses Root/Stem <om>/om- +
Root
Meaning Number of
Participants Involved
Semantic Property of Clause Subject
tava t-om-ava getting fat 1 [NOM] undergoer
slet s-om-let stuck 1 [NOM] undergoer
3.2.1.4.2 One participant actor <om>/om- clauses
The subject of the other type of one participant <om>/om- clause exhibits properties towards the actor end of the hierarchy, and are shown in (46). The only participant involved is the entity that carries out the action described by the predicate—om-lisna ‘sit’ and
t-om-‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
anek ‘stand’ in (46a), om-lavi ‘cry’ in (46b), om-oli ‘go home’ in (46c), om-alma ‘walk’ in (46d), and k-om-alat ‘climb’ in (46e).
(46)
a. o rarakeh am, om-lisna a, o kanakan am, t-om-anek NOM elder TOP OM-sit PAR NOM child TOP <OM>stand
‘The old person is sitting and the child is standing.’ (Rau and Dong 2006: 95) b. om-lavi ko
OM-cry 1.S.NOM
‘I want to cry.’ (Chang 1997: 24)
c. om-oli ko simararaw
OM-go_home 1.S.NOM noon
‘I will go home at noon.’ (Rau and Dong 2006: 90) d. ya om-alam (do rarahan) si mapay
AUX OM-walk LOC road NOM PN
‘Mapay walked (on the road).’ (Shih 2013: 95)
e. ya k-om-alat (do tokon) si mapay
AUX <OM>climb LOC mountain NOM PN
‘Mapay is climbing (in the mountains).’ (Shih 1996: 40)
In examples (46d) and (46e), two participants are observed—one who carries out the action and the location where the action takes place. The location in these two examples is optional. Its absence does not render the clause ungrammatical. Hence, it is classified as a one-participant actor <om>/om- clause.
Furthermore, the affix <om> is observed to appear in dependent clauses, as illustrated in (47). The dependent clause functions as a complement that provides more information on the participant of the main clause. In the examples in (47), the complement clause modifies the subject of the main clause—imo ‘you’ in (47a), and tazokok ‘bird’ in (47b). The subject exhibits properties towards the actor end of the hierarchy. Hence, the <om> dependent clauses are considered as a sub-type of one participant actor <om> clauses. The roots/stems, affixed predicate, meaning, number of participants involved, semantic property of involved participants, and its case marking of both types of one participant actor <om> clauses are summarized in Table 22.
‧
‘(There are) many tazokok birds that went back to the village.’
(Rau and Dong 2006: 124)
Table 22 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of one-participant om clauses Root/Stem <om>/om- +
alam om-alam walk 1 [NOM] volitional performer
lavi om-lavi cry 1 [NOM] volitional performer
lisna om-lisna sit 1 [NOM] volitional performer
oli om-oli go home 1 [NOM] volitional performer
salap s-om-alap fly 1 [NOM] volitional performer
tanek t-om-anek stand 1 [NOM] volitional performer
sdep s-om-dep enter 1 [NOM] volitional performer
sidong s-om-idong help 1 [NOM], (L) volitional performer kala k-om-ala look for 1 [NOM], (L) volitional performer kalat k-om-alat climb 1 [NOM], (L) volitional performer bakbak om-bakbak hit 1 [NOM], (L) volitional performer toto t-om-oto jump 1 [NOM], (L) volitional performer
3.2.1.4.3 Two participant actor <om>/om- clauses
The third type of om clause involves two participants, as illustrated in (48). The
<om> affixed predicates k-om-an ‘eat’ and t-om-inon ‘weave’ in examples (48a) and (48b) denote events of eating and weaving. In the events of eating and weaving, there are two participants involved—one who carries out the action of eating or weaving, and the other one is the entity that is being affected—the food that is being eaten or the clothing that is being woven. The clause subject of this type of <om> clause could be considered as a volitional performer or causer who causes the entity to undergo a change of state—being eaten or being woven. The roots/stem, affixed predicate, meaning, number of participants involved, role of involved participants, and its case marking are summarized in Table 23.
‧
‘Salang wants to eat a sweet potato. (lit.) The one who wants to eat a sweet potato is Salang.’ (Rau and Dong 2006: 87)
b. ya t-om-inon so ayob si rapay
AUX <OM>weave OBL clothes NOM PN
‘Rapay is weaving the clothes.’ (Shih 1996: 49)
Table 23 Case and semantic property of involved participant(s) of two-participant om clauses Stem/
Root
om-/<om>
+ Root
Meaning Number of Participants Involved
Semantic Property of Clause Subject kan k<om>an eat 2 [NOM], [OBL] volitional performer,
undergoer
tinon t<om>inon weave 2 [NOM], [OBL] volitional performer, undergoer
tba t<om>ba chop 2 [Q]6, [OBL] volitional performer, undergoer
zakat om-zakat kill 2 [Q], [OBL] volitional performer, undergoer
The <om> affixed predicates are also observed in interrogative construction, as illustrated in (49a-b), and their declarative counterparts are provided in (49a’-b’) for comparison. In forming the interrogative, the affixation changes from man- to <om>. Note that Yami interrogative construction is an equational clause in that the interrogator functions as the predicate taking the clause initial position and is followed by a nominalized phrase functioning as the clause subject. The clause subject, the nominalized phrase, depicts the information that the predicate queries. Hence, in (49a-b), the description of the actor is depicted in the nominalized subject phrase. Within the nominalized phrase, the predicate is affixed with <om> instead of the affixation of its declarative counterpart—man-. This example has shown that the verbal affixation changes in different types of clauses, and the affixation of <om> takes place only in a nominalized phrase, not in its declarative
counterpart. Furthermore, this has implied that the function of the affix <om>/om- does not
6 [Q] represents the sentence initial interrogator seeking information and the information lacking is depicted by the following nominalized phrase in that the <om>/om- affixed predicate is observed.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
simply encode the thematic role of a clause subject, it serves another function in the language—assembling interrogative construction seeking information regarding the doer/actor of the action.
(49)
a. sino ya ni-t-om-ba so kayo
who AUX PFV<OM>chop OBL tree
‘Who was the one that chopped a tree?’ (Shih 1996: 42) a’. ya manba (maN-tba) si Mapay so kayo
AUX MAN-chop NOM PN OBL tree
‘Mapay chopped a tree.’ (Shih 1996: 42) b. sino om-zakat so kois
who OM-kill OBL pig
‘Who is killing pigs?’ (Shih 1996: 122)
b’. ya man-zakat si Mapay so kois
AUX MAN-kill NOM PN OBL pig
‘Mapay is killing a pig.’ (Shih 1996: 35)
3.2.1.4.4 Section summary
The semantic property of a two-participant <om>/om- clauses subject is always the doer of the action, whereas the subject of one participant undergoer <om>/om- clauses is always the entity that is being in a state or has undergone a change in state. As for a one-participant actor <om>/om- clauses, the clause subject is always the one who carries out the action. The semantic property of the subject of all three types of <om>/om- clauses is summarized in Figure 5.
Figure 5 Semantic property of the <om>/om- clause subject
Actor: volitional performer <om>/om- causing an event or change of state
sentience
movement A U
stationary
causally affected
Undergoer: undergoing a change in state <om>/om- or being in a state
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The affix <om>/om- serves at least three functions in the language—indicating the thematic role of the clause subject, constructing an interrogative construction seeking
information about the actor, and constructing a dependent clause that modifies the participant of the main clause.