Re: Is this a passive?

Estel Telcontar <estel_telcontar@...> wrote:

> I have a morpheme in mind for one of my languages, and I'm wondering if
> it counts as a passive.  As far as I understand, passive normally
>
> (1) promotes the direct object to subject
> (2) a. deletes the subject
>  OR
>     b. demotes the subject to an oblique
>
> The morpheme I'm thinking of is okay on (1) and (2)a. : The original
> direct object becomes the subject, and the original subject can be
> omitted.  It's in (2)b. that the question comes in: if the original
> subject is still expressed, it is expressed as a direct object, not as
> an oblique.
Indonesian does that and it is still called a passive in the books. The
agentive preposition "oleh" (also meaning "(the/a) present" :-) is usually
deleted when the agent comes right after the passive verb, especially when
the agent is a pronoun.

Alat di_guna_kan oleh orang.
instrument PASSIVE-use-DIRECT by man
The instrument is used by the man

Alat digunakan orang.
(same)

Alat digunakan_nya
instrument is-used-(by)-him.

But there is another way to promote the object:

Alat sedang orang guna.
instrument currently man use
(Nota: In that case I have always seen or heard another word (auxiliary,
deictic, etc. inserted between the theme (alat) and the agent (orang).)

"Oleh" is kept when the passive keeps a direct object (that is, the
ex-subject of the passive verb):

Sawah di_tanam_i bunga-bunga oleh petani.
Paddy PASSIVE-plant-OBLIQUE flowers by farmer.
The paddy is planted with flower by the farmer.