Re: Active case-marking natlangs (was Re: What is needed in anconlang classificatory system?)

Matt:
> Tokana is another conlang with an active case-marking system.  Tokana is
> strictly dependent-marking in this regard, inasmuch as there is no agreement
> morphology on verbs.  The breakdown of case forms works more-or-less
> like this:
>
> ABSOLUTIVE:  patients/themes (including subjects of non-eventive verbs)
> NOMINATIVE:  volitional agents of eventive verbs (both transitive and
> intransitive)
> DATIVE ("to/at/in"):  recipients, experiencers of verbs of
> perception/emotion/cognition, goals, locations, possessors
> ABLATIVE ("from/of/out of"):  sources, non-volitional agents of
> eventive verbs,
> standards of comparison, supersets in partitive relations, reasons/motives,
> substances
> INSTRUMENTAL ("with/by/via/through"):  instruments and inanimate actors,
> measurements/durations, degrees of comparison
> ALLATIVE ("towards/for"):  benefactees, 'non-endpoint goals'
> COMITATIVE ("with"):  comitatives, subsidiary instruments, possessees
So reasons are expressed by the ablative, but are purposes expressed by
the allative?

Does Tokana have passive or antipassive? If so, can the demoted argument
('term') be expressed by an oblique, and if so what case would it take?
I'd guess that a demoted nominative would become an ablative and a
demoted absolutive would become dative or allative (possibly with both
being grammatical but allatives having more of a conative interpretation?).
OTOH, maybe there isn't much functional need for a passive, since, iirc,
arguments can be left unexpressed, so "John was killed" could be rendered
as "John-abs kill", and "(also) killed was John" as "kill John-abs",
-- or?

BTW, how is focus done in Tokana these days?

--And. [fond, as ever, of Tokana cases]