--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Isaac Penzev <isaacp@U...> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> having started P47 project, I met a problem. The lang is intended
to have
> three basic types of a simple sentence: absolute (for intransitive
verbs),
> ergative (for transitive verbs) and dative (for perceptive verbs).
In
> indicative mood it goes smooth. How then it works in imperative? If
> indicative "The hunter killed a wolf" and "The boy hears his
father's voice"
> may be glossed as "wolf is.killed hunter-ERG" and "father-GEN voice
is.heard
> boy-DAT", will imperative "Kill the wolf!", "Hear my voice!" be
rendered as
> "wolf let.it.be.killed you-ERG", "my voice let.be.heard you-DAT"?
IIRC in
> Georgian imperative in fact coincides with aorist, so "Give me some
wine!"
> is the same as "You have.given me (some) wine!" Any confirmation?
Any
> alternatives?
>
> -- Yitzik
> from frosty Ukraine with love
>
I can't think of any systematic treatment of "passive voices and
passivization in ergative languages". I think it must be both rare
and idiosyncratic.
Detransitivization in ergative languages is usually anti-
passivization, not passivization.
If "Kill-ACT wolf-ABS Peter-ERG" is the active form,
"Kill-ANTIPAS Peter-ABS (wolf-OBL)" would be the anti-passive form.