Re: A Survey

>1. Does your language(s) distinguish between active ("X breaks Y"), middle
>("X breaks (apart)"), and passive ("X is broken (by Y)")?
None of my languages (Palu f’Dule, Bes Dis’z,  Nenshar, Trayiss Laafaah,
Vyrmis) have a middle voice. :(

>2. If the answer to #1 was "yes," what method(s) does your language(s) use
>to make some/all of the above distinctions?
Palu: suffix "sa" or "se" to the verb
di ha haxa
[Ti Xa "XaSa]
he <something> breaks
si ho haxasa [si Xo "XaSasa]
it is breaking

Bes: prefix "r" or "rr" to the verb.
samór
[samo_Hr]
he breaks <something>
ramór
[ramo_Hr]
it is breaking

Nen: not applicable
batep om bracheka akom batep op akol
["bat.ep om "brach.ek.a "ak.om bat.ep op "ak.ol]
something-receptive one arm-someone’s-active time-frame-1
something-receptive not-counted time-frame-2

Laafaah: non-1p verb form without subject
'uns zaatans [?MJs SA:tAJs]
<something> he breaks
t'uts zaatans [t?MtS SA:tAJs]
it <something> breaks

Vymis: verb is 3p with item in patient case
läp dä mön [l&p d& m9n]
breaks he (agent) it (patient)
läp mön [l&p m9n]
breaks it (patient)

>3. What method(s) does your language(s) use to distinguish between basic
>nouns and verbs of the same root (i.e. "a hit" vs. "he hits")?
Palu: by changing the word’s ending from [o] to [a] and by position in the
phrase - SOV; if word already ends in [a] then distinguished by position
only - hasho -> hasha.
Bes: changing the root’s tone from flat to high - mor -> mór.
Nenshar: doesn’t apply - all words are names of objects plus their states.
Laafaah: lengthening the first vowel in the word - zatah -> zaatah/zaatans.
Vyrmis: location in phrase (+ inflection if agent not 3p) - VSO

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