Re: Verbal voice

> amman iar has something similar in its Applicative voice. In Applicative
> constructions the underlying oblique argument of a ditransitive predicate is
> promoted to derived P-function and the underlyiing P-function argument is
> expressed obliquely.
Yes, this is neat. I know that Chichewa (a Bantu language) has the
same thing. It can be combined with the passive voice to form
sentences like:

ACTIVE
mbidzi zi       -na  -perek-a   mpiringidzo kwa mtsikana
zebras PL:animal-PAST-hand -ASP crowbar     to  girl
'The zebras handed the crowbar to the girl.'

PASSIVE
mpiringidzo u       -na  -perek-edw -a   kwa mtsikana ndi mbidzi
crowbar     SG:thing-PAST-hand -PASS-ASP to  girl     by  zebras
'The crowbar was handed to the girl by the zebras.'

APPLICATIVE
mbidzi zi       -na  -perek-er  -a   mtsikana mpiringidzo
zebras PL:animal-PAST-hand -APPL-ASP girl     crowbar
'The zebras handed the girl the crowbar.'

APPLICATIVE + PASSIVE
mtsikana a       -na  -perek-er  -edw -a   mpiringidzo ndi mbidzi
girl     SG:human-PAST-hand -APPL-PASS-ASP crowbar     by  zebras
'The girl was handed the crowbar by the zebras.'

(I guess this is often used by relational grammarians to show
how great RG is...)

Anyway...

Daniel