Mismatch: morphosyntax: pseudo-agent
Transitive verbs mark person-number of both subject and object:
|
subject |
object
|
|||||
| 1SG | 1PL | 2SG | 2PL | 3SG/Ø | 3PL | |
| 1SG | nu-́ | ki:(k)-́...‑‑ap | ni- | ni- | ||
| 1PL | nu-́ | ki:(k)-́...‑‑ap | nu-́ | nu-́ | ||
| 2SG | ná- | kin-́ | ʔi- | ʔi- | ||
| 2PL | kaná-́ | kin-́ | ku- | ku- | ||
| 3SG | ná- | kin-́ | ʔi-...-ap | ki:(k)-́...‑‑ap | ʔu- | ʔu- |
| 3PL | kaná-́ | kin-́ | ʔi-...-ap | ki:(k)-́...‑‑ap | kun- | kin-́ |
A kind of impersonal construction (Bright calls it a 'passive') may be formed with the portmanteau prefix marking a 3rd plural subject combined with 3rd singular or plural object:
| kun-mah | kín-mah | |
| 3PL>3SG‑see | 3PL>3PL‑see | |
| 'they see him' or 'he is seen' | 'they see them' or 'they are seen |
Significantly, this impersonal/passive use of the 3rd plural subject forms appears to have become divorced from its referential use, in that it can be construed with a 3rd singular agent:
| pamutat=ʔî·n | kun-mah |
| mother=by | 3PL>3SG-see |
| 'he is seen by his mother'
(literally 'by his mother, they see him') |
|
References
Bright, William. 1957. The Karok language. Berkeley: University of California Press.