212 Chapter 7 Nominals and noun phrases
(144) Pa-noles-sa Kaka' laon.
NOM-AV.write-DEF eld.brother slow
‘Big Brother wrote slowly.’
lit. ‘Big Brother’s writing was slow.’
Process nominals most frequently occur with overt agents, which like result
nominals, occur as the possessor of the nominal, Bapa' in (143) and kaka' in
(144). As shown in Chapter 4 section 1.2.1, some speakers allow the omission
of the nominal prefix pa-. For these speakers (145) and (146) are acceptable
variants of (143) and (144).
(145) Berka'-na Bapa' e-capok bi' Ale'.
run-DEF father OV-equal by yngr.sibling
‘Little Brother caught up with Father.’
(146) Noles-sa Kaka' laon.
AV.write-DEF eld.brother slow
‘Big Brother wrote slowly.’
The pairs of sentences in (147) and (148) illustrate the difference in the
referents of result and process nominals.
(147) a. Massa'-an-na Diyah nyaman/*laon.
cook-NOM-DEF Diyah delicious/slow
‘Diyah’s cooking is delicious.’
b. Pa-massa'-na Diyah laon/*nyaman.
NOM-cook-DEF Diyah slow/delicious
‘Diyah cooks slowly.’
lit. ‘Diyah’s cooking is slow.’
(148) a. Pokol-an-na Ali kaja.
hit-NOM-DEF Ali strong
‘Ali’s punches are strong.’
b. Pa-mokol-la Ali ceppet.
NOM-hit-DEF Ali fast
‘Ali punched rapidly.’
lit. ‘Ali’s hitting was fast.’
As is clear from the translations, in the a-sentences the focus of the nominaliza-
tion is the product or result of the activity. So with the verb massa' ‘cook’, the
nominal massa'an denotes the result of the action of cooking, the dish or dishes