Open class categories 69
b. *Mored reya bisa sake'.
student this can ill
c. *Mored reya bisa kene'.
student this can small
(23) a. *Mored reya bisa guru.
student this can teacher
b. *Mored reya bisa kapala.
student this can head
c. *Mored reya bisa hakim.
student this can judge
The predicates in (21) fall into the class of canonical verbs. Those in (22) are
adjectival and those in (23) nominal. All of the sentences in (22) and (23) are
perfectly acceptable without bisa.^6 However, the predicates in (22) are states
and those in (23) nouns, neither of which is particularly conducive to the control
of their subjects. Thus the ungrammaticality in (22) and (23) might be attributa-
ble to semantics. However, the verbs ngarte ‘understand’ and tao ‘know’ are
stative-like as well, and that may provide some defense, albeit perhaps weak,
for this as a diagnostic for verbs.
A final potential diagnostic for a distinct verbal category is the durative
suffix -e.^7 Affixed to a root, the durative indicates that the state of affairs in
question is iterated or sustained over some (unspecified) continuous period of
time. The durative suffix is compatible only with canonically verbal roots.
(24) toles ‘write’ tolese ‘write for a while’
massa' ‘cook’ massa'e ‘cook for a while’
berka' ‘run’ berka'e ‘run for a while’
penter ‘smart’ penterre
pote ‘white’ pote'e
kotor ‘dirty’ *kotore
(^6) The examples with nominal predicates (23) cannot be salvaged by inserting daddi
before the noun (as with the relative clauses in section 1.1). While the sentence Mored
reya bisa daddi guru is grammatical, it means ‘The student can become a teacher’ not
‘The student can be a teacher’.
(^7) The durative should not be confused with the homophonous locative suffix, which is
compatible with verbal and adjectival roots (see section 1.3.1). Discussion here is li-
mited to the durative.