Additional voice constructions 275
c. Ali e-pa-lo'-a-lako bi’ jaragan-na.
Ali OV-CS-not-AV-work by boss-DEF
‘His boss didn’t let Ali work.’
6. Additional voice constructions
There are three primary additional voice constructions, each of which is a non-
actor voice as the subject for each is non-agentive. These include the re-
sult/abilitive, the involitive, and the adversative constructions, detailed in sec-
tions 6.1-3, respectively.
6.1. Result/abilitive ka-
As described in Chapter 4 section 1.1.5, the prefix ka- derives verbs denoting an
realized, result, or potential state, which is more or less specifically potential or
resultant depending on the type of stem. Because its uses are difficult to capture
in a single term, it is simply glossed KA in examples. Affixed to verb stems, ka-
derives a kind of positive potential or abilitive, taking a subject which is the
theme of the verb stem, as in (109) and (110).
(109) Buku rowa ka-baca tang ale'.
book that KA-read my yngr.sibling
‘That book can be read by my little sister.’
(110) Ja'reng buwa-na mandhap,ka-petek bi' na'-kana'.
because fruit-DEF low KA-hold by RED-child
‘Because the fruit is low, children can pick it.’
In (109), the subject of the clause, buku rowa ‘that book’, bears the theme rela-
tion to the verb stem baca ‘read’, and the verb predicates of the subject the
property of being readable, at least to my little sister. In (110), the predicate
indicates that the fruit hangs so low that children are able to pick it..
With nominal stems, ka- still denotes an abilitive but it is instrumental in
nature such that the subject can be used to perform the function of the predicate,
as in (111) and (112).
(111) Tale juwa ka-sabbu bi' Pa' Amie.
rope that KA-belt by Mr Amie
‘That rope can be used as a belt by Pak Amie.’