The suffix -agi 309
b. Diyah mongkos-sagi koran ka sassa'-an.
Diyah AV.wrap-AGI newspaper to wash-NOM
‘Diyah wrapped the laundry in newspaper.’
c. Koran e-bungkos-sagi (ka) sassa'-an bi' Diyah.
newspaper OV-wrap-AGI to wash-NOM by Diyah
‘Diyah wrapped the laundry in newspaper.’
d. Sassa-'an e-bungkos koran bi' Diyah.
wash-NOM OV-wrap newspaper by Diyah
‘Diyah wrapped the laundry in newspaper.’
e. Koran e-bungkos-sagi Diyah ka sassa'-an.
newspaper OV-wrap-AGI Diyah to wash-NOM
‘Diyah wrapped the laundry in newspaper.’
The sentence in (102a) illustrates the basic actor voice structure for bungkos
‘wrap’, and the instrument koran ‘newspaper’ is in a PP headed by kalaban
‘with’. In (102b) and (102c) the verb bears the -agi suffix, and koran is a core
argument, object and subject respectively. When the instrument is object, the
theme occurs as a prepositional object in a PP headed by ka ‘to’ (103b). When
the instrument is the subject (103c), the prepositional marking of the theme is
optional as long as the theme occurs immediately after the verb. If it follows the
agent, the preposition is again obligatory (103e). The paradigm for tambu' ‘hit
(by throwing)’ is given in (103).
(103) a. Ale' nambu' burus bi' bato.
yngr.sibling AV.hit dog with rock
‘Little Brother hit the dog with rocks.’
b. Ale' nambu'-agi bato dha' burus.
yngr.sibling AV.hit-AGI rock to dog
‘Little Brother hit the dog with rocks.’
c. Bato e-tambu'-agi (dha') burus bi' Ale'.
rock OV-hit-AGI to dog by yngr.sibling
‘Little Brother hit the dog with rocks.’
d. Burus-sa e-tambu' (bi') bato bi' Ale'.
dog-DEF OV-hit by rock by yngr.sibling
‘Little Brother hit the dog with rocks.’
Note in (103) that either of the prepositions dha' ‘to’ (103c) or bi' ‘with’ (103d)