314 Chapter 10 Modifications to argument structure
(119) a. Saba' ket-paket rowa neng meja otaba neng korse!
put RED-package that at table or at chair
‘Put those packages on the table or on the chair!’
b. Saba'-agi ket-paket rowa neng meja otaba neng korse!
put-AGI RED-package that at table or at chair
‘Please, put those packages on the table or on the chair!’
(120) a. Nyare kaen kapan!
AV.seek fabric shroud
‘Look for a shroud!’
b. Nyare-yagi kaen kapan!
AV.seek-AGI fabric shroud
‘Please, look for a shroud!’
The polite interpretation of these imperatives is related to the benefactive func-
tion of -agi making the request less direct through the addition of an abstract
null beneficiary.
2.7 Miscellaneous instances
With some predicates, -agi is an obligatory element in the derivation. One class
of such verbs is those which take nominal roots, like those in (121) and (122).
(121) Ina ngabar-ragi ja' ter-dhokter juwa se ng-obad-i ana'-na
Ina AV.news-AGI COMP RED-doctor that REL AV-medicine-LOC child-DEF
Marlena.
Marlena
‘Ina spread the news that those doctors are the ones who cured Marlena’s
child.’
(122) Ali a-bukte-yagi ka Hasan ja' Bambang a-berri' pesse dha' Wati.
Ali AV-proof-AGI to Hasan COMP Bambang AV-give money to Wati
‘Ali proved to Hasan that Bambang gave money to Wati.’
In (121) the root is kabar ‘news’, and in (122) bukte ‘proof’. These have a caus-
ative interpretation such as ‘make the news known’ and ‘make a proof’, respec-
tively.