44.1. Agents and patients
| c̓áʔkʷ cn. | ‘I got washed.’ |
| c̓áʔkʷt cn. | ‘I washed it.’ |
| c̓áʔkʷtəŋ cn. | ‘I was washed (by someone).’ |
| c̓áʔkʷəŋ cn. | ‘I washed (myself).’ |
► 2 In the first model, the subject, cn, is the patient. This is the case with many roots in Klallam. When the root has no suffixes, the subject is the patient.
► 3 In the second model, c̓áʔkʷt cn, the subject is the agent. Adding the ‑t suffix makes it transitive and adds an understood direct object, and it also makes the subject the agent.
► 4 The third example is the passive, which you learned about in §31. Adding the passive suffix, ‑əŋ, to the transitive form ending in ‑t makes the subject a patient again. It also adds the idea that it was something specific that did the action. Notice that the agent is not mentioned here. The passive allows you to talk about something happening to a patient without mentioning the agent.
► 5 The fourth model, c̓áʔkʷəŋ, is new. This is the middle voice. In this model the subject is the agent. Adding the suffix ‑əŋ to the bare root makes the subject the agent.
► 6 As mentioned above, one of the uses of the passive is to allow us to avoid mentioning an agent. One of the uses of the middle is to allow us to avoid mentioning a patient.
► 7 If no patient is mentioned with the middle, the interpretation is usually that the agent and the patient are the same. That is, the action is being done to oneself. So c̓áʔkʷəŋ cn, by itself, without any other information, would usually be taken to mean ‘I washed myself.’
► 8 However, c̓áʔkʷəŋ cn could also mean ‘I washed (regularly)’ or ‘I did some washing.’ This is similar to the situation in English in which ‘I washed’ could mean ‘I washed myself’ or ‘I did some washing.’
► 9 Here is a summary:
c̓áʔkʷ cn. ‘I got washed.’
root patient
c̓áʔkʷ‑t cn. ‘I washed it.’
root-trans agent
c̓áʔkʷ‑t‑əŋ cn. ‘I was washed (by someone).’
root-trans-passive patient
c̓áʔkʷ‑əŋ cn. ‘I washed (myself).’
root-middle agent
 | q̓ʷčútəŋ cə šəmán ʔaʔ ʔəɬʔúɬ. | ‘ʔəɬʔúɬ killed the enemies.’ |
 | mán̓ ʔuʔ ʔiyə́m̓ cə ʔəɬʔúɬ. | ‘ʔəɬʔúɬ was very strong.’ |
| mán̓ q̓ə ʔuʔ ʔiʔánkʷs. | ‘She was really very brave.’ |
| ʔáa. níɬ kʷi sčiyáŋənɬ. | ‘Yes. She is our ancestor.’ |