35.1. Agents and patients
Models
| 1) | ȻÁL SEN. | ‘I (got) hid.’ |
| 2) | ȻÁLET SEN. | ‘I hid it.’ |
| 3) | ȻELÁTEṈ SEN. | ‘I was hidden (by someone).’ |
| 4) | ȻÁLEṈ SEN. | ‘I hid (myself).’ |
| 5) | Ȼ͸YEX SEN. | ‘I (got) moved.’ |
| 6) | Ȼ͸YEXT SEN. | ‘I moved it.’ |
| 7) | Ȼ͸YEXTEṈ SEN. | ‘I was moved (by someone)’ |
| 8) | Ȼ͸YEXEṈ SEN. | ‘I moved (myself).’ |
| 9) | KEP ȽTE | ‘We gathered.’ |
| 10) | KPET ȽTE | ‘We gathered them.’ |
| 11) | KPETEṈ ȽTE | ‘We were gathered (by someone)’ |
| 12) | KPEṈ ȽTE | ‘We gathered (something).’ |
‣ 1 There are three roots in the models. Models 1, 2, 3, and 4 have the ȻÁL ‘hide,’ models 5, 6, 7, and 8 have Ȼ͸YEX ‘move,’ and models 9, 10, 11, and 12 have KP ‘gather.’
‣ 2 The root in models 1 to 4, ȻÁL, is a weak root (§34). Note that the passive form in model 3 shows the shifted stressed vowel.
‣ 3 The root in models 5 to 8, Ȼ͸YEX, is a strong root (§34). Note that in the passive form in model 7, the stressed vowel does not shift.
‣ 4 The root in models 9 to 12, KP, is a zero root (§34). Since the root has no vowel of its own, the stress falls on the first suffix vowel. When the root occurs as a word without suffixes, as in model 9, the two consonants are automatically separated by an E vowel.
‣ 5 In the first of each of the three sets—models 1, 5, and 9—the root has no suffixes. In these models the subject is a patient. In the models, the sentence is translated with ‘got’ to highlight the idea of the subject being a patient, but usually these are translated without ‘got.’
‣ 6 In the second model of each of the three sets—models 2, 6, and 10—the root has the ‑ET (‑T) suffix. This suffix makes the word transitive, adds an understood object, and makes the subject an agent.
‣ 7 In the third model of each of the three sets—models 3, 7, and 11—the root has the passive suffix (§33.1) has been added to the transitive stem. This suffix makes the subject a patient again, and it adds the idea that there is an unspecified, but particular agent.
‣ 8 In the fourth model of each of the three sets—models 4, 8, and 12—the form is new. This is what is called the middle voice. The middle voice suffix has the same form, ‑EṈ, as the passive, but the middle attaches to a bare stem while the passive attaches to a transitive stem.
‣ 9 Adding the middle voice suffix to a bare stem makes the subject an agent.
‣ 10 One of the uses of the passive voice is to allow us to avoid mentioning an agent. In the passive models 3, 7, and 11, the agent is just implied. Similarly, one of the uses of the middle voice is to allow us to avoid mentioning a patient. In the middle voice models 4, 8, and 12, there is an implied patient.
‣ 11 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 ȻÁLEṈ SEN, by itself, without any other information, would usually be taken to mean ‘I hid myself.’
‣ 12 Here is a summary:
ȻÁL SEN ‘I got hid.’
root patient
ȻÁL-ET SEN. ‘I hid it.’
root-trans agent
ȻELÁ-T-EṈ SEN. ‘I was hidden (by someone).’
root-trans-passive patient
ȻÁL-EṈ SEN ‘I hid (myself).’
root-middle agent
 | ȻÁLET E SW̱? | ‘Did you hide it?’ |
 | EWE. U¸ ȻÁLEṈ SEN. | ‘No. I hid myself.’ |
| ṮELÁ¸TEṈ SW̱ ¸E ȻSE EN¸ SÁĆS. | ‘You uncle is looking for you.’ |
| XENEṈ Ȼ NE SȻȽYÁ¸. | ‘Say I left already.’ |
35.1A. Translate each into English and identify the agents and patients in each of these sentences. | |
| 1. ȻENET SEN. 2. QENNEṈ ¸E TŦE EN¸ MÁN. 3. QENNEṈ TŦE EN¸ MÁN. 4. ȻELÁTEṈ NE SḴAXE¸ ¸E TŦE NE SĆÁ¸ĆE¸. | 5. ṮELÁ¸TEṈ ȽTE ¸E ȻSE SÁĆS ȽTE. 6. Ȼ͸YEXEṈ SEN 7. KPET ȽTE TŦE XPȺ¸. 8. ȻENETEṈ TŦE SḴAXE¸. |