Voice: voice
| Values: | Act | Appl | ApplPass | ApplRcp | ApplRfl | Pass | Rcp | Rfl |
In Khoekhoe, Voice is a feature of verbs.
One verb may have a combination of two voice markers, if the first one is the applicative voice (ApplPass, ApplRcp, ApplRfl)
Act: active
The underlying value. The subject of the verb is the doer of the action (agent), the object is affected by the action (patient).
Examples
- Saras ge ariba ra ǃao. “Sara is afraid of the dog.”
- Saras ge ǂgūro ǀuisa go ǂnoa. “Sara threw a stone.”
Pass: passive
Used when the verb has the passive suffix -he, which decreases the transitivity of the verb by one. The subject of the verb is affected by the action (i.e. it is the patient). The agent is either unexpressed or it appears as an oblique dependent.
Examples
- Nē ǁgabas ge Kompas ti ra ǂgaihe. “This tool is called a compass.”
- Petrub ge Marias xa ge mîǁamhe. “Peter was offended by Maria.”
Appl: applicative
Used when the verb has the applicative suffix -ba, which increases the valency of the verb by one. It promotes an oblique argument to the core object argument (patient).
Examples
- Petrub ge Mariasa ge mîba… “Peter told Maria…”
- Tita ge ǁnā ǃkhaib khoena sîsenba tama hâ. “I don’t work for the agency.”
Rcp: reciprocal
Used when the verb has the reciprocal suffix -gu, which decreases the transitivity by one. It is used with plural subjects when all members act as both agents and patients, acting upon each other.
Examples
- Goman ge ǂgâsa ra ǁkhonagu. “The cows shove each other (at) the entrance.”
- ǁîn ge ǁgorob ǃna hâ ǂhoron ai ra dāǃangu. “At the manger they trample each other to death for the last drop (of water).”
Rfl: reflexive
Used when the verb has the reflexive suffix -sen, which decreases the transitivity of the verb by one. The agent acts upon itself.
Examples
- ǃKhūb ge ǁnān aitsama ra huisen ǂgaona ra hui. “The Lord helps those willing to help themselves.”
- ǀAwaǃnamtse, dawasen ǁkhāts a? “Colonel, would you turn (yourself) around, please?”
ApplPass: combination of applicative and passive voices
Used when the verb has the applicative suffix -ba followed by the passive suffix -he. This combination does not change the transitivity of the verb, it indicates the oblique argument becomes the agent.
Examples
- Petrub ge nē hems xa a ǃgâibahe. “Peter likes (is good with) his shirt.”
- Mîbahe ta ge ge… “I was told that…”
ApplRcp: combination of applicative and reciprocal voices
Used when the verb has the applicative suffix -ba followed by the reflexive suffix -gu. This combination does not change the transitivity of the verb. It is used with plural subject, all members are agents and patients, acting upon each other.
Examples
- ǀGam ǁgâura ge ra ǃgâi xūna mîbagu. “The two houses tell each other good things.”
ApplRfl: combination of applicative and reflexive voices
Used when the verb has the applicative suffix -ba followed by the reflexive suffix -sen. This combination does not change the transitivity of the verb, it indicates that the agent acts upon itself.
Examples
- ǁîb ge audosa go ǁamabasen. “He bought for himself a car.”
- Sâuǁkhāsibab ge nî ūǂuibasen. “He should take some insurance out on himself.”
Voice in other languages: [abq] [am] [arr] [az] [bej] [bg] [bor] [ceb] [cs] [ctn] [el] [eme] [en] [fi] [fr] [gn] [gub] [ha] [hu] [hy] [jaa] [ka] [ky] [myu] [naq] [pay] [ps] [qpm] [qtd] [quc] [ru] [sv] [tl] [tpn] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urb] [urj] [xcl] [xmf]