Cover not available

In:Antipassive: Typology, diachrony, and related constructions
Edited by Katarzyna Janic and Alena Witzlack-Makarevich
[Typological Studies in Language 130] 2021
► pp. 447–480

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 14
The profile and development of the Maa (Eastern Nilotic) antipassive

 | University of Oregon | SIL International
Published online: 23 March 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.130.14pay
Abstract
Maa (Eastern Nilotic) language varieties have nominative/accusative syntactic patterns, but also an antipassive construction marked by the verb suffix -ɪshɔ(r). This suffix turns an otherwise transitive construction into an intransitive one that can no longer express the P. Semantically the -ɪshɔ(r) construction focuses on the action of the verb or profiles long-term characteristics or ability of the agent. It is not required in imperfective situations, but most commonly does correlate with them. Interestingly, -ɪshɔ(r) may occur on some intransitive roots where it appears to highlight imperfectivity. The -ɪshɔ(r) antipassive construction does not appear to reconstruct to proto-Eastern Nilotic, though a verb root cognate with Maa ɪshɔ(r) ‘give’ does go back to a Proto-Maa-Lotuko-Lopit genetic node (though non-Maa languages within this group may lack the antipassive function). Given similarities between ɪshɔ(r) ‘give’ and the suffix -ɪshɔ(r), the possibility of an antipassive developing from ‘give’ is explored. Potential “drift” or borrowing under Kalenjin (Southern Nilotic) influence is also noted.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Basic Maa morphosyntax
  • 3.The Maa antipassive
    • 3.1Syntax and propositional semantics of the -ɪshɔ(r) construction with (di)transitive roots
    • 3.2Functional profile of the -ɪshɔ(r) construction
      • 3.2.1Properties of the P
      • 3.2.2Focus on the action or static situation
      • 3.2.3Imperfective aspect situations
      • 3.2.4Long-term characteristics: ‘Ability to x’
      • 3.2.5 agent orientation
  • 4.-ɪshɔ(r) with intransitive roots
  • 5.Origin of the Maa antipassive
    • 5.1Parallels with the Maa verb root ɪshɔ(r) ‘give’
    • 5.2Possible cognacy with other Nilotic antipassive(-like) morphology
      • 5.2.1Potential cognates in Eastern Nilotic languages
      • 5.2.2Borrowing or drift influenced by Southern Nilotic?
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (62)
References
Allam, Massimino & Hughell, Martha. n.d. Otuho dictionary database. Unpublished.
Baković, Eric. 2001. Vowel harmony and cyclicity in Eastern Nilotic. In Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, General Session and Parasession on Language and Gesture, Charles Chang, Michael J. Hauser, YuniKim, David Mortensen, Mischa Park-Doob & Maziat Toosarnvandani (eds), 1–12. Berkeley CA: BLS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barasa, David. 2016. Ateso Grammar: A Descriptive Account of an Eastern Nilotic Language. PhD dissertation, University of Cape Town.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bird, Brian. 2006. Tajik Persian complex predicates. Ms, University of Oregon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brecht, Richard & Levine, James. 1985. Conditions on voice marking in Russian. In Issues in Russian Morphosyntax, Michael Flier & Richard Brecht (eds), 118–137. Columbus OH: Slavica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard, Forker, Diana, Khalilova, Zaira & van den Berg, Helma. 2021. Antipassives in Nakh-Daghestanian Languages: Exploring the margins of a construction. In Antipassive: Typology, Diachrony, and Related Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 130], Katarzyna Janic & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (This volume). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooreman, Ann. 1994. A functional typology of antipassives. In Voice: Form and Function [Typological Studies in Language 27], Barbara A. Fox & Paul Hopper (eds), 49–88. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creider, Chet A. & Tapsubei Creider, Jane. 1989. A Grammar of Nandi. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creissels, Denis. 2012. The origin of antipassive markers in West Mande languages. Paper presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea, Stockholm, August 29-September 1. <[URL]> (10 August 2020).
Creissels, Denis & Diagne, Anna Marie. 2013. Transitivity in Bakel Soninke. Mandenkan 50: 5–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dimmendaal, Gerrit. 1983a. The two morphological verb classes in Nilotic. In Nilotic Studies: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Languages and History of the Nilotic Peoples, Rainer Vossen & Marianne Bechhous-Gerst (eds), 269–309. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1983b. The Turkana Language. Dordrecht: Foris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. Drift and selective mechanisms in morphological changes: The Eastern Nilotic case. In Papers from the 7th International Conference on Historical Change [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 48], Anna Giacalone Ramat, Onofrio Carruba & Giuliano Bernini (eds), 193–210. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988. The lexical reconstruction of Proto-Nilotic: A first reconnaissance. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 16: 5–67.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Head marking, dependent marking, and constituent order in the Nilotic area. In Studies in African Linguistic Typology [Typological Studies in Language 64], F. K. Erhard Voeltz (ed.), 71–92. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Datives in Nilotic in a typological perspective. Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online. <[URL]> (10 August 2020).
Dixon, R. M. W. 1979. Ergativity. Language 55(1): 59–138. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1994. Ergativity. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehret, Christopher. 1971. Southern Nilotic History. Evanston IL: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fortescue, Michael. 1996. West Greenlandic half-transitive affixes in a diachronic perspective. In Cultural and Social Research in Greenland 95/96: Essays in Honour of Robert Petersen, Brigitte Jacobsen & Claus Andreasen (eds), 34–44. Nuuk: Lisimatusarfik, Atuakkiorfik.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fortescue, Michael, Jacobson, Stephen & Kaplan, Lawrence. 2010. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary, with Aleut Cognates. Fairbanks AK: Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy (ed.). 1983. Topic Continuity in Discourse: A Quantitative Cross-language Study [Typological Studies in Language 3]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Greenberg, Joseph. 1959. The origin of the Masai passive. Africa 29: 171–176. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamaya, Mitsuyo. 1993. Maasai Auxiliaries and Infinitival Constructions. MA Thesis, University of Oregon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heath, Jeffrey. 1976. Antipassivization: A functional typology. In Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistic Society, Henry Thompson, Kenneth Whistler, Vicki Edge, Jeri J. Jaeger, Ronya Javkin, Miriam Petruck, Christopher Smeall & Robert D. Van ValinJr. (eds), 202–211. Berkeley CA: BLS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Israeli, Alina. 1997. Semantics and Pragmatics of the “Reflexive” Verbs in Russian. Munich: Otto Sagner. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jacques, Guillaume. 2014. Denominal affixes as sources of antipassive markers in Japhug Rgyalrong. Lingua 138: 1–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janic, Katarzyna. 2013. L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives. PhD dissertation, Lumière University Lyon 2.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. On the reflexive-antipassive polysemy: Typological convergence from unrelated languages. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth Annual Meetings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Nicholas Rolle, Jeremy Steffman & John Sylak-Glassman (eds), 158–173. Berkeley CA: BLS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janic, Katarzyna & Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena. 2021. The multifaceted nature of the antipassive construction. In Antipassive: Typology, Diachrony, and Related Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 130], Katarzyna Janic & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (This volume). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jerono, Prisca. 2016. Passive and antipassive in Tugen. Paper presented at the Syntax of the World’s Languages 7 conference, Mexico City.
Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The Middle Voice [Typological Studies in Language 23]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
König, Christa. 2006. Marked nominative in Africa. Studies in Language 30(4): 655–732. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, Beth. 1993. English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malchukov, Andrej. 2017. Markedness effects in applicative formation. In Verb Valency Changes: Theoretical and Typological Perspectives [Typological Studies in Language 120], Albert Álvarez Gonzáles & Ía Navarro (eds), 3–29. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne. 2000. Valency-changing derivation in Central Alaskan Yup’ik. In Changing Valency, Case Studies in Transitivity, R. M. W. Dixon & Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (eds), 84–114. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mol, Frans. 1996. Maasai Language & Culture Dictionary. Limuru, Kenya: Maasai Centre Lemek.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muratori, Carlo. 1948. English Bari-Lotuxo-Acoli Vocabulary. Okaru: Catholic Mission Printing Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nedjalkov, Vladimir. 2007. Polysemy of reciprocal markers. In Reciprocal Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 71], Vladimir Nedjalkov (ed.), 231–334. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noonan, Michael. 1992. A Grammar of Lango. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Palmer, Frank R. 1994. Grammatical Roles and Relations. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, Doris L. 1997. Argument structure and locus of affect in the Maasai External Possession construction. In Proceedings of the 23rd Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Special Volume on Syntax in African Languages (23S), Ashlee C. Bailey, Kevin E. Moore & Jeri L. Moxley (eds), 98–115. Berkeley CA: BLS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2001. The explanation of argument structure: Lexicalization or discourse use? Proceedings of the Seoul International Conference on Discourse and Cognitive Linguistics, 532–556. Seoul: Korean Society of Discourse and Cognition.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2011. The Maa (Eastern Nilotic) Impersonal Construction. In Impersonal Constructions. A Cross-Linguistic Perspective [Studies in Language Companion Series 124], Anna Siewierska & Andrej Malchukov (eds), 257–284. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, Doris L., Hamaya, Mitsuyo & Jacobs, Peter. 1994. Active, passive, and inverse in Maasai. In Voice and Inversion [Typological Studies in Language 28], Talmy Givón (ed.), 283–315. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria. 2013. Antipassive constructions. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds). Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. <[URL]> (10 August 2020).
. 2017. Antipassive. In The Oxford Handbook of Ergativity, Jessica Coon, Diane Massam & Lisa Travis (eds), 308–331. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rasmussen, Kent. 2002. Verb Tone in Il-Keekonyokie Maa. MA thesis, University of Oregon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rottland, Franz. 1982. Die südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion [Kölner Beitrage zur Afrikanistik 7]. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schroeder, Martin. 1999. Dictionary Toposa-English, English-Toposa, 1st edn. Nairobi: SIL International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1972a. Chinook Jargon: Language contact and the problem of multi-level generative systems, I. Language 48(2): 378–406. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1972b. Chinook Jargon: Language contact and the problem of multi-level generative systems, II. Language 48(3): 596–625. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spagnolo, Fr. L. M. 1933. Bari Grammar. Verona: Missione Africane.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tatevosov, Sergei. 2011. Detelicization and argument suppression: Evidence from Godoberi. Linguistics 49(1): 135–174. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, Chad. 1989. Voice and Obviation in Athabaskan and Other Languages. PhD dissertation, University of Oregon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tucker, Archibald N. & Mpaayei, John T. 1955. Maasai Grammar, with Vocabulary. London: Longman, Greens.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vossen, Rainer. 1982. The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yap, Foong Ha & Iwasaki, Shoichi. 2003. From causatives to passives: A passage in East and Southeast Asian languages. In Cognitive Linguistics and Non-Indo-European Languages, Eugene Casad & Gary Palmer (eds), 419–445. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. The emergence of GIVE passives in East and Southeast Asian languages. In SEALS VIII: Papers from the 8th meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (1998), Mark Alves, Paul Sidwell & David Gil (eds), 193–208. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Janic, Katarzyna
2021. Variation in the verbal marking of antipassive constructions. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 249 ff. DOI logo
Janic, Katarzyna & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich
2021. The multifaceted nature of the antipassive construction. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue