# The noncausal/causal alternation in Swahili

Nobuko Yoneda

Osaka University

## ABSTRACT

Haspelmath (1993) investigates types of noncausal/causal alternation and examines 31 noncausal/ causal verb pairs in 21 languages, including Swahili, a Bantu language spoken in East Africa. He divides the alternation patterns into causative, anticausative, and non-directed alternations. His data suggest that Swahili is not clearly either a causative or anticausative type of language, since 11 out of these 31 pairs exhibit the causative alternation, while 11 other pairs exhibit the anticausative alternation. However, his analysis does not consider spirantization, a diachronic phonological change where consonants became fricatives in front of high vowels or glides, such as $k + y > sh$. If such diachronic phonological changes are taken into account when analysing noncausal/causal verb pairs in Swahili, 18 of the 31 pairs can be classified as belonging to the causative correspondence type. This demonstrates a clear causative tendency in Swahili, even more so than in other Bantu languages, such as Matengo and Herero. Comrie (2006) concludes that Swahili is an exception to his hypothesis on the markedness of noncausal/causal distribution, which states that the more spontaneous a noncausal verb, the more unmarked the noncausal verb form. In contrast, the less spontaneous a noncausal verb form, the more unmarked the causal verb form. This study, however, finds that Swahili is not an exception to, but rather a confirmation of Comrie's hypothesis.

## KEYWORDS

Bantu languages, causativization, spirantization, Swahili

## RÉSUMÉ

Haspelmath (1993) étudie des types d'alternance non causal/causal en examinant 31 paires de verbes non causal/causal dans 21 langues, dont le swahili, une langue bantoue parlée en Afrique de l'Est. Il divise les schémas d'alternance en alternances causatives, anticausatives et non dirigées. Ses données suggèrent que le swahili n'est pas clairement une langue de type causatif ou anticausatif, puisque 11 de ces 31 paires présentent l'alternance causative, tandis que 11 autres présentent l'alternance anticausative. Cependant, son analyse ne tient pas compte de la spirantisation, un changement phonologique diachronique où les consonnes deviennent des fricatives devant des voyelles hautes ou des glides, comme $k + y > sh$. Si de tels changements phonologiques diachroniques sont pris en compte lors de l'analyse des paires de verbes non causal/causal en swahili, 18 des 31 paires peuvent être classées comme appartenant au type de correspondance causative. Cela démontre une tendance causative claire en swahili, encore plus que dans d'autres langues bantoues, comme le matengo et l'herero. Comrie (2006) conclut que le swahili est une exception à son hypothèse sur le caractère marqué de la distribution non causal/ causal, qui stipule que plus un verbe non causal est spontané, plus la forme verbale non causale est non marquée. À l'inverse, moins une forme verbale non causale est spontanée, plus la forme verbale causale est non marquée. Cette étude montre toutefois que le swahili n'est pas une exception, mais plutôt une confirmation de l'hypothèse de Comrie.
# MOTS CLÉS

bantou, causativization, spirantisation, swahili

## 1. INTRODUCTION

Swahili [swh] is a Bantu language, widely spoken in East Africa where it functions as a lingua franca. It is one of the official languages of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, and the national language of Tanzania and Kenya. Like many other Bantu languages, Swahili has a highly agglutinative verb structure, as shown in (1).

(1) *Nilimwandikia*

*ni-li-m-andik-i-a*

*SM-TAM-OM-verb_root-DS-FV*

*1SG-PST-3SG-write-APPL-IND*

‘I wrote to him.’

The subject marker (*SM*) and object marker (*OM*) are prefixes that agree with the subject and object, respectively. The prefix expressing the tense/aspect of the verb (*TAM*) follows the *SM*. The verb stem consists of the verb root, optional derivational suffixes (*DS*), and the final vowel (*FV*). Derivational suffixes can be added, or replaced by other suffixes, to form pairs of noncausal (*nC*)/causal (*C*) verbs that share the same root, as shown in (2)-(4).

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Verb root</th><th>(-DS)</th><th>Final vowel</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>(2)</td><td>a. simam</td><td>-a</td><td>‘stand, stop (nC)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. simam</td><td>-ish</td><td>‘stand, stop (sth.) (C)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(3)</td><td>a. chan</td><td>-a</td><td>‘tear (sth.) (C)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. chan</td><td>-ik</td><td>‘be torn (nC)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(4)</td><td>a. fum</td><td>-uk</td><td>‘become unstitched (nC)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. fum</td><td>-u</td><td>‘unstitch (C)’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>cf.</td><td>c. fum</td><td>-a</td><td>‘knit (C)’</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

The causal verb is derived from a noncausal verb by adding the causative derivational suffix *-ish*, as in (2). The noncausal verb in (3b) is derived from a causal verb by adding the neuter derivational suffix *-ik* (Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 179-181). The noncausal and causal verbs in (4) are derived by adding the separative intransitive derivational suffix *-uk*, and the separative transitive derivational suffix *-u* (Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 185-186), respectively. Haspelmath (1993: 91) distinguishes three main types of noncausal/causal<fnref n="1" /> verb alternations based on morphological markedness relations. These are causative, anticausative, and non-directed alternations. The non-directed alternation is further subdivided into labile, equipollent, and suppletive alternations. Haspelmath’s classification of noncausal/causal verb alternations can be summarised as follows:

- Causative alternation: The causal verb is derived from the noncausal verb.

- Anticausative alternation: The noncausal verb is derived from the causal verb.

- Equipollent alternation: Both noncausal/causal verbs are marked.

- Labile alternation: The same form denotes both the noncausal and causal meaning.

<footnote n="1">1. Haspelmath (1993) uses the term “inchoative/causative alternation”. Strictly speaking, “noncausal/causal alternation” is a broader alternation than the inchoative/causative alternation. In this paper, however, I do not make a distinction between these two terms, and use “noncausal/causal alternation”. See also the introduction to this issue.</footnote>
- Suppletive alternation: The noncausal and causal meanings are expressed by different, lexically unrelated verb roots.

According to this classification, the verb pairs in (2), (3), and (4) display causative, anticausative, and equipollent alternations, respectively.

Haspelmath (1993) examined 31 pairs of noncausal/causal verb pairs in 21 languages, including Swahili, to investigate which type of strategy different languages use to express noncausal/causal verb alternations. According to his analysis, Swahili falls into neither the causative nor the anticausative type, since his data show 11 equal pairs of causative and anticausative alternations (Haspelmath 1993: 101). However, this study finds Swahili as clearly belonging to the causative type, that is, the causative alternation has the highest rate of occurrence among all five types in the set of 31 noncausal/causal verb pairs. Crucial to this analysis is a diachronic phonological change that was not considered in Haspelmath's (1993) study. This diachronic sound change is called "spirantization", a well-known phenomenon in the study of Bantu languages (see, among others, Nurse & Hinnebusch 1993; Schadeberg 1994; Bostoen 2008).

The aim of this paper is to revisit Haspelmath's (1993) analysis of noncausal/causal verb pairs in Swahili and, taking into account this diachronic sound change, argue that Swahili is a causative type language contrary to Haspelmath's analysis. Section 2 elucidates each alternation type in Swahili, and Section 3 compares this data with Haspelmath's data. Section 4 compares data from Swahili with those from two other Bantu languages, Herero and Matengo. Section 5 discusses the correlation between the spontaneity value of noncausal verbs and markedness, as compared to that found in Comrie's analysis.

## 2. TYPES OF ALTERNATIONS IN SWAHILI

This section discusses Haspelmath's five alternation strategies based on his sample of 31 noncausal/ causal verb pairs in Swahili.

### 2.1 Causative alternation type

Causative type verb pairs comprise of a causal verb derived from its noncausal counterpart by adding a derivational suffix to it. Swahili has two different suffixes for deriving causal verbs from noncausal verbs,<fnref n="2" /> namely, -ish and -y. The causative derivational suffixes in Proto-Bantu have been reconstructed as *-ici and *-i* (Schadeberg 2003: 73; Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 173-174). These Proto-Bantu suffixes have been reconstructed as being in a relation of complementary distribution, with *-ici after consonants and *-i* after vowels (Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 174). However, the suffixes -ish and -y in Swahili are not in complementary distribution. The suffix -y seems to be a reflex of *-i, but -ish is not a reflex of *-ici*. Nurse & Hinnebusch (1993: 129) argue that the -ish suffix in Swahili is derived from the neuter suffix *-ik + causative suffix *-i*.

Examples of the suffix -ish are shown in (5)-(9).

(5) a. *gand-a* 'freeze (nC)'
   b. *gand-ish-a* 'freeze (sth.) (C)'

(6) a. *zam-a* 'sink (nC)'
   b. *zam-ish-a* 'sink (sth.) (C)'

<footnote n="2">2. There is a third causative suffix in Swahili, namely -iz (Ashton 1947: 231; Schadeberg 1992: 8; Mohammed 2001: 216). However, I did not find this suffix in noncausal/causal verb pairs. This suffix seems to be added to causal verbs, as shown below, without involving the noncausal/causal alternation. i. *um-a* 'pain, hurt (intr.)' > *um-iz-a* 'hurt (tr.)'; ii. *ap-a* 'swear' > *ap-iz-a* 'curse'; iii. *ig-a* 'copy, imitate' > *ig-iz-a* 'imitate'; iv. *pend-a* 'love' > *pend-ez-a* 'be attractive'. The suffix -iz is probably derived from the concatenation of the applicative suffix *-id and the causative suffix *-i, to which the spirantization process *d > z /_-CAUS applied (Nurse & Hinnebusch 1993: 129).</footnote>
(7) a. simam-a 'stand, stop (nC)'
b. simam-ish-a 'stand, stop (sth.) (C)'

(8) a. pand-a 'raise (nC)'
b. pand-ish-a 'rise (C)'

(9) a. yumb-a 'swing, rock (nC)'
b. yumb-ish-a 'swing, rock (sth.) (C)'

Example (10) illustrates the use of the suffix -y. The causal verb *ponya* 'cure' is derived from the noncausal verb *pona* 'recover' by adding the suffix -y.

(10) a. pon-a 'recover (nC)'
b. pon-y-a 'cure (C)'

In (10), the suffix -y is simply attached to the root pon. However, this suffix is not usually visible on the surface. For example, in (11), *chemka* is a noncausal verb meaning 'boil', and the causative verb *chemsha* is considered to have historically been *chemk-y-a*, that became *chemsha* as a result of spirantization: *k + y > sh*. The same can be seen in (12)-(16).

(11) a. chemk-a 'boil (nC)'
b. chemk-y-a > chemsha 'boil (sth.) (C)'

(12) a. kauk-a 'dry (nC)'
b. kauk-y-a > kausha 'dry (sth.) (C)'

(13) a. amk-a 'wake up (nC)'
b. amk-y-a > amsha 'wake (so.) up (C)'

(14) a. yeyuk-a 'melt, dissolve (nC)'<fnref n="3" />
b. yeyuk-y-a > yeyusha 'melt, dissolve (sth.) (C)'

(15) a. zunguk-a 'turn (nC)'
b. zunguk-y-a > zungusha 'turn (sth.) (C)'

(16) a. bingirik-a 'roll (nC)'
b. bingirik-y-a > bingirisha 'roll (sth.) (C)'

The verb roots of the noncausal verbs in (17)-(22) end with a vowel. In this case, the paired causal verb ends with *za*. It is said that noncausal verbs with roots ending with a vowel originally had a root-final *l* (Nurse & Hinnebusch 1993: 98-104), which appears only in certain environments.<fnref n="4" /> When this *l* was followed by the causative suffix -y, spirantization occurred, i.e. *l + y > z* (Schadeberg 1992: 10; 1994: 75). Therefore, the examples in (17)-(22) are pairs wherein the noncausal verb has lost its root-final *l*, and the causal verb's root-final *l* has undergone spirantization *l + y > z*.<fnref n="5" />

<footnote n="3">3. In Swahili, the same word is used for 'melt' (#13 in Haspelmath 1993) and 'dissolve' (#26 in Haspelmath 1993), as shown in (14).</footnote>

<footnote n="4">4. Schadeberg (Schadeberg 1992: 10) treats this *l* as “zero representation”, unless followed by an extension.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">5. I thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting the chronological order of these changes: first, -y is added to verbs ending with *Vl*, after which spirantization takes place, gradually turning */Vl-y-a/* into */Vz-a/*, and finally, the penultimate *l/* is dropped, changing the non-causal verbs from ending with */Vl-a/*, to ending with */V-a/*.</footnote>
(17) a. ungu-a 'burn (nC)'
b. ungu-y-a > unguza 'burn (sth.) (C)'

(18) a. ja-a 'fill (nC)'
b. ja-y-a > jaza 'fill (sth.) (C)'

(19) a. ene-a 'spread (nC)'
b. ene-y-a > eneza 'spread (sth.) (C)'

(20) a. endele-a 'develop (nC)'
b. endele-y-a > endeleza 'develop (sth.) (C)'

(21) a. pote-a 'get lost (nC)'
b. pote-y-a > poteza 'lose (C)'

(22) a. bembe-a 'swing, rock (nC)'
b. bembe-y-a > bembeza 'swing, rock (sth.) (C)'

In Swahili, 18 out of the 31 pairs examined conform to this type according to my data. I will return to a discussion of the phonological changes observed here in Section 3.

## 2.2 Anticausative alternation type

Pairs of the anticausative alternation type include acausal verb and a noncausal verb derived from the causal verb by adding -ik. Examples (23)-(29) are of this type. The causal verb *haribu* in (29), meaning ‘destroy’, is a loanword, without the final vowel -a. Because a derivational suffix is usually inserted between a verb root and the final vowel -a, loanwords without the final vowel are modified to the prototypical verbal structure through the addition of the suffix -ik and the final vowel -a.

(23) a. zim-ik-a 'go out (nC)'
b. zim-a 'put out (C)'

(24) a. maliz-ik-a 'finish (nC)'
b. maliz-a 'finish (sth.) (C)'

(25) a. ung-ik-a 'connect, be connected (nC)'
b. ung-a 'connect (sth.) (C)'

(26) a. kusany-ik-a 'gather, be gathered (nC)'
b. kusany-a 'gather (sth.) (C)'

(27) a. vunj-ik-a 'break, be broken (nC)'
b. vunj-a 'break (sth.) (C)'

(28) a. fung-ik-a 'close, be closed (nC)'
b. fung-a 'close (sth.) (C)'

(29) a. haribu 'destroy, be destroyed (nC)'
b. haribu-ika > haribika 'destroy (sth.) (C)'

Example (30) illustrates a different type of derivation of the noncausal verb from the causal form.
(30) a. ji-funz-a 'learn (nC)'
b. funz-a 'teach (C)'

The causal verb *funz-a* in (30b) is the result of causativization of *fund-a* ‘teach a child household and cultural matters’ derived with the suffix -y. By further adding the reflexive prefix ji- to *funz-a*, the noncausative *ji-funz-a* is obtained as in (30a), meaning ‘learn’. In this case, the noncausal verb is derived from the causal form, and the pair thus belongs to the anticausative type.<fnref n="6" /> Altogether, 8 out of the 31 Swahili pairs are of the anticausative type.

## 2.3 Equipollent alternation type

In the equipollent alternation type, both the noncausal and causal forms are equally marked by derivational suffixes. The noncausal verb is derived by adding -uk to the verb root, and -u to the causal verb in Swahili.

(31) a. fung-uk-a 'open, be open (nC)'
b. fung-u-a 'open (sth.) (C)'
cf. c. fung-a 'close (sth.) (C)'
d. fung-uk-a 'close (nC)'
e. fung-u-a 'open (C)'
f. fung-a 'close (C)'
g. fung-uk-a 'split, be split (nC)'
h. fung-u-a 'split (sth.) (C)'
i. fung-uk-a 'split, be split (nC)'
j. fung-u-a 'split (sth.) (C)'
k. fung-uk-a 'split, be split (nC)'
l. fung-u-a 'split, be split (sth.) (C)'
m. fung-uk-a 'split, be split (nC)'
n. fung-u-a 'split, be split (sth.) (C)'
p. fung-uk-a 'split, be split (nC)'
q. fung-u-a 'split, be split (sth.) (C)'

(32) a. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
b. pas-u-a ‘split (sth.) (C)’
c. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
d. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
e. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
f. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
g. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
h. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
i. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
j. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
k. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
l. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
m. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
n. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’
p. pas-uk-a ‘split, be split (nC)’
q. pas-u-a ‘split, be split (sth.) (C)’

These suffixes are called separative intransitive<fnref n="7" /> and separative transitive or reversive suffixes (Schadeberg 1992: 9; 2003: 72; Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 173). The pair of the separative intransitive and separative transitive typically conveys the opposite meaning to that expressed in their root (Ashton 1947: 238). For example, the verb *funga* in (31c) means ‘close’, and *fung-uk-a* (31a) and *fung-u-a* (31b) mean ‘open, be open (nC)’ and ‘open (C)’, respectively. The common verb root is not always attested, as in (32). However, both noncausal and causal verbs share the same root.

Another equipollent suffix alternation is shown in (33).

(33) a. geu-uk-a > geuka<fnref n="8" /> ‘change (nC)’
b. geu-y-a > geuza ‘change (sth.) (C)’
c. geu-a ‘change, make different, alter (C)’ (Johnson 1939:113)

The causal verb *geua* ‘change (C)’ in (33c) is historically *geula*. With the addition of the causative suffix -y, it became *geuza* in (33b), due to the spirantization rule *l + y > z*. Thus, both *geua* and *geuza* are causal. However, *geua* only appears in an old dictionary by Johnson (1939), while recent dictionaries treat *geuza* as the transitive counterpart of the intransitive *geuka* (BAKITA 2010; 2015;

<footnote n="6">6. Also the derived verb *-fund-ish-a* is commonly used for ‘teach’. Both *-funza* (*fund-y-a* > *funza*) and *-fund-ish-a* are causatives of *fund-a*. Therefore, the *funda/funza* (or *fundisha*) pair could be possible, and seems to be of the causative alternation type. However, the underived form *fund-a* is not its noncausal counterpart but a causal verb itself, meaning ‘teach a child household and cultural matters’ (Mohamed 2011: 165). The derived verb *-funza* means ‘teach especially moral values’ (Mohamed 2011: 169), and *-fund-ish-a* means ‘teach, instruct, educate’ (Mohamed 2011: 165). Since *-fund-ish-a* is commonly used for ‘teach’, it is also possible to analyze it as belonging to the equipollent type: *-ji-fund-y-a* (nC)/*-fund-ish-a* (C). I thank one of the reviewers for this suggestion.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">7. Dom (2014: 81) suggests that the separative intransitive *-ok* could be a contracted form of the separative transitive *-ol*, followed by the neuter *-ik* diachronically, that is, before Proto-Bantu. In that case, the pairs in (31) and (32) can be treated as belonging to the anticausative type. However, this paper treats the suffix -uk as a single affix, just as -ish.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">8. I thank one of the reviewers for suggesting that *geuka* might have only the separative intransitive suffix -uk, i.e. *-ge-uk-a*, and that its causal counterpart *geuza* historically comes from *ge-ul-y-a* (cf. Nurse & Hinnebusch’s (1993: 587) Proto-Sabaki reconstructions *-galuk-* ‘change’ and *-galul-* ‘change’ (CB *-gàd-)).</footnote>
Mohamed 2001; 2013: TATAKI; 2014). Haspelmath (1993: 119) lists both *geua* and *geuza* as causal verbs, and analyses them as anticausative and equipollent types, respectively.

(34) Haspelmath (1993: 119); cf. verb pair #25 in Appendix 1

a. *geu-a* ‘change (C)’/*geu-k-a* ‘change (nC)’ Anticausative type

b. *geu-z-a* ‘change (C)’/*geu-k-a* ‘change (nC)’ Equipollent type

While *guea* as in (34a) is not incorrect, *geuza* is much more commonly used nowadays. Almost 100 years ago, Johnson (1939: 113) noted that *geuza* was generally used to mean ‘change, make (sth.) different, alter’. Therefore, this study uses *geuza* only as the causal counterpart of the noncausal verb *geuka*.

Overall, 3 out of the 31 pairs are of the equipollent alternation type in Swahili.

## 2.4 Labile alternation type

In the labile alternation type, the same form is used for both the noncausal and causal counterparts of the pair. Only one of the 31 Swahili pairs is of this type. This is shown in (35).

(35) a. *Shule* *i-me-anz-a*. ‘begin, start (nC)’
9.school SM9-PRF-begin-FV
‘School has started.’

b. *Tu-me-anz-a* *shule*. ‘begin, start (sth.) (C)’
SM1PL-PRF-begin-FV 9.school
‘We have started school.’

## 2.5 Suppletive alternation type

Pairs of the suppletive alternation type use different verb roots for the noncausal and causal meanings.

Again, only one pair of this type is found in Swahili, that is, ‘die’ and ‘kill’, as shown in (36).

(36) a. *f-a* ‘die’

b. *u-a* ‘kill’

The pair ‘die/kill’ belongs to the suppletive type in 16 out of the 21 languages investigated by Haspelmath (1993), and Swahili is one of them.

In the total of 31 verb pairs considered here, only 5 pairs in Swahili are of the non-directed type, that is, an equipollent, labile, or suppletive alternations.

## 3. COMPARISON WITH HASPELMATH’S ANALYSIS

As already seen, of the 31 Swahili verb pairs, 18 are causative, 8 are anticausative, 3 are equipollent, 1 is labile, and another 1 is suppletive. Although Haspelmath’s (1993) analysis suggests that Swahili prefers neither the causative nor anticausative type, the present study argues that Swahili clearly leans towards the causative type. Table 1 compares the results of this study with those of Haspelmath’s.
<table><caption>Table 1 — Number of pairs per alternation type</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>My analysis</th><th>Haspelmath (1993)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Causative</td><td>18</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Anticausative</td><td>8</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Equipollent</td><td>3</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Labile</td><td>1</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Suppletive</td><td>1</td><td>1</td></tr></tbody></table>

According to Haspelmath's analysis, 11 of the 31 pairs belong to the causative type, and 11 pairs belong to the anticausative type. However, the current analysis finds 18 pairs belonging to the causative type, and only 8 pairs belonging to the anticausative type. The crucial difference between these two analyses lies in the treatment of pairs such as those presented in (37). While Haspelmath treated them as equipollent, this study classifies them as belonging to the causative type (see Appendix 1).

(37) Noncausal Causal

a. *chemka* *chemsha* ‘boil’

b. *kauka* *kausha* ‘dry’

c. *amka* *amsha* ‘wake up’

d. *yeyuka* *yeyusha* ‘melt, dissolve’

e. *zunguka* *zungusha* ‘turn’

At first glance, these pairs appear to be derived from the derivational suffix -k(a) for noncausal verbs, and -sh(a) or -z(a) for causal verbs. In other words, they seem to be of the equipollent type, wherein both the noncausal and causal verbs are derived from the same root. However, this is only an analysis of the verbs' surface forms. As discussed in Section 2.1, spirantization has occurred on the causal verbs in these pairs, with the addition of the causative suffix -y to the root-final k. This phonological change, triggered by the suffix -y, occurred not only with k, but also with other consonants (Polomé 1967; Schadeberg 1992; Mpiranya 2015), as shown in (38)-(41). The noncausal verb *ingia* in (41a) was originally *ingila*, with the root-final *l* (Nurse & Hinnebusch 1993: 98-104), and spirantization occurred when that *l* was followed by the causative derivation suffix -y (Schadeberg 1992: 10).

$t + y > sh$

(38) a. *pit-a* ‘pass (nC)’

b. *pit-y-a > pisha* ‘let (so.) pass (C)’

$p + y > fy$

(39) a. *ogop-a* ‘be frightened (nC)’

b. *ogop-y-a > ogofya* ‘frighten (C)’

$l + y > z$

(40) a. *lal-a* ‘lay down, sleep (nC)’

b. *lal-y-a > laza* ‘lay (so.) in bed (C)’

(41) a. *ingil-a > ingia* ‘get in (nC)’

b. *ingil-y-a > ingiza* ‘put (sth.) in (C)’
Spirantization is a regular phonological change in Swahili (Polomé 1967; Schadeberg 1992; Bostoen 2008). The phenomenon of the causative suffix -y triggering spirantization is not restricted to Swahili, but is widely observed across Bantu languages (Schadeberg 1994; Nurse & Hinnebusch 1993; Bostoen 2008, among others Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019). Also, Swahili does not have verb roots such as *chema*, *kaua*, *ama*, and *yeyua*,<fnref n="9" /> corresponding to (37). These facts suggest that it is more appropriate to consider these pairs as belonging to the causative type derivation, instead of the equipollent type derivation, with the derivational suffix -y. If the diachronic phonological alternation is taken into account, one would find that Swahili clearly leans towards the causative type.<fnref n="10" />

The reason why Haspelmath did not find this clear causative tendency in Swahili is because spirantization was not considered. Moreover, there are additional problems with the list he used. While *anza*, meaning ‘begin’, is the only verb pair belonging to the labile type as found in this study, Haspelmath considers it as representative of the causative alternation type, as shown in (42) (cf. verb pair 16 in Appendix 1).

<table><thead><tr><th>(42)</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a. Haspelmath (1993)</td><td><i>anza</i></td><td><i>anz-ish-a</i> 'begin'</td></tr><tr><td>b. This paper</td><td><i>anza</i></td><td><i>anza</i> 'begin'</td></tr></tbody></table>

However, *anzisha*, meaning ‘establish, set up’ (Mohamed 2011: 21) is not the causal counterpart of *anza*, meaning ‘begin’. Other examples of inappropriate translations include *yonga*, that is, ‘stagger’ for ‘rock’ (verb pair #23 in Appendix 1), and the pair of *fanya ujambo/pata ujambo*, that is, ‘make goodness/get goodness’ for ‘improve’ (verb pair #22 in Appendix 1). Moreover, Haspelmath provides passive forms for the noncausal counterparts of the causal verbs *unga*, meaning ‘connect’ (verb pair #24 in Appendix 1), and *funga*, meaning ‘close’ (verb pair #29 in Appendix 1). However, these verbs have the noncausal forms *ungika* and *fungika* as noncausal counterparts, respectively. This could have made a difference in the analysis.

## 4. COMPARISON WITH OTHER BANTU LANGUAGES: HERERO AND MATENGO

Table 2 compares similar datasets from Herero, spoken in Namibia, and Matengo, spoken in Tanzania, with the Swahili data. The Swahili data are provided in Appendix 1, and the Herero (Yoneda 2014a) and Matengo (Yoneda 2014b) data are provided in Appendix 2.

<table><caption>Table 2 — Comparison of Swahili with Herero and Matengo
(Yoneda 2014a; Yoneda 2014b; Yoneda 2014c; updated 2022)</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Swahili</th><th>Herero</th><th>Matengo</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Causative</td><td>18</td><td>15</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Anticausative</td><td>8</td><td>4</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Equipollent</td><td>3</td><td>8</td><td>16</td></tr><tr><td>Labile</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Suppletive</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>31</td><td>31</td><td>29</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="9">9. Although *zungua* (cf. 37e) is no longer used today, and does not appear in modern dictionaries (BAKITA 2010; 2015; Mohamed 2001; TATAKI 2013; 2014), it is included in Johnson (1939: 546) as a causal verb with the meaning ‘cause to go round, turn round, etc’. (Recall the case of *geua* in (33).)</footnote>

<footnote n="10">10. The data in Nichols et al. (2004), which investigate the noncausal/causal alternation (but with different terminology from Haspelmath 1993) in 80 languages, including Swahili, using 18 basic verb pairs, show the causative tendency in Swahili, although not as clearly as the data of this study.</footnote>
The Matengo data are incomplete because only 29 of the 31 pairs are attested, yet, Table 2 shows a clear tendency in Swahili for the causative alternation type. Herero, where 15 of the 31 pairs belong to the causative alternation type, shows a similar tendency but the prominence of the causative alternation is slightly more robust in Swahili. Furthermore, Swahili has only a small number of non-directed alternations. Unlike Swahili and Herero, Matengo shows a clear tendency for the equipollent type.

Herero exhibits only one morphological strategy for causative correspondence, in the surveyed noncausal/causal pairs, that is, the derivational suffix -is. On the other hand, the causative strategy for noncausal/causal alternations in Matengo is more complicated. Matengo does not have a productive causative suffix, such as -ish in Swahili, and its derivational processes are not always transparent. There are 5 causative pairs in the Matengo dataset, each of which has a different derivational process. In (43), the causal verb is formed by deriving the noncausal member with the suffix -ik, in (44) with the suffix -i, no suffix is added in (45) and (46), and the root-final consonant k changes to h in (47).

<table><tr><td>(43)</td><td>a. dzem-a</td><td>'stop (nC)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. dzem-ik-a > dzemeka</td><td>'stop (sth.) (C)'</td></tr><tr><td>(44)</td><td>a. lam-a</td><td>'improve (nC)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. lam-i-a</td><td>'improve (C)'</td></tr><tr><td>(45)</td><td>a. bel-a (&gt; be-el-a?)</td><td>'boil (nC)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. be-a</td><td>'boil (water) (C)'</td></tr><tr><td>(46)</td><td>a. hɔb-a</td><td>'get lost (nC)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. hɔ-a</td><td>'lose (C)'</td></tr><tr><td>(47)</td><td>a. juk-a</td><td>'rock (nC)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. ju(h)-a</td><td>'rock (sth.) (C)'</td></tr></table>

The suffix -ik in (43) is possibly the impositive suffix that typically expresses direct causation (Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 178-179). The suffix -i in (44) seems to be a reflex of the short causative *-i in Proto-Bantu (Schadeberg 2003: 73; Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019: 173-174). The analysis of (45)-(47) is more challenging. It is possible to consider bela as be-el-a in (45a), derived from the unmarked causal verb bea in (45b) with an applicative suffix. In this case, the alternation type would be anti-causative instead of causative. However, the same analysis does not work for (46).<fnref n="11" /> A possible alternative account of the causative strategy in (45) and (46) is the deletion of the root-final consonant. There are a few more (although non-productive) noncausal/causal pairs that show the same kind of formal alternation in Matengo (48).

<table><thead><tr><th>(48)</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>booka</td><td>booa 'move/move (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>pita</td><td>pia 'be out/let (sth.) out'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>pjopa</td><td>pjoa 'be warm/make (sth.) warm'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>dʒɔgɔpa</td><td>dʒɔgɔa 'be frightened/frighten'</td></tr></tbody></table>

This could be a case of over-application caused by the appearance of the -uk/-u, or -ik/-i pairs. The causal forms seem to have been derived from their noncausal counterparts by deleting the root-final consonant. Another account of this could be the deletion of the Cj at the verb root-final. Yoneda (2000: 158) noted that since the combination Cj never appears at the verb root-final in the present

<footnote n="11">11. A sequence of identical vowels is realized as a long vowel, e.g. *su-ul-a* > *suula* [su:la] 'sink (nC)' (verb pair #7 in Appendix 2).</footnote>
form of Matengo, it is possible that the pair was originally CVC vs. CVC-i-a > CVCja, wherein the -i was suffixed for causative alternation, and the Cj at the root-final was diachronically deleted, resulting in CVa.

However, it is more likely for spirantization to be relevant here. As examples (45)-(48) show, the consonants that have been deleted are all stops. If we consider that lenition has occurred along the spirantization cline, such as stop /_CAUS -i > /h/, it is /h/, not Cj, that has been dropped. It is more plausible that the /h/ was deleted because /h/ in-between vowels is often not pronounced in Matengo, as can also be seen in (47).<fnref n="12" /> Since the causative strategy in Matengo is outside the scope of this paper, further discussion on this is reserved for future research.

## 5. THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SPONTANEITY OF NONCAUSAL VERBS AND MARKEDNESS

Previous studies claimed that the more spontaneous a noncausal verb event, the less morphologically and cognitively marked the noncausal verb form, and the less spontaneous a noncausal verb event, the less morphologically and cognitively marked the causal verb form (Haspelmath 1993; 2016; Comrie 2006, among others). For example, it is usual for something to freeze or dry spontaneously or for someone to wake up spontaneously; hence, the verb denoting this noncausal event is less marked than the verb expressing the causal event. Similarly, it is more usual for something to open, break or close due to some external force, rather than spontaneously; hence, verbs denoting these causal events are less marked than their noncausal counterparts (Comrie 2006: 307). Haspelmath (1993: 104) rearranged the 31 pairs in ascending order of their anticausative/causative ratio, from the highest to the lowest (cf. ordering in Appendix 1 and 2), in order to investigate the correlation between the spontaneity of noncausal verbs and the markedness of noncausal vs. causal verbs.<fnref n="13" /> Comrie (2006) uses this rearranged list of 30 pairs, after omitting the ‘die/kill’ pair that is most likely encoded as suppletive across languages (2006: 307). According to the markedness hypothesis, the causative type alternation should be more common in the first half (verb pairs #1-15) of the table than in the second half (verb pairs #16-30), and vice versa for the anticausative alternation.

However, in Haspelmath’s Swahili data, 5,5 causative pairs appear in the first half, while 6 pairs appear in the second half (Comrie 2006: 306). Therefore, in Swahili, a slightly higher number of causative pairs are attested in the second half than in the first half. Based on this observation, Comrie (2006: 308) concludes that Swahili is an exception to his own hypothesis.

<table><caption>Table 3 — Correlation between the spontaneity of noncausal verbs and their markedness</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th colspan="2">Analysis in this paper</th><th colspan="2">Analysis in Comrie (2006) based on Haspelmath's (1993) data</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>Verb pairs</th><td>#1-15</td><td>#16-30</td><td>#1-15</td><td>#16-30</td></tr><tr><th>Anticausative</th><td>4</td><td>4</td><td>4</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><th>Causative</th><td>11</td><td>7</td><td>5.5</td><td>6</td></tr></tbody></table>

However, as Table 3 shows, according to the alternative analysis that takes spirantization into account, 11 causative alternation pairs appear in the first half, while 7 pairs appear in the second half (see also Appendix 1).

<footnote n="12">12. Another possible analysis could involve classifying the pairs in (48) as partial suppletive, wherein the roots are partly cognate, but not related by any direct morphological process (Nichols et al. 2004: 159; Dom et al. this issue). Thanks to Sebastian Dom for this suggestion.</footnote>

<footnote n="13">13. This hypothesis has been modified in Haspelmath et al. (2014) to the form-frequency hypothesis: the member of the noncausal/causal pair with a higher frequency in language use (observable via corpus research) has a higher chance of being morphologically simpler (underived), and the member with a lower frequency of use has a higher chance of being morphologically more complex (derived).</footnote>
(49) Causative alternation type among verb pairs #1-15

<table><tr><td>a.</td><td>chemka/chemsha</td><td>'boil'</td><td>f.</td><td>yeyuka/yeyusha</td><td>'melt, dissolve'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ganda/gandisha</td><td>'freeze'</td><td>g.</td><td>simama/simamisha</td><td>'stop'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>kauka/kausha</td><td>'dry'</td><td>h.</td><td>zunguka/zungusha</td><td>'turn'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>amka/amsha</td><td>'wake up'</td><td>i.</td><td>ungua/unguza</td><td>'burn'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>zama/zamisha</td><td>'sink'</td><td>j.</td><td>jaa/jaza</td><td>'fill'</td></tr></table>

(50) Causative alternation type among verb pairs #16-30

<table><tr><td>a.</td><td>enea/eneza</td><td>'spread'</td><td>e.</td><td>panda/pandisha</td><td>'rise/raise'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>bingirisha/bingirisha</td><td>'roll'</td><td>f.</td><td>pona/ponya</td><td>'improve (heal)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>endelea/endeleza</td><td>'develop'</td><td>g.</td><td>yumba/yumbisha</td><td>'rock'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>potea/poteza</td><td>'get lost/lose'</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

Although the number of anticausative types among the verb pairs #1-15 and #16-30 is the same, and does not support the markedness hypothesis, the number of causative types confirms that Swahili is not an exception to, but rather a confirmation of, Comrie's (2006) hypothesis.

## 6. CONCLUSION

This paper argues that, based on a sample of 31 verb pairs, the causative strategy is preferred for encoding the noncausal/causal alternation in Swahili. This study refines previous findings by considering the historical sound change of spirantization. The prominence of the causative strategy in Swahili is made even clearer through comparison with other Bantu languages such as Herero and Matengo, with the latter showings. The causative type, therefore, is not a cross-Bantu tendency. Some Bantu languages, like Matengo, show an equipollent tendency. Swahili, instead, has a low number of non-causal/causal verb pairs with a non-directed alternation.

Interestingly, this investigation of the noncausal/causal alternation indicates variation not only in the type but also in the strategies of both causative and anticausative alternations across Bantu languages. Although a micro-variation study is not the topic of this paper, further research would be worthwhile, not only on the tendency of alternation types, but also on cross-Bantu variation in causative and anticausative strategies.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper is based on my presentation at the 10th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL), 9 June, 2021, held online at Leiden University. I would like to thank all those who gave me helpful comments during and after the conference. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editors for their helpful comments. Of course, any mistakes and misunderstandings are my own responsibility. This research has been conducted under the financial support of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Nos. 18K00538 and 19K00550) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

## ABBREVIATIONS

APPL applicative suffix

CAUS causative suffix

C causal

DS derivational suffix

FV final vowel

IND indicative

nC noncausal
OM object marker

PL plural

PRF perfect

PST past

SG singular

SM subject marker

TAM tense/aspect marker

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<table><caption>APPENDIX 1: NONCAUSAL AND CAUSAL PAIRS IN SWAHILI</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="6">Analysis in this paper: Yoneda (2014c; updated 2022)</th></tr><tr><th></th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1. boil</td><td>chemk-a</td><td>chemk-y-a > chemsha</td><td>C</td><td>chem-k-a</td><td>chem-sh-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>2. freeze</td><td>gand-a</td><td>gand-ish-a</td><td>C</td><td>gand-a</td><td>gand-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>3. dry</td><td>kauk-a</td><td>kauk-y-a > kausha</td><td>C</td><td>kau-k-a</td><td>kau-sh-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>4. wake up</td><td>amk-a</td><td>amk-y-a > amsha</td><td>C</td><td>am-k-a</td><td>am-sh-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>5. put out</td><td>zim-ik-a</td><td>zim-a</td><td>A</td><td>zim-ik-a</td><td>zim-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>6. sink</td><td>zam-a</td><td>zam-ish-a</td><td>C</td><td>zam-a</td><td>zam-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>7. learn/teach</td><td>ji-funz-a</td><td>funz-a<br>(fund-ish-a)</td><td>A<br>(E?)</td><td>fund-a</td><td>fund-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>8. melt</td><td>yeyuk-a</td><td>yeyuk-y-a > yeyusha</td><td>C</td><td>yeyu-k-a</td><td>yeyu-sh-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>9. stop</td><td>simam-a</td><td>simam-ish-a</td><td>C</td><td>simam-a</td><td>simam-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>10. turn</td><td>zunguk-a</td><td>zunguk-y-a > zungusha</td><td>C</td><td>zungu-a</td><td>zungu-sh-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>11. dissolve</td><td>yeyuk-a</td><td>yeyuk-y-a > yeyusha</td><td>C</td><td>zungu-k-a</td><td>zungu-k-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>12. burn</td><td>ungu-a</td><td>ungu-y-a > unguza</td><td>C</td><td>ungu-k-a</td><td>ungu-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>13. destroy</td><td>harib-ik-a</td><td>haribu</td><td>A</td><td>harib-ik-a</td><td>haribu</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>14. fill</td><td>ja-a</td><td>ja-y-a > jaza</td><td>C</td><td>ja-a</td><td>ja-z-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>15. finish</td><td>maliz-ik-a</td><td>maliz-a</td><td>A</td><td>maliz-ik-a</td><td>maliz-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>16. begin</td><td>anz-a</td><td>anz-a</td><td>L</td><td>anz-a</td><td>anz-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>17. spread</td><td>ene-a</td><td>ene-y-a > enez-a</td><td>C</td><td>ene-a</td><td>ene-z-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>18. roll</td><td>bingirik-a</td><td>bingirik-y-a > bingirisha</td><td>C</td><td>bingir-ik-a</td><td>bingir-ish-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>19. develop</td><td>endele-a</td><td>endele-y-a > endeleza</td><td>C</td><td>sitawi</td><td>sitawi-sh-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>20. get lost/lose</td><td>pote-a</td><td>pote-y-a > poteza</td><td>C</td><td>pote-a</td><td>pote-z-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>21. rise/raise</td><td>pand-a</td><td>pand-ish-a</td><td>C</td><td>inu-k-a</td><td>inu-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>pand-a</td><td>pand-ish-a</td><td>C</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><thead><tr><th colspan="6">Analysis in this paper: Yoneda (2014c; updated 2022)</th></tr><tr><th></th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>22. improve</td><td>pon-a</td><td>pon-y-a</td><td>C</td><td>fanya ujambo</td><td>pata ujambo</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>23. rock</td><td>yumb-a<br>bembe-a</td><td>yumb-ish-a<br>bembe-y-a > bembeza</td><td>C</td><td>yong-a</td><td>yong-esh-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>24. connect</td><td>ung-ik-a</td><td>ung-a</td><td>A</td><td>ung-w-a</td><td>ung-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>25. change</td><td>geu-ik-a > geuka</td><td>geu-y-a > geuza</td><td>E</td><td>geu-k-a</td><td>geu-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>26. gather</td><td>kusany-ik-a</td><td>kusany-a</td><td>A</td><td>kusany-ik-a</td><td>kusany-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>27. open</td><td>fung-uk-a</td><td>fung-u-a</td><td>E</td><td>fungu-k-a</td><td>fungu-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>28. break</td><td>vunj-ik-a</td><td>vunj-a</td><td>A</td><td>vunj-ik-a</td><td>vunj-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>29. close</td><td>fung-ik-a</td><td>fung-a</td><td>A</td><td>fung-w-a</td><td>fung-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>30. split</td><td>pas-uk-a</td><td>pas-u-a</td><td>E</td><td>pasu-k-a</td><td>pasu-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>31. die/kill</td><td>f-a</td><td>u-a</td><td>S</td><td>fa</td><td>ua</td><td>S</td></tr></tbody></table>

A: anticausative type

C: causative type

E: equipollent type

Grey areas: The analysis differs from that of this paper

L: labile type

S: suppletive type
<table><caption>APPENDIX 2: NONCAUSAL AND CAUSAL PAIRS IN HERERO AND MATENGO</caption><thead><tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th colspan="3">Herero (Yoneda 2014a; updated 2022)</th><th colspan="3">Matengo (Yoneda 2014b; updated 2022)</th></tr><tr><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1. boil</td><td>sum-a</td><td>sum-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>bel-a</td><td>bel-i-a > bea</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>2. freeze</td><td>kukut-a</td><td>kukut-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>3. dry</td><td>kah-a</td><td>kah-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>d3om-a</td><td>jah-a</td><td>S</td></tr><tr><td>4. wake up</td><td>pend-uk-a</td><td>pend-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>d3im-uk-a</td><td>d3im-ur-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>5. put out</td><td>zem-a</td><td>zem-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>sus-uk-a</td><td>sus-ur-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>6. sink</td><td>nïn-ïw-a</td><td>nïn-is-a</td><td>E</td><td>su-ul-a</td><td>su-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>7. learn/teach</td><td>ri-hong-a</td><td>hong-a</td><td>A</td><td>li-bool-a</td><td>bool-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>8. melt</td><td>zuz-uk-a</td><td>zuz-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>juyajn-uk-a</td><td>juyajn-u(l)-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>9. stop</td><td>kuram-a</td><td>kuram-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>d3em-a</td><td>d3em-ek-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>10. turn</td><td>kondorok-a</td><td>kondorok-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>hjongal-ok-a</td><td>hjongal-o(l)-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>11. dissolve</td><td>rungan-a</td><td>rungan-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>juyajn-uk-a</td><td>juyajn-u(l)-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>12. burn</td><td>ningirir-a</td><td>ningirir-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>tin-ik-a</td><td>tin-i(l)-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>13. destroy</td><td>yandek-w-a</td><td>yandek-a</td><td>A</td><td>bomb-ok-a</td><td>bomb-ol-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>14. fill</td><td>ur-a</td><td>ur-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>pat-ik-a</td><td>pat-il-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>15. finish</td><td>yaand-a</td><td>man-a</td><td>S</td><td>d3om-3k-a</td><td>d3om-3l-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>16. begin</td><td>ut-a</td><td>ut-a</td><td>L</td><td>tumb-uk-a</td><td>tumb-ul-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>17. spread</td><td>nyotor-ok-a</td><td>nyotor-or-a</td><td>E</td><td>hatamb-uk-a</td><td>hatamb-ul-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>18. roll</td><td>randat-a</td><td>randat-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>hingal-ik-a</td><td>hingal-il-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>19. develop</td><td>kur-a</td><td>kur-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>20. get lost/lose</td><td>pandjar-a</td><td>pandjar-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>h3b-a</td><td>h3b-i-a > h3-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>21. rise/raise</td><td>rond-a</td><td>rond-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>kwe3l-a</td><td>tondabe-a</td><td>S</td></tr><tr><td>22. improve</td><td>ver-uk-a</td><td>ver-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>lam-a</td><td>lam-i-a</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>23. rock</td><td>nyinganying-a</td><td>nyinganying-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>juk-a</td><td>juk-i-a > juu(h)a</td><td>C</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><thead><tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th colspan="3">Herero (Yoneda 2014a; updated 2022)</th><th colspan="3">Matengo (Yoneda 2014b; updated 2022)</th></tr><tr><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th><th>Noncausal</th><th>Causal</th><th>Type</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>24. connect</td><td>ri-kut-a</td><td>kut-a</td><td>A</td><td>li-mamatik-a</td><td>mamatik-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>25. change</td><td>tana-uk-a</td><td>tana-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>balil-ik-a</td><td>balil-is-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>26. gather</td><td>worongan-a</td><td>worongan-is-a</td><td>C</td><td>dʒɔl-ɔk-a</td><td>dʒɔl-a</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>27. open</td><td>patur-uk-a</td><td>patur-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>hog-ok-a</td><td>hog-ol-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>28. break</td><td>te-ek-a > teka</td><td>te-a > teya</td><td>A</td><td>tun-uk-a</td><td>tun-ul-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>haha-uk-a</td><td>haha-ur-a</td><td>E</td><td>kadz-uk-a</td><td>kadz-ul-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>kɔŋ-ɔk-a</td><td>kɔŋ-ɔl-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>29. close</td><td>pat-a</td><td>pat-a</td><td>L</td><td>dʒigil-a</td><td>dʒigil-a</td><td>L</td></tr><tr><td>30. split</td><td>haŋ-ik-a</td><td>haŋ-a</td><td>A</td><td>bal-uk-a</td><td>bal-ul-a</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>po-ok-a > poka</td><td>po-or-a > pora</td><td>E</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>31. die/kill</td><td>kok-a</td><td>zep-a</td><td>S</td><td>(ku)h-a</td><td>kɔm-a</td><td>S</td></tr></tbody></table>

A: anticausative type L: labile type

C: causative type S: suppletive type

E: equipollent type