(85) a. cʰéji ne-kɛ̈-səγ-cʰiʔ=nəʔ mimʔ=cə
beer IPFV-GENR-CAUS-be.sweet=DEM be.tasty=MED
‘Beer is tasty when one allows it to sweeten (naturally and gradually).’

b. cʰéji ne-kɛ̈-wɛ̈-cʰiʔ=nəʔ mimʔ=cə
beer IPFV-GENR-CAUS-be.sweet=DEM be.tasty=MED
‘Beer is tasty when one sweetens it (e.g. by adding sugar).’

In Japhug, it is not completely clear whether a semantic contrast of the same type is attested. Minimal pairs such as *sux-cʰi* and *yɛ̃-cʰi* from *cʰi* ‘be sweet’ or *sux-tçur* and *yɛ̃-tçur* from *tçur* ‘be sour’ do exist, but no consistent semantic difference appears to exist between them.

Examples (86) and (87) suggest that the causative *sux-tçur* means ‘make sour’ rather than ‘make more sour’ as would be expected following Sun’s analysis of Tshobdun.<fnref n="13" />

(86) tce ty̆jko mŭ-ty̆-tçur tce, ngolo ŭ-mat nŭ
LNK pickle NEG-AOR-be.sour LNK Ribes.stenocarpum 3SG.POSS-fruit DEM
pú̆-wy̆-pʰŭtut tce, tce ty̆rca pjú̆-wy̆-yγ-la tce, tce ty̆jko
IPFV-INV-take.off LNK LNK together IPFV-INV-CAUS-SOAK LNK LNK pickle
pjw̆-sŭx-tçur cʰa.
IPFV-CAUS-be.sour can:FACT

‘When the pickleᵢ is not sour, one picks fruits from the *Ribes stenocarpum*ᵢ, soaks them together [with itᵢ], and itᵢ can make the pickle sour.’ (18-NGolo) {0003530#S25}

(87) w-tw-tcur kw tw-kwr w-ngw
3SG.POSS-NMLZ:DEG-be.sour ERG GENR.POSS-mouth 3SG.POSS-inside
lú-wy-rku qʰe maka p̥u-su̥-ymu̥-zyu̥t qʰe,
IPFV:UPSTREAM-INV-put.in LNK at.all IPFV-CAUS-DISTR-reach LNK
tu̥-pʰo̥ŋbu ra kuŋx p̥u-su̥x-tcur kw-fse cti
GENR.POSS-body PL also SENS-CAUS-be.sour SBJ:PCP-be lik e be.AFF:FACT
'It is so sour that when one puts it into one's mouth, it makes everything
[sour in an even way], as if one's whole body becomes sour.' (09-mi)
{0003466#S60}

<footnote n="13">¹³In the case of (86), it is possible that *ty̆jko mŭ-ty̆-tçur* can be contextually translated as ‘when the pickle is not sour *enough*’, and that therefore the verb *pju̥-su̥x-tçur* does indeed mean ‘make more sour’. Tshendzin proposed conflicting interpretations of this example. The occurrence of *su̥x-tçur* in (87) however is incompatible with an analysis in terms of heightened degree.</footnote>
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

In addition, example (88) shows that the velar causative ɣɣ-tcur is not incom-
patible with the meaning ‘make more sour’. It is possible that other semantic
parameters (such as direct/indirect causation and volitionality) are at play in the
choice of the two prefixes.

(88) <cai> *u-tu̯-tcur* múj-rtaк tce, <cu>
dish 3SG.POSS-NMLZ:DEG-be.SOUR NEG:SENS-be.enough LNK, vinegar
pu̯-lat-a tce pu̯-ɣ-tcur-a
AOR-release-1SG LNK AOR-CAUS-be.sour-1SG
‘As the dish was not sour enough, I added vinegar to make it soure.’
(elicit)

The only verb root that has sigmatic and velar causative forms with clearly dif-
ferent meanings is *mto*, a labile verb meaning ‘see’ when conjugated transitively,
and ‘have sharp eyesight’ when intransitive (§14.5.1.2). The sigmatic causative
*sw-mto*, based on the transitive use of *mto*, means ‘let see, show’ as in (89).

(89) kuki tɣ-ndym tce, [...] zimkʰym u-ku, tcʰi
DEM.PROX IMP-take[III] LNK world 3SG.POSS-head what
ku̯-tu zo nux pjw-tú̯-wy-sw-mto cʰa
SBJ:PCP-exist EMPH DEM IPFV-2-INV-CAUS-see can:FACT
‘Take this [spyglass], it will make you able to see everything that exists in
the world.’ (140508 benling gaoqiang de si xiongdi-zh) {0003935#S74}

The velar causative ɣymto ‘cause to recover eyesight’ is based on the stative use ‘have sharp eyesight’. Just as the base verb requires the noun tu-mpaк ‘eye’ as intransitive subject (example 126, §14.5.1.2), ɣymto requires it as object as in (90).

(90) nwmw ku maka nuhmpaク tu-yγ-mtym
DEM ERG completely 3PL.POSS-eye IPFV-CAUS-have.sharp.eyesight[III]
čʰa ri,
can:FACT LNK
‘That [plant] can cure their blindness (cause their eyes to recover
eyesight).’ (140517 mogui de jing-zh) {0004022#S81}

17.3.4 Compatibilities with other derivations

Due to the constraint on monosyllabic bases (§17.2.6), the velar causative can only
take bare verb roots (or at least verb roots containing frozen prefixes) as input,
unlike the sigmatic causative which can precede a dozen derivational prefixes (§17.2.8).

The velar causative prefix can be preceded by the reflexive zγγ- as in (91) (see also 59, §18.3.4.1 and §18.3.4.2).

(91) icqʰa tuu-xtsa nwni ty-ky-sŋaɣ
the.aforementioned INDEF.POSS-shoe DEM:DU AOR-OBJ:PCP-enchant
pjy-cti tce tcendre, pγ-zγy-γy-xtci-ndzi
IFR.IPFV-be.AFF LNK LNK IFR-REFL-CAUS-be.small-DU
'The shoes had been enchanted, and became small by themselves.' (160706 poucet6) {0006109#S92}

It can also undergo reduplicated reciprocal derivation (81, §18.4.1.2), and occurs with the autive *nuu-* (83 in §17.3.3.1 above) and the *z-* allomorph of the sigmatic causative (§17.2.1.1) as in (92).

(92) tce tṣu ri pγ-tuu-z-γy-βdi-t cti tce, tce
LNK road also IFR-2-CAUS-CAUS-be.well-PST:TR be.AFF:FACT LNK LNK
nuctu a-ky-tuu-ce
DEM:LOC IRR-PFV:EAST-2-go
'[Since] you have already had the road repaired (by someone else), [take that road] to go [east].' (2011-04-smanmi)

The tropative causative γγkʰe 'depreciate, demean' (derived from kʰe 'be stupid', §17.3.3.1) also has the sγ- antipassive form (§18.6.2) sγz-γγ-kʰe (APASS-CAUS-be.stupid) 'demean people'.

## 17.4 Applicative

The applicative *nuu-* is a valency-increasing derivation by means of which an oblique argument, an adjunct or even a non-participant (including comitative or dative adjuncts and semi-objects, §17.4.1) is promoted to object function. In Japhug, the base verb is always morphologically intransitive, and the applicative verb transitive (§14.3.1). The subject of the applicative verb corresponds to the same referent as that of the base verb, though it receives ergative case marking instead of absolutive (see examples 106 and 105 in §17.4.1 below).

The *nuu-* applicative is only attested by a limited number of examples (exhaustively listed in Table 17.10; the allomorphy is discussed in §17.4.2), but the fact that
17 Valency-increasing derivations

it includes the Tibetan loanword rga 'like', 'be happy' (from དགྲུབ་ dga 'be happy') shows that it has some degree of productivity.

Cognates of the applicative prefix are found in other Gyalrong languages (in Tshobdun, see Sun 2006b), and one potential example is found in Khroskyabs (Lai 2017: 361). This prefix probably originates from the denominal nu- (§20.7.2), and replaced the older suffixal applicative, which only remains in a handful of examples (§17.4)

<table><caption>Table 17.10: Examples of the nu- applicative prefix</caption><thead><tr><th>Base verb</th><th>Derived verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>azu<u>zu</u> 'wrestle'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>z</sup>u<u>zu</u> 'wrestle with'</td></tr><tr><td>ak<sup>h</sup>u 'call'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>k</sup>u<sup>h</sup> ' invite'</td></tr><tr><td>ak<sup>h</sup><u>yz</u>nga 'call', 'shout'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>k</sup><u>yz</u>nga 'shout at'</td></tr><tr><td>and<u>zu</u>t 'bark'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>nd</sup>u<u>zu</u> 'bark at'</td></tr><tr><td>amd<u>zu</u> 'sit'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>md</sup>u<u>zu</u> 'look after'</td></tr><tr><td>ayro 'play'</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>y</sup>ro 'play with'</td></tr><tr><td>stu 'believe' (vi)</td><td>n<u>r</u><sup>st</sup>u 'believe' (vt)</td></tr><tr><td>m<u>by</u>om 'be in a hurry'</td><td>n<u>umby</u>om 'look forward to'</td></tr><tr><td><u>ŋ</u>ke 'walk'</td><td>n<u>uŋ</u>ke 'look for'</td></tr><tr><td>rga 'like' (vi)</td><td>n<u>uŋ</u>ga 'like' (vt)</td></tr><tr><td><u>ŋ</u>s<u>ŋ</u>om 'envy' (vi)</td><td>n<u>uŋ</u><u>ŋ</u>om 'envy' (vt)</td></tr><tr><td>z<u>du</u>y 'suffer'</td><td>n<u>u</u>z<u>du</u>y 'worry about'</td></tr><tr><td><u>bu</u>y 'miss home' (vi)</td><td>n<u>u</u>y<u>bu</u>y 'miss' (vt)</td></tr><tr><td>mu 'be afraid'</td><td>n<u>u</u>u<u>mu</u> 'be afraid of'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In addition to these examples, the *n*- deideophonic verbs can be analyzed as applicative derivations from their *a*- deideophonic counterpart (§20.9.3).

17.4.1 The syntactic and semantic functions of the promoted argument

Despite the limited number of applicative verbs, there is a considerable diversity in the syntactic functions of the non-core arguments (of the base verbs) that are promoted to object status by the applicative derivation.
### 17.4.1.1 Promotion of comitative argument

The verb *azwuzu* ‘wrestle’, historically a reciprocal verb (§18.4.1.3), requires a non-singular subject and can select a comitative argument in *cʰo* (§8.2.5). The object of the applicative form *nɔzwuzu* ‘wrestle with’ corresponds to this comitative argument, as shown by the minimal pair (93) vs. (94).

(93) *w-zda* cʰo *pn-zywzu-ndzi*
3SG.POSS-companion COMIT SENS-wrestle-DU
‘He is wrestling with his friend.’ (elicited)

(94) *w-zda* *pn-zy-nw-zywzu*
3SG.POSS-companion SENS-PROG-APPL-wrestle
‘He is wrestling his friend.’ (elicited)

### 17.4.1.2 Promotion of semi-object (stimulus)

In the case of the semi-transitive *rga* ‘like’, the argument added by the applicative is the semi-object (§14.2.3). The base verb *rga* and its applicative form *nurga* ‘like’ are in some contexts semantically identical, for instance in the pseudo-clefts (§23.6.1) *stu ji-ky-rga* and *stu ji-ky-nw-rga* in (95) and (96) which both mean ‘the one that we like most’ (both objects and semi-objects can be relativized with the object participle §16.1.2.4, and the possessive prefix in both cases refers to the subject §16.1.2.1).

(95) *tce izo kwrw ra tce tʰhγlu nw stu ji-ky-rga*
LNK 1PL Tibetan PL LNK milk.tea DEM MOST 1SG.POSS-OBJ:PCP-like
*cti*
be.AFF:FACT
‘Milk tea is [the type of tea] that we Tibetans like best.’ (05-qaZo)
{0003404#S152}

(96) *tʰaɣtса nw izo kwrw tcʰeme ra γw, nwmw mγln zo*
coloured.belt DEM 1PL Tibetan woman PL GEN DEM absolutely EMPH
*pjw-tu kw-ra tce, stu ji-ky-nw-rga*
IPFV-exist SBJ:PCP-be.needed LNK most 1PL.POSS-OBJ:PCP-APPL-like
*cti*,
be.AFF:FACT

‘Coloured belts are something that we Tibetan woman must absolutely have, and it is what we like best.’ (thaXtsa 2002)
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

In addition to morphological (§14.3.1) differences, as well as absolutive vs. erga-
tive marking of the subject (§8.2.2.1), the base verb *rga* and its applicative *nurga*
differ from each other in three regards.

First of all, *rga* displays lability between a semi-transitive use ‘like’ and a stative intransitive use meaning ‘be happy’ (compare 142 and 143 in §14.5.3), while the applicative *nurga* does not mean ‘be happy because/for’.

Second, whereas the base verb *rga* can take infinitival complement clauses (§16.2.1.5, §24.2.1.2), as in (97) (see also 177, §14.6.2), its applicative form *nw-rga* cannot: the applicative derivation thus *removes* complement-taking ability (at least in this case).

(97) *ma azo [qajw nura k-vrtoxpjyt] pw-rga-a tce*
LNK 1SG bug DEM:PL INF-observe PST.IPFV-like-1SG LNK
'I liked to observe bugs.' (26-quspunmbro) {0003684#S15}

Third, with first or second person objects, only the applicative *nurga* is possi-
ble. The local scenario 1→2 (98) and 2→1 configurations (example 43, §5.1.2.12),
as well as the mixed scenario inverse configurations (99) cannot be expressed
with the base verb *rga*.

(98) *nw-ta-nv-pe* cti *qhe, azo nw-ta-nw-rga*
SENS-1→2-TROP-be.good be.AFF:FACT LNK 1SG SENS-1→2-APPL-like
'I like you, I love you.' (160630 abao-zh) {0006197#S108}

(99) *nwuw rj-y1pu w-tcw* *nw kw a-pui-wy-nw-rga-a*
DEM king 3SG.POSS-ON DEM ERG IRR-IPFV-INV-APPL-like-1SG
ra
be.needed:FACT
'May the prince love me!' (150819 haidenver-zh) {0006314#S497}

17.4.1.3 Promotion of dative argument

The verbs *andzut* ‘bark’ and *akʰrzŋa* ‘call’ optionally select a dative argument (*turme mr-kr-nufse* *nw* ‘the person that it does not know’ in 100), which is promoted to object status by the applicative (101).

(100) *turme mr-kr-nufse* *nw w-cki* *pw-vndzut*
person NEG-OBJ:PCP-know DEM 3SG.POSS-DAT SENS-bark
'[The dog] is barking at the unknown person.' (elicited)
(101) *turme* m-kym-nufse *nwc* pwc-yz-nwc-yndzwat
person NEG-OBJ:PCP-know DEM SENS-PROG-APPL-bark
'[The dog] is barking at the unknown person.' (elicited)

17.4.1.4 Introduction of new referent

For most applicative verbs, the object corresponds to an entirely new referent, without equivalent in the argument structure of the base verb. Based on the semantic role of the added argument, four sub-cases can be distinguished.

The semi-transitive verb *stu* ‘believe’, like *rga* ‘like’, is semi-transitive (§14.2.3).
Its semi-object is either a complement clause or a noun such as *u-rju* ‘his words’,
expressing the content of the utterance that is believed by the subject. Its (mor-
phologically irregular, §17.4.2) applicative *nrgstu* takes as object the person utter-
ing the words that are believed by the subject, as in (102), which is not expressed
as an argument of the base verb (with *stu* ‘believe’ the only way to express the
person saying the words that are believed is as possessor of the semi-object).

(102) *nwnw azo w-pw-kw-n-y-stu-a*      *ny, tcendsre, nwcimwma*
DEM 1SG QU-SENS-2→1-APPL-believe-1SG ADD LNK immediately
*zo ce-tci tce,*
EMPH go:FACT-1DU LNK
‘If you believe me, let us go [there] immediately.’ (140425 shizi huli he
lu-zh) {0003794#S41}

Examples like (103) with the relative clause *użo ku ta-tut* ‘(the words) that he
said’ appearing before the verb could seem to imply that *nrgstu* can also select
as object the words uttered. If this analysis were correct, the applicative *nrgstu*
would be similar to *nurga* ‘like’ above in promoting the semi-object of its base
verb as object. However, if the relative clause takes a second person subject as
in (104), it is possible either to use the base verb *stu* ‘believe’ or the applicative
*nrgstu* with a second person object (*mry-ta-nrgstu* ‘I don’t believe you’), but not with
a third person object, showing that in (103) the relative clause is not the object,
but an adjunct (the object of *nrgstu* in this example is the referent corresponding
to the subject of the relative clause).

(103) [użo ku ta-tut]      *nwc* ma-nwc-twc-n-y-ste
1SG ERG AOR:3→3'-say[II] DEM NEG-IMP-2-APPL-believe[III]
‘Don’t believe what he said.’ (elicited)
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

(104) [nɔɣo tɔ-tu-tu[t] nu mɔ-stu-a
2SG AOR-2-say[II] DEM NEG-believe:FACT-1SG
'I don't believe what you said.' (elicited)

Other intransitive verbs with experiencer subject, such as *buy* ‘miss home’, *mu*
‘be afraid’ and *søm* ‘envy’, have applicative forms that promote the stimulus as
object. The base verb forms cannot select a noun or a complement clause to spec-
ify this stimulus, even as adjunct; the stimulus can only be indirectly expressed
in a separate clause. In (105) for instance, the clause *tɔ-tɔu* ... *tu-yɔcquali-nu* ‘the
men ... shout’ describes the reason for the fear of the animals; though it could
be analyzed as the stimulus of the verb *nui-mu-nu*, the relationship between the
two clauses is simply one of temporality/causation, and the verb *mu* ‘be afraid’
is unable to take any overt stimulus.

(105) tɔ-tɔu tʰamtcɔt ku-du-dɔn nu
INDEF.POSS.boy all SBJ:PCP-be.many DEM
ɣuŋnyŋuρ zo tu-ɣyqali-nu tce, tcendsre
IDPH(III):noisy.and.crowded EMPH IPFV-shout-PL LNK LNK
rudaŋ nuρra nɔ-mu-nu tce cʰu-pʰyɔ-nu
wild.animal DEM:PL IPFV-be.afraid-PL LNK IPFV:DOWNSTREAM-flee-PL
nɔ-ŋu.
SENS-be

'The men (i.e. the hunters) all shout together in great numbers, and the
wild animals being afraid flee downstream.' (150829 KAGWcAno)
{0006420#S9}

The corresponding applicative verb *nuyum* ‘be afraid of’ marks the experiencer
in the ergative, and takes the stimulus (in 106, *turme* ‘person’) as object (note
the generic object indexation, §14.3.2.5). The referent promoted as object by the
applicative derivation in this verb is the same as that promoted to subject status
by the proprietary *sɣ(y)-* (see 181, §18.8).

(106) nwnu ku turme wuma zo p̱u-ku-nuy-mu.
DEM ERG people really EMPH IPFV-GENR:S/O-APPL-be.afraid
'It is very afraid of people.' (24-ZmbrWpGa) {0003628#S26}

The verb *ayro* ‘play’ (almost always attested as *a < nu > yro* with infixation of
the autive, §19.1.2), rarely occurs in the singular, and can select comitative argu-
ments (§8.2.5), as in (107).
(107) <xiaocui> nʷi t stwnmʷ ʷ-qʰu qʰe tce
ANTHR DEM AOR-marry 3SG.POSS-after LNK LNK
icqʰa [<yuanfeng> nʷi, taubndo mχ-ku-tso
the.aforementioned ANTHR DEM speech NEG-SBJ:PCP-understand
nʷi cʰo] spikuku zo tuȗtwrca pʷ-χ<nʷi>yro-ndzi qʰe
DEM COMIT every.day EMPH together IPFV-<AUTO>play-DU LNK
'After she married, Xiaocui played every day with Yuanfeng, who did
not understand speech.' (150909 xiaocui-zh) {0006386#S60}

However, unlike azuuku 'wrestle' above, its applicative nʷyro 'play with' does
not promote the comitative argument (the person one plays with) to object status.
Rather, it selects the instrument (the toy one plays with) as object. In (108), the
object of nʷyro is not overt in the same clause, but anaphorically refers to kumtɛʰu
'toy' in the previous clause.

(108) mχzw kumtcʰu kʷ-fse tχ-tu nχ, tʷyryz
again toy SBJ:PCP-be like AOR-exist ADD together
pʷi-nʷ-χyro-ndzi nʷra pχy-ŋgryl,
IPFV-APPL-play-DU DEM:PL IPFV.IFR-be.usually.the.case
'Whenever there was a toy_i, they(DU) played with it_i together.' (IWlu)

17.4.1.5 A problematic case

The relationship between the transitive verb *nuzduy* ‘worry about’ and the base verb *zduy* ‘suffer’ (from ṣug ‘suffering’) is slightly different from the preceding cases, and it is disputable whether this verb is to be classified as applicative. The intransitive verb *zduy* has two different meanings: ‘be sad’ when used with the nouns *tu-sum* ‘mind’ or *tu-sni* ‘heart’ as subjects, and the experiencer as possessor as in (109), and ‘endure hardship’ when taking a human (or non-human animal) subject (110). The meaning ‘worry’ of the verb *nuzduy* is not directly derivable from either. It is close to ‘to be sad about’, but the transitive subject of *nuzduy* corresponds to the possessor of the subject of *zduy*, making it a unique type of derivation.

(109) tcʰemspu nʷ u-sni pχ-zduy
little.girl DEM 3SG.POSS-heart IFR-suffer
'The little girl was very sad.' (140504 huiguniang-zh) {0003909#S96}
## 17 Valency-increasing derivations

(110) *laknu-sŋi* *pjɛ̌-zduy-ndzi tce,*
one.or.two-day IFR.IPFV-suffer LNK
‘They had [worked] hard for several days.’ (qajdoskAt 2002)
{0003366#S18}

### 17.4.2 Allomorphy

The applicative prefix has three regular allomorphs: *nu-*, *nuy-* and *nɛ̃-*.<fnref n="14" /> The allomorph *nuy-* has the same distribution as the *suy-* allomorph of the causative (§17.2.1.4), occurring with monosyllabic intransitive verb roots whose onset does not contain a cluster and/or a velar consonant. The allomorph *nɛ̃-*(homophonous with the tropative, §17.5.1) is due to vowel fusion with the contracting *a-* in some verb stems (§12.3; the de-contracted form *nu-ɛ̃-* is used in some of the discussion in this section), with the exception of the verb *stu* ‘believe’ whose applicative is irregular.

The allomorph *nu--* occurs in all other contexts. It is homophonous with the autive (§19.1), the vertitive (§19.2) and various other prefixes, including the WESTWARDS orientation preverbs (§15.1.1.1) and the denominal *nu--* (§20.7), but ambiguity is rare as these prefixes belong to different slots (§11.2).<fnref n="15" />

### 17.4.3 Lexicalized applicatives

Three of the applicative verbs in Table 17.10 are highly lexicalized and cannot be considered to be synchronically analyzable as related to their base verbs.

First, the transitive verb *nɛ̃kʰu* ‘invite’ (to one’s home as a guest, see examples in §24.2.2.2 and §16.1.2.6) originates from the applicative *nu-ɛ̃kʰu* of *akʰu* ‘call’, meaning ‘call (someone), shout at’. The verb *akʰu* can select a locative goal (referring to the direction where one calls), as in (111), and its applicative *nu-ɛ̃kʰu* presumably originally promoted this oblique argument to object status.

(111) *kʰa nuctu c-to-k-ɛ̃kʰu-ci*
house DEM:LOC TRAL-IFR-PEG-call-PEG
‘He went and called in the direction of the house.’ (2011-05-nyima)

At that earlier stage, *nu-ɛ̃kʰu* probably used to have a meaning similar to that of *nu-ɛ̃kʰɔ̃ŋga* ‘shout at’, the applicative of *akʰɔ̃ŋga* ‘call’, ‘shout’ (a verb related to

<footnote n="14">¹⁴A similar allomorphy is found in other Gyalrong languages, see Sun (2006b) on Tshobdun.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">¹⁵For an example of partial ambiguity between autive and applicative, see examples (113) and (114) in §17.4.3.</footnote>
and synonymous with *akʰu* ‘call’). As shown by (112), the applicative *nɔkʰiŋŋa*
‘shout at’ selects the goal/addressee as object (the plural marking on the verb
form which here indexes the object being due to the presence of the inverse
prefix, see 3'→3PL in §14.3.2.2).

(112) tcʰeme u-skýt kü-snü-sna ci kü zo
girl 3SG.POSS-VOICE SBJ:PCP-EMPH~nice INDEF ERG EMPH
tú-wy-nu-kyh-gu-nu ntsw.
IPFV-INV-APPL-call-PL always

‘A girl who had a beautiful voice was calling them.’ (2003kandZislama)

The applicative *nu-ɔkʰu* however underwent the semantic change ‘call *X*’ ⇒ ‘call *X*ᵢ* to invite him/herᵢ* to come as guest’ ⇒ ‘invite *X* to come as guest’, so that its etymological relationship with its base verb *akʰu* ‘call’ is not synchronically obvious anymore.

Second, *nuwke* ‘look for’ is formally an applicative of the atelic motion verb
*ŋke* ‘walk’ (§15.1.2.1). The promoted object corresponds to the aim of the motion
(the entity that the subject is searching), as in (113).

(113) ji-<baogao> ty-lyt, <piaozhi> c-ty-nuwke, <dianzhan> 1PL.POSS-report IMP-release money TRAL-IMP-look.for electric-station

βzu-j ōu

make:FACT-1PL be:FACT

‘Make a report for us, go and look for money, and we will build an
electrical station.’ (2010-09)

This verb should not be confused with the regular autive *nw-ŋke* of the verb
*ŋke* ‘walk’, which is intransitive, as shown by the generic *kuu-* in (114) (§14.2.1.2).

(114) tu-ji u-ŋgw aŋnduŋdyt tu-ku-u-ŋke
INDEF.POSS-field 3SG.POSS-in everywhere IPFV-GENR:S/O-AUTO-walk
kʰu tce
be.possible:FACT LNK

‘One can walk [on this path] everywhere in the fields [as one wishes].’
(15-06-05)

Third, the transitive verb *nɔmdzu* ‘look after’ historically derives from the in-
transitive *amdzu* ‘sit’ by the applicative derivation. Its original meaning probably
was ‘sit by’, with a locative adjunct promoted to object status, but in Japhug it
rather means ‘stay near X and look after X’ without necessary implication of
remaining seated, as in (115).
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

(115) *ty-lu* koŋla zo kú-wy-nymdzú pú-ra
INDEF.POSS-milk completely EMPH IPFV-INV-look-after SENS-be-needed
*ma* blywur zo tu-mbuz pú-ŋu
LNK immediately EMPH IPFV-spill.out SENS-be
'One has to look after the milk [in the pan], otherwise it will overflow as soon as [it boils].' (elicited)

17.4.4 Applicatives and other derivations

The applicative derivation cannot take any other derived verb form as input. The
only partial exception is the applicative *ny* *zu* *u* ‘wrestle with’, whose base form
*a* *zu* *u* ‘wrestle’ historically was a reciprocal verb (§18.4.1.3), but since it is an al-
ready fossilized reciprocal, it does not demonstrative the ability of the applicative
to apply to reciprocal forms in general.

On the other hand, applicative verb forms can be subjected to further deriva-
tions, including the reflexive *zyy* - (*zyy*-ny-stu REFL-APPL-believe ‘believe in one-
self’, see example 72, §18.3.6) and the sigmatic causative (116).<fnref n="16" />.

(116) *twrme ra, zimkʰym zo, pú-z-nú-sŋom-a-nú cʰa-a*
people PL many EMPH IPFV-CAUS-APPL-envy-1SG-PL can:FACT-1SG
'I will be able to make a lot of people envy [me for my dress]' (jinai de
guniang-zh)

The problematic verb *nuzduy* ‘worry about’ (§17.4.1.5) can in addition serve as input to the proprietary derivation (§18.8.6).

17.5 Tropative

The tropative<fnref n="17" /> *ny-* prefix is a valency-increasing derivation creating a transitive verb meaning ‘find/consider to be *X*’ out of an intransitive stative verb.<fnref n="18" />

The tropative resembles the causative derivations in that the subject of the
base verb becomes the object of the derived verb, and the added argument is
the transitive subject (unlike the applicative). However, the semantic role of the
transitive subject is not an agent (causer), but an experiencer.

<footnote n="16">¹⁶In this example, the 1SG is both causer (indexed as transitive subject) and patient, while the causee ('the people') is indexed as object.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">¹⁷This term is taken from Arabic linguistics, see for instance Larcher (1996). Another possible term for this derivation would be 'estimative'.</footnote>

<footnote n="18">¹⁸Cognate prefixes are found in other Gyalrong languages, (Sun 2006b: 5–6, Jacques 2013a).</footnote>
For instance, the tropative of the stative verb *mpɛrɛr* ‘be beautiful’ is the transitive *nɛrmpɛr* ‘find beautiful’, whose object is the entity considered to be beautiful (*icqʰa tɛheme* ‘the girl’ in 117), and whose transitive subject in the ergative is the person feeling the beauty of the object (*tyru w-tɔu* ‘the prince’ in 117).

(117) tce nɔ w tɛru w-tɔu nɔ kɔ wncimwma zɔ
LNK DEM chieftain 3SG.POSS-SON DEM ERG immediately EMPH
icqʰa tɛheme nɔ w nɛ-y-nɛ-mpɛrɛr, tce
the.aforementioned girl DEM IFR-TROP-be.beautful LNK
nɛ-y-nɛ-pe.
IFR-TROP-be.good
‘The prince immediately found the girl very beautiful and fell in love
with her.’ (140518 huifei de uma-zh) {0004026#S51}

The tropative derivation is extremely productive, and Table 17.11 illustrates a few representative examples.

<table><caption>Table 17.11: Examples of the *nɛr*- tropative derivation</caption><thead><tr><th>basic verb</th><th>derived verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>rtaɔk 'be enough'</td><td>nɛrtaɔk 'find sufficient'</td></tr><tr><td>wxti 'be big'</td><td>nɛr wxti 'find big'</td></tr><tr><td>zri 'be long'</td><td>nɛr zri 'find long'</td></tr><tr><td>pe 'be good'</td><td>nɛpe 'consider to be good, like'</td></tr><tr><td>mnyr 'smell' (vi)</td><td>nɛr mnyr 'smell' (vt)</td></tr><tr><td>cʰi 'be sweet'</td><td>nɛr xcʰi 'find sweet'</td></tr><tr><td>maɔ 'not be'</td><td>nɛr ymaɔ 'consider wrong'</td></tr><tr><td>mbat 'be easy'</td><td>nɛr ymbat 'finish easily'</td></tr></tbody></table>

The semantics of the derived verb is not always simply ‘consider/find X’. In the case of stative verbs whose meaning is neutral (not explicitly positive like ‘beautiful’), the tropative often has the additional meaning ‘find too X’, as in (118) for instance.

(118) nɛr-sytcʰa w-nɔ-w-tɔ-w-nɛ-xtci nɛ, azɔ a-βlu ci
2SG.POSS-place QU-SENS-2-TROP-be.small ADD 1SG 1SG.POSS-trick INDEF
tu tce,
exist:FACT LNK
‘If you find this place too small for you, I have an idea.’ (150829 taishan zhi zhu-zh,203) {0006350#S196}
## 17 Valency-increasing derivations

The tropative *nr-* cannot be prefixed to non-adjectival stative verbs like copulas (*ŋu* ‘be’, *ɛti* ‘be’) or existential verbs (*tu* ‘exist’, *me* ‘not exist’). A meaning such as ‘consider *X* to be *Y*’, where both *X* and *Y* are nouns, cannot be expressed in Japhug using a tropative derivation (forms such as †*nr-*-*ŋu* or †*nr-*-*tu* are utterly incorrect), and a synthetic construction must be used instead (§24.5.1.2).

An apparent exception could seem to be *nɔ́ ymaɛk* ‘consider wrong’ from the negative copula *maɛk* ‘not be’. However, this verb never means ‘consider *X* not to be *Y*’, and it seems that one of the original meanings of /maɛk/ was ‘not to be right’, as shown by a lexicalized form such as the fossilized participle *kuwaɛk* ‘bad thing’ (from ‘(something) which is not right’, §16.1.1.7). In this example the tropative preserved the original meaning of the verb, while the base verb underwent an independent semantic change (already at the common Gyalrong stage).

The ability to undergo tropativization is thus a criterion for identifying a subclass of adjectives among stative verbs (with the exception of some derived adjectives, which are not compatible with the tropative possibly for morphological reasons, §17.5.4).

### 17.5.1 Allomorphy

As shown by Table 17.11, aside from the regular *nr-* allomorph, a few verbs select a *nɔ́ y-* / *nɔ́ x-* allomorph. A similar allomorphy is observed on the sigmatic causative (§17.2.1.4) and the applicative (§17.4.2) prefixes. The *su-* / *su y-* alternation of the sigmatic causative is still productive: the latter allomorph occurs when the original verb is intransitive, without an initial consonant cluster and without initial velar or uvular. It is possible that a similar distribution used to exist at a former stage for the *nr-* / *nɔ́ y-* allomorphs, but the data at hand do not permit a firm conclusion.

The *nr-* allomorph of the tropative is homophonous with that of the applicative before *a-* contracting verbs (§12.3, §17.4.2), but there are no cases of forms that are ambiguous between these two derivations.

When two base verbs have stems that only differ in the presence vs. absence of an *a-* prefixal element, their tropative form is identical. For instance, the stative verbs *amtçɔv* ‘be pointy’ and *mtçɔv* ‘be sharp’ (§19.7.7) have the same tropative *nɔ́ mtçɔv*, which can be interpreted as either ‘find pointy’ or ‘find sharp’.

### 17.5.2 Past imperfective

Tropative verbs stand out among transitive verbs in that they are compatible with Past Imperfective *pu-* and Inferential imperfective *pjɛr-* forms as in (§119) (see also
124c in §17.5.4 below), unlike most transitive verbs which require the progressive *asu*- to occur with these TAME prefixes (§21.5.3).

(119) *w-tu̯-tcu̯r*      *mɣ-tcʰom*      *tce*,
3SG.POSS-NMLZ:DEG-SOUR NEG-be.exceedingly:FACT LNK
*púu-ww-y-nɣ-mu̯m*      *cti*.
PST.IPFV-INV-TROP-be.tasty be.AFF:FACT
'It is not too sour, and we used to find it tasty.' (17-ndZWnW)
{0003524#S54}

The use of the Inferential or the Perfective with tropative verbs indicates a
change of state. For instance, *to-n-mum* IFR-TROP-be.tasty) means '(he used not
to find it tasty, but now) he finds it tasty'.

**17.5.3 Lexicalized tropatives**

Some tropative verbs have specialized meanings that are not completely pre-
dictable from the base verb. Thus, *nɛr-pe* (tropative of *pe* ‘be good’), in addition to
its regular meaning ‘consider to be good’, can also used in the sense of ‘love’, as
in (117) above. The tropative of the modal auxiliary *ntsʰi* ‘have better’ (§24.5.3.1),
*nyntsʰi*, also has this meaning (120).<fnref n="19" />

(120) azo a-núu-ww-nyntsʰi-a ra
1SG IRR-PFV-INV-love-1SG be.needed:FACT
'[Aladin thought] 'May the princess love me." (140511 alading-zh)
{0003953#S187}

The transitive verb *nɛrkʰe* ‘bully’ from *kʰe* ‘be stupid’, probably also used to
be a tropative verb ‘consider to be stupid’, with a quite unpredictable semantic
evolution.

The perception verb *nɛrnɛrnɛm* ‘smell’ (vt) is formally a tropative derived from
the intransitive *mnɛrnɛm* ‘smell’ (vi), a verb that can only take nouns meaning ‘smell’
(such as the inalienably possessed noun *tɛr-di* ‘smell’) as subject, as shown by (121).

<footnote n="19">¹⁹Since the etymological relationship between the base verb *ntsʰi* ‘have better’ and *nyntsʰi* ‘love’ is not synchronically transparent, the *nɛr-* is not analyzed as a prefix in the glosses.</footnote>
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

(121) *nwmw cγy* *nw wuma zo pe*, *tce pjúw-wy-βlw* *tce*
DEM juniper DEM really EMPH be.good:FACT LNK IPFV-INV-burn LNK
*u̯-di wuma mnγm*
3SG.POSS-smell really have.a.smell:FACT
‘The juniper is very nice, when one burns it, it has a strong smell.’
(08-CAG) {0003442#S13}

The tropative *nymnym* can take as object a noun meaning ‘smell’, with the referent whose smell is perceived encoded as a possessive prefix on the object (for instance the 3PL prefix on the noun *nw-di* ‘their smell’ in 122). However, unlike its base verb, *nymnym* can also directly select as object the referent whose smell is perceived, including even a first or second person as in (123).

(122) *srútpʰu* *nw ku, nɔtcu ryzi-nw* *pjγ-swúχsvl matci, nú-di*
râkshasa DEM ERG where stay:FACT-PL IFR-realize LNK 3PL.POSS-smell
*tu-nγ-mnγm* *pjγ-cti* *tce pjγ-mtsʰym*.
IPFV-TROP-have.a.smell IFR.IPFV-be.AFF LNK IFR-feel
‘The ogre realized where they were, as it was sniffing them out and
perceived [their smell].’ (160706 poucet6) {0006109#S49}

(123) *jγ-yi tce, pxjkʰu tu-ta-nγ-mnγm*
IMP-come LNK still IPFV:UP-1→2-TROP-have.a.smell
‘Come (here), I will smell you (to see if you have had alcohol).’ (140506
loBzi) {0003923#S11}

Example (122) also shows that *nymnym* expresses volitional olfactory perception (looking for something by paying attention to smell). Its non-volitional counterpart is *mtsʰym* in the sense of ‘perceive (a smell) inadvertently; find (by smell)’.<fnref n="20" />

17.5.4 Compatibility with other derivations

In addition to underived stative verbs as in Table 17.11 above, the tropative deriva-
tion can also take verbs with the proprietive *sɣ-* derivation (§18.8)

One of the most common of such verbs is *nɛ́sɛ́scit* ‘find pleasant’ (of a place, a situation, an event) from the proprietive *sɛ́scit* ‘be pleasant’ (‘be such that people feel happy with/in it’) of the stative verb *scit* ‘be happy’. In the excerpt from a conversation in (124), we see that the tropative *mu-pu-nɔ́-sɔ́-scit-a* (124c) occurs in answer to a question with the proprietive verb *u̯-pú-sɔ́-scit* (124a).

<footnote n="20">²⁰The verb *mtsʰym* expresses non-visual non-volitional perception (§15.1.5.9), not only auditory (in the meaning ‘hear’), but also olfactory as in (122).</footnote>
(124) a. (T) atu tɔ̌kɑv w-pû-sɣ-scit? [...] up.there party QU-PST.IPFV-PROP-be.happy 'Was the party up there nice?'

b. (L) pw-sɣ-scit a-łak, PST.IPFV-PROP-be.happy 1SG.POSS-MZ mɣ-ku-sɣ-scit pw-me

NEG-SBJ:PCP-PROP-be.happy PST.IPFV-notuez 'It was nice, mother-in-law, there was nothing that was not nice.'

c. (A) azo ndv̥re mu-pw-nɣ-sv-scit-a, 1SG LNK NEG-PST.IPFV-TROP-PROP-be.happy-1SG lo-nũtcʰomba-a IFR-have.a.cold-1SG

'As far as I am concerned, I did not find [that party] nice, I caught a cold.' (TaRrdo2003)

The antonym of nɔ̃sɛrscit, nɔ̃sɣyduy 'find unpleasant', is also the tropative of a
proprietive verb sɣyduy 'be unpleasant' from the base verb duy 'have enough of',
'be upset'. Both scit and duy are Tibetan loanwords (from skid 'be happy' and
sdug 'suffer', respectively), showing the productivity of this double derivation.
While no other examples of this double derivation are found in the corpus, it is
possible to elicit additional examples (§18.8.6).

(125) nwnw w-rme w-ŋgw ri ku-ce tce tcendsre
DEM 3SG.POSS-hair 2SG.POSS-in LOC IPFV:EAST-go LNK LNK
ku-ce ny ku-ce tce tce w-ndzi w-ŋgw ri
IPFV:EAST-go ADD IPFV:EAST-go LNK LNK 3SG.POSS-skin 3SG.POSS-in LOC
ku-otsa pw-ŋu. tce fsapav ra kw nw ny-sv-vduy-nw
IPFV-prick SENS-be LNK animal PL ERG DEM TROP-PROP-be.upset:FACT-PL
ŋgryl ma
be.usually.the.case:FACT LNK

'[Its seeds] go into the hair [of the sheep], deeper and deeper, and stick
into their skin, and the animals find this unpleasant.' (19-khWlu)

{0003540*S96}

The tropative-proprietive verbs *nɔ̃sɛrscit* and *nɔ̃sɣyduy* take as transitive subject (with the ergative in 125) the experiencer (like the base verbs *scit* ‘be happy’ and *duy* ‘have enough of’) and as object the stimulus (the situation or place causing the feeling, like the proprietive verbs *sɛrscit* ‘be pleasant’ and *sɛyduy* ‘be unpleasant’).
17 *Valency-increasing derivations*

The tropative is also attested with the subject-oriented facilitative γγ- (§18.9.1).
For instance, from γγβzi ‘become drunk easily’ (facilitative of βzi ‘get drunk’) one
can derive the tropative nγγβzi ‘consider that X becomes drunk easily’ (126).

(126) *nγzo ndγre pwo-ta-nγ-γγ-βzi*
2SG LNK SENS-1→2-TROP-FACIL-be.drunk
‘You, I think that you get drunk easily.’ (elicited)

Distributed property verbs such *amuzyuut* ‘be evenly distributed’ (§18.7) can undergo the tropative derivation (*nrgmuzyuut* ‘consider that X is evenly distributed’, for instance about colours), though such uses are uncommon.

The tropative cannot take as input any other type of derived stative verbs, such as the passive (§18.1), and more surprisingly the *nuyu*- facilitative (§18.9.2).

Tropative verbs can in their turn serve as input for other derivations, including causative (§17.2.8), reflexive (§18.3.6) and reciprocal (§18.4.1.2). A related derivation whose meaning is close to that of a reflexivized tropative is the auto-evaluative *znγ-* (§19.5).

17.5.5 Other tropative constructions

Apart from the tropative *nrg*, tropative meaning can be expressed in Japhug by
the sigmatic causative in a few cases (§17.2.5.9), the velar causative (§17.3.3.1) and
by periphrastic constructions (§24.5.1.2).

Other derivations with a tropative meaning include the *rγ(y)-* prefix in *rγγruy*
‘cherish’ (from *ruy* ‘be precious’, §19.7.5), and the reflexive *zγγ-* of some intransi-
tive verbs (§18.3.1.4).
# 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

## 18.1 Passive

The passive derivation is marked by the prefix *a-*, a formative also found in the reciprocal derivation (§18.4.1) and probably of denominal origin (§20.10.3). It derives an intransitive verb from a transitive one, whose intransitive subject corresponds to the object of the base verb (*ty}*scoz ‘letter’ in 1a and 1b).<fnref n="1" /> The transitive subject cannot be expressed: passive verbs do not take overt agents.

(1) a. wzo kw ty}*scoz ry}*t
3SG ERG letter write:FACT
‘S/he will write a/the letter.’ (elicited)

b. ty}*scoz a-ry}*t
letter PASS-write:FACT
‘The letter is written/has been written.’ (elicited)

Like other verbs in *a-*, passive verbs present vowel contraction and insertion of the peg circumfix *k-...-ci* in Inferential forms (§21.5.2.1, §15.1.1.2), as in (2) (where it is realized as -ɣ-, following the rule in §12.3). In the Kamnyu dialect, the peg circumfix, although originally a secondary marker, has almost become the main exponent of the passive in the Inferential tenses.

(2) kum jγ-stʰoɣ ri, kum pjγ-k-γ-yγtwγ-ci cti tce,
door IFR-push LNK DEM IFR.IPFV-PEG-PASS-lock-PEG be:AFF:FACT LNK
‘He pushed the door, but the door was locked.’ (tWJo 2012) {0004089#S20}

Table 18.1 presents a few representative examples of passive verbs, including lexicalized ones whose meaning has become slightly shifted from that of the base verb (§18.1.2). The presence of Tibetan loanwords such as *rtsi* ‘count’ (from ṛ *rtsi* ‘count’) among the base verbs shows that the passive derivation is still productive.

<footnote n="1">¹The derivation also affects the dynamicity of the verb and the TAME (§18.1.1).</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 18.1: Examples of the passive *a-* prefix</caption><thead><tr><th>Base verb</th><th>Derived verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>mpʰu 'wrap'</td><td>ampʰu 'be wrapped'</td></tr><tr><td>βra 'attach to'</td><td>αβrach 'be attached to'</td></tr><tr><td>rtsi 'count'</td><td>artsi 'be counted as'</td></tr><tr><td>ýuɔɔ 'glue, paste'</td><td>áŋyɔɔ 'be glued'</td></tr><tr><td>tsʰɔɔ 'attach'</td><td>atsʰɔɔ 'be attached'</td></tr><tr><td>sti 'block'</td><td>asti 'be blocked'</td></tr><tr><td>pa 'do'</td><td>apa 'become'</td></tr><tr><td>βzu 'make'</td><td>αβzu 'become, grow'</td></tr><tr><td>ta 'put'</td><td>ata 'be on'</td></tr><tr><td>rku 'put in'</td><td>arku 'be in'</td></tr></tbody></table>

The passive derivation only removes transitive subjects, and passivized verbs preserve oblique arguments or adjuncts. For instance, like the verb *βrach* 'attach to', which includes a locative argument in its argument structure, the passive form *αβrach* 'be attached to' also selects a locative phrase, with a locative case as in (3) or in absolutive form as in (4).

(3) stuxsi yuɔ w-χcɛl ri xtwurku a-βrach, double.yoke GEN 3SG.POSS-middle LOC hide.ripe PASS-attach:FACT 'The hide rope [connecting the yoke to the plough] is attached in the middle of the double yoke.' (24-mbGo) {0003621}

(4) tɔ-mu nu yuɔ w-tcɔ w nu kum-qʰu INDEF.POSS-mother DEM GEN 3SG.POSS-son DEM door-back pjɔ-k-ɔ-βraɔ-ci tce, IPFV-PEG-PASS-attach-PEG LNK 'The old woman's son was attached on the back of the door.' (tWJo 2012) {0004089#S61}

The passive derivation also applies to some noun-verb collocations. For instance, in (5), passivized verb *a-lɔt*, meaning 'be locked' in collocation with the noun *sɔcw* 'key', has a meaning directly derived from that of the collocation of *sɔcw* with the base verb *lɔt* 'release', which means 'lock (the door)' (§16.1.3.10). The noun *sɔcw* 'key' is a semi-object (§8.1.5) in this collocation. The intransitive subject of (*sɔcw*) *a-lɔt* 'be locked' in (5) is *kum* 'door'.
(5) *kwm sycw mɣ-a-lɣt*
door key NEG-PASS-release:FACT
'The door is not locked/has not been locked.' (140428 xiaohongmao-zh)
{0003884#S74}

Passive verb forms are almost never attested in first or second person forms, except for the highly lexicalized passives *apa* ‘become’ and *aβzu* ‘become, grow’ (§18.1.2). Example (6) with *arku* ‘be in’<fnref n="2" /> shows that there is not absolute constraints against first or second person indexation on passive verbs.

(6) *nunu pʰog u-ŋgw nwtu pw-a-rku-a*
DEM bottle 3SG.POSS-in DEM:LOC PST.IPFV-PASS-put.in-1SG
‘(You don’t believe that) I had been put inside this bottle.’ (140512 yufu yu mogui-zh) {0003973#S111}

The historical hypothesis in (§14.8.3) proposes that the 1→2 portmanteau prefix *ta-* originates from the fusion of the passive *a-* with the second person *tu-* prefix indexing the object. If correct, this scenario implies that first or second person indexation on passive verbs may have been more common in proto-Gyalrong than in Japhug.

**18.1.1 The interaction of the Passive derivation with Dynamicity and TAME**

With the exception of *apa* ‘become’ and *aβzu* ‘become, grow’ (§18.1.2), passive verbs express resultative states. They are mainly attested in the Past Imperfective (6) and in the Inferential Imperfective (4, see also 16 in §18.1.3). In combination with the Factual Non-Past the passive means ‘X has already been Yed’ or ‘X is Yed’ (where X represents the object of the base verb Y) as in (7) (see also 1b and 5 above).

(7) *jaŋtɣzdonzdon nɔ̃ kunγ pya ŋu, mɣ-a-rɣt*
bird.sp. DEM also bird be:FACT NEG-PASS-write:FACT
'The *jaŋtɣzdonzdon* is also a bird, it is not written (in the list of bird’s names that had been prepared beforehand to ask about all known bird species).' (23-RmWrcWftsa) {0003610#S80}

<footnote n="2">²Although this passive verb is used as a semi-lexicalized existential verb (§18.1.2), in this particular context it can be interpreted as expressing a resultative state with a definite agent.</footnote>
Examples of passive verbs in Perfective or Inferential forms are very rare. In (8), the form *ko-к-у-люк-ci* can only be interpreted as the Inferential of the passive of *люк* ‘glue, paste’, with a meaning ‘(the spit) got glued (on her)’ that does not seem interpretable as resultative.

(8) tcelo kutcu a-mci ci
upstream DEM.PROX:LOC 1SG.POSS-saliva once
s-cʰu-βde-a, nwh cw yu ndzi-taɣ
TRAL-IPFV:DOWNSTREAM-throw-1SG, DEM who GEN 2DU.POSS-on
ky-kwh-y-rljov nwh a-rzaβ a-pwh-tw-yu-ndzi to-ti ri
AOR-SBJ:PCP-PASS-glue DEM 1SG.POSS-wife IRR-IPFV-2-be-DU IFR-say LNK
[...] tce ci s-cʰo-βde ri, rŋuwlsmyn u-taɣ
LNK once TRAL-IFR:DOWNSTREAM-throw LNK ANTHR 3SG.POSS-on
ko-k-y-rljov-ci cti ri, jamrcʰuqan kw y-y-pciz
IFR-PEG-PASS-glue-PEG be.AFF:FACT LNK ANTHR ERG IFR-AUTO-wipe
qʰe wzo u-taɣ ko-nwh-rljov.
LNK 3SG 3SG.POSS-on IFR-AUTO-glue

‘He said ‘I will spit from here, and whoever of you two gets glued by my spit will be my wife.’ He spat, and although [his spit] got glued on Rngulasman, Yagmakhyiqa wiped it off and pasted it onto herself.’ (2003-kWBRa)

The participle /ккк-кк-ллл/ in this example could in principle either be parsed as an perfective object participle кк-кк-ллюк (AOR-OBJ:PCP-glue) or perfective subject passive participle кк-кш-к-ллюк (AOR-SBJ:PCP-PASS-glue), but only the second option is likely, due to the fact that the gluing action is spontaneous and lacks an agent.<fnref n="3" /> The fact that ллюк ‘glue, paste’ lacks an anticausative (§18.5) and that the passive form арлюк is used with an anticausative-like meaning (§18.1.3) may explain why the perfective forms are possible with this verb.

### 18.1.2 Lexicalized passives

The verbs pa ‘do’ (§22.4.2.5) and βzu ‘make’ (§22.4.2.1) have lexicalized passive forms that are used as quasi-copulas apa ‘become’ and aβzu ‘become, grow’ taking a semi-object serving as nominal predicate (§22.5.1.1), for instance tɛʰi ‘what’ in (9) or turme (ci) ‘a human’ in (10) (for additional examples, see 31 in §9.1.2, 7 and

<footnote n="3">³Note in addition that the relativized element is the referent marked with the oblique relator noun *u-taɣ* ‘on, above’ (§8.3.4.3).</footnote>
8 in §15.1.1.2). In addition, *aβzu* is also used as a plain intransitive verb meaning
‘grow’.

(9) *nyzo tcʰi a-nu-tu-yβzu ra?
2SG what IRR-PFV-2-become be.needed:FACT
‘What do you [want to] become?’ (2003kandZislama)*

(10) *turme ci a-nu-ypa-a ku, turme pu-yβzu-a ci human INDEF IRR-PFV-become-1SG SFP human IPFV-become-1SG a.little a-pu-kʰu ku IRR-IPFV-be.possible SFP ‘If only I could become a human!’ (150819 haidenver-zh) {0006314#S229}*

In the perfective, the third person forms of *aβzu* ‘become, grow’ have an identi-
cal surface form with those of the transitive *βzu* ‘make’: for instance /naβzu/ can
be either parsed as *nu-aβzu* (AOR-become) or as *na-βzu* (AOR:3→3’-make). Since
the transitive *βzu* has dummy subject functions (§14.3.5), in examples such as (11),
it is possible to analyze the form /tʰaβzu/ as *tʰa-βzu* (AOR:3→3’-make) instead.

(11) *u-mat tʰu-aβzu tce tce
3SG.POSS-fruit AOR-grow LNK LNK
‘When its fruits grow...’ (06-zrAntCW) {0003422#S25}*

The verbs *ta* ‘put’ and *rku* ‘put in’ have passive forms whose meaning is still predictable from the base verb, *ata* ‘be on’ and *arku* ‘be in’. However, these passive forms generally serve as existential verbs (§22.5.1.2) as in (12) and (13), without the implication that the state results from a manipulative action. While in (12) one could argue that an alternative translation such as ‘a saddle has been put there’ would be possible,<fnref n="4" /> in the case of (13) it is obvious the presence of a sweet substance inside of a plant leaf is not attributable to an external agent.

(12) *u-rku nu:tu si u-sno ci a-ta tce,*  
3SG.POSS-side DEM:LOC wood 3SG.POSS-saddle INDEF PASS-put:FACT LNK  
‘Next to [the horse], there is a wooden saddle.’ (2012-qachGa2012-qachGa)  
{0004087#S50}

<footnote n="4">⁴In this example, the Factual actually can be construed as having a future interpretation (§21.3.1.2): a character describes to another character what he will see when he arrives at a place. I translate here *a-ta* as ‘there is’ in the present tense rather than ‘there will be’ because at the time of utterance, the wooden saddle is already placed next to the horse, and there is no implication that a change of state will occur.</footnote>
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(13) **nʷ ʷ-ŋgʷ** **nʷ kʷ-cʰi** **yzyzga kʷ-fse**
DEM 3SG.POSS-in DEM SBJ:PCP-be.sweet honey SBJ:PCP-be like
**a-rku** **tce**
PASS-put.in:FACT LNK

‘(When one presses on the flower of the *Habenaria glaucifolia*), inside of it there is something sweet like honey.’ (16-CWrNgo) {0003518#S192}

A piece of evidence suggesting that the verbs *ata* ‘be on’ and *arku* ‘be in’ are in the process of becoming specialized existential verbs (§22.5.1.2) is the fact that they alternate with the suppletive Sensory forms of the existential verbs (*yyzu* ‘exist’ and *maŋe* ‘not exist’, §14.2.2), as in (14).

(14) **nʷtcu pʷ-a-ta** **ri maŋe**
DEM:LOC PST.IPFV-PASS-put LNK notuezSENS

‘[The meat] used to be there, but now it is not there [any more].’
(meimeidegushi)

However, unlike the existential verbs *tu* ‘exist’ and *me* ‘not exist’, both *ata* ‘be on’ and *arku* ‘be in’ have regular sensory forms, as in (15).

(15) **sytceha ʷ-ŋgw** **nʷtcu rŋwšt tʷ-tWHOv pʷ-y-rku** **tce,**
ground 3SG.POSS-in DEM:LOC silver one-basket SENS-PASS-put.in LNK
‘Inside the ground, there is a basketful of silver.’ (2003 divination)

### 18.1.3 Agent demotion

The *a*- derivation demotes the transitive subject, and the agent is not expressible in the same clause. However, the agent is not necessary semantically deleted by the passive derivation. In (16) for instance, the agent of the wrapping action is clear from the context both to the narrator of the story and to the person discovering the silver ingots inside the pieces of bread – it is therefore semantically recoverable.

(16) **w-ŋgw** **nʷtcu rŋwšt qʰoqʰoq tʷ-rdoq**
3SG.POSS-in DEM:LOC silver ingot one-piece
**pjy-k-y-mpʰu-ri,**
IFR.IPFV-PEG-PASS-wrap-PEG

‘A silver ingot had been wrapped inside.’ (qajdoskAt 2002) {0003366#S108}
Many of the verbs that have an anticausative form (built by prenasalizing the onset, see Tables 18.4 and 18.5, §18.5 below) also have a passive. The passive is required in these cases when the agent is implicit and recoverable (for instance, *apṛt* ‘have been broken’ from *prṛt* ‘break’ (vt), example 103 in §18.5.2), while the anticausative is selected when the action occurs spontaneously without external agent (*mbrṛt* ‘break’ (vi), example 104 in §18.5.2).

In some contexts, both passive and anticausative forms are possible. For instance, to express the fact that a piece of iron is attached to an object, both the passive *atsʰoV* ‘be attached’ (17) and the anticausative *ndzoV* ‘be attached’ (18) (from *tsʰoV* ‘attach’) are attested.

(17) *u-pa, tce* h *uŋkʰyr* yu *u-spjwŋ* tu-*ku-yi*
3SG.POSS-down water.wheel GEN 3SG.POSS-axle IPFV:UP-SBJ:PCP-come
*numuire ri li com a-tsʰoV* tce
DEM:LOC LOC again iron PASS-attach:FACT LNK
‘On the [top extremity of] the axle of the mill coming up from below, a piece of iron is attached.’ (06-BGa) {0003408#S50}

(18) *nʷ u-tʰycu* ri *com ku-ndzov* ci
DEM 3SG.POSS-downstream LOC iron SBJ:PCP-ACAUS:attach INDEF
tu tce, nʷ tʰaymu rmi.
exist:FACT LNK DEM weaving.blade call:FACT
‘Below, there is [a weaving implement] that has a piece of iron attached to it, it is called tʰaymu.’ (thaXtsa 2002)

The anticausative *ndzov* ‘be attached’ is required in cases when the entity that is attached on a surface has grown on it, rather than having been attached by someone, as in (19). In this function, it can be considered to be a subtype of existential verb (§22.5.1.2).

(19) *u-muŋtoV nʷ kuŋny cʰu-yzirja* tce *tu-kʰyl*
3SG.POSS-flower DEM also IPFV:DOWNSTREAM-be.aligned LNK one-place
*nuŋcu* *uŋuŋ, χswm kuβde jamar ku-ndzov.
DEM:LOC two three four about IPFV-ACAUS:attach
‘Its flowers are also aligned, in each place they are attached in [groups] of about two, three or four.’ (16-RlWmsWsi) {0003520#S9}

Another difference between *ndzov* ‘be attached’ and *atsʰoV* ‘be attached’ is that the former only occurs as a resultative (like most passive verbs in Japhug, see
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

§18.1.1), while *ndzok* ‘be attached’ can also mean ‘cling onto, lean on, grab’ as in
(120) (§18.5.5).

In the case of verbs lacking an anticausative form however, such as *p̱još* ‘glue, paste’, the passive forms can be used with an anticausative function, with a semantically deleted agent, as shown by examples such as (8) in §18.1.1.

Passive verbs are as a rule incompatible with an overt agent, even when semantically recoverable. Other morphosyntactic devices such as a direct-inverse marking are used to express the relative saliency of the agent and the patient in Japhug (see the discussion in §14.3.3).

In example (20) with a passive verb, the ergative postpositional phrase *tw-se* *ku* could appear to be an example of overt agent.<fnref n="5" /> However, note that the base verb *mar* ‘smear’ can encode the material used to smear a surface as a semi-object (*tawaz* ‘soot’ in 21) rather than as an instrument. Likewise, the ergative is optional on *tw-se* ‘blood’ (compare with 22).

(20) *xciri yu w-mtcʰi*   *ra [ty-se ku]*
weasel GEN 3SG.POSS-mouth PL INDEF.POSS-blood ERG
*py-k-y-mar-ci*   *zo*
IFR.IPFV-PEG-PASS-smear-PEG EMPH
‘The weasel’s mouth was smeared with blood.’ (140518 xuezhe he huangshulang-zh) {0004032#S24}

(21) *tcʰeme n̪u ku [...] w-rŋa*   *takfaz to-mar*
girl DEM ERG 3SG.POSS-face soot IFR-smear
‘The lady smeared her face with soot.’ (2002 qaCpa)

(22) *w-mtcʰi*   *w-taɣ*   *tce ty-se*   *ra*
3SG.POSS-mouth 3SG.POSS-on LOC INDEF.POSS-blood PL
*py-k-y-mar-ci*   *zo.*
IFR.IPFV-PEG-PASS-smear-PEG EMPH
‘Its mouth was smeared with blood.’ (140518 xuezhe he huangshulang-zh)
{0004032#S19}

The apparently puzzling optional use of the ergative in (20) is in fact the same
as that observed with the partitive argument of the verb *mtsʰyt* ‘be full’ (§8.2.2.9),
and has to be distinguished from either agent or instrument.

<footnote n="5">⁵In the Chinese original from which this story is translated, the corresponding passage is 满嘴鲜血 <mǎnzuǐ xiānxuè> ‘the mouth covered in blood’; the presence of ergative in (20) cannot be explained as calquing from Chinese.</footnote>
The agent can at best be expressed as a possessive prefix on the intransitive subject of the passive verb, as in (23), though in this example the implication that the agent is 2SG is only contextual.

(23) *ny-smyn* *w-j-á-ndza?*
2SG.POSS-medicine QU-PEG-PASS-eat:FACT
‘Has your medicine been eaten?’ (elicited)

The only case of a passive verb taking as argument an overt noun phrase corresponding to the transitive subject of the base verb is *afskɛr* ‘be surrounded’ from *fskɛr* ‘turn around’. As shown in (24) and (25), an absolutive locative noun phrase referring to the surrounding entity (in square brackets) can appear with this verb after the intransitive subject (the surrounded entity/location).

(24) *izɛra ji-kʰa* *nɔ* [*jɛyɛt tw-tɛkʰrɛz nɔ*]
1PL 1PL.POSS-house DEM balcony one-row DEM
ku-o-fskɛr.
IPFV:EAST-PASS-surround
‘Our house is surrounded by one row of balcony.’ (2011-11-kha2)

(25) *a-kʰa* *u-rkwo* *nwo* [*tw-ji*]
1SG.POSS-house 3SG.POSS-side DEM INDEF.POSS-field
a-fskɛr.
PASS-surround:FACT
‘The sides of my house are surrounded by fields.’ (elicited)

However, the base verb *fskɛr* ‘turn around’ in the meaning ‘surround’ can be
constructed with the surrounding entity as its transitive subject (in 26, *prab* ‘cliff’).
This ergatively-marked subject however is not a volitional agent and rather se-
mantically corresponds to a locative argument, which may explain why it is not
removed by passivization (though ergative marking is lost).

(26) *kwki sytʰa ki, u-rkwo tʰamtcɛt [prab] kw*
DEM.PROX place DEM.PROX 3SG.POSS-side all cliff ERG
ku-fskɛr jw-cti
IPFV:EAST-surround SENS-be.AFF
‘The sides of this place are all surrounded by cliffs.’ (elicited)
### 18.1.4 Passive from ditransitive verbs

Secundative verbs such as *mbi* ‘give’ and *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’ (a lexicalized causative of *tsʰi* ‘drink’), which select as object the recipient rather than the theme (§14.4.2), can be subjected to the passive derivation. The resulting verbs *ambi* ‘be given’ and *ajtsʰi* ‘be given to drink’ however encode as subjects not the recipient, but the theme; in particular, they never take indexation affixes even when the recipient is a first or second person. The recipient can only be encoded as possessor of the subject (27) or as left-dislocated focus constituent (28).

(27) *tɔ-ytso* *u-smɔn* *a-mbi*
INDEF.POSS-child 3SG.POSS-medicine PASS-give:FACT
‘The child has been given his medicine.’ (elicited)

(28) *tɔ-pytso* *ra tɔ-lu* *a-jtsʰi*
INDEF.POSS-child PL INDEF.POSS-milk PASS-give.to.drink:FACT
‘The children have been given milk to drink.’ (elicited)

The causativization of these passive verbs yields the rogative derivation (§18.2).

### 18.1.5 Reduplicated passive

The intransitive verb *aβzdoβzdu* ‘be in good order’ derives from the transitive verb *βzdu* ‘collect’ (itself borrowed from *bɛ̃sdu* ‘collect’), and can be interpreted as a lexicalized passive derivation (‘have been collected and put in order’ → ‘be in good order’). However, unlike other passive verbs, it presents reduplication with the rare -oβ replicant (on this type of reduplication, see also §19.4.2.2).

The verb *aβdoβdi* ‘be in good health’ (29) apparently has the same morphological structure as *aβzdoβzdu* ‘be in good order’, but since its base verb *βdi* ‘be well’ (from *bɛ̃bde* ‘be well’) is stative intransitive, this example cannot be analyzed as a passive.

(29) *izora cɛxco* *ku-oβdoβdi-j*
1PL these.days PRS-be.in.good.health-1PL
‘These days we are in good health.’ (elicited)

Another interesting difference between *aβzdoβzdu* ‘be in good order’ and *aβdoβdi* ‘be in good health’ is that the former has a sigmatic causative *sɛrβzdoβzdu* ‘put in order’, while the latter has a velar causative *yɛrβdoβdi* ‘tidy up, put in order’ whose meaning is not derivable from that of *aβdoβdi* ‘be in good health’.
18.1.6 Compatibility with other derivations

There are no examples in the corpus of passive derivations taking as input causative or applicative verbs, except for some lexicalized causatives such as *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’ (§18.1.4). However, it is likely that the progressive prefix *asw*- originates from the combination of the passive and the sigmatic causative (§17.2.8, §21.6.1.3).

Passive verbs however can be subjected to sigmatic causative derivation. The fusion of the sigmatic causative *su*- with the passive *a*- yield /sw/, a surface form identical to the antipassive (§18.6.2) and the proprietive (§18.8) prefixes.

First, the causative-passive double derivations from secundative verbs (§18.1.4) has become the rogative derivation (§18.2). Second, the lexicalized passives *apa* ‘become’ and *abzu* ‘become, grow’ (§18.1.2) have the causative forms *sypa* and *sγβzu*, both of which predictably mean ‘cause to become, turn into, transform into’. These causative verbs are ditransitive, as in (30), taking as semi-object the entity in which the object is transformed.

(30) *tw-ci*          *tʰamtcyt* *ty-se*          *sw-ypa-j*
INDEF.POSS-water all INDEF.POSS-blood CAUS-become:FACT-1SG
‘Let us turn all the water into blood.’ (2003 smanmi)

The object indexed on the verb is the entity that undergoes transformation, such as the 1PL in (31), not the one that it is transformed into. Only the object is targeted by reflexivization (§18.3.4).

(31) *kwki* ji-βdaṁmu kw ki kw-fse, nyki, swngw
DEM.PROX 1PL.POSS-queen ERG DEM.PROX SBJ:PCP-be like FILLER forest
pya nú-wy-sw-yβzu-j
bird AOR-INV-CAUS-become-1PL
‘Our queen has transformed us into bird from the forest.’ (140520 ye
tiane-zh) {0004044#S119}

The verbs *sypa* and *sγβzu* ‘cause to become, turn into, transform’ occur with a variety of semi-objects. In (32), the semi-object *tw-mpcər* *tw-mpcər* is a repeated counted noun (§7.3.2.3) expressing literally the meaning ‘turn (the rock) into sheets one by one’.

(32) *cupa* k tce jw-Nqa ma praβ
stone.slab INF-take.out LNK SENS-be.hard LNK cliff
c-pjú-wy-pʰút jw-ra [...] tce nw tw-mpcar tw-mpcar
TRAL-IPFV-INV-take.off SENS-be.needed LNK DEM one-sheet one-sheet
pnú-wy-sw-yßzu pw-ra
IPFV-INV-CAUS-become SENS-be-needed

‘To extract stone slabs, one has to chop the rocks sheet by sheet (layer by layer).’ (14-siblings) {0003508#S155}

The semi-object of *srya* and *sryβzu* ‘cause to become’ can also be an infinitival or participial clause. This combination is a common type of periphrastic causative construction (§24.5.1.1), illustrated in example (33) with the two relative clauses *u-cya ku-xtcu-xtci* ‘who is young, whose age is small’ and *ku-mpcu-mpcyr* ‘who is beautiful’ as semi objects. A more literal translation could be ‘he turned his mother into (someone) whose age was small and who was beautiful’.

(33) w-mu [w-cya ku-xtcu-xtci]
3SG.POSS-mother 3SG.POSS-age SBJ:PCP-EMPH-be.small
[kw-mpcu-mpcyr] zo na-sw-yβzu pw-ŋu.
SBJ:PCP-EMPH-be.beautful EMPH AOR:3→3'-CAUS-become SENS-be
‘He made his mother become young and beautiful.’ (2005 Norbzang)

This periphrastic construction is also possible with the reflexivized forms of *srya* ‘transform’ and *sryβzu* ‘transform’ (example 68, §18.3.4)

The verb *syrtsi* ‘count as’ (see 23, §8.1.7) is the sigmatic causative of *artsi* ‘be counted as’ (34), itself passive of the transitive *rtsi* ‘count’ (from ṛ *rtsi* ‘count’).

(34) xciri kw-fse nura kurŋi mw-pw-y-rtsi lo.
weasel SBJ:PCP-be like DEM:PL beast of prey NEG-SENS-PASS-count SFP
‘Weasel and the like do not count as beasts of prey (I think).’ (150822
kWrNi) {0006260#S8}

Passive verbs can occur as second element of Noun-Verb nominal compounds, but in this case the *a-* prefix is absorbed by the previous nominal root, resulting in a surface form undistinguishable from that of the base verb. For instance, the compound *cnrysiti* ‘person with a stuffy nose’ can be parsed as *cnry-* (bound state of *tw-cna* ‘nose’) and -*sti*, a syllable ambiguous between the passive *asti* ‘be blocked’ and the base verb *sti* ‘block’ (108, §5.5.5.2). . The former is more probable, as this noun should be analyzed as meaning ‘(person) whose nose is blocked rather than as ‘blocking noses’.
## 18.2 Rogative

The rogative<fnref n="6" /> *sɣ-* prefix is attested on the secundative verbs *mbi* ‘give’ and *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’, and produces intransitive verbs meaning ‘ask (someone) to X (something) to oneself’ (where X stands for the meaning of the base verb), *sɣmbi* ‘ask for’ and *sɣjtsʰi* ‘ask for something to drink’, respectively.

The *sɣ-* prefix is homophonous to that of the antipassive (§18.6.2)<fnref n="7" /> and of the
proprietive (§18.8) derivations.

Rogative verbs are morphologically intransitive, as shown by (35) (the past transitive suffix -t would be expected here if this verb were transitive, see §14.3.1) and (36), where a type-C orientation prefix would be expected (§14.3.2.2, §15.1.1.1).

However, while the rogative derivation affects transitivity, it does not decrease valency: *sɣmbi* and *sɣjtsʰi* are trivalent like their base verb: they have two arguments in addition to the intransitive subject, a semi-object (the entity that is asked for) and a dative argument (§14.2.5).

(35) azo a-pi w-cki kwtmcʰu ci
1SG 1SG.POSS-elder.sibling 3SG.POSS-DAT toy INDEF
nw-sɣ-mbi-a
AOR-ROG-give-1SG

‘I asked my elder brother/sister to give me a toy.’ (elicited)

The semi-object of *sɣmbi* ‘ask for’ can be a human (including a first or second person), in contexts like asking for someone in the context of arranged marriage (36) or asking for a child to become recognized as a reincarnated lama.

(36) tce a-ki nure ri, nw-sɣ-mbi-nw
LNK 1SG.POSS-younger.sibling DEM:LOC LOC AOR-ROG-give-PL
‘They asked for my younger brother (to come to marry their daughter) there.’ (14-siblings) {0003508#S188}

The dative argument is optional, and rarely expressed. Rogative verbs with non-overt dative can be used as a polite way to ask for something, as in (37), where neither the person asking (the child) nor the addressee (the grandfather, that would take the dative) are expressed within the same clause.

<footnote n="6">⁶This term is from Latin *rogo* ‘I ask, I require’.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷The rogative prefix on *sɣmbi* ‘ask for’ was mistakenly glossed as ‘antipassive’ in Jacques (2012c: 215), example (32). The antipassive forms of *mbi* ‘give’ and *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’ are *rɣmbi* ‘give to someone’ and *rɣjtsʰi* ‘give to someone to drink’, respectively. These forms have the *rɣ*- antipassive prefix instead of *sɣ-* (§18.6.4).</footnote>
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

(37) *a-* *ww*, *tw*-mgo *kʷ-sʷ-mbi*,
1SG.POSS-grandfather INDEF.POSS-food OBJ:PCP-ROG-give
*tw*-ci *kʷ-sʷ-jtsʰi* *wβrʷ-tu*
INDEF.POSS-water OBJ:PCP-ROG-give.to.drink opt-exist:FACT

‘Grandfather, would there be food or water that [we could] ask for [you to give us]?’ (2011-05-nyima)

The rogative *sʷ-* is likely to have originated from the combination of the sig-
matic causative *su-* and passive *a-* prefixes (§18.1.6). The verbs *mbi* ‘give’ and *jtsʰi*
‘give to drink’ have the passive forms *ambi* ‘be given’ and *ajtsʰi* ‘be given to drink’
(§18.1.4), which select as intransitive subject the theme. A causative derivation
from these passive verbs ‘cause X to be given’ could yield the meaning of the
rogative derivation (note the semantic similarity with the inversive and rogative
functions of the causative discussed in §17.2.5.7 and §17.2.5.4). However, this anal-
ysis is not completely straightforward, as one would expect causative verbs to
be transitive (not semi-transitive like the rogative verbs) and the dative marking
of the addressee is also unexplained.

**18.3 Reflexive**

While Japhug has a generic pronoun *tuzo* ‘one’ (§6.2.1) and an emphatic pronoun *raj* ‘oneself’ (§6.4), it lacks any reflexive pronoun, and the only way to express reflexive meaning is by means of a dedicated prefix *zγγ-*, different from the autive (§19.1), the reciprocal (§18.4) and other valency-decreasing derivations.

18.3.1 The reflexive prefix: form and basic function

Table 18.2 presents several examples of the reflexive prefix *zγγ-*, deriving reflexive verbs from transitive ones.

The reflexive derivation turns the base verb into an intransitive verb whose
subject acts upon itself, and corresponds to both the transitive subject and the
object of the base verb. For instance, in (38), the subjects of the reflexive verbs
*ɛ-pjuu-zγγ-yγ-la-nu* ‘they bathe in it=they cause themselves to soak in it’ and *ku-
zγγ-nusmɛrn* to heal themselves’ are semantically both agents and patients. When
the subject is non-singular, each member of the group corresponding to the sub-
ject is acting on himself, as opposed to the reciprocal derivation, where every
member performs the same action to other members of the groups, and is agent
and patient either simultaneously or in turn (§18.4).
(38) tce nw w-ŋgw ri c-pjw-zy-y-la-nw tce li
LNK DEM 3SG.POSS-in LOC TRAL-IPFV-REFL-CAUS-soak-PL LNK again
kw-zy-nwsmyŋ ju-ce-nw tce,
SBJ:PCP-REFL-heal IPFV-go-PL LNK
‘People go and bathe in [warm springs], they go [there] to heal
themselves.’ (20-ldWGi, 52;56) {0003558#S52}

<table><caption>Table 18.2: Examples of reflexive verbs in Japhug</caption><thead><tr><th>Base verb</th><th>Reflexive verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>χtci 'wash'</td><td>zyχtci 'wash oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>ts<sup>h</sup>i 'strangle'</td><td>zyts<sup>h</sup>i 'hang oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>sat 'kill'</td><td>zyysat 'commit suicide'</td></tr><tr><td>rku 'put in'</td><td>zyyrku 'put oneself in'</td></tr><tr><td>nystu 'believe'</td><td>zyynystu 'believe in oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>fstun 'take care of'</td><td>zyyfstun 'take care of oneself'</td></tr></tbody></table>

The prefix zyy- is highly productive, but only targets objects.<fnref n="8" /> Other syntactic functions such as possessors of objects for instance cannot be reflexivized using zyy-. The form †zyy-sycyt (intended meaning ‘comb oneself’) found in one example in the corpus (39a) is a mistake, as pointed out by the consultant who told the story (Tshendzin) herself, since sycyt ‘comb’ can only take the noun tu-ku ‘head’ as object, not the person whose hair is combed. The only way to express the meaning ‘comb oneself’ is by the autive prefix (§19.1.3) as in (39b).

(39) a. †pjy-zyy-sycyt-ndzi to-rympcoŋ~mpcyr-ndzi,
IFR-REFL-comb-DU IFR-EMPH~make.up-DU
Intended meaning: ‘They combed themselves and made themselves
beautiful.’ (150830 baihe jiemei-zh)

b. ndzi-ku pjy-nw-sycyt-ndzi to-rympcoŋ~mpcyr-ndzi,
3DU.POSS-head IFR-AUTO-comb-DU IFR-EMPH~make.up-DU
‘They combed their hair and made themselves beautiful.’ (correction
of the previous example)

<footnote n="8">⁸The only exceptions to this rule are a handful of intransitive verbs which take the zyy- prefix (§18.3.1.4).</footnote>
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

Similarly, in the reflexive causative derivation *zyyswuntɛ'hɛr* 'cause oneself to
appear' from *ntɛ'hɛr* 'appear' (§18.3.4), reflexivization by *zy-y*- only targets the in-
transitive subject of the base verb (the entity which appears in the dream, *swŋgi*
'lion' in 40a), not the experiencer, which is encoded as possessor of the noun
*tu-jmŋo* 'dream'. Thus, example (40b) cannot be interpreted as 'he caused her to
appear to himself'.

(40) a. *u-jmŋo* u-ŋgw swŋgi ko-ntɛ'hɛr
3SG.POSS-dream 3SG.POSS-in lion IFR-appear
'He dreamt of a tiger / A tiger appeared to him in a dream.' (elicited)

b. *w-jmŋo* w-ŋgw ko-zy-y-sw-ntcʰ-yr
3SG.POSS-dream 3SG.POSS-in IFR-REFL-CAUS-appear
'He made himself appear to her in a dream.' (2012 Norbzang)
{0003768#S97}

**18.3.1.1 Transitivity**

All reflexive verbs are morphologically intransitive (§14.3.1). In terms of case marking however, they are not prototypical intransitive verbs. When their subject is overt, it is in absolutive form in most cases as in (41), but subjects of reflexive verbs in the ergative (§8.2.2.3) are also attested (15, §6.2.1).

(41) wzo ku-nw-zy-y-fstwn cʰa
3SG IPFV-AUTO-REFL-serve can:FACT
'It [will] be able to take care of itself on its own.' (150822 laoye zuoshi
zongshi duide-zh) {0006298#S146}

In particular, the semi-transitive lexicalized reflexive *zyypa* ‘pretend’ (derived
from *pa* ‘do’, §18.3.3) often occurs with subjects marked with the ergative, such
as the right-dislocated constituent <tangseng> *nw ku* in (42) (see also example
9, §14.2.3).

(42) m-y-ku-tso to-zyypa, <tangseng> nw ku.
NEG-SBJ:PCP-understand IFR-pretend ANTHR DEM ERG
'He pretended not to have understood, Tangseng.' (180503 xiyouji 12-zh)
{0006189#S43}
### 18.3.1.2 Reflexivization from ditransitive verbs

The reflexive is possible with indirecitive verbs of giving or speech, whose objects corresponds to the theme (§14.4.1): $kʰo$ ‘give’ and $fɔrt$ ‘tell’ yield the reflexive verbs $zγɛkʰo$ ‘give oneself up’ and $zγɛfɔrt$ ‘tell about oneself’, as in (43).

(43) nyzo kgra ᵃ-ja
nutcu pɔu-tu-nu-zγy-kʰo zo
2SG enemy 3SG.POSS-hand DEM:LOC IPFV-2-AUTO-REFL-give EMPH
uŋy-ku-cti-ci?
PROB-PEG-be.AFF-PEG

‘(By doing that), aren’t you handing yourself over to your own enemy?’
(2014niulan li de lu-zh)

The $zγy-$ prefix can only express reflexivization of the theme of indirecitive verbs, never the dative-marked recipient; for instance, it cannot be prefixed to an indirecitive verb such as $tʰu$ ‘ask’ (§14.4.1) to convey the meaning ‘ask oneself’. With the secundative verb $mbi$ ‘give’, the reflexive prefix is not possible either, though for pragmatic rather than syntactic reasons.

### 18.3.1.3 Permissive function

The reflexive prefix can in some cases have the permissive function ‘let oneself be X’, the most common case with the verb *zγynuβlu* ‘be fooled’ from the transitive denominal verb *nuβlu* ‘cheat’ (‘let oneself be cheated’). With most transitive verbs, this meaning is expressed by means of the reflexive+causative double derivation (§18.3.4).

In (44), an overt agent (corresponding to the causee of the causative construction) marked with the ergative *ku* appears with the verb *zγynumbrɛpu* ‘let oneself be mounted’. Although taken from a text translated from Chinese, it is not considered incorrect after rechecking with Tshendzin.

(44) tcendɛre mbro ku “pɔ-pe” to-ti pɔ-ŋu. tcendɛre twrme nɔ
LNK horse ERG SENS-be.good IFR-say SENS-be LNK man DEM
ku to-zγy-nuβrɛpu pɔ-ŋu tce tce twrme nɔ mbro u-ta
ERG IFR-REFL-ride SENS-be LNK LNK man DEM horse 3SG.POSS-on
nutcu to-ce pɔ-ŋu tce,
DEM:LOC IFR:UP-go SENS-be LNK

‘The horse said ‘good’ and let himself be mounted by the man, and the man rode on him.’ (ma he lu-zh)
18.3.1.4 Reflexivization of intransitive verbs

A handful of intransitive verbs can undergo reflexivization with the *zγγ*- prefix.

With intransitive deadverbial (§15.1.3.4) and denominal verbs of relative loca-
tions in *m*, such as *maŋlo* ‘be upstream’ and *mɔrpaɛrtʰiβ* ‘be in the middle’, the
reflexive prefix derives volitional motion verbs such as *zγγmaŋlo* ‘put oneself up-
stream’ (45) and *zγγmɔrpaɛrtʰiβ* ‘put oneself in between’. It is possible that these
forms come from the simplification of former reflexive+causative (§18.3.4) by loss
of the causative prefix.

(45) *w-lɔcu* *nɔtcu* *jo-ce* *tce* *lo-zγγ-maŋlo*.

3SG.POSS-upstream DEM:LOC IFR-go LNK IFR:UPSTREAM-REFL-be.upstream
'[The wolf] went to a place upstream [from the lamb], he placed himself
upstream.' (2014 lang he yang-zh)

The pair of intransitive verbs *yytɛa* ‘be wrong’ and *yyŋgi* ‘be right’ have the reflexive forms *zγyyrtɛa* ‘recognize one’s mistake’ and *zγyyŋŋgi* ‘consider one-self to be right’, as shown by (46). Note that the causative of these verbs has a tropative meaning, for instance the causative *zγyrtɛa* ‘consider to be wrong’ in the second clause of (46); the reflexive forms thus have the expected meaning of reflexive+causative double derivations (‘consider oneself to be right/wrong’).

(46) *two* *pjw-kw-zγy-ytca*

ra

ma,

GENR IPFV-GENR:S/O-REFL-be.wrong be.needed:FACT LNK

tw-zda

pjw-wy-z-ytca,

two (...)

GENR.POSS-companion IPFV-INV-CAUS-be.wrong GENR

pw-kw-nw-yγtca

kwny pjw-kw-zγy-yŋŋgi

tce,

IPFV-GENR:S/O-REFL-be.wrong also

IPFV-GENR:S/O-AUTO-be.right LNK

w-mbrzyw

kw-tu

me

tu-ku-ti

pw-ŋu.

3SG.POSS-result SBJ:PCP-exist not.exist:FACT IPFV-GENR:S/O-say SENS-be

'One has to recognize one's mistakes; if one considers one's companions to be wrong, and if one consider oneself to be always right even if one is wrong, there will be no [good] result.' (IWlu)

The reflexive verb *zγγsɛrɛke* ‘burn oneself’ appears to derive from the propri-
etive verb *sɛrɛke* ‘be burning’ (from *ɛke* ‘get burned’, §18.8), though from its mean-
ing it is tempting to wonder whether this prefix *sɛr-* here is not rather analyzable
as an irregular causative (§17.2.2).
(47) ma-pw-tu-zγy-sy-cke
NEG-IMP-2-REFL-PROP?-burn
‘Don’t burn yourself!’ (elicited)

One reflexive verb seems to derived from an ideophone rather than from a verb root: zγγcρhγβ ‘lay flat’ (48)<fnref n="9" /> shares the same root |ɛpʰhγβ| as cρphγbcρhγβ ‘laying flat’ (49). It is possible that this verb originates from a deidephonic derivation (§20.9), with subsequent deletion of the denominal prefix.

(48) w-tʰoink zw pw-zγycpʰaβ-a
3SG.POSS-ground LOC AOR-lay flat-1SG
‘I laid flat on the ground.’ (elicited)

(49) w-tʰoink cpʰγbcρʰγβ zo pw-rγzi, kv-nwqambwmbjom
3SG.POSS-ground IDPH(II):laying flat EMPH SENS-stay INF-fly
múj-cʰa
NEG:SENS-can

‘The bird is staying on the ground without moving, it cannot fly.’ (elicited)

### 18.3.1.5 Other reflexive constructions

The reflexive zγy- is almost the only way to express reflexivity in Japhug. However, the antipassive verb ra-χtci (from the transitive verb χtci ‘wash’), has the meaning ‘wash one’s face’ or ‘have a shower’ (§18.6.7.5), almost like that of the regular reflexive zγγχtci ‘wash oneself’. Similarly, the prefix rγ- in rγmpcγr ‘make up’ from mpcγr ‘be beautiful’ is reflexive-like (‘make oneself beautiful’, see §19.7.5).

### 18.3.2 Reflexive vs. anticausative

Transitive verbs such as tšaβ ‘cause to fall/roll’, kγy ‘bend’ or xtʰom ‘put horizontally’ which have a corresponding prenasalized anticausatives (§18.5) use the reflexive derivation to express the corresponding intransitive volitional action.

The action of the transitive verb itself can be either volitional (50) or non-volitional (including involuntary actions of animate beings and actions of inanimate referents, as in 51) depending on the context.

<footnote n="9">⁹The vowel alternation in (48) is regular, see §14.2.1.1.</footnote>
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(50) **tɔ́-pɔ́tso** *nɔ́* *ki* *kɔ́-fse*
**INDEF POSS-Child** **DEM DEM PROX SBJ:** PCP-be like
**lu-xtʰɔ́m-nɔ́** *ku-cɔ́-rŋgɔ́-nɔ́*
**IPFV:** UPSTREAM-put horizontally-PL **IPFV-CAUS:** lie down-PL
**pɔ́-mɑ́k,**
**PST. IPFV-not.be**

'People would not lie the babies down horizontally like this.' (140426
**tApAtso** kAnWBdaR1)

(51) **rdvstɑ́k nɔ́ w-tu̯-rzi** *kɔ́ w-tʰɔ́v*
**stone** **DEM 3SG POSS-NMLZ:** DEG-be.heavy **ERG 3SG POSS-** ground
**pjý-wý-tṣaβ** *tce* **pjý-wý-sat.**
**IFR:** DOWN-INV-cause.to.fall **LNK** **IFR:** DOWN-INV-kill

'The stones [in the wolf's belly] were so heavy that they caused him to
fall down and die.' (140428 xiaohongmao-zh) {0003884#S165}

The anticausative verbs are nearly always non-volitionally (see §18.5.5), as il-
lustrated by (52) and (53).

(52) **tce rŋgw numi (...) to-k-ymw-rpu-ndzi** *tce*
**LNK** **boulder** **DEM:DU** **IFR-PEG-RECIP-bump-DU** **LNK**
**pjγ-NGrw-ndzi** *tce tṣyndo*
**IFR:DOWN-ACAUS:** shatter-DU **LNK** side.of.the.road
**pjγ-ndzaβ-ndzi.**
**IFR:DOWN-ACAUS:** cause.to.roll-DU

'The two boulders bumped into each other, shattered, and rolled down
the side of the road.' (28-smAnmi) {0004063#S135}

In (53), the verb *lo-ndom* means ‘lie down horizontally after falling down (out of exhaustion)’, as shown by (54), the gloss provided in Japhug for this verb form, which also involves the anticausative verb *ndzaβ* ‘fall/roll’.

(53) **tcendvɛ́ rɔ́-ki** *nɔ́ kγ-ŋke mw-ŋy-cʰa tce*
**LNK** **3SG POSS-younger.sibling** **DEM INF-walk** **NEG-IFR-can** **LNK**
**tcendvɛ́ lo-ndom** *cti* *tce*
**LNK** **IFR:UPSTREAM-ACAUS:** put horizontally **be.AFF:FACT** **LNK**

'His younger brother was not able to walk anymore, and lay down.'
(2011-05-nyima)
(54) *w-ku* lo lo-ru tce
3SG.POSS-head upstream IFR:UPSTREAM-look LNK
*pjγ-ndẓaβ*, tce *kγ-nw-rγru* mγ-ku-cʰa nw,
IFR:DOWN-ACAUS:cause.to.fall LNK INF-AUTO-get.up NEG-SBJ:PCP-can DEM
*tce lo-ndom* tu-ku-ti *pnw-ŋu*
LNK IFR:UPSTREAM-ACAUS:put horizontally IPFV-GENR:S/O-say SENS-be
'He fell down, head looking upstream, not able to get up by himself, so
one says *lo-ndom*. ('elicited, explanation of example 53)

On other hand, the combination of the transitive verb with the reflexive expresses a volitional meaning implying that the action was done on purposive by an animate agent. In (55), the subject of *nγ-ẓyγ-xtʰom* 'he put himself horizontally=he laid down horizontally' did not fall down (unlike that of example 53), but on the contrary lays down on the ground by himself voluntarily to pretend to have fallen down and have died.

(55) *tṣu nwtcu nγ-ẓyγ-xtʰom* tce *pu-ku-si*
road DEM:LOC IFR:WEST-REFL-put horizontally LNK AOR-SBJ:PCP-die
*to-ẓyγpa*.
IFR-pretend
'He laid down on the road horizontally and pretended to be dead.' (140517
huli he lang-zh) {0004020#S11}

In (56), the verb *ẓyγtṣaβ* ‘cause oneself to fall/roll’ expresses the same action as *mtsaɣ* ‘jump’, a clearly volitional motion verb.

(56) *tw-ci* kw-wxtw~wxti* nu w-ŋgw nwtcu*
INDEF.POSS-water SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.big DEM 3SG.POSS-in DEM:LOC
*ko-mtsaɣ*. tce nwtcu ko-ẓyγ-tṣaβ qʰe
IFR:EAST-jump LNK DEM:LOC IFR:EAST-REFL-cause.to.roll LNK
'He jumped into the river, he let himself roll into it.' (150830 baihe
jiemei-zh) {0006368#S199}

When no prenasalized anticausative verb exists, the reflexive can still be used to insist on the volitional character of a usually non-volitional action in combination with a causative prefix (§18.3.4.1).

### 18.3.3 Lexicalized reflexives

A few reflexive verbs have meanings that are unpredictable from their base verbs and have become highly lexicalized.
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

The semi-transitive verb *zyγpa* ‘pretend’ (§18.3.1.1, §14.2.3, §16.1.1.6) transparently comes from the reflexive of the light verb *pa* ‘do’ (§22.4.2.5). This semantic evolution probably took place through a meaning such as ‘make oneself into X’. The lexicalized reflexive *zyγpa* is also attested as a stative verb meaning ‘be arrogant’.

The intransitive auxiliary *zyγstu*, which occurs as a light verb with ideophones (§10.1.7.3) to express voluntary actions, is the reflexive of the similative verb *stu* ‘do like’ (§14.4.2, §25.4.1.2).

The verb *zyγctʰuẓ* ‘reveal one’s true nature’ (57) derives from the orienting verb *ctʰuẓ* ‘turn towards’ (§15.1.2.4).

(57) *uẓo n<u>u</u>stʰ<u>u</u>ci p<u>u</u>j<u>u</u>-suẓd<u>u</u>y-a
m<u>u</u>j-pe
p<u>y</u>-sw<u>o</u> t<u>ce</u>
3<u>SG</u> so.much <u>IPFV</u>-cause.to.worry-1<u>SG</u> <u>NEG:SENS</u>-be.good <u>IFR</u>-think <u>LNK</u>
<u>ko</u>-zy<u>γ</u>ctʰ<u>u</u>z.
<u>IFR</u>-reveal.oneself

‘She thought: “It is not good of me to cause him so much worries”, and she revealed her true identity to him.’ (2003kAndzwsqhaj2)

### 18.3.4 Reflexive causative

Reflexive derivations from causativized verbs are extremely common in Japhug, and have a considerable diversity of uses.

#### 18.3.4.1 Reflexive causative and volitionality

The double causative+reflexive derivation also serves as a strategy to express volitional action, when applied to non-volitional intransitive verbs. For instance, a non-volitional verb like *fka* ‘be full’ is not attested in the Imperative (§21.4.2.2). The doubly derived *zyγ-cw-fka*, which conveys the meaning ‘cause oneself to become full=eat to one’s fill’, can on the other hand occur in the Imperative, as in (58).

(58) *t<u>y</u>-zy<u>γ</u>-cw-f<u>ka</u>
<u>IMP-REFL-CAUS</u>-be.full
‘Eat to your fill!’ (a common polite expression)

Examples (58) and (59), illustrate that the reflexive prefix is compatible with both the velar (§17.3.4) and the sigmatic (§17.2) causative prefixes.

Note that the meaning of *zyγzyzo* ‘make oneself light’ can also be expressed with a periphrastic construction as in (68) below.
(59) *nyzo nwi, ty-muj*   *stʰuci*   *a-ty-tw-zy-y-y-zo,*
2SG DEM INDEF.POSS-feather so.much IRR-PFV-2-REFL-CAUS-be.light
*ny-mbro*   *nwnw qale*   *stʰuci*   *a-ty-zy-y-y-mbjom*   *tce,*
2SG.POSS-horse DEM wind so.much IRR-PFV-REFL-CAUS-be.quick LNK
'[If] you make yourself as light as a feather, and your horse makes itself
as quick as the wind, [you will succeed].' (2011-04-smanmi)

This use of the double causative+reflexive derivation is similar to the reflexivization of transitive verbs that have prenasalized anticausative counterparts to express the volitional intransitive (§18.3.2).

When the meaning of the causative verb is not completely predictable from
that of the base verb, the reflexivized verb always follows the meaning of the
causative, rather than that of the base verb. For instance, *zγy-yγ-la* ‘bathe into,
immerse oneself into’ (example 38 above), derives from the intransitive verb *la*
‘soak’ through the causative *yγ-la* ‘immerse, dip in’. However, even in this case
the doubly derived verb *zγy-yγ-la* is volitional and the base verb *la* ‘soak’ non-
volitional (and essentially only takes inanimate subjects).

When the base verb is an intransitive verb that can be used volitionally, the doubly derived verb is used to put emphasis on the fact that the subject took active measures to perform the action. For instance the verb *mbyom* ‘be in a hurry’ (a verb whose Imperative form *ty-mbyom* ‘hurry up!’ exists) has the double derivation *zγy-cu-mbyom* ‘hasten, hurry, strive to do X as fast as possible’, as in (60).

(60) *to-zy-y-cu-mbyom*   *zo*   *jo-nw-ce*   *tce*   *u-jilco*   *ra*
IFR-REFL-CAUS-be.in.a.hurry   *EMPH*   IFR-VERT-GO   *LNK*   3SG.POSS-villager   *PL*
*nw-cki*   *to-ti.*
3PL.POSS-DAT   IFR-say

‘He hastened to go back [to the village], and told it to the other villagers.’
(150902 hailibu-zh) {0006316#S104}

Some intransitive verbs have both volitional and non-volitional uses, with slightly different meanings. For instance, the intransitive *nqoIV* has two meanings: ‘hang, be hanging’ or ‘grab and cling onto’ (see 205 in §8.3.4.3, and 126 in §7.5.2). The doubly derived verb *zγy-cu-nqoIV* ‘let oneself hang’ (as in 61) only reflects the first meaning of the base verb (the non-volitional ‘be hanging’).

(61) *port*   *nw*   *kuny*   *tcetu*   *kʰyrka*   *nwtcu*   *tce*
small.spider DEM also up.there ceiling DEM:LOC LOC
*pjw-zy-y-cu-nqoIV*   *ŋgrzl.*
IPFV:DOWN-REFL-CAUS-hang be.usually.the.case:FACT
‘The small spider also lets itself hang down from the ceiling.’
(26-mYaRmtsaR) {0003674#S94}
18.3.4.2 Reflexive of tropative causatives

Some causative verbs have tropative ('consider X to be Y', §17.5) or causative tropative ('cause people to consider X to be Y'), for instance *yykʰe* 'depreciate, demean' from *kʰe* 'be stupid' (§17.5.5). Reflexive verbs deriving from this type of causative mean ('cause people to) consider oneself to be Y'; for example, *zyzyzykʰe* 'depreciate, demean' is not used in meaning 'cause oneself to become stupid'.

18.3.4.3 Motion verbs

With the stative verbs of relative location *armbat* ‘be near’ and *arqʰi* ‘be far’, the reflexive+causative double derivations produce the motion verbs *zyysyrmbat* ‘move closer’ and *zyysyrqʰi* ‘move further away’, whose goal is marked in the dative, as in (62) (see also 59 in §5.1.3). Although zero conversion of these stative verbs into motion verbs is also attested (§15.1.2.5), the double derivation is by far the most common way of expressing these meanings.

(62) *wzo daltsutsa zo li, maswrwru zo, srwtpʰu nw w-cki*
3SG slowly EMPH again in.secret EMPH ogre DEM 3SG.POSS-DAT
*ko-zy-y-sw-yrmbat.*
IFR:EAST-REFL-CAUS-be.near
‘He moved closer to the ogre slowly in secret.’ (160706 poucet6)
{0006109#S85}

When the base verb is a motion verb, the reflexive+causative double derivation also yields a motion verb, as in the case of *zy-y-sw-yzyut* ‘manage to reach’ from *zyut* ‘arrive’ (on the *y-* prefixal element, see §14.2.2). The verb *zy-y-sw-yzyut* differs from its base verb in that it expresses that the subject had to strive hard to reach the goal, as example (63) illustrates.

(63) *w-tw-yrqʰi pjy-saχaɣ zo ri, nw kwny*
3SG.POSS-NMLZ:degree-be.far IFR.IPFV-be.extremely EMPH LNK DEM also
*jo-zy-y-sw-yzyut.*
IFR-REFL-CAUS-reach
‘[China]ᵢ was very far, but even so he managed to reach itᵢ.’ (140511
alading-zh) {0003953#S22}

18.3.4.4 Reflexive causatives from transitive verbs

When the base verb is transitive, the result of the reflexive+causative double derivation is still an intransitive verb.
The double derivation can have a plain compositional meaning, as in *zyγ-su-rtoь* ‘have oneself examined’ in (64). The reflexivized argument corresponds to the causer and object of the base verb. The causee *smynba* ‘doctor’ does not re-ceived ergative marking, and is not indexed on the verb, as an inverse 3→2 con-figuration (§14.3.2.1) would be nonsensical in (64).

(64) smynba a-ty-tw-zyγ-su-rtoь
doctor irr-pfv-2-refl-caus-see
‘You should have yourself examined by a doctor.’ (elicited)

Doubly derived verbs can also express involuntary actions ‘get oneself Xed’. For instance, the reflexive+causative *zyγ-su-sat* from *sat* ‘kill’ can have the mean-ing ‘get oneself killed’, as in (65).

(65) ma βγwz ōu tce, kʰyrktu ra wuma zo yi. tce
LNK badger be:FACT LNK side.of.the.house PL really EMPH come:FACT LNK
numu pjw-zyγ-su-sat ōgrzl.
DEM IPFV-REFL-CAUS-kill be.usually.the.case:FACT
‘The badger often comes near houses, and gets itself killed. (The dogs chase it and kill it, and people also kill it).’ (27-spjaNkW) {0003704#S114}

With some transitive verbs, the double derivation has the same meaning ‘take pains to X, strive to X’ as with intransitive verbs above (examples 60 and 63). For instance, the reflexive causative *zyγ-su-pjzl* of the transitive motion verb *pjzl* ‘go around, cross, avoid’ (§15.1.2.1) means ‘strive to avoid X, take the necessary measures to avoid X’ rather than ‘get oneself avoided’: with this verb, the re-flexivization targets the causee rather than the object (‘cause oneself to avoid X’ rather than ‘cause X to avoid oneself’).

(66) tcendsre nuw tu-ky-zyγ-su-pjzl kowa ntsw
LNK DEM IPFV-INF-REFL-CAUS-go.around manner always
tu-βzu-ndzi pjz-ŋu.
IPFV-make-DU IFR.IPFV-be
‘[The mouse and the sparrow] took every measure to avoid [the cat].’
(IWlu) {0003361#S20}

The causative verbs *sɣpa* ‘transform’ and *sɣβzu* ‘transform’ (§18.1.6) derived from the lexicalized passive verbs *apa* ‘become’ and *aβzu* ‘become, grow’ (§18.1.2) are ditransitive, selecting as object the entity that undergoes transformation, and as semi-object the entity into which the change occurs. Reflexivization targets
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

the object, and the corresponding reflexive forms *zγγsγpa* and *zγγsγβzu* mean 'transform oneself into *X*' (rather than 'transform *X* into oneself'). They select as semi-object the entity into which the subject is transformed, for instance *pjγrgγt* 'vulture' in (67).

(67) sloχpwn nũ ci nũ-zγγ-sypʰγr nɣ pjγrgyt ci
teacher DEM a.little AOR-REFL-shake ADD vulture INDEF
nũ-nũ-zγγ-sw-ɣβzu pũ-ŋu.
AOR-AUTO-REFL-CAUS-become SENS-be
'The teacher shook himself, and transformed himself into a vulture.'
(2003kandZislama)

Just like the causative verbs *sγpa* and *sγβzu* from which they are derived (example 33, §18.1.6, §17.2.8), *zγγsγpa* and *zγγsγβzu* can select as semi-object participial clauses, and be used as periphrastic causative constructions (§24.5.1.1), as in (68), where instead of the reflexive causative verb *zγγγzγ* 'make oneself light' (example 59 above), the participle *ku-zo* 'the one who is light' occurs as semi-object of *zγγsγpa* 'transform oneself into'.

(68) turme wzo nwnw rcanw [ty-muj zo ku-fse
man 3SG DEM UNEXP:DEG INDEF.POSS-feather EMPH SBJ:PCP-be like
ku-zo] nγ-zγγ-sw-γpa,
SBJ:PCP-be.light IFR-REFL-CAUS-become
'The man, him, made himself as light as a feather.' (04-smanmi)

18.3.5 Reflexive and autive

Reflexive and autive (§19.1) derivations have completely different semantics, and distinct morphosyntactic properties, since the latter does not change the verb transitivity. With a handful of verbs such as *muy* 'intend to, decide', the reflexive form has an autobenefactive meaning (*zγγmuy* 'decide for oneself'), but the transitivity is changed.

The autive *nu-* (§19.1) is compatible with the reflexive *zγγ-*. It is the only derivational prefix that precedes the reflexive prefix in the prefixal chain (§11.2.2). The autive+reflexive combination has four different meanings.

First, it can express and involuntary action that the subject both causes and suffers from (as in 43 above).

Second, the *nu-* prefix can also be used to put emphasis on the fact that the subject perform the reflexive action by him/her/itself without external help, as in (69).
(69) tceθha tu-ji w-ŋgw numura, icqha tu-rdoW
later INDEF POSS-field 3SG POSS-in DEM:PL FILLER one-piece
kw-fse nura cw-ndze, tcendre, wzo
SBJ:PCP-be like DEM:PL TRAL-eat[III]:FACT LNK 3SG
ku-nu-zy-y-fstun cha
IPFV-AUTO-REFL-take.care can:FACT

'[This hen] will go and eat the grains in the fields, it will be able to take care of itself on its own.' (150822 laoye zuoshi zongshi duide-zh)
{0006298#S145}

Third, the *nu-* prefix is also found with the autobenefactive meaning ‘for one-self’ in these forms. In (70) for instance, the autive prefix occurs to insist on the fact that the parents (dual subject) ate to their full in the absence of their children.

(70) ndzi-pYri kw-pw~pe to-βzu-ndzi qʰe, zYni
3DU POSS-diner SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.good IFR-make-DU LNK 3DU
to-nu-zy-y-cw-fka-ndzi.
IFR-AUTO-REFL-CAUS-be.full-DU
‘They made a nice diner for themselves, and ate to their fill.’ (160701
poucet2) {0006155#S16}

Fourth, it can occur to express an action taking place spontaneously without external agent, as in (71).

(71) kum cʰy-nu-zy-y-sw-ytsa
door IFR-AUTO-REFL-CAUS-be.locked
‘The dock locked itself.’ (elicited; describes house doors with an automatic locking system)

The autive is common on verbs with reflexive and causative prefixes (§18.3.4), resulting in a triple derivation, as in (70) and (71) above.

### 18.3.6 Reflexive, tropative and applicative

Apart from the causative, the reflexive derivation can be added after other valency-increasing derivations such as the tropative and the applicative.

As an example of reflexivized tropative, *nɛmpɛyɛr* ‘find beautiful’ (from *mpɛyɛr* ‘be beautiful’) can be reflexivized as *zyɛnyɛmpɛyɛr* ‘find oneself beautiful’ (§17.5.4).

The applicative verbs *nuymu* ‘be afraid of’ and *nurga* ‘like’, ‘love’ (from *mu* ‘be afraid’ and *rga* ‘like’) have reflexive form *zyɛr-nu-rga* and *zyɛr-nuy-mu* which
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

can either mean ‘like/be afraid of oneself’ or have a reflexive+causative meaning ‘have people like/be afraid of oneself’. The latter meaning can also be expressed with a triple derivation such as *zγγ̥-z-nuuy-mu* with the causative *z-* between the reflexive and the applicative prefixes.

The applicative *nɛ́rstu* ‘believe’, which selects as object the person one believes in (example 102, §17.4.1), can also be reflexivized as *zγγ̥nɛ́rstu* ‘believe in oneself’, as in (72).<fnref n="10" />

(72) *nuw pa-mto nu̯ra mw-ɲɛ̯-zγγ-nɛ̯-stu.*
DEM AOR:3→3'-see DEM:PL NEG-IFR-REFL-APPL-believe

‘He did not believe the things that he himself had [just] seen.’ (150830
baihe jiemei-zh) {0006368#S104}

**18.3.7 Historical origin**

The reflexive *zγγ̥-* is cognate to forms found in other Gyalrong languages, includ-
ing Tshobdun *ojp-* (Sun 2014a), Zbu *vjp-* (Gong 2018: 9) and Situ *wjv-* .<fnref n="11" /> These pre-
fixes go back to a proto-Gyalrong form *wjp-* (with a variant *wə́jp-* for Tshobdun)
with metathesis in Japhug. However, the cluster *zγ̥-* is otherwise only attested in
Japhug in ideophones such as *zγγ̥rzγγr* ‘having some (pieces) coming out (out of
a bundle)’ (§10.1.5.1).

This prefix itself is possibly the incorporated bound state form of the third sin-
gular pronoun *wəŋaŋ* (corresponding to Japhug *uwo* ‘he’, §6.1, whose irregular
phonology is discussed in §5.1.1.5); typological parallels of the **PERSONAL PRO-**
**NOUN** ⇒ **REFLEXIVE** change proposed here also exist in Yukaghir (Jacques 2010b,
Maslova 2007: §5.2).<fnref n="12" />

The reflexive prefix is a core Gyalrong innovation, not shared even by Khros-
kyabs. The reflexive prefix *ɛ́jɛ̈*- in Khroskyabs is not directly related to its core
Gyalrong equivalent, as it is based on the denominal *ɛ̈* (Lai 2017: 300), cog-
nate of the Japhug stative denominal *a-* (§20.2). Both Khroskyabs *ɛ́jɛ̈*- and proto-
Gyalrong *wjp-* reflexive prefixes share the bound state of the pronominal base
*jaŋ-* (Japhug -zo, §6.1), but result from independent grammaticalizations.

<footnote n="10">¹⁰This example is from a translated story, but the presence of a second object (the relative *nu pa-mto nura*) is not due to calquing from the original (which has *不敢相信* <bùgǎnxiāngxin> 'he did not dare to believe it'), and was not considered to be clumsy upon rechecking.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹Some dialects of Zbu however have a divergent reflexive prefix *np-*, which cannot be cognate to the forms discussed here (Gong 2018: 9).</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹²For an alternative etymology, see Sun (2014a).</footnote>
# 18.4 Reciprocal

## 18.4.1 Reduplicated reciprocal

The reduplicated reciprocal derivation is the productive way of expressing mutual action in Japhug. It combines the *a-* prefixal element found in the passive (§18.1) and several denominal derivations (§20.2) with the partially reduplicated stem of the base verb. If the verb has a polysyllabic stem (whether the non-final syllables are derivational prefixes or not), only the last syllable is reduplicated. For instance *rqoъ* ‘hug’, *nupoъ* ‘kiss’ and *nurutṣa* ‘envy’<fnref n="13" /> yield *a-rqu-rqoъ* ‘hug each other’ (73), *a-nupu-poъ* ‘kiss each other’ and *a-nurutṣu-tṣa* ‘envy each other’, respectively.

As in other cases of partial derivation, the reduplication disregards morpheme boundaries: when the reciprocal derivation is applied to verbs with the *suy-* and *nuy-* allomorphs of the sigmatic causative (§17.2.1.4) and applicative (§17.4.2), the final *y-* is reduplicated together with the monosyllabic verb root.

For instance, the reciprocal of the applicative *nuybuy* ‘miss’ is *anuybuu-ybuy* ‘miss each other’ (§18.4.1.2), despite the fact that the verb root is *buy* ‘miss home’ (Table 17.10, §17.4) and that the preinitial *y-* belongs to the applicative prefix.

Since reduplicated reciprocal has two exponents (*a-* and reduplication), in the glosses only the *a-* prefix is glossed as *RECIP*, while the reduplication left unglossed to avoid unnecessary redundancy: thus *a-rqu-rqoъ* is glossed as *RECIP-hug* rather than as *RECIP-RECIP-hug*.

The *r/a/o* allomorphy of the *a-* element, and the presence of the peg *k-...-ci* (§11.4) in the Inferential (as in 73) follows the same rules as other contracting verbs (§12.3, §15.1.1.2).

Reciprocal verbs are morphologically intransitive, and their subject is necessarily non-singular except in the case of verbs expressing naturally collective action (Kemmer 1993: 123–127) (as in 77 below), in generic forms, where number is neutralized, or when the subject is a group of inanimate and poorly distinguishable entities.

When the plural or dual subject of the reciprocal verb is the combination of a previously mentioned entity or group with another group, the comitative *cʰo* (§8.2.5) can be used to specify the second group.

For instance, in (73), the subject of the verb *ko-k-rqu-rqoъ-nu-ci* ‘they hug each other’ corresponds to the sum of referent of the subject of the first verb *jo-nu-çe* ‘he went back’ with the group of people referred to by the postpositional

<footnote n="13">¹³The verb *nurutṣa* ‘envy’ is denominal from *ruutṣa* ‘envy’ (n).</footnote>
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

phrase *w-yi ra cʰo* ‘with his relatives’ (see §14.2.5 for examples of the same phenomenon with non-reciprocal verbs).

(73) kʰa jo-nu-ce tcendre [u-yi ra cʰo]
home IFR-VERT-go LNK 3SG.POSS-relative PL COMIT
ko-k-y-rqw-rqov-nu-ci zo py-yγwu-nu.
IFR-PEG-RECIP-hug-PL-PEG EMPH IFR-cry-PL

'He went home and he and his relatives hug each other and cried.' (140512 fushang he yaomo1) {0003969#S34}

Expectedly, the reciprocal of secundative verbs (§14.4.2) targets the recipient object; for instance, *mbi* 'give' yields *ambumbi* 'give to each other' (74).

(74) tce nu u-ngu srusmn ra pju-lyt-nu, tce nura
LNK DEM 3SG.POSS-in medicine PL IPFV:DOWN-release-PL LNK DEM:PL
pju-nu-lyt-nu tce nura pu-γmbu~mbi-nu ra ŋu
IPFV:DOWN-AUTO-release-PL LNK DEM:PL IPFV-RECIP-give-PL PL be:FACT
'They put medicine [against sinus inflammation] into the [snuff tobacco]i,
and they give iti to each other.' (30-CnAto) {0003734#S17}

The reduplicated reciprocal derivation can also express naturally collective events without clearly distinct agents and patients, such as *awuwum* ‘gather together’ (75) from *wum* ‘gather’.

(75) qartsw ty-mda qʰe tce cʰu-y-ww~wum-nu qʰe
winter AOR-be.the.time LNK LNK IPFV:DOWNSTREAM-RECIP-gather-PL LNK
ku-du-dyn zo ttwurca ku-rvzi-nu pu-ŋu
SBJ:PCP-EMPH-be.many EMPH together IPFV-stay-PL SENS-be
'When winter arrives, they gather and stay together in great numbers.'
(23-qapGAmtWmtW) {0003608#S100}

The meaning of this reciprocal form is also slightly different from that of the base verb, since *wum* ‘gather’ has a wide range of extended meanings, such as ‘take as a X’ (as in example 24, §8.1.7) or ‘fold wings’ (as in 92, §15.1.4.3) which are completely absent from the reciprocal form. In addition, the verb *wum* typically takes non-human entities as objects when meaning ‘gather’ as in (76).
(76) tWSrA w-rkW xpwn-ŋa tʰamtcvt a-c-tɔ-tw-wum
cemetery 3SG.POSS-side monk-clothes all IRR-TRAL-PFV-2-gather
tce
LNK

‘Go and collect all the monk robes near the cemetery.’ (2003 qachGa)
{0003372#S157}

The intransitive verb *andundo* derived from *ndo* ‘take’ can have a prototypical reciprocal meaning ‘grab each other’ (especially relative to fighting, see example 86 below, §18.4.1.2). It also occurs with the naturally collective event meaning ‘be clustered together’ as in (77) with a singular verb form, due to the fact that mushrooms are poorly differentiable inanimate referents (§14.6.1.1).

(77) tce tce w-qa nw pwo-y-ndw~ndo, w-taɣ nwo ki
LNK LNK 3SG.POSS-foot DEM SENS-RECIP-take 3SG.POSS-top DEM DEM.PROX
kw-fse kw-dw~dyn pwo-ŋu tce,
SBJ:PCP-be like SBJ:PCP-EMPH-be.many SENS-be LNK

‘The base (of the mushroom 刷把菌 <shuābǎjūn> ‘Ramaria formosa’) is all clustered together, but it has many top parts.’ (23-tshAYCAnW)
{0003616#S10}

A handful of intransitive verbs can derive reciprocal forms. The verb of speech ru mi ‘speak’ has the derived form a-ruuɔmu~e mi ‘exchange words, talk to each other’ (see example 102, §18.4.4), with reciprocalization of the dative-marked recipient (compare with 172, §8.3.1).

### 18.4.1.1 Reciprocal and noun-verb collocations

In some noun-verb collocations (§22.4.2), the verb can undergo the reduplicated reciprocal derivation, expressing mutual action between the subject and the possessor of the object of the base construction.

For instance, the collocation meaning ‘braid hair’ (78) including the verb βzu ‘make’ and the body part tu-ku ‘head’ (§5.1.2.3) yields in (79) a reciprocalized construction with the reduplicated verb aβzuwβzu and the noun tu-ku demoted as semi-object.

(78) a-pi w-ku nw-βzu-t-a
1SG.POSS-elder.sibling 3SG.POSS-head AOR-make-PST:TR-1SG
‘I braided my sister’s hair.’ (elicited)
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(79) *w-pi* cʰo ndzi-ku pʷ-ɣ-βzw-βzu-ndzi ndvre,
3SG.POSS-elder.sibling COMIT 3DU.POSS-head IPFV-RECIP-make-DU LNK
‘She and her sister braided each other’s hair.’ (2005 Kunbzang)

Example (80) illustrates the same phenomenon with the collocation meaning ‘share with’, combining the noun *tw-βra* ‘share’ with *βzu* ‘make’.

(80) *nyzo kw w-pw-tw-sat ny, nyzo kw azo a-βra*
2SG ERG QU-AOR-2-kill ADD 2SG ERG 1SG 1SG.POSS-share
pʷ-tw-βze, azo pʷ-pʷ-sat-a ny, nyj ny-βra
IPFV-2-make[III] 1SG COND-AOR-kill-1SG ADD 2SG 2SG.POSS-share
pʷ-βze-a, nw kw-fse, nw-βra
IPFV-make[III]-1SG DEM SBJ:PCP-be lik e 3PL.POSS-share
pʷ-γ-βzw-βzu-nw pjγ-ŋgrγl.
IPFV-RECIP-make-PL IFR.IPFV-be.usually.the.case-PL

‘If it was you who had killed [game during a hunt], you would share some of it with me, if it was me who had killed [game], I would share some of it with you, this way, people used to share [their game meat] with each other.’ (160714 XsWmsna)

18.4.1.2 Reciprocal and other derivations

The reciprocal derivation is highly productive, can be applied to verbs that have
undergone a valency-increasing derivation such as causative (§17.2, §17.3), ap-
plicative (§17.4) or tropative (§17.5).

Reciprocalized causatives are found with both sigmatic and velar causative verbs. For instance, the velar causative ɣyrlaɣ ‘destroy’ (from the intransitive verb rlaɣ ‘disappear’, borrowed from ၎ ፧rlaɣ ‘lose’) has a reciprocal form ayrlurlaɣ ‘destroy each other’ (81).

(81) kwcaŋgw tce, tyru ra tu-o-nwsnawp-raj-nw tce
former.times LNK chieftain PL IPFV-RECIP-do.harm-PL LNK
cʰu-y-y-rlu-rlaɣ-nu pjy-ŋgryl
IPFV-RECIP-CAUS-disappear-PL IPFV.IFR-be.usually.the.case

‘In former times, chieftains used to harm (murder) each other and destroy each other’s families.’ (elicited)

Reciprocalization of sigmatic causatives is productive. Example (82) illustrates two verbs with this double derivation: asuŋqʰuŋqʰi ‘make each other dirty’ (from
the causative *sunqʰi* ‘make dirty’ derived from *nqʰi* ‘be dirty’) and *asuyuŋuyuŋa*
‘blacken each other’ (from the causative *suŋa* ‘blacken’ from *ŋa* ‘be black’). In
the latter, note that partial reduplication targets the syllable /ŋa/, disregarding
morpheme boundaries (the /ŋ/ is part of the causative prefix, §17.2.1.4).

(82) Ὴγ-κ-γ-su̯-nqʰu̯-nqʰi-ndzi tce,
IFR-PEG-RECIP-CAUS-be.dirty-DU LNK

 Ὴγ-κ-γ-suγ-ŋu̯-yŋa̯-ndzi-ci zo
IFR-PEG-RECIP-CAUS-be.black-DU-PEG EMPH

‘They<sub>DU</sub> made each other dirty, they blackened each other.’ (elicited, can
be said of children playing in a dirty place)

The lexicalized verb *nusukʰo* ‘rob, extort’ which etymologically derives from
*kʰo* ‘give’ with the causative and autive prefixes (§17.2.3) can also undergo recip-
roc realization to *anusukʰuŋkʰo* ‘extort each other’ as in (83).

(83) numu jγ-kγ-γyγrt nu̯ pjγ-kγ-nu̯swukʰu̯-kʰo-nu̯-ci.
DEM AOR-OBJ:PCP-throw DEM IFR.IPFV-PEG-RECIP-rob-PL-PEG

‘The beasts fought with each other to get the [piece of cloth] that he had
thrown [at them].’ (150825 huluwa-zh) {0006346#S145}

Reciprocalized tropatives are not commonly found in the corpus, but poten-
tially any tropative verb can undergo reciprocal derivation. For instance, the
slightly lexicalized tropative verb *nype* ‘consider to be good, like’ (from *pe* ‘be
good’) yields *anypupe* ‘like each other’, as in (84).<fnref n="14" />

(84) Ὴγ-κ-γ-nyntsʰu̯-ntsʰi-ndzi-ci, Ὴγ-κ-γ-ny-pu̯-pe-ndzi tce
IFR-PEG-RECIP-love-DU-PEG IFR-PEG-RECIP-TROP-be.good-DU LNK

‘They fell in love with each other.’ (150827 mengjiangnv-zh)
{0006290#S103}

The reciprocal derivation is also completely productive with applicative verbs.
For instance *nuybuy* ‘miss’, ‘long for’ (from *buy* ‘miss home’), *nɛkʰiɛŋgə* ‘shout
at’ (from *akʰu* ‘call’) and *nurga* ‘like’ (from *rga* ‘like’) yield the reciprocal verbs
*anuybubuy* ‘miss each other’, *anɛkʰiɛŋgug̃i~zŋgə* ‘shout at each other’ and *anu-
rgu~rga* ‘like each other’, respectively. In the case of *a-nuy-bu~ybuy*, partial
reduplication disregards morpheme boundaries (the /y/ that belongs to the ap-
plicative prefixes is reduplicated together with the verb root), as in the case

<footnote n="14">¹⁴The other verb *anvntsʰuntsʰi* ‘love each other’ in (84) derives from *nvntsʰi* ‘love’, which is a lexicalized and synchronically non-analyzable tropative (§17.5.3).</footnote>
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

of the reciprocal of causative aswulnulnaq ‘blacken each other’ discussed above (§18.4.1.2).

A sigmatic causative derivation can be applied to a reciprocal verb. For instance, awuwum ‘gather together’ (see 75 in §18.4.1 above) yields the verb s\*wuwum ‘gather’, whose meaning is close to that of the base verb wum ‘gather’ (see example 76 above and the related discussion), but lacking the extended meanings of this verb and more commonly used to express the meaning ‘gather’ with human objects.

(85) srunmw ra cʰy-sw-y-wu~wum tce,
râkhasî pl ifr-caus-recip-gather lnk
‘She gathered the râkhasîs together.’ (2011-05-nyima)

Such double derivations are by no means rare. The causative+reciprocal s\*rtuta ‘separate’ (of two persons that are fighting with each other, as in 86) is considerably more commonly used than the simple reciprocal atuta ‘release each other’ (from ta ‘put’).

(86) pu-sw-y-tw-te-a ri tce m\*zw ku-o-ndu~ndo-ndzi
ipfv-caus-recip-put-1sg lnk lnk again ipfv:east-recip-take-du
cti
be.AFF:FACT
‘I am (repeatedly) separating [two fighting ants], but they grab each other again [each time].’ (conversation 14-05-01)

The verb as\*rmumtsʰumtsʰ\*rm ‘inform each other’, which presents two instances of the reciprocal derivation, is treated in (§18.4.2).

### 18.4.1.3 Lexicalized reciprocal

The meaning of reciprocal verbs is not always fully predictable from that of the base verb; some reciprocal verbs express naturally collective action (§18.4.1) and may have a meaning that is more restricted than that of the base verb.

In some cases, the meanings of the reciprocal form has changed to such an extent that the two verbs have become synchronically unrelated. The clearest example is the intransitive verb alulst ‘fight’, which requires a non-singular subject and can select a comitative phrase (§8.2.5) as in (87), like regular reciprocal verbs (§18.4.1).
(87) *bdẉxpa ksrpu yu w-tcw cʰo azo a-tcw nw
ANTHR ANTHR GEN 3SG.POSS-SON COMIT 1SG 1SG.POSS-SON DEM
ty-alu|yt-ndzi tce, tce a-tcw yu-sat pjs-ŋu ri,
AOR-fight-DU LNK LNK 1SG.POSS-SON INV-kill:FACT IFR.IPFV-be LNK
'Gdugpa dkarpo's son and my son fought with each other, and my son
was about to be killed.' (28-smAnmi) {0004063#S237}

This verb originates from the transitive verb *lt* 'release', which is used as a light verb in several collocations related to fight. In these constructions, the syntactic object of *lt* is the instrument used to hit or shoot, such as weapons (*scapa* 'sword', *tudi* 'arrow', *cymwydw* 'gun' etc) or body parts (*tyŋkʰut* 'fist' etc) as objects (88, 89 and also 211 in §8.3.4.3), while the semantic patient (the entity that is hit or shot at) is marked by the relator noun *u-taɣ* 'on, above' (§8.3.4.3).

(88) *nwmw cymwydw tu-lyt-nw tce pju-sat-nw cti.
DEM gun IPFV-release-PL LNK IPFV-kill-PL be.AFF:KILL
'They shoot at it with guns and kill it.' (28-qapar) {0003720#S20}

(89) *qacʰγa w-taɣ zo li tudi nw ci to-lyt.
fox 3SG.POSS-ON EMPH again arrow DEM INDEF IFR-release
'He too shot an arrow at the fox.' (140507 jinniao-zh) {0003931#S80}

The reciprocal derivation here originally expressed mutual action between the subject and the oblique argument (marked by *u-taɣ* ‘on, above’) of the base verb; the original meaning may have been ‘shoot at/hit each other (with *X*)’, and it can be surmised that the verb *alulyt* ‘fight’ used to require a semi-object corresponding to the instrument used for hitting/shooting at an earlier stage. The verb *alulyt* became fully lexicalized when it ceased to co-occur with a semi-object, and when its meaning became narrowed to the meaning ‘fight’, as opposed to all the other possible meanings of the light verb *lyt* (§22.4.2.2).

In some cases, the base verb does not exist anymore but its possible form can be easily recovered. For instance, the reciprocal *anwrgyru* ‘look at each other’s face’ (example 90) is derived from a lost base verb †*nwrγru*, an incorporating verb made from the intransitive *ru* ‘look at’ (§15.1.2.4) and the nominal root of *tu-rŋa* ‘face’, with the denominal prefix *nw-* (§20.13.2).

(90) *nwmw cʰo ci kx-anwrgyru-ndzi tce
DEM COMIT a.little AOR-look.at.each.other-DU LNK
'They exchanged a look with each other'. (2010-07, pear story)
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

Finally, we find a few intransitive verbs that resemble reciprocal verbs formally (presence of a- prefix and verb stem reduplication) and syntactically (non-singular subject, select comitative phrases), but whose verb root is not otherwise attested in Japhug: *amumi* ‘be on good terms’ (§8.2.5), *azuzu* ‘wrestle’ and *asusu* ‘copulate’ (the latter perhaps related to *susu* ‘live’).

### 18.4.2 Reciprocal *amu-* prefix

In addition to the reduplicated reciprocal (§18.4.1), a second reciprocal pattern is attested in Japhug: the prefix *amu-*. As shown by the examples in Table 18.3, the *amu-* prefix can derive reciprocal verbs from ditransitive, transitive, semi-transitive and intransitive verbs. When prefixed to a- initial verbs such as *atuy* ‘meet’, no vowel contraction takes place (the reciprocal is *amutuy* ‘meet each other’ rather than †*amrtuy* as could have been expected).

<table><caption>Table 18.3: Examples of the *amu-* reciprocal prefix</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Base verb</th><th>Reciprocal verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>indirective</td><td>ti 'say'<br>stʰaβ 'put against'<br>rpu 'bump into'</td><td>amuti 'say to each other'<br>amustʰaβ 'be one against the other'<br>amurpu 'bump against each other'</td></tr><tr><td>mono-<br>transitive</td><td>mto 'see'<br>mtsʰm 'hear'</td><td>amumto 'see each other'<br>amumtsʰm 'hear each other'</td></tr><tr><td>semi-<br>transitive</td><td>tso 'know, understand'<br>atuy 'meet'</td><td>amutso 'understand each other'<br>amutuy 'meet each other'</td></tr><tr><td>intransitive</td><td>fse 'be like'<br>armbat 'be near'<br>arqʰi 'be far'</td><td>amufse 'know each other'<br>amurmbat 'be close to each other'<br>amurqʰi 'be far from each other'</td></tr></tbody></table>

The verbs that are compatible with *amu-* derivation can be divided into four groups: indirective, perception, semi-transitive and stative.

#### 18.4.2.1 *amu-* reciprocalization of indirective verbs

Indirective verbs (§14.4.1) such as *ti* ‘say’ become semi-transitive (§14.2.3) when subjected to the *amu-* reciprocal derivation.
The reciprocal verb *amuti* ‘say to each other’ is compatible with a semi-object (noun phrase or reported speech complement clause as in 91 and 92) corresponding to the object of the base verb. The reciprocal derivation here expresses mutual action between the subject and the dative recipient of *ti* ‘say’.

(91) ‘n̥w̥tcu tʷ-ci
z-pn̥-kw̥-sw̥-y-j-tsʰi
DEM:LOC INDEF.POSS-water TRAL-IPFV-GENR:S/O-CAUS-PASS-CAUS-drink
p̥w-ntsʰi’ to-k-ymp̥-ti-ndzi
SENS-be.better IFR-PEG-RECIP-say-DU

‘They said to each other ‘we should go there and ask for water to drink.’”
(Nyima wodzer 2002)

Example (92) illustrates the use of this reciprocal verb with a generic person form, with neutralization of number marking (the verb otherwise always has non-singular number indexation in finite forms).<fnref n="15" />

(92) n̥m̥w k̥ndzi-sqʰaj w-rjit
n̥w tce “a-mvtsa”
DEM COLL-sister 3SG.POSS-offspring DEM LNK 1SG.POSS-MZCh
tu-kw-ymp̥-ti
p̥w-ŋu.
IPFV-GENR:S/O-RECIP-say SENS-be
‘Children of sisters call each other ‘my maternal parallel cousin’.’ (140425
kWmdza4)

The reciprocal *amu-* prefix expresses reciprocity between the subject and other oblique arguments, for instance those marked by the relator noun *u-taк* ‘on, above’ (§8.3.4.3). For instance, the verb *amustʰaβ* ‘be one against the other’ (93) is derived from *stʰaβ* ‘put against’, a ditransitive verb which selects a phrase in *u-taк* (94).

(93) tce numu li bγβbγβ
zo ku-pa tce,
LNK DEM again IDPH(II):growing.in.clumps EMPH SBJ:PCP-AUX LNK
kw-ymp̥-stʰu-stʰaβ
zo ku-dγn tu-dov
SBJ:PCP-RECIP-EMPH-put.against EMPH SBJ:PCP-be.many IPFV-come.out
ŋu.
be:FACT
‘[These mushrooms] grow in clumps, one against the other in great
numbers.’ (23-mbrAZim) {0003604#S9}

<footnote n="15">¹⁵Concerning the kinship rule described in (92), see §27.2.3.</footnote>
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(94) ma nwnw w̃zo čja [tw-mdzu w-tač]
LNK DEM 3SG completely GENR.POSS-tongue 3SG.POSS-on
kú-wy-stʰaβ tce mvrtsaβ,
IPFV-INV-put.against LNK be.spicy:FACT

‘If one puts it (this plant) on one’s tongue (without anything else), it is
spicy.’ (13-tCamu) {0003498#S8}

The verb *amurpu* ‘bump against each other’ is a similar case (see example 3, §6.1), but its base verb *rpu* ‘bump into’ is labile (§14.5.2).

18.4.2.2 *amu*- reciprocalization of perception verbs

The perception verbs *mto* ‘see’, *mtsʰam* ‘hear’ are also compatible with the *amu-* prefix. Unlike the indirecitive verbs discussed in §18.4.2.1 their reciprocal forms *amuṁto* ‘see each other’ and *amuṁtsʰam* ‘hear each other’ (or ‘hear from each other’) express reciprocal action between the subject (experiencer) and the ob- ject (stimulus) of the base verb. As shown by (95), these verbs also select the comitative like other reciprocal forms.

(95) <liangshanbo> cʰondṽre pjuu-ymwu-mto-ndzi muu-pjy-jyy tce
ANTHR COMIT IPFV-RECIP-see-DU NEG-IFR.IPFV-be.allowed LNK
‘She and Liang Shanbo were not allowed to see each other.’ (150826
liangshanbo zhuyingtai-zh) {0006244#S155}

18.4.2.3 *amu*- reciprocalization of semi-transitive verbs

In the case of the semi-transitive verbs *tso* ‘know, understand’ and *atuy* ‘meet’, the *amu*- derivation targets the semi-object.

The verb *amuṭso* can be used with the reciprocal meaning of ‘understand each other’ as in (96). It also has an additional meaning ‘be clear, be understandable (of speech)’, which reflects the homophonous *amu*- distributed property derivation (§18.7). As discussed in §18.7, the reciprocal and distributed property *amu*- prefixes are historically related, and the verb *amuṭso* is one of the pivot forms between them.

(96) kupa-skýt tú-wy-βzu tce nwmw a-pw-ŋu, iżo yw
Chinese-language IPFV-INV-make LNK DEM IRR-IPFV-be 1SG GEN
<guoyu> pwn-ŋu tce, nwmw kyswfse yw ji-rju
national language SENS-be LNK DEM all GEN 1SG.POSS-speech
p̱u-ŋu tce, pj̱u-ku-ymu-tso
p̱u-ra ri, li
SENS-be LNK IPFV-GENR:S/O-RECIP-understand SENS-be.needed LNK again
nw koŋla múng-tso-nw.
DEM completely NEG.SENS-understand-PL

'When we speak Chinese, since it is our national language, our common language, we should be able to understand each other, but [some people in Tshobdun] do not understand it completely either.' (150901 tshuBdWnskAt) {0006242#S14}

### 18.4.2.4 amu- reciprocalization of stative verbs

The amu- prefix occurs with a few stative verbs. The stative verbs of relative location armbat 'be near' and arqʰi 'be far' have the reciprocal forms amurmbat 'be close to each other' and amurqʰi 'be far from each other'. In (97), amurmbat appears in singular form due to the inanimate character of the stars and their poor differentiability from each other with a naked eye.

(97) zŋŋri wuma ku-tṣot p̱u-maɣ ri,
star really SBJ:PCP-be.bright SENS-not.be LNK
ku-ymu-rmbu~rmbat zo p̱u-ŋu tce, nw wuma p̱u-saɣsval.
SBJ:PCP-RECIP-EMPH~be.near EMPH be:FACT LNK DEM really SENS-be.clear
[...] u-tu-ɣzirja u-tsʰuɣya nw, [...] ʌnymcʰi
3SG.POSS-NMLZ:DEG-be.aligned 3SG.POSS-shape DEM gnam.khyi
tsa p̱u-fse, [...] ri p̱u-ymu-rmbat.
a.little be like:FACT LNK SENS-RECIP-be.near

‘(There six stars in the Pleiades.) They are not very bright stars, but they are close to each other, and for this reason they are quite visible. The way they are aligned is a bit similar to that of the constellation Gnam.khyi, but closer to each other.’ (29-mWBZi) {0003728#S15}

The verb *amufse* ‘know each other’ (example 98) historically originates from the *amu-* reciprocal form of a base -fse, which is not related to the intransitive stative verb *fse* ‘be like’, but rather to a lost verb corresponding to the Tshobdun verb *fse*? ‘hear’ (Sun & Blogros 2019: 213). The isolated derivation *nufse* ‘know’ (a person) (possibly a lexicalized autive §19.1.6) is derived from the same base with the same meaning; it also has a Tshobdun cognate: *náfse* ‘know well’ (Sun & Blogros 2019: 121).
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

(98) *nure* ri tce k-amufse-tci tce, tcendre wuma zo
DEM:LOC LOC LOC AOR-know.each.other-1DU LNK LNK really EMPH
pw-amumi-tci
PST.IPFV-be.on.good.terms-1DU

‘We got to know each other there, and we were in very good terms.’
(12-BzaNsa) {0003484#S6}

Some reciprocal verbs derived either from dynamic transitive verbs (*amustʰaβ*
‘be one against the other’ in 93) or from stative verbs (*amurmbat* ‘be close to each
other’ in 97) are stative, and often appear with emphatic reduplication. This redu-
plication is different from that of reduplicated reciprocal verbs (§18.4.1), which is
one of the morphological exponents of that reciprocal formation.

18.4.2.5 Causativivization of *amu-* reciprocal verbs

The sigmatic causative can be added to *amu-* reciprocal verbs. For instance, *amu-
mto* ‘see each other’ discussed above yields the causative form *sɣmumto* ‘cause to
see each other’, which also selects the comitative like its base verb,<fnref n="16" /> as shown
by (99).<fnref n="17" />

(99) jo-su-ɣe tce icqʰa <gengqubing> nu cʰo
IFR-CAUS-come LNK the.aforementioned ANTHR DEM COMIT
pjɣ-su-ɣmu-mto.
IFR-CAUS-RECIP-see
‘The [old man] brought them in and had them meet Geng Qubing.’
(150906 qingfeng-zh) {0006366#S53}

The verb *asɣmumtsʰumtsʰym* ‘inform each other’ underwent three derivations
from the base verb *mtsʰym* ‘hear’: *amu-* reciprocal derivation (*amumtsʰym* ‘hear
each other’, ‘hear from each other’), sigmatic causative (*sɣmumtsʰym* ‘cause to
hear from each other’) and then finally the reduplicated reciprocal derivation (*a-
sɣmumtsʰu*~*mtsʰym*, §18.4.1.2). Unlike the non-volitional reciprocal verb *amumt-
sʰym* ‘hear each other’ from which it is derived, *asɣmumtsʰumtsʰym* is a verb of
speech, and expresses a volitional action (see 100 below and 7 in §5.1.1.3).

<footnote n="16">¹⁶The Chinese original passage from which (99) is translated is 老翁便领着那两个少男女出来与耿去病见面 <lǎowēngàn biàn língzhe liǎngge shàonánnǚ chūlái yǔ Gěng Qùbìng jiànmiàn> ‘The old man then brought the girl and the boy to meet with Geng Qubing’, and the presence of comitative could in principle be an effect of calquing of the preposition 与 <yǔ> ‘with’, but additional elicitation has confirmed that this construction is grammatically correct.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">¹⁷The absence of plural indexation in (99) is expected since in direct 3→3' forms only the number of the subject is indexed on the verb (§14.3.2.2).</footnote>
<table>
  <tr>
    <td>(100)</td>
    <td>wzo ku w-zda</td>
    <td>tw-rdoь w-pʰe</td>
    <td>ta-twɔta-twɔt,</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>3SG ERG 3SG.POSS-companion one-piece</td>
    <td>3SG.POSS-DAT AOR:3→3′-say</td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>tw-zda</td>
    <td>kw li ci w-zda</td>
    <td>nuw</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>INDEF.POSS-companion ERG again INDEF</td>
    <td>3SG.POSS-companion DEM</td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>w-pʰe</td>
    <td>kw-fse</td>
    <td>c-ta-twɔt</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>3SG.POSS-DAT SBJ:PCP-be like</td>
    <td>TRAL-AOR:3→3′-say ADD</td>
    <td>nɔ[...] yurza</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>kurcat nuw</td>
    <td>z-nuw-a-sw-ymw-mtsʰw~mtsʰym-nuw</td>
    <td>puŋ-ŋu,</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>eight DEM TRAL-AOR-RECIP-CAUS-RECIP-hear-PL</td>
    <td>SENS-be</td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>'The boy told one of his companions, and that one went and told</td>
    <td></td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>another one, and all one hundred and eight [boys] went and informed</td>
    <td></td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>each other.' (2005 Norbzang)</td>
    <td></td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
</table>

The first two clauses in (100) provide a native gloss on the meaning of this
reciprocal verb.

**18.4.3 Reciprocal andzu- prefix**

The transitive verb *bri* ‘protect’ (an irregular causative of *ri* ‘remain’, see §17.3.1),
has the reciprocal *andzu*bri ‘protect each other’ with the unique *andzu*-*prefix*,
historically related to the denominal *andzi*- (§20.2.5; on the difficult question of
the /i/ vs. /u/ contrast in this context, see §3.5.2).

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>(101)</td>
    <td>tcizo andzu-βri-tci</td>
    <td>ra</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>1DU RECIP-protect:FACT-1DU be.needed:FACT</td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>'The two of us have to look out for each other.' (elicited)</td>
    <td></td>
  </tr>
</table>

**18.4.4 Verbs of co-participation**

The compound verb *amγykʰo* ‘give and take’, which derives from the transitive verbs *mya* ‘take’ and *kʰo* ‘give’ (§19.7.3, §14.4.1) is not formally reciprocal but implies an action performed by more than one person. Contrary to a reciprocal or a reflexive, this collective action is not mutual or directed towards oneself: rather, it expresses that two distinct actions performed by different referents take place (near-)simultaneously and are linked with one another. Example (102) illustrates that one of the two people referred to by the third dual subject hands over the child (a semi-object, §8.1.5) and that the other person takes the child from her hands. Note the nonICONIC order in the compound, where the root *mya* occurs before *kʰo*, also the action of giving necessarily temporally precedes that of taking.
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(102) tceri tɔ̣-rjit nɔ̣ pɔ̣-r)mγkʰo-ndʒi qʰe koŋla
LNK INDEF POSS-child DEM IPFV-give.and.take-DU LNK really
tu-o-nụ-rụcmụ-cmi-ndʒi kụnγ múj-tsu ma tce li
IPFV-RECIP-talk-DU also NEG:SENS-have.time.to LNK LNK again
tú-ʷy-nụ-tsụm p̣ụ-cti.
IPFV:UP-INV-VERT-take.away SENS-be:AFF

'Sheᵢ hands the childⱼ to himₖ and heₖ takes himⱼ, but theyᵢ₊ₖ don't get the time to exchange any words and sheᵢ is taken back to heaven.'
(150828 donglang) {0006312#S165}

Despite the presence of a reciprocal verb *a-*rụemụ-*eṃi* ‘talk to each other’ (§18.4.1) in this passage, since there is no exchange of roles in the compound action described by the verb *amγkʰo* ‘give and take’, it is preferrable to refer to this type of construction as ‘co-participation’ (more precisely, ‘unspecified co-participation’ in Creissels and Voisin’s 2008 terminology). This verb is isolated, as none of the other compound verbs recorded up to now have a meaning of this type.

18.5 Anticausative

18.5.1 Morphology

18.5.1.1 Prenasalized-unvoiced alternation

Voice derivations in Japhug are mainly concatenative and prefixal. An important exception is the alternation between unvoiced stops/affricates and their voiced prenasalized counterparts (which are to be analyzed as single phonemes, §3.2.1), reflected in verb pairs whose unvoiced member is transitive, and whose voiced prenasalized member is intransitive.

There are 29 known examples of this alternation, involving both unvoiced unaspirated obstruents (Table 18.4) and aspirated stops/affricates (Table 18.5).

In Table 18.4, the verb *nuŋŋɛt* ‘part ways’ has a lexicalized autive *nu-* integrated in the verb stem (§19.1.6), but the bare stem *nɛŋɛt* is found in nominalized forms such as *ụ-sγ-*-*nɛŋɛt* ‘place where X part ways’ (§5.5.1.1).<fnref n="18" />

<footnote n="18">¹⁸The verb pairs *xtʰom* ‘put horizontally’ / *ndom* ‘lie horizontally’ and *ftşi* ‘melt’ (vt) / *ndzi* ‘melt’, which have a cluster in the transitive form but a single prenasalized stop in its intransitive counterpart, are discussed in §18.5.1.3.</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 18.4: Prenasalized anticausative verbs from unaspirated roots (21 examples)</caption><thead><tr><th>transitive verb</th><th>intransitive verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>plut 'destroy'</td><td>mblut 'be destroyed'</td></tr><tr><td>pryt 'break' (vt, of thread)</td><td>mbryt 'break' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>pri 'tear'</td><td>mbri 'be torn'</td></tr><tr><td>pyaъ 'turn over' (vt)</td><td>mbyaъ 'turn over' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>χtvr 'scatter'</td><td>кndyr 'be scattered'</td></tr><tr><td>tçyβ 'burn' (vt)</td><td>ndzyβ 'be burned'</td></tr><tr><td>tçyaъ 'squeeze out'</td><td>ndzyaъ 'be squeezed out'</td></tr><tr><td>tzaβ 'cause to fall/roll'</td><td>ndzaβ 'fall/roll' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>ftzi 'melt' (vt)</td><td>ndzi 'melt' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>cu 'open' (vt)</td><td>tyu 'open' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>kvy 'bend'</td><td>ηgvy 'be bent'</td></tr><tr><td>kio 'cause to glide'</td><td>ηgio 'slip', 'glide'</td></tr><tr><td>kra 'cause to fall'</td><td>ηgra 'fall'</td></tr><tr><td>qaъ 'peel' (vt)</td><td>NGaъ 'peel, shed skin' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>qyt 'separate' (vt)</td><td>nungyt 'part ways'</td></tr><tr><td>qia 'tear down'</td><td>NGia 'come loose'</td></tr><tr><td>qlut 'break' (vt, of long objects)</td><td>Nglut 'break' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>qraъ 'tear'</td><td>Ngraъ 'be torn'</td></tr><tr><td>qrzy 'shave'</td><td>NGryz 'break' (vi, of hair, dry leaves etc)</td></tr><tr><td>qrw 'break' (vt, of hard objects)</td><td>Ngrw 'break' (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>sar 'filter out' (vt)</td><td>ndzar 'drip dry' (vi)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><caption>Table 18.5: Prenasalized anticausative verbs from aspirated roots (8 examples)</caption><thead><tr><th>transitive verb</th><th>intransitive verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>pʰaɣ ‘split’ (vt)</td><td>mbaɣ ‘split, break’ (vi)</td></tr><tr><td>u-wo+pʰi ‘be disappointed by’</td><td>u-wo+mbi ‘be discouraged’</td></tr><tr><td>ṣypʰyɛr ‘wipe off’</td><td>mbyɛr ‘be wiped off’</td></tr><tr><td>tʰu ‘built’ (road, bridge)</td><td>ndu ‘be spread’ (road, bridge)</td></tr><tr><td>xtʰom ‘put horizontally’</td><td>ndom ‘lie horizontally’</td></tr><tr><td>tsʰoɣ ‘attach’</td><td>ndzoɣ ‘be attached’</td></tr><tr><td>cʰyβ ‘flatten, crush’</td><td>nyyβ ‘be crushed, flattened’</td></tr><tr><td>qʰruut ‘completely scratch’</td><td>ngruut ‘be completely scratched’</td></tr></tbody></table>

In the absence of a clearly identifiable derivational affix, the direction of the derivation is not completely obvious. It is conceivable in principle that the intransitive verbs in Tables 18.4 and 18.5 are derived from their transitive counterparts, but the opposite direction is equally possible.

The latter direction could even seem more likely when looking at the meaning of some of the transitive verbs in these tables from a West European-cum-Chinese perspective: for instance, the meaning of *kra* ‘cause to fall’ has to be glossed in a way that makes it seem like it is derived from the intransitive verb *ŋgra* ‘fall’.

A cognate phenomenon is well-known in other branches of the Trans-Himalayan family such as Old Chinese, Tibetan and Lolo-Burmese, and several traditions of research analyse these cases as devoicing of the voiced initial by the sigmatic causative prefix (for instance Shefts-Chang 1971; Dai 1994; Gerner 2007) while other scholars argue for the opposite direction (Sagart & Baxter 2012; Jacques 2012b; see a summary of several opinions on this matter in Handel 2012).

### 18.5.1.2 Evidence for the directionality of the anticausative derivation

In Japhug (and other Gyalrong languages), three independent pieces of evidence clearly indicate that the direction of derivation must be from the transitive verb to the intransitive one.

First, the transitive verbs in these pairs can have either unaspirated onset (see the examples in Table 18.4), an aspirated onset (Table 18.5) or even a fricative onset (the pair *sar* ‘filter out’ vs. *ndzar* ‘drip dry’). In the hypothesis that the intransitive verbs derive from their transitive counterpart, this observation can be
trivially explained: the aspiration contrast is neutralized by the prenasalization, as illustrated in Table 18.6 (some of the aspirated affricates are indicated in brackets in this table, as no examples are attested).

<table><caption>Table 18.6: Prenasalization and aspiration neutralization</caption><tr><td>p-</td><td>p<sup>h-</sup> → mb-</td></tr><tr><td>t-</td><td>t<sup>h-</sup> → nd-</td></tr><tr><td>ts-</td><td>ts<sup>h-</sup>, s- → ndz-</td></tr><tr><td>tç-</td><td>(tç<sup>h-</sup>) → ndz-</td></tr><tr><td>tş-</td><td>(tş<sup>h-</sup>) → ndz-</td></tr><tr><td>c-</td><td>c<sup>h-</sup> → jy-</td></tr><tr><td>k-</td><td>k<sup>h-</sup> → ng-</td></tr></table>

On the other hand, in the hypothesis that the intransitive verbs are primary, the origin of aspiration contrast on the transitive counterparts requires an additional set of explanations.

Second, the verb *χt}*r ‘scatter’ (Table 18.4) is borrowed from Tibetan ḫṇṣr̥- gtor ‘scatter’. The prenasalized form ḫnd}*r ‘be scattered’ has no Tibetan equivalent, and its onset ḫnd-* is incompatible with the phonotactics of Tibetan consonant clusters. Thus, this intransitive verb must be a Gyalrong-internal creation from a Tibetan base,<fnref n="19" /> and it follows that the direction of derivation should be from the transitive verb to the intransitive one.

Third, all scholars favouring the hypothesis that the intransitive verb is primary suppose that the onset of transitive verbs has been devoiced by the addition of a sigmatic causative. In Japhug, this hypothesis makes no sense, because the sigmatic causative (§17.2) is not only attested but fully productive (§17.2.1), with a considerable number of allomorphs but without ever devoicing either sonorant nor obstruents onsets.<fnref n="20" /> In addition, causativization of prenasalized verbs is attested in Japhug (§18.5.6) and other Gyalrong languages such as Tshobdun (Sun 2014a), for instance *swy-*ndẓi ‘melt (vt)’ from ndẓi ‘melt’ (vi) (compare with the transitive *ft)*si ‘melt’ (vt).

<footnote n="19">¹⁹Cognate pairs also exist in Zbu (*χt}*r / ḫⁿdór, Gong 2018: 271) and in Tshobdun (*χtor / ḫⁿdor, Sun & Blogros 2019: 345; 241), showing that this derivation goes back at least to the common ancestor of these three languages.</footnote>

<footnote n="20">²⁰The same is incidentally true of various other languages of the Trans-Himalayan family, including Tibetan (Jacques 2012b; Hill 2014a) and Jinghpo (Dai & Xu 1992: 78), where anticausative derivation also exists.</footnote>
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

Since the intransitive verbs in Tables 18.4 and 18.5 have a non-volitional meaning (§18.5.2), it is likely that the prenasalization is a fossilized form of the active *nu*- prefix (§19.1.7) in its ‘spontaneous event’ function, like the isolated case of prenasalization in the verb pair *sqlum* ‘collapse’ vs. *arnGLUM* ‘be caved in’ (§19.7.9).

While traces of the voicing (prenasalization) alternation can be brought to light in most languages of the Trans-Himalayan family, Japhug and the other Gyalrong languages are the only branch of the family where the origin of this alternation is still visible. The study of the prenasalization derivation in Japhug is thus of considerable interest for comparative Trans-Himalayan.<fnref n="21" />

### 18.5.1.3 Absence of clusters in the anticausative form

Among the pairs in §18.5.1.1, two verbs stand out in having a preinitial consonant in the transitive form without equivalent in the intransitive one: *ftṣi* ‘melt’ (vt), with a *f-* (phonologically /w/) prefixal element (the expected form of the intransitive *ndẓi* ‘melt’ would be †*mdẓi*) and *xtḥom* ‘put horizontally’ with a *x-* element (the expected form of *ndom* ‘lie horizontally’ would be †*yndom*).

No decisive explanation can be provided to account for this idiosyncrasy, found in other Gyalrongic languages including Tangut. Two mutually incompatible hypotheses can be considered. First, it is possible that in these two pairs both the intransitive and the transitive verbs are derived from a common root with different fossil derivational prefixes. Second, the reconstructed nasal prefix responsible for the anticausative prenasalization might have caused cluster simplification (*N-ptri → *N-tri → ndẓi*).

In the second hypothesis, the anticausative form *ndyr* ‘be scattered’ from the Tibetan loanword *χtyr* ‘scatter’ would be phonetically irregular, possibly a clue of it being analogically created on the basis of other anticausative derivations.

### 18.5.2 Function

The discussion in the previous section has shown that the transitivity alternation exhibited by the verb pairs in Tables 18.4 and 18.5 was a valency-decreasing derivation, turning a transitive verb with unvoiced obstruent onset into an intransitive verb with voiced prenasalized onset (following the rules in Table 18.6).

<footnote n="21">²¹Independent evidence against the hypothesis that the voicing alternation originates from sig-
matic prefixation is also found in Tibetan (Jacques 2020). Further evidence in Gyalrongic is
provided by Gates et al. (forthcoming).</footnote>
Like the passive (§18.1), the only argument of the prenasalized intransitive verb corresponds to the object of the base verb. Unlike the passive derivation however, prenasalized intransitive verbs have a dynamic meaning (rather than expressing a resultative state) and also imply that the action took place spontaneously, semantically removing the agent. For instance, while the passive *a-prɛt* of the verb prɛt ‘break’ (of a thread) implies the existence of an agent (103), the prenasalized intransitive *mbrɛt* expresses a spontaneous action without external agent (104).<fnref n="22" /> For this reason, this derivation is henceforth referred to as ‘anticausative’.

(103) *pjɛ̌-k-ɣ-prɛt-ci*
IFR-PEG-PASS-break-PEG
'It has been broken (by someone).'

(104) *wo a-zi ra nɔ̃-mkɣyur pɔ̃-mbrɛt*
INTERJ 1SG.POSS-lady PL 3PL.POSS-necklace AOR-ACAUS:break
'My lady, your necklace broke!' (2003 Kunbzang)

While anticausativized verbs are not compatible with external volitional agents, they are however attested with an explicit expression of the cause and/or of an involuntary and indirect agent. For instance in (105) the capsizing of the ship (expressed by the anticausative *mbyaɛ* ‘turn over’ (vi) from *pγaɛ* ‘turn over’ (vt)) is due to a storm mentioned in the previous clause, however without explicit marking of the causal relationship.

(105) *ndzi-zmbrɔ u cʰy-mbγaɛ.*
3DU.POSS-boat IFR:DOWNSTREAM-ACAUS:turn.over
'(One day, there was a terrible storm on the ocean, and) their boat capsized.' (140511 xinbada-zh) {0003961#S18}

In (106), the anticausative *ngru* ‘break’ (vi) occurs even though the human subject of the preceding clause is the identified agent of the verb *pjɛ̃-nɔ̃-çluy* ‘she dropped it’ and the involuntary indirect cause of the breaking action.

(106) *popo pjɛ̃-nɔ̃-cluy tce, pjɛ̃-ngru.*
earthenware IFR-AUTO-DROP LNK IFR-ACAUS:break
'She dropped the earthenware and it broke.' (2003gesar)

<footnote n="22">²²The anticausative meaning of the prenasalization derivation is a plot device in (104). The context of this sentence is that the queen arrives in a room whose floor is tiled with turquoise and coral (see example 277, §19.7.9), and unsure whether it is safe to walk on it (worrying that it might yield under her weight), she willfully breaks her necklace, spreading the pearls on the floor. Her servants, unaware that she did it on purpose, enter the room first to pick up the pearls, and seeing that the floor does not collapse, she then follows them.</footnote>
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

Anticausatives verbs can also follow their corresponding base transitive verbs, as illustrated by the pair *qlut* ‘break’ (of long objects, vt) and *Nglut* ‘break’ (vi) in (107). Instead of non-volitional action, what the anticausative *Nglut* expresses in this case is the successful realization of the action: the subject of *qlut* controls his decision to *attempt* at breaking an object, but cannot control his success in performing this action.

(107) *pjuu-tw-qlut*   *qʰe pjuu-*Nglut   *pwn-cti.*
IPFV-CONV:IMM-break LNK IPFV-ACAUS:break SENS-be.AFF
‘[Twigs of willow that grow in lower altitude] break as soon as one
breaks it.’ (07-Zmbri) {0003438#S6}

**18.5.3 Anticausative and dummy subject constructions**

The verb *tsʰo>* can be used as a prototypical transitive verb with the meaning ‘attach, plant’, as in (108) (see also 65, §19.4) or ‘fix’ (something on something else).

(108) *fsan c-pjuu-ta-nu*   *nu. tce loŋrta ra*
    fumigation *TRAL-IPFV-put-PL* be:FACT LNK prayer.flag PL
    *c-tu-tsʰo>*-n<u> *TRAL-IPFV-attach-PL*
    ‘(In the morning of the first day of the year), People go [there] and make
    fumigation, plant prayer flags…’ (140522 Kamnyu zgo) {0004059#S296}

It is also one of the few transitive verbs to occur in the dummy subject con-
struction (§14.3.5) in the meaning ‘grow’ (of fruits, leaves and flowers), as in (109).

(109) tce tw-kʰy̥l n̥wtcu, χsw-cvβ, kuβde-cvβ jamar ku-tsʰo
LNK one-place DEM:LOC three-pod four-pod about IPFV-attach
‘In each place (in each section on the stalk of the plant), three or four
pods grow.’ (09-stoR) {0003470#S39}

The anticausative *ndzo* ‘be attached’ occurs with exactly the same meaning as *tsʰo* ‘attach’ in the dummy subject construction. In (110), the intransitive subject *wpu-cvβ, χsw-cvβ* ‘two or three pods’ of *ndzo* corresponds to the object *χsw-cvβ, kuβde-cvβ* of *tsʰo* in (109).

(110) tw-kʰy̥l ri, wpu-cvβ, χsw-cvβ jamar ku-ndzo cʰa
one-place LNK two-pod three-pod about IPFV-ACAUS:attach can:FACT
‘In each place (section on its stalk), two or three pods can grow.’
(09-stoR) {0003470#S15}
This is not the only use of *ndzɔk*, which is one of the few anticausatives that are compatible with a volitional meaning (compare with 120, §18.5.5).

### 18.5.4 Collocation

Among the pairs in Table 18.4, the verbs *u-ко* + *pʰi* ‘be disappointed by’ and *u-ко* + *mbi* ‘be discouraged’ are remarkable in that both are noun-verb collocations, taking the same inalienably possessed noun *u-ко* (otherwise unattested) as object or intransitive subject,<fnref n="23" /> Showing that the anticausative prenasalization, like several other derivations (§22.4), affects collocations as a whole despite being only morphologically expressed on the verb stem.

The intransitive *mbi* ‘be discouraged, feel frustrated, lose heart’ is always in 3SG form (§14.2.7), and the possessor on *u-ко* indicates the experiencer, as in (111) where the form *ndzi-ко* takes a 2DU possessive prefix coreferent with the subject of the previous verb (see also 31 in §14.2.7).<fnref n="24" />

(111) stvβtsʰiyt mu-pw-tu-nw-cʰa-ndzi cti tce,
contest NEG-AOR-2-AUTO-can-DU be.AFF:FACT LNK
ndzi-ko a-mu-nw-mbi
2DU.POSS-disappoint(1) IRR-NEG-PFV-ACAUS:disappoint(2)

‘[It is not that I don’t want to give her to you], it is that you failed in the contest, don’t feel frustrated.’ (2003 sras)

The transitive verb *pʰi* occurs with the meaning ‘disappoint’, encoding the stimulus as transitive subject and the experiencer as possessor of the object as in (112). The argument structure of the two verbs thus only differs by the loss of the subject (stimulus) in the intransitive form *mbi* meaning ‘be disappointed’.

(112) a-ko pu-tu-pʰi
1SG.POSS-disappoint(1) SENS-2-disappoint(2)
‘I am disappointed by you.’ (elicited)

A reflexive meaning ‘be disappointed in oneself’ can be expressed by combining the same person as subject of *pʰi* and possessor of *u-ко* (1SG in 113) with the autive prefix *nuu-* in its ‘self-affectedness’ function (§19.1.3).

<footnote n="23">²³The noun and the verb are glossed with the same expression, but using the indices (1) and (2) (§22.4.3.2).</footnote>

<footnote n="24">²⁴This collocation has an exact Tshobdun cognate *o-ke? + mbi* ‘lose morale’ (Sun & Blogros 2019: 708).</footnote>
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(113) kwki si ki w-qa cʰu-tw-tɔ́xt,
DEM.PROX tree DEM.PROX 3SG.POSS-root IPFV-2-take.out
ju-tu̯-tsum u̯-tu̯-cʰa nɔ̯, [...] tce azo
IPFV-2-take.away QU-2-can:FACT ADD LNK 1SG
a-wo p̥u-nu̥-pʰi-a ŋu
1SG.POSS-disappoint(1) IPFV-AUTO-disappoint(2)-1SG be:FACT

'If you succeed in uprooting this tree and carrying it away, I will admit defeat.' (140428 yonggan de xiaocaifeng-zh) {0003886#S74}

The anticausativized collocation *u̯-wo + mbi* can undergo additional derivations, such as the facilitative (see 207 in §18.9.1), and the incorporating verbs *sɔ́vombi* ‘be discouraging’, ‘be hopeless’ and *nɔ́vombi* ‘lose hope’ also derived from it (§20.13.1).

18.5.5 Volitionality

An important proportion of anticausative verbs are only compatible with inanimate subjects, for instance *ngru* ‘break’ (example 106 in §18.5.2), *ndʒi* ‘melt’ as in (114) or *ndʒyɑv* ‘be squeezed out’ (example 17, §5.1.2.3), and therefore express non-volitional actions.

(114) tyjpa kw-xtcwh-xtci ka-lýt ri,
snow SBJ:PCP-EMPH-be.small AOR:3→3'-release LNK
múj-ýdway, pxjkʰu tu-ndʒi p̥u-cʰa.
NEG:SENS-be.serious still IPFV-ACAUS:melt SENS-can

‘There was a bit of snow, but it is not serious, it can still melt.’
(conversation 15-12-17)

Even anticausative verbs that are compatible with human or animal subjects are poorly compatible with volitional meaning. For instance, *ndʒaβ* ‘fall/roll’ (from *tʃaβ* ‘cause to fall/roll’) expresses involuntary fall as in (115), but cannot be used for voluntary rolling motion. The reflexive form of the base transitive verb *zyytʃaβ* ‘cause oneself to fall/roll’ is required instead for this meaning (§18.3.2).

(115) p̥u-ndʒaβ qʰe, paχci ra pa-nu̯-lwoχ tce,
AOR:DOWN-ACAUS:cause.to.fall LNK apple PL AOR:3→3'-AUTO-spill LNK

‘He fell down and spilled the apples.’ (2010 Tshendzin pear story)

However, a few anticausative verbs are compatible with various degrees of volitionality. The verb *mbyak* ‘turn over’ (vi) (from *pyak* ‘turn over’) can be used for controllable actions such as tossing over one’s bed (116), and its distributed
action derivation (§19.4) *nɔ́rmbyaɛlaɛ* ‘turn over here and there’ occurs to express
voluntary actions as in (117).

(116) kʰri    taɛk   nɛtcu   ko-mbyaɛk                  nɔ̈

bed 3SG POSS-ON DEM:LOC IFR:EAST-ACAUS:turn.over ADD

ʃɔ̈-mbyaɛk                  tce

IFR:WEST-ACAUS:turn.over LNK

‘She tossed over her bed.’ (140430 yufu he tade qizi-zh) {0003900#S226}

(117) nɔ̈ w χsw-yjɛn nɔ̈-nɔ̈mbyaɛlaɛ pɔ̈-ŋu.
DEM three-times AOR-DISTR:turn.over SENS-be
‘[The horse Rtamchog Rinpoche] rolled over on its back three times (on
the beach).’ (2005 Norbzang)

The anticausative *nɔŋŋɛyt* ‘part ways’ (from *qɛyt* ‘separate’, with a lexicalized autive *nɔu-*, §18.5.1.2, §18.5.6) stands out in having no restriction on volitionality, as in (118) and (119) where it occurs in the meaning ‘divorce’.

(118) w-χti ci na-nw-car ri, tcendyre
3SG.POSS-companion INDEF AOR:3→3'-AUTO-search LNK LNK
kw-maqʰu qʰe pɔ̈-nɔŋŋyt-ndzi
SBJ:PCP-be.after LNK AOR-ACAUS:separate-DU
‘She found a husband, but they eventually divorced.’ (14-siblings)
{0003508#S90}

(119) nɔ̈zo jɔ̈-ce, tcizo nɔŋŋɛyt-tci ma
2SG IMP-go 1DU ACAUS:separate:FACT-1DU apart.from
mɔ̈-jɔ̈y
NEG-be.allowed:FACT
‘Go away, we absolutely have to part ways.’ (2002 qajdoskAt)
{0003366#S38}

The anticausative *ndzɔ́v* ‘be attached’ (§18.5.3) is also attested as a synonym
of the intransitive *nqoɛv* in its special meaning ‘cling onto, lean on, grab’ (see
example 205, §8.3.4.3) and with a clear volitional meaning, as shown by (120).<fnref n="25" />

<footnote n="25">²⁵In this excerpt, the same action is described twice, the first time with *ndzɔ́v* ‘be attached’, the second time with *nqoɛv* ‘hang’.</footnote>
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

(120) *w-fsomw̥r*          *qʰend, tulkšt*          *nw w-taɣ*
3SG.POSS-tomorrow.evening LNK second.sibling DEM 3SG.POSS-on
*ko-ndzɔv*          *qʰe [...] tulkmulkʰa tce tulkšt*          *nw*
IFR-ACAUS:attach LNK dusk LNK second.sibling DEM
*w-taɣ*          *ko-nqoɣ tce,*
3SG.POSS-on IFR-hang LNK

‘The next day in the evening, he clung onto the second sister. (...) At dusk, he grabbed the second sister.’ (07-deluge) {0003426#S44}
{0003426#S46}

18.5.6 Compatibility with other derivations

Even though the anticausative prenasalization probably originates from the au-
tive *nw-* prefix (§18.5.1.2), both derivations are compatible with each other, as
shown by examples such as *pu-* *nw-*-*ŋgra* (121) (from *kra* ‘cause to fall’) in a con-
cessive clause (§19.1.4, §25.2.3) or with the spontaneous function (example 23 in
§19.1.4).

(121) *ywjpa w-muŋtov* nw-ky-lšt nw
this.year 3SG.POSS-flower AOR-SBJ:PCP-release DEM
*pu-nnwu-*-*ŋgra* kuŋny fsaqʰe qʰe nw
AOR:DOWN-AUTO-ACAUS:cause.to.fall also next.year LNK DEM
*u-sta* nw li nw jamar tcʰi ku-tu nw
3SG.POSS-place DEM again DEM about what SBJ:PCP-exist DEM
*u-mat* pu-βže cti
3SG.POSS-fruit IPFV-make[III] be.AFF:FACT

‘Even if the flowers that have blossomed this year and fall down, the
next year it makes at that place as many fruits (as there were flowers the
previous year).’ (11-qarGW) {0003480#S52}

Like most intransitive verbs, anticausative verbs can undergo the subject-oriented facilitative (§18.9.1) γγ- derivation. For instance, *nGLUT* ‘break’ (vi), *NGRU* ‘break’ (vi) and *mBYAɣ* ‘turn over’ (vi) have the derived forms γγNGLUT ‘breaking easily’ (122), γγNGRU ‘break easily’ and γγMYBYAɣ ‘turning over easily’ (of cars on a slippery road).

(122) *nw-rom* kuŋny mγ-γγ-nGLUT
AOR-be.dry also NEG-FACIL-ACAUS:break:FACT
‘Even after it has dried up, [the wood of high mountain willow twig]
does not break easily.’ (07-Zmbri) {0003438#S52}
The subject-oriented facilitative of the anticausative and the object oriented facilitative *nuyu-* (§18.9.2) of the base transitive verb has very close meanings: for instance from *pr̥t* ‘break’ (vt) and *mbr̥t* ‘break’ (vi) have the facilitative forms *nuyu-pr̥t* and *yx-mbr̥t*, both of which can be translated as ‘break easily’; the former implies however the presence of an external agent, while the latter expresses a spontaneous action.

The proprietary *sɣ*- derivation (§18.8) is also attested with some anticausative verbs, in particular *sŋŋgio* ‘be slippery’ from *ŋgio* ‘slip’.

The distributed action derivation (§19.4) occurs with anticausative verbs expressing a motion event, such as *nɔŋdzaβlaβ* ‘roll again and again/in all directions’ and *nɔmbyaklaβ* ‘turn over again and again’ from *ndzaβ* ‘fall/roll’ *mbyak* ‘turn over’ (vi), with a repeated motion; *nɔmbyaklaβ* can describe a (possibly volitional) rolling motion in both lateral directions (remaining at the same place, as in 123 below and 117 in §18.5.5), as opposed to *nɔŋdzaβlaβ*, used for a rolling motion either in one direction (124), or rolling motion in disorderly fashion.

(123) *zruɣ nɔ-nɔmbyaklaβ*   *rdul mɣ-tcɛt*
louse AOR-DISTR:ACAUS:turn.over dust NEG-take.out:FACT
‘When a louse rolls around, it does not raise dust.’ (proverb)

(124) *nɔwn rgoŋlu nɔ wɔcimwma zo tɔ-nɔŋdzaβlaβ*   *jo-ẓa*
DEM ball DEM immediately EMPH INF:II-DISTR:ACAUS:roll IFR-start
tcɛ jo-ndzaβ nɣ jo-ndzaβ.
LNK IFR-ACAUS:roll add IFR-ACAUS:roll
‘The ball immediately started rolling over and over.’ (140514 huishuohua de niao-zh) {0003992#S126}

The anticausative verb *ŋgio* ‘slip’ has two distributed action forms, the regular one *nɔŋŋgiolo* which can be translated as ‘slip/glide/move around over and over’ (125) and *nɔŋŋgiolulo*, which rather has a volitional meaning ‘glide, slide (in no particular direction)’ (126).

(125) *tce nɔwn pjúw-y-ta*   *tce, tce snama*   *tɔ-ŋke*   *tce*
LNK DEM IPFV:DOWN-INV-put LNK LNK beast.of.burden AOR-walk LNK
tce, mɣ-nɔŋŋgiolo.
LNK NEG-DISTR:ACAUS:cause.to.glide:FACT
‘One puts [belly and neck bands on the burdens], so that when the beast of burden walks, [the burden] does not move around [on its back].’
(30-tAsno) {0003758#S88}
(126) *ty-pytso* *tyjpγom u-taɣ* *pu-nuŋŋioluwo*
INDEF.POSS-child ice 3SG.POSS-ON SENS-DISTR:ACAUS:cause.to.glide
'The child slides on the ice.' (elicited)

A few anticausative verbs can take the sigmatic causative prefix. For instance, the causative *swyndzi* 'melt' (vt) of *ndzi* 'melt' (vi) can be elicited. This form can express indirect causation, as in (127),<fnref n="26" /> as opposed to the base transitive verb *ftşi* 'melt' which is used for volitional activities (128).

(127) *ta-mar* *cʰʰy-swɣ-nd-t-a*
INDEF.POSS-butter IFR-CAUS-ACAUS:melt-PST:TR-1SG
'I let the butter melt (by forgetting it next to a source of heat).' (elicited)

(128) *kʰru nwh cʰu-ftṣi-nwh tce, tce numu pjw-lyt-nwh*
pig.iron DEM IPFV-melt-PL LNK LNK DEM IPFV:DOWN-release-PL
pu-cti tce,
SENS-be.AFF LNK
'They melt the pig iron and pour it into [the mold].'(25-qraR)
{0003650#S30}

The anticausative *nuŋŋyrt* ‘part ways’ has the causative form *znuŋŋyrt* ‘separate’. This verb is not specifically used for indirection causation, but it is restricted to express separation of two entities from each other, as in (129), unlike the base verb *qrt* ‘separate’ which has a broader range of meanings, including ‘spread’ (of limbs, hair, feathers) as in (130).

(129) *rasti cʰo ryŋndoɣ ni, pjúw-wy-ŋndzyr-ndzi tce*
turnip COMIT turnip.root DU IPFV-INV-cut-DU LNK
pu-wy-z-nuŋŋyrt-ndzi ŋu.
IPFV-INV-CAUS-ACAUS:separate-DU be:FACT
'One separates the turnip from its root by cutting them.' (150903 kAJar)
{0006412#S7}

(130) *u-jme nwh [...] ki tu-fse tu-z-nuŋndzi*
3SG.POSS-tail DEM DEM.PROX IPFV-be lik e IPFV-CAUS-beVertical[III]
tce tce pu-qrt pu-ŋu.
LNK LNK IPFV-separate SENS-be
'It puts its tail vertically like this and spreads (the tail feathers).'

(24-ZmbrWpGa) {0003628#S73}

<footnote n="26">²⁶The same semantic contrast appears to be found in Zbu (Gong Xun, p.c.) and Tshobdun (Sun 2014a).</footnote>
### 18.5.7 Other cases of voicing alternation

The anticausative derivation is not the only type of voicing alternation in Japhug.

Among verbs, two cases of non-anticausative voicing alternations are found, the isolated pair treated in §19.7.9 and the irregular sigmatic causative ὀνομαστή 'hang' (vt) from νόμος 'hang' (vi). The onset ὀνομ- in ὀνομαστή 'hang' (containing the irregular ὅ- allomorph of the sigmatic causative prefix, §17.2.2.4) apparently results from the voicing of an earlier cluster like *ε-η-κ- due to phonotactic constraints (§4.2.1.5).

In ideophones, voicing alternations with or without prenasalization are also attested, as shown by the pair *quqli* and *nguingli*, both meaning 'eyes wide open' (§10.1.5.3). In addition, at least one ideophone, *dzov* 'kneeling suddenly and respectfully', which appears in collocation with the transitive verb *tsʰoov*, originates from the anticausative verb *ndzov* 'be attached' (§10.1.6).

## 18.6 Antipassive

The antipassive derivation converts a morphologically transitive verb into an intransitive one, removing the object and preserving the subject. As in the closely related Tshobdun language (Sun 2006b: 8), two antipassive prefixes are found in Japhug: *ry-* and *sr-*.

### 18.6.1 *ry-* antipassive

The *ry-* antipassive prefix is productive, and it is thus impossible to provide a complete list of all examples. Table 18.7 provides a representative sample of this derivation, which includes a number of verbs of Tibetan origin (for instance *fsov* 'earn' and *βzjoz* 'learn' from བསྐོགས་ *bsogs* 'accumulate' and བྱུངས་ *sb'aŋs* 'learn', respectively). As in Tshobdun (Sun 2006b: 8), this prefix is typically used when the suppressed argument is non-human (§18.6.7.2), though a few exceptions exist (§18.6.4).

This derivation takes as input mono- or ditransitive verbs (§18.6.4), and one labile verb (*suso* 'think', see §14.5.1.3).

The main morphosyntactic differences between transitive verbs and their corresponding antipassive forms are illustrated the following examples. In (131), the base verb *βzjoz* 'learn' is fully transitive, selecting the type-C preverbs in the non-local direct Aorist (§14.3.1, §15.1.1.1). The object is the topic studied (in 131, the nominalized verb *tu-snaq* 'sorcery') and the transitive subject, the person learning, is taking the ergative case.
<table><caption>Table 18.7: Examples of the antipassive prefix *ry-*</caption><thead><tr><th>Base verb</th><th>Derived verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>ro<u>κ</u> ‘carve’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ro<u>κ</u> ‘carve things’</td></tr><tr><td>cp<u>h</u>γt ‘patch’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>cp<u>h</u>γt ‘patch clothes’</td></tr><tr><td>ct<u>ş</u>at ‘spare’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ct<u>ş</u>at ‘spare things, managing without wasting’</td></tr><tr><td>fse ‘whet’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>fse ‘whet things’</td></tr><tr><td>ft<u>ş</u>z ‘castrate’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ft<u>ş</u>z ‘castrate animals’</td></tr><tr><td>nt<u>h</u>a ‘kill, butcher’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>nt<u>h</u>a ‘butcher animals’</td></tr><tr><td>my<u>o</u> ‘prepare’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>my<u>o</u> ‘prepare things’</td></tr><tr><td>nd<u>un</u> ‘read aloud’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>nd<u>un</u> ‘read sutras/formulas’</td></tr><tr><td>rk<u>z</u> ‘carve’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>rk<u>z</u> ‘carve things’</td></tr><tr><td>ryt ‘write, draw’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ryt ‘write/draw things’</td></tr><tr><td>βz<u>joz</u> ‘learn’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>βz<u>joz</u> ‘study, learn about things, go to school’</td></tr><tr><td>sk<u>γ</u>r ‘weigh’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>sk<u>γ</u>r ‘weigh things’</td></tr><tr><td>t<u>ş</u>uβ ‘sew’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>t<u>ş</u>uβ ‘sew clothes’</td></tr><tr><td>sc<u>yt</u> ‘move’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>sc<u>yt</u> ‘move one’s house’</td></tr><tr><td>fs<u>o</u>κ ‘earn’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>fs<u>o</u>κ ‘earn money’</td></tr><tr><td>ç<u>ar</u> ‘search’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ç<u>ar</u> ‘search for things’</td></tr><tr><td>χ<u>t</u>u ‘buy’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>χ<u>t</u>u ‘do shopping, buy things’</td></tr><tr><td>χ<u>t</u>ei ‘wash’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>χ<u>t</u>ei ‘wash, have a bath’</td></tr><tr><td>fc<u>yt</u> ‘tell’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>fc<u>yt</u> ‘report’</td></tr><tr><td>ŋ<u>a</u> ‘buy on credit, owe’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ŋ<u>na</u> ‘have a debt’</td></tr><tr><td>t<u>γ</u>γβ ‘burn’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>t<u>γ</u>γβ ‘burn land’</td></tr><tr><td>py<u>ak</u> ‘turn over’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>py<u>ak</u> ‘reclaim land’</td></tr><tr><td>nt<u>sy</u> ‘sell’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ts<u>sy</u> ‘do business’</td></tr><tr><td>ra<u>br</u>u<u>z</u> ‘sweep’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ro<u>br</u>u<u>z</u> ‘sweep the ground and tidy things up’</td></tr><tr><td>s<u>uso</u> ‘think’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>su<u>so</u> ‘think’, ‘ponder’</td></tr><tr><td>t<u>h</u>u ‘ask’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>t<u>h</u>u ‘ask questions’</td></tr><tr><td>ct<u>ş</u>u ‘entrust with’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>ct<u>ş</u>u ‘entrust someone with’</td></tr><tr><td>mbi ‘give’</td><td>r<u>γ</u>mbi ‘give to someone’</td></tr></tbody></table>
(131) azwy a-me ci tu tce, nunw kw
1SG.GEN 1SG.POSS-daughter INDEF exist:FACT LNK DEM ERG
tw-sŋaɣ pa-βzjoz tce,
NMLZ:ACTION-cast.spells AOR:3→3'-learn LNK

‘I have a daughter, and she has learned sorcery.’ (140512 fushang he yaomo-zh) {0003967#S134}

The antipassive verb *rβzjoz* ‘learn things’ in (132) is morphologically intran-
sitive, selecting the type-A preverbs (§14.3.1) in the Aorist (*pwc*- instead of *pa*-,  
§15.1.1.1). It is used to avoid mentioning a specific topic of study, and it is often  
better to translate this verb as ‘go to school/university’. Like the transitive subject  
of *βzjoz* ‘learn’, the subject of *rβzjoz* ‘learn things’ corresponds to the person(s)  
acquiring knowledge. However, when overt, its subject occurs in absolutive form  
as *u-me nu* ‘her daughter’ in (132).

(132) w-me nw pw-r-y-βzjoz ri tʰam w-<gongzuo>
3SG.POSS-daughter DEM AOR-APASS-learn LNK NOW 3SG.POSS-job
w-ma me
3SG.POSS-work notuezFACT

‘Her daughter went to school (studied things) but has no job now.’
(17-lhazgron)

Although example (132) only illustrates one of the seven morphological cri-
teria for transitivity (§14.3.1), all have been successfully tested with antipassive
prefixes.

The non-orientable antipassive verbs select as lexicalized orientation the same
one as that of their base verb. For instance, *rmbi* ‘give to someone’ selects the
EASTWARDS preverbs like its base verb *mbi* ‘give’ (§15.1.5.10).

The object affected by the *r* derivation is not only demoted morphologically
but also removed syntactically, and verbs with the antipassive prefix cannot take
an overt patient corresponding to the object of the base verb, even as semi-object
or with an oblique case (the antipassive *rfçɔrçt* ‘report’ is however an exception,
see §18.6.3).

The antipassive verbs are generally understood as having a generic/indefinite
patient. In Table 18.7, their meaning is translated using the most usual patient
associated with a particular activity, for instance ‘clothes’ in the case of *r-y-tɔ̃uβ*
‘sew’ and *r-y-ɛpʰɔrɔt* ‘patch’. The patient that has been demoted from object status
by the *r-y-* prefix is nearly always an inanimate entity, but there are some exam-
ples of verbs (such as *rɔŋtɛʰa* ‘butcher’) with animal patient, and even demoted
human recipient in the case of some secundative verbs (§18.6.4). The semantic
contrast between the *r}*- and *s}*- antipassive derivations is described in (§18.6.7),
and morphosyntactic constructions competing with antipassive derivations to
express indefinite objects are discussed in §18.6.8.

Although the meaning of the derived verbs is not fully predictable in each case
(§18.6.3), the formation of the *r}*- antipassive is almost perfectly regular. There
are only three *r}*- antipassive verbs with irregular morphology. First, *r}*nŋa ‘have
a debt’ from ŋa ‘buy on credit, owe’ (a verb selecting as object the amount of
money owed, 133) has an additional *-n element.

(133) squ-mpcar k}*-ŋa-t-a
TEN-money.unit AOR-owe-PST:TR-1SG

‘I bought [it] on credit and owe [him] ten renminbi.’ (elicited)

Second, *r}*tsye ‘do business’ from *ntsye ‘sell’ lacks the *n*- preinitial found in
the base verb. Third, *r}*ususo ‘think’ from *s}*so ‘think’ (about) (§14.5.1.3) has *r}*u-
instead of *r}*-. These cases are accounted for in §20.10.1.

Apart from these irregularities, the allomorphy of the *r}*- antipassive is lim-
ited to the variant *ra*- found with verb roots with an onset with uvular preinitial
(§3.5.4) as in *raχtu* ‘do shopping’. The antipassive *r}*- prefix is formally similar to
the denominative *r}*- (§20.4.1),<fnref n="27" /> to the extent that synchronic ambiguity exists
between these two prefixes. In particular, the verb *r}*znde ‘make a wall’ (vi) can
be synchronically analysed either as a denominal form of *znde ‘stone wall’ or of
the transitive verb *znde ‘make a wall’. Note that both options are equally likely,
as the prefix *r}*- is attested with other denominal expressing the building of the
base noun, for instance *t}*-loɛ́ ‘nest’ → *r}*loɛ́ ‘make a nest’ (vi). The historical
implications of this observation are explored in §20.10.1.

Not all transitive verbs with non-human patients can be antipassivized. In par-
ticular, when an intransitive verb having the meaning of the expected antipas-
sive verb already exists, antipassivization is less likely. For instance, *ti* ‘say’ lacks
a *r}*- antipassive form, as the intransitive *ruɛmi* ‘speak’ (which can have an overt
dative recipient, 19, §14.2.4, but no reported speech complement clause) already
serves as its ‘lexical antipassive’. The verbs of ingestion *ndza* ‘eat’ and *tsʰi* ‘drink’
share the compound verb *r}*ndz}*tsʰi* ‘have a meal’ (§20.4.1, §20.12) as their intran-
sitive counterpart.

<footnote n="27">²⁷In addition, there is a residue of *r}*- prefixed verb that can neither be analyzed as antipassive nor as denominal derivations (§19.7.5).</footnote>
18.6.2 *sr*- antipassive

Like the *r*- antipassive, the *sr*- antipassive is productive. Table 18.8 presents a
list of representative examples, including Tibetan loanwords such as *fstrt* ‘praise’
from བློན་ *bstod* ‘praise’. Unlike the *r*- antipassive, the *sr*- prefix is used when the
demoted patient is human or equivalent (§18.6.7.2, see Sun 2006b: 8 on Tshob-
dun), except in the case of some secundative verbs (§18.6.4). The *sr*- antipassive
derivation can also demote animal patients in specific contexts (§18.6.7.2).

The only cases of allomorphy with the antipassive *sr*- are the allomorph *sa-* occurring when the prefix is followed by a complex onset whose first element is a uvular fricative (§3.5.4), and the allomorph *srz*- which appears with some poly-syllabic stems whose first syllable has a sonorant initial *srzyrmu* ‘praise people’.

The *sr*- prefix is homophonous with the rogative (§18.2), the proprietive (§18.8) and denominal derivations (§20.3), as well as with the oblique participle *sr(z)-* (§16.1.3). Potential ambiguity exists with the proprietive derivation. For instance, the transitive *nuzdwy* ‘worry about’ has two homophonous intransitive derived verbs *sr*-*nuzdwy*, an antipassive meaning ‘worry about people’, and a proprietive ‘causing worry to people’.

Most *sr*- antipassives derive from monotransitive verbs, but a handful of them
are based on ditransitive verbs (§18.6.4). In addition, the labile verbs *nre* ‘laugh’
and *srŋo* ‘listen’ are also compatible with the *sr*- prefix. The antipassive forms
*sr*srŋo ‘listen to advice’ and *srnyre* ‘laugh at people’ derive from the meanings
‘listen to’ and ‘laugh at, mock’ that these two verbs have when conjugates tran-
sitively (§14.5.1.3).

Some of *sr*- antipassive verbs can either be dynamic verbs or stative verbs, in the latter case expressing a general tendency/propensity of the subject to do the action. For instance, *sr*-*ndza* from *ndza* ‘eat’ can mean ‘eat people, eat someone’ (as in 157, §18.6.7.1), but also ‘be a man-eater’, ‘prick’ (134) or ‘be carnivorous’ (animal eating other animals, 159a, §18.6.7.2).

(134) tce nwnw u-rme tu ma m-y-s-y-ndza ma
LNK DEM 3SG.POSS-hair exist:FACT LNK NEG-APASS-eat:FACT LNK
u-mdzu me.
3SG.POSS-thorn notuez:FACT
'It has hair, but does not prick, because it has no thorns.' (15-babW)
{0003512#S88}

The propensity antipassives have a meaning very close to that of generic hu-
man objects, as demonstrated by example (135), where the same meaning is ex-
<table><caption>Table 18.8: Examples of the antipassive prefix *s-y-*</caption><thead><tr><th>Base verb</th><th>Derived verb</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>tɛ́hʷu 'gore, stab'</td><td>sɛ́tɛ́hʷu 'gore people'</td></tr><tr><td>mtsuɣ 'bite'</td><td>sɛ́mtsuɣ 'bite people'</td></tr><tr><td>nymtsiɔ́k 'peck'</td><td>sɛ́nymtsiɔ́k 'peck people'</td></tr><tr><td>yɔ́mu 'praise'</td><td>sɛ́yɔ́mu, sɛ́zyɔ́mu 'praise people'</td></tr><tr><td>fstɛ́t 'praise'</td><td>sɛ́fstɛ́t 'praise people'</td></tr><tr><td>nurtɛ́a 'tease'</td><td>sɛ́nurtɛ́a 'tease people'</td></tr><tr><td>ɔ́ndu 'hit'</td><td>sɔ́ndu 'hit people'</td></tr><tr><td>nykʰe 'bully'</td><td>sɛ́nykʰe 'bully people'</td></tr><tr><td>nyɔ́y 'be jealous of'</td><td>sɛ́nyɔ́y 'be jealous of people'</td></tr><tr><td>nurutṣa 'envy'</td><td>sɛ́nurutṣa 'envy people'</td></tr><tr><td>ɔ́ar 'search'</td><td>sɛ́ɔ́ar 'search someone'</td></tr><tr><td>suχcɔ́t 'teach'</td><td>sɛ́suχcɔ́t 'teach people'</td></tr><tr><td>tʰu 'ask'</td><td>sɛ́tʰu 'ask in marriage'</td></tr><tr><td>nyre 'laugh'</td><td>sɛ́nyre 'laugh at people'</td></tr><tr><td>nyŋo 'listen'</td><td>sɛ́nyŋo 'listen to advice'</td></tr></tbody></table>

pressed by the antipassive *s-y-*ndza and the generic object *ku-*ndza (see additional examples in §18.6.8.2).

(135) *mdzadi nʷi wuma z̥o s-y-ndza. wuma z̥o*
*flea* DEM really *EMPH APASS-eat:FACT* really *EMPH*
*ku-ndza tce rɣa.*
*GENR:S/O-eat:FACT LNK itch:FACT*
*‘Fleas bite a lot. They bite people a lot, and it itches.’ (21-mdzadi)*
*{0003578#S17}*

### 18.6.3 Lexicalized antipassive

Most antipassive verbs have meanings that are predictable from that of their base verbs. However, in some cases antipassivization not only demotes the patient from object status, but restricts the range of meanings of the verb root.

The meaning of the transitive verb *puaɣ* ‘turn over’ differs depending on the objects it occurs with; its possible meanings include ‘turning (clothes) inside out’,
'open (the cover of a box)', 'cross (mountains, rivers)' (20, §15.1.2.1) or 'plough (fields)' (see 136 below and 138 in §9.1.6.4).

(136) nʷ-ji ra kʷ-dʷ-d>y n kʷ-jʷ-j>om
3PL.POSS-field PL SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.many SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.wide
l>o-p>y>a w
IFR:UPSTREAM-turn.over-PL
'They had ploughed many wide fields for them.' (2002 qajdoskAt)
{0003366#S90}

By contrast, its antipassive *r>y>p>y>a* ‘reclaim land’<sup>28</sup> only preserves the last mean-
ing of the base verb, with ‘land’ or ‘field’ as implicit patient as in (137). Note in
addition that the antipassive selects the *UPSTREAM* preverbs (l>u- in 137) like the
verb *p>y>a w* in the meaning ‘plough’ (l>o- in 136).

(137) zgoku tu-ce qʰe lu-r-y-p>y>a n-y,
mountain IPFV:UP-go LNK IPFV:UPSTREAM-APASS-turn.over ADD
t-y-r-yku cʰo ra p>j>u-ji qʰe, tce nʷ kʷ-f>se
INDEF.POSS-crops COMIT PL IPFV-plant LNK LNK DEM SBJ:PCP-be like
k>u-r>y> i> p>j>y-u.
IPFV-stay IFR.IPFV-be
'[The old man] lived by going to the mountain, clearing fields and
planting crops.' (150831 jubaopen-zh) {0006294#S3}

Similarly, while the transitive verb *t>ɛr>β* ‘burn’ can take various types of refer-
ents as objects (including humans, as in 88, §14.3.3.3), the antipassive *r>y>t>ɛr>β* ‘burn
land’<sup>29</sup> is also restricted to its use in agriculture, with ‘land’ as demoted patient.

The expected meaning of *r>y>p>y>a* ‘reclaim land’ and *r>y>t>ɛr>β* ‘burn land’ if they
had been regular antipassives would have been ‘turn things over’ and ‘burn
things’, respectively. Despite the absence of an incorporated noun, these two
verbs include information about the demoted patient. This semantic irregularity
has implications for the study of the origin of the antipassive prefixes in Japhug,
as discussed in §20.10.1.2.

The verb *r>y>f>ɛr>t* ‘report’ from *f>ɛr>t* ‘tell’ stands out among antipassive verbs
from the point of view syntax. While *r>y>f>ɛr>t* is morphologically intransitive, as is
shown by the form *kʷ-r>y>f>ɛr>t* in (138) with the intransitive subject generic prefix
*kʷ-* (§14.2.1.2), the patient of this verb can nevertheless be overt as a semi-object

<footnote n="28"><sup>28</sup>The meaning of this verb corresponds to Chinese 开垦 <kāikěn> ‘reclaim land’, ‘clear a wild area for cultivation’.</footnote>

<footnote n="29"><sup>29</sup>The meaning of this verb is translated as 烧荒 <shāohuāng> ‘clear land by fire’ in Chinese.</footnote>
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

(in 138, the demonstrative *numura*, anaphorically referring to the previous com-
plement clauses). The object of the base verb *fɛrт* ‘tell’ is thus only demoted to
semi-object status (§8.1.5), and not syntactically removed. The dative recipient is
also preserved by the antipassive derivation.

(138) slama ra γu tʰu tʰyci ku-fse, nw k-βzjoz ra
student PL GEN something SBJ:PCP-be like DEM INF-APASS-study PL
pwo-stu muj-stu nw, [...] numura nw-pʰama
SENS-be-serious NEG:SENS-be-serious DEM DEM:PL 3PL.POSS-parents
ra nw-cki kw-rɛfɔrt pwo-ra.
PL 3PL.POSS-DAT GENR:S/O-report:FACT SENS-be-needed

‘(As a teacher), one has to tell the parents all kinds of things concerning
the students, whether they try hard or not, whether they work seriously
or not.’ (150901 tshuBdWnskAt) {0006242#S17}

18.6.4 Antipassive forms of ditransitive verbs

Among ditransitive verbs, indirecitive verbs (§14.4.1) build their antipassive derivations the same way as monotontransitive verbs.<fnref n="30" /> For instance, *tʰu* ‘ask’ has the two antipassive forms *rtʰu* ‘ask questions’ and *srɔtʰu* ‘ask in marriage’ depending on whether the demoted patient is inanimate or human (see examples 156b and 160, §18.6.7).

Three secundative verbs, *mbi* ‘give’, *ɛtɔu* ‘entrust with’ and *jsʰi* ‘give to drink’, behave differently in this regard. Their object (semantically the recipient) is generally human, but the *s*- antipassive prefix does not occur with these verbs: the corresponding forms (for instance *sɔmbi* ‘ask for’) exist, but do not have antipassive meaning (they exemplify the rogative derivation, §18.2). Instead, their antipassive forms *rɔmbi* ‘give to someone’, *rɔɛtɔu* ‘entrust someone with’ and *rɔjsʰi* ‘give to someone to drink’ take the *rɔ*-*i* prefix. These verbs are henceforth referred to as ‘*rɔ*-*i* antipassivized secundative verbs’.

The demoted recipient of *rɔ-* antipassivized secundative verbs can be indefinite
and non-specific as in the case of most antipassive verbs (§18.6.7), as in (139).

(139) wzy w-βra ku-rku~rkum ntsu ma
3SG:GEN 3SG.POSS-share SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.few always apart.from
mw-pjy-nw-ta. w-ro ra lonba mw-rx-mbi pjy-ŋu.
NEG-IFR-AUTO-put 3SG.POSS-rest PL all IPFV-APASS-give IFR.IPFV-be
‘He would only keep a little for himself, and give away the rest.’ (150902
hailibu-zh) {0006316#S6}

<footnote n="30">³⁰Note however the morphosynactic peculiarities of the lexicalized antipassive *rɔfɔr t* ‘report’ from the indirecitive verb *fɔr t* ‘tell’ (§18.6.3).</footnote>
However, often, as in (140) and (141), the identity of the recipient is known to the speaker, but the antipassive is chosen to leave it unspecified, either because the information is irrelevant (because the addressee does not know the people in question) or to hide information.

(140) *kwumŋu ma*   *mw-nuw-kaವ*   *u-qʰu*   *tce, tce*   *χswu muw*

five   apart.from   NEG-AOR-hatch   3SG.POSS-after   LNK LNK   three   DEM

*nu-rɣ-mbi-tci*   *tce*

AOR-APASS-give-DU LNK

'Only five (of the twelve eggs) hatches, and we gave three [of the chicks]
(to other people).' (22-kumpGa) {0003588#S76}

(141) *a-kumpya u-puw*   *ku-svjndu~jndyt*   *zo puŋ-ŋu*

1SG.POSS-hen   3SG.POSS-young   SBJ:PCP-EMPH~be.cute   EMPH PST.IPFV-be

*ri, tceri <xingqitian> <fangjia> tce*   *tu-nuw-ce-a*

LNK LNK   sunday   holidays   LOC IPFV:UP-VERT-go-1SG

*puw-ra*   *tce c-ky-rγ-ctṣu-a.*

PST.IPFV-be-needed   LNK TRAL-AOR-APASS-entrust.with-1SG

'My chicks were very cute, but on Sunday, I had to go back on holiday,
and I went [to someone_i] and entrusted him/her/them_i with them.
(150819 kumpGa) {0006388#S43}

In addition, antipassivization of secundative verbs does not remove the recipient: it can be demoted to oblique argument status, with dative marking, as in (142) and (144).

(142) *azo ty-tcw*   *ra nuw-cki*   *cʰa*   *pnw-r-y-jtsʰi-a*

1SG INDEF.POSS-SON PL 3PL.POSS-DAT alcohol IPFV-APASS-give.to.drink

*ŋgryl*

be.usually.the.case:FACT

'I (usually) give a drink to the guys.' (elicited)

Although the three *ry-* antipassivized secundative verbs *rymbi* ‘give to someone’, *ryctsw* ‘entrust someone with’ and *ryjtsʰi* ‘give to someone to drink’ are morphologically intransitive like all other antipassives, as shown by the absence of past transitive -t- suffix in (141), and of C-type orientation preverb in (144), they do preserve more transitivity features than most antipassive verbs.

First, the three *ry-* antipassivized secundative verbs differ from other antipassive verbs in terms of case marking: their subject can receive ergative marking in some contexts.
With third person arguments and no overt recipient as in (143), the subject *a-mu a-wa ni* is in absolutive form.

(143) *a-mu* *a-wa* *ni a-kʰu̯na* *pY-rY-mbi-ndzi*
1SG.POSS-mother 1SG.POSS-father *DU* 1SG.POSS-dog *IFR-APASS-give-DU*
‘My parents gave my dog away.’ (elicitation, 2019-11-30)

However, ergative marking on the subject occurs in (144) with a 1SG recipient, and in (145) below with a 1SG semi-object (theme).

(144) *a-wa* *ku* *a-če*
1SG.POSS-father *ERG* 1SG.POSS-younger.brother 1SG.POSS-DAT
*ku-rY-čtʃu*.
AOR-APASS-entrust.with
‘My father entrusted me with my younger brother.’ (elicited)

Second, an even more unusual feature of the three *rY-* antipassivized secundative verbs is that the morphosyntactic status of the theme of the giving action. In all the examples above from (139) to (142), the theme is a third person semi-object (§8.1.5), and its number cannot be indexed even with a 1SG subject (§14.3.2.6).

However, in the very rare cases when the theme is first or second person, the verb *rYmbi* ‘give to someone’ exceptionally occurs with inverse *wY-* or local scenario indexation affixes (*ta*-1→2 and *ku*-2→1, see §14.3.2.3) prefixes, as if the verb were morphologically transitive, and the theme were a direct object. No such example is found in the corpus, but forms such as (145) can be elicited (§14.4.2.2).

(145) *a-wa* *ku azo nú*-wY-*rY-mbi-a*
1SG.POSS-father *ERG* 1SG AOR-INV-APASS-give-1SG
‘My father gave me away.’ (elicited)

This puzzling construction is not only possible, but it is actually the only way to express a non-third person theme with the verb *mbi* ‘give’.

Not all secundative verbs however select the *rY-* antipassive like *mbi* ‘give’ and *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’. For instance, *swxɛ́rɛ́t* ‘teach’, which encodes the recipient/adressee as object (the 2SG in 146, as indicated by the *ta-* portmanteau prefix), is not compatible with *rY-* prefix: the only antipassive form of this verb is *swxɛ́swɛ́rɛ́t* ‘teach people’, ‘work as a teacher’, as in (147).

(146) *tYfsyri kY-βzu ci pjuu-ta-swuxcɛ́t.*
thread *INF-make* a.little *IPFV*-1→2-teach
‘Let me teach you how to make threads.’ (vid-20140506043657)
(147) li sloχpwn ta-ndo-t-a tce, nuire
again teacher AOR:3→3'-take-PST:TR-1SG LNK DEM:LOC
pju-sy-swxcat-a pw-ŋu.
IPFV-APASS-teach-1SG PST.IPFV-be
'I too became a teacher, and I was teaching there.' (12-BzaNsa)
{0003484#S17}

Similarly, the secundative verb *nusukʰo* ‘rob, extort’ has the antipassive form *srnusukʰo* ‘rob people’, also with the *sr*- prefix (example 169, §18.6.9).

### 18.6.5 Reduplicated antipassive

The intransitive verb *rstʰutʰe* ‘inquire’, ‘ask for information’ derives from *tʰu* ‘ask’ like *rstʰu* ‘ask questions’ (156b, §18.6.7, §18.6.4), with the rare reduplication in *-e* in addition to the *r*- prefix. This reduplicated antipassive form is isolated, but this type of reduplication is attested in a few other forms (§19.4.2.1).

As shown by (148), *rstʰutʰe* ‘inquire’ is an intransitive verb: the type A orientation preverb *nu-* is selected instead of type C if the verb were morphologically transitive (§15.1.1.1). This verb also selects an oblique argument in the dative, like its base verb (§14.4.1).

(148) a-cki yu-nu-rstʰutʰe
1SG.POSS-DAT CISL-AOR-ask permission
'He came and asked me (for information).' (elicited)

This verb is mainly attested as a negative infinitive converb *mr*- *kr*- *rstʰutʰe*
'without asking (for permission)' (as in Chinese 问都没有问就 …… ) as in (149).<fnref n="31" />

(149) mbro n̥u k̥u ckrw n̥wnw [maka mɣ-kr-rstʰutʰe] k̥u
horse DEM ERG serow DEM at.all NEG-INF-ask permission ERG
n̥wfse ju-kr-yi n̥u wuma zo pjγ-qʰa p̥u-ŋu.
like.that IPFV-INF-come DEM really EMPH IFR.IPFV-hate SENS-be
'The horse hated that the serow came like that without asking
[permission] at all.' (ma he lu-zh)

<footnote n="31">³¹The ergative on the subject *mbro nu kʷu* ‘the horse’ is due to the main verb *pjγ-qʰa* ‘he hated that….”</footnote>
18.6.6 Antipassive and past imperfective

Antipassive verbs, unlike most dynamic verbs (§21.5.3.1), are compatible with Past Imperfective *puu-* and Inferential Imperfective *pjuʾ-. This question is however difficult to study for three reasons.

First, many of the transitive base verbs in Tables 18.7 and 18.8, for instance *βzjoz* ‘learn’ and *cpʰrɛt* ‘patch’, select the **DOWNWARDS** preverbs as one of their lexicalized orientation (see for instance the perfective form *pa-βzjoz* ‘she learned it’ in 131 above). As a consequence, there is syncretism for these verbs between Aorist and Inferential on the one hand, and Past Imperfective and Inferential Imperfective on the other hand (§21.5.3.1). For instance, the form *puu-r-y-βzjoz* ‘she went to school’ in (132) above is Aorist, but in a different context the same form can be analyzed as a Past Imperfective ‘she was studying’.

Second, while simple Past and Inferential Imperfective are attested with an-
tipassive verbs, they are also compatible with the Periphrastic Aorist and Infer-
ential Imperfective (§21.5.3), combining the Imperfective verb form (§21.2.2) with
a copula in Inferential Imperfective (*pjuʾ-ŋu*) or in Past Imperfective (*puu-ŋu*) as il-
lustrated by example (150). It is unclear whether any function difference exists
between non-periphrastic and periphrastic tenses for these verbs, apart from the
fact that the latter are unambiguously imperfective.

(150) tce u-me numu <xianzhong> nuctu pju-r-y-βzjoz
LNK 3SG.P POSS-daughter DEM district.school DEM:LOC IPFV-APASS-learn
puu-ŋu ri,
IPFV-be LNK

‘(At the time when) her daughter was going to school, (her father was
drinking alcohol and neglected his parental duties).’ (17-lhazgron)

Third, since some of the *s-y-* antipassives can be used as stative verbs (propen-
sity antipassives, §18.6.2), they are thus compatible with Aorist and Inferential
Imperfective anyway.

Despite these difficulties, unambiguous examples of non-periphrastic Aorist
and Inferential Imperfective are not common in the corpus even with verbs se-
lecting the **DOWNWARDS** orientation. In (151), it is clear from the context that *pjuʾ-
r-y-βzjoz* is Inferential Imperfective rather than Inferential Perfective both due to
the context, the presence of the adverb *ntsu* and the unambiguous Inferential Im-
perfective with Progressive *pjuʾ-k-ystu-ndun-ci* ‘he was reading it’ in the following
clause.
(151) <caichen> nwnw pjy-r-y-βzjoz ntsw. jwyi ntsw
ANTHR DEM IFR.IPFV-APASS-learn always book always
pjy-k-ysw-ndwn-ci.

IFR.IPFV-PEG-PROG-read-PEG

‘Caichen was always studying, always reading books.’ (150907
niexiaoqian-zh) {0006262#S20}

In other contexts, there is genuine ambiguity: example (152) can either mean ‘the wife was patching clothes’ (the interpretation provided by Tshendzin) or ‘the wife (had) patched clothes’.

(152) t-y-rzaβ nw pjy-r-y-cpʰy-t,
INDEF.PLOSS-wife DEM IFR.IPFV-APASS-patch

‘The wife was patching clothes.’ (qajdoskAt 2002) {0003366#S20}

18.6.7 The uses of the antipassive derivations

18.6.7.1 Antipassive derivations and indefinite patients

In Japhug, non-overt objects of (non-labile) transitive verb are always interpreted as transitive, even when a particular verb form happens to lack unambiguous markers of transitivity (§14.3.1). The minimal example (153) with the 1SG→3 AOR-rist of βzjoz ‘learn’ could in principle be an intransitive form (due to the fact that the past transitive -t suffix cannot surface with a close syllable stem, §14.3.2.1). Yet, this example cannot mean ‘I studied something’ or ‘I went to school’, but necessarily implies that the object has been previously mentioned in the discourse.

(153) χsw-sla pw-βzjoz-a
three-months AOR-learn-1SG

‘I have learned [how to make ploughshares] for three months.’ (2010-09)

The antipassive derivations, which not only demote the object, but suppress
it syntactically (except for ditransitive verbs, see §18.6.4), are a way to express
a non-referential indefinite patient, either a non-specific patient (translatable as
'something'), or a whole range of possible patients. For instance in the case of
r-yβzjoz 'learn things', the implicit patient can be a school curriculum ('go to
school, study') as in (154) below and (132) above, or a non-specific topic 'study
something' as in (151) in §18.6.6.

(154) nwa nwpʰe nwcu, χsw-xpa nw pw-r-y-βzjoz-a.
DEM:PL 3PL.PLOSS-DAT DEM:LOC three-years DEM PST-APASS-learn-1SG

‘I have studied with them for three years.’ (160721 XpWN) {0006181#S28}
Example (155) also illustrates the contrast between the transitive verb *tʰu* ‘ask’<fnref n="32" /> with an overt object *u* nu ‘his own (question)’ and the corresponding antipassive verb *rɣtʰu* ‘ask questions’ with an non-specific patient (the prohibition against asking additional questions anymore is not limited to the one he forgot to ask).

(155) *uchy* nw kɣ-nw-tʰu na-nw-jmw tɔŋ-ŋu, tceri nw
3SG:GEN DEM INF-AUTO-ask AOR:3→3'-AUTO-forget SENS-be LNK DEM
ma tu-rɣ-tʰu mw-nw-jy u pɔŋ-ŋu,
apart.from IPFV-APASS-ask NEG-AOR-be.allowed SENS-be

‘He had forgotten to ask his own [question], but he was not allowed to ask questions anymore.’ (divination, 2005)

In rarer cases, the demoted patient is referential and semantically recoverable from the context. In (156b) for instance, by contrast with (155), the demoted patient of *rɣtʰu* ‘ask questions’ corresponds to the previous sentence (156a): taking the context into consideration the verb form *ko-rɣ-tʰu-nw* means ‘They consulted the lama (about the reason why the man was about to die and what to do about it)’.

(156) a. *tx-tcw*       *nw*   *kw-si*   *to-rɣŋat*.
               INDEF.POSS-SON DEM SBJ:PCP-die IFR-be.about
               ‘The man [had fallen ill] and was about to die.’ (rkongrgyal2.2002)

b. *ßlama pɔŋ-car-nw* tce, *ko-rɣ-tʰu-nw* ri
lama IFR-search-PL LNK IFR-APASS-ask-PL LNK

‘They looked a lama and consulted him/ask for his advice.’
(rkongrgyal2.2002)

Similarly, in (157), the implicit patient of the verb *sɣ-ndza* ‘eat (someone)’ is not ‘people’ in general, but rather the group of characters present at the moment of the action with the demoness, and it is thus in fact partially referential.

(157) tce kw-sɣ-ndza tu-oɣwγu ri,
LNK SBJ:PCP-APASS-eat IPFV-prepare LNK

'[The râkshasî demoness] (revealed her true nature) and was about to eat someone (one of them), but ...' (28-smAnmi) {0004063#S378}

<footnote n="32">³²Although *tʰu* ‘ask’ is ditransitive, since it has indirective alignment, it does not behave differ- ently from monotransitive verbs regarding antipassivization (§18.6.4).</footnote>
18.6.7.2 The contrast between *rъ-* and *sъ-* prefixes

The semantic difference between the *rъ-* and *sъ-* antipassive prefixes involves a contrast in humanity (following Sun 2006b on Tshobdun) and animacity.

The *rъ-* prefix is required for inanimate/abstract indefinite patients. In the case of verbs of speech, the removed object corresponds to a reported speech complement clause (as in 156b above, §24.2.5). Some *rъ-* antipassives however have animate non-human patients, in particular *rъftcъz* ‘castrate’ and *rъntcъhъ* ‘butcher’ (from *ftcъcz* ‘castrate’ and *ntcъhъ* ‘kill, butcher’), which can only refer to animals.

The *sъ-* prefix by contrast is mainly used to express generic human objects (with a meaning often close to that of the generic object indexation marker *ku* §18.6.8) or indefinite humans (sometimes even semantically recoverable from the context, as in 157). However, the *sъ-* prefix when used as a propensity antipassive can demote animal patients, as in (158) where *sъ-sat* is a stative verb meaning ‘have killing power, be lethal’ (rather than ‘kill people’).

(158) tce numw ju-lyt-nw tce tce numw wuma zo pw-sy-sat
LNK DEM IPFV-release-PL LNK LNK DEM really EMPH SENS-APASS-kill
[...] qro ri pw-xtci cti, tce numw ku rcanw
pigeon also SENS-be.small be.AFF:FACT LNK DEM ERG UNEXP:DEG
tw-kʰyl tce kwisz χswm jamar pjw-sat pwŋu
one-place LOC two three about IPFV-KILL SENS-be
‘They shoot with [scattering bullets], and it is very lethal, (...) the
pigeons are small, [with scattering bullets] they kill two or three
[pigeons] in one place.’ (28-CAmWGdW) {0003712#S110}, {0003712#S115}

In addition, when both agents and patients are (non-human) animals, the pre-
fix *sъ-* can also be used to demote the object, as in the case of the verb *sъmtsʰi*
‘lead the way’ (from *mtsʰi* ‘lead’) which can be applied to packs of animals. Note
also that the antipassive *svndza* from *ndza* ‘eat’, can both mean ‘eat someone’ (as
in 157 above) or ‘eat other animals’ as in (159a) (a sentence which can be glossed
by 159b).

(159) a. rûdaъ nû w-ŋgw ku-sy-ndza nû, kuwrî
wild.animals DEM 3SG.POSS-in SBJ:PCP-APASS-eat DEM beast
tu-ku-ti ŋu
IPFV-GENR-say be:FACT
‘Among the animals, the carnivorous ones are called “beasts”.’
(elicitcd, explanation of example 33, §16.1.1.4)
18 Valency-decreasing derivations

b. **n<u>w</u>-zda**
**r<u>w</u>da<u>k</u> **u**-**k<u>w</u>-ndza**
**t<sup>h</sup>amtc<u>xt</u> num<u>w</u>ra
3PL.POSS-companion animal 3SG.POSS-SBJ:PCP-eat all
**n<u>w</u>-rmi**
**l<u>onba</u> **ku>r<u>mi</u>** tu-**ku**-ti
**ŋ<u>u</u>.
3PL.POSS-name all
beast IPFV-GENR-say be:FACT
'All those that eat the other animals, their name is 'beasts''. (150822
kWrNi) {0006260#S7}

The human vs. non-human contrast between the two prefixes can be observed
on a handful of verbs that are compatible with both *r膏- and s膏- antipassives. The
indirective verb *t膏u ‘ask’ takes the *r膏- prefix when the demoted patient is an
action/state of affair (as in *r膏t膏u ‘ask questions’ in 156b above), but takes the s膏-
prefix when asking for someone in marriage (§18.6.4), as in (160).

(160) azo kw-sy-tʰu ce-a
1SG SBJ:PCP-APASS-ask go:FACT-1SG
'I am going to ask for (the girls) in marriage.' (2003 Kunbzang)

A less lexicalized minimal pair is provided by *car* 'search', which has the antipassive forms *r膏car* 'search things' and *s膏car* 'search someone'.

18.6.7.3 Avoidance

The s膏- antipassive can be used as a strategy to avoid overtly referring to a partic-
ular entity. In (161) for instance, despite the use of the antipassive s<u>r</u>n<u>u</u>rte<u>k</u>a ‘tease
people’ (from n<u>u</u>rt<u>e</u>k a ‘tease’), the implicit patient of this verb is not indefinite: it
is a type of local deity called z<u>u</u>βda<u>k</u> (from g<u>ki</u> ‘local deity’).<fnref n="33" />

(161) tw-m<u>u</u> wuma zo ty-me tce, tcendsre
INDEF.POSS-weather really EMPH AOR-not.exist LNK LNK
tshitsuku c-ku-sy-nu>rteca-n<u>u</u> tce, fsaŋ ra
some.things TRAL-IPFV-APASS-tease-PL LNK fumigation PL
c-p<u>u</u>ra-ta-n<u>u</u>, c-p<u>u</u>ra-r<u>ja</u>k-n<u>u</u> n<u>u</u>ra tce, tce
TRAL-IPFV-put-PL TRAL-IPFV-dance-PL DEM:PL LNK LNK
tu-m<u>u</u> ku-su-lyt-n<u>u</u> p<u>u</u>-ŋgr<u>yl</u>.
INDEF.POSS-weather IPFV-CAUS-release-PL IFR.IPFV-be.usually.the.case
tce n<u>u</u> w-syz-n<u>yma</u> y<u>u</u> s<sup>ty</sup>tc<sup>ha</sup> n<u>u</u> z<u>ny</u>r<u>y</u>ma tu-ti-n<u>u</u>
LNK DEM 3SG.POSS-OBL:PCP-make GEN place DEM placename IPFV-say-PL

<footnote n="33"><sup>33</sup>On the etymology of the placename *znyryma*, see §16.1.3.10.</footnote>
pu-ηu

SENS-be

‘When there was no rain at all, people would go there and do teasing, make fumigations and dance, and cause rain to come. They call the place where these activities were performed *znryyma*.’ (140522 Kamnyu zgo) {0004059#S237}

Tshendzin explicitly provided the sentence (162) as a gloss to the verb form *c-ku-sr-nurtca-nu* in this context.

(162) zwβda w

c-kú-wy-nwrtca

mountain.god TRAL-IPFV-INV-tease

‘One teases the mountain gods.’ (gloss of example 161).

The ‘teasing’ in question refers to the belief that rain resulted from the wrath of mountain deities. The aim of this ceremony, rather than appeasing the gods, was to anger them. It has not been practiced for decades, and memory of this practice only survives in this toponym *znryyma*, whose etymology is discussed in more detail in §16.1.3.10.

### 18.6.7.4 Participial forms of antipassive verbs

The subject participle of antipassive verb is the preferred strategy to build nominals referring to persons with a particular activity of profession, as illustrated by the forms in Table 18.9 (see also §16.1.1.7), or having a particular habit (see 107, §5.5.5.2). These nominalized forms are frequently used but not lexicalized, and their meaning is predictable from that of the base verb.

<table><caption>Table 18.9: Subject participles of antipassive verbs</caption><thead><tr><td>Base verb</td><td>Subject participle of antipassive</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>βzjoz 'learn'</td><td>ku-rs-βzjoz 'learner, student, scholar'</td></tr><tr><td>tswβ 'sew'</td><td>ku-rs-tswβ 'tailor'</td></tr><tr><td>rsr 'write, draw'</td><td>ku-rs-rst 'writer, painter'</td></tr><tr><td>ntch'a 'kill, butcher'</td><td>ku-rs-ntch'a 'butcher' (person who slaughters animals)</td></tr><tr><td>suxcr't 'teach'</td><td>ku-sr-suxcr't 'teacher'</td></tr><tr><td>mts hi 'lead'</td><td>ku-sr-mts hi 'leader' (in a dance, of a pack of animals)</td></tr></tbody></table>
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

Oblique participles (§16.1.3.10) also need to undergo antipassivization to be used to derive nouns of instruments or of location without overt object. For instance, the antipassive participle *u̯-z-r-y-r-y̯t* (3SG.POSS-OBL:PCP-ANTIP-write) is used to express the meaning ‘writing implement, pen’ (§16.1.3.6).

### 18.6.7.5 Reflexive use of the antipassive

The indefinite patient interpretation is not the only meaning of the *r-y-* antipassive derivation. For instance, the verb *raχtçi* ‘wash’ (vi) from *χtçi* ‘wash’ (vt) does not mean ‘wash things’ as could have been expected, but has a reflexive meaning ‘wash one’s face’ or ‘have a shower/bath’ (see example 103, §19.7.5).<fnref n="34" /> The regular reflexive form *zγrχtçi* ‘wash oneself’ is also attested with this verb (§18.3.1.5).

## 18.6.8 Other strategies used to express indefinite patients

As a means of expressing indefinite patients, the antipassive derivations compete with five alternative constructions: indefinite object pronouns (§18.6.8.1), generic object nouns (§18.6.8.2), light verb constructions with action nominal (§18.6.8.3), incorporation (§18.6.8.4) and pairs of denominal verbs (§18.6.8.5).

### 18.6.8.1 Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns (§6.6), in particular *tʰuci* ‘something’ (§6.6.2) or *tsʰitsuku* ‘whatever’ (§6.6.3) as object functionally overlap to some extent with the *r-y-* antipassive derivations. However, indefinite pronouns are preferred if the indefinite patient is referential, as in (163).<fnref n="35" />

(163) wazo ku tsʰitsuku ny-ndun tce khynndun ra ny-βzu
3SG ERG whatever IFR-read LNK recitation PL IFR-read
‘He recited something, he recited a formula.’ (140510 sanpian yumao-zh)
{0003947#S95}

### 18.6.8.2 Generic marking

The generic noun *turme* ‘person’ (§6.2.2) and generic person indexation of the object (§14.3.2.5) compete with the *s-y-* antipassive. As shown by examples (164)

<footnote n="34">³⁴A typologically similar irregularity is found with the antipassive-durative verb *niza-lā* ‘wash oneself’ in Bezhta (Khalilova et al. 2016: 554).</footnote>

<footnote n="35">³⁵Examples of antipassive verbs with referential implicit patient are however attested, as in (157) and (156b) above.</footnote>
## 18 Valency-decreasing derivations

The collocation *ty-cpʰyt+ta* can however occur with a 3SG possessive prefix on the object *u-cpʰyt+ta* and refer to a definite patient, encoded as possessor of the object.

Other light verbs occurring in this type of collocation include *βzu* ‘make’, *lyt* ‘release’ and *tɛyrt* ‘take out’ (see 75, §20.10.1).

### 18.6.8.4 Incorporating verbs

Object-saturating incorporating verbs (§20.13.3.2) are intransitive verbs derived from transitive bases whose intransitive subject corresponds to the subject of the base verb. The incorporated noun corresponds to the object of the base verb, and is indefinite and non-referential, and thus functionally close to an antipassive, in particular to lexicalized ones (§18.6.3).<fnref n="37" /> For instance, the incorporating verb *yyu<piaozi>fsok* ‘earn money’ from 票子<piàozi> ‘ticket, paper money’ and *fsok* ‘earn’ has a meaning and usage identical to the antipassive *ryfsok* ‘earn money’.

### 18.6.8.5 Denominal pairs

Transitive denominal verbs with the *nuu/-nr-* prefix can in some cases have *sr-antipassives* (§18.6.2), but never *ry-* antipassives. Instead, intransitive *ruu/-ry-* denominal verbs from the same noun occur as the functional equivalents of the antipassive. For instance, the transitive verb *nryma* ‘do’ (work) derived by the prefix *nr-* (§20.7.2) from the inalienably possessed noun *ta-ma* ‘work’ (§5.1.2.1), does not have an antipassive form such as †*ry-nryma*. Rather, the intransitive *ryma* ‘work’ from the same noun (see example §19.1.5, §37 and 171, §16.2.1.7) occurs to express the meaning that would have been expected from such an antipassive form (§20.4.3). In addition to the semantic similarity with antipassive verbs, *ryma* ‘work’ is compatible with non-periphrastic Past Imperfective and Inferential Imperfective (§21.5.3) like antipassive verbs (§18.6.6).

### 18.6.9 Compatibility with other derivations

The *sr-* antipassive derivation can be take as input applicative and tropative verbs. The most commonly attested examples of double derivations are however from verbs whose applicative or tropative prefix is synchronically unanalyzable, such as *snyrkʰu* ‘invite people’ (167) and *snyrkʰe* ‘bully people’ (168) from *nrykʰu* ‘invite’ (lexicalized applicative of *akʰu* ‘call’, §17.4.3) and *nrykʰe* ‘bully’ (lexicalized tropative of *kʰe* ‘be stupid’, §17.5.3), respectively.

<footnote n="37">³⁷This closeness in function is also correlated with a closeness in origin, since both incorporating verbs and antipassive derivation come from denominal derivations (§20.13.1).</footnote>
(167) **nš-čjoš** ra kšu t'u-ndza tu-βzu-nu nura,
3PL.POSS-servant PL ERG NMLZ:ACTION-eat IPFV-make-PL DEM:PL
pšu-sγ-nykʰu-nu ra pjγ-cti qʰe,
IPFV-APASS-invite-PL PL IFR.IPFV-be.AFF:FACT LNK
‘Their servants were making food, they were inviting people.’
(28-qajdoskAt) {0003718#S131}

(168) **nγ-tuš-sγ-nykʰe** nše mγ-ra
2SG-NMLZ:DEG-APASS-bully DEM NEG-be.needed:FACT
‘You are out of line.’ (‘you should not bully people like that.’)
(28-qajdoskAt) {0003718#S14}

Antipassive forms from non-lexicalized applicative and tropative verbs are not attested in the corpus, but can be elicited, for instance *sγ-nu-rga* APASS-APPL-like ‘like people’ from *nurga* ‘like’ (vt) (§17.4.1.2) and *sγ-nγ-mpγrr* APASS-TROP-be.beautifull ‘find people beautiful’ from *nγmpγrr* ‘find beautiful’ (§17.5).

Only one causative verb takes the rγ- antipassive: *jtsʰi* ‘give to drink’ (§18.6.4), an irregular causative from *tsʰi* ‘drink’ (§17.2.2.5), which competes with the regular one *su-tsʰi* ‘make/let drink, drink with’.

Other causative verbs are only attested with the sγ- antipassive, for instance *sγ-su-rtoš* APASS-CAUS-look) ‘show to people’. The lexicalized causative *nusukʰo* ‘rob, extort’, which historically derives from *kʰo* ‘give’ by the combination of the sigmatic causative *su-* and the autive *nu-* prefixes (see 15, §17.2.3), has two sγ- antipassive forms (§18.6.4): the sγ- can be directly prefixed to the complex verb stem as in *sγnusukʰo* ‘rob people’ (169) (historically *sγ-nu-su-kʰo* APASS-AUTO-CAUS-give), but the alternative form *nu-sγ-su-kʰo* (AUTO-APASS-CAUS-give) with the au-tive prefix *nu-* switching position with the antipassive is also possible (§19.1.6).

(169) **icqʰa** tcaχpa nura kwi li, laχtcʰa
the.aforementioned robber DEM:PL ERG again thing
z-pγ-sγ-nusukʰo-nuš
TRAL-IFR-APASS-rob-PL
‘The robbers had gone and robbed some people from their things.’
(140512 alibaba-zh) {0003965#S107}

Applicative verbs can serve as input for the sigmatic causative derivation. With the rγ- antipassive, the z- allomorph of the causative is selected (§17.2.1.1) as in *z-rγ-rγt* (170) and *z-rγ-tšwβ* (171) from *rγrrγt* ‘write/draw things’ and *rγtšwβ* ‘sew things’ (antipassives of *rγt* ‘write, draw’ and *tšwβ* ‘sew’, respectively, §18.6.1).
18 *Valency-decreasing derivations*

In combination with the antipassive, both the permissive/precative ‘make X,
let X, ask to X’ (as in 170) and the instrumental ‘X with’ (171) uses of the sigmatic
causative are attested.

(170) Dai.Song yu, nςkinu, ω-caχpu nω ku pý-wy-sqyr tce,
ANTHR GEN FILLER 3SG.POSS-friend DEM ERG IFR-INV-ask.to.do LNK
nςkinu, pjý-wy-z-ry-ryt pω-ηu
FILLER IFR-INV-CAUS-APPL-draw SENS-be
'One of Dai Song's friend's asked him to draw something.'
(2010-kewen-07)

(171) tce nω ty-ri      pý-wy-nω-βzu      tce
LNK DEM INDEF.POSS-thread IPFV-INV-AUTO-make LNK
chý-wy-z-ry-tṣuβ    ōu
IPFV-INV-CAUS-APASS-sew BE:FACT
'One [can] then make the thread and use it to sew things.'
(13-tAsAsqAri) {0003496#S30}

18.7 Distributed property

The *amu-* prefix expressing a distributed property can be applied to a handful of
transitive and semi-transitive verbs.

With the cognition verbs *suz* ‘know’ and *tso* ‘know, understand’ (semi-transitive, see §14.2.3), the meaning of this derivation is ‘be Xed by everybody, be Xable’, as shown by *amutso* ‘be clear (of speech)’ (172) and *amusuz* ‘be well-known’.

(172) nʷ tu-kʷ-ti tce m amu-tso.
DEM IPFV-GENR-say LNK even-more DISTR-understand:FACT
‘If one says this, it is clearer (easier to understand).’ (heard several times
during elicitation sessions)

The verb *amutso* also has a reciprocal reading ‘understand each other’, corresponding to the *amu-* reciprocal derivation (example 96, §18.4.2). It is possible that *amutso* was the pivot form between the two derivations. A reanalysis from reciprocal to ‘distributed property’ may have taken place through the causative of the reciprocal *su-χmu-tso* ‘cause people to understand each other’, which originally took as objects causee (see 173) and as optional semi-object the speech/words.