Plains Cree: A Grammatical Study - Computer Science Club

26 [TRANS. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
sized here: from a Cree point of view the voice of
English glosses is absolutely irrelevant. Whether
sentence (4) is glossed 'The dog scares us' or 'We are
scared by the dog' has no bearing on the meaning of
the Cree sentence.7
2.512. The use of "actor" and "goal" rather than
"subject" and "object" is an extension of Bloomfield's
usage which has become relatively standard for
Algonquian linguistics.38
The traditional use of the terms "subject" and
"object" is based on Indoeuropean languages where
the subject does not necessarily coincide with the
actor; for example, in the Latin sentence,
canis terretur d puero.
'The dog is scared by the boy.'
the goal canis is regarded as the subject by virtue of
its case, agreement with the verb, etc. If "subject"
and "object" were to be used in Algonquian, their
general function would correlate much more closely
with focus than with direction. In sentence (6),
above, for example, while ndpew is the goal, it is
proximate and therefore in focus and might well be
labeled the "subject."
Like many similar issues, however, this use of
"subject" and "object" is held in abeyance until
further semantic and syntactic studies indicate a
clear need for these terms.
2.52. Further Implications
Among the implications of the direction contrast
which remain to be explored more fully, indefinite
actor forms constitute the most obvious problem.
Morphologically, the indefinite actor forms of the
transitive animate (TA) paradigm cannot be grouped
with either the direct or the inverse set. The indf-3
form of the independent order, e.g., wdpamaw 'he is
seen,' shows the same morphological structure as the
direct forms, notably the direction marker /a/.
WOLFART: PLAINS CREE
But
all forms whose goal is a non-third person follow a
different pattern (5.84). They are based on a suffix
/ekawi/ whose connection with the inverse marker
/ekw/ (cf. 5.422) remains to be clarified; e.g.,
e-wapamikawiyan 'I am seen.'
The inanimate actor set of the transitive animate
(TA) paradigm (cf. 5.83) are based on the suffix
/ekw/ and its extended form /eko/ and clearly belong
to the inverse set, e.g., nipikiskwdtikon 'it talks to me.'
37 Whatever stylistic carry-over might be found in translation
would have to be restricted to third-person forms: if it were found
that Cree speakers consistently prefer the English passive in trans-
lating sentences like (6), this would lend added weight to the
hypothesized similarity in function of English voice and Cree
focus.
38 Of course, the choice of terms is primarily a matter of conven-
tion and Bloomfield indicates as much when he says: "We prefer
'actor' to the term 'subject' which might be misleading ..."
(1962: p. 45).
The semantic status of the indefinite actor forms
is difficult to define in terms of the direction category.
The examples given above can be described as actor-
less verbs which only have a goal; in this they are
somewhat similar to the agent-less passive of the
Indoeuropean languages, e.g., Latin canis videtur 'the
dog is seen.' But this interpretation is hardly
appropriate for the transitive inanimate (TI) and
animate intransitive (AI) forms, neither of which
shows a goal:
T73p18 k-etamihk TI
'thus one calls it, thus it is called'
T121-2 kzwdniwiw AI
'there was going home, one went home.'
Finally, there are a number of derivational types,
many of them involving an /ek/-based suffix, whose
meanings have been variously described as "middle"
or "passive"; cf. 6.439 and the example quoted from
Bloomfield in 2.53, below. The analysis of such
formations would go far beyond the scope of the
present discussion; for a detailed treatment in
Menomini see Bloomfield 1962: pp. 280-298. A few
examples from Cree follow: kisisow 'he is cooked to
completion,' cf. klsiswew 'he cooks him to completion';
kitimakeyimow 'he feels pitiable,' cf. kitimdkeyimew 'he
takes pity on him'; kipahikdsow 'he is obstructed,' cf.
kipaham 'he closes, obstructs it'; T102p6 .. . .miy-
weyihtamwak, miyweyihcikdtew . . . 'they are glad, it
feels good . . '; etc.
2.53. Historical Survey
In view of the remarkable confusion which has
come to surround the term "passive" in Algonquian
linguistics, it may be of interest to briefly review some
of the uses to which it has been put. In so doing,
we will also sketch the history of the voice interpre-
tation of the direction category.
Howse uses the term "passive" (1) of the various
derivational patterns which were hinted at above; (2)
of the indefinite actor forms which he also calls
"indeterminate subjective" (1844: p. 107); and (3)
of some manifestations of the direct-inverse contrast.
In one context (1844: p. 57) he uses "active-
passive" as synonymous with "direct-inverse"; but
elsewhere (1844: p. 255) he greatly emphasizes that
the active-passive distinction applies to the "double
third persons" only: "These in their direct and
inverse significations are active and passive, . . ., the
other combinations of the pronoun being all expressed
actively."
It is noteworthy that Howse also sees the direction
contrast in the you-and-me forms (1844: pp. 219, 220).
Lacombe (1874b) uses "passif" of the mixed forms,
i.e., those involving both a third and a non-third
person referent. The indefinite actor forms he calls