A Grammar of Miya - UCLA Department of Linguistics

178 A Grammar of Miya
Waataw aa GiyCa) aavona shin ka do 6e6iy(a) aagir wan lambatilw ...
'That is they would go along the edge of the field and dig holes like latrine pits Cas
traps for locusts) ... '
4. Transitivity and Intransitivity
4.1. Lexically "intransitive" and lexically "neutral" verbs. In terms of verb Use
with objects, verbs fall into two lexical classes: (I) lexically intransitive verbs, which
require a suffix -ay if used in a transitive sense, and (2) all others. Used intransitively,
most of the verbs in group (I) represent change of physical position initiated voluntarily by
the subject. However, verbs must be marked lexically as belonging to this group since
there are verbs which have this semantic characterization yet do not require the transitizer
when used transitively, e.g. tla 'stand up Cintr.)' or 'raise (tI.)', gh"dza 'turn (tr. or intI.)'.
There are also a few verbs in group (I) which do not involve change of position and/or
voluntary action on the part of the patient of the action, e.g. la 'get well, recover' with
transitized counterpart l-ay 'cure, make well'.
4.1.1. Transitizing suffix -ay. Following is a complete list of verbs from my
materials which I know to require the transitizer in transitive usage; the items at the end of
the list marked with a dagger do not add an Intransitive Copy Pronoun C4:§4.1) when used
intransitively. Tone classes of the non-derived and derived verbs are in small capitals: 11
'gSg HL 'be sated' 'gsay HL 'feed'
bo/buw HL 'come' buway HL 'bring'
ba H 'go' bay HL 'take'
baw L 'go out' baway HH 'take out'
da L 'fall' day L 'make faIl, "put'''
daw L 'get down; lodge' daway HH? 'unload; lodge (guest)'
dzar HH 'disperse' dzaray HH? 'disttibute'
ghoma HH 'climb, mount' ghomay HH 'lift up, raise'
IITones of derived transitive verbs in -ay are problematic, and I was not able to investigate them in detail.
A clear indicator of tone class with underived verbs is the gerund (see 4:§2.2.1), and the tone of gerunds
was my main diagnostic for the tones of the derived verbs in the table below. As the table suggests, most
transitized verbs in -ay belong to the H H class, regardless of the tone class of the base. As is the case
with underived H H verbs, the gerunds for all H H transitized verbs, when cited in isolation, have L on the
stem and H on the gerund suffix -kg, e.g. bawayakg 'taking out', zityakj 'putting in'. In the table, for those
with no question mark following "H H", no available evidence contradicts the H H categorization, or there
is evidence in addition to the gerund form which affirms the H H categorization, e.g. min plyee-tId say 'I
lay her down' with H on the pronoun -tId as would be expected for H H verbs (4:§1.2.3.2). For those
marked "H H?", other evidence casts doubt on the H H categorization, e.g. min g;mwy-ya sdy 'I intercepted
him', with L on the pronoun -yii, as would be found with L tone class verbs (4:§ 1.2.3.1), or it wundy suw
sapan-dy 'she stirred the tuwo', with H on the second syllable of the verb (wundy), as would be expected for
HL class verbs (4:§1.2.3.3). I have no gerund for piyay 'return'-the H L categorization is based on an
example it piyee say 'he returned (it)" with H on the second syllable of the verb (cf. the remark in preceding
sentence). The gerunds of the remaining three H L verbs in the table are buwdyaka 'bringing', bdydk