A Brief Syntactic Typology of Philippine Languages - Academia Sinica

Lawrence A. Reid and Hsiu-chuan Liao
literature as ‘locative/referent focus’. Most AN verbs imply that their undergoer is an entity
that is only partly, not entirely affected, or only whose surface is affected, or the end point
of the action, the place to which or from which some other entity is directed. We call the
feature that is part of such verb with an AN ending, the LOCAL AFFECT feature ([+lfct]).
460
(69) Mamanwa (Miller 1964:90)
Bonalan=mo ya baroy.
[+trns,+lfct]
pound on=GEN.2S DET leaf
‘You (sg) will pound (on) the leaf.’
3.3.1.1.2.1.3 Reflexes of PEF */i-
Reflexes of PEF */i- (from earlier *Si-) are similarly widespread throughout the
Philippines. The verbs of this class (henceforth I verbs) are those that have commonly
been labeled in much of the literature on Philippine languages as ‘instrument/associative
focus’. Most I verbs imply that their undergoer is moved in space, directed towards, or
brought into association with some entity. We call the feature that is part of such a verb
beginning with an I, the MANNER AFFECT feature ([+mfct]).
(70) Guinaang Bontok
/iyáli=m man nan kapi=k.
[+trns,+mfct]
come with=GEN.2S please DET coffee=GEN.1S
‘Please bring (lit., come-with) my coffee.’
3.3.1.1.2.1.4 Beneficiary affect
In addition to the three affect features that imply the semantic interpretation of the
undergoer that we have discussed, Philippine languages can also typically imply the
interpretation of the undergoer as beneficiary of an action. We refer to this feature as the
BENEFICIARY AFFECT feature ([+bfct]). There are at least five types of languages in the
Philippines, depending on how they mark such verbs: (1) those that use an I verb and no
other for this purpose, such as Ivatan (71); (2) those that use an AN verb and no other for
this purpose, such as Maranao (72); (3) those that use a “circumfix” I- -AN on such verbs,
such as Balangaw (73), and most languages of the northern Philippines; (4) those that
use either an I verb or AN verb, such as Mamanwa (74) and Tagalog (depending on the
verb); and (5) those that use either an I- -AN verb or an AN verb, depending on the verb,
such as Ilokano (75).