Passive in Kebreni

[Ketumak]

I've been through the Kebreni grammar text on the Metaverse and can't find an answer to this, but I was wondering how Kebreni would translate English passive participles, particularly when used attributively.

The passive in main clauses is formed simply by omitting the agent and moving the patient before the verb. How then would you translate English phrases like "an unemployed man"? I guess you'd need a relative clause, yes?

[vec]

A man who has no job?

[zompist]

If what you want is a modifier for an NP, you use the -iCa form.

[Ketumak]

"A man who has no job" sounds like a good work around, though Kebren-ised it would be, I think: "no job have-SUB man". I can see that working for other cases, too, so "an injured bystander" would become "injury have-SUB bystander".

I'd forgotten about, or not noticed, the -iCa form. If it's like our past participle, then yes, it can be read passively as in the examples you put on Virtual Verduria:

-iCa where -C is the final consonant of the root, or -eCa after -i-, means 'that has been Xed'. This sounds like a past participle, but it is never a verbal form, nor can it even be used predicatively; it can only be used to modify a noun, or as a nominalization.

nizu 'say' → nieza 'spoken'
suṫy 'provide' → suiṫa 'provisionś
kulsy 'command' → kulisa 'what is commanded', lexicalized as 'fleet'
nabru 'sail' → nabira 'what is sailed', i.e. a ship

thanks both.