Here are two examples of causative sentences form that grammar:
Schachter and Otanes (313–14) basically just explain that i- and ika- (as well as a bunch of other forms) are used as causative-focus (CF) prefixes corresponding to the actor-focus (AF) infix -um- (which would mean that causative-focus markers encode a kind of actor?). From looking things up in a dictionary I could gather that ni marks names as being in the actor role in goal-focussed clauses – which, if true, is rather interesting because according to those two articles on causative typology I've read that's kind of unusual (but is basically exactly what my conlang does!). Apparently you'd expect the causee (i.e. the actor of the incorporated clause) to be demoted in some way. I suppose that this is not necessarily true if a language marks case based more on semantics than syntax, which seems to be the case here and is definitely true of my conlang.Iniluha ni Nena ang pagkawala ng alahas niya.
'The loss of her jewelry made Nena shed tears.'
Ikinaluha ni Nena ang usok.
'The smoke made Nena shed tears.'
(Schachter and Otanes 313)
Now, with further help of a dictionary I assume the above examples break down as:
Code: Select all
I- ni- luha ni= Nena ang= pagkawala ng= alahas niya.
CF- ?- shed.tears A= NAME T= loss GEN= jewelry 3S
Ik<in>a- luha ni= Nena ang usok.
CF<GF?>- shed.tears A= NAME T= smoke
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A = actor
CF = causative focus
GEN = genitive
GF = goal focus
T = topic
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- Schachter, Paul and Fe T. Otanes. 1972. Tagalog Reference Grammar. Berkeley: U of California P, 1983. 313–14. Google Books. Google, 2011. Web. 9 Jan. 2012. ‹http://books.google.com/books?id=E8tApLUNy94C›
- “Tagalog Dictionary.” SEAsite. Northern Illinois U, 25 Jun. 2001. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. ‹http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Dict ... iction.htm›