Malagasy voice
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Introduction
The terms used in describing voice marking in Malagasy are the traditional ones found in textbooks and academic discussion. However, they help to obscure some important distinctions in how they are used in the language. Most importantly, they influence how Malagasy is translated (into English, at least).
I will use the traditional terms below, but because of its relationship to Tagalog (as part of the same language family), I will also use referents found in Tagalog (i.e. focus).
The Voices: Overview
Word Order
The basic word order of Malagasy sentences is VOS (verb + object + subject). This does have an effect on verbs and their subjects, as will be seen below.
Opening Notes
In the examples below, the verb and the subject will be highlighted in red. The agent affixes in the passive and relative examples will not be highlighted.
Active
The active voice covers the basic form of the majority of Malagasy verbs. In "Tagalog" terminology, is forms the "agent focus", which means that active verbs refer to the subject (or agent) of the verb:
Manasa ami'ny savony ny tanana aho.
I wash my hands with soap.
[lit. "wash with-the soap the hands I"]
Passive
The passive voice covers the form of Malagasy verbs that form a "patient focus", which means that passive verbs refer not to the agent (which is no longer in subject position), but to the patient (which is now in the subject position):
Sasako ami'ny savony ny tanana.
I wash my hands with soap.
or My hands are washed by me.
[lit. "are-washed-by-me with-the soap the hands"]
Relative
The relative voice covers the form of Malagasy verbs that form a "goal focus" or "instrument focus", which means that passive verbs refer not to the agent (which is no longer in subject position), or to the patient, but to the instrument or manner (which is now in the subject position):
Anasako ny tanana ny savony
I wash my hands with soap.
or With the soap, I washed my hands
[lit. "with-(it)-washed-by-me the hands the soap"]
The Voices: Formation
Derivation
Unlike the other affixes for general derivation, the derivation of voice in Malagasy is highly varied. There are four main ways to form the passive, and one to form the relative. (The formation of the active is covered in the derivations section.)
Passive
There are four main ways to form the passive. Two are prefixes, voa- and a-; one is a group of suffixes in -na; one involves no affixes (i.e. the verb itself is passive in meaning).
Voa and A
These affixes are added to the verb stem:
voasasa "be washed" (root sasa)
atao "be done" (root tao)
Na
The most common way to form a passive is with the affix -na. In reality there are three affixes: -ana, -ena and -ina.
The problem with this affix is that in order to form it, the verb must change in certain ways:
Some verbs make no real changes:
sasana "be washed" (root sasa)
Some verbs graphically change y to i: [examples]
However, some verbs have stems that have additional v, z, s:
taovina "be done" (root tao)
omezana "be given" (root ome)
raisana "be received" (root ray)
Others, which have the "weak syllables" ka, tra, na have other changes:
Verbs in ka:
alofana "be shaded" (root aloka)
tapahina "be cut" (root tapaka)
Verbs in tra:
taperina "be finished" (root tapitra)
soratana "be read" (root soratra)
Verbs in na:
velomana "be supported" (root velona)
