Parapassive constructions (Northern Mansi)

DiParapassPass: In a diparapassive structure (two nouns + passive verb form derived from an intransitive verb), the agent (the “additional noun”, marking the causer of the event) is treated identically to the agent in an equivalent passive construction.


(1) ti χonχa-n ōl-awe?
this land who-lat be-pass.prs.3sg
‘Who lives on this land?’ (Rombandeeva 1979: 113)


In Northern Mansi, intransitive action verbs can also appear in passive sentences (Kulonen 1989; Skribnik 2001). Just like in the real passive construction, the agent takes a lative case marker and the nominal specifying the goal of the action is in the nominative (1).

Author: 

Szilvia Németh