Knowledge base · Part XI — Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation · this topic as a network

85. The Reflexive-Possessive si- and the yay-/si- Division

How does the prefix si- function on verbs and in possessives, and how does it contrast with yay-?

10 sentences from 15 sources · every sentence names the pages it rests on

Overview

How does si- on verbs express autocausative, anticausative, reflexive, and pretend meanings?

The prefix si- has a primary anticausative function, but can also be used productively as an autocausative, as a reflexive-causative, and to mark reflexivity on relational nouns. (Bugaeva 2012: 488–489)

The yay-/si- division of labour

How does the contrast between yay- and si- distinguish volitional from spontaneous actions?

sunku anakne peka ta si-pusu wa mom pe ne

Ezo.pine TOP surface LOC ANTIC-float.up CONJ flow NMLZ COP

‘The Ezo pine floats up to the water surface and flows along by itself.’

Satō 2007 · CHI

i=nukar rok pe si-etaye wa isam

4.O=see PRF NMLZ AUTOC-withdraw CONJ not.exist

‘The thing that had caught sight of me withdrew and was gone.’

ILCAA Ainu materials 1976 · SHI

The reflexive-possessive function

How does si- indicate that a body-part noun incorporated into a verb belongs to the subject?

Attached to nouns, shi- imparts meanings such as 'true/real' (1), 'great/large' (2), and 'one's own' (3). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Attached to verbs, shi- expresses reflexive meanings 'to oneself' or 'oneself', though it often ends up having middle-voice semantics. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Intransitive (unaccusative) verbs whose subject corresponds to the affected object of a transitive verb are frequently derived in the form of si- + transitive verb (e.g. turi 'stretch sth.' -> si-turi 'stretch [intr.]', rutu 'slide sth.' -> si-rutu 'slide [intr.]'). (Nakagawa 2024: 188) The concept of an event happening by itself with no agent involved is expressed by the verb prefix si-. (Refsing 1986: 31) The verb siyekimatekka 'to threaten' can be morphologically analyzed as si-y-e-kimatek-ka, where si- is the indirect reflexive, y- is an epenthetic consonant, e- is the applicative, kimatek is 'to panic', and -ka is the causative suffix. (proposed in Satō 2008: 144) In indirect reflexive expressions with si-, the meaning of an external agent ('by someone') does not necessarily have to be overtly indicated in the sentence and can simply be an implicit presupposition. (Satō 2008: 250) The verb sikiru 'to turn' is analyzed as indirect reflexive si- + kiru 'to rotate / turn around'. (Satō 2008: 310) A less productive reflexive prefix occurs in the form si-. (Shibatani 1990: 48)

ci=kus kor si-corpok un inkar=as ko

1PL.EXCL.A=pass.through CONJ REFL.POSS-below toward look=1PL.EXCL.S CONJ

‘While passing through, I gazed down below.’

Chiri Yukie 1923 · HOR

The 'pretend to' construction

How does si- combine with a causative suffix to express pretending to do something?

The combination of the prefix si- with a causative verb or causative suffix encodes a pretended or simulative action ('to pretend to...'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Nakagawa 2024: 188; reported in Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: 15.4)

ku=ko-si-ranpewtek-ka wa k=an

1SG.A=APPL-REFL-know.nothing-CAUS CONJ IPFV

‘I was pretending not to know about it.’

Satō 2007 · CHI

Position in the verb template

What is the position of si- in the verb prefix order, especially relative to yay-?

yay-si-turi-re=an

REFL-REFL-stretch-CAUS=4.S

‘I lay down, stretching myself out.’

· constructed