* Sumulat yang lalaki ing poesia king pisara.Intended: "The boy will write a poem on the blackboard."
* Sumulat yang poesia ing pisara king lalaki.Intended: "The boy will write a poem on the blackboard."
* Bumilí ng lalaki sa palengke ang manggá.Intended: "The man bought a mango at the market."
* Bumilí ng manggá sa lalaki ang palengke.Intended: "The man bought a mango at the market."
")The sentences in (b) are ungrammatical because the patient nominal phrase is marked as the subject, even though the verb bears the Actor Voice infix.
* Isulat ne ning poesia ing lalaki king pisara.Intended: "The poem will be written by the boy on the blackboard."
* Isulat ne ning lalaki ing pisara king poesia.Intended: "The poem will be written by the boy on the blackboard."
")The sentences in (b) are ungrammatical because the agent nominal phrase is marked as the subject, even though the verb bears the patient voice affix.
* Pisulatan neng poesia ning pisara ing lalaki.Intended: "The blackboard will be written a poem on by the boy."
* Pisulatan neng pisara ning lalaki ing poesia.Intended: "The blackboard will be written a poem on by the boy."
")The sentences in (b) are ungrammatical because the agent nominal phrase is marked as the subject, even though the verb bears the locative voice affix.
Across languages, the most common semantic roles with which the voice affixes may agree are agent, patient, location, instrument, and benefactee.
In some languages, the voice affixes may also agree with semantic roles such as theme, goal, reason, and time.
NagpadaláM-n-pag-padaláAV-ASP-¿?-sendAGENTang DIR mama manTHEMEng IND pera moneyGOALsa OBL anák child niyá.
However, unlike in Tagalog, which has symmetrical voice, the goal nominal phrase in Indonesian can be a direct object, as in (6).
(or "A child is being frightened with a snake in the house by the man.")Pangamoqmoanpang-qamoqmo-an¿?-frighten-LVno INDtao manso ACCmotdeh childno INDboday snakeqo DIRvahay.
(or "The house is being frightened a child in with a snake by the man.")Qipangamoqmoqi-pang-qamoqmoCV-¿?-frightenno INDtao manso ACCmotdeh childqo DIRboday snakedo OBLvahay.
(or "The snake is being frightened a child with in the house by the man.")Qipangamoqmoqi-pang-qamoqmoCV-¿?-frightenno INDtao manso ACCmotdeh childno INDboday snakedo OBLvahay houseqo DIRkayvan-a.
The direct case morpheme, which marks subjects in Yami, is si for proper names, and o for common nouns.
K‹um›amang‹AV›getaku1SG.DIRsaOBLtubigwaternaPREPlatacankanforMa’DadadtionbalkonporchnaPREPlunis.MondayK‹um›amang aku sa tubig na lata kan Ma’ adti balkon na lunis.‹AV›get 1SG.DIR OBL water PREP can for Dad on porch PREP Monday"I will get the water with the can for Dad on the porch on Monday.
"Kamang-inget-PVku1SG.ERGyaDIRtubigwaternaPREPlatacankanforMa’DadadtionbalkonporchnaPREPlunis.MondayKamang-in ku ya tubig na lata kan Ma’ adti balkon na lunis.get-PV 1SG.ERG DIR water PREP can for Dad on porch PREP Monday"I will get the water with the can for Dad on the porch on Monday."
")Kamang-anget-CVku1SG.ERGyaDIRMa’DadsaOBLtubigwaternaPREPlatacanadtionbalkonporchnaPREPlunis.MondayKamang-an ku ya Ma’ sa tubig na lata adti balkon na lunis.get-CV 1SG.ERG DIR Dad OBL water PREP can on porch PREP Monday"I will get the water with the can for Dad on the porch on Monday."
")Kamang-anget-CVku1SG.ERGyaDIRbalkonporchsaOBLtubigwaternaPREPlatacankanforMa’DadnaPREPlunis.MondayKamang-an ku ya balkon sa tubig na lata kan Ma’ na lunis.get-CV 1SG.ERG DIR porch OBL water PREP can for Dad PREP Monday"I will get the water with the can for Dad on the porch on Monday."
")La~lamuʔ-anASP~cook-CVotINDlibunwomanotINDlugowcongeesotonapuyfiremosakitsick personin.that.DIRLa~lamuʔ-an ot libun ot lugow sot apuy mosakit in.ASP~cook-CV IND woman IND congee on fire {sick person} that.DIR"The woman will cook congee on the fire for the sick person."
The reason voice prefix can only be affixed to certain roots, the majority of which are for emotion verbs (e.g., galit "be angry", sindak "be shocked").
However, verb roots such as matay "die", sakit "get sick", and iyak "cry" may also be marked with the reason voice prefix.
(or "The woman was bought a mango for by the man at the market by means of money.")IpinambiliIp‹in›aN-bili‹ASP›IV-buyng INDmama manng INDmangga mangosa OBLpalengke marketpara forsa OBLale womanang DIRpera.
moneyIpinambili ng mama ng mangga sa palengke para sa ale ang pera.Ip‹in›aN-bili {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {}‹ASP›IV-buy IND man IND mango OBL market for OBL woman DIR money"The man bought a mango at the market for the woman by means of money."
")The data below come from North Bornean languages, a grouping under Malayo-Polynesian, mainly spoken on the northern parts of Borneo, spanning administrative areas of Malaysia and Indonesia.
")However, the number of voice morphemes available in this language is reduced to two when the agent is a full noun (i.e., not a pronoun), such as in the examples[75] below.