Prof.

Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and

Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010

Middle Voice in Southern Quechua (SQ): a Basic Survey

Most of the literature concerning the middle voice in SQ does not present the topic in an
integrated fashion. Quite the contrary, constructions or lexical items that form part or the
"middle domain" (restricted to the collection of loosely connected constructions that
include non-co-referential uses of reflexives forms) are to be found as extensions of
reflexive, reciprocal, intransitive verbs, and benefactive forms (not to mention some
courtesy markers). An excellent organization of these facts is provided by van de Kerke,
in his studies of the so-called "reflexive marker" ku (1991) and the reciprocal na ku
(2007). However, the scope of his explanation, strictly based on the alleged co-referential
nature of ku tends to be, in my opinion very restricted by the assumption of movement
of an "internal argument" (a theme) to an "external argument" position. Otherwise, his
observations, as well as the data he collected, provided a solid foundation for a broader
view of middle voice phenomena as a semantic phenomenon, as advocated by Kemmer
(1993), and Shibatani (2006).

1. Reflexive uses of ku:

Calvo (1993: 179) and van de Kerke (1991, 2007) present the reflexive suffix ku as a
way to decrease the verb diathesis, i.e. as a voice phenomenon. They present -ku as
fundamentally a universal reflexivizer that incorporates the co-referential object into the
verb, hence reducing the number of arguments and imposing a co-indexing reading.

I will assume that -ku co-indexes the internal argument with the external position
in the mapping from [Lexical Conceptual Structure] onto Predicate Argument
Structure, in that way blocking the expression of the Agent that is normally
mapped onto that position:
[Ag [Patient ruwa]] > [Patienti [ei ruwa ku] (van de Kerke 1991: 92)

-ku is used to mark a non-standard mapping of argument structure onto syntax,

since it links an internal argument to the syntactic subject position. In doing so,
-ku is considered primarily a co-indexing element (van de Kerke 2007: 1378)

1
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
The following examples show how the patient or the beneficiary in the sentence is
incorporated into the verb by being co-referential with the subject.

(1) Phawa y pukyu pi maqchhi ra ka mu nki. (Cusihuamn 200)

run INF pond LOC wash EXH REFL CISL 2SG
Go and wash yourself in the pond!

(2) Arma ku nku mayu pi

tuta lla manta. (Calv 168)
o
bath REFL 3PL river LOC night LIM ABL
They bath themselves in the river early morning

(3) Unu pi uya y ta riku ru ku

ni. (Calv 168)
o
water LOC face 1SG.POS ACC see EXH REFL 1SG
I have seen my face in the water

(4) Hanka -ta kutu -sha -spa qallu (Aroz & Salas 59)
toasted.corn ACC chew PROG GER tongue

y ta kutu ru ku ni.
1SG.POS ACC chew EXH REFL 1SG
Chewing toasted corn I bit my own tongue

Sentence (1), which uses the allomorph ka, and (2) express that the action of washing
takes place in the subject (therefore, agent = patient). In sentence (3), the presence of the
direct object (DO) uyayta leaves the reflexive, according to Calvo (1993: 168), as an
indirect object (IO), however, based on merely structural-formal terms, there's no IO
grammatical relation in Quechua. The same can said of (4) in which the action of biting
occurs in a body part. van de Kerke (1991: 88) considers that these cases of "double
object" (traditionally seen as one direct, the body part, and one indirect, the body part
possessor) are due to "case and theta-role are assigned to an empty position of which the
body part is predicated (the superscripts mark the predication relation)":

(5) Juani ei j uya -ni taj maylla -ku n.

Juan e face 3SG.POS ACC wash REFL 3SG
'Juani washes hisi face.'

2
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
j j
(6) *Juani ei uya -ni ta maylla - n
Juan e face 3SG.POS ACC wash 3SG
'Juan washes his face.' (Acceptable as "Juani washes hisj face.")

This kind of representation assumes that there's always co-indexation, and creates an
empty category as part of the object jus to keep the co-indexation working. This use is
parallel to that of ku to mark beneficiaries (a "subjective" use).

2. Non-reflexive uses of ku:

Some examples of verbs that, according to van de Kerke (2007: 1382) can only be well
formed by using a non-reflexive ku, "are locative verbs and verbs of emotion", which
predicate only over "one or more internal arguments"

tachi ku: to sit ka ku: to be located phuti ku: to be very

kusi ku: to be happy phia ku: to be in sad.
qhipa ku: to stay anger
llaki ku: to be sad tiya ku: to live

(7) Tarata -pi qhepa ku sqa yki -manta kusi ku -ni.

Tarata LOC stay REFL NMZ 2SG ABL happy REFL 1SG
I feel happy because of the fact that you have stayed in Tarata.

Some of these verbs (verifying each of them is a pending task), when used with two
arguments, require the use of the causative chi.

(8) Pedru Mariya -ta kusi -chi n. (van de Kerke 1991: 86)
Pedro Maria AC happy CAUS 3SG
'Pedro makes Maria happy.'

(9) *Pedru Mariya -ta kusi -ku -chi n. (van de Kerke 1991: 86)
Pedru Mariya happy REFL CAUS 3SG
'Pedro makes Maria happy.'

Regarding intransitive verbs (which, according to Shibatani 2006: 237, are the expression
of a lexical middle voice), Calvo (1993: 164-165) has a more detailed presentation of
those topics. He provides the notion of an event that doesn't go beyond the agent sphere is
implicit. However, the effects on the agent are different in each case, as his list states

3
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
(Calvo doesn't provide sentences in these cases, and doesnt explain his labels in this
classification):

a. Process internal to the subject: wiay ('to grow'), thantay ('to get worn
out').
b. Fixed states in the subject: puuy ('to sleep'), pinchiy ('to shine').
c. Complete processes carried out by the subject: awkay ('to fight'), wayt'ay
('swim').
d. States that express the magnitude or quality of a subject: watway ('to
abound'), p'usquy ('to be bitter').
e. Internal factivity: chuqlluy ('the process by which the corn cob gets
formed'), phutuy ('to sprout (what has been sown)').
f. Internal processes plus internal results: suruy ('to come off and hang from
something'), mit'kay (to trip due to someone else's action and fall).
g. Internal transitivity: aqhay ('to make corn beer'. Cf. aqha 'corn beer' + -y
'infinitive'), kintuy ('to grow clusters (of fruit). Cf. kintu 'cluster').

3. Subjective uses of ku:

In addition to the co-referential reading of the SQ reflexive, the authors identify a more
subjective use of this suffix. In words of Cusihuamn (2001: 201), -ku expresses
affection, politeness, or interest while carrying out the event. Aroz and Salas (1993: 58)
include to those values those of relief, intensity, satisfaction, and benefit. Finally, Calvo
(1993: 168) unifies those meanings under the traditional term interest dative, stating
that in those cases, the reflexive is outside of the sentence boundaries, which explains
why it takes those politeness and interest meanings. Here are some examples of those
uses.

(10) Yaqulla ta ranti ku waq chu? (Cusihuaman: 201)

cloak ACC buy REFL 2COND NEG
Wouldn't you buy a cloak for yourself?

4
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
(11) Allichu yanapa ra ka mu wa y, urpi sunqu! (Cusihuaman: 201)
please help INC REFL CISL 1OBJ INF dove heart
Please, (come to my place and) help me, dear friend!

(12) Machula cha y qa phuspu cha ta (Aroz and Salas 59)

grandfather DIM 1SG.POS TOP cooked.fava.bean DIM ACC

mikhu ku sha sqa.

eat REFL PROG PLUQ
My grandpa had been eating cooked little fava beans.

(13) Chinll ka -nki, unqu -q -mi puu ku sha n. (Aroz and Salas 59)
a
silence be 2SG sick AG EV sleep REFL PROG 3SG
Be quiet, the sick one is resting.

(14) Llaki y kuna ta n waqa ku ni. (Calv 168)

o
sorrow 1SG.POS PL ACC EV cry REFL 1SG
I cry my sorrows.

(15) Allichu, tapu yu ku sqa yki!

please ask INTEN REFL 1SG.FUT 2OBJ
Please, I would like to ask you (something)!

(16) Haku kay pi parla ku sha sunchis. (Cusihuaman: 201)

let.us DEM LOC talk REFL PROG 1PL.INC.FUT
We will be chatting here.

(17) Ima manta taq miski lla ta a (Aroz and Salas (59)
what ABL CONT pleasant LIM ACC DISC

asi ku sha rqa nki ri?

laugh REFL PROG PRT 2SG INC
So, what were you laughing so much about?

The previous examples contrast sharply with the allegedly more basic co-referential use
of the reflexive suffix. The action in many cases goes clearly beyond the immediate
sphere of the agent (i.e. it is an active sentence), as in examples (10), (11), (12), (14), and
(15), which are transitive sentences with explicit DO. Those sentences are technically not

5
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
reflexive since the definition of reflexiveness is restricted to those cases displayed on
section 1. However, as it is well known in the functional tradition, the meaning of a
grammatical form can be extended to convey new shades of meaning. Although the
events in (10), (12), (14), and (15) are effectively reaching an object, theres still a
relevant subjective sphere in which the action is confined to the agent. This is very clear
on (14): waqay (to cry) can be considered prototypically intransitive, yet it is not
surprising that it is assigned a direct object in the reason for crying (llakikunata).
However, the deep emotional involvement that the agent has in the act of crying is
expressed by the suffix ku.

Examples (13), (16) and (17) contrast with the co-referential meaning of the reflexive in
that they are not reducing the diathesis of a verb that is intransitive (the reduction is
impossible, since intransitives have only one actor). If the intransitive forms are
lexicalized middle forms, what is the suffix ku doing with those forms? Once again,
speakers use what seems to be redundancy (middle marking on a middle verb) in order to
achieve a more detailed meaning: those intransitive verbs by itself express an event that is
either strictly restricted to the agent as puuy, to sleep', in (13), or mostly dependent
on the interests of the agent as parlay, in (16), and asiy, in (17), but with the addition
of ku they convey the idea that in performing the action, the agent is getting personally
involved. It could be health benefits, implied in (13), amusement (16), or pure enjoyment
(17).1

The use of ri as a courtesy marker in SQ contrast sharply with other uses of the same
form in other varieties, as the following table (from Cerrn-Palomino 1987: 282)
illustrates:

Ancash: limitative Cajamarca: iterative Cuzco: inchoative

1
An interesting avenue of research is the distinction and overlapping between these benefactive/subjective
uses of ku and the benefactive derivational suffix pu. One of the meanings of this pu is the "regressive"
one, by which, with movement and transfer verbs, indicates that the action is directed towards the place of
origin of the topic/subject (the distinction is not made clear by Cusihuamn, nor Aroz & Salas). This
directional meaning is similar to that of -yku/-yu, which, in my opinion, is a candidate to the "heavy" form
that produced the middle marker ku in Quechua.

6
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
rika: -ri -nki ranti ri ni. saya ri sha n a.
see LIM 2SG buy ITE 1SG stand.up INC PROG 3SG DISC
'you barely see it.' 'I buy again.' 'He/she is about to stand up
already.'

A very interesting fact is that the intensifier yku / -yu, also used as a courtesy marker,
includes the form ku. In addition to these meanings, -yku also has a directional meaning.
With motion verbs it indicates "inwards motion" (Carrn-Palomino 1987: 283, Aroz &
Salas 1993: 202-203). Maybe, this is the "heavy" form that produced the middle marker
in Quechua (-yku seems to be common to all varieties).

4. Agent defocusing:

SQ does not use the passive voice: there's neither a suffix, nor a periphrastic form that
conveys the total agent defocusing implied by the passive, as present in Indo-European
languages. Calvo presents the following example, which is considered marginal or
plainly ungrammatical by his consultants:

(18) *?kay simi n mana ancha chu rima sqa.

DEIC word EVID NEG very NEG speak PART
'That word is not very used' (Lit. "is not much said").

The use of sqa, as numerous cases of nominalization seem to attest, is preferred to mark
an subject-experiencer over a patient-subject (Calvo 1993: 261, n. 4).

However, the Central Quechua (SQ) variety has a passive suffix: -ka:. The following
example (Webber 1989: 234) is from Huallaga Quechua.

(19) mas mas away pti nchi mas hatun na shi (Webber 234)
more more go ADV 1PL.INC more big DISC EV

rika ka: -mu n achki.

see PASS CISL 3SG light
'The farther on we go, the bigger the light is seen.'

In the case of the "agentless" middle constructions, van de Kerke (2007: 1382) claims
that, due to the formal requirement that SQ has for a syntactic subject, the derivation

7
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
requires the presence of ku to license the realization of an internal argument in subject
position.

(20) [noqa] aqha -ta sara -manta ruwa -ni. (van de Kerke 2007: 1382)
I chicha ACC corn ABL make 1SG
I make corn beer from corn.

(21) aqha -qa sara -manta ruwa -ku -n. (van de Kerke 2007: 1382)
chicha TOP corn ABL make REFL 3SG
Corn beer is made from corn.

Sentence (22) is interesting, since it has an ambiguous reading between reflexive and
"impersonal" (agentless):

(22) kay -manta wawa -qa espeju -pi riku -ku n. (van de Kerke 1991: 92)
this from child TOP mirror LOC see REFL 3SG
'From here the child can see itself in the mirror'
'From here the child can be seen/is visible in the mirror'

Regarding anticausative constructions, the use of ku is what determines when we are

dealing with a lexical causative and anticausative is marked by the absence or presence of
-ku.

(23) Sill y mi paki rqu ku n. (Calv 168)

u o
nail 1POS EV break EXH REFL 3SG
my nail got broken

(24) sillu -y -ta -mi p'aki -rqu n (van de Kerke (1991: 93)
nail 1SG.POS ACC EV break EXH 3SG
'He intentionally has broken my nail.'

There, Calvo states that (23) is in the middle voice because the application of a reflexive
object to a patient-object (loc. cit.). I suppose that by that definition, this author is
implying that the natural patient of the verb pakiy (to break) is identified with the
subject by being in a reflexive construction. This would make sense in a language like
Spanish, in which the reflexive marker is, basically, co-referential. Apparently, (23) is
conveying a spontaneous meaning, which is more concerned with the origin of an action
(Shibatani 2006: 225). However, sillu (nail) is not a volitional agent; therefore, it is

8
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
contradictory to assign a spontaneous reading to (23). This case, with a non-volitional
patientive subject presents, in my view, a problem for the definition of middle voice as an
event that is restricted to the immediate sphere of the agent. I think that a solution is to
assume that the middle voice allows a patient to be promoted to a more agent like
status precisely because of the way in which the action is restricted to the agents sphere.
If an inanimate (more patient-like) argument is in the subject position it could be for
pragmatic reasons (which produces a passive voice), or because theres something about
the development of the action that makes that subject act in a more agent-like way. If the
action is confined to the agent sphere, then the verb pakiy (to break) is assumed as some
kind of self-motivated or self-initiated event. Of course, the nail didnt break itself, since
it is incapable of starting an event willingly. However, other factors that are not evident,
but that somehow affect the structure of the nail, must have been going on, t the extent
that, at one point, the nail breaks as if that action depended exclusively in it (to be
precise, it depended on its condition). In sum, if a non-volitional noun is presented as the
subject of a middle construction, then:

(a) The origins of the event are circumscribed to the conditions of the subject
(internal characteristics produced by not clearly identifiable causes).
(b) Due to the previous condition, the noun is regarded more agent-like.
(c) The action is carried out without transferring its effects to some other participant.

These factors explain why SQ uses the middle marker for what apparently is not an
agentive subject. The use of the middle voice is promoting an otherwise patient to some
kind of agentivity (a restricted one, therefore not fully active).

5. Reciprocals

There's evidence to consider naku a combination of na and ku is that other suffixes

can occur in between them (Cerrn-Palomino 1987: 284, who presents sentences from
Ancash Quechua; Faller 2007: 259, van de Kerke 2007: 1378)

9
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
(25) rika: -tsi na ku ntsik (Cerrn-Palomino 1987: 262)
see CAUS RECIP REFL 1PL.INCL
'We showed (that) to each other.'

(26) rika: na -tsi ku ntsik (Cerrn-Palomino 1987: 262)

see RECIP CAUS REFL 1PL.INCL
'We let (him/her) see us"

(27) rika:na ka tsi ntsik (Cerrn-Palomino 1987: 262)

see RECIP REFL CAUS 1PL.INCL
'We made (them) see each other.'

(28) Kunan -qa chay -lla -ta -raq tapu -na -yu -ku -nchik. (Faller 2007: 259)
now TOP this LIM ACC CONTIN ask RECIP INTEN REFL 1PL.INCL
For now we only ask each other this. (Eso noms por ahora nos preguntaremos.)

The order of application of the suffixes starts from the end towards the beginning. In the
case of (26), the meaning should be (but I need to verify this) "We let (him/her) see each
one of us". These combinations are possible only in SQ, not in SQ, where only the
combination of chi preceding ku is allowed. There's in Quechua a strong tendency to
establish a fixed order for suffixes. However, Cerrn-Palomino (1987: 262) thinks that
the relative liberty of position for -chi could be attributed to the fact that it was, at a
previous stage in the language development, a root.

Other examples on the independence between na and ku are the following sentences:

(29) [noqayku] mucha na ri ku rqa -yku. (van de Kerke 2007: 1378)

we kiss REC INC REFL PRT 1PL.EXC
We kissed each other a bit, for a short time. (Also ri na ku is possible, with the
same meaning.)

(30) [noqa] wawa -s -ni -y -ta maylla -na -chi -ni. (van de Kerke 2007: 1378)
I child PL EUPH 1SG ACC wash REC CAUS 1SG
I made my children wash each other.

(31) Haku Ana -q wasi -n -man. Mana (van de Kerke 2007: 1378)
come Ana GEN house 3SG ALL not

10
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
phia -na -sqa ka -yku.
anger REC PLUQ be 1PL.EXC
Lets go to Anas house. No, we are angry with each other.

van de Kerke's explanation relays on the assumption that ku is a reflexive marker

providing a co-indexation between the object and the subject. He claims that in
phianasqa the reciprocal doesn't need the presence of ku , since the verb kay ('to be') is
doing the linking of the internal argument of the predicate phia ('angry') to the subject
position.2 However, it is to be clearly noticed that while the reflexive use of ku suggests
the development of an action in phiakuy ('to get angry'), the predication with kay is more
of a nominal predication.

-na has been proposed as a pluractional marker by Faller (2007), while van de Kerke and
CerrnPalomino tend to consider it in more general terms as a reciprocal distributional
form. In the exact combination na ku, van de Kerke points to the fact that the resulting
reciprocals requires that the subject is involved in the reciprocal activity, which can only
be attributed to the co-indexing function of -ku. 3

(32) [qan] [wawa -kuna -ta] mayll -kipa -na -rpari -chi -na -yki.
a
you child PL ACC wash ITER REC INTT CAUS NMZ 2SG
You should denitely make them (children) wash each other again.

(33) Pay kuna pura qu na ku sha

n ku (Faller 2007: 259)
.
(s)he PL amongst give PA REFL PROG 3 P
L
They are giving each other (things).

2
In addition, a sentence like:
* hayta ku sqa
kick REFL PART
intended: to be kicked by oneself

is ungrammatical because ku affects the argument structure co-indexing internal arguments to external
ones, and the presence of a passive participle eliminates the external argument (Faller 2007: 283).

3
Calvo (1993: 169) motivates the reciprocate meaning in the presence of the suffix na, because of its
future meaning (something that needs to be done). This is not very precise, since the temporal meaning is
not what creates the reciprocity. (20) and (21) are different because in (20) the action reverts to each subject
alone (i.e. combing is an individual business), but the notion of obligation conveyed by na is combined
with the middle marker to express that the event remains in the agents' individual spheres, but in one that is
understood as shared.

11
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010

(34) Qusqu kay man -qa ham -pu -ra -ni, chicu -cha -y -pa (Faller 2007: 259)
Cuzco this ILLA TOP come REG PST 1SG boy DIM 1SG.POS GEN

papa -n -wan taqa -na -ku -spa.

father 3SG.POS INST separate REC REFL GER
I came here to Cuzco after the father of my boy and I separated from each other.

(35) Chay -pi tawa runa -kuna malli -chi -na -ku -sha -nku (Faller 2007: 260)
this LOC four person PL taste CAUS REC REFL PROG 3PL

imaymana -ta.
whatever ACC
There, four people make each other taste different things.

It is well known that in SQ third person direct objects can be left implicit. This means,
that no overt pronoun (or object suffix) is required. When this occurs, there's no middle
interpretation; but the implicit object is always referentially different from the subject.
Therefore, while John and Mary kissed, means 'They kissed each other', Juan Mariyawan
much'arqanku only means 'Juan and Maria kissed him/her' (Van de Kerke 2007: 1374).

Arguably, (36) and (37) are examples in which the reciprocal relation holds between the
agent and a beneciary argument introduced by the benefactive sufx pu (see also note
1).

(36) Chay -pis waqa -pu -na -ku -n -ku. (Faller 2007: 260)
this ADD cry BEN PA REFL 3 PL
They cried with each other. (Lloraron en los brazos el uno del otro.)

(37) Asi -pu -na -ku -n -ku pay -kuna pura. (Faller 2007: 260)
laugh BEN PA REFL 3 PL (s)he PL amongst
They are laughing together/with each other. (elicited description of a video clip in
which two people are laughing)

About these examples, Faller mentions that it is possible that -pu in these examples is not
a benefactive. According to Cusihuamn (2001: 193), the combination -puna works as a
single sufx, used instead of na when verbs express that "two things are put in contact
with each other or that two people are looking at each other." Faller argues that the

12
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
benefactive reading is justified because the intransitive nature of the verbs in (36) and
(37) only have one argument (the other one introduced by the beneficiary pu).4

6. -ku and causative chi:

Faller (2007: 283), who quotes van de Kerke's 1996 Ph.D. dissertation, says that ku can't
appear in front of chi. Van de Kerke's says that the preferred interpretation of the only
combination possible involves the co-reference between the subject and the embedded
object (marginally, it could be interpreted as 'X causes him/herself to').

(38) mama -y Ana -wan maylla -chi -ku -n. (van de Kerke 2007: 1381)
mother 1SG.POS Ana INST wash CAUS REFL 3SG
My motheri makes Ana wash heri .

However, neither van de Kerke 1991 nor 2007 presents the sentence equivalent to 'My
mother makes Ana wash herself' in SQ. As a footnote (1991: 85 n.2), he provides the
following sentence, stating that it is not possible in SQ:

(39) Mariya wawa -n -ta mayll -ku -chi -n

a
Maria child 3 ACC wash REFL CAUS 3SG
'Maria makes her child was himself/herself.'

In fact, the example he uses to rule out the combination ku chi uses an intransitive verb
(urma, 'to fall').

(40) Pedru Mariya -ta urma -chi -n (van de Kerke 1991: 85)
Pedro Maria ACC fall CAUS 3SG
'Pedro makes Maria fall.'

(41) *Pedru Mariya -ta urma -ku -chi n. (van de Kerke 1991: 86)
ACC fall REFL CAUS 3SG
'Pedro makes Maria fall.'

4
In Ecuadorian varieties naku the reciprocal is becoming a pluralizing suffix (Cerrn-Palomino 1987:
283):
miku naku n
eat RECIP 3SG
'They eat together.'

In Peruvian-Bolivian varieties this can only be understood as "They eat each other".

13
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
However, it is possible to say an equivalent sentence in Spanish: even if it is clear that the
"spontaneous" reading of the reflexive se is precluded by the causative construction, se
still contributes to the meaning of this sentence in a way that can't be explained by pure
co-referential functions.

(42) Yo gru y eso la hizo callarse.

"I growled and that made her shut up."

Callarse implies that the person was forced, against her will, to shut up. Had it been la
hizo callar, then it is suggested that her silence is, somehow, a more natural product of
the growling (which would be odd; therefore, the use of se is strongly preferred in that
particular sentence) (Cf. Maldonado 1999).

In sum, the absence of an example for the combination of a transitive verb, a reflexive,
and a causative leaves some questions open about the definition of ku as a co-indexing
operator.5

In addition to these cases, it is possible to have chi and ku combined as a way to

indicate that the subject allows something happening onto him/her:

(43) wawa -qa mana Ana -wan maylla -chi -ku -n -chu. (van de Kerke 2007: 1382)
child TOP not Ana INST wash CAUS REFL 3SG NEG
The child does not allow Ana to wash him.

(44) uq kuti -lla -ta putina -wan wachi -chi -ku -rqa -ni. (van de Kerke 2007: 1382)
one time DEL ACC bee INST sting CAUS REFL PRT 1SG
I have been stung only once by a bee.

The lack of control of the bee over the subject makes the sentence "passive like" because
the bee is not under human control, according to van de Kerke. However, I believe that
the correct interpretation of the sentence is an accidental occurrence in which something
done by the subject (indirectly) produces an action that affects him/her. This is reinforced
with the use of wan, which used for causatives in which the caused agent is not totally

5
At the end of his 2007 article, van de Kerke presents a summary of the possible expressions of reflexives,
reciprocals and causatives. In that list, he includes the following combination maylla chi ku nku, which
needs to be expressed as Theyi make sb (INST) wash themselvesi, and marks it as possible in both SQ
and SQ.

14
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
under control of the causer (and this contradicts van de Kerke's reading of the previous
sentence, in which the baby, contrary to what he believes, has no control over Ana).

7. Formal expression of the middle voice:

As it was said above, when presenting intransitive verbs, SQ has lexical middle verbs.
The middle domain requires the deep involvement of the subject in the event; hence,
intransitive verbs lexicalize the middle pole of a basic (and likely universal) active-
middle voice distinction (Shibatani 2006: 237). Consequently, it is not necessary to
restrict the notion of middle voice to periphrastic or morphological constructions. For
instance, SQ has verbs such as ayquy (to complain), kumuy (to squat), wiay (to
grow), that are not marked with ku, and they express an event that never leaves the
agent's immediate sphere.

SQ, as an agglutinative language, relays heavily in suffixation to express grammatical

constructions. The middle marker is the suffix ku (and not a basic reflexive marker, as
most Quechua grammars I have checked propose). None of the authors I have used
presents restrictions to the use of ku. It is hinted by both Calvo and Cusihuamn that this
suffix can be used with both transitive and intransitive verbs and the examples above
show that clearly. However, it was also clear that the combination of the middle marker
with different types of verb (transitive, intransitive, active ones, psychological ones, etc.),
and different agents (animate and inanimate) produce different meanings in the
construction. In section 1 before, I covered the different variations that those verbs and
subjects produced in combination with ku.

I will add that, based on the grammars, SQ uses the middle marker for patientive
intransitives. The form puukushan in example (13) is clearly a patientive intransitive; it
could be argued that waqakuni in (14), and asikusharqankiri in (17) are also patientive
intransitive; but I am aware that those events are in the limit between experiences and
agents. Another example of a patientive intransitive using ku is (45):

15
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
(45) Mana hamu sqa yki manta llaki ku ni. (Calv 206)
o
NEG come NMZ.PLUQ 2SG.POS ABL regret REFL 1SG
'He/she is sorry about the fact that you haven't come.'

The verb llakiy ('to be sorry') is intransitive in SQ and only take oblique complements.
Here's another example with the same verb without the middle marker:

(46) Churi n wau sqa n rayku llaki n. (Calvo 206)

son 3SG.POS die NMZ.PLUQ 3SG.POS because regret 3SG
'He/she is sorry for the death of his/her son.'

Unfortunately, I have no sentences to illustrate the use of ku with agentive intransitive

such as run o walk. I remember vaguely that it is possible to use the middle marker with
those verbs to create a "subjective meaning"; but I can't be sure, and I can't find an
appropriate sentence in my notebook.

However, Courtney (2008: 13) in a paper about SQ language acquisition presents two
contrasting sentences using t'impuy (to boil), an intransitive, and the middle marker:

(47) *Unu timpu -ku. -n

water NOM boil REFL 3SG
* 'The water boils'

(48) Unu timpu -n.

water NOM boil 3SG
The water boils.

This author identifies t'impuy as an " unnaccusative-intransitive" verb. It can be argued

that boil, being lexically a middle verb occurring to an inanimate subject can't obtain any
of the "subjective" meanings that arise from the use of ku with animate agents. Also,
since it is already middle, it can't use-ku in the way presented in (23). This latest case still
doesn't qualify as an agentive intransitive, but it helped me to present a restriction that,
although not shown in my grammars, is still in full compliance with the notion of middle
voice proposed by Shibatani (2006).

16
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010

17
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
Appendix: List of abbreviations used
1: 1st person INC: Inchoative
2: 2nd person INCL: Inclusive
3: 3rd person INF: Infinitive
ABL: Ablative INS: Instrumental
ACC: Accusative INT: Interrogative particle
ADD: Additive INTT: Intentional
ADJC: Adjencency INTEN: Intensifier
AG: Agentive ITE: Iterative
ASSI: Assistive LIM : Limitative
BEN: Benefactive LOC: Locative
CAUS: Causative NEG: Negative particle
CISL: Cislocative NMZ: nominalizer
CONC: Concretive PART: Participle
COND: Conditional PASS: Passive
CONT: Contrastive PL: Plural
CONTIN: Continuative PLUQ: Pluperfect
DAT: Dative PROG: progressive
DES: Desiderative PROL: Prolative
DIM: Diminutive PRT: Preterite
DISC: Discontinuative REC: Reciprocal
DUB: Dubitative REG: Regressive, permanent
EU: Euphonic REFL: Reflexive
EV: Evidential SG: singular
EXC: Exclusive SUB: Subject
EXH: Exhortative SUB: Subordinator
FUT: Future TERM: Terminative
GEN: Genitive TOP: topic
GER: Gerund TRANS: Transformative
ILL: Illative
IMP: Imperative

18
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
REFERENCES

AROZ, Dora & SALAS, Americo 1993: Gramtica quechua. Pautas fundamentales.
Cuzco: IPA

CALVO PREZ, Julio 1993: Gramtica y pragmtica del quechua cuzqueo. Cuzco:
CBC.

CERRN-PALOMINO, Rodolfo 1987: Lingstica quechua. 1st Ed. Cuzco: CBC.

COURTNEY, Ellen H. Learning the meaning of verbs: insights from Quechua. First
Language (2008). Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ellenhcourtney/7

CUSIHUAMN, Antonio 2001 [1976]. Gramtica Quechua. Cuzco-Collao. Cuzco:

Centro Bartolom de las Casas.

FALLER, Martina. 2007 "The Ingredients of Reciprocity in Cuzco Quechua." Journal of

Semantics. 24: 255-288.

KEMMER, Suzanne. 1993. The Middle Voice. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

MALDONADO, Ricardo. 1999. A media voz. Problemas conceptuales del cltico se.
Mexico: UNAM.

MUYSKEN, Pieter. 1986. A Note on Passive-Like Statives in Quechua. Revue

qubcoise de linguistique, 15.2, 109-118.

SHIBATANI, Masayoshi. 2006 "On the Conceptual Framework for Voice Phenomena."
Linguistics. 44-2: 217-269.

SOLS, Gustavo. 1988. "La categora de voz media y su reflejo en el espaol andino". In
Luis Enrique Lpez (ed.). Pesquisas en lingstica andina. Lima-Puno: Concitec-
UNA Puno-GTZ. 191-199.

SOTO, Clodoaldo. 1993. Quechua. Manual de enseanza. Lima: Instituto de Estudios

Peruanos.

VAN DE KERKE, Simon "Co-Indexation in Predicate Argument Structure: The

Characteristics of Quechua Ku". Revue qubcoise de linguistique, vol. 20, n 1,
1991, p. 79-97.

VAN DE KERKE, Simon. 2007. "Reciprocal constructions in Bolivian Quechua." In

Vladimir P. Nedjalkov (ed.). Reciprocal Constructions. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins, 1367-1399.

19
Prof. Masayoshi Shibatani Seminar in Syntax and
Semantics
Student: Carlos Molina-Vital 6/15/2010
WEBBER, David. 1989. A Grammar of Huallaga (Hunuco) Quechua. Berkeley:
University of California Press.

20