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In English some verbs can be both active and passive, depending on the context - for example:

The mother is cooking.

The chicken is cooking.

In the case of my mother, I am using the active sense - e.g. my mother is actually doing the cooking. However in the case of the chicken I am using a passive sense, I really mean that the chicken is being cooked.

I am wondering if the same applies in Kiswahili?

Mama anapika.

Kuku anapika.

Would the second sentence be understood to mean that the chicken is being cooked? or can it only ever mean that the chicken is the one doing the actual cooking?

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James
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    Such English verbs are called ergative verbs, and I strongly doubt they can be found in Swahili, since it marks both the subject and object very consistently. "Kuku anapika" can mean only that the chicken is the one doing the actual cooking, the prefix a- shows that it is the chicken who is the subject. – Yellow Sky Jan 30 '15 at 18:51
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    @YellowSky They're not 'ergative'. Maybe 'unaccusative', or just simply verbs with multiple related senses. – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 00:51
  • @James Your English examples have two senses of 'cook': the first is an activity, the second is a gerund stative. It is not passive. The passive alternative of the first sentence would be "The chicken is being cooked". I don't know anything about Kiswahili, so I can't answer about it, but your question is based on a misanalysis. – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 00:54
  • @curiousdannii - They are ergative. If you don't know that, have a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergative_verb – Yellow Sky Jan 31 '15 at 01:01
  • @YellowSky It's a Wikipedia page with basically no references. Sure some people call them ergative, but they shouldn't. "The mother is cooking the chicken." "The mother is cooking." Those are two sentences with the same sense of 'cook', and it's definitely not ergative. – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 01:03
  • @curiousdannii - Are you banned at Google? One, two, and there's much more if you google. "The mother is cooking the chicken." is an active sentence, "The chicken is cooking." is a sentence where the verb has the passive meaning but its form is active, such verbs are called ergative verbs. You know, I'm not going to explain basic English grammar here in the comments, study the links I gave you. – Yellow Sky Jan 31 '15 at 01:11
  • @YellowSky Are those sites by linguists? I can't tell about the second. You are wrong and have not shown any evidence that English has anything that could legitimately be called ergative. "The chicken is cooking" is a stative sentence. "The chicken is cooking/resting/overcooked/raw/mouldy/pink/small." There is nothing passive about "The chicken is cooking." – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 01:15
  • Related question: Ergative Verbs and some discussion about them - lots of comments about the meaning of 'ergative' and whether it should be used in regards to English. – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 01:20
  • @curiousdannii - You're arguing with yourself now. That's just a term of English grammar, nothing more. And please, read those pages. – Yellow Sky Jan 31 '15 at 01:23
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    @YellowSky I did read those pages - they're junk! They are misusing linguistic terminology, as non-linguists often do. In a discussion with English teachers use 'ergative' if you like, but on this site we should be using the terms as linguists do. Stative verbs in English are not ergative. – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 01:24
  • Then read the page you gave me the link to, specifically this comment. – Yellow Sky Jan 31 '15 at 01:27
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    I agree with @curiousdannii that usage of 'ergative' for English verbs is found among teachers of English, it's not used by linguists. – Gaston Ümlaut Jan 31 '15 at 08:44
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    Also, 'the chicken is cooking' is not passive, it's a middle construction. – Gaston Ümlaut Jan 31 '15 at 08:46
  • @GastonÜmlaut The irony of replacing 'ergative' with 'middle'! I also don't think English has a middle voice, but let's not start another debate here! – curiousdannii Jan 31 '15 at 09:07
  • I agree that English doesn't have a true middle voice, but it does have what is often referred to as a 'middle construction'. – Gaston Ümlaut Jan 31 '15 at 21:21

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I assume your choice of -pika was deliberate -- with "boil", for example, you have distinct transitive and intransitive (stative) stems -chemsha and -chemka. As far as I know, you have to use the stative suffix for kuku inapikika. This would go for -funga, -vunja (close, break) and other such verbs.

[EDIT]

Or kuku anapikika -- both agreement patterns are accepted, because chicken stew is inanimate, if made correctly.

user6726
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  • This originally stemmed from a memory aid.. -pika (tenuously) rhymes in "Twiga anapika" and I had an amusing image of a Giraffe wearing a chefs hat. All was well until the question was raised of a Giraffe being cooked. – James Feb 01 '15 at 21:11
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Yes there are, it all depends on how the verb is conjugated. The way you wrote it "Kuku anapika" can only be understood to as the chicken is actually doing the cooking

The correct passive form is "Kuku anapikwa" ...... which translates as the action of being cooked is happening to the chicken. also there is "Kuku anapikika" ...... which translates as the chicken is cooking / can also be more along the line of the chicken is actually getting cooked(like it's accepting to cook)

I can't really get into it all here but Swahili has different ways to conjugate verbs to bring out meanings...... by adding morphemes to the stem of the original verb. Different conjugation can bring even more meanings.

Ingasha
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The clauses are grammatically correct but one is semantically awkward it can only be used in academic arguments not in common conversation. But however the sentence 2. Kuku anapika it is active because the null object is affected by the action of the verb.

But again the verb can be conjugate otherwise in the same grammatical pattern to denote passive in which the subject will be affected by the action of the verb Ex. Kuku anapik-w-a Here the writer has added suffix -w- which has altered the meaning of the sentence.

Thank you

Sumaid Gasto Anzurun
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