Page:A Concise Grammar of the Malagasy Language.djvu/26

 noun; with regard to this, remember that the abstract noun ends in ana, while the passive verb ends in ina. Example:—hàtsaràna (abstract noun), goodness; hàtsaraìna (passive verb), made to possess goodness, made good.

As regards causative verbs, the i of the affix is the only visible distinction between their passive and their relative voices. Example:—passive, àmpanolòina; relative, àmpanolòana, root sòlo.

The passive in a- (which is very common) calls attention principally to the position or state of the object.

Rule for distinguishing the use of the passive in a, from the use of the passive in -ana:—When a verb governs two accusatives, the one of the object acted on, the other of the instrument or means with which the action is effected, the latter is made the nominative of a passive in a-, the former of a passive in -ana.

Example:—manòso-tsòlika àzy, 'to anoint it with oil;' ahòsotra àzy nỳ sòlika (the oil is here the nominative of the verb ahòsotra); hosòrana sòlika ìzy (the thing anointed is here the nominative of the verb hosòrana.)

N.B.—"The non-observance of this rule may lead the foreigner into gross absurdities," says the Rev. W. E. Cousins.

Passives in a change their accent only in their imperative mood; thus, root hàro, ahàro (indicative), àharòy (imperative). Transposed passives are formed by prefixing ni- or no- to a root, and then transposing the n and the first letter of the root, as, tàpaka, nitàpaka, tinàpaka.

Rule.—in forming the passives in a-, -ana, and -ina, the relatives, and the imperative mood in verbs of all