Page:A Concise Grammar of the Malagasy Language.djvu/27

 voices and classes, one or all of the following five changes are necessary:—

1. Append the characteristic termination—

2. Move the accent one syllable forward. Exceptions:—when the root has one syllable only; when the root has two syllables, the second being accented; when the root has two syllables, the second ending in -na, -ka, or -tra.

3. For roots in -na, -ka, and -tra, a change occurs in the consonant preceding the characteristic termination: k becomes h or f; tr becomes r, t, or f; n (often) becomes m.

4. Insert s, v, or z, before the characteristic termination.

5. Alter a vowel, usually of the accented syllable; as, i (or y) into a or e, and ai into e.

ia (that is, i of the root and a of the affix) are sometimes contracted into e; as, root vonjy, passive vonjìana contracted into vonjèna.

Rule for choosing which voice (active or passive) is to be used:—When "the agent and his act" are most in your thoughts, choose the active voice; when "the result of the