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The points of departure in Sema are :
(i)
The verb remains indifferent to the active and passive sentences.
(ii)
if the subject of the active sentence is expressed in its correspondinging passive one, the subject of the active sentence which took the nominative case marker no would continue to retain it even in its corresponding passive form.
(iii)
In its corresponding passive form, the object of the active sentence, after a change in the word order would take either the focus marker ye or the definite particle hu as in :
axamnuhu ino xowe `the flower was plucked by me’
axamnuye
If the usage in the two languages are compared, it would be found that though a change in word order and also the optional deletion of the subject of the active sentence in its corresponding passive sentence are common to both the languages, the departure in the usage is very significant in that in English and in many other languages it is a change in the shape of the verb that basically distinguishes an active sentence from a passive one whereas in Sema the change is observed only in the shape of the object with the verb and the subject retaining the same shape in both types of sentences. Thus the chief characteristic features of a passive sentence in Sema are a change in the word order of the subject/object of an active sentence and the object of the active sentence taking either the focus marker ye or the definite particle hu in the corresponding passive sentence with the logical subject continuing to take the nominative case marker no in the passive sentence also. It might be pertinent to mention here that the subject of an active sentence could take both these markers in certain specified situations, as in :
5 (a) ipuye yeewe `my son has come’ (implying that the other children have not
come).
  (b) ipuhu yeewe `my (particular) son has come’
The focus marker could also occur with the subject of an active sentence in reply to a question, as in :
6 (b) niye asi cukè `I ate the meat’ (implying that `it is I and not any one else who
ate it’)
This type of using the focus marker with the subject of a sentence in active voice does not cause any confusion to a listener because :
(i)
in the first set i.e., in v(a) and (b) it occurs with a verb in intrasitive construction and
(ii)
in the second instance i.e., in (vi) where the verb is in the transitive construction the grammatical object does not have the case marker no hence it is in active voice . Had the sentence been in the passive, the grammatical object which incidentally would be the logical subject of a passive sentence would have taken the nominative case marker no and the sentence would have the meaning `I was eaten by meat’.
The definite particle could also occur with the direct object of a sentence in active as in :
ino aylyú hu zuthulu anì `I am seeing the lady (particular)
This type of use also would not cause any confusion as the subject is clearly indicated by the nominative case marker.
There is yet another area where the active passive sentences could be distinguished i.e., when the logical object is either a I or II person pronoun. A few examples would illustrate this statement.
7 (a) ino ohequiwà `I beat you’
  (b) noye ino heqhiwà `you were beaten by me’
8 (a) acno imikiwà `the dog bit me’
  (b) niye acno mikiwà `I was bitten by the dog’
9 (a) pano ozuthulu `he saw you’
  (b) noye pano ozuthulu `you were seen by him’
10 (a) ino ozuthulu `I saw you’
  (b) niye nono izuthulu `I was seen by you’ etc.
The examples cited above have active voice sentences in (a) series and passive ones in (b) series. And in all the sentences in (a) series the first or the second person pronouns functioning as the direct object are in thier oblique form and prefixed to the verb without any pause. These pronouns, however, when functioning as the grammatical subject of the sentences in the passive (b series) are in the full form with the focus marker. Since the

 

 

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