Patterns of Passivisation in the Matu-Daro Melanau Dialect

Abstract

This study provides a preliminary description of passivisation in Matu-Daro Melanau, an underdocumented dialect spoken mainly in the Matu and Daro districts of Sarawak, Malaysia. It examines how selected transitive verb roots differ from forms elicited with passive meanings and asks whether the alternations can be organised into recurring morphological and morphophonological patterns. Data were obtained through structured word-list elicitation with three native speakers. Fifteen root-passive pairs were compared according to the position and shape of the added or altered material. Four provisional patterns were identified: an apparent Ci- formation involving repetition of the root-initial consonant, an apparent -en- infix after the initial consonant, a ne- prefix, and vowel-conditioned nV- forms. The pair /benuk/ to /binuk/ remains anomalous: it may reflect vowel alternation, a reduced reflex of an infix, or another lexicalised process, but the present data do not discriminate among these analyses. Agreement across the three speakers supports the attested forms within this sample, although isolated words alone cannot establish a syntactic passive construction. Confirmation requires paired active and passive clauses with overt agents and patients, acceptability judgements, and discourse contexts that test patient foregrounding and agent defocusing. A larger sample across consonant and vowel classes is also needed to determine the productivity and conditioning of the proposed patterns. The study therefore offers a cautious morphological baseline and a focused protocol for subsequent morphosyntactic analysis and documentation.