Participle – Leluka medio-passive

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology of Leluka medio-passive participles
• The stative use of Leluka medio-passives

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Participle – Leluka medio-passive

• These forms combine the Leluka reduplication with the med-psv ptcp endings (see 20.3.3.1), e.g. (masc) δεδεμέν-ος/ου, (fem) δεδεμέν-η/ης, (neut) δεδεμέν-ον/ου

SemanticsSemantics: Participle – Leluka medio-passive (stative use)

Participles in the Leluka medio-passive often refer to a state. One of the most common verbs in this pattern is γράφω, which is γεγραμμένος in the medio-passive Leluka participle. This refers to something that is in the state of having been written. Let’s see how this works in more detail. The verb γράφω normally has an agent that writes something. This verb will often receive a result perfect reading in Leluka, which means that there are two parts to the event, a causing event and a resulting state. The result is that something has been written. Because the medio-passive deletes the agent who does the writing, the initial causing event is deleted along with it. Without this causing event, only the thing written is referred to, and this entity is in a result state, namely the state of having been written. In this way, Leluka and the medio-passive can combine to convert a verb that is normally interpreted as a result perfect into a participle that refers only to a state.