Abstract This study accounts for the neuter extension -ɪk in Manda (N11), a Bantu language spoken along Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) in southern Tanzania. The article offers a description of both the formal and functional features of this morpheme in Manda, while paying special attention to its rare extended function as a proper passive marker licensing an explicit prototypical agent. Based on comparative data from Manda’s neighbouring languages, it is argued that this special functional feature of the neuter in Manda reflects a broader characteristic of this Bantu-speaking area, where a reflex of the passive marker reconstructed for Proto-Bantu has been lost or is restricted in use. This fact has, in turn, paved the way for innovations with regard to the expression of passive voice, of which the use of the neuter suffix is one of several possible strategies. Considering comparative data, this study also attempts to reconstruct the pathway of change leading to the neuter acquiring a passive function. The hypothesis put forward suggests that the passive function of the neuter stems from incremental steps of expansion, which eventually enabled it to co-occur with prototypical agents.

中文翻译：

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曼达的中性人物，侧重于将其重新解释为被动

摘要这项研究解释了曼达语（N11）中的中性扩展-ɪk，这是坦桑尼亚南部尼亚萨湖（马拉维湖）上说的班图语。这篇文章描述了曼达语中该词素的形式和功能特征，同时特别注意了其稀有的扩展功能，它是许可显式原型剂的适当被动标记。根据来自曼达语相邻语言的比较数据，有人认为曼达语中性神经的这一特殊功能特征反映了该班图语地区的广泛特征，该地区为原始班图语重建的被动标记的反射已经消失或消失。限制使用。反过来，这一事实为被动语态表达的创新铺平了道路，其中使用中性后缀是几种可能的策略之一。考虑到比较数据，本研究还试图重建导致中性者获得被动功能的变化途径。提出的假设表明，中性神经的被动功能源于逐步的扩张步骤，最终使其能够与原型药物同时发生。