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Voice conjugation
We have seen before how middle-voice verbs can be derived from active-voice verbs.
| Active voice | Middle voice |
| Stem Ⅰ (G-stem) | Stem Ⅶ (n-stem) & Stem Ⅷ (Gt-stem) |
| Stem Ⅱ (D-stem) | Stem Ⅴ (tD-stem) |
| Stem Ⅲ (L-stem) | Stem Ⅵ (tL-stem) |
| Stem Ⅳ (ʔ-stem) | Stem Ⅹ (st-stem) |
| Stem QⅠ (Q-stem) | Stem QⅡ (tQ-stem) & Stem QⅣ (QR-stem) |
Now we are going to talk about the last voice, the passive voice. Unlike the middle voice, the passive voice is a conjugation. This means that any verb can be put into this voice in an automatic way, and the resultant passive-voice verb will not be a different word but just a different grammatical form of the same word.
The following table shows the passive conjugation of the all the common verb stems.
| Voice conjugation | ||||
| Stem | Perfective | Imperfective | ||
| Active | Passive | Active | Passive | |
| Ⅰ (G-stem) | فَعلَ | فُعِلَ | يَفْعلُ | يُفْعَلُ |
| faʕVla | fuʕila | yafʕVlu | yufʕalu | |
| Ⅱ (D-stem) | فَعَّلَ | فُعِّلَ | يُفَعِّلُ | يُفَعَّلُ |
| faʕʕala | fuʕʕila | yufaʕʕilu | yufaʕʕalu | |
| Ⅲ (L-stem) | فاعَلَ | فُوْعِلَ | يُفاعِلُ | يُفاعَلُ |
| fȃʕala | fȗʕila | yufȃʕilu | yufȃʕalu | |
| Ⅳ (ʔ-stem) | أَفْعَلَ | أُفْعِلَ | يُفْعِلُ | يُفْعَلُ |
| ʔafʕala | ʔufʕila | yufʕilu | yufʕalu | |
| Ⅴ (tD-stem) | تَفَعَّلَ | تُفُعِّلَ | يَتَفَعَّلُ | يُتَفَعَّلُ |
| tafaʕʕala | tufuʕʕila | yatafaʕʕalu | yutafaʕʕalu | |
| Ⅵ (tL-stem) | تَفاعَلَ | تُفُوْعِلَ | يَتَفاعَلُ | يُتَفاعَلُ |
| tafȃʕala | tufȗʕila | yatafȃʕalu | yutafȃʕalu | |
| Ⅶ (n-stem) | اِنْفَعَلَ | اُنْفُعِلَ | يَنْفَعِلُ | يُنْفَعَلُ |
| ʔ⋅infaʕala | ʔ⋅unfuʕila | yanfaʕilu | yunfaʕalu | |
| Ⅷ (Gt-stem) | اِفْتَعَلَ | اُفْتُعِلَ | يَفْتَعِلُ | يُفْتَعَلُ |
| ʔ⋅iftaʕala | ʔ⋅uftuʕila | yaftaʕilu | yuftaʕalu | |
| Ⅸ (R-stem) | اِفْعَلَّ | اُفْعُلَّ | يَفْعَلُّ | يُفْعَلُّ |
| ʔ⋅ifʕalla | ʔ⋅ufʕulla | yafʕallu | yufʕallu | |
| Ⅹ (st-stem) | اِسْتَفْعَلَ | اُسْتُفْعِلَ | يَسْتَفْعِلُ | يُسْتَفْعَلُ |
| ʔ⋅istafʕala | ʔ⋅ustufʕila | yastafʕilu | yustafʕalu | |
| QⅠ (Q-stem) | فَعْلَلَ | فُعْلِلَ | يُفَعْلِلُ | يُفَعْلَلُ |
| faʕlala | fuʕlila | yafaʕlilu | yufaʕlalu | |
| QⅡ (tQ-stem) | تَفَعْلَلَ | تُفُعْلِلَ | يَتَفَعْلَلُ | يُتَفَعْلَلُ |
| tafaʕlala | tufuʕlila | yatafaʕlalu | yutafaʕlalu | |
| QⅣ (QR-stem) | اِفْعَلَلَّ | اُفْعُلِلَّ | يَفْعَلِلُّ | يُفْعَلَلُّ |
| ʔ⋅ifʕalalla | ʔ⋅ufʕulilla | yafʕalillu | yufʕalallu | |
The passive voice conjugation for a perfective verb stem:
- The theme vowel has the value i.
- All vowels before the theme vowel have the value u if short and ȗ if long.
The passive voice conjugation for an imperfective verb stem:
- The theme vowel has the value a.
- The prefix vowel has the value u.
Note that imperative imperfective verbs cannot be conjugated for the passive voice.
Meanings of the voices
| Active voice | Middle voice | Passive voice | Fourth voice | |
| Agent | subject | subject | ∅ | ∅ |
| Patient | object | subject | subject | ∅ |
| Example | a driver moved the car | the car moved | the car was moved |
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If a transitive verb is in the active voice, this means:
- The verb’s agent is the subject.
- The verb’s patient is the object.
If a transitive verb is in the middle voice, this means:
- The verb’s agent is the subject.
- The verb’s patient is the subject.
If a transitive verb is in the passive voice, this means:
- The verb’s agent is unindicated.
- The verb’s patient is the subject.
There is a fourth voice for which there is no English example, which is the voice of intransitive verbs (e.g. middle-voice verbs) in the passive conjugation. For such verbs the following obtains:
- The verb’s agent is unindicated.
- The verb’s patient is unindicated/inexistent.
