![]() ![]() The Apad Uat subgroup of Northern Sarawak, which includes Kelabit, is said to be split between Philippine type and Indonesian-type languages. Philippine-type languages are considered more conservative and Indonesian-type languages more innovative. Western-Austronesian languages are typically subdivided into Philippine-type languages and Indonesian-type languages on the basis of structural properties. This has prompted two major debates about Western Austronesian syntax, namely whether or not Western Austronesian languages have a grammatical subject, and the nature of alignment in the languages. Instead, symmetrical voice systems appear to involve multiple transitive clause-types that are equally morphologically marked and equally syntactically transitive. ![]() These are alternations in the mapping of predicate arguments to grammatical functions but, unlike passives and antipassives, do not involve syntactic detransitivisation. ![]() Western Austronesian languages are typically defined in contrast to Oceanic languages as possessing a system of ‘symmetrical’ voice alternations (Himmelmann 2005a). ![]()
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