Editing D'ni grammar (section)

=== Passives ===

Only a few, ambiguous rules can be inferred from the sources. In general, the usage is as follow (scheme by Khreestrefah):

{| class="wikitable"
| '''Adjectival passives'''
| ("-[]" ''marks a verb to be inflected'' )
|-
| <verb>-in
| rekor oshahn'''in''' okh pahtstee oglahn
|-
| 
| "The <u>lost</u> book of ancient cities"
|-
| ken-[] <verb>-in
| to met '''ken'''en bahvahn'''in'''
|-
| 
| "This place is [<u>hidden</u>]"
|-
| '''Passive infinitives'''
| 
|-
| b'ken <verb>-ij
| kenen gor khrezithahthtee '''b'ken''' elon'''ij'''
|-
| 
| "It is time for the lowest ones <u>to be raised</u>"
|-
| '''Present passives'''
| 
|-
| ken-[] <verb>-ij
| renezetahn '''kenen''' k'tesh'''ij''' trelenah
|-
| 
| "The reader <u>is entertained</u> by the journey"
|-
| '''Future passives'''
| 
|-
| boken-[] <verb>-ij
| ril'''boken'''et veren'''ij'''
|-
| 
| "We will not be mollified"
|-
| '''Past passives'''
| 
|-
| kodo<verb>-[]
| rebishtah '''kodo'''lahsahen trefilahdh
|-
| 
| "The tunnel <u>was sealed</u> at the top"
|-
| koken-[] ko<verb>-[]
| retiwah '''koken'''en '''ko'''sayen t'telooknahvah gahrten
|-
| 
| "The shaft <u>was designed</u> by Surveyors Guild Master Garten"
|-
| '''Perfect passives'''
| 
|-
| dol<verb>-[]-ij
| khahpo rezuhnuh ril'''dol'''gelen'''ij''' gahth
|-
| 
| "Perhaps the ending <u>has</u> not yet <u>been written</u>"
|-
| '''Conditional passives'''
| 
|-
| do<verb>-[]
| khoy hevtee met '''do'''hooreet pahl rifoonemah roo ...
|-
| 
| "If these words <u>are found</u> then remember that..."
|-
| '''Passive absolutes'''
| 
|-
| <verb>-en
| shol'''en''' te telookahm Aytruhs
|-
| 
| "<u>Prepared</u> by Surveyors Guildsman Aitrus"
|}


In short, these are the attested passive forms:

{| class="wikitable"
| 
| ''past''
| ''present''
| ''future''
|-
| ''simple''
| '''kokenen ko'''–gelen,<br />'''kodo'''–gelen
| '''kenen''' gel–'''ij'''
| '''bokenen''' gel–'''ij'''
|-
| 
| it was written
| it is written
| it will be written
|-
| 
|-
| ''continuous''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it was being written
| it is being written
| it will be being written
|-
| 
|-
| ''perfect''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| '''dol'''–gelen–'''ij'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it had been written
| it has been written
| it will have been written
|-
| 
|-
| perf. cont.
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; '''?'''
|-
| 
| it had been being written
| it has been being written
| it will have been being written
|}


Notes:
* A clue to the verb being passive is the absence of a direct object with a transitive verb.
* The suffix -''ij'' might be required only by verbs not explicitly passive: compare ''rem'lah kodoreesenij'' "the lizard was eaten" and ''rem'lah kodoreesen'' "the lizard was eating". Where the verb cannot be intransitive, the prefix ''do''- appears sufficient: ''Aytruhs kododormahdhen'' (''te Gen'') "Atrus was defeated (by Gehn)".
* Passives where the subject is implicit seem to take the ''ken'' auxiliary: ''redoo kodoreesenij te Aytruhs'' "the food was eaten by Atrus", but *''ril bodoverenetij'' > ''rilbokenet verenij'' "we won't be mollified" (lit. "it won't be us mollified").
* The form ''koken [en] ko-'' appears to be a paraphrase of ''kodo-''; it is still unclear if they are interchangeable or if there are cases in which form is preferred.