Transitivity and Ergativity in Panare

A description of the functions of two verb suffixes in Panare, a Carib language of Venezuela. The author argues that dative-AGENT constructions in this language are more appropriately analyzed as passives than ergatives and that Panare offers a relatively clear example of formal isomorphism spanning the entire functional cline from the least transitive to the most transitive clause type in discourse. This work was originally presented at the Working Conference on Amazonian Languages held at the University of Oregon in August 1987. The link to the publisher is for the full host work; individual articles have not been made available separately.