Universal 1529: OS ⇒ passive is marked in verbal morphology
Original
‘Passive’ is generally marked in the verbal morphology in subject-final languages.
Standardized
IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN passive will be marked in verbal morphology.
Keywords
order, subject, object, diathesis, passive
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
Malagasy, Batak [Toba Dialect], Fijian, Gilbertese (all Malayo-Polynesian), Tzeltal (Mayan), Otomi (Oto-Manguean), Ineseño Chumash (Hokan), Baure (Arawakan), Tzotzil, Kekchi (both Mayan), Tsou (Formosan, Austronesian), although the last three languages are not surveyed in the paper
In Tzeltal (Mayan), passives are constructed from the active verb ‘receive’ followed by a nominalized form of the “passivized” verb (Keenan 1978: 300).
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. By PASSIVE Keenan understands verb forms in which the object of the active verb functions as the subject. 3a. According to Keenan (#1516), subject-final languages are always verb-initial. This means that Keenan’s claims about subject-final languages can be applied to VOS languages as well. 3b. Cf. a more general claim about verb-initial languages (#1563): Verb-initial languages always have a passive voice and it is almost always marked in the verbal morphology.
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. By PASSIVE Keenan understands verb forms in which the object of the active verb functions as the subject. 3a. According to Keenan (#1516), subject-final languages are always verb-initial. This means that Keenan’s claims about subject-final languages can be applied to VOS languages as well. 3b. Cf. a more general claim about verb-initial languages (#1563): Verb-initial languages always have a passive voice and it is almost always marked in the verbal morphology.