Universal #1116

Legacy number: 1116

 Number  1112
 Original  Subject Raising Constraint:
No argument of an object complement sentence can be raised into subject position.
Any language which contains this constraint will not have full passsives (which are derived by raising the subject of S1 into subject position in S2).
 Standardized  IF no argument of an object complement sentence can be raised into subject position, THEN there is no full passive.
 Formula  ¬ subject raising ⇒ ¬ full passive
 Keywords  diathesis, passive, subject raising
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  English (W. Germanic), French (Italic), Modern Greek (Greek), Persian (Iranian), Serbo-Croatian (Slavic), Finnish (Finnic, Uralic), Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic), Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), Igbo (Benue-Congo, Niger-Congo)
 Source  Eckman 1974: 70

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Discussion
Notes
1. The term full passive refers to passive type sentences where the agent is overtly expressed, while “reduced passive” would be passive sentences where no agent is explicitly expressed. 2. It is claimed that the full passive is derived from a structure containing the reduced passive, rather than the reverse, as has also been assumed (cf. Indefinite Agent Deletion theory). (e.g. no easy-to-please constructions; no tough movement).3. See also #435.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. The term FULL PASSIVE refers to passive type sentences where the agent is overtly expressed, while "reduced passive" would be passive sentences where no agent is explicitly expressed.

2. It is claimed that the full passive is derived from a structure containing the reduced passive, rather than the reverse, as has also been assumed (cf. Indefinite Agent Deletion theory). (e.g. no easy-to-please constructions; no tough movement).

3. See also <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=435"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.