Universal #305
Legacy number: 305
| Number | 304 |
| Original | If there is a three-member passive construction, then there will be a two-member passive construction, derived from the three-member construction by simple omission of the indirect object. |
| Standardized | IF there is a three-member passive construction, THEN there will be a two-member passive construction, derived from the three-member construction by simple omission of the agent in an oblique object relation. |
| Formula | three-member passive ⇒ two-member passive |
| Keywords | diathesis, passive, oblique object |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic but presumably diachronically motivated |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | languages surveyed in Kozinsky 1981 |
| Source | first mentioned by Kurylowicz 1946: 388, Kozinsky 1981 |
Discussion
Notes
1. Kurylowicz 1946: 388: “In no language passive is used in three-member constructions only”.2. The history of European languages reveals that three-member passive constructions arise later than two-member ones. Probably there is a genetic derivational hierarchy: primary active construction => two-member passive construction => three-member passive construction. This means that two-member passive constrictions should not be considered as reduced variants of three-member constructions (Xrakovskij 1974: 28). 3. Cf. #435 for a similar statement by Eckman, who calls three-member passives "full" and two-member passives "reduced".
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2. The history of European languages reveals that three-member passive constructions arise later than two-member ones. Probably there is a genetic derivational hierarchy: primary active construction ⇒ two-member passive construction ⇒ three-member passive construction. This means that two-member passive constrictions should not be considered as reduced variants of three-member constructions (Xrakovskij 1974: 28).
3. Cf. <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=435"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> for a similar statement by Eckman, who calls three-member passives "full" and two-member passives "reduced".