Universal #435
Legacy number: 435
| Number | 434 |
| Original | If a language has full passives, it also has the reduced form; and if a language has no reduced passive, it has no passive at all. |
| Standardized | IF there is full passive, THEN there is also reduced passive. IF there is no reduced passive, THEN there is no passive at all. |
| Formula | full passive ⇒ reduced passive; ¬ reduced passive ⇒ ¬ passive |
| Keywords | diathesis, passive |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | English (W. Germanic), French (Italic), Modern Greek (Greek), Persian (Iranian), Serbo-Croatian (Slavic, all IE), Finnish (Finnic, Uralic), Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic), Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), Igbo (Benue-Congo, Niger-Congo) |
| Source | Eckman 1974: 63 |
Discussion
Notes
1.The term full passive refers to passive type sentences where the agent is overtly expressed; and “reduced passive” refers to 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) Cf. #1116. 3. Cf. #305.
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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) Cf. <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1116"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">
3. Cf. <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=305"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">