Universal 1117: passive with agent phrases ⇒ passive without agent phrases

Universal 1117: passive with agent phrases ⇒ passive without agent phrases

Original

If a language has passives with agent phrases then it has them without agent phrases.

Standardized

IF there are passives with agent phrases, THEN there will be passives without them.

Keywords

diathesis, passive, agent

Domain

syntax

Type

implication

Status

Quality

absolute

Basis

languages in Keenan 1985a

Source

Keenan 1985a: 249

Counterexamples

Acehnese (W. Malayo-Polynesian) has a passive construction requiring an agent phrase (Lawler 1977). Durie (1981), however, argues that such a construction is in fact an unmarked active. (Keenan 1985a: 249)