Universal 1143:
- Original
- A causative can become a passive, but a passive cannot become a causative.
- Standardized
- A causative can become a passive, but a passive cannot become a causative.
- Keywords
- passive, causative
- Domain
- inflection, syntax
- Type
- target < source
- Status
- diachronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- 79 languages from the GRAMCATS database, see Haspelmath 1990: 71-72
- Source
- Haspelmath 1990: 49
- Counterexamples
1. This observation dates back to Gabelentz 1861: §15.2. Haspelmath: 1990: 27: a construction is called passive if: (i) the active subject corresponds either to a non-obligatory oblique phrase or to nothing; and (ii) the active direct object (if any) corresponds to the subject of the passive; and (iii) the construction is somehow restricted vis-à -vis another unrestricted construction (the active), e.g. less frequent, functionally specialized, not fully productive.