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Universal 1506:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1506:

Original
Parameters for intransitive-based passives:
1 person > Volitional Human > Volitional Animate/Human > Animate & Potent > Inanimate > No Protagonist.

If a language has intransitive-based passives with (original) subjects of a certain class, it has intransitive-based passives with subjects of all the classes to the left of it.

Standardized
IF there are intransitive-based passives with non-protagonist subjects, THEN there are such with inanimate subjects.
IF there are intransitive-based passives with INANIMATE subjects, THEN there are such with animate and potent subjects.
IF there are intransitive-based passives with animate and potent subjects, THEN there are such with volitional animate or human subjects.
IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional animate or human subjects, THEN there are such with volitional human subjects.
IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional human subjects, THEN there are such with 1st person subjects.
Keywords
diathesis, passive, intransitive, subject, animacy
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
implicational hierarchy
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
about 30 languages mentioned in Shibatani 1998
Source
Shibatani 1998: 121
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. The most restricted are languages like English that do not permit impersonal passives. 2. Examples of languages where the particular class of subjects is a cut-off point for intransitive-based passives:1st person: Nepali;Volitional Human: German;Volitional Animate: Dutch, Flemish;Human: Turkish, Lithuanian;Animate & Potent: Japanese;Inanimate: Irish;No Protagonist: Lithuanian evidential passive.

    1. May 2020

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