Verb-initial languages always have a passive voice and it is almost always marked in the verbal morphology (rather than by a serial verb construction as in Chinese, for example).
Standardized
IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there will be passive voice which is almost always marked in the verbal morphology.
Keywords
order, verb-initial, diathesis, passive
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
unknown
Source
unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D. Payne 1990: 15
Counterexamples
Tzeltal, Mayan (both Mayan)- passives are constructed from the active verb ‘receive’ followed by a nominalized form of the “passivized” verb (Keenan 1978: 300, D. Payne 1990: 15).
Cf. claims ##1532 and 1533 about subject-final languages, which are all of VOS order, according to Keenan’s survey (#1516): All subject-final languages have passive forms of verbs. ‘Passive’ is generally marked in the verbal morphology in subject-final languages.
Cf. claims ##1532 and 1533 about subject-final languages, which are all of VOS order, according to Keenan’s survey (#1516): All subject-final languages have passive forms of verbs. ‘Passive’ is generally marked in the verbal morphology in subject-final languages.