The passive
Summary
• phonological form (data): werden + ge-V-t
sein + ge-V-t
(1) Der Motor wurde vom Mechaniker
repariert.
(Duden 2006:551)
• problem: subject is ‘patient’
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Aims of analysis
1. meaning of werden + ge-V-t?
2. syntax: combinable with which verbs and
sentences?
3. (grammatical) form: what grammatical
construction does it represent? (How is it to
be parsed?)
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Voice analysis (Genus verbi)
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(Grammatical) Form:
passive derived from active
active and passive are ‘voices’ of the verb
Der Mechaniker reparierte den Motor →
Der Motor wurde vom Mechaniker repariert
• explains why subject is patient – because it started
out as an object
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Meaning:
passive synonymous with active
except for theme-rheme organisation
motivation for passive: to make the patient
theme
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• Syntax:
• all and only transitive verbs (i.e. followed by
object, especially in Acc.) are passivizable
• exceptions are listed individually
• e.g. besitzen, mögen, kosten
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Criticism of voice analysis:
contradictions, anomalies, flaws
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meaning of werden + ge-V-t?
five formal differences – synonymous?!?
agentive von-phrase
statal passive
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• adjectival properties
• impersonal passive from intrans. verbs: Es wurde
getanzt
• transitive verbs which do not form a passive, e.g.
besitzen, mögen, kosten
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Aspect analysis
• phonological form (data): werden/sein + ge-V-t
• (Grammatical) Form: aspect of type Auxiliary +
Participle, like the perfect
• Meaning: new state as result of preceding action
(change of state) (hence subject is patient)
• Syntax: determined by lexical aspect of verb and
compositional aspect of sentence (as with perfect):
telic
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• Der Schüler wurde (von dem Lehrer) gelobt
(Helbig & Buscha 161-188)
analysed as an aspect
• der Schüler: subject taken from the lexicon, as with the
perfect
• wurde: aspectual auxiliary, like haben and sein
• von dem Lehrer: a normal prepositional phrase (PP); von
means ‘agent’; like many PPs optional, as in Er war böse
(auf ihn)
• gelobt: aspectual participle, like the homonymous perfect
participle
• wurde gelobt means ‘action + state’ (hence subject is
patient)
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Arguments supporting the aspect
analysis
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• trans. non-passivizable verbs explained: lexical and
compositional aspect, as always with Auxiliary +
Participle aspects
• for a verb/sentence to be passivizable there must
be an end-point potentially present, which becomes
the end-state of the passive meaning ‘action + state’
• i.e. a verb/sentence must be telic to form a passive
• proof? Yes, formal-syntactic proof:
• recall: we said under Aspect that to form a
resultative perfect a verb must be telic
• it follows that non-passivizable transitive verbs
should also not form a resultative perfect
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• This does indeed turn out to be the case for 2/3 of
non-passivizable transitive verbs:
• (2) a. Hans mochte den Roman.
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b. *Der Roman wurde von Hans gemocht.
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c. *Jetzt hat Hans den Roman gemocht.
• (3) a. Er besitzt ein großes Haus.
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b. *Ein großes Haus wird von ihm
besessen.
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c. *Jetzt hat er ein großes Haus besessen.
• (4) a. Er bekam den Brief.
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b. *Der Brief wurde von ihm bekommen.
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c. Jetzt hat er den Brief bekommen.
• (see Beedham 1982:59-82, 2005:52-56)
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• any questions?
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