On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages
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Chantal Melis
Abstract
Passives of ditransitive verbs vary as to whether they promote the Theme argument or the Recipient. In general terms, Theme passives associate with Direct Object (DO) languages, whereas Recipient passives are characteristic of Primary Object (PO) languages. In this work, we ask what motivates some DO languages to develop a Recipient passive, against the typological tendency, and we suggest that the answer lies in the anthropocentric character of discourse. We then focus on the mechanisms by which an original Theme passive is able to transform into a Recipient passive, using Spanish as our case example. Our analysis of the grammaticalization process documented in that language allows us to localize the origin of the new pasive in a phenomenon of “subjective empathy” with the Recipient, and to track its advance along a continuum of “topicworthiness”. Our study verifies the precedence of word order strategies over other coding properties in passivization.
Abstract
Passives of ditransitive verbs vary as to whether they promote the Theme argument or the Recipient. In general terms, Theme passives associate with Direct Object (DO) languages, whereas Recipient passives are characteristic of Primary Object (PO) languages. In this work, we ask what motivates some DO languages to develop a Recipient passive, against the typological tendency, and we suggest that the answer lies in the anthropocentric character of discourse. We then focus on the mechanisms by which an original Theme passive is able to transform into a Recipient passive, using Spanish as our case example. Our analysis of the grammaticalization process documented in that language allows us to localize the origin of the new pasive in a phenomenon of “subjective empathy” with the Recipient, and to track its advance along a continuum of “topicworthiness”. Our study verifies the precedence of word order strategies over other coding properties in passivization.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Phonology
- Middle English vowel length in French loanwords 9
- Dental fricatives and stops in Germanic 19
- Dialect variation and the Dutch diminutive 37
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Part II. Morphology, syntax and semantics
- On the disappearance of genitive types in Middle English 49
- An asymmetric view on stage II in Jespersen’s cycle in the West Germanic languages 61
- Temporal reference and grammaticalization in the Spanish perfect(ive) 73
- (Un)-interpretable features and grammaticalization 83
- Imperative morphology in diachrony evidence from the Romance languages 99
- VO vs V(…)O en Français 109
- On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages 123
- The emergence of DP in the history of English 135
- A diachronic view of Psychological verbs with Dative Experiencers in Spanish and Romanian 149
- On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek 161
- The rise of peripheral modifiers in the noun phrase 175
- Wild variation, random patterns, and uncertain data* 185
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Part III. Sociolinguistics and dialectology
- Le changement linguistique dans la langue orale selon deux recherches sur le terrain séparées d’un siècle 197
- Patrons sociolinguistiques chez trois générations de locuteurs acadiens 211
- Change of functions of the first person pronouns in Chinese 223
- Vinderup in real time 233
- Variation in real time 245
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Part IV. Tools and methodology
- UNIDIA 259
- Visualization, validation and seriation 269
- Quantifying linguistic changes 285
- Historical core vocabulary: Spring and/or anchor 295
- Index of languages and terms 307
- Index of subjects and terms 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonology
- Middle English vowel length in French loanwords 9
- Dental fricatives and stops in Germanic 19
- Dialect variation and the Dutch diminutive 37
-
Part II. Morphology, syntax and semantics
- On the disappearance of genitive types in Middle English 49
- An asymmetric view on stage II in Jespersen’s cycle in the West Germanic languages 61
- Temporal reference and grammaticalization in the Spanish perfect(ive) 73
- (Un)-interpretable features and grammaticalization 83
- Imperative morphology in diachrony evidence from the Romance languages 99
- VO vs V(…)O en Français 109
- On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages 123
- The emergence of DP in the history of English 135
- A diachronic view of Psychological verbs with Dative Experiencers in Spanish and Romanian 149
- On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek 161
- The rise of peripheral modifiers in the noun phrase 175
- Wild variation, random patterns, and uncertain data* 185
-
Part III. Sociolinguistics and dialectology
- Le changement linguistique dans la langue orale selon deux recherches sur le terrain séparées d’un siècle 197
- Patrons sociolinguistiques chez trois générations de locuteurs acadiens 211
- Change of functions of the first person pronouns in Chinese 223
- Vinderup in real time 233
- Variation in real time 245
-
Part IV. Tools and methodology
- UNIDIA 259
- Visualization, validation and seriation 269
- Quantifying linguistic changes 285
- Historical core vocabulary: Spring and/or anchor 295
- Index of languages and terms 307
- Index of subjects and terms 309
