Re: Middle voice

On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Tom Wier wrote:

> Pablo Flores wrote:
>
> > A question to whoever knows out there:
> > What is "middle voice" in verbs?
>
> Well, it's a little complicated.  Middle voice is basically
> just what you'd expect it to be: half-way between the active
> and passive voices.  But it doesn't mean reflexive (which is
> another middle kind of meaning), it means basically that you
> are doing something _for_ yourself, that you are acting on
> your own behalf, not on someone else's.
That's how the term "middle" is used by Classical grammarians.
In generative syntax, the term "middle" refers to constructions
like those in the (c) sentences below:

        (a)  We sell this fruit at the farmer's market.
        (b)  This fruit is sold at the farmer's market.
        (c)  This fruit sells well at the farmer's market.

        (a)  We drained these fields quickly.
        (b)  These fields were drained quickly.
        (c)  These fields drain quickly.

The (a) sentences are actives, the (b) sentences are passives,
and the (c) sentences are middles.  With some verbs you can get a
four-way contrast between an active, a passive, an intransitive
(unaccusative), and a middle usage:

        ACTIVE:    We broke the vase
        PASSIVE:   The vase was broken
        UNACC:     The vase broke
        MIDDLE:    This kind of vase breaks easily

Often it's very difficult to distinguish between middle constructions
and unaccusative constructions.  The former must appear in the present
tense, and refer to properties of objects rather than events.  Also,
middle constructions sound best when the verb is modified in some
way ("This fruit sells well" sounds better to me than "This fruit
sells").

Matt.