Re: Middle voice

Perfect!  This is what I couldn't remember--middles and unaccusatives.
Meanwhile, my question still stands about the OE use of impersonals, and
their faint echo of certain structures in Tokana.

Sally


On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, JOEL MATTHEW PEARSON wrote:

> 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.
>
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Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html

                        Mr. Book: "Shut it down!"
                        _Dark City_

                         Christof: "Cue the sun!"
                        _The Truman Show_

Tehwo tsema brondi laz obil hea nomai pendo
"Summer like a white sword hangs over the land."
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