Hi!
Tristan Alexander McLeay <conlang@...> writes:
>....
> > He walks over the bridge - the bridge is walked over.
> >
> > He looked at me - I was being looked at.
> >
> > etc.
> >
> > Are there other languages which have this use of the passive voice? How do
> > they form them - and what are the restrictions?
>
> More interestingly from an English perspective, how do languages that
> *can't* use the passive like this say "The bridge is walked over"?
German can't, so it has to use different verb:
Er geht über die Brücke
he walks over the bridge
Die Brücke wird überquert.
The bridge is 'over-crossed'. :-P
The other verb is often an applicative:
Wir sprechen über das Buch.
We talk about the book.
Applicative:
Wir besprechen das Buch.
We talk_about the book.
Das Buch wird besprochen.
The book is talked_about.
**Henrik