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Re: USAGE: 'born'

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 8, 2001, 19:15
Muke Tever wrote:
> The passive means the subject is > acted on, and if the active means the subject is the baby coming into the world > ('being born'), then the passive would be the baby being brought into the world > ('being given birth to'), wouldn't it?
Right ... if something is acting on something else, it's transitive, i.e., "give birth to", or if you prefer "cause to be born".
> <se X> is also used as a (medio-)passive verb form. ["se habla español..."] And > in any case, a reflexive of 'to die' is equally nonexistent in English for the > same reason, isn't it? If it's "intransitive", it can't take a reflexive, > because the reflexive takes an object (which is the same as the subject)?
Spanish reflexive is sometimes used with intransitive verbs as a sort of "strengthening", like "Me voy" *"I'm going myself" for "I'm leaving" -- Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon A nation without a language is a nation without a heart - Welsh proverb ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42

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Muke Tever <alrivera@...>