Impersonal passive voice
Encyclopedia
The impersonal passive voice is a verb
voice that decreases the valency
of an intransitive verb
(which has valency one) to zero.
The impersonal passive deletes the subject
of an intransitive verb
. In place of the verb's subject, the construction instead may include a syntactic placeholder, also called a dummy. This placeholder has neither thematic nor referential content. (A similar example is the word "there" in the English phrase "There are three books.")
The deleted argument
can be reintroduced as an oblique argument or complement.
s may undergo impersonal passivization. Unaccusative verb
s may not. The ability to undergo this transformation is a frequently used test to distinguish unergative and unaccusative verbs. In Turkish
, for example, the verb çalışmak "to work" is unergative and may therefore be passivized:
The verb ölmek "to die", however, is unaccusative and may not be passivized:
has an impersonal passive voice, as shown in the examples below:
Active Voice:
Impersonal Passive Voice:
In the latter example, the subject (Die Kinder, "the children") has been deleted, and in its place is the dummy es "it".
The subject can be reintroduced using the preposition von, "by":
The sentence can also be constructed without an overt subject by placing an adverbial in the first position:
has the Impersonal passive voice, also called intransitive passive, since it is built from intransitive verbs.
The verb parlar "to speak" is intransitive and takes an indirect object marked by a "to" or by co "with": although there is no direct object to be promoted to subject, the verb can be passivized becoming subjectless, i.e. impersonal. The usual auxiliary "to be" is employed, in the form xe "is" (with zero-dummy) or in the form gh'è "there is" (with gh'-dummy) depending on the local variety.
Likewise, the verb tełefonar "to phone / to ring up" takes a dative indirect object in Venetian (marked by a "to"), still it is often used in the impersonal passive:
Differently from German, the subject can be introduced only with the active voice:
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
voice that decreases the valency
Valency (linguistics)
In linguistics, verb valency or valence refers to the number of arguments controlled by a verbal predicate. It is related, though not identical, to verb transitivity, which counts only object arguments of the verbal predicate...
of an intransitive verb
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
(which has valency one) to zero.
The impersonal passive deletes the subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
of an intransitive verb
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
. In place of the verb's subject, the construction instead may include a syntactic placeholder, also called a dummy. This placeholder has neither thematic nor referential content. (A similar example is the word "there" in the English phrase "There are three books.")
The deleted argument
Verb argument
In linguistics, a verb argument is a phrase that appears in a syntactic relationship with the verb in a clause. In English, for example, the two most important arguments are the subject and the direct object....
can be reintroduced as an oblique argument or complement.
Test of unergative verbs
In most languages that allow impersonal passives, only unergative verbUnergative verb
An unergative verb is an intransitive verb distinguished semantically by having an agent subject. For example, in English, run, talk and resign are unergative verbs ....
s may undergo impersonal passivization. Unaccusative verb
Unaccusative verb
In linguistics, an unaccusative verb is an intransitive verb whose subject is not a agent; that is, it does not actively initiate, or is not actively responsible for, the action of the verb. Unaccusative verbs thus contrast with unergative verbs...
s may not. The ability to undergo this transformation is a frequently used test to distinguish unergative and unaccusative verbs. In Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, for example, the verb çalışmak "to work" is unergative and may therefore be passivized:
- Burada çalış-ıl-ır.
- here work-PASS-PRESENT
- "Here it is worked."
The verb ölmek "to die", however, is unaccusative and may not be passivized:
* Burada öl-ün-ür.- here die-PASS-PRESENT
- "Here it is died."
German
GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
has an impersonal passive voice, as shown in the examples below:
Active Voice:
- Die Kinder schlafen.
- "The children sleep."
Impersonal Passive Voice:
- Es wird geschlafen.
- It is slept.
- "Someone is sleeping."
In the latter example, the subject (Die Kinder, "the children") has been deleted, and in its place is the dummy es "it".
The subject can be reintroduced using the preposition von, "by":
- Es wird von den Kindern geschlafen.
- It is by the children slept.
- "It is slept by the children."
The sentence can also be constructed without an overt subject by placing an adverbial in the first position:
- Heute wird geschlafen. Dort wird geschlafen.
- Today is slept. There is slept.
- "Someone is sleeping today. Someone is sleeping there."
Venetian
VenetianVenetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
has the Impersonal passive voice, also called intransitive passive, since it is built from intransitive verbs.
The verb parlar "to speak" is intransitive and takes an indirect object marked by a "to" or by co "with": although there is no direct object to be promoted to subject, the verb can be passivized becoming subjectless, i.e. impersonal. The usual auxiliary "to be" is employed, in the form xe "is" (with zero-dummy) or in the form gh'è "there is" (with gh'-dummy) depending on the local variety.
- Xe stà parlà co Marco?
- has DUMMY been spoken to Mark? = has someone spoken to Mark? "Is been spoken to Mark?"
- Xe stà parlà de ti or Gh'è stà parlà de ti
- DUMMY has been spoken about you = someone spoke about you "Is been spoken about you" or "there is been spoken about you"
Likewise, the verb tełefonar "to phone / to ring up" takes a dative indirect object in Venetian (marked by a "to"), still it is often used in the impersonal passive:
- Xe stà tełefonà a Marco?
- has DUMMY been phoned Mark? = has someone rung up Mark? "Is been phoned to Mark?"
Differently from German, the subject can be introduced only with the active voice:
- Gavìo parlà co Marco?
- have you spoken to Mark? "Have-you (pl.) spoken to Mark?"