The objectives of this paper are to analyse the semantic determinants of the prepositional passive using verb meaning as a criterion, and to discuss related theoretical perspectives using corpus data. A coarse-grained classification of prepositional verbs is implemented, as a result of which activity verbs and verbs of experience are both acknowledged as passivizable predicates on a general basis. Assuming the paradigm of agentivity properties as proposed in Dowty (1991) and related literature, it is argued that [cause] and [sentience] are both necessary and sufficient in order to explain the passivizability of the above-mentioned verb types or classes. It is claimed that [cause] ranks higher than [sentience] for (transitive) active structures but not for prepositional passive structures, and that [animacy] lies at the bottom of this contrast. Although object affectedness is assumed to be part of the definition of [cause], and therefore not to be a necessary condition for the prepositional passive, objects of experience verbs are explicitly argued not to be affected entities.View full textDownload full textKeywordsprepositional passive, agentivity, [cause], [sentience], object affectedness, corpus-based studyRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03740463.2010.521444
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