Difference between revisions of "Exceptions to the Norwegian Passive"

Revision as of 01:14, 24 May 2012

By Isak Askheim

General Information

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Keyterms

morphological passive, periphrastic passive, unaccusative verbs, perfectivity, thematic role hierarchy

Summary

In this article the author, Helge Lødrup, wants to show that the Norwegian passive has different exceptions to the different for of passive, morphological and periphrastic. Exceptions to the passive is sensitive to thematic roles, and the periphrastic passive is related to perfectivity. The author also argues that the unaccusativity hypothesis is unsatisfactory.

The (syntactic) unaccusativity hypothesis should, according to the author, be replaced with a semantic one. This way, unaccusative verbs will have a theme subject, and verbs with a theme subject cannot passivize.

The author argues that exceptions to the passive should be treated independently of the valency of the verb in question. He agrees with common assumptions that an aspectual difference between the morphological and periphrastic passive is a central part of the difference.

Verbs with benefactive and experiencer subject often lack a periphrastic passive, and verb that lack a morphological passive also lacks a periphrastic passive.

Verbs that denote "the actual perception of some entity" can be stative and non-stative. The periphrastic passive can not be used with the former. The author argues that these verbs need two separate entries.

The author also points out that the passive auxiliary 'være' can be interpreted as the perfect of passive 'bli' for non-stative verbs, but for stative verbs, there would hardly be a difference in meaning.

Original Interlinear Glossed Text