Abstract
Double object constructions manifest three different passive patterns. In Kinyarwanda, Norwegian, and Swedish, either object can passivize (symmetric passive) while in English, Fula, and Chicheŵa, only one object can passivize (asymmetric passive). However, there are two types of asymmetric passives. In the English type, the accusative object with the highest thematic role must passivize and transitive impersonal passives are impossible, regardless of whether the language allows intransitive impersonal passives. In the Chicheŵa type, only the object associated with the Case-assigning morpheme adjacent to the passive morpheme can passivize.
It is proposed here that there are two different mechanisms that can deprive an NP of Case in the passive; the morphological structure of the passive verb determines which of the three passive patterns these mechanisms will produce. The passive morpheme can absorb a Case (cf. Baker 1988b), but only from an accessible Case assigner. A rule of Case Theory, calledAccusative Case Blocking (ACB), blocks a passive verb from assigning structural Case to its thematically highest accusative object, but only if the passive morpheme attaches early so that the agent is suppressed when ACB applies. ACB is shown to be responsible for the effects attributed to Burzio's (1986) generalization and for the fact that verbs cannot assign accusative Case to their subjects.
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I want to thank Alex Alsina, Hagit Borer, Elisabet Engdahl, Lyn Frazier, Jane Grimshaw, Carolyn Harford, Arild Hestvik, Nikki Keach, Alexandre Kimenyi, Angelika Kratzer, Joan Maling, John McCarthy, Luigi Rizzi, Bernard Rohrbacher, Josephat Rugemalira, Peggy Speas, Doris Stolberg, Bernhard Schwartz, Edwin Williams, Alessandro Zucchi, and the anonymousNLLT reviewers for valuable comments and data that greatly aided in the preparation of this paper.
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Woolford, E. Symmetric and asymmetric passives. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 11, 679–728 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993017