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Subject:
From:
Karl Hagen <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:50:15 -0700
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The stative/dynamic distinction is semantic (an expression of aspectuality), and I take passive voice to be primarily a syntactic construction.

Although it's true that adjectival passives will always have a stative interpretation, and that ambiguities such as B typically turn on whether
we understand the situation as stative or dynamic, it's also the case that some passive-voice constructions can be stative (e.g, "She is loved by everyone.")

For your example, I take this to be an instance of a so-called unaccusative verb, along the lines of:

The pilot landed the plane. / The plane landed.
The wind opened the door. / The door opened.
The sun dried up the fields. / The fields dried up.

So I take your example to be active voice. In other words, the mere fact that the semantic role of the subject is something other than agent/instrument isn't sufficient to call something passive.

> On Mar 11, 2015, at 10:09 AM, Hancock, Craig G <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Karl,
>    Where would "stative" fit in? 
>    And how do we deal with something like "The fields dried up in the sun?" 
> 
> Craig
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen
> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 12:15 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Mar 2015 to 10 Mar 2015 (#2015-19)
> 
> It depends on whether you regard voice to be a property of the verb or a structural pattern of a clause. The former is the assumption, implicit or otherwise, in most traditional grammar books. In the 19th century, intransitive verbs were often said to be in the "middle" voice to account for this gap. On the other hand, much work in modern linguistics takes the second analysis to be more accurate. As a type of clause, there's no real problem. You simply say that the active-voice pattern is the unmarked default, and hence applies to anything that is not passive voice.
> 
> 
>> On Mar 11, 2015, at 8:37 AM, Beth Young <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>> Interesting!  Passive voice is something that only transitive verbs can have, but I've never considered active voice to be limited to transitive verbs. I've always considered all verbs that are conjugated with the formula "Tense + Modal (have + -en) (be + -ing) Main Verb" to be active voice, and verbs conjugated with the formula "Tense + Modal (have + -en) (be + -ing) + be + -en + Main Verb" to be passive voice. Otherwise, wouldn't many verbs have no voice at all? Maybe that doesn't matter.
>> 
>> Hats off to any 8th grade teachers who wade into this question with 
>> their students. :)
>> 
>> Beth
>> 
>> Dr. Beth Rapp Young
>> Associate Professor, English
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 
>> University of Central Florida
>> "Reach for the Stars"
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar 
>> [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Don Stewart 
>> [[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 11:05 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Mar 2015 to 10 Mar 2015 (#2015-19)
>> 
>> Beth,
>> 
>> If you consider "surprised" to be adjectival, then doesn't that make "was" a linking verb? In that case, there is no action verb, and thus no active voice. 
>> 
>> Don ​ Stewart​
>> writingwhatever.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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