Keywords - L322F00

Intermediate Syntax

Week 6: Passive Voice and Raising to Prom

The passive voice

• Prominence
  • The internal argument is targeted
  • T is marked for [ Pers] and [ Pl], if [+pers], then [±First]
  • These features must be filled through government link agreement.
  • The features of this NP are copied to the subject position
• Case
  • The feature PT builds a bracket around the targeted NP
  • The outer bracket and the inner bracket block Case assignment (feature assignment).
  • The NP gets its Case from [+Nom] assigned to the subject position.
  • This feature is copied to the tail position.
  • This is a complete heresy as far as the Chomsky camp is concerned.
    • Chomsky assumes that the lack of Case triggers the movement
    • We assume that it is the feature PT that triggers it
• subject-verb agreement
• The external argument
  • It remains Caseless
  • It is ungoverned
  • Last Resort
    • Insert a dummy
    • {BY} is inserted
    • [{BY}, P, [-Nom]]
    • [-Nom] is copied to N from P through the operators of N.

Course outline.322

Keywords

Keywords 7

This page last updated 15 OC 2000