Difference between revisions of "Impersonal (definition)"

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[[Category:Syntax]]
 
[[Category:Technical Definitions]]
 
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==Definition==
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An 'impersonal' is a [[Voice (definition)|voice]] that expresses a situation where there is no specified agent semantic/thematic role. They are roughly equivalent to the [[Passive (definition)|passives]] of [[Intransitive (definition)|Intransitive]] verbs, although passives have the additional property that they highlight the theme/object. This latter property is not true of impersonals. Impersonals are not typically found in English, but a similar meaning can be expressed with sentences such as "There was dancing". In Gaelic there is a special verb form used for expressing the impersonal (sometimes inaccurately called the passive).  
An 'impersonal' is a type of verb that is singular, third person, and does not have a specified agent semantic/thematic role. This type of verb does not and cannot have a subject, although in languages that require a subject position to be filled, the subject must be non-referential, meaningless (e.g., "It rained.").  
 
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
[[Thematic Relation (definition)]]
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*[[Thematic Relation (definition)]]
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*[[Voice (definition)]]
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*[[Active (definition)]]
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*[[Passive (definition)]]
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnImpersonalVerb.htm SIL entry on impersonal verb]<br>
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*[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnImpersonalVerb.htm SIL entry on impersonal verb]<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_verb Wikipedia entry on impersonal verb]
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_verb Wikipedia entry on impersonal verb]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnImpersonalVerb.htm SIL entry on impersonal verb]<br>
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*[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnImpersonalVerb.htm SIL entry on impersonal verb]<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_verb Wikipedia entry on impersonal verb]
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_verb Wikipedia entry on impersonal verb]
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[[Category: Syntax]]
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[[Category: Technical Definitions]]
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[[Category: Morphology]]
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[[Category: Voice]]

Revision as of 22:07, 13 November 2009

An 'impersonal' is a voice that expresses a situation where there is no specified agent semantic/thematic role. They are roughly equivalent to the passives of Intransitive verbs, although passives have the additional property that they highlight the theme/object. This latter property is not true of impersonals. Impersonals are not typically found in English, but a similar meaning can be expressed with sentences such as "There was dancing". In Gaelic there is a special verb form used for expressing the impersonal (sometimes inaccurately called the passive).

See Also

External Links

References