Difference between revisions of "Impersonal (definition)"

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[[Category:Syntax]]
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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 Voice (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).  
[[Category:Technical Definitions]]
 
[[Category: Morphology]]
 
[[Category: Voice]]
 
 
 
==Definition==
 
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 Voice (definition)]]
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*[[Passive Voice (definition)]]
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*[[Impersonals]]
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnImpersonalVerb.htm SIL entry on impersonal verb]
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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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The link below takes you away from the Gaelic Wiki to Wikipedia. Since wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone, they often contain inaccurate information. So be careful!
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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]
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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]]

Latest revision as of 00:10, 9 June 2012

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

The link below takes you away from the Gaelic Wiki to Wikipedia. Since wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone, they often contain inaccurate information. So be careful!

References