Difference between revisions of "Voice in Morphology (definition)"

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[[Category: Technical Definitions]]
 
[[Category: Technical Definitions]]
'''Voice''', in its morphosyntactic sense, describes alternations in the alignment of [[Thematic Relation (definition)|thematic relations]] and [[Grammatical Relation (definition)|grammatical relations]] within a [[Clause (definition)|clause]]. Traditionally, this includes [[Active Voice (definition)|active voice]] and [[Passive Voice (definition)|passive voice]], while Scottish Gaelic and other languages also have an [[Impersonal Voice (definition)|impersonal voice]]. However, many linguists consider these voices to be part of a much broader category of [[Valence Changing Operations (definition)|valence changing operations]].
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'''Voice''', in its morphosyntactic sense, describes alternations in the alignment of [[Thematic Relation (definition)|thematic relations]] and [[Grammatical Relation (definition)|grammatical relations]] within a [[Clause (definition)|clause]]. Traditionally, this includes [[Active Voice (definition)|active voice]] and [[Passive Voice (definition)|passive voice]], while Scottish Gaelic and other languages also have an [[Impersonal Voice (definition)|impersonal voice]]. However, many linguists consider these voices to be part of a much broader category of [[Valence Changing Operation (definition)|valence changing operations]].
  
 
:''1a) Jones painted a picture.''
 
:''1a) Jones painted a picture.''

Revision as of 18:16, 29 June 2009

Voice, in its morphosyntactic sense, describes alternations in the alignment of thematic relations and grammatical relations within a clause. Traditionally, this includes active voice and passive voice, while Scottish Gaelic and other languages also have an impersonal voice. However, many linguists consider these voices to be part of a much broader category of valence changing operations.

1a) Jones painted a picture.
1b) A picture was painted (by Jones).

Consider some examples from English. (1a) is a sentence in the active voice. Active voice sentences align noun phrases which take the agent (or more agent-like) thematic relation with the subject grammatical relation. The passive version in (1b) changes this alignment; in the passive voice, noun phrases which are more theme-like are treated as subjects. Note also that the passive voice reduces the valence of the verb (i.e., the number of noun phrases it requires).

See Also

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