English and Chinese (Mandarin) Passive Constructions

1. English and Chinese (Mandarin) Passive Constructions

2. Sentence Structure • Mandarin • NP1 [recipient] + bei (+ NP2 [agent]) +verb • English • NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle (short passive) • NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle +by NP2 [agent] (long passive)

3. Use and Function • Mandarin • Disposal - an entity or person is dealt with • Allow affected entity to be NP other than direct object • E.g. ta bei ren tou le yi – ge dianhua 3sg BEI person steal PFV one – CL telephone • English • Not for expressing disposal meaning

4. Use and Function • Mandarin • Adversity - express an adverse situation • Implications of adversity with neutral verbs • E.g. ta de xingdong bei ren zhidao le 3sg GEN action BEI person know CRS • English • Not for expressing adversity

5. Use and Function • English • Important means of reordering words (meaning not drastically changed) • E.g. John bought the mirror The mirror was bought by John. • Rare in conversation • Too formal • More common in academic prose, news

6. Use and Function • Short Passive • Convenient means for leaving out agent • Unknown • Redundant • E.g. The thief was arrested. • Irrelevant

7. Use and Function • Long Passive • Tendency to place heavy elements towards the end • E.g. The suggestion was objected by the whole class of students • Subject contains given information and agent contains new information • E.g. He found a novel on the shelf and the novel was written by Amy.

8. Use and Function (English) • Possible with most transitive verbs • Verbs only possible with passive • E.g. John was said to be a lazy student. *They said John to be a lazy student.

9. Use and Function • Frequency of usage • Mandarin passive < English passive • Restriction to adversity and disposal in Mandarin • Mandarin influenced by English • Increasing number of bei constructions not expressing adversity • E.g. ta bei xuan zuo huizhang le 3sg BEI elect serve:as chariman PFV

10. Variant Forms • Mandarin • bei replaced by gei, jiao, rang • used in conversation • content words with independent meanings • jiao and rang • cannot replace bei in sentence NP1 bei verb • E.g. *wo jiao/rang pian le I cheat PFV

11. Variant Forms (Mandarin) • bei replaced by jiao…gei, rang… gei • E.g. huaping jiao/rang ta gei dapo le vessel 3sg break PFV • strengthen disposal function

12. Variant Forms • English • be replaced by get • E.g. He got cheated.

13. Variant Forms (English) • Get • Less frequent than be-passive • Avoided in formal English • Restricted to conversation and colloquial fiction • Limited to constructions without an expressed agent • E.g. He got discovered. • Reflection of unfavorable attitude towards action • E.g. Why did the chocolates get eaten?

14. Variant Forms (English) • Verbs common with get passive • E.g. married, hit, involved, left, stuck • E.g. She got married last Sunday. • Usually with negative connotations • left, hit, stuck • E.g. He got left in the dark room.

15. Constraints • Common constraints in English and Mandarin passive • Verb constraints • Active only verbs: copula and intransitive verb • E.g. *He is been a boy. • E.g. *ta bei shi ge nanhai le 3sg BEI be CL boy PFV • E.g. *He was swum. • E.g.*ta bei youyong le 3sg BEI swim PFV • Stative (middle) verbs: transitive but no sense in passive • E.g. * The girl was liked by him. • E.g. *na nu haizi bei ta xihuan that female child BEI 3sg like.

16. Constraints (English & Mandarin) • Object constraints • Coreference between subject and noun phrase object blocks passive correspondence • Reflexive pronoun • E.g. *Himself was scared by him. • E.g. *ziji bei ta long shang le self BEI 3sg make hurt PFV • Reciprocal pronoun • E.g. * Each other is loved. • E.g. * bi ci bei women xiang’ai le each other BEI we reciprocal love PFV

17. Constraints • Mandarin • Definite subject • E.g. na ge beizi bei diaodiao le that CL cup BEI throw away PFV • Cannot ends with a verb only (extra element needed) • Perfective marker -le: the most common and simplest extra element • E.g. ta bei da le 3sg BEI bit PFV

18. Constraints (Mandarin) • Only few verbs can occur in passive sentence with adversely affected indirect object • tou (steal), qiang (rob), duo (snatch), ying (win) • E.g. ta bei ren qiang le shoudai 3sg BEI person rob PFV handbag

19. Constraints (Mandarin) • bei NP cannot be an instrument NP used by a person or an animate being • E.g. *dianshi bei yaokong chi kai le television BEI remote control open PFV • bei NP can be an inanimate NP affecting action on their own if adversity is inferred • E.g. yifu bei yushui long shi le clothes BEI rainwater make wet PFV/CRS

20. Constraints (English) • Prepositional verbs – figurative use only • E.g. This matter will be gone into. • E.g.*The tunnel will be gone into. • Single-object prepositional verbs • E.g. *Tony was looked at by me. • Exceptions • E.g. Peter can be relied on to repair the car. • Object - possessive pronoun • E.g. *Her leg was laid by May on the bed. (May laid her leg on the bed)

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