Passive Voice Research Articles

On Realizing External Arguments: A Syntactic and Implicature Theory of the Disjointness Effect for Passives in Adult and Child Grammar

We present an account of why disjoint reference effects obtain in verbal but not in adjectival passives. Passives in child language are independently argued to always be adjectival, which allows us to use a natural experiment in child grammar that is not available in the adult grammar: predicting the lack of a disjoint reference effect in even those passives that prima facie seem verbal. We conduct our discussion against the background of the difference between adjectival and verbal passives in general. Our account is based on (grammatical) Implicature Theory. Since the initiator in the semantic representation of adjectival passives stays at a kind level, it cannot introduce a discourse referent, hence cannot trigger a disjointness implicature, unlike the initiator in verbal passives (Gehrke 2013, 2015). We show in two experiments that children’s passives do not exhibit disjoint reference, unlike adults’ verbal passives, even though children have no trouble computing disjointness implicatures elsewhere. Our contribution thus confirms with a novel kind of evidence the syntactic nature of young children’s difficulty with verbal passives. It offers a new perspective on the external argument difference between verbal and adjectival passives based on Reinhart’s (2016) Theta System, while also offering additional evidence for a grammatical, rather than general pragmatic, theory of implicatures.

The lexical source of BIN and habitual be in African American English

AbstractAlthough various works on African American English (AAE) offer significant and insightful analyses of the semantic interpretation of its aspectual elements, including in particular stressed remote past BIN and habitual be (behab), the syntactic analysis of these elements is problematic. BIN and behab are claimed to be invariant lexical elements with fixed semantic values, and to not interact with INFL (Tense) as auxiliaries do, thus not displaying subject–verb agreement or undergoing any operations typical of finite auxiliaries. However, considerations including syntactic positioning, accompanying auxiliaries, patterns of verb affixation, and the formation of active and passive sentences point instead to BIN and behab being in most instances phonetic manifestations of any of the various ordinary auxiliary verbs be (progressive, passive, and copular), elements of the system of auxiliaries common to both AAE and Mainstream American English (MAE). The surface forms BIN and be are sufficient to trigger their special meanings in logical representation. Semantically dedicated lexical elements are unnecessary. The various interpretations of sentences containing these forms are due to constructional semantic interpretation of various combinations of surface elements. This analysis further reveals the existence of another AAE innovation, a fourth auxiliary verb be unique to AAE indicating simple past.

THE PENETRABILITY OF COMPOSITE VERB FORMS IN THE ACTIVE VOICE, INDICATIVE IN CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN

The article examines the permeability of composite indicative forms in the active and passive voice in contemporary Bulgarian. Two cases have been distinguished: permeability from short dative and accusative personal pronouns and from the particle “се” [se] of pronominal origin, as well as permeability from the particle “ли” [li] and other particles, inserted remarks, adverbs, and simple sentences. In addition, I have provided an overview of some specific and generalized models of permeability, supported by examples from language corpora and the internet. The drawn conclusions highlight both the common and unique features of the permeability of composite verb forms. In order to support this, I have provided examples obtained from language corpora and the internet, encompassing short personal pronouns, adverbs, particles like “се” [se] and “ли” [li], inserts, simple sentences, as well as composite forms where permeability is not feasible. Additionally, I have identified several cases of possible penetration in two places from the same linguistic elements. The presented examples and models, together with the reached conclusions, prove that the process of grammaticalization at a formal level has not been fully accomplished in the Bulgarian verb paradigm. This is due to the fact that composite forms are permeable to other elements. I have applied Lehmann’s parameter of grammaticalization in order to demonstrate that as the process of grammaticalization progresses, both the ability to rearrange elements and the permeability from other linguistic units decreases.

Comparison of active and passive voice in English-Chinese translation--taking the example of Howard Goldblatt's translation of Rickshaw Boy

In the translation between English and Chinese, there are significant differences in sentence structure, grammatical features, rhetorical devices, expression methods, ways of thinking, and social and cultural factors between the two languages, which increase the difficulty of translation. Especially in English-Chinese translation, the similarities and differences in the usage of active and passive voice can easily lead to translation errors. In English, the passive voice is more regarded as a common grammatical phenomenon, while in Chinese, the active expression of passive meaning is more dominant. Taking Howard Goldblatt's translation of Rickshaw Boy as an example, through the analysis of the passive and active voice in English and Chinese languages with different structures, we can learn more about the similarities and differences between the two languages in order to improve the quality of translation.

Usage of Causative Verbs in Different Contexts

Causative verbs are an essential part of the English language, allowing speakers to describe the act of causing something to happen. This paper provides an overview of causative verbs in English, their various forms and uses, and some common misconceptions about their usage. The paper also explores how causative verbs can be used in different tenses and how they interact with modal verbs. Finally, the paper examines the use of causative verbs in passive voice constructions

Neural correlates of processing active and passive sentences: proficiency-dependent event-related potential evidence in Chinese English foreign language learners.

We explored whether and to what extent the neural mechanisms of second language sentence processing resemble those of native speakers by investigating the temporal dynamics of syntactic processing in terms of active or passive voice in reading English sentences by Chinese English Foreign Language (EFL) learners with high or low English proficiency. Participants were divided into two groups based on their proficiency levels in English. Three types of sentences (active, passive and ungrammatical) were presented to participants when their event-related potential responses were recorded at the verbs and the final words. The results showed that high-proficiency participants exhibited a greater anterior negativity at the verb position for ungrammatical sentences compared to active sentences. Furthermore, passive sentences elicited a larger frontal positivity than active sentences at the final word position. Additionally, greater P600 effects were observed for both passive and ungrammatical sentences than active sentences at the final word. The low-proficiency group exhibited a greater anterior negativity at the verb (but not the final word) position. In conclusion, these findings emphasize the role of proficiency as a modulating factor in the processing of English active and passive sentences among Chinese EFL learners. Furthermore, the processing of English active and passive sentences by these learners can be conceptualized as a three-stage process: prediction, correction and integration, representing the underlying cognitive mechanisms. This study provides novel insights into the understanding of the cognitive mechanism involved in second language sentence processing.

The use of a large language model to create plain language summaries of evidence reviews in healthcare: A feasibility study

AbstractIntroductionPlain language summaries (PLSs) make complex healthcare evidence accessible to patients and the public. Large language models (LLMs) may assist in generating accurate, readable PLSs. This study explored using the LLM Claude 2 to create PLSs of evidence reviews from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program.MethodsWe selected 10 evidence reviews published from 2021 to 2023, representing a range of methods and topics. We iteratively developed a prompt to guide Claude 2 in creating PLSs which included specifications for plain language, reading level, length, organizational structure, active voice, and inclusive language. PLSs were assessed for adherence to prompt specifications, comprehensiveness, accuracy, readability, and cultural sensitivity.ResultsAll PLSs met the word count. We judged one PLS as fully comprehensive; seven mostly comprehensive. We judged two PLSs as fully capturing the PICO elements; five with minor PICO errors. We judged three PLSs as accurately reporting the results; and four with minor result errors. We judged three PLSs as having major result errors for incorrectly reporting total participants. Five PLSs met the target 6th to 8th grade reading level. Passive voice use averaged 16%. All PLSs used inclusive language.ConclusionsLLMs show promise for assisting in PLS creation but likely require human input to ensure accuracy, comprehensiveness, and the appropriate nuances of interpretation. Iterative prompt refinement may improve results and address the needs of specific reviews and audiences. As text‐only summaries, the AI‐generated PLSs could not meet all consumer communication criteria, such as textual design and visual representations. Further testing should include consumer reviewers and explore how to best leverage LLM support in drafting PLS text for complex evidence reviews.

The Impact of Qualification and Hospice Education on Staff Attitudes during Palliative Care in Pediatric Oncology Wards-A National Survey.

Our knowledge about the attitudes of healthcare staff to palliative care in pediatric oncology is scarce. We aimed to assess their perceptions of palliative care in Hungary and find answers to the question of how to provide good palliative care for children. Physicians (n = 30) and nurses (n = 43) working in the field of pediatric oncology (12 of them specialized in hospice care) were interviewed. Palliative care practice (communication, integration of palliative care, professionals' feelings and attitudes, and opportunities for improvement) was assessed by semi-structured interviews evaluated in a mixed quantitative and qualitative way by narrative categorical content analysis and thematic analysis. All providers displayed high negative emotions, positive evaluations, and used many active verbs. Nurses showed higher levels of denial, more self-references, and were more likely to highlight loss. Physicians emphasized the importance of communication regarding adequate or inadequate palliative care. Hospice specialists showed a higher passive verb rate, a lower self-reference, a lower need for psychological support, and a greater emphasis on teamwork and professional aspects. Our results show that nurses are more emotionally stressed than doctors in palliative care in pediatric oncology. To our knowledge, a study comparing doctors and nurses in this field has yet to be carried out. Our results suggest that pediatric oncological staff can positively evaluate a child's palliative care despite the emotional strain. Regarding hospices, professional practice in palliative care may be a protective factor in reducing emotional distress and achieving professional well-being.

한국어의 피동과 비피동

The purpose of this paper is to classify the types of Korean passive sentences using the main characteristics of passive voice. To achieve this goal, we conducted a review of cross-linguistic research on passive voice and identified four key characteristics. These characteristics were then used to classify Korean passive sentences, with a detailed description of the characteristics and differences of each type. As a result, we identified Types I and II as prototypical passive sentences and Types III and IV as non-prototypical passive sentences. Additionally, we confirmed the existence of non-passive sentences among those previously discussed as passive sentences. Through this discussion, we examined the characteristics and reality of Korean passive sentences more closely. Furthermore, our understanding of Korean passive sentences was expanded by employing a prototypical approach to describe various types of passive sentences as a continuum.

基于功能对等理论的航海技术英语翻译研究

With the deepening of economic globalization, maritime technology has become increasingly prominent, and maritime technology English has also become an effective way for cultivating high-quality talents. As a part of technical English, maritime technology English has distinctive characteristics: terminologies, nominalizations and abbreviations are widely used at the vocabulary level and inanimate-subject sentences, passive sentences and long complex sentences are more used at the syntactic level. From the perspective of Eugene·A·Nida’s functional equivalence, this article studies the E-C translation of maritime technology English from vocabulary and syntax level, aiming to provide reference for the Chinese translation of maritime technology English.

Error Analysis on Student’s Final Project Paper Abstract

An abstract is a brief and all-encompassing synopsis of scientific literature. Abstracts facilitate readers’ comprehension of article contents concisely and expeditiously. Hence, it is imperative to craft the abstract in a captivating manner to pique the reader’s curiosity and encourage them to peruse the complete content. An effective abstract should be precise, objective, logically organised, easily understandable, and concise. Nevertheless, several individuals, namely those studying Nautical Sciences, have encountered difficulty when it comes to writing in English. The task becomes further intricate since it involves meeting all the requirements, such as structuring and presenting coherent concepts to ensure the reader’s understanding of the text. The objective of this study is to identify the flaws present in the final project abstract of the Nautical Sciences Student at Akademi Maritim Nusantara Cilacap. This study employs a qualitative methodology, utilising a descriptive analysis technique. A total of ten samples were deliberately gathered for this investigation in the year 2022. The research findings indicate that there are two major concerns regarding faults in composing the abstract, specifically those pertaining to clarity and grammatical accuracy. Clarity errors encompass issues related to brevity (21) and the utilisation of passive voice (15). In addition, the data contained six grammatical problems, specifically verb errors (21), punctuation errors (10), preposition errors (7), spelling errors (5), conjunction errors (5), and article errors (4).

The Research of Constructions of Verbs and Their Translations in French (Transitivity and Intransitivity)

The distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs is important for the choice of the auxiliary verb in the formation of the compound tenses, for the formation of the passive voice and indeed for the learners of the FLE for their good translations.

Doing Manual Paraphrasing: What Should the Students Do in Paraphrasing or Rewriting English Writing?

The issue of plagiarism and students' writing difficulties appeared to be a difficulty for teachers, so the existence of paraphrasing is a means to prevent plagiarizing. The objective of this study is to describe manual paraphrasing for students in paraphrasing or rewriting English writing. This research is descriptive qualitative. The analysis shows that manual paraphrasing is the activity of rewriting a text into another form manually without the help of online tools. In teaching paraphrasing manually, ten several strategies can be used by students, including using synonyms, changing the word form, changing active or passive sentences, changing transitions/connectors, changing/rearranging the order of ideas, changing or modifying text structure, simplifying or summarizing sentence, changing the double negative into a positive form, adding quotation marks for important points, and combining paraphrasing techniques. Students need to combine these strategies by applying more than two strategies than a single paraphraseIn manual paraphrasing, students must carefully study the source material, comprehend its meaning, attempt to explain it, and then rewrite it using their words while preserving the same meaning. Manual paraphrasing requires more effort and takes time than using automated tools, but the results may be better than expected.

The Erratic Use of Imperative and Passive Voice in Procedure Text Writing Ability

<p><span class="fontstyle0">The objectives of this research is to indicate the errors in the use of Imperative and Passive Voice in the students’ procedure text. The writer uses qualitative descriptive research method. The technique of collecting data of Imperative and Passive Voice was content analysis that was acquired from the students’ writing product. The data of this study is based on Jacob’s theory cited in Meliawati that content or document analysis is a research method applied to written or visual materials for the purpose of identifying specified characteristics of the material. In conclusion, content analysis also helps the writer to find research that fits the writer’s passion rather than needing to find a passion that fits the research. The result of this study is that the teacher should be more conscious and pay more attention to students' learning process in using Imperative and Passive Voice in writing procedure text especially how to design a strategy of teaching language features used in Imperative and Passive Voice.</span> <br /><br /></p>

Diatesis Pasif Persona Pertama Tunggal dalam Tindak Tutur Lokusi Menjelaskan oleh Warga Sumberejo, Ambulu, Jember

As one of grammatical semantics topics, the passive voice of singular first person is used to show the relationship between singular first person (me) and action through the form of passive verbs in a sentence that contain grammatical meaning. The formulation of this research problem is what are the semantic constructions of the passive voice of singular first person in locutionary speech acts explaining based on the strategy in Sumberejo, Ambulu, Jember? This qualitative descriptive research is included in communication ethnographic research. Data was collected through listening and speech methods. Data that has been successfully collected is then presented using categorical, descriptive, and distributional methods. The theories used are Chomsky's generative transformation theory (1965) and Searle's speech act theory (1979). Based on this study, a total of 6 types of passive voice of singular first person in locutionary speech acts explaining in Sumberejo Village, Ambulu District, Jember Regency by dividing the types of passive voice of singular first person based on the form of suffixes and the nature of passive verbs with the type of locutionary speech act explaining based on the strategy. The types of locutionary speech acts explain based on their 5 strategies, then the types are crossed with 5 types of passive voice, singular first person, based on the form of suffixes and the nature of passive verbs

Exploring the Nature of Syntactic Priming of English-Mandarin Bilinguals Comparing with English Monolinguals

This study investigates the nature of syntactic priming in English-Mandarin bilinguals. Compared with the English monolinguals, the results show that differences between bilingual and monolingual groups can be attributed to the different syntactic structures and subtle linguistic differences between English and Mandarin, including the impact and potential language interference. The study also emphasizes that there are marginally significant differences between passive and locative conditions among bilingual groups, with passive priming showing a stronger priming effect. Importantly, the study elucidates the sensitivity of English-Mandarin bilinguals to argument structure and the influence of animacy distribution on the generation of passive sentences, as well as the reduced use of passive sentences by bilinguals compared to monolinguals. The research demonstrates that the argument structure priming hypothesis and animacy distribution also exist in English-Mandarin bilingual groups the same as the English monolinguals [1].

Learning with Mobile Phone: Evaluating Grammar Learning in Learning Objects

The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the customized mobile application comprised of learning objects (LOs). The mobile app evaluated was personally developed by the researcher to serve as supplemental material for learning grammar (i.e., the active and passive voice) with the aim of improving the learners’ grammar competence. The study employed the descriptive-evaluative research design focusing on the perspectives of the students on the mobile application through the “Learning Object Evaluation Scale for Students (LOES-S)” in terms of three constructs: (1) learning, (2) quality, and (3) engagement. Significant findings of the study included how beneficial and valuable the mobile application was to the learners in terms of “learning” with WM = 4.55, (2) “quality” with WM = 4.56, and (3) “engagement” with WM = 4.68. The study developed mobile application for learning grammar (i.e., the active and passive voice) was proven effective based on the evaluation of the students. Hence, recommended for wide dissemination.

Active Voice, Passive Voice, Narrated Voice: The Diaspora of the Courás in Atlantic Slavery

Active Voice, Passive Voice, Narrated Voice: The Diaspora of the Courás in Atlantic Slavery

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ГЛАЗОДВИГАТЕЛЬНОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ ДЕТЕЙ 6-9 ЛЕТ ПРИ СООТНЕСЕНИИ ПРЕДЛОЖЕНИЙ В ПАССИВНОМ ЗАЛОГЕ И ИЛЛЮСТРАЦИЙ

In the pilot, the oculomotor behavior of children 6-9 years old (n=10) and adults (n=10) was analyzed during passive voice sentences and pictures matching task. Adults most likely make a decision already when listening to the second word in a sentence, and the third word only confirms the choice already made. In children, the process of perception requires more time, and when listening to the third words in a sentence, it continues, which is noted in longer fixations than in adults on an incorrect picture. This effect is more pronounced when analyzing sentences with reverse word order and passive voice

Analyzing `Language Features of Construction Contracts from The Multi-Dimensional Perspective

In recent years, China’s active participation in the international construction market has led to a greater demand for the comprehensive demystification of construction contracts from the language perspective. Nevertheless, scarcity can be felt concerning that perspective. This study aims to explore language features via the multi-dimensional approach proposed by Biber. A corpus-driven method was adopted on the basis of five real construction contracts. The salient language features were uncovered statistically by adopting the Multi-dimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT), and a series of visualized results displaying lexico-grammatical features and general genre features of construction contracts from different dimensions were also output. The results revealed that nouns and normalization were densely employed in construction contracts. Meanwhile, language variables like phrasal coordination, predicative modals, passive voice, and suasive verbs were excessively employed. The results also uncovered that adverbs and be as the main verb were counted as underused. As to the general genre features, the results suggested that the contracts were written documents with informational, non-narrative, context-independent, self-assertive, and abstract features. Those features stem from the communicative purposes of construction contracts, rendering construction contracts the formal style, explicit communicative purposes, objective stance, and authoritative position. Though with limited language features, we can still obtain an insight into the interpretation and teaching of construction contracts.