title: Is Passive Syntax Semantically Constrained? Evidence From Adult Grammaticality Judgment and Comprehension Studies.
abstract: To explain the phenomenon that certain English verbs resist passivization (e.g., *£5 was cost by the book), Pinker (1989) proposed a semantic constraint on the passive in the adult grammar: The greater the extent to which a verb denotes an action where a patient is affected or acted upon, the greater the extent to which it is compatible with the passive. However, a number of comprehension and production priming studies have cast doubt upon this claim, finding no difference between highly affecting agent-patient/theme-experiencer passives (e.g., Wendy was kicked/frightened by Bob) and non-actional experiencer theme passives (e.g., Wendy was heard by Bob). The present study provides evidence that a semantic constraint is psychologically real, and is readily observed when more fine-grained independent and dependent measures are used (i.e., participant ratings of verb semantics, graded grammaticality judgments, and reaction time in a forced-choice picture-matching comprehension task). We conclude that a semantic constraint on the passive must be incorporated into accounts of the adult grammar.
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ambridge
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bidgood
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).
authors.forename: Julian M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).
authors.forename: Caroline F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Rowland
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Freudenthal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Agent-patient; Autonomy of syntax; Child language acquisition; Experiencer-theme; Passive; Semantics; Theme-experiencer; Verb