a challenging passive in Persian

[Martin Forst]

Hi Fatemeh,

There is a paper by Carmen Kelling in the LFG 2006 proceedings that  
gives an, as I think, convincing analysis of the Spanish se- 
constructions that Aaron mentioned.

Apart from that, I'd like to mention that German has so-called  
impersonal passives that might behave similarly to your "challenging  
passive" in Persian. Consider the following examples:

1. a) active of a transitive verb

Die Gäste aßen alle Speisen.
The guests ate all dishes.
The guests ate all the dishes.

b) "normal" passive

Alle Speisen wurden (von den Gästen) gegessen.
All dishes were/became (by the guests) eaten.
All the dishes were eaten (by the guests).

2. a) active of an intransitive verb

Die ganze Nacht hindurch tanzte jemand.
The entire night throughout danced somebody.
There was somebody dancing throughout the entire night.

b) impersonal passive

Die ganze Nacht hindurch wurde getanzt.
The entire night throughout was danced.
There was dancing throughout the entire night.

3. a) active of a verb with SUBJ and OBJth

Niemand hat mir geholfen.
Nobody has me helped.
Nobody (has) helped me.

b) impersonal passive with an OBJth

Mir ist nicht geholfen worden.
Me is not helped been/become.
I was not helped./I have not been helped.

I believe Judith Berman's thesis has an LFG analysis of German  
impersonal passives in it, if you're interested.

All best,

Martin