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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Dear Randy </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"> The concept of nouns, verbs, voice, and transitivity indeed involves matching content and forms in language. In Chinese, the expression "chicken not eat" can carry the same meaning as "chicken not eaten" or "chicken
not eating" without a specific context. This implies that the active and passive content of voice, which determines how the verb relates to the subject, does exist in Chinese. However, within a known context, the expression forms can be omitted or become redundant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"> On the other hand, using constructions like "bei + Agent" or "ba + Patient" provides a better way to encode both the content and forms of voice in Chinese, particularly when necessary. This showcases the flexibility
and uniqueness of the language in conveying meaning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB">So, in Chinese, when it comes to voice, we indeed have both the content side and the expression side of voice, with constructions like "bei +A" , “ba +P” or the basic AVP order being utilized
as needed. But for an isolated NP+VP construction without a context, the active or passive status of the verb is sometimes ambiguous.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB">Regards,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB">Jianming Wu </span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB">Shanghai International Studies University</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sent from <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986">
Mail</a> for Windows</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:SimSun"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;padding:0cm"><b><span lang="EN-GB">From: </span>
</b><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="mailto:randy.lapolla@gmail.com">Randy J. LaPolla</a><br>
<b>Sent: </b>2023</span>年<span lang="EN-GB">7</span>月<span lang="EN-GB">27</span>日<span lang="EN-GB"> 22:04<br>
<b>To: </b><a href="mailto:sergeloesov@gmail.com">Sergey Loesov</a><br>
<b>Cc: </b><a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG</a><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [Lingtyp] Transitive verbs with both active and passive readings</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:SimSun"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Hi Sergey,</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Y. R. Chao argued that as Mandarin Chinese verbs have no inherent direction of action, a corollary of the topic-comment (not subject predicate) structure of clauses, Mandarin Chinese has no voice distinction (Mandarin
Primer, 1948: 35, with his Romanisation replaced by Pinyin and glosses added):</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">“An important corollary to this [topic-comment structure-RJL] is that the direction of action in verbs is to be inferred from the context. Thus, in talking about feeding poultry, <i>J</i></span><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̄</span><span lang="EN-GB"> bù
ch</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̄</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE"> </span><span lang="EN-GB">le</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> [chicken NEG eat PFV] means 'The chickens are
not eating any more,' but as a reply to a host offering more chicken, the same sentence would mean '(As for) chicken, (I) am not going to eat any more.' Again, <i>Lia</i></span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span><span lang="EN-GB">ng-ge
rén zuò y</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̄</span><span lang="EN-GB">-ba</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span><span lang="EN-GB"> y</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">zi</span></i><span lang="X-NONE"> [two
CL people sit one-CL chair]</span><span lang="EN-GB">' Two people sit on one chair' : <i>Y</i></span><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̄</span><span lang="EN-GB">-ba</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span><span lang="EN-GB"> y</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">ı</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span></i><i><span lang="X-NONE">zi </span><span lang="EN-GB">zuò
lia</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">̌</span><span lang="EN-GB">ng-ge rén</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> [one-CL chair sit two-CL people] 'One chair seats two people.' In short, there is no distinction of voice in
Chinese verbs." </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Hope this helps.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">All the best,</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Randy</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">——</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Professor Randy J. LaPolla</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">（罗仁地</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">)</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">,
PhD FAHA </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Center for Language Sciences</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">A302, Muduo Building, #18 Jinfeng Road, Zhuhai City, Guangdong, China</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="https://randylapolla.info">https://randylapolla.info</a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">ORCID ID:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#494A4C;background:white"><a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6100-6196">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6100-6196</a> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">邮编：<span lang="EN-GB">519087<br>
</span>广东省珠海市唐家湾镇金凤路<span lang="EN-GB">18</span>号木铎楼<span lang="EN-GB">A302<br>
</span>北京师范大学珠海校区<span lang="EN-GB"><br>
</span>人文和社会科学高等研究院<span lang="EN-GB"><br>
</span>语言科学研究中心<span lang="EN-GB"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">On 27 Jul 2023, at 5:28 PM, Sergey Loesov <sergeloesov@gmail.com> wrote:</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Dear colleagues,</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Do you know of languages that have past-tense forms of transitive verbs with both active and passive readings? In particular, languages
in which the same token can appear as both active and passive, depending on the context?
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">This seems to be the case in the unwritten language Modern Western Aramaic, spoken in the Syrian Anti-Lebanon/Kalamoun. Thus,
<i>ifṯeḥ</i> (a Perfect-Resultative verb form) may mean ‘he (has) opened’ and ‘he has been opened/he is opened.’</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="margin-bottom:8.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thank you very much,</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sergey</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">_______________________________________________<br>
Lingtyp mailing list<br>
Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org<br>
https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:SimSun"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:SimSun"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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