Does not compute

[Laurence Horn]

>...
>[This came up in a recent conversation about 'ergative' constructions such
>as "Campbell's Chunky Soup eats like a meal." (Sorry if I'm taking undue
>liberties in my use of 'ergative'.)]
>
>-- Doug Wilson

Well, in fact, without making too fine a point on it, yes, there are
some liberties taken here; how undue depends on the theory.  For most
who have worried about them, what you call ergative constructions
(and are more generally called unaccusatives) are ultimately distinct
from, although on some level (especially in sharing a "patient
subject") related to, the "middles" exemplified by "the soup that
eats like a meal"  (the actual phrase used in the Cambpell ads).  The
former (e.g. "The boat sank", "The door closed", "The ice melted",
"The building exploded") do not imply the existence of an agent
responsible for the event in question, although as in each of these
cases, the event may indeed have been caused either by an agent or a
force of nature.  The latter ("This bread slices easily", "He don't
scare", "Shakespeare translates with difficulty", "The car is selling
like hotcakes") do have implicit agents, although typically these
cannot be directly expressed the way passive agents can.  Middles
also often sound funny if they're not modified with an adverb
(including negation), while unaccusatives/ergatives don't need any
modification.  (Yes, you can say "The car sold/drives", but it sounds
funny unless there's a contrastive context and intonation, neither of
which is necessary for "The boat sank".  And "Campbell's Chunky Soup
eats" sounds like a failed attempt at an insult.)

larry