on reversed "substitute" (intransitive version)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 8/26/2011 06:38 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:

>Reminds me; the original from Cris Carter was actually "When you
>substitute him", not "if".  Same difference as they say (but I
>usually don't).  For me, these are not at all transparent; I only
>process them as "If/When you substitute him (for someone else)", not
>"If/When you substitute (someone else for) him", although clearly
>it's the latter that was intended.

1)  Why is this intransitive?

2)   I also believe I've heard it on soccer ... er, football ...
broadcasts.  "Pele is being substituted" meaning "A substitute is
coming in for Pele."

Since this seems the passive to me, wouldn't the usage be
transitive?  That is, "him" in "When you substitute him" is the
object of the verb.  (In "substitute for him", it's the object of a
preposition.)  Or is my grammatical analysis defective?

Joel

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