29.2167, Disc: English Passives Translated as Reflexives

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-2167. Fri May 18 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.2167, Disc: English Passives Translated as Reflexives

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Date: Fri, 18 May 2018 12:10:24
From: Julien Peter Benney [jpbenney at gmail.com]
Subject: English Passives Translated as Reflexives

 
Hello again,

one question I have recently though of is whether any languages with no
passive voice or generic pronouns have as the translation equivalent of
passives in other languages reflexive verbs or a reflexive construction?

This occurs to some extent in many European languages that have passives but
use them much less than English, for example in German:

- “es empfiehlt sich” for “it is recommended” (literally ''it recommends
itself”)
- “sich interessierien für” for “to be interested in” (literally to “interest
oneself for”)

Since (a little) more than half of all languages listed in chapter 107 of
World Atlas of Language Structures have no passive construction at all, I have
wondered if any of those languages would translate foreign passives with
reflexives as a matter of course, or even have reflexives as the only means of
translating passives?

Yours truly,
Julien



Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
                     Linguistic Theories
                     Morphology
                     Translation



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