Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.51.2.4
The Passive Construction with Verbs of Control in Croatian
Davor Krsnik
orcid.org/0000-0001-7458-2507
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
The paper is focused on the passive construction of the verbs of control with instrumental-marked objects. Although they are defined as intransitive verbs with indirect objects, the verbs of control meet two basic conditions for the realization of the passive construction. First, their objects are realized as patients. This is demonstrated by their ability to alternate with objects marked by the accusative case, by their agreement with generic change of state verbs and by examples of topicalization of their object’s patienthood. Second, the subject’s state in the passive can be reconstructed as a direct result of the action of the active correlate of the passive participle, e.g. the senate is dominated by the opposition → the opposition dominates the senate. The paper further demonstrates that the passive construction with verbs of control contrasts the passive of other verbs in that it allows the prototypical agents to be instrumental-marked. Two assumptions are offered to explain this. First, the associative alignment of case forms in the argument structure of active and passive verb correlates is presented. Second, it is demonstrated that agents with passive participles of the verbs of control can be found in equal sentence focus as patients. All assumptions in the paper are analysed in accordance with the theoretical framework of construction grammar.
Keywords
passive construction; verbs of control; instrumental-marked objects; transitivity; patient; instrumental-marked agents
Hrčak ID:
341607
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2025.
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