Is passive syntax semantically constrained? Evidence from adult grammaticality judgment and comprehension studies

Ambridge, B; Bidgood, A; Pine, JM; Rowland, CF; Freudenthal, D

Abstract

To explain the phenomenon that certain English verbs resist passivization (e.g., *£5 was cost by the book), Pinker (1989) proposed a semantic constraint on the passive in the adult grammar: The greater the extent to which a verb denotes an action where a patient is affected or acted upon, the greater the extent to which it is compatible with the passive. However, a number of comprehension and production priming studies have cast doubt upon this claim, finding no difference between highly affecting agent-patient/theme-experiencer passives (e.g., Wendy was kicked/frightened by Bob) and non-actional experiencer theme passives (e.g., Wendy was heard by Bob). The present study provides evidence that a semantic constraint is
psychologically real, and is readily observed when more fine-grained independent and dependent measures are used (i.e., participant ratings of verb semantics, graded grammaticality judgments, and reaction time in a forced-choice picture-matching comprehension task). We conclude that a semantic constraint on the passive must be incorporated into accounts of the adult grammar.

Citation

Ambridge, B., Bidgood, A., Pine, J., Rowland, C., & Freudenthal, D. (2016). Is passive syntax semantically constrained? Evidence from adult grammaticality judgment and comprehension studies. Cognitive Science, 40(6), 1435-1459. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12277

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 19, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Nov 26, 2015
• Publication Date: Aug 18, 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 8, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 8, 2018
• Journal: Cognitive Science
• Print ISSN: 0364-0213
• Electronic ISSN: 1551-6709
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1435-1459
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12277
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12277
• Related Public URLs: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15516709
• Additional Information: Projects : International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD); Grant Number: ES/L008955/1; Grant Number: RPG-158